fSbway Y©e^

j-..:''/: o-;.!i':^i.afe.!^=i;.

"I^ive the/e Books
'. fur the founding of a. Coliig^ m ihis Colony"

Bequest of
George A. Kittredge, '.53
r'j'18

BURMA

BURMA
AS IT WAS, AS IT IS, AND AS IT
WILL BE

BY

JAMES GEORGE SCOTT
(SHWAY YOE)
AUTHOR OF "the BURMAN '. HIS LIFE AND NOTIONS"
"FRANCE AND TONG-KING," ETC. ETC.

LONDON
GEORGE RED WAY
YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN
1886

PREFACE.

T T is related of a member of Parliament
that some years ago he met at dinner a
civilian from British Burma, home on leave.
The conversation turned on that country,
and the legislator remarked, " Burma — oh,
yes, Burma. I had a cousin who was out
there for some time, but he always called
it Bermuda." Members of Parliament now perhaps less
than ever represent the intelligence and in
formation of the country, but there is not so
much known of our new province, or of our
old provinces for the matter of that, as is de
sirable. Ordinary publicists seem to consider
that a reference to " pestilential swamps " is
the most vivid way of giving an idea of what
the country is like.

vi PREFACE.
A sketch of the country, of its history,
and of its industrial prospects will therefore
not be considered out of place.
In writing this book the author has
followed the lines of, and utilized to some ex
tent, a lecture delivered before the Society
of Arts in January 1886. The most recent
authorities have throughout been consulted,
including the Parliamentary Blue-Book of
1886. The author is also particularly
indebted for the sketch of the Burmese
Constitution to a lecture delivered at Simla,
before the United Service Institute, by Mr.
R. H. Filcher, of the Burma Commission.

CONTENTS.

— I. — ^The History.
Burma according to Native Theories . . . i
Origin of the Burmese  6
Early History  n
First Appearance of Europeans in Burma . . 14
French Intrigues in Burma and the Chinese Suze
rainty Theory  19
Worrying our Representatives .... 26
War with Burma . ,  28
The Inevitable End  33
II,— The Country.
Lower Burma

Upper Burma
The Irrawaddy to Mandalay .
Mandalay ....
The Irrawaddy above Mandalay

S3
566576

III.— The People.
Burmese Kings  85
Burmese Officials  92
TheHloht-daw  95
The Officers of the Household . . . .106
Method of Appointment and Payment . . . 108
The People  no
Their Faults  112

CONTENTS.

III. — The 'Pzovle— continued.

Excellence as Buddhists  1 16
Doctrine of Good Works
. 120
Superstitions .
. 123
Lucky and Unlucky Days
. 127
The Most Sociable of Men
.
. 129
Freedom of the Women
13s
A Nation of Smokers
139
Contented with British Rule
140
Ascendency of the Chinaman
142
Trade 
146
Hill-tribes ....
166
Their Religion
174
Hope for the Nomads
176
The Kachyens
177
BURMA:
^.5- IT WAS, AS IT IS, AND AS IT WILL BE.

1.— THE HISTORY.
BURMA ACCORDING TO NATIVE THEORIES.
nPHE Burmese system of the universe is ^
-^ very orderly, but it conflicts somewhat
with the theories of Western men of science.
In the centre stands Mount Meru, shaped
like a cask floating end upwards, half above
the ocean, half below. It rests on three feet,
huge rubies and carbuncles. On its slopes
are the six seats of Devas, the beings who,
by good works and incessant meditation,
have risen above man's estate on the path
to Nirvana. Above the mountain in the
empyrean are the sixteen seats of the
Brahmas, the Perfect, who live in a state
B

2 BURMA.
of sublime contemplation. Down below are
the eight great hells and the numberless
smaller ones. Round Mount Meru extends
the vast Thamohddaya ocean, girdled in by
the seven ranges of the Sekyawala hills, with
seven seas interposed. In the sea round
Mount Meru are four great islands — the
northern, eastern, southern, and western —
and each of thes^ has five hundred small
islands round about it. The race of man in
habits the southern island. The Burmese,
the Chinese and Indo-Chinese, and the
Indians people the mainland, and the
English and other foreigners live in the
small islands.
The eastern, western, and northern islands
are very pleasant to live in, but especially
the northern. It is a regular land of
•Cockayne. Gorgeous dresses hang ready-
made from the trees. Dainty meats of all
kinds grow up and cook themselves. But
still they are not happy. Like the eastern
and western islanders, they are always reborn
in the same place, and cannot raise them
selves. It is only in the southern island
that Buddhas appear to teach the law, and
free the people from constant deaths and

THE HISTORY.
reappearances. Only there can man rise in
the scale of existence, until he finally frees
himself from passion, and sorrow, and the
trammels of existence, and sinks into the
bliss of Nirvana. Therefore, the pious have
called the southern island the ferry to
Nirvana. The whole universe is destroyed once in
an Asankya, "which is the tale
Of all the drops that in ten thousand years
Would fall on all the worlds by daily rain."
The present universe, called Badda, has a
little over four quadrillion years to run.
It was first peopled by Brahmas, nine
inhabitants of the highest Buddhist heavens,
who came down and settled upon earth. At
first they lived upon a particular kind of
flavoured earth, but gradually they became
tired of this, and took to eating the seeds
of a species of creeper, even as Adam and
Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Thus they
became gradually less and less spiritual and
more and more material, until at last they
lost all their heavenly attributes, and had to
live by the sweat of their brow like all their
B 2

4 BURMA.
descendants. From these Brahmas, the
Burmese claim to be the lineal descendants.
They call themselves Bam-ma. This word
is written Myam-ma, and used to be pro
nounced Byam-ma. and this is obviously,
according to the national Idea of etymology,
the same thing as Brahma. The theory
reminds one of Pope Gregory's ''Non Angli,
sed angeli." The Burmese are not mere
Burmans ; they are celestial beings. They
are no more angelic now than, it is painful
to admit, latter-day or even ancient Britons,
but at any rate the claim is one which should
meet with English sympathy, especially as
the Burman Is the most genial of all
Orientals. Philologists, it is true, who have
the modern mania for spoiling pretty
stories, declare that this is all wrong. They
assert that Myam-ma is only a mutilated
form of Myo-ma. Myo means "people" or
"race," and the Burmans would therefore
be, not fallen angels, but simply men 
emphatically men certainly, but still only
men. In proof of this, the Mro, a hill-tribe
now existing in our Arakan province, are
pointed out as a living demonstration of the
fact. Therefore the Brahma theory must

THE HISTORY. 5
probably be abandoned, just as It is im
possible for us to accept Mount Meru and
the seven encircling seas. If the Burmans
are not the descendants of celestial beings,
they may hope to become celestial beings
themselves In a future existence.
The particular part of the southern Island
they inhabit is called the Ashay Pyee, the
Eastern Country. The Chinese live east of
them. It is true ; but the Chinese are " elder
brothers" and Buddhists, though very bad
ones. India Is called the Middle Country.
The east is the place of honour, for It was
from the east that the Buddha came. The
name has, therefore, the signification of the
"foremost country," the one that Is superior
to all others, the country ruled over by the
King of the Umbrella-bearing Chiefs, the
Arbiter of Existence, the great Lord of
Righteousness, as the King of Burma was
called, among other titles.
This conviction not only of their own
superiority, but of the superiority of their
country over all others, has had a great Influ
ence on the Burmese character, both In their
estimation of themselves and in the attitude
which they have adopted towards foreign j

6 BURMA.

nations. It has been fostered by their litera
ture, and Buddhism itself has done not a little
>to strengthen the assurance that they, with
their heavenly descent, and their kings of the
true solar race, are Indeed In the foremost
ranks of time.

ORIGIN OF THE BURMESE.
Now that we have got the Burmese notions
of themselves, we may turn to more matter-of-
fact statements about the people and the
country. There is a multitude of tribes in
all parts of the land called by the general
name of Burma, having different names, a
great variety of customs and religion, and
considerable dialectic diversities. But a
closer examination shows that there are
really only four main groups : —
The Burmans proper, who, broadly speak
ing, Inhabit the newly annexed province ;
The Talalngs or M6ns, who occupy the
delta provinces and are frequently referred
to as Peguans ;
The Karenns, who are found in the country
round about Toung-oo and in the hills
between the Salween and SIttang rivers •

THE HISTORY. 7
F"Inally, the Shans, who are the most ex
tensively diffused and probably the most
numerous of the Indo-Chinese races, lapping
both Upper and Lower Burma round from
the north-west by the north and east to the
south-west, extending from Assam down to
Bangkok and farther east to Camboja and
almost to Tong-KIng.
It Is an undecided question where the
Burmese came from, but everything seems to
point to the south-eastern border of the great
Central Asian table-land. All the rivers
draining northern Indo-China rise In the
Eastern Himalayas, and no road is so easy
for an emigrating nation as the valley of a
river. It Is also quite certain that the Mon
or Talaing people are simply earlier wanderers
from the same original dwelling-places as the
Burmese. The Talaing language, whether ,/
in its written or spoken form, is quite incom
prehensible to a Burman, but it has almost
entirely died out within the last fifty years,
and once more the Upper and Lower
Burmans speak the same language. In
general appearance there never has been any
marked distinction, except that the Takings
were somewhat lighter- coloured than the

