AVA. This extensive country is situated in the southeast of Asia, in the region beyond the Ganges. It Is possessed by the Burmese, the limits of whose dominions, having been greatly enlarged by conquest, cannot be very correctly defined. On the west, where they border with the British territories in India, they are bounded by the province of Arracan, surrendered to the British by the treaty concluded with the Burmese in 1826, and by the petty states of Cassay or Kathé, and Assam, from which countries they are separated by lofty ridges of mountains; on the south by the Indian Ocean and the Siamese territories; on the north and north-east by the Chinese province of Yunan; and on the east by the independent and Siamese portion of Lao. The real extent of this country has not been ascertained by Europeans; and Mr Craufurd, who resided as ambassador at the court of Ava, and to whom we are indebted for the most recent information concerning it, states that he has nothing better to offer than conjecture on this important subject. The extreme western limits he describes as extending to the 93d degree of east longitude, and the eastern limits to 98° 40 ’. The southern limits are in lat. 15° 45' N., and to the north they probably extend to between the 26th and 27th degree. The Burmese territories may therefore be estimated at an extent in breadth of about 350 miles, and in length of pearly 700. The area of the country is conjectured by Mr Craufurd to contain 184,000 square miles. That portion of the kingdom which is farthest removed from the capital is divided into provinces or viceroyalties; but we have no information respecting their number or extent, or the power of their several rulers. Another and a more common division is into Myos or townships, of which, according to the statements of the natives, 4600 are contained within the limits of the Burmese empire; but they are so much addicted to exaggeration, that little reliance can be placed on this estimate. The number of townships has accordingly been reduced to 163, and the villages are reckoned to amount to 1300. But even this statement is founded chiefly on conjecture.

That portion of Asia in which Ava is situated slopes from the central mountains towards the south; and as it approaches the Indian Ocean, it subsides into an extensive champaign country, which is overflowed in the rainy season by the swelling of the rivers. The Burmese territory is watered by four great streams, namely, the Irrawaddy; the Setang, sometimes called the Lokiang; the Saluem, called also the Pegu; and the Kyen-dwen, a tributary of the Irrawaddy. The first three of these rivers have their sources in the northern chain of mountains in the interior, some of which are covered with perpetual snow; and they run with a northerly course to the Indian Ocean. The Irrawaddy and the Saluem are the largest, and they intersect the Burmese country, which they overflow during the season of the rains. The delta of the Irrawaddy extends about 150 miles from the sea, to 17⅜ degrees of N. lat.; and this tract of country is low and champaign, intersected everywhere, during the overflow of the rivers, by canals and branches from the main stream. Eastward, where the Saluem enters the ocean, in the Gulf of Martaban, the country is of the same character; but it is not so extensively overflowed, owing to the inferior size of the latter stream. I he tract along the sea-coast is the only low-lying portion of the Burmese territories. From this point the country begins to rise, and thence for about 300 miles farther it may be considered hilly and elevated; and beyond this it is wild and mountainous. To the west and north-west it is divided from Arracan, Cassay, and Assam, by mountainous ridges often of great elevation. The country of Ava may therefore be distinguished into four divisions, namely, Isí, the great alluvial plain at the mouth of the Irrawaddy, the Setang, and the Saluem rivers; 2dly, the upland country, which commences about 150 miles from the shores; ⅛dly i the external mountainous regions towards the north, where are the sources of the great rivers; and, Athly i the hilly regions, which form the western boundaries of the valleys of the Irrawaddy and the Kyen-dwen. The tract of sea-coast extends along the Indian Ocean about 240 miles, from Cape Negrais to the new British settlement of Amherst, near Martaban, and at the mouth of the river Saluem. All this coast is low, marshy, and broken by at least twenty channels of rivers or arms of the sea; but these being exposed without protection to the surf from the ocean, are choked by sandbanks, and cannot be entered by any vessel of burden. Hence there are only on the coast the three harbours of Martaban, Rangoon, and Bassein.

The alluvial division of Ava has a rich and fruitful soil;] and the upland country is also productive, though inferior] in fertility to the low-lying tracts. Its productions consist 1 of rice, maize, millet, wheat, various pulses, palms, the sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. Rice is the great staple of agriculture throughout the kingdom, both in the upper and the lower provinces; and in the latter maize is cultivated to a considerable extent. Wheat, which would not thrive in the hot climate of the lower plains, is grown in the neighbourhood of the capital, and, considering its excellent quality, might be an important article of exportation. But it has long been the policy of the government, in which there is little prospect of any change, rigidly to prohibit the exportation of every species of grain. Bread is besides not the favourite food of the people, and the cultivation of wheat is consequently not encouraged. The sugar-cane appears to have been long known to the Burmese; but though the climate and soil are extremely favourable, it is not generally cultivated, and the art of manufacturing sugar is scarcely known. This is partly owing to a tyrannical edict of the government, prohibiting the exportation of this article, which might otherwise have been abundantly produced, and have become a valuable article of trade. A cheap and coarse sugar is obtained from the wine of the palmyra, which abounds in the upper provinces, especially in the arid country, for about 200 miles south of the capital, where numerous groves of this tree are to be seen. The cocoa and areca palms are not common. The tea plant is cultivated in the hills by some of the mountain tribes at the distance of about five days journey, and by others in still greater perfection at the distance of about ten days’ journey, from Ava. The leaves are elliptic, oblong, and serrated, and there is little doubt of its being the genuine tea plant of China. It is singular, however, that they never infuse it as they do the Chinese tea, but eat the leaf prepared with oil and garlic. Cotton is grown in every part of the country and its dependencies, but chiefly in the dry lands and climate of the upper provinces. Indigo is an indigenous product, and is universally cultivated, but in a very rude manner; and it is still more rudely manufactured, so that it is wholly unfit f° r exportation.

In the cultivation of fruits the Burmese are careless and unskilful. The most common fruits are the mango, th®
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orange, the pine, the custard apple, the jack, the papaya fig, and the plantain. Most of these fruits grow spontaneously in the congenial soil and climate of the country. They are generally of indifferent quality, especially those which require care in the cultivation. The durian and the mangostin are found no farther north than Tavoy, in the latitude of 14 degrees. In horticulture and gardening the ignorance of the Burmese is still more remarkable. Though green vegetables and fruits form a great portion of their diet, they are at no pains to cultivate them, but are content with gathering those which grow spontaneously in the forests and marshes, such as the young shoots of the bamboo, wild asparagus, the succulent stems of a variety of aquatic plants, and other shrubs which would not be deemed fit for food in any other country. They are strangers to all the ordinary garden vegetables, such as peas, carrots, cabbages, turnips, mustard, cresses, radishes, &c. Even melons, cucumbers, and the egg-plant, so generally cultivated in India, are here little attended to. In the upper provinces the yam and the sweet potato are cultivated, but not extensively; and the common potato is unknown. Onions are produced in some of the upper provinces; and capsicum, which, after salt, is the most ordinary condiment used by the Burmese, is cultivated everywhere.

