Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-24

baw. His Mother in Law, and His For
mer servant-Eneland's Latest Con-
quest Likely to Prove an Industrial
and Commercial BONANZA.
Cor. Chicago Tribune.
NEW YORK, Dec. 1S.-The fall OF Thee
baw concludes the history of Burmah.
Once the most important of the lndo-Chi-
nese empires, It's last remnant OF indepen-
dent territory now merges INTO the In
dian Empire of Victoria. Nor is this
remnant an unimportant acquisition. or
considerable extent, it possesses enor-
nous natural wealth, and is Of incalcula-
Bile strategic Importance. 1t makes the
British empire directly contiguous to the
richest provinces or China and to frances
Ionquin colony, and gives England COM
plete control of the route which is to be
followed by the great trunk railroad now
In contemplation for the opening up of
China. The lrrawaddv river can never
become an important artery of commerce
save for local trade; but a railroad up its
valley from the Bay of Bengal will enter
the great Chinese province of Yun-Nan
and thus give to British enterprise the ad-
vantages sought by France in her Ton
quln aggressiOns. For France was fight
ing, not tor the unhealthy and worthless
Red river swamps, but for an inlet into
the rich southern provinces of China.
And, by the irony OF fate, it was her in
trigues at Mandalay to keep Theebaw
from commercial alliance with Eng
| land that precipitated the brief but de-
clslVe campaign now ended, the result of
which is fatal to all French hopes of COM
mercial supremacy in Southeastern Asia.
HencetOrth Chinese trade with Europe
Will go by the way of RangOon and Cal
cutta, and Burmah, both in point OF local
wealth aud as a highway of trade, will
prove to be one of the most valuable pos
sessions of the British Crown.
THE LAND OF GOLD.
Burmah, indeed, has always been term
ed "Land of Gold" The natives called
it "Suvarna Bhumi," or Golden Land.
| Probably this was because of the extern
sive use OF gold for decorative purposes.
The Kings palaces and temples were all
rooted with gold leaf, and his ships and
| barges glOwed with the same metal. This
! gold was largely gained from abroad in
war, for Burmah has never been a produ-
Ger of gold in any extraordinary quantity.
That adventurous traveller Marco Polo
was the first to give Information of Bur-
nah to the Western world. He called IT
by its Chinese name, Men. Burmah then
comprised all Of its present territory,
British Burmah, part of Bengal, the Shan
States, and probably some ofSiam. Marco
| Polo witnessed a great battle between the
Burmese and the invading Tartars. The
Burmese army contained sc, 900 men and
1000 elephants, each of the latter
having on its back a teak-wood fortress
containing a dozen warriors. At first the
Tartars, who were nearly all hOrsemen,
were defeated; but after a time the ele-
plants were stampeded by the flights OF
Tartar arrows, ana 200 of the great brutes
were captured and afterwards used in the
army of the Khan. Marco Polo then Wis
| tied Pagan, on the irrawaddy, and saw
the mausoleums of the Kings of Burmah.
These were covered with pure gold and
silver an inch in thickness. According
| to both Burmese and Chinese historians,
this wealth attracted the cupidity Of the
| MOngOls and Tartars, and the Great
Khan OF Tartary sent an army to conquer
and plumber Burmah. This army was
composed of the supernumersry jugglers
and minstrels of the Tartar court. Bur-
mese historians say 1T contained 5000, 900
hOrsemen and 20,000,000 fOOimen, which
| gives one a prodigious idea Of the great
ness of the Khan's court. This army ca
! silly conquered Burmah, but when its
commander found the gold and silver
adjoining the tombs he would not allow
/ it to be disturbed, such was his reverence
| for the dead.
About 1890 Burmah was visited by Luz
dovico di Varthema, and he, too, was i'm
pressed by the display of gold and silver.
| The King, he says, was so heavily bur-
dened with rings and bracelets of pure
| gold that he could with difficulty move
about. During the sixteenth century, de-
spite many wars, Burmah arose to its re-
NTH Of power and glory. King Drama
was it's greatest monarch, and be had a
standing army of 1000, 900 men and 5000
war elephants. Ralph Fitch, a London
merchant, spent some time at the Kings
| court and saw his sacred white elephants,
twenty in number, whose feet were daily
washed in huge basins Of solid silver. He
reported that Burmah was rich In mines
of gold, rubies, and sapphires. But the
people lived miserably, ''roots, herbs
leaves, dogs, cats, rats, and snakes"
! forming their food. Laws were severe
and outlandish, In certain cases the two
parties to a suit were placed under water,
and he who first came up for breath lost
the day. InsOlyeNt debtors were stripped
OF their clothes and exposed to the hot sun
until they paid the claims against them
or died. Towards the close of the six
teepth century evil days came upon Bur-
nah. The coast regions were ravaged by
storms, and 100000 people persisted.
/ Then Philip de Brito, a Portuguese adj
venturef occupied the throne OF the Pro-
vince Of Arakan, and later, about 1905,
| depOsed King Drama himself and ruled
over all Burmah most despotically. But
| the King of Ava and other Princes sub
dued him in 1913, and "drove a great
stake through his body, 50 that ne died.
| Thencetorth the King Of Ava was the
| chief potentate Of Burmah.
ENGLAND AND BURMAH.
| With the rise of English power in India
! the rapid decline Of Burmah began. The
| Burmese gave Lord Give not little trOu-
Bile, and by 1919 they had grown so bold
! that they invaded India. DesultoTy hos
tilities went on until 1924, when Govern
/ or-General Lord Amherst declared war,
marched into Burmah with 10000 men,
/ and captured RangOon without the loss Of
| a man. A tedious and costly war follow
ed. which was ended two years later by
the cessiOn TO England Of the Penasserim
coast and Assam and the pay ment of
| IS. OOO, 600 indemnity. But the war had
cost England $G0000,000 and 10000 men.
! In 1852 another war broke out. The pres
ent Gen. Lord WOlseley was an ensign in
the British army OF invasion. RangOon.
Prone, and all Pegu, were taken and an
nexed 10 the British dominions, leaving
only the Kingdom OF Ava, r small terrific
~ entirely shut in from the coast.
treaty was made which declared that ar
tue KING of Ava fail 10 renew his friend
ship with the British government
the Governor General will again put forth
the power he holds and visit with full re-