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Notes on the Tables.
39

146. Table VIII shows the divergence between the mean new moon and the lagwè every month for 29 years. The effect of the intercalary months and days can be traced by reference to the entries in the last column. The "Mandalay time" in column 6 is 6 hours, 21 minutes in advance of Greenwich time. This is in point of fact a nearer approximation to Pagan time than to Mandalay time, but Mandalay is a more distinctive name now, and an error of 4 or 5 minutes one way or the other is of no importance. The object of this table will be seen in paragraph 125.

147. Table IX shows the English month and day for the first day of each Burmese month, corresponding to each day on which the 1st waxing of Tagu can fall. It is in three parts, for common, wangètat and wagyitat years. In the last column of parts II and III all dates later than 28th February are left blank because of the ambiguity caused by English leap-years.

Example.—To find the English date corresponding to B. E. 1255, Natdaw waning 2nd. In table I, column 15, find 1255. On the same line columns 1, 6 and 7 show that Tagu waxing 1st was A. D. 1893 March 17th, and column 18 shows that the year 1255 was a wangètat. In table IX, part II (wangètat years), column 1 (Tagu), find March 17th. On the same line in column Natdaw is December 8th. This was 1st waxing Natdaw 1255. Therefore 2nd waning of the same month was 24th December.

If the given Burmese date be in Hnaung Tagu or Hnaung Kason, add 1 to the year. Thus, 1244 Hnaung Tagu waxing 5. Look in table I opposite 1245. The date is 12th March 1883.

148. Table X is used in the same way to find the week-day of any given Burmese date. Thus table I shows in column 5 that in 1255 Tagu waxing Ist was Friday. In table X, part II, on the line Tagu find Fri. In the same column on the line Natdaw is Fri. Natdaw waxing 1st was Friday; therefore Natdaw waning 2nd was Sunday.

149. In column 14 of tables I & II, and the corresponding columns of tables III & IV, the days of the Burmese month are reckoned in one series for the sake of brevity. Thus 22 means the 7th day of the waning half of the month.