With the blessing of God we arrived safe at Pegu, which consists of two cities, the old and the new, all the merchants of the country and stranger merchants residing in the old city, in which is far the greatest trade. The city itself is not very large, but it has very great suburbs. The houses are all built of canes, and covered with leaves or straw; but every merchant has one house or magazine, called _Godown_, built of bricks, in which they secure their most valuable commodities, to save them from fire, which frequently happens to houses built of such combustible materials.
In the new city is the royal palace, in which the king dwells, with all his nobles and officers of state, and attendants. While I was there the building of the new city was completed. It is of considerable size, built perfectly square upon an uniform level, and walled round, having a wet ditch on the outside, filled with crocodiles, but there are no draw-bridges. Each side of the square has five gates, being twenty in all; and there are many places on the walls for centinels, built of wood, and gilded over with gold. The streets are all perfectly straight, so that from any of the gates you can see clear through to the opposite gate, and they are so broad that 10 or 12 horsemen may ride abreast with ease. The cross streets are all equally broad and straight, and on each side of all the streets close to the houses there is a row of cocoa-nut trees, making a most agreeable shade. The houses are all of wood, covered with a kind of tiles, in the form of cups, very necessary and useful in that country. The palace is in the middle of the city, walled round like a castle, the lodgings within being built of wood, all over gilded, and richly adorned with pinnacles of costly work, covered all over with gold, so that it may truly be called a king's house. Within the gate is a large handsome court, in which are lodges for the strongest and largest elephants, which are reserved for the king's use, among which are four that are entirely white, a rarity that no other king can boast of; and were the king of Pegu to hear that any other king had white elephants, he would send and demand them as a gift. While I was there two such were brought out of a far distant country, which cost me something for a sight of them, as the merchants were commanded to go to see them, and every one was obliged to give something to the keepers. The brokers gave for every merchant half a ducat, which they call a _tansa_, and this produced a considerable sum, as there were a great many merchants in the city. After paying the _tansa_, they may either visit the elephants or not as they please, as after they are put into the king's stalls, every one may see them whenever they will. But before this, every one mast go to see them, such being the royal pleasure. Among his other titles, this king is called _King of the White Elephants_; and it is reported that if he knew of any other king having any white elephants who would not resign them to him, he would hazard his whole kingdom to conquer them. These white elephants are so highly esteemed that each of them has a house gilded all over, and they are served with extraordinary care and attention in vessels of gold and silver. Besides these white elephants, there is a black one of most extraordinary size, being _nine cubits high_. It is reported that this king has four thousand war elephants, all of which have teeth. They are accustomed to put upon their uppermost teeth certain sharp spikes of iron, fastened on with rings, because these animals fight with their teeth. He has also great numbers of young elephants, whose teeth are not yet grown.