8 BURMA.
Burmans. Both in physiognomy and lan
guage they are obviously Tartars and akin
to the Bhotlyas, the tribes of Tibet and of
the vast steppes of High Asia. In figure
they are short and thickset, with high cheek
bones, and slightly projecting jaw, and the
flat face which Is unmistakably Mongolian.
There is but very little of the Chinese tilt of
the eye. In colour they vary from the tint
of a wax-candle to that of a dead oak-leaf,
accordingly as they belong to the leisured
town-classes or to the workers in the rice-
fields. Both men and women have long
black hair, not unseldom three or four feet in
length, and they are very proud of it. The
men wear It tied in a knot on the top of the head
and encircled by the turban ; the women, in a
chignon at the back. Both sexes are fond of
bulking out this knot with false tresses. The
men tattoo breeches on themselves, from the
waist to below the knee, with sessamum-seed
soot. The figures traced are ogres, tigers,
monkeys, spirits, and each is surrounded by a
border of mysterious cabalistic letters, while
magic squares and lucky marks are also
commonly Introduced. Vermilion figures are
also tattooed on the chest and arms and back

THE HISTORY, 9
with special superstitious purposes. The
women are not tattooed. The origin of the
custom, of which the people are very proud.
Is very obscure. The Arakanese, It may be
mentioned, are undoubtedly Burmese, and the
unimportant differences of dialect are due to /
the neighbourhood of Bengal and to the range
of hills which separates them from the main
body of the race. The Talaing language, on
the contrary, Is themost isolated in its character
of all Indo-China. Its roots are not allied to
any of the surrounding languages, whether of
Farther India or China. A resemblance has,
it is thought, been traced with the vocables
of the Kols and other Central Indian tribes.
The language is, however, as already re
marked, fast dying out.
Thie Karenns, on the other hand, are cer
tainly not of the same race as either Burmans
or Talalngs, and it is equally without doubt
that they are not the aborigines of the coun
try. They have no written character of their
own, and they did not adopt Buddhism, so
that their traditions are very ancient and
singular. Among them are some remarkable
suggestions of Old Testament history, even
to the extent of an account of the Deluge

lo BURMA.
and of the names of Adam and Eve. There
fore they have inevitably been Identified with
the lost ten tribes. They claim to have come
from the north, and the " river of sand "
which their ancestors crossed seems to point
to the Desert of Gobi, On the other hand,
other traditions unquestionably refer to China,
and have suggested an Identity with the Miau-
tsti, as the Chinese call some of their hill-tribes.
The probability is that they migrated several
times before finally settling down as the sub
jects of the Burmese and Talalngs. They are
much gentler in their manner than their
neighbours, and great numbers have of late
years been converted to Christianity.
The Shans, we are told by Mons. Terrien
de Lacouperie, originally came from the
western part of the Chinese province of Su-
ch'uen, and are the elder brothers of the
Siamese. There are comparatively few of
them under our rule, but it may be hoped
they will not delay to flock down into the
fertile lowlands, for they are as fine agricul
turists as the Chinese themselves. They are
split up Into a great number of disconnected
principalities, some nominally subject to
Burma, some to Siam, but they are a very

THE HISTORY. ir
fine race. Everywhere they are Buddhists,
and that is the most tolerant of non-Christian
faiths, and everywhere they are civilized, and
possess more or less of a literature. They
are probably destined to become our most
industrious subjects and most satisfactory
neighbours. EARLY HISTORY,
All the early history, both that which the
Burmese adopted with Buddhism and the
portion which is founded on national legends,
may be dismissed as more or less Imaginative,
a kind of " Arabian Nights " of a somewhat
truculent kind. The entirely legendary por
tion ends in the seventh or eighth century
before our era, and the fairy-tale history
then begins. It is unnecessary to refer to
any portion of it before the days of the
great Venetian traveller. Already In the
time of Ser Marco Polo, the Burmese
were a formidable power. The old Venetian -
writes : —
" Now there was [in a.d. 1272] a certain
King of Mien [the Chinese name for Burma]

12 BURMA.
and Bengala who was a very puissant prince,
with much territory, and treasure, and people,
and he was not yet subject to the great
Khan [Emperor of China], though it was not
long after that the latter conquered him, and
took from him both kingdoms which I have
named. And it came to pass when the King
of Mien and Bengala heard that the host of
the great Khan was at Vochan [the present
Yung- Chang], he said to himself that it
behoved him to go against them with so
great a force as would ensure his cutting off
the whole of them. So this king prepared a
great force and ammunitions of war, and he
had 2000 great elephants, on each of which
was set a tower of timber, well bound and
strong, and carrying twelve to sixteen fight
ing-men. When the king had completed
these great preparations to fight the Tartars,
he tarried not, but marched straight against
them. And after marching without meeting
with anything worth mentioning, they arrived
within three days of the great Khan's host,
which was then at Vochan in Zardandan, so
there he pitched his camp. And when the
captain of the Tartar host, Nasaradin, had
certain news of the aforesaid king, he waxed

THE HISTORY. 13
uneasy, as he had with him but 1 2,000 horse
men. However, he advanced to receive the
enemy In the plain of Vochan, and when the
king's army had arrived In the plain, and was
within a mile of the enemy, he caused all the
elephants to be ordered for battle, and began
to advance. The horses of the Tartars took
so much fright at the sight of the elephants,
that they would not face the foe. And when
the Tartars perceived how the case stood,
they were in great wrath. But their captain
acted like a wise leader, for he ordered every
man to dismount, and to tie his horse to a
tree, and then to take their bows. They did
as he bade them, and plied their bows so
stoutly on the advancing elephants, that in a
short space they had wounded or slew the
greatest part of them. So when the ele-
phants felt the smart of the arrows that
pelted them like rain, they turned and fled
into the woods, dashing their castles against
the trees, and bruising the warriors. So
when the Tartars saw that the elephants had
turned tail, they got to horse, and at once
charged the enemy, and then the battle raged
furiously, and when they had continued
fighting till midday, the king's troops

14 BURMA.
would stand against the Tartars no longer,
but felt they were defeated, and turned
and fled,"
Immediately after this came the first
Chinese invasion of Burma, The king
retreated on the sea-coast, and his capital,
Pagdn on the Irrawaddy, was sacked. The
Chinese, however, after a time, retired over
the hills again. After this there were periodic
invasions from China, most of them unsuc
cessful, but the result was that Burma was
split up into separate kingdoms — Pegu, the
Talaing kingdom, Arakan, and Upper Burma,
the country of the Burmese proper, with
occasional independent kings in particular
districts such as Toung-oo.
FIRST APPEARANCE OF EUROPEANS IN BURMA.
It is only after the Portuguese navigators
entered the eastern seas that any real notion
of the actual state of Burma can be formed,
Malacca was captured by Albuquerque in
1 5 1 1, and at that time it would seem that the
country now known as Burma was divided
into four kingdoms— Arakan, Pegu, Burma

THE HISTORY. 15
and Ava, each having its own king, and
quarrelling with its neighbours. One of these,
Buyin-Gyee Noung Zaw, or Branglnoco, as
he is called by the old chroniclers, engaged
a number of Portuguese adventurers, and
with their aid subdued his neighbours, and
even invaded Siam. He was murdered, as
most Sovereigns were in those days, and
succeeding kings In all the kingdoms round
about in succession engaged Portuguese
soldiers of fortune, and invaded and ravaged
and slaughtered vigourosly.
At last. In 1600, the King of Arakan gave
the port of Syriam, close to Rangoon, to
Philip de Brito, better known as Nicote, one
of the most notable of these soldiers of
fortune. This seems to have been the first
concession of land in Burma to any European
Power, and It speedily excited a desire for
more, Nicote went off to Goa and obtained
six ships of war to effect the conquest of
Pegu, This he partially succeeded in doing,
and it was only after thirteen years' nearly
continuous fighting that Syriam was taken
and Nicote impaled. About the same time
another adventurer, Gonsalves, a Spaniard,
established himself on the island of Sunda

1 6 BURMA.
in the Sunderbunds, and waged war on
Moguls and Arakanese alike. But he and
his followers were mere pirates, and, at the
price of vassalage to the King of Portugal,
the Arakanese monarch received assistance
from the Viceroy of Goa, and extirpated
them. But the suzerainty was only slightly
acknowledged. The other potentates made
Portuguese alliances also, and constant wars
went on without advantage to any one.
Our connection with Burma began about
the same time, and was certainly more peace
ful. Mr. Ralph Fitch seems to have been
the first Englishman who visited Burma.
He was there in 1586, and his objects were
more commercial than warlike. In his narra
tive he tells us that the city of Pegu was
" strong, very fair, with walls of stone, and
great ditches round about it." It had twenty
gates, was built square, and the moat was
full of crocodiles, which reminds one of the
way in which the kings of Annam defended
their treasury. The town was very rich
and populous, and, notwithstanding the con
stant wars, did much trade. Opium is
specially mentioned, so that we are hardly
so guilty in that matter as some people would

THE HISTORY. 17
have us believe. Masulipatam sent painted
cloth, and Bengal Its
"Turkises, 'evening-sky' tint, woven webs
So fine twelve folds hide not a modest face."
Cotton, sandal, porcelain, and other wares
came from China, camphor from Borneo,
pepper from Atchin In Sumatra. European
goods were sent from Mecca — woollen cloths,
velvets, scarlets, and the like. The exports
were mostly metals, gold and silver, sapphires
and rubies, musk, lacquer, wax, rice, and
sugar. Altogether, Ralph Fitch's account is
a relief after the continual massacreings and
impalings of the Portuguese,
The result was considerable trade with
Burma from both England and Holland. In
the early part of the seventeenth century both
English and Dutch had factories at Bhamo,
north of Mandalay. The Dutch, howeve",
quarrelled with the Burmese, and threatened
to call in the Chinese to their aid. The
Burmese then, as now, were little inclined to
yield to.threats, and they turned the Dutch out
of the country, and the English along with
them. The Dutch were never re-admitted,
and it was many years before we were either. Q