The forests of Ava abound in the finest trees. Of these the teak holds a conspicuous place, and the forests of this tree in Ava are the most extensive in India. The soil in the alluvial lands within the reach of the tides is not favourable to its growth, but it thrives in all the high grounds. The finest teak forest is that of Sarawaddy, which furnishes nearly all that is exported to other countries. Other extensive forests of teak exist in the provinces, and Ava the capital is supplied from a place distant fifteen days’ journey. Almost every other description of timber known in India is produced in the Burmese forests. 1 The soondry, so much esteemed in Hindostan for the toughness and hardness of its wood, grows in abundance and of a large size within the influence of the tides. The bamboo also grows to an extraordinary size; its circumference is occasionally 23 or 24 inches. Varnish is another useful product of Ava, which is used by the Shans and the Burmese in their manufacture of lacquer ware. Sticklack of an excellent quality is obtained in the woods.

Ava is rich in minerals, producing gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, antimony, amber, coal, petroleum, nitre, natron, salt, limestone, and marble, noble serpentine or green stone, and precious stones. Gold, carried down from the higher grounds by the mountain streams, is found in the sands of different rivers: it is also found near the town of Pegu, and more abundantly in Lao. It is not plentiful, however, in the Burmese territories, and is imported from China. Silver mines are wrought in the country of Lao, towards the Chinese frontier, at a place called Bor-twang, about twelve days’journey from B’hamo, which is 250 miles north by east from A va. Those mines are let at a rent of L.4800 per annum, to the Chinese, who among their semibarbarous neighbours the Tonquinese, Siamese, Malays, and Burmans, generally engross every branch of industry which requires either ingenuity or capital. The mountainous districts of Lao in the east contain all the other r netals, but such is the rude state of the people, that they r >θglect those natural advantages; and it is doubtful whet er the copper, tin, and lead ores which are seen in the market of Ava are produced in the Burmese territories, °r are imported from China. Iron is found abundantly in t e eastern country of Lao, and it is wrought, though with little advantage. Owing to ignorance and the want of proper machinery, about 30 or 40 per cent, of the metal' is lost in the process of forging. The province of Martaban, and the mountains near the capital, contain lime in great abundance and of remarkable whiteness; and statuary marble, equal to the best Italian specimens, is found about 40 miles from Ava, on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy. Mines of amber are wrought, and their produce must be abundant, judging from the price of this article, which at Ava does not exceed four shillings per pound. Nitre, natron, and salt, are found in the neighbourhood of the capital, and in the upper provinces; also traces of coal, and there is little doubt that this mineral is extensively diffused. It has not, however, been extracted from the earth by the ignorant and lazy inhabitants, who are content to use in its stead wood, which is scarce and dear. Petroleum, which is used by all ranks among the Burmese for burning in lamps, and also for smearing wood as a preservative against insects, is found near the village of Re-nan-gyaong, on the banks of the Irrawaddy. Here are about eight or ten pits or wells, the general depth of which is from 210 to 240 feet; some of them are deeper, and one is sunk to the depth of 300 feet. The shaft is of a square form, about three feet in diameter, and is formed by sinking a wooden frame. The liquid appears to boil up from the bottom like an abundant spring, and is extracted in buckets, and sent to all quarters of the country. In those parts where its price is raised by a long land-carriage until it comes into competition with Sesamum oil, the latter is preferred. This useful article is sold at the wells at from 5d. to 7d. per cwt., not above the 100th part of the price of whale oil, the cheapest article of the kind which can be procured in this country: at a greater distance its price rises to 3s.4d.and 4s.4d.per cwt., which is still a remarkably low price for the quantity of light which would be afforded by a hundredweight of this oil. The produce of these springs pays a tax of one twentieth; the annual amount of this tax, according to the collector or farmer, is 25,000 ticals, or L.2500 per annum. He calculates that he loses L.800 annually by smuggling, which would make the total produce of the tax L.3300 per annum, and the annual value of the whole produce of the wells L.66,000. Captain Cox was informed that there were 180 wells at one place, and at 4 or 5 miles distance 340 more. These wells belong to the owners of the soil: they are highly valued, yielding a sure rent, and are handed down from father to son as a valuable property. The expense of sinking a well is estimated by Cox at 2500 rupees, and the annual produce at the half of that sum. 2

The precious stones which are produced in the Burmese territories are chiefly of the sapphire species and the spinelle ruby. They are found at two places, about five days’ journey in a south-east direction from the capital, in the beds of rivulets or small brooks, from which they are separated by washing. The varieties of these stones are the oriental sapphire, the oriental ruby, the opalescent ruby, the star ruby, the green, the yellow, and the white sapphires, and the oriental amethyst. The common sapphire is by far the most frequently found. The crown, as in all despotic countries, lays claim to the produce of these rivers; and all the stones that exceed the value of L.]0 are accordingly sent to the treasury. No stranger, not even Chinese or Mahommedan, is ever permitted to approach the spots where these precious stones are found. Noble serpentine or green stone is found in these mountains, and is exported in considerable quantities to China, where it is used for rings and amulets.

1 Symes’s Embassy to Aυa. 2 Journal of a Residence in the Burmese Empire, by Captain Hiram Cox.
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The country of the Burmese, abounding in deserts and forests, affords extensive shelter to the wild animals. The elephant, and the rhinoceros with a single horn, are found in all the deep forests of the country, and especially in Pegu. The royal tiger, the spotted leopard, and several species of wild cats, also the civet cat, are numerous in all the southern provinces. The hog is found in the wild parts of the country, and several species of deer, such as the Indian roe and the stag. Oxen and buffaloes are natives of the Burman forests; but no species of antelope is seen, and none of the canine tribe. There are, it is said, neither wolves, jackals, foxes, nor hyenas, in any of the tropical countries east of Bengal. The horse is known in the high lands, but not in the lower country of Pegu.

Of birds, the wild cock is common, and is seen in coveys in all the forests of the country. Two species of pheasants not known to the naturalists of Europe are numerous in Pegu; they are of a small size, and inferior in beauty of plumage to the pheasants of China and Nepaul. There are peacocks, partridges, and quails, and in marshy places snipes; also geese and ducks in the upper provinces, and ducks in the alluvial plains.

The domestic animals of the Burmese are the ox, the buffalo, the horse, and the elephant. The oxen are used in the upper country, and the buffaloes in the low lands. They are of a good description, and, ranging in the luxuriant pastures of the plains, they commonly appear in high order. The care of these animals is all that is attended to in the rural economy of the Burmese. The buffalo is confined to agricultural labour, and the ox alone is used as a beast of burden or of draught. The Burman horses are rarely more than thirteen hands high; the full-sized horse being unknown in the tropical countries of Asia east of Bengal. Horses are never used but for riding, and only in the upper country, there being no footing for a horse in the alluvial districts. The elephant is not used by the Burmese, except perhaps in the eastern country of Lao, as a domestic animal. He is not employed as a beast of burden, and seems to be maintained merely for royal luxury and ostentation. About 1000 elephants are kept for the pleasure of the king, some of them of fine quality, and of a white colour. The hog is a domestic animal, but of the most filthy and disgusting habits. The dog, as in most other parts of the East, is neglected, and is seen prowling about the streets a prey to disease and famine. Cats are numerous; and about the capital a few goats and sheep, of a puny race, are kept more for curiosity than for use. A few asses are also seen, which are brought from China. The camel is not known even in the upper country, where he would be found extremely useful.—Of poultry only a few common fowls and ducks are reared, for the purpose of being, it is said, clandestinely sold to the Chinese, and to Christian and Mahommedan settlers.

