Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-31
SURRENDER OF THEBAW.
AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT

Mother Rs,ser Iofs,n,ai Precetdinss
trarts OF n Mandaiay letter TO the London
Standard.
| landed and saw a mile or so Of
Ava, which seems now mere tract Of
Jungle interspersed with half-ruined
psgodas and few miserable huts. Up
to a late hour that night the guns were
being removed or destroyed, and, a
passage through the barrier having
been found, the ships moved at day
light on the 2Sth ultimo toward Manda-
lay, few miles distant. At first the
scene was wonderfully fascinating /;
wooded banks rose on each side.
glittering with innumerable pagoda
roofs and spiers Of the most
varied and delicate shapes, but all
carved and gilded, so that as the sun
glanced on one after the other it seemed
as If great jewelled iilagree caskets had
been scattered among the green trees.
A mile or two more and the river
widens, the eastern bank sinking into
sand, and low, grassy islands, after
benz OF two, among which the long,
leTei stretch OF Mandalay itself comes
in sight, while at the back towers, in a
great dark cloud, the abrupt 5000
feet of the Shan range, not twen-
ty miles away. Our goal is at last
reached, for below the Mandalay hill
in the northeast we can see the gold Of
the many-roofed sharp spire which
marks and covers the audience-cham-
Der of the golden-(ooted King. De-
feasible though we know the place to
be, there are crowds Of people on the
riverside without an armed man no
preparations have been made, and it is
at once evident that the war is over.
Arrangements are made for the march
to the palace, four miles off, and, after
a little delay, three brigades, in separate
columns, are marched off on parallel
roads through the town.
The Royal Gate. which no one but
the King has ever before used, was
passed through, the equally sacred
stairs beyond assembled, and we then
wound through long series of detached
houses, the peculiarly Of which seemed
to be that one never went straight from
one to another, but always around
corners and up and down stairs and
through gates. For utter irregularity
Of plan and structure | should say the
Mandalay Palace beats anything ever
erected. The houses themselves seemed
TO be either throne rooms supported by
round gilded wooden posts, with inte-
rior Of sombre splendor Of gold and
dull red, or mere outhouses with
stacks of arms Of all sorts and
lumber. | must except from this
description one or two delicate little
interiors which saw but did not enter,
belonging, believe to the Queen. The
exteriors, from a small distance, are
simply charming in their light elegance
Of form, and their rich gliding, carving,
and color. The latter is frequently OBJ
tanned by what I am reluctant to call
sham jewelry irregular colored
mirrors are massed in a pattern every
here and there in the heavy gliding, and
the effect little way off is of gold and
diamonds, emeralds and rubles. Closer
the gliding is rough and the glass is APP
parent, and everything looks as scene
painting does from the wings. All
above the floor is, of course, Of
wood. and there is never a Sc
cond story, for Burmese royalty
would be most grayely insulted were
it possible that profane feet could
tread above its sacred head. The roofs
are the many -eaved pyramids Of lndO-
China. which look clumsy and poor in
pictures, but which. seen in bright
sun, against the clear sky, in their own
country and in their own bright color
ing, have as fine an effect, to my mind
at least, as any of the many devices
with which man has covered his houses
or his temples. After the buildings
came a number Of small fenced-otl in
closures, shaded by trees, which but
for the fact that soft soil, instead of
smooth lawn, filled them, would have
been beautiful to degree. and it was
in one Of these, in little raised house,
that we at last found the King and
Queen and the Queens mother.
The King, seated at an opening in the
low platform of the house, had no par
tcular richness in his dress, and was,
as far as | remember, without jewelry,
the only royal appendage that | noticed
being huge gold spittoon, so heavy
that it is said to take two men to carry
it. In personal appearance he was
stout. and looked little heavy AMI un-
intelligent but, if anything, should
Judge him TO be good-humored. There
was a certain quiet dignity about him,
| think, and which | suppose seven
wears OF absolute power must give any
one. The really interesting figure to
me, and think TO all present, was the
Queen. who crouched behind the
King in the orthodox court posi-
ten of respect. Only two European
men were known to have seen
her. and innumerable had been the stO-
Iies we had all heard of her. She has
been credited with uncounted execu-
tons. many Of them Of her relatives or
her rivals-and the two are here sy-
nonymous-one Of the most horrible
being the tale, well or ill-founded can
not say, that she had caused poor girl,
who had attracted Thebaw's atten-
tions, and was eHciente by him, TO be
beaten to death. Many of these stories
of what took place in these inner rooms
are inventions, and let us hope that this
at least is so. That she has possible
rivals is certain, and only yesterday |
was speaking to some Of her half
sisters (the most dangerous of posi- |
bic rivals, who still wept and |
shuddered with the most abject terror
at the mere mention of her name. She
has ratht- fine forehead, good eyes, a !
nose not as straight in profile as it |
might be, rather small chin, to which |
the side lines Of her face slope rather
rapidly from the slightly prominent
cheekbones and broad forehead. She
looks both young and clever, and but
for one feature would, | think, be good
looking. This feature, it is scarcely !
necessary, suppose, to say, is her
mouth. Her lips are thin and promi-
49,. ood n c,,ono curva giVas tham n |