1 8 BURMA.
At last, however, in 1697, a Mr. Thomas
Bowyer arrived in Syriam, and a factory was
established, only to be burnt down because
Mr, Smart, the East India Company's agent
of the time, mixed himself up in the quarrels
of the Burmese and the Talalngs. This was
In 1743, and led to the withdrawal of the
establishment about forty-six years after it
had been founded.
Meanwhile, the turn of Fortune's wheel
had brought the Peguans to the top. They
Invaded Burma, sacked and burnt Ava, and
carried the king off as a prisoner, and, after
keeping him in confinement some time, put
him In a red sack and drowned him in the
river. Notwithstanding that this was strictly
In accordance with precedent, the Burmese
were so enraged that they rose and massacred
the Talaing garrisons, and eventually gather
ing round a simple hunter of the small village
of Myouk-myo, or Moht-sho-bo, eighty miles
north-west of Ava, not only expelled the
Takings, but pursued them into their own
country and conquered Pegu and Tenasserim
and eventually Arakan, At last, in 1757,
their leader built a palace at Dagohn and
called the place Yan-gohn — the war is

THE HISTORY. 15
finished. This is Rangoon, the present
capital of Burma, for we are hardly likely to
shift the seat of government to Mandalay,
and the warlike hunter was Aloung-payah, or
Alompra as. he is usually called, the founder
of the last Burmese dynasty,
FRENCH INTRIGUES IN BURMA AND THE
CHINESE SUZERAINTY THEORY,
Alompra united the whole country under
his rule, and, as there was now some
chance of making a treaty- which would not
be upset by local disturbances, both the
East India Company and Dupleix, the
Governor-General of French India, were
soon busy asking for favours. The king
gave Negrais Island, also called Hain-gyee,
on the Arakan coast, to the British in
perpetuity, and allowed the French to keep
on a factory at Syriam. Neither settlement,
however, was destined to last long. Alompra
was informed that the Syriam traders were
intriguing with the Peguans, and about the
same time, in 1759, the French were killed
or carried prisoners to Ava, and the English
on Hain-gyee v/ere massacred, all but a few
c a

20 BURMA.
who were able to escape to the ships in the
offing. Captain Alves was sent to demand
satisfaction, for there were some soldiers
among the victims, but, when he reached Ava,
he found that Alompra was dead and the city
In rebellion. The great king died on an ex
pedition against Siam, He had demanded a
daughter of the royal house in marriage, and,
when she was refused, marched off to fetch
her. But he died before he could do it, after
seven years' reign.
No satisfaction was got for the Negrais
massacre, notwithstanding that three years
later Sin-Byoo-Shin (the Lord of the White
Elephant), the second son of Alompra, estab
lished himself firmly on the throne. We
had more serious matters on hand in India
then. Sin-Byoo-Shin reigned thirteen years,
and during all that time he was fighting.
He repulsed four Invasions of the Chinese,
who wanted to exact tribute. He invaded
Siam, destroyed Ayuthia, the then capital,
and took most of the royal family prisoners.
He asserted his authority over the Shan
States as far as the Mekong, and he over
ran and practically annexed Munnlpur,
The reign of Sin-Byoo-Shin is particularly

THE HISTORY. 21
important, because It was in his time that
were established the relations between
Burma and China which have lasted down
to the present day. With one single excep
tion (In the middle of the seventeenth century),
the Chinese had shown no disposition to
interfere in the affairs of Burma for a period of
four hundred years. In 1765, however, war
broke out, owing to the Ill-treatment of some
Chinese traders. Four successive Chinese
armies were sent into Burma, and, as has
been stated, they were all defeated. The
Chinese contention Is that they were only
routed In the Burmese history-books, and
that, as a matter of fact, Burma was forced
to pay tribute then, and has done so ever
since. But this assertion the Burmese
equally sturdily deny, and refer to the
following treaty In proof of it. The text
is as given by Professor Douglas : —
"Wednesday, December 13, 1769, In the
temporary building to the south-east of the
town of Kaung-tun, His Excellency the
General of the Lord who rules over the
multitude of umbrella-wearing chiefs In the
Western Kingdom, the Sun-descended King

2 2 BURMA.
of Ava, and Master of the Golden Palace,
having appointed [here follow the names
and titles of the fourteen Burmese officers],
and the generals of the Master of the Golden
Palace of China, who rules over a multitude
of umbrella-wearing chiefs in the great
Eastern Kingdom, having appointed [here
follow the names and titles of the thirteen
Chinese officers], they assembled In the large
building erected in the proper manner with
seven roofs, to the south-east of the town of
Kaung-tun, on December 13, 1769, to
negotiate peace and friendship between the
two great countries, and that the gold and
silver road should be established agreeably
to former custom. The troops of the Sun-
descended King and Master of the Golden
Palace of Ava, and those of the Master of the
Golden Palace of China, were drawn up In
front of each other when these negotiations
took place; and, after its conclusion, each
party made presents to the other, agreeably
to former custom, and retired. All men, the
subjects of the Sun-descended King and
Master of the Golden Palace of Ava, who
may be In any part of the dominions of the
Master of the Golden Palace of China, shall
be treated according to former custom. Peace

THE HISTORY. 23
and friendship being established between the
two great countries, they shall become one,
like two pieces of gold united into one ; and
suitably to the establishment of the gold and
silver road, as well as agreeably to former
custom, the princes and officers of each coun
try shall move their respective Sovereigns to
transmit and exchange affectionate letters on
gold, once every ten years."
The Chinese historians make no mention
of anything more than a formal agreement,
for It would of course put an end to all Idea
of suzerainty if they admitted the conclusion
of a regular treaty, and they lay great stress
on the letters and presents sent every ten
years. But, as a matter of history, China
was the first to send a mission, and it Is
equally certain that, ever since, Burma has
retained at least a nominal lordship over
Shan States previously Included in the
Chinese Empire, The Emperor K'ien-
lung's letter was written as to an equal
except that, throughout, the title "elder
brother " was applied to himself. The
presents sent periodically were referred to
as tribute In the Peking Gazette, but it is
a matter of sufficient notoriety that Great

2-4 BURMA.
Britain has been recorded In that venerable
and veracious sheet as being tributary to the
great Hwang-tl. The Chinese claim to the
fealty of Burma will therefore not bear in
vestigation. In the countries where China
has really exercised a suzerainty she has
always taken care to make this manifest, by
allowing no one to reign without confirmation
of his title from the vermilion pencil. It Is
not pretended that this right was ever
exercised in the Instance of a single one of
the princes of the House of Alompra. A
special embassy always came from Peking to
enthrone the kings of Annam. Communica
tions between Burma and China have always
been fitful. No Burman king thought it
necessary to announce his succession to the
" elder brother,"and even the stipulated decen
nial letters were not always sent. It is quite
certain that no direct communication has
passed between Mandalay and Peking since
1875, and that was four years before King
Theebaw succeeded to the throne. The
interchanges of missions had no other mean
ing than the fostering of a trade which was
profitable to both countries. Complimentary
letters and presents are among the common-

THE HISTORY. 25
places of Oriental intercourse. It may be
confidently asserted that China's claim toj
suzerainty over Burma Is all fudge. The '
Peking Gazette, in its translation, represented
the Burman letter as using the language of a
superior to an inferior. The Burman Than-
daw-zin, when he read the Emperor of China's
epistle aloud before the king, similarly modi
fied that document. It Is urged that the
Chinese envoys were always minor officials,
such as would not be sent to an independent
Power, according to Oriental etiquette. But
this argument applies equally to the Burmese
officials. On no recorded occasion was a
Woon-gyee, a Minister of the highest rank,
sent. The bearers of the letter of gold and
the presents were Tkan-daw-zins, the ordinary
royal heralds, or at the most Woon-dauks,
officers of fourth or fifth rank. It Is no doubt
highly desirable for the political and com
mercial prosperity of Burma that we shoulc
be on cordial terms with China, but it woulc
be equally unwise and Impolitic to recognize
suzerain rights which. If they ever existed at
all, date from the time of the early Manchus,
and have no existence in modern times except
in the brains of plenipotentiaries who qualify

26 BURMA,
a knowledge of musty old records with a
smattering of Western International usages.
No one would combat the Chinese claims
with greater vigour than the Burmese them
selves. There Is no reason why we should
be more foolishly complaisant.

WORRYING OUR REPRESENTATIVES.
After the death of Sin-Byoo-Shin there was
a great deal of quarrelling over the succes
sion, and two kings and any number of
conspiring princes were sewn up in red sacks
and thrown into the Irrawaddy, At last,
however, in 1782, Bo-daw Payah (the sainted
royal grandfather) succeeded, and with him.
In 179s, we first came into direct political
Intercourse, Captain Symes was sent by
Sir John Shore, the Governor-General of
India, on an embassy to Ava for the purpose
of strengthening our commercial relations
and preventing the French from gaining a
footing in the countrj^ In addition to this,
the Burmese, who had meanwhile annexed
Arakan, had been making hostile demonstra
tions on our Chittagong frontier, Symes'
mission was not very successful, but he

THE HISTORY. 27
obtained a royal order, granting permission
for the establishment of a British residency
at Rangoon, Captain Hiram Cox was sent
to act as agent In 1 796, but he was subjected
to so many indignities, both in Rangoon and
Ava, that he returned to Calcutta. But
there was much unpleasantness between
English merchant- skippers and the Rangoon
native authorities, so in 1802 Captain Symes
was again sent to the Burmese capital by
Lord Wellesley, The mission was a grand
one, and Symes was ordered to seek a treaty
of alliance and to demand the recession of
Negrais Island, or compensating commercial
advantages. The fate of Martin da Costa
Falcom, the Portuguese ambassador of the
seventeenth century, awaited him. The mis
sion was an utter failure. The gallant captain
never had a proper audience. He was per
sistently and elaborately insulted, and even
tually went back to Bengal without settling
anything. But the Indian Government was
not daunted, and many efforts at negotiation
were made afterwards. The story is, how
ever, not a pleasant one, and 1 only refer to
the matter to show that French intrigue is
no new matter In Burma, and that Burmese