The extensive country which has been conquered by the Burmese contains many distinct tribes and nations, who, though they differ in language, and often in manners, customs, and religion, appear, from their resemblance in features and form, to be the same race with the inhabitants of the countries that he between Hindostan and China. The most considerable of these tribes are the proper Burmans, the Peguans or Talains, the Shans or people of Lao, the Cassay or Kathé, the Zubaing, the Karens, the Kyens, the Yo, and the Laira. They may be generally described as of a stout, short, active, but well-proportioned form; of a brown but never of an intensely black complexion, with black, coarse, lank, and abundant hair, and a little more beard than is possessed by the same races to the south, namely, the Siamese and the people of Lao. Nor does the climate appear sensibly to affect their physical appearance; the inhabitants of the low and marshy plains being rather of a larger make, and more athletic, than those who dwell in the upper country. The population of the country has been variously estimated and grossly exaggerated by the ignorance of Europeans, who have raised it to 17,000,000, 19,000,000, and even 33,000,000. There is no enumeration of the inhabitants in any part. Mr Crau∙ furd, on the best data that he could procure, estimates them at 2,414,000, which is probably above rather than under the truth.

The Burmans appear to be inferior to the Hindoos, and still more to the Chinese, in arts, manufactures, and industry, and in all the institutions of civil life. Their government is a pure despotism, the king dispensing torture, imprisonment, or death, according to his sovereign discretion. One of his customary titles is lord of the life and property of all his subjects; and they frequently find to their cost that this is no vain title. The chief object of government seems to be the personal honour and aggrandizement of the monarch; and the only restraint on the exercise of his prerogative is the fear of an insurrection. He is assisted in his administration by a public and a privy council, through which all orders are issued, and by a majority of whom all public matters are decided. Every royal edict must be sanctioned by this council; and each member is a judge, and, besides, exercises an appellate jurisdiction in the last resort. All questions, before they are submitted to the public advisers of his majesty, are debated in the privy council, which consists of four officers, and to which are attached four deputies, thirty secretaries, and five other officers, who carry messages, and report from time to time the proceedings of the council to the king, and who are in reality privileged spies. The paymaster-general is an officer of high importance; and there are other officers of distinction, such as the daywoon or king’s armour-bearer, and the master of the elephants, though they bear no share in the administration of public affairs.^[1. Symes s Embassy toAva, chap. xni. The members of the public council are called Wun-gyis, or the bearers of thecreat burden; of the privy council, Atwen-wun; the deputies, Wun-dank, i.e. a prop; the privy council if calledlLut-≡ g ] The king may order any of those great officers to be punished at his pleasure; and Mr Craufurd mentions, that, during his residence at Ava, the favourite minister, on a complaint from seme of the women of the court, was, by an order from the king, seized by the public executioner, and laid at the side of the road for two hours under the burning sun, with a weight upon his breast; and, after undergoing this disgraceful punishment, he continued to discharge his high functions as before. The country at large is ruled by provincial governors; and it is divided into provinces, townships, districts, villages, and hamlets. The governor is vested with the civil, military, judicial, and fiscal administration of the province. He is assisted by a deputy, who is a judge, and exercises the power of life and death, though in all civil cases an appeal lies from his sentence to the chief council at the capital; and also by a collector of taxes, and another of customs. In all these courts there is an officer who acts as a kind of sheriff or principal conservator of the peace, another officer who acts as public informer, and a third as assessor to the chief judge. To each court is attached a proper complement of messengers; and the executioner is always present, along (as Mr Craufurd. adds) with his “band of branded ruffians.” There are in all the townships and villages judges with a subordinate jurisdiction. The three towns composing the ca-nital[7:4:243] have each a governor, and they are assisted by a sort ' of head constables, who are known to all strangers “as the busy, corrupt, and mischievous agents of the local authorities.” But from a mere dry detail of the provincial administration and judicial. institutions of the Burmese, their extreme inefficiency can scarcely be known. No Burmese officer ever receives a fixed salary. He is paid by an assignment either of land or of the labour and industry of a given portion of the inhabitants, and the inferior magistrates by fees, perquisites, and other emoluments; and hence the most shameful extortion and bribery prevails amongst all the functionaries of the Burmese government, from the highest to the lowest. Justice is openly set to sale; and the exercise of the judicial functions is found to be so lucrative, that the two executive councils have by their encroachments deprived the regular judge of the greater part of his employment. So notoriously corrupt are all the judges among the Burmese, that a lawsuit is considered by all prudent men as a serious calamity.

The criminal code of the Burmese is barbarous and severe, and the punishments inflicted are shocking to humanity. Gang robbery, desertion from the king’s service, robbing of temples, and sedition or treason, are considered the most heinous crimes, and are most severely punished, die criminal being in some cases embowelled, or thrown to wild beasts. In these cases they generally meet death with Asiatic indifference; and it is related of one woman who was adjudged to the latter punishment, that she deliberately crept into the cage of the tiger, and making an obeisance to the animal, was immediately killed by a single blow of his fore-paw, and dragged into the inner recesses of his den. For lesser offences, fines, whipping, and imprisonment are the punishments adjudged. In important cases torture is applied both to the principals and witnesses; and the jailers often torture their prisoners in order to extort money from them. The English and Americans who, during the late war, were thrown into prison, were frequently tortured, and were compelled to pay fines to the jailer in order to procure milder treatment. The trial by ordeal is sometimes resorted to, as well as other superstitious modes of procedure, which denote the lowest state of barbarism. But the administration of justice among the Burmese, however vexatious and expensive, is far from efficient; and the police is as bad as can possibly be conceived. Hence the country is overrun with pirates and robbers, and a general laxity, negligence, and corruption, pervade every branch of the internal administration.

Among the Burmese, society is distinguished into seven classes, who have each peculiar privileges. These are the royal family, the public officers, the priesthood, the rich men, the cultivators and labourers, slaves and outcasts. There are no hereditary honours under the Burmese government, as all the public functionaries may be dismissed from their offices, and deprived of their rank, at the caprice of the sovereign. Any subject, with, the exception of a slave or outcast, may, however, aspire to the nrst offices in the state, to which, in reality, persons of v θry mean origin do frequently attain. The Burmese are extremely punctilious and strict in maintaining the v <tfιθus orders and distinctions of society. The great officers of government hold the first rank after the king and the princes of the blood, and they are distinguished + a ∏ la i n or badge, which is the order of nobility, and or which there are different degrees, distinguished by the number of strings or small chains which compose the ornament. Three of open chain-work mark the lowest rank; t ree of neatly-twisted wire the next; there are then six, nine, twelve, and finally twenty-four, which the king alone is entitled to wear. But every article possessed by a Burman for use or ornament,—his ear-rings, cap of ceremony, horse furniture,—the metal of his spitting cup or drinking cup, if it be of gold or any other metal,—the colour and quality of his umbrella, an article in general use,and one of the principal insignia of rank, whether it be of brown varnished paper, red, green, gilded, or plain white, the royal colour,—all indicate the rank of the person; and if any of the lower orders usurp the insignia of a higher class, he may be slain with impunity by the first person who meets him; and so prevalent is the aristocratical spirit of the higher orders, that such an usurption would be sure to meet punishment.

