ly with his
graphic description of the rout of the elephants at Vochan. Of the latter
he heard the particulars on the spot (I conceive) shortly after the event;
whilst the conquest took place some years later than his mission to that
frontier. His description of the gold and silver pagodas with their
canopies of tinkling bells (the Burmese _Hti_), certainly looks like a
sketch from the life;[4] and it is quite possible that some negotiations
between 1277 and 1281 may have given him the opportunity of visiting
Burma, though he may not have reached the capital. Indeed he would in that
case surely have given a distincter account of so important a city, the
aspect of which in its glory we have attempted to realize in the plate of
"the city of Mien."

It is worthy of note that the unfortunate King then reigning in Pagan, had
in 1274 finished a magnificent Pagoda called _Mengala-dzedi (Mangala
Chaitya)_ respecting which ominous prophecies had been diffused. In this
pagoda were deposited, besides holy relics, golden images of the Disciples
of Buddha, golden models of the holy places, golden images of the King's
fifty-one predecessors in Pagan, and of the King and his Family. It is
easy to suspect a connection of this with Marco's story. "It is possible
that the King's ashes may have been intended to be buried near those
relics, though such is not now the custom; and Marco appears to have
confounded the custom of depositing relics of Buddha and ancient holy men
in pagodas with the _supposed_ custom of the burial of the dead. Still,
even now, monuments are occasionally erected over the dead in Burma,
although the practice is considered a vain folly. I have known a miniature
pagoda with a _hti_ complete, erected over the ashes of a favourite
disciple by a _P'hungyi_ or Buddhist monk." The latter practice is common
in China. (_Notes by Sir A. Phayre; J.A.S.B._ IV. _u.s._, also V. 164,
VI. 251; _Mason's Burmah_, 2nd ed. p. 26; _Milne's Life in China_, pp.
288, 450.)

NOTE 3.--The Gaur--_Bos Gaurus_, or _B. (Bibos) Cavifrons_ of
Hodgson--exists in certain forests of the Burmese territory; and, in the
south at least, a wild ox nearer the domestic species, _Bos Sondaicus_. Mr.
Gouger, in his book _The Prisoner in Burma_, describes the rare spectacle
which he once enjoyed in the Tenasserim forests of a herd of wild cows at
graze. He speaks of them as small and elegant, without hump, and of a light
reddish dun colour (pp. 326-327).