2 8 BURMA.
officials have been consistently overbearing
and contemptuous, while we, through our
representatives, have been patient and long-
suffering. The Insolent treatment of our
envoys was not our only cause of complaint.
Wherever Burmese territory touched British
there was aggression, and no redress was to
be had. The king demanded the surrender
of refugees who had fled into our territory
for protection, and, when this was refused,
called upon the Governor- General to cede
Chittagong, Dacca, and Murshidabad.
WAR WITH BURMA.
There could be only one end to this, and it
came In 1825. The Burmese drove a sepoy
garrison out of Suparl island at the mouth
of the Naaf river, and we declared war.
At this time the empire of Burma was
one of the most extensive, as well as the
most formidable, powers in Asia. Besides
Burma proper, and the provinces of Pegu,
Arakan, and Tenasserim, It embraced the
principality of Mogoung, the northern Shan
and Kachyen States, Assam, Cachar, and
Munnlpur, and had as tributaries all the Shan

THE HISTOR Y. 29
chieftains as far as the Mekong river.
It had a thousand miles of sea-board,
and years of constant fighting had made
a naturally brave and warlike people so
confident in their Invincibility that they
listened complacently to the order of the
day issued, calling upon them to march
to England. The first fighting began in
Sylhet and Assam, and there our troops
were held In check- for some time, while in
Chittagong they were routed by a superior
force of Burmese, Calcutta was in a state of
panic, and the Europeans formed themselves
into a militia. Then, however, the capture
of Rangoon by a British force, and the defeat
of the Burmese generals there, caused a
diversion, and Assam and Chittagong were
evacuated by the Burmese. It is not neces
sary to give an account of the war. The
British force numbered only a little over
12,000, of whom about 7,000 belonged to
native regiments, but they were enough, not
withstanding the determination with which
the Burmese fought on several occasions,
especially under their great general, Mahah
Bundoola. Eventually in 1826, after a battle
at Pagan, when the English troops under Sir

30 ' BURMA.
Archibald Campbell were at Yandabo, only
forty-five miles from Ava, the king gave in,
Arakan, Tenasserim, and a part of Martaban
were ceded to us. Cachar, Jyntea, and
Assam , were given up, and Munnlpur v/as
declared independent and under British pro
tection. The terms were cheap, for the
country was entirely at our mercy. The
expedition had been begun at the worst time
of year, and Burmese duplicity delayed our
troops several times in most feverish jungles.
The consequence was that the losses of our
troops were enormous. During the two years
of the war the mortality amounted to 72,5 per
cent, of the men engaged, and of these only
5 per cent, were killed in action. This has
never been forgotten, and to this day one
hears of the pestilential swamps and the
dreadful climate of Burma, As a matter of
fact, it Is as healthy as, if not more healthy
than, most parts of India,
The Burmese had got a lesson, but they
did not profit much by It, The king and his
governors were as insolent and contemptuous
as ever. Major Burney stayed for some
years as Resident at Ava, but the insults
which were offered became so constant and

THE HISTORY. 31
unendurable that he asked and obtained per
mission from the Indian Government to
withdraw, and his example was followed by
several successors. The state of affairs
cannot be better described than In Lord
Dalhousie's words : —
" Of all the Eastern natives with which the
Government of India has had to do, the
Burmese are the most arrogant and over
bearing. During the years since the [1826]
treaty had been concluded, they had treated
It with disregard, and had been allowed to
disregard It with impunity. They had been
permitted to 'worry away' our envoys by
petty annoyances, and their insolence had
even been tolerated when at last they vexed
our commercial agent at Rangoon into silent
departure from their port. Inflated by such
Indirect successes as these, the Burmese had
assumed again the tone they used before
the war of 1825. On more than one occasion
they had threatened a recommencement of
hostilities against us, and always at the most
untoward tinie. Every effort was made to
obtain reparation by friendly means. The
reparation was no more than compensation

3'2 BURMA.
for the actual loss Incurred, but every effort
was in vain. Our demands were evaded,
our officers were insulted. The warnings
which we gave were treated with disregard,
and the period of grace which we allowed
was employed by the Burmese in strengthen
ing their fortifications and in making every
preparation for resistance,"
It Is as well to Insist on this, because those
good people who always maintain that the
man who fights Is In the wrong, declare
that we had not sufficient grounds for
the second Burmese War of 1852, It began
suddenly, and it was finished drastically.
We drove the Burmese troops out of Marta
ban, Rangoon, Bassein, Pegu, Toung-oo, and
Prome, the townspeople everywhere receiv
ing us as friends. From this last town we
might have advanced by steam on Ava, as
General Prendergast did In 1885. But Lord
Dalhousle determined to rest content with
the province of Pegu, in compensation for
the past and for better security in the future.
No treaty was entered Into with the king,
who indeed had been deposed by his own
subjects. The country was simply taken

THE HISTOR Y. 33
possession of, and a proclamation to that
effect was issued and peace declared in 1853.

THE INEVITABLE END,
King MIndohn, who was on the throne of
Burma at the close of the second Burmese
War, was probably the best king Burma ever
had — certainly the best of the Alompra
dynasty, • Nevertheless, it may be stated
broadly that the regular diplomatic represen
tation of the British Government' at the
Burmese Court, which had been suspended
in 1839, was not resumed till 1862. Sir
Arthur Phayre then negotiated a treaty,
and left an Agent at Mandalay, This
treaty provided that British traders should
be allowed to travel over the whole Upper
Irrawaddy, and make what purchases they
chose. A corresponding provision guaran
teed free travel and trade to Burmese
traders along the Irrawaddy in British
territory. But the treaty did not work well,
for, though the British Government abolished
certain customs duties on its side of the
frontier, the Burmese indefinitely postponed
performance of their part of the agreement. D

34 BURMA.
At the same time, the royal monopolies (for
his Majesty had turned Into a gigantic
trader) operated greatly in restraint of the
development of trade.
These were to a great degree . restricted
by the treaty of 1867, concluded by General
Fytche, The Mandalay Government was
also pledged for ten years to several valuable
commercial arrangements, while at the same
time the 1862 treaty remained in full force.
The British Resident in Mandalay received
civil jurisdiction over cases in which British
subjects were concerned, and a Political
Agency was established at Bhamo, near the
Chinese frontier. Nevertheless, our rela
tions with Upper Burma remained Incom
plete, unsatisfactory, and Ill-assured. The
1867 treaty lapsed In 1877, and was not
renewed. There were disputes about terri
torial matters, such as the interference of the
Burmese In Western Karennee and en
croachment on our Arakan frontier, and
above all there was the hampering of diplo
matic intercourse by the great "shoe-ques
tion." Our representative was not allowed
to see the king except In his stocking-soles
and seated on the floor, and all attempts to

THE HISTORY. 35
obtain the abandonment of this absurd and
humiliating ceremonial were in vain.
Things were In this unsatisfactory state
when King Theebaw succeeded to the
throne, in October 1878. He owed his
position to a Court Intrigue, for his father
had not intended him to ascend the throne,
and, indeed, there were strong doubts as to
his legitimacy. There was some hope that
the new king might attempt to strengthen
his position by commencing better relations
with us, especially as his accession was
accompanied by the announcement that he
was going to institute constitutional govern
ment. So far from this being the case.
King Theebaw's dislike to a British alliance
proved more violent than his father's.
British subjects were put in the stocks, these
were hoisted to the roof, and the victims
were suspended for hours by their ankles.
British steamers were stopped, and forcible
seizures made on board of them ; and finally,
four months after his accession, occurred the
infamous Palace massacres which have made
the king's name so notorious. Our Resident
remonstrated against these atrocities in very
.strong language, but received no more satis-
D 2

35 BURMA.
factory reply than the cynical statement that
such " clearing-away " matters must remain at
the discretion of any Independent Government,
Eventually, so insolent and menacing did the
attitude of both Ministers and people become
towards the Resident that, in October 1879,
the Government of India considered it
prudent to withdraw our Agency with all its
personnel. Triumphant over this success, the Burmese
Government now grew more openly hostile.
Several unprovoked attacks were made on
the captains and crews of British mail-
steamers lying at anchor in the river, and
demands for redress were so ill-received that
the renunciation of all treaty engagements
with King Theebaw was contemplated.
Then his Majesty tried a new line. An
official of low rank was sent down with a
draft treaty, but the articles were found to be
so inadmissible — a demand for unlimited
power of importing material of war being the
main Item — and the king's overtures were
so evidently Insincere and illusory, that
the envoy was not allowed to proceed
beyond our frontier. Immediately after his
return to Mandalay he died, and it was

THE HISTORY. 37
asserted that he was poisoned by the king's
command. The relations between the two Govern
ments remained at a dead-lock. Fresh mas
sacres took place In the capital ; bands of rob
bers infested the country, and raided at will
into British territory ; the greater part of the
tributary Shan States rose In rebellion, and
the whole of Upper Burma became disorgan
ized, with the inevitable result of a paralysis
of our trade. Upper and Lower Burma are
naturally one country. The boundary was a
mere arbitrary line drawn along a parallel of
latitude, with masonry pillars, half hid in
the jungle, to mark it. Consequently, the
anarchy and misrule beyond the frontier
made themselves very painfully felt in our
lower provinces. In the midst of all this.
King Theebaw, In 1882, sent a new envoy
with fresh proposals for a treaty. Notwith
standing the state of affairs and the vague
nature of the proposals. Lord Ripon received
the ambassador in the most friendly way,
and was prepared to go to any length to
procure a settlement. But, in the middle of
the negotiations. King Theebaw suddenly
changed his mind and recalled his envoy.

38 BURMA.
There is good reason to believe that these
so-called ambassadors were simply spies, sent
to see how we were disposed towards the
Court of Mandalay.
After this, however, the king's envoys
went elsewhere. The policy of menace and
hostility showed itself In the despatch of
missions to Europe seeking alliances with
France and Italy for the purpose of attaining
political and commercial arrangements which,
considering the position of Burma, we could
not possibly tolerate. The French signed
nothing more than a commercial treaty, but
there can be no doubt that the aim of the
Burmese was to obtain from the French
Government such a treaty as would enable
them to appeal to France in case of their
being involved in difficulties with England ;
or, in fact, that their great object, in forming
relations with European Powers, was to find
means of emancipating themselves from the
special Influence and control of the Indian
Government. As long as Upper Burma
occupied an Isolated position we could afford
to submit to much insolence and provocation,
but when the king embarked upon an ex
ternal policy of this kind It was obviously

THE HISTOR Y, 39
impossible to forbear any longer. It would
have been extremely dangerous to have
allowed the possibility of a quarrel being
raised with Burma on a clause of a treaty
between that country and France. The
Republic, as usual, had Its over-zealous agents,
and one of these gentlemen, the French con
sul In Mandalay, Mons, Haas, obtained sanc
tion to make several proposals to his Govern
ment, These were : the construction of a
railway from Mandalay to Toung-oo, on our
frontier ; the control by a French company
over the levy of customs duties on the
Irrawaddy ; a monopoly of pickled tea, an
anti-soporific dainty largely consumed in the
lower provinces ; and, finally, the establishment
by a Frenchman of a royal bank. Now, India
dominates Burma so entirely that we could
not permit this practical handing over of the
country to a foreign Power, with the probable
eventual result of the neutralization of Burma
and the opening up of the Irrawaddy to
vessels of all nations on some such footing as
the Danube now is denationalized.
While yet it was under consideration how
this danger should be faced, there occurred a
matter which left no choice but prompt and

40 BURMA.
decided action. King Theebaw, instigated
no doubt by Mons. Haas, attempted to im
pose; a preposterous and ruinous fine on the
Bombay Burma Trading Corporation, and
followed up this by a threat of confiscation
of the whole of their valuable property In
default of payment. The alleged grounds
for the fine were wholly ridiculous. The
Government of India proposed that the mat
ter in dispute should go before an arbitrator.
This the king's Government peremptorily
refused, and declared the matter definitely
settled. Thereupon an ultimatum was sent
to Mandalay demanding the arrangement of
the general relations of the two countries on
a satisfactory footing ; and this was accom
panied by a warning that, in the event of
these proposals not being accepted, Britain
would take the matter Into her own hands.
The answer was the following declaration of
war by King Theebaw, dated November 7,
1885 :—
"To all town and village thugyees, heads of
cavalry, heads of the Daings, shield bearers,
heads of jails, heads of gold and silver
revenues, mine workers, settlement officers,

THE HISTORY. 41
heads of forests, and to all royal subjects and
inhabitants of the royal empire :
" Those heretics, the English kalds [bar
barians], having most harshly made demands
calculated to bring about the Impairment and
destruction of our rellp-ion, the violation of
our national traditions and customs, and the
degradation of our race, are making a show
and preparation as if about to wage war with
our State, They have been replied to in
conformity with the usages of great nations,
and in words which are just and regular. If,
notwithstanding, these heretic kalds should
come and in any way attempt to molest or
disturb the State, his Majesty, who is watch
ful that the interests of our religion and our
State shall not suffer, will himself march forth
with his generals, captains, and lieutenants,
with large forces of infantry, artillery, elephan-
terie, and cavalry, by land and by water, and
with the might of his army will efface these
heretic kalds and conquer and annex their
country. All royal subjects the people of the
country are enjoined that they are not to be
alarmed or disturbed on account of the hos
tility of these heretic kalds, and they are not
to avoid them by quitting the country.

42 BURMA,
" They are to continue to carry on their
occupations as usual in a peaceful and ordi
nary manner; the local officials are to be
watchful, each in his own town or village,
that it is free from thefts, dacoities, and other
crime ; the royal troops to be sent forth will
not be collected and banded together as
formerly by forcibly pressing into service all
such as can be obtained, but the royal troops
who are now already banded into regiments
in Mandalay will be sent forth to attack,
destroy, and annex. The local officials shall
not forcibly Impress into service any one who
may not wish to serve. To uphold the reli
gion, to uphold the national honour, to uphold
the country's Interests, will bring about three
fold good : good of our religion, good of our
master, and good of ourselves ; and will gain
for us the important residt of placing us in the
path to the celestial regions and to Nehban
Nirvana. Whoever, therefore, is willing to
join and serve zealously will be assisted by
his Majesty with royal rewards and royal
money, and be made to serve in the capacity
for which he may be fit. Loyal officials are
to make inquiries for volunteers and others
who may wish to serve, and are to submit

THE HISTORY, 43
lists of them to their respective provincial
governments. "
Order of the Ministers of the Hlohtdaw.
Names follow. On the 7th of November 1885.
Burmese date recorded by the Wetmasoht
Woondauk Daw, issued by Secretary Mah
Mindin Mlnhla Sithu,
On the last day of the same month King
Theebaw was a prisoner In our hands. Our
clemency had lasted long enough. We
might have annexed In 1826, or In 1853 ; we
have done so in 1886, There was no other
possible end to the question.

44 BURMA.

II.— THE COUNTRY.
LOWER BURMA.
T OWER BURMA, as it may be called
-*— ' for the sake of distinction, seeing that
the former title of British Burma Is now in
adequate, is, like ancient Gaul, divided Into
three parts — the provinces of Arakan, Pegu,
and Tenasserim ; and the three together are
as nearly as possible equal in area to Great
Britain and Ireland — 94,000 square miles is
the figure. The coast-line is about a thousand
miles long, but it is only at the outlets of the
great rivers that ports can be established.
The chief are Akyab, Bassein, Rangoon, and
Maulmein, Elsewhere the coast offers only
a rugged and rocky barrier to the ocean, with
no available places of refuge for vessels in
distress, or it is flat and muddy and unap
proachable within nine or ten miles by vessels
of any size ; while to the eastward, in the
Tenasserim province the bare mud-banks

THE COUNTRY. 45
chaiige into an unbroken line of mangrove
swamps, where the mass of fantastic roots
effectually checks the inroads of the sea,
Arakan is cut off by a belt of hills from
Pegu, and forms a long narrow triangle with
the base to the south. The plain country is
exceedingly fertile, and keeps Akyab harbour
full of ships in the rice season.
Pegu, except, for a few spurs from the
tangled hill masses of the north and north-west,
forms a vast alluvial plain, with great stretches
of forest- covered hills in the north-east.
Tenasserim has also much plain-land, but
with undulating ground here and there, and it
Is also remarkable for the fantastic outcrops of
caverned limestone-rocks springing abruptly
out of the plain, such as one sees In Kwangsi
on the West river and in various parts of
Tong-KIng. The general character of the country,
however, is that of a great plain Intersected
by a network of creeks which render it an
ideal agricultural country, like Egypt, Bengal,
and Mesopotamia, and rice is the thermometer
of its commercial prosperity. In the north
east there are considerable tracts of hills
covered with a wilderness of impenetrable

46 BURMA.
forest, in which are found teak, cutch. Iron-
wood, and other valuable timber. This dense
forest-growth in many places creeps down
into the level country, and fades away through
bamboo jungle into wide expanses of elephant-
grass and cane. About half the area of the
three provinces is cultivable, but up to now
only about four thousand square miles — a
tenth of the whole — are actually under culti
vation. The great want of the country Is
population. In 1884 Mr, Bernard, the Chief
Commissioner, estimated the population at a
little over four millions — an increase of some
thing like 40 per cent, in twelve years, but
still a total far short of the wants of the
provinces. The progress which the province is likely
to make is exemplified by the growth of the
towns. Rangoon, the capital of Burma, has
existed as a town for over two thousand
years, but it was for long known only as the
place for pilgrims to the great Shway Dagohn
pagoda, the Mecca of the Indo-Chinese
Buddhist to stop at. Later, it was the
residence of the Regent of Pegu, as being
the guard-station on the most accessible
mouth of the Irrawaddy, But it was in the

THE COUNTRY. 47
old days little more than a mere collection of
huts, Caspar Balbi, who visited the place
three hundred years ago, mentions nothing but
the monasteries, "wooden houses gilded and
adorned with delicate gardens after their
¦custom, wherein their Takpoins, which are
their Friers, dwell and look to the Pagod or
Varella of Dogon," In those days, and for
long after, it was in Talaing hands, and it
was only in 1763 that the Burmans, under
Alompra, took possession of the town and
gave it its present name of Rangoon, But
the new name did not alter the character of
the town. It remained the same collection
of wattled bamboo shanties, on a marshy
flat but little above the level of low tides,
and intersected by narrow and irregular
streets. At the beginning of the century,
the town stretched along the bank for
about a mile, and did not extend more
than five hundred yards from the river.
The official town was surrounded by a log-
stockade, fortified by an indifferent kind of
fosse spanned by a wooden bridge. Swine
and dogs roamed at will all over the town, as
they were allowed to do In Mandalay, and
acted as efficient scavengers. The principal

48 BURMA.
building was the Customs House, and this
was just tottering into ruins, and there was
a rickety erection known as the King's
Wharf Jungle grew close up to the palisad
ing on the north, and southwards the rice-
fields extended from the doors of the suburban
houses right away to the mouth of the river.
The town came into our hands in 1852,
The morasses were filled up with earth from
the higher ground inland, the stockade was
pulled down, and at the present time it is
impossible to realize the old dismal descrip
tions of the place. Now there are broad
smooth roads, well laid out public gardens
and parks, abundant street lamps, spacious
mercantile offices, schools, mills, hospitals,
gaols, law-courts, halls, and club-houses.
Railways connect it with the interior ; large
sea-going steamers visit it in ever-Increasing
numbers. The population, from a paltry
ten thousand, has grown to two hundred
thousand, and the central town threatens
soon to swallow up the neighbouring villages
of Pbozoondoung and Kemmendine and
Kokhine, just as London has engulfed the
Highgates and Kensingtons and Chelseas
of last century. Rangoon claims the title

THE COUNTRY. 49
of Queen of the East, and, with the new
openings for trade offered by the annexa
tion of Upper Burma, there is little doubt
that she will justify the claim, and outstrip
Calcutta before the end of the century.
Hitherto the progress made will compare
with the most vaunted of American city-
successes, Maulmein has been to some extent over
shadowed in its growth by the rapid rise of
Rangoon, consequent on the transference of
the government to that place. Nevertheless,
we have no less cause for satisfaction in the
condition of the chief town of the Tenasserim
province. The Ogre's Isle, which lies in
front of it, suggests the idea that the town is
up a river, but, as a matter of fact, it is really
on the sea-coast, with simply a large island
sheltering it from the storms of the bay. It
stands on the left bank of the Salween, just
below its junction with the Gyaing and
Attaran rivers, and Is situated on the slopes
of a series of low hills. Each of these is
surmounted by Its pagoda, some glittering
bright with gold-leaf orbrilliantly white in
the sunlight, others crumbling away Into
decay and covered with moss and grass and
E

50 BURMA.
shrubrgrowth, while beside these are the
striking outlines of the various monastic
buildings, richly ornamented Vv'ith carved
work, gilding, and bright colour, and sur
rounded by masses of well-foliaged trees.
Altogether the town is one of the prettiest In
the East, and the view from the central ridge
is certainly without its equal In Burma. The
town clings to the water's edge, and is sur
rounded by extensive groves of every shade,
from the sombre green of the mango and
the mangosteen to the light tints of the
pagoda-tree, interspersed with feathery
clumps of bamboo and the gorgeous droop
ing plumes of the Amherstia nobilis. Beyond,
green islands are set In a silvery expanse of
water, their outline broken by the graceful
shape of a pagoda spire, with Its tinkling
bells. Farther off", dark hills contrast with
the silver lines of the winding rivers and the
ruddy gold or tender green of the rice-fields,
and away to the north rise abruptly from the
plain fantastic needled peaks, honeycombed
through and through with caves, most of
them rendered sacred by images of the
Buddha, and culminating in the rugged out
crop of the " Duke of York's Nose," a Jime-

THE COUNTRY. 51
stone ridge supposed to present the profile of
that personage.
Notwithstanding the check administered
by the transference of government to
Rangoon, Maulmein has never ceased to
grow, and has twice the population now that
it had when Pegu was annexed. It is the
great timber port, and, in addition, exports
large quantities of rice and cotton. When
trade is opened up with the Shan States,
and a railway connects it with the districts to
the north, it will grow still more rapidly.
The other chief ports are Akyab and
Bassein, The former stands on low ground
at the mouth of the Kooladan river. It has
numerous public buildings, and the streets
are lined with fine trees. The population
numbers between 25,000 and 30,000, and
large quantities of rice are exported to
Europe and India ; much timber, mostly
iron-wood, is also sent to India for rail
way sleepers. Tobacco used to be raised in
considerable quantities, but skill in its pre
paration was somewhat lamentably absent,
Bassein Is on what may be considered the
chief mouth of the Irrawaddy, seventy-five
miles from the sea. It is a neat little towji
E 2

52 BURMA.
of about the same population as Akyab, and
clusters round about the fort which encloses
the sacred Shway Moo-daw pagoda. The
principal trade is in rice, for the husking of
which numerous steam-mills have been
erected. Other ports are Tavoy and
Mergui on the Tenasserim coast, which do
a yearly increasing coasting trade. The
inland towns are almost exclusively on the
rivers, and the chief are Pegu, formerly the
Talaing capital, and noted for a very sacred
pagoda ; Shway Gyeen ; and Toung-oo, the
terminus of the Eastern Railway, shortly
to be extended to Mandalay ; — and on the
Irrawaddy, Yandoon, a great fish-curing
station ; Donoobyoo ; Henzadah, the centre
of a very fertile district; Myan-oung, once
the head-quarters of the Pegu Light Infantry,
a force which demonstrated that the Burman
is much too casual an individual to make a
good soldier ; and Prome, a place where the
Buddha Is said to have appeared and pro
phesied the establishment of a great empire.
The Irrawaddy Valley State Railway ends
here for the present, and the town has a
variety of flourishing Industries, notably silk
cultivation, Thayetmyo was the old frontier

THE COUNTRY. 53
town, and is mainly a military station, but
there are petroleum-wells not far off. All
of .these are towns averaging something like
20,000 inhabitants, with schools and public
offices. Many more might be mentioned,
but enough has been said to show the
character of the country; and the Burman
much prefers a rural life to that of even a
moderately large town.

UPPER BURMA,
The newly annexed province for the
moment has greater attractions than our
older divisions, though we have every reason
to be proud of them and their progress.
The Kachyens and the Shan hill-chiefs
have during the last ten years been freeing
themselves more and more from Burmese
control. They have ceased to pay allegiance
or tribute, and have substituted raids on
the low country. It will therefore be
some time before the boundaries on the
eastern side are fixed ; that will have to be
done by arrangement with China, with whom
we shall, no doubt, have to share the
management of the numerous independent

54 BURMA.
hill-chieftains — a delicate matter, which no
thing but just, and at the same time firm, hand
ling will carry through successfully. It will
be enough to say that, roughly speaking, our
new province consists simply of the valley of
the Irrawaddy river, walled in by hilly table
lands and mountain ranges (varying from
5000 feet on the east and west to 18,000 or
more on the north) on every side except the
south, where nothing but a parallel of latitude,
along which masonry pillars, from two to ten
miles distant from one another, and often
hidden in the jungle, marked the old boundary
line. The area and the character of the
country are 'much the same as those of Lower
Burma, There are rich alluvial plains,
Intersected by barren rolling ground of no
great elevation and lines of hills, spurs from
the main ranges to east and west, joining
the watersheds between the different tribu
taries of the Irrawaddy. There is very
much more forest and very much less cultiva
tion than in our sea-board provinces — the
natural results of misrule. Roads there are
practically none ; the tracks which represent
them are mere lines where the jungle has
been cut away. When a Burman makes a

THE COUNTRY. 55
wheel for his bullock-cart, he. cuts it out of
a solid slab of wood, leaves it square, or with
imperfectly blunted corners, and trusts to
time to round It for him. Even good roads
would not remain long so under such trafific.-
No census of the country has ever been
taken, and the number of our new subjects
is, therefore, purely conjectural, but it pro
bably does not exceed two millions, if indeed
it reaches that figure.
This will materially reduce the already ex
ceedingly small population per square mile of
our Burma provinces, but it will bring its own
remedy with it. The hostile attitude of the
kings of Burma has prevented the arrival
of those who would otherwise have been
willing enough to settle among our subjects.
This will especially be the case in Upper
Burma itself The hill-tribes have been long
enough looking down enviously on the vil
lagers settled in the fertile lowlands. In a
year or so, certainly before very long, they will
descend from their mountain tops and take
up locations in the plain. The Shans, like
the Chinamen, are born farmers and
gardeners ; and the Chinamen themselves
— the men of Yunnan and Ssu-ch'uen — ^

S6 BURMA.
when they see a strong and good govern
ment established in the interior, will not
delay to flock after them. The Chinese are
the finest race in the East, and, when they
are judiciously handled, make most in
dustrious and law-abiding subjects. The
problem, therefore, is now solved, Indian
immigration has been an utter failure. The
Burmese detested and despised the ryots
brought over, and the poor Madrassis them
selves seemed incapable of doing anything.
Now that the Chinamen can come on their
own legs instead of having to make the long
sea-voyage round by Singapore and the
Straits, they will not delay to flock into the
fertile lowlands of Burma, where the soil
only requires to be scratched to bring forth
abundant crops. Our lower provinces, as
well as the new one, will profit by the dis
appearance of the buffer State.
THE IRRAWADDY TO MANDALAY,
There is a fairly large population in the
south-eastern portion of Burma in the neigh
bourhood of Nin-gyan, not far from Toung-oo,
but the great bulk of the people live along

THE COUNTRY. 57
the banks, of the Irrawaddy, Starting from
the high bare slope on the right bank of the
river, on which Thayetmyo is situated, one
reaches the old boundary line after fourteen
miles, but there Is no town of any Importance
for about thirty more, Sin-boung-we, where
the first engagement of the war took place,
is the nearest village, with no more than six
or seven hundred of population. It strikingly
illustrates the difference between rule and mis
rule. In the lower provinces even insignifi
cant hamlets are neat and trim, and there is
an air of order which is conspicuously absent
In the squalid collection of huts Inhabited
by the poverty-stricken subjects of Upper
Burma. Min-hla, however, was the real
Burmese frontier post. Like Thayetmyo, it
also stands on the right bank, and had a
population of four or five thousand. The
fort which was to bar the advance of our
troops was on a hill on the other bank, at a
bend of the river a little lower down, Kooli-
gyoung was well constructed under the eye of
Italian engineers, and in capable hands might
have offered a prolonged resistance, but it
fell to half an hour's shell-fire. The real
fighting was on the other side, in the jungle

S8 BURMA.
round the town, between the pretty village of
Ma-lohn, with its pagodas embowered in
waving trees, where Sir Archibald Campbell
in 1826, with a mere handful of men, routed
fifteen thousand Burmese soldiery under a
brother of the then king, and the town of Min-
hla Itself The town was almost entirely
burnt in the capture, but Min-hla is the
centre of a fertile district, and Is destined to
become an important revenue township in
the coming better days.
Ten or twelve miles above Min-hla Is
Ma-gway, considerably larger, and with a
population of eight or nine thousand. There
are some elaborate pagodas and monasteries
in the neighbourhood, especially one huge
gilt one on the farther bank. The town
straggles a good deal, and there are a number
of rude pathways lined with prickly cactus
hedges, and It shows a great deal of misery,
though, like the generality of Burmese towns.
It is neat and cleanly kept. The constant
oppression of an iniquitous government shows
itself here as elsewhere. The river here
abouts is strikingly picturesque until Yay-nan-
gyoung is reached. There are numerous
spurs of hills crowned with the pagodas in

THE COUNTRY. 59
which the Burman so much delights ; the
banks are mostly bluffs, broken with small
ravines running straight off from the river ;
above the bluffs the country stretches away
in park-like uplands, with here and there
clumps of light timber, the whole very
different from the luxuriant foliage on the
banks of the river on Its lower reaches In
the Pegu province.
At Yay-nan-gyoung (literally, the stream
of stinking water) the region of the earth-oil
or petroleum wells begins, and vegetation
almost entirely ceases. The town is large,
and there is a good deal of animation with
the huge, ungainly, barge-like craft used for
carrying the earth-oil. This petroleum was
one of the royal monopolies, secured by the
1867 treaty with us, and large quantities
used to be shipped to Rangoon to be manufac
tured into pagoda candles. But the American
rock-oil and the development of the Baku
wells interfered greatly with the sale. In
any case the workings, of which an elaborate
account may be found in Colonel Yule's
"Mission to Ava," were carried on in a very
inefficient and wasteful fashion, and the out
put was not nearly so large or so profitable as

6o BURMA.
if Western methods had been adopted. The
barren, desolate-looking stretch of country
in which this earth-oil is found extends over
a considerable area, but after Sin-byoo-gyoon
on the right bank, with its wide sandy Islands
in the three-mile expanse of the river, is
passed, the town of Silky Is reached. It Is
prettily situated on a point of high land on
the eastern bank, the houses, half hidden
by umbragious trees, running up the
face of the slope, which has a line of fine
pagodas and religious buildings along its
crest. The former are encircled by some
remarkable specimens of petrified wood
stuck up as posts. Great quantities of petri
fied wood, sometimes in very large slabs,
are found all along this part of the Irrawaddy,
A former Governor of Silky was particularly
notorious for his anti-foreign policy. He
stopped a mail-steamer and carried off the
steering gear, and had an Englishman
flogged. On the remonstrance of the Indian
Government, he was removed from his post,
to be promoted to a more important district.
Silky and Nyoung-oo, a large town twenty-
eight miles farther up, are noted as the
great centres of the Burmese lacquer-ware,

THE COUNTRY. 6i
which in its way is quite as fine as the
Japanese, and only requires a few hints from
Western art to become popular and command
large prices in the European markets.
Nyoung-oo, however, yields in interest to
the neighbouring town of Pagdn, one of the
ancient capitals of Burma, and now practi
cally deserted, except for a few hundred
pagoda-slaves, an outcast class condemned to
lifelong and hereditary service about the
religious buildings. It is practically a city
of the dead, but as a religious city It is cer
tainly the most remarkable and Interesting in
the world, not excepting Mecca, Kleff, or
Benares. For eight miles along the river
bank, and extending to a distance of two
miles inland, the whole surface is thickly
studded with pagodas of all sizes and shapes,
and the very ground is so thickly covered
with crumbling remnants of vanished shrines
that, according to the popular saying, you
cannot move foot or hand without touching
a sacred thing. A Burmese proverb says
there are 9999. This may or may not be
true, but in any case it is certain that an area
of sixteen square miles Is practically covered
with holy buildings. They are of every

62 BURMA..
order of architecture and in. every stage of
decay, from the newly restored fane glitter
ing bright In white and gold, with freshly
bejewelled "umbrella" on its spire, to the
mere tumulus of crumbling brick hardly to
be distinguished from a simple mound of
earth. Some there are with chapels and
ante-chapels, as fine as many a cathedral, and
built In the form of the Christian cross ; others,
with the light 'grace of the minaret ; others,
again, rounded like the Hindoo dome ; some
that suggest the bamboo-modelled pagoda of
China ; others, a mere Border " peel ; " finally,
the ordinary bell-shaped solid mass charac
teristic of Burma itself The Irrawaddy
just below Pagdn widens out to over two
miles, and the view of the spires and
minsters, marabouts and topes, of the
Sacred City is particularly fine and suggests
a large metropolis, a calm religious town,
perhaps, disturbed by nothing but devout
processions and gorgeous ceremonial func
tions, certainly anything but the solemn,
impressive solitude which Is actually found.
Above Pagdn the two chief towns are
Koonyua and Myin-gyan, the latter between
the two mouths of the Chin-dwin river, and
by far the most populous and busy place on

THE COUNTRY, 63
the Irrawaddy after Mandalay. It has a
population of about fifteen thousand, and,
lying as it does In the centre of a great and
fertile plain, does a trade not greatly inferior
to that of the capital itself. Considerable
quantities of rice, wheat, and cotton have
been exported in the past days, and the
amount must be greatly increased in time to
come, while the timber floated down from
the Chin-dwin forests is mostly rafted here.
Mr, Malcolm Mackenzie, who made himself
prominent in connection with the crofters'
question some time ago, had large cutch
manufactories at Myin-gyan, and there were
also some extensive cotton-mills and storing-
sheds built by King Theebaw's father,
Myin-gyan stands on the left bank, which is
here very high and abrupt, though It Is
mere soil. The surrounding country is,
however, nearly quite level and open, ex
tending In a wide plain eastward to a
huge isolated hill, believed by the Bur
mese to be inhabited by demons, and con
taining a considerable amount of iron-ore.
After Myin-gyan there are no towns of
any great Importance till Mandalay, ninety
miles off, is reached. Just below the capital
the Irrawaddy contracts from a mile and

64 BURMA,
more in width to eight hundred yards, and
the stream makes a grand sweep to the west
ward. On the left, as one ascends, are the
bare, rocky Sa-gaing hills ; on the right, the
well-foliaged banks at Ava and Amarapura,
rising here and there into knolls and little
hills with rocky faces to the river front. • All
three towns, Ava, Amarapura, and Sa-gaing,
if now they can be called towns, 'are ancient
capitals. Hence there is an abundance of
religious buildings.- . On the Sa-gaing hills,
stairways, some of them over a mile long,
wind up the steep slopes to the pagodas on
the top, steps in some places hewn out of the
rocky hillsides. In others laid with square
blocks of alabaster. The shrines are not
merely on the hill tops, Down on the
cramped space at the base are many more, con
spicuous among them the huge solid cupola
of the " Pumpkin Pagoda," On every prac
ticable spot of the ascent there are more,
some mere bell-shaped masses of bricks,
surmounted by the invariable "umbrella"
glittering with gold-leaf and musical with
scores of little bells, hung from the concentric
circles rising one above the other in lessening
size. Opposite, more pagodas rise up in

THE COUNTRY. 65
massive dignity on the river bank, or show
their slender spires farther back against the
green boughs of gigantic trees. The sight,
with the background of the huge dark Shan
hills to the eastward, is striking and beautiful
in the extreme, MANDALAY.
When the steamer ghaut at Mandalay is
reached, the prospect is vastly different. The
western hills have drawn back from the river,
leaving In the foreground a wide, burnt-up
sand-bank, dotted in bygone days with the
relics of the royal fleet, Burmese ¦ generally
have no notions of economy, and King
Theebaw, even less than his father, failed to
show them an example. The royal steamers,
an opposition line to the Irrawaddy Flotilla
Company, were driven till their machinery
broke down. Then, during the rains, when
this huge sand-bank was under water, they
were towed over there and allowed to strand
themselves and blister and rot away in the sun.
There was a royal foundry, but the French
engineers In charge were usually employed in
laying out ornamental gardens in the Palace
and endeavouring to get concessions of mines

66 BURMA.
for themselves. The " brasses " were all stolen
to make images of, and to set the foundry
a-going again would be little less expensive
than the original cost. On the Mandalay
side — Mandalay is on the left bank of the
Irrawaddy — there is no sand-bank, but the
view is not much more inviting. The bank
rises higher than the country behind, and it is
simply bare earth, with the royal Customs
House standing near the top, a few trees and
bamboos and ramshackle huts peeping over
the slope and a crowd of cherut-smokingloafers
collected on the bank to look at the Incoming
steamer, A little higher up is the "bund,"
an embankment built to prevent the river
from flooding the town, as It used to do not
farther than ten or fifteen years back. This
embankment was declared sacred ground
when It was finished, and several Englishmen
have been put in the stocks for walking on it ;
a Burman would have been flogged round
the town, or pitched into the river. If he had
been ignorant, or presumptuous, enough to
venture on such a promenade.
The capital Is two miles from the river, but
there are houses and monasteries which
straggle nearly all the way down to the land-