When a merchant acquires property, he is registered by a royal edict under the name Thuthé, or “rich man,” which gives him a title to the protection of the court, while it exposes him also to regular extortion. The priesthood form a separate order, who are interdicted from all other employment, and are supported by voluntary contributions. They are distinguished by the yellow colours in their dress, which it would be reckoned sacrilege in any other person to wear; and a formal complaint was made, during the conferences with the British previous to peace, because some of their camp followers were seen dressed in yellow clothes. There is also an order of nuns or priestesses, who make a vow of chastity, but may at any time quit their order. The free labouring population consist of proprietors or common labourers; and they are all considered the slaves of the king, who may at all times call for their services as soldiers, artisans, or common labourers. Hence a Burman, being the property of the king, can never quit the country without his especial permission, which is only granted for a limited time, and never to women on any pretence. The British and others who had children by Burmese women while they resided in the country experienced the greatest difficulty, even with the aid of heavy douceurs, in taking them along with them. There are two classes of slaves; namely, those who have mortgaged their services for a debt, and who are used as slaves until the debt is paid; and prisoners of war, who are always reduced to slavery. The class of outcasts consists of the slaves of the pagodas, the burners of the dead, the jailers and executioners, who are generally condemned criminals, lepers and other incurables, who are held in great abhorrence, and treated with singular caprice and cruelty. They are condemned to dwell alone, and in a state of disgrace; and any man who is infected with this disease, however high his rank, is forced, by continual bribes to the officers of justice, to purchase an exemption from the penalties which attach to him. Prostitutes are also considered as outcasts, but not women of loose character, chastity not being in any repute among the Burmans. The women in Ava are not shut up as in many other parts of the East, and excluded from the sight of men: on the contrary, they are suffered to appear openly in society as in Europe. In many other respects, however, they are exposed to the most degrading treatment. They are sold for a time to strangers; and the practice is not considered shameful, nor the female in any respect dishonoured. They are seldom unfaithful to their new master; and many of them have proved essentially useful to strangers in the Burmese dominions, being generally of industrious and domestic habits, and not addicted to vice.

The taxes from which the public revenue arises are in general rude and ill-contrived expedients for extortion, and are vexatious to the people at the same time that they are not productive to the state. One of the most common is a house-tax on the cultivation of the soil. Nearly all the cultivated land of the kingdom is assign [7:4:244]ed to favourites of the court or to public functionaries in lieu of stipends or salaries, or is appropriated to the expenses of public establishments, such as war-boats, elephants, &c.; and this assignment conveys a right to tax the inhabitants according to the discretion of the assignce. The court favourites who receive these grants generally appoint agents to manage this estate; they pay a certain tax or quit-rent to the crown, and their agents extort from the cultivators as much more as they can by every mode of oppression, often by torture. Besides this stated tax, extraordinary contributions are levied by the council of the state immediately from the lords and nobles to whom the lands are assigned, who in their turn levy it from the cultivators, and generally make it a pretence for plunder and extortion. It is the Burmans and Talains, the most improved class of the population, who pay this tax. They may, besides, be called on to labour in the public works. The Karyens, a ruder class, who cultivate the lands, are subjected to a regular capitation, and are in consequence exempted from the occasional corvées to which the others are exposed. Taxes arc also laid on fruit trees, on the teak forests, on the petroleum springs, on mines of gold and precious stones, on the fishery of ponds, lakes, rivers, and salt-water creeks, on the manufacture of salt, on the eggs of the green turtle, and on esculent swallows’ nests. The custom duties amount on all imports to 10 per cent., and on exports to 5, besides 2 per cent, on the former and 1 per cent, on the latter to the local officers. European and other square-rigged vessels are, besides, subjected to a long list of heavy and vexatious charges; and until within a few years they were obliged to unship their rudders, and to land their guns. These oppressions were done away by the treaty concluded between the British and Burmese in 1826. There are no transit duties, nor any duties at fairs or markets; and as the consumption of wines, spirits, opium, and other intoxicating drugs, is forbidden by law, they cannot of course be subject to any tax.

In the useful arts the Burmese have not made any great advances. The whole process of the cotton manufacture is performed by women, who use a very rude species of loom, and are much inferior in dexterity to the Indian artisans. No fine linen is ever manufactured at home; and the home manufacturer, even in the interior of the country, cannot withstand the competition of British cotton goods. Silk cloths are manufactured at different places; the finest at Ava or Amarapura, from raw Chinese silk, and the coarsest at She-daong, from the raw material of Pegu. The Burman manufactures of silk are generally coarse, high-priced, and durable. The common coarse unglazed earthenware, which is manufactured in Ava, is of an excellent quality; and a better description of pottery is also made. They are entirely ignorant of the art of making porcelain, which is imported from China. Iron ore, as already mentioned, is smelted; but the Burmans cannot manufacture steel, which is brought from Bengal. Coarse articles of cutlery, including swords, spears, knives, also muskets and matchlocks, scissors, and carpenters’ tools, are manufactured at Ava. Brass wire is manufactured at Sagaing, the copper being procured from China, and the zinc from Lao. Gold and silver ornaments are manufactured in every considerable place in the country, but in a decidedly rude and clumsy manner. About forty miles from Ava, on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy, is an entire hill of pure white marble. Here are sculptured marble images of Gautama or Buddha. The marble is of the finest quality; but the workmanship is rude, and displays neither taste nor fancy. Considering the fertility of the country, and its natural advantages, the commerce of Ava is not extensive. It has of late years, however, and especially since the relaxation of the East India Company’s monopoly in 1814, considerably increased. The internal trade of the country centres chiefly in Ava, the capital, and the sea-ports of Rangoon, Tongo, and Bassein. The traders in those parts, and in the lower parts of Pegu, generally bring to the capital and upper provinces rice, pickled and dried fish, and foreign commodities imported from Bengal, the Asiatic Archipelago, and Europe. They receive in exchange petroleum, which, as already mentioned, is a great article of internal consumption; saltpetre, lime, paper, lacquer ware, cotton and silk fabrics, iron, cutlery, some brass ware, terra japonica, palm, sugar, onions, tamarinds, &c. &c. The Shans or people of Lao, from the east, import into Ava cotton and silk stuffs, some raw silk, varnish, stick-lack, ivory, bees-wax, lacquer ware, swords, gold, lead, and tin. They receive in return the articles of the lower country, which are chiefly salt, with pickled and dried fish. One of the most important branches of the trade of Ava is that carried on with the Chinese province of Yunan. The principal marts of this trade are Midé, six miles to the , north-east of Ava; and B’hamo, the chief place of a province of the same name, bordering on China. It is carried on at annual fairs. The Chinese caravan, setting out from the western province of Yunan at the close of the periodical rains, generally arrives at Ava in the beginning of December, after a journey of six weeks over difficult and mountainous roads, on which only horses, mules, and asses can travel. No part of the journey is by water; from which it would appear that the upper streams of the Irrawaddy, near to the Chinese frontier, are not navigable. The principal fair is, however, held at B’hamo, comparatively few traders arriving at Ava. The articles imported from China are wrought copper; orpiment or yellow arsenic from the mines in Yunan, of a very fine quality, which finds its way into western Asia, and into Europe through Calcutta; quicksilver, vermilion, iron pans, brass wire, tin, lead, alum, silver, gold and gold-leaf; earthenware, paints, carpets, rhubarb, tea, honey, raw silk, velvets and other wrought silks; spirits, musk, verdigris, dry fruits, paper, fans, umbrellas, shoes, wearing apparel, and a few live animals, such as dogs, pheasants, and ducks. The metals are chiefly produced in the province of Yunan, which, though poor, is rich in minerals. The tea, which is coarse and black, is supposed to be from the same province, and is retailed at the rate of 6Įd. a pound, though the price paid to the Chinese importer is not half that sum. The annual value of the raw silk, which is the chief article of import, is L.80,000 sterling. The articles sent to China consist of raw cotton to the amount of twenty millions of pounds yearly, and by far the most considerable article of export; feathers, chiefly of the blue jay, for ornamenting the dresses of ceremony oł the Chinese mandarins, and which are so much valued that the bird is pursued by the Burmese hunters as far as the province of Cuttack in India; esculent swallows’nests, ivory, rhinoceros and deers’ horns; sapphires, used for buttons to the caps of the Chinese officers of rank, and noble serpentine, with a small quantity of British woollens. The annual value of this trade is estimated to be from L.400,000 to L.700,000 sterling.

