_mau_ for a pot; thus Bhamô, or Manmau, signifies Potters’ Village, a name still justified by the pottery there manufactured. How Tsampenago was destroyed, is not historically certain, but a tradition exists among the Shans, that it was overthrown by an army of Singphos from the north-west. After Tholyen, twenty-three tsawbwas are said to have ruled in succession at Bhamô over a district comprising one hundred and thirty-six villages. The succession was then broken, and the country was ruled by Shan deputies. After this, tsawbwas were obtained from Momeit, who ruled over Bhamô till Oo-Myat-bung and his family were made slaves by the great Alompra about 1760. Ever since, the district has been governed by myo-woons appointed by the king of Burma. The first, Thoonain, settled the boundaries of the district, including only eighty-eight villages, the eastern and north-eastern boundaries being given as China. The legend of Tsampenago records the erection of the Shuaykeenah pagoda, the name of which at least is preserved to the present day by the group of pagodas situated on an eminence north of Tsampenago. These are still the holy places of the neighbourhood, and are thronged with pilgrims at the March festival. The great gilded pagoda has been re-edified by royal bounty and popular offerings, but others are from time to time added by private votaries. Thus it was our good fortune to witness the laying the foundation of a votive pagoda at Shuaykeenah. A small square of ground, the exact size of the base of the intended pagoda, was railed off by a fantastic bamboo fence, two feet high, decorated with flowers and paper flags. A wooden pin, covered with silver tinsel, and bearing a lighted yellow taper, was fixed in the centre, and another about two feet from the south-eastern corner of the level plot; round the first a quadrangular trench, and a deep hole by the side of the other were dug and sprinkled with water. Eight bricks, each the exact size of one side of the trench, were prepared. On four the name of Gaudama was inscribed in black paint; on the others, a leaf of gold was placed on the centre of one, silver on the second, a square of green paint on the third, and red on the fourth, each having a border of green. A round earthen vase containing gold, silver, and precious stones, besides rice and sweetmeats, was closed with wax in which a lighted taper was stuck, and deposited in the south-east hole, by the builder of the pagoda, who repeated a long prayer, while the earth was filled in and sprinkled with water. This was an offering to the great earth serpent, in the direction of whose abode the south-east corner pointed. It is an interesting relic of the snake worship once so prevalent among the Shan race to the south, which, like nat worship, has been incorporated in Buddhism. Another instance is afforded in some of the Yunnan shrines, where the canopy over Buddha is supported by many-headed snakes, as occurs in some Indian temples. In the next