THE COUNTRY. 67
ing-place. There is a broad, wide road run
ning at right angles to the river, which takes
one up to a small stream called the Shway-
ta Kyoung, used to supply water for the city
moat. Along the side of this road, standing
at a little distance back from It, in the middle
of fairly large gardens of flowers and fruit
trees, are the suburban residences of some of
the Ministers, Most of these used to sleep
inside the Palace the greater part of the
year, but when they gave theatrical or other
entertainments it was in these houses out
side. Perhaps it was because Ministers
and princes and great people generally in
Mandalay rode on elephants rather than In
carriages that this road was so bad. In the
wet weather it used to be a mere sea of mud ;
in dry weather it was always overhung by a
cloud of dust, like the Peking plain, A good
many large stones lay scattered about all over
it, as if there had been an idea at some time
to have it metalled, but the notion, like most
others of the kind In Mandalay, was given
up. They remained there to jolt the bones
of those who were ill-advised enough to go
up in a Mandalay bullock- carriage. These
''^^afe gay enough to look at, painted all over
F 2

BURMA.
in bright colours, but there are no seats.
The only entrance was by a round hole
in front, and you had to sit on the floor.
The driver sat before you on the shafts, and
prodded up the- bullocks into a shambling
trot. The unlucky passenger very shortly
discovered that there were bones in parts of
his body where previously he had imagined
all was soft. Even an equipment of pillows
and mattresses did not make him comfort
able. In appearance they resembled nothing
so much as a dog-kennel on wheels. Never
theless, except elephants, they were the most
aristocratic conveyances in the place, and the
pity that was lavished on the deposed king
because he had to ride down to the steamer
in a " bullock-cart " was mere absurdity. To
have put him on an elephant, even If it had
been the Lord White Elephant, would have
been cruel irony, and to have made him ride
a pony would have been simply to parade his
fall before the populace. His mode of depar
ture was both the kindliest and the most
honourable that could be given him.
Mandalay, like all Chinese and Indo-
Chinese official towns, is divided into two — the

THE COUNTRY. 69
walled city and the suburbs. The latter
extend, as we have seen, two rriiles down to
the river, and straggle for about the same
distance in all directions over the level plain.
The city proper is a huge walled square,
each face a mile and an eighth long. The
mud-mortar built walls are twenty-six feet
high, machicolated at the top ; they are three
feet thick, backed with a heavy mass of earth,
and along the ramparts are wooden look
out towers of an ornate style of architecture
suggestive of China. There are twelve gates
to the city, three on each side, but only one
bridge over the moat to each three, except
on the west, where there are two. The moat
is about sixty feet from the walls, and con
siderably more than that wide, covered in
many places with the lotos-pknt that the
Buddhist loves. Here and there upon it
float royal craft, state barges, and despatch-
boats, gilt from stem to stern, and manned by
sometimes as many as sixty paddlers. The
city is well and regularly laid out. From
the gates roughly macadamized roads, a
hundred feet wide, run parallel to the walls.
They are lined with young trees (Mandalay

70 BURMA.
only exists since 1857), and down the sides of
most of them run little streams of water.
Between these main streets, and parallel to
them, are others narrower, but still very
orderly. There is no attempt at a drainage
system, but the town Is essentially clean and
airy, thanks to the unmolested, or rather
cherished, pigs and dogs that act as highly
efficient scavengers, and the constant open
spaces insuring ventilation. Forming a
species of redoubt in the centre of the city is
the Palace, which has two successive en
closures — the outer, a log stockade, with
elaborate turreted gateways; the inner, a
brick wall ; with a broad esplanade between
the two. In the exact centre of the Palace
and of the city rises the seven-roofed spire,
emblematic of royalty and religion, which
the Burmese look upon as the centre of
Burma and therefore of creation. Apart
from the Supreme Court and Hall of
Audience, the royal dwelling consists mainly
of a rambling succession of gardens and
pleasure or residential houses. The higher
officials live within the Palace stockade, and
there also are the mint, arsenal, treasury,
powder-magazines, and other public buildings.

THE COUNTRY. 71
In the walled city live the lower officials and
the soldiery, and. In the suburbs outside, the
traders and general population. This Is
estimated all round at something over a hun
dred thousand. There is a good deal of
wealth in the commercial town, but it is In
the hands of Chinese and Moguls, with whom
the king was afraid to meddle. No Burman
could get rich with safety.
Scattered about over the outer town are
great numbers of pagodas and monasteries
and religious buildings. The monastic
population is especially great. It has been
estimated as high as thirty thousand. Chief
of the monasteries Is the kingr's. This
royal monastery is a mass of gilding from
the roof to the side-posts, inside and out.
The eaves and the top of the side walls are
covered with the bold, open carving in which
the Burmese show so much artistic skill, and
this is as richly gilt as everything else. The
boxes in which the palm-leaf manuscripts are
kept are as elaborate In decoration as the com
mentaries themselves are valuable to students
of Buddhist literature. Among the pagodas
the most interesting Is the so-called " Incom
parable Pagoda." Round about the main

72 BURMA.
shrine, which in itself Is a marvel of decora
tion, there are many rows of other smaller
ones, each sheltering a series of marble slabs
In shape and appearance not unlike large
gravestones. On these are engraved the
Tripitaka, the "three baskets of the Law,"
the Buddhist scriptures. The uncle of King
Theebaw, known as the War Prince, was a
very pious man notwithstanding the desire
to fight the English which gained him his
name. In order to lay up good store of
" merit " towards a future existence, he called
together the most learned monks of his time
to settle the best authenticated version of the
holy books, and this authorized and revised
edition he had deeply engraved on these
marble slabs, so that it might endure to all
time and gain him a seat In the blissful dwell
ings of Brahmas. The idea may or may not
have been borrowed from the similar work
executed In China, but at any rate the Atoo-
ma-shee pagoda will be of great Interest to
Pali scholars throughout the world. But
this is only one of many fanes, some mar
vellous for their size, some for their beauty,
some for the multitude of offerings made
to them.

THE COUNTRY. 73.
The streets are a curious study. There Is
an extraordinary variety of nationalities to be
seen constantly in Mandalay, Every here
and there one comes across a band of Shans,
tall, stalwart men, very Chinese in feature,
wearing usually nothing but baggy blue
trousers, and tattooed from the waist down to
the ankles. Occasionally, too, though much
more rarely of late years, one comes across
a Kachyen hill-chieftain with his train of
ragged followers, slight, but wiry, in figure, '
with aquiline noses and shifty, fierce eyes, as
different as possible from the thickset, open-
faced Burman, Then there are parties of
Arakanese, come over the hills to worship at
the most holy " Arakan Pagoda," with Its
famous brass Gautama, said to have been cast
from a model of the great Master himself, and
to have been Inspired with life by him for a
day in response to ardent prayers. The
Arakanese are easily recognized by the modi
fication of their Mongolian features Induced by
their neighbourhood to the Bengalis, They
have more of a nose and more hair on the
face, and altogether greater regularity of
feature. Moreover, their rolling /s betray
them. The Burman, like the Chinaman, has

74 BURMA.
not an r in his alphabet. Besides these, there
are Chins from the western hills : the men
with their hair gathered up In a knot over
the forehead, and very often not much more
clothing than a small-sized handkerchief; the
women, with their faces tattooed all over with
close dark-blue lines to prevent non-Chin
lovers from running away with them, dressed
In short smocks and still shorter walstcloths,
which display sturdy legs exceedingly freely.
Along with them may be seen a Chaw or two,
the men with their foreheads shaved liked a
Madrasi, the women with their hair plaited in
two tails and brought up round the forehead
like a coronal ; sun-and-moon worshipping
Shandoos ; Karenns in long blouses marked
with lines and embroidery according to the
tribe they belong to ; Khamis and Mros from
the northern Arakan hill-tracts, whose scanty
beards and oblique eyes remind one of the
Annamese ; and the Paloung come down from
the north with his bamboo rafts laden with
pickled tea. It is a great place, Mandalay, for
the study of queer tribes and primitive super
stitions. Under native rule it used to be the
refuge of the sweepings of all the country,
British and independent. Alongside the

THE COUNTRY. 75
holy, yellow-robed, shaven-headed monks
might be seen gamblers, thieves, broken
agriculturists, and military bullies and hangers-
on of the great men about the Court, not a few
of them Europeans, runaways from ships in
Rangoon harbour and from justice, ready to
do anything but honest work, some of them
advising the king In his foreign relations and
acting as generals in his army, others simply
living on the families of their Burmese wives.
Then there were honest traders, Chinese and
Moguls, indifferent honest perhaps, but at
any rate substantial : the Chinaman smooth-
shaven and prosperous, whether big and raw-
boned from Yiinnan and Ssu-ch'uen, or thickset
and plump from Rangoon and the Straits —
Baba Babas, "eleven o'clock Chinamen," as
they are called — born and brought up in
British territory and without a notion of what
the Flowery Land and its mandarin system is
like ; the Mogul with his red-dyed beard,
solemn face, and his cunning, that of a Jew
plus an Armenian plus a Greek, and yet only
just able to hold his own with the Chinaman,
who has his gorgeous joss-house in the out
skirts of Mandalay with the proud inscription,
" Enlightenment finds its way even among the

76 BURMA.
outer barbarians," It was a town of very
violent contrasts, Mandalay — the silk-clad
Chinaman elbowing the ninety-nine hun
dredths naked Chin ; the mendicant of the
Sacred Order of the Yellow Robe looking
pityingly on the grim-visaged Mogul, who
could buy up half the town ; the haughty
Minister preceded by the shrieking mandarin,
his lictor ; the cashiered French officer hob
nobbing with a favourite spittoon-bearer;
gilded temples and jewelled monasteries by
the side of trumpery bamboo shanties that
one could knock over with a sweep of the
leg ; lottery offices next door to substantial
traders ; the royal cotton-mills standing In the
midst of a nest of professional fortune-tellers ;
and over every one the fear of denunciation
to the Court, of the prison and the rack,
or the crucifix. In a year or two more It
will be one of the most popular garrison sta
tions in Burma and the haunt of the globe
trotter.

THE IRRAWADDY