The foreign trade of Ava, carried on chiefly through the central part of Rangoon, is with Chittagong, Dacca, and Calcutta, in Bengal; Madras and Masulipatam on the Coromandel coast; the Nicoar islands and Penang; also occasionally with Bombay, and with the Persian and Arabian Gulf. The articles exported are teak wood, chieflξ to Calcutta; terra japonica, stick-lack,bees-wax, elephants teeth; raw cotton of a fine quality, from Ava to Dacca; gold and silver, especially from Bassein, and by the over [7:4:245]land route of Arracan, to the annual value of L.65,000. The principal imports are cotton piece goods, formerly furnished to the Burmese, who have no cotton manufactures, from the Coromandel coast. To these were afterwards added the cheaper fabrics of Bengal, and both are now in a great measure superseded by the British manufactures. The other imports are British woollens, iron, steel, quicksilver, copper, cordage, borax, sulphur, gunpowder, saltpetre, fire-arms, coarse porcelain, English glass-ware, opium, tobacco, cocoa and areca nuts, sugar, and spirits. Neither the areca nor the cocoa palms flourish in the Burmese territory; and their produce being in general use, is largely imported. The internal trade in the low country, where there are scarcely any roads, is carried on mostly by the rivers and canals; and the Irrawaddy is navigated by vessels of 100 tons burden. In the upper country goods are mostly conveyed in carts drawn by oxen or small horses; and the merchants, as in other parts of Asia, travel in caravans for security.

The progress and civilization of a country may be generally very accurately measured by the state of its currency; and that used by the Burmese is of the rudest description. For the smaller payments lead is employed; and for the larger payments gold or silver, but principally the latter. These are not coined into pieces of any known weight and fineness; and in every payment of any consequence the metal must be weighed and generally assayed, for which a premium is paid to the bankers or money-changers, of 2’- per cent., besides one per cent, which they say is lost in the operation. These bankers are said by Symes to be workers in silver, and every merchant has one with whom he lodges his cash, and who receives on this account a commission of one per cent. The want of a more convenient currency must tend greatly to embarrass the operations of trade. The high interest received for money, which is 25 and 60 per cent, when no security is given, is another proof of the low state of commerce among the Burmese.

The Burmese, as may be supposed, are entirely ignorant of literature and science. Their astronomy and astrology they have borrowed from the Hindoos, and the Brahmins have still the exclusive care of such matters. According to their calendar, a common year consists of 12 months, of 29 and 30 days alternately; the year consequently is of 354 days; and, in order to preserve the solar time, the fourth month of every year is doubled, and the additional days and hours are supplied by the royal edicts as they are required. The natural day is divided into 60 parts, called Nari; and time is measured by means of a copper cup perforated at the bottom, and placed in a vase of water. This cup sinks to a particular mark at the termination of each part, when a great bell is struck, which is suspended from a tall belfry close to the palace. The Burmese are entirely ignorant of navigation, and in their voyages to Calcutta during the fine season, they creep along the coast, never losing sight of it. They are equally Ignorant of geography and of all the kindred sciences, and, m lieu of useful knowledge, they cultivate the vain art of alchemy, labouring with intense anxiety to convert the baser metals into gold. Morality, as in most semi-barbarous states, is at a low ebb among them; and their rulers, according to the depositions of several Europeans, British and others, taken before Mr Craufurd at Rangoon, have no conception of the moral excellence or utility of good aith. “They would,” says the Rev. Mr Judson, the respectable American missionary, “consider it nothing less tian folly t 0 keep a treaty if they could gain any thing by reaking it. The fidelity observed by the British government in fulfilling the stipulations of the late treaty stupi-ed the Burmans. They knew not what to make of it, but some of them have now begun to admire it. I heard many make use of expressions like the following: i These Kulas (English), though they drink spirits and slay cattle, and are ambitious and rapacious, have a regard for truth and their word which is quite extraordinary, whereas in us Burmese there is no truth.’ The first circumstance in the conduct of the British which struck them with surprise, was the return of Dr Sandford on his parole; and next, Sir A. Campbell’s returning six lacs of rupees offered him after the money was in his power.”

The Burmese army is recruited from the whole male population of the country, who are at the absolute dispo-- sal of the king, for war or any other purpose; but there is no fixed plan for calling out this conscription, nor any limited period of service; and the inhabitants are far from being of a warlike character. The conscripts, when brought together, are a mere rabble, without discipline or valour. They are always dragged unwillingly into the service, and when an expedition was sent against Junkseylon and the Siamese, they were seen by Europeans, who stated the fact to Mr Craufurd, embarked by hundreds with their hands and legs tied, as if they had been so many cattle. They were unable to withstand the attack of the European force, even though protected by stoccades; and they were completely dismayed by the resolution with which those new enemies advanced to close quarters, and by the destructive effects of their artillery, rockets, &c. From their success against all the neighbouring tribes with whom they had been engaged, they embarked in a war with the British in the vain confidence of an easy triumph; but the entire destruction of a corps of 1000 men at Rangoon, the subsequent assault of the Burman lines, and the retreat of the army to Donabew, entirely dissipated these hopes, and overwhelmed both the court and the people with astonishment and dismay. From the composition of the Burmese force, it cannot long be maintained in the field, and is sure to be entirely dispersed by a defeat; and accordingly, when the British army had advanced to within 45 miles of the capital, it was scarcely possible to collect 1000 men for its defence. The Burmese are very indifferently armed, with clumsy two-handed swords, spears, matchlocks, as many old European muskets as they can purchase, rude padereros of native manufacture, and a few old iron and brass cannon, purchased from strangers, and in no good condition; but they excel in the construction of field works, which they raise on the best positions, and with surprising celerity. Since the conquest of Cassay or Munnipore the Burmese have maintained a body of cavalry, chiefly composed of the Cassay horsemen, who act as a body-guard to the king. They are provided with a spear about seven or eight feet long, which they manage with great dexterity. The peace establishment of the sovereign of Ava is very limited; and Symes mentions that he could never observe any assemblage of more than 2000 troops in the capital.

The Burmese are not votaries of Brahma, but sectaries! of Boodh, who is universally considered by the Hindoos as the ninth Avatar, or descent of the Deity in his capacity of preserver; and the rites, doctrines, and priesthood are nearly the same as in the countries to the east of the Ganges, namely, Siam, Camboja, and in Ceylon, and formerly in the Asiatic islands. Neither Christianity nor Mahommedanism has made any progress. Foreigners enjoy the most perfect religious toleration, and there is no hostility either to Europeans or to Christians, as in Mahommedan countries; but the Burmese rulers view any attempt to convert the natives to the Christian or any other foreign faith as an interference with their allegiance, and they discourage all such schemes. An American mission was settled [7:4:246]there under the conduct of Mr Judson, who brought to the execution of this perilous service zeal and sound discretion; but it entirely failed of success, not from any bigotry on the part of the natives, but from the opposition of men in power. On the war breaking out with the British the missionaries were imprisoned, and narrowly escaped with their lives. They are now prosecuting their missionary labours in the British province of Martaban.

The ancient history of Ava is very imperfectly known, and the sketch compiled by Mr Craufurd, from oral tradition, and from written documents which he procured during his residence in the country, consists chiefly of dynastics and kings, of which little more is given than the names. We learn from the Portuguese navigators, that, about the middle of the 16th century, four powerful states ruled over those countries which lie between the south-east province of British India, Yunan in China, and the Eastern Sea, namely, Arracan, Ava, Pegu, and Siam. By the help of the Portuguese the Burmans subdued the Peguers, and maintained their supremacy over them throughout the 17th and during the first 40 years of the 18th century, when the Peguers revolted, and a war ensued, in the course of which, by the aid of arms procured from Europeans, they gained several victories over the Burmans, and having taken their capital Ava, and made the king prisoner, they reduced the whole country to submission. Alompra, a man of low extraction, who had been left by the conqueror in charge of Monchaboo, an inconsiderable village, planned the deliverance of his country. He attacked the foreigners at first with small detachments; but when his forces increased, he suddenly advanced, and took possession of the capital in the autumn of 1753. In 1754 the Peguers, anxious to recover their lost conquests, sent an armament of war-boats against Ava; but after an obstinate and bloody battle they were totally defeated by Alompra. In the districts of Prome, Donabew, Loonzay, &c. the Burmans revolted, and succeeded either in expelling or putting to the sword all the Pegu garrisons in their towns. In 1754 Prome was besieged by the king of Pegu, when he was again defeated by Alompra in a severe battle, and the war was transferred from the upper provinces to the mouths of the navigable rivers, and the numerous creeks and canals which intersect the lower country. In 1755 Alompra defeated in a general battle Apporaza the king of Pegu’s brother, after which the Peguers were driven from Bassein and the adjacent country, and were forced to withdraw to the fortress of Syriam. About the year 1754 Alompra, having subdued the Cassayers, who had revolted, laid siege to this fortress, which was taken by surprise, when the garrison were mostly put to the sword, and the Europeans were made prisoners. In these wars the French sided with the Peguers, the English with the Burmans. Monsieur Dupleix, the governor of Pondicherry, had sent two ships to the aid of the former; but the master of the first was decoyed up the river by Alompra, when his vessel was taken, and he along with his whole crew was massacred. The other escaped by being accidentally delayed, and carried accounts of this disaster to Pondicherry. Alompra was now master of all the navigable rivers; and the Peguers, being entirely shut out from foreign aid, were finally subdued. In 1755 the conqueror laid siege to the city of Pegu, which finally capitulated, on condition that the king should govern the country, but that he should do homage for his kingdom, and should also surrender his aughter to the victorious monarch. Alompra, with Asiatic perfidy, violated these conditions, and at last succeeded by treachery in obtaining possession of the town, which he abandoned to the fury of his soldiers. In 1757 the Peguers endeavoured to throw off the yoke, but they were overthrown in a decisive engagement near Rangoon; and Alompra arriving soon after, quelled the rebellion. He afterwards reduced the town and district of Tavoy, and finally undertook the conquest of the Siamese. His army advanced to Mergui and Tennasscrim, both which towns were taken; and he was besieging the capital of Siam when he was taken ill. He immediately ordered his army to retreat, in hopes of reaching his capital alive; but he expired before this, in 1760, in the 50th year of his age, after he had reigned eight years. He was succeeded by his oldest son Namdojee Praw, whose reign was disturbed by the rebellion of his brother Shembuan, and afterwards by one of his father’s generals. By his vigour he succeeded in quelling these revolts; and he afterwards turned his arms against the refractory Peguers, who were reduced to subjection. He died in little more than three years, leaving one son in bis infancy. On his decease the throne was usurped by his brother Shembuan, who never acknowledged the rightful heir. He was intent, like his predecessors, on the conquest of the adjacent states; and he accordingly made war in 1765 on the Munnipore Cassayers, and also on the Siamese, with partial success. In the following year he renewed the war with the latter, defeated the Siamese, and, after a long blockade, obtained possession of their capital. But while the Burmans were extending their conquests in this quarter, they were invaded by a Chinese army of 50,000 men from the province of Yunan. This army was hemmed in by the skill of the Burmans; and being harassed by the want of provisions, it was afterwards attacked and totally destroyed, with the exception of 2500 men, who were sent in fetters to work in the Burmese capital at their several trades. In the mean time the Siamese revolted from the Burmese yoke; and while the Burman army was marching against them, the Peguer soldiers who were embodied in it rose against their companions, and commencing an indiscriminate massacre, pursued the Burman army to the gates of Rangoon, which they besieged, but were unable to capture. In 1774 Shembuan was engaged in reducing the marauding tribes. He took the district and fort of Martaban from the revolted Peguers; and in the following year he sailed down the Irrawaddy with an army of 50,000 men, and, arriving at Rangoon, he put to death the aged monarch of Pegu, along with many of his nobles, who had shared with him in the guilt of rebellion. He died in 1776, after a reign of 12 years, during which he had extended the Burmese dominions on every side, having reduced to a state of vassalage the petty states in the neighbourhood, and the uncivilized tribes in the western hills, as well as those in the mountainous tracts to the east of the Irrawaddy. He was succeeded by his son, a youth of 18, who proved himself a blood-thirsty despot, and was put to death by his uncle Min dragee Praw in 1782, who ascended the vacant throne. In 1783 he sent a fleet of boats against Arracan, which was conquered, and the rajah and his family made prisoners. Cheduba, Ramnce, and the Broken Isles soon afterwards surrendered.

The Siamese who had revolted in 1771 were never afterwards subdued by the Burmans. They retained their dominion over the sea-coast, as far as Mergui; and in the year 1785 they attacked the island of Junkseylon with a fleet of boats and an army. But they were ultimately driven back with loss; and a second attempt by the Burman monarch, who in 1786 invaded Siam with an army oı 30,000 men, was attended with no better success. I n 1793 peace was concluded between these two powers, the Siamese yielding to the Burmans the entire possession of the coast of Tennasscrim on the Indian Ocean, and th e two important sea-ports of Mergui and Tavoy∙
[7:4:247]

In 1795 the Burmese were involved in a dispute with the British in India, in consequence of their troops to the amount of 5000 men entering the district of Chittagong in pursuit of three robbers who had fled from justice across the frontier. Explanations being made, and terms of accommodation offered by General Erskine, the commanding officer, the Burmese commander retired from the British territories, when the fugitives were restored, and all 1ifferences for the present amicably arranged.

But it was evident that the gradual extension of the British and Burmese territories would in time bring the two powers into collision, and would in all probability lead to a war between them. And it happened, accordingly, that the Burmese, having conquered the neighbouring states of Pegu, Siam, and Arracan, and the northern countries of Cassay and Assam, came into contact with the British frontier near Sylhet on the north-east, which was occupied by chiefs dependent, though somewhat loosely, on the British government. The Burmese leaders, arrested in this manner in their career of conquest, and flushed with past success, were impatient to measure their strength with their new neighbours. It appears from the evidence of Europeans who resided in Ava, that they were entirely unacquainted with the discipline and great military resources of the Europeans. They imagined that, like the other nations in the East, they would fall before their superior tactics and valour; and their cupidity was inflamed by the prospect of marching to Calcutta and of plundering the country. With such dispositions, it was not to be supposed that causes of quarrel would long be wanting; and accordingly, on the whole frontier line, the Burmese were continually committing petty acts of aggression, which the British troops would have been justified in repelling by force. At length their chiefs, throwing off the mask, ventured on the open violation of the British territories. They attacked a party of Sepoys within the frontier, seized and carried off British subjects, and at all points their troops, moving in large bodies, assumed the most menacing positions. The island of Shaparee, at the mouth of the Naaf river, had been occupied by a small guard of British troops. These were attacked on the 23d September 1823, during the night, by the Burmese, and driven from their post with the loss of several lives; and to the repeated demands of the British for redress no answer was returned. On the north-east frontier, in the district of Sylhet, the Burmese troops entered the territories of Cachar, which were under the protection of the British, in pursuit of certain alleged fugitives; and they proceeded, according to their custom, to fortify their posts by strong palisades. Here they were attacked in January 1824, and driven from their positions. Several other actions took place, in some of which the British were forced to fall back from the stoccaded posts of their enemies; and in May the Burmese invaded Chittagong in great force, and surrounded a British detachment under Captain No-ton, which was almost entirely destroyed. The alarm which this disaster occasioned in the British territories was great,, and extended as far as Calcutta.

. Hostilities having now commenced, the British rulers m India, with their usual boldness and energy, resolved to carry the war into the enemy’s country; and with this view an armament was fitted out under the orders of Commodore Grant and Sir Archibald Campbell, which entered ffie Irrawaddy river, and anchored off Rangoon on the 10th nay 1824. After a feeble resistance this great sea-port of the Burmese surrendered, and the troops were landed.

le place was entirely deserted by its inhabitants, the provisions were carried off or destroyed, and the invading force took possession of a complete solitude. The devastation of the country, which was part of the defensive system of the Burmese, was carried into execution with unrelenting rigour, and the invaders were soon reduced to great difficulties. Being destitute both of provisions and of the means of transport, they were confined within the limits of Rangoon, where they were soon surrounded on all sides by an overwhelming force, posted behind stoccaded entrenchments, which were constructed with equal celerity and skill. The flat country at the mouth of the Irrawaddy is extremely favourable for defence, being mostly covered with a thick and tenacious jungle, intersected by a few narrow and uncertain foot-paths, only known to the Karyan tribes, who cultivate the lands; or by numerous creeks and rivers, from whose thickly-wooded banks a destructive fire might be poured on the invading force. The unskilful Burmese did not. however, profit by the localities as they might have done for the defence of the country. They continued to erect their stoccade under cover of the jungle, and, gradually encroaching on the British position, to harass the outposts and foraging parties, and to prevent all communication between the invaders and the inhabitants. On the 28th May Sir A. Campbell ordered an attack to be made on some of the nearest posts of the enemy, which were all carried after a feeble defence. Another attack was made on the 10th June on the stoccades at the village of Kemmendine. Some of these, being too strong to be attacked by escalade, were battered by artillery; and the shot and shells struck such terror into the Burmese that they fled from their works in the utmost precipitation. The monarch of Ava, enraged at these defeats, sent large reinforcements to his dispirited and beaten army; and early in July a new attack was commenced on the British line, with no better success than before. On the 8th the British general directed an assault to be made on the enemy’s entrenched positions, in which the armament on the river co-operated with the land force. The enemy were beaten as formerly at all points; and their strongest stoccaded works, battered to pieces by a powerful artillery, were in general abandoned by their defenders. Towards the end of August an attack was made on the British position by the prince of Sarawaddy, which was quickly repelled. But with this exception, the enemy having learned by fatal experience the necessity of caution, allowed the British to remain unmolested in their quarters during the months of July and August. This interval of leisure was employed by Sir A. Campbell in subduing the maritime provinces of the Burmese to the east, namely, Tavoy, Mergui, and the whole coast of Tennasscrim, which quickly submitted to the British arms. This was an important conquest, as the country proved to be salubrious, and afforded convalescent stations to the sick, who were now so numerous in the British army, owing to severe duty, and to the incessant rains and privations of every kind to which they were exposed, that scarcely 3000 soldiers fit for duty could be mustered in the lines. The climate of Mergui proved to be so healthy that the sick who had been languishing for months at Rangoon rapidly recovered.^[2. Narrative of the Burmese War, by Major Snodgrass. ] An expedition was about this time sent against the old Portuguese fort and factory of Syriam, at the mouth of the Pegu river, which was taken; and in October the province of Martaban was reduced under the authority of the British.

The rainy season terminated about the end of October, and the court of Ava, alarmed by the discomfiture of its numerous armies, resolved on recalling the veteran legions [7:4:248]which were employed in Arracan, under their renowned leader Maha Bandoola, in vain attempts to penetrate the British frontier. Relinquishing his plans of offensive war, Bandoola, with his army, hastened by forced marches to the defence of his country, and, by the end of November, an army of 60,000 men had surrounded the British position at Rangoon and Kemmendine, for the defence of which Sir Archibald Campbell had only 5000 efficient troops. On the 1st December the enemy in great force made repeated attacks on the post of Kemmendine, noways daunted by the heavy broadsides which were poured from the shipping in the river. These attacks were invariably repulsed by the steadiness of the troops—the last, which was made after dusk, with great loss; and the fire rafts which had been set afloat for the destruction of the shipping, were towed ashore by the sailors, where they occasioned no injury. Several encounters took place with the enemy on the succeeding days; and on the 7th the army of Bandoola k was completely routed in a general attack by Sir A. Campbell. The fugitives retired to a strong position on the river, which they again entrenched; and they were here attacked by the British on the 12th, who, surmounting every obstacle, carried the stoccaded ramparts at the point of the bayonet, and drove the enemy in complete confusion from the field. After this defeat the remnant of the Burmese army retreated to Donabew.

Sir Archibald Campbell, thus victorious in every encounter, now resolved to advance on Prome, about 100 miles higher up the Irrawaddy river. Having provided the means of .transport, and having succeeded in acquiring the confidence of the inhabitants, many of whom had returned to their homes, and were found extremely useful to the army, he moved with his force in two divisions along different branches of the Irrawaddy. By the 22d he reached Sarrawah, about 50 miles from Rangoon. Here he expected intelligence of the reduction of Donabew by the force under General Cotton, which was left in the rear for that purpose. He had advanced 26 miles farther when he learned that General Cotton’s attack on Donabew had failed. He instantly began a retrograde march; on the 27th he effected a junction with General Cotton’s force, and on the 2d April carried the entrenchments at Donabew with little resistance, the enemy being panic-struck by the death of the general-in-chief, Maha Bandoola, who was killed by the explosion of a bomb. Sir A. Campbell, resuming his march to Prome, entered that place on the 25th, the Burmese flying at his approach, after setting fire to the town. Here he remained during the rainy season to refresh his troops, exhausted by privations and severe service. On the 17th September an armistice was concluded between the contending armies for one month. In the course of the summer General Morrison had conquered the province of Arracan; in the north the Burmese were expelled from Assam; and the British had made some progress in Cachar, though their advance was finally impeded by the thick forests and jungle with which the country was covered.

The armistice between the Burmese and Sir A. Campbell having expired on the 17th October, the army of Ava, amounting to 60,000 men, advanced in three divisions against the British position at Prome, which was defended by 3000 Europeans and 2000 native troops. But the science, courage, superior equipment, and high discipline of the British still triumphed over the undisciplined hordes of the .Burmese army, who being hastily brought together, and inexperienced in war, were unable to withstand the close encounter of their veteran adversaries. After several actions, in which the Burmese were the assailants, and were partially successful, Sir A. Campbell, on the 1st December, attacked the different divisions of their army, which were imprudently separated from each other, and which, notwithstanding the entrenchments by which they were protected, were, in the course of four days, successively driven from all their positions and dispersed in every direction. The Burmese retired on Meaday and afterwards on Mellone, along the course of the Irrawaddy, where they occupied with 10,000 or 12,000 men a series of strongly fortified heights and a formidable stoccade. On the 26th they sent a flag of truce to the British camp, and a negociation having commenced, peace was proposed to them on the following conditions: IsĄ The cession of Arracan, together with the provinces of Mergui, Tavoy, and Yea; t 2d , The kingdom of Assam and its contiguous petty states, and also Munnipore, were to be placed under princes and residents named by the British government; 3d, The company to be paid a crore of rupees as an indemnification for the expenses of the war; 4√∕z, Residents from each court to be allowed, with an escort of fifty men. It was also stipulated that British ships should no longer be obliged to unship their rudders and land their guns as formerly in the Burmese ports. This treaty was agreed to and signed, but the ratification of the king was still wanting; and it was soon apparent that the Burmese had no intention to send it, but were preparing to renew the contest. On the 17th January, accordingly, Sir A. Campbell attacked the enemy’s position at Mellone and carried it, the Burmese troops abandoning their defences in complete disorder. Another offer of peace was here made, which was found to be insincere, and the fugitive army resolved to make at Pagahm-Mew a final stand in defence of the capital. They were attacked and overthrown on the 9th February 1826; and the invading force being now within four days’ march of Ava, Dr Prince, an American missionary, who, with other Europeans, had been thrown into prison when the war commenced, was sent to the British camp with the treaty ratified, the prisoners of war released, and the stipulated instalment of 25 lacs of rupees. The war was thus brought to a successful termination, and the British army immediately began its retreat. Mr Craufurd has since this period resided on the part of the British in the capital of the Burmese monarch, and from his work we derive much valuable information respecting the trade, resources, manners, and institutions of this people, who until the embassy of Colonel Symes in 1796 were almost entirely unknown to Europeans.

Ava, the capital of the Burman empire. It is situated on the Irrawaddy, which is here 3282 feet broad, and which, making a bend out of its ordinary course, flows past the city on the north. On the east it has the river Myit-nge, a rapid stream 450 feet broad, which flows into the Irrawaddy close under its walls. From this river a canal has been dug, through which its waters flow on the south-east angle of the city, and are again brought into the same river. On the south flows the deep and rapid torrent of the Myit-tha into the Irrawaddy, and thus forms the defences both of the south and west faces of the town. This place is divided into the upper and lower, or the lesser and the larger town, both of which are fortified. The brick wall that surrounds the city is 15∣∙ feet ⅛ height and 10 feet in thickness, on the inside of which is thrown up a bank of earth, forming an angle of 45 degrees. There is a ditch round the outer wall, which is inconsiderable, and in the dry season fordable in every part. The wall round the upper or lesser town, which forms the north-east angle, is better constructed than that of the large town. The ditch over the south and west faces of it is also broader and deeper, and when full in the wet season is not to be forded. There are, however, three causeways across, which communicate with the surrounding country. The lesser town is mostly oc-copied[7:4:249] by the palace, the hall of justice, the council chamber, the arsenal, and the habitations of a few courtiers of distinction. A strong, well-built wall, about 20 feet high, surrounds the square in which these are situated; and on the outside of the wall is a teak-wood stoccade of the same height. The circumference around the walls, and excluding the suburbs, is about 5∣ miles; but over this extensive area the houses are but thinly scattered, and some quarters are indeed wholly destitute of habitations, and have the appearance merely of neglected commons. In general the habitations of the inhabitants are of the most miserable sort, being mostly mere huts thatched with grass. Some of the dwellings of the chiefs are constructed of planks, and tiled; and there are not, according to Mr Craufurd, more than half a dozen houses built of brick and mortar. Ava, like all the other Burmese towns, is adorned with numerous temples, of which the gilded spires, rising aloft, present, on a distant view of the place, a splendid and imposing appearance, which is far from being realized on a nearer inspection. The largest of these temples contains two distinct edifices; one in the ancient, the other in the modern form; the former containing an image of Guatama, not of marble, as Symes supposes, but of sandstone. It is in a sitting posture, and is 24 feet in height. The head is eight feet in diameter. There is another very large temple, and a third called the “Beautiful.” The one called Maong-Ratna is of great celebrity; it is the one in which the public officers of the government take, with the most solemn forms, the oath of allegiance. The temple called Maha-mrat-muni had an addition lately made to it, of which Mr Craufurd mentions that the numerous and richly-gilded pillars, and splendid ceiling, exceeded any thing that was to be seen without the palace. Ava contains eleven markets or bazaars, composed of thatched huts and sheds, which are well supplied with all that is necessary for the wants of the people. Besides native commodities, there is exposed in these markets the produce of China and Lao, with British cottons, woollens, glass and earthen-ware. The Burman monasteries are mostly built of wood; and of these, consisting of more solid materials, a few ancient ones are all that are to be seen. The only exception is a monastery lately built by the queen, adjoining the palace, which is an unshapely fabric of immense size, and a very conspicuous object.

The capital of the Burman dominions, according to the political divisions of the empire, comprehends the town of Sagaing on the opposite shore of the Irrawaddy', and the town of Ummerapoora or Amarapura, four miles to the east, with large districts attached to each. The town of Sagaing extends along the Irrawaddy for more than a mile and a half, but is of inconsiderable breadth. It consists of mean houses, thinly scattered among gardens and orchards, the principal trees in the latter consisting of fine old tamarinds. Over the site of the town and its environs are scattered innumerable temples, some of them old and ruinous, others modern. On the river face it has a brick wall about ten feet in height, with parapet and embrazures like that of Ava, and extending for above half a mile along the river. Ummerapoora, to the east, is a large place, and was formerly the capital of Ava. But Ava, which was twice before the capital, was again made so in 1822, by his present majesty. To each of the towns of Ava, Sagaing, and Ummerapoora, are attached districts, which extend the two former twelve miles along the river, and are of equal breadth. The district of Ummerapoora is of equal size, so that Ava must be considered as not only the name of the capital, but of a large district around, which includes an area of 288 miles, containing, according to the most accurate estimate, 354,200 inhabitants. But the city of Ava is not supposed to contain more than 50,000 inhabitants; and, according to Mr Craufurd, half that number would be nearer the truth. Long. 96. E. Lat. 21. 50. N. (Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava, by Michael Symes; Journal of a Residence in the Burman Empire, by Captain Hiram Cox; Narrative of the Burmese War, by Major Snodgrass; Journal of an Embassy to the Court of Ava in 1827, by J. Craufurd.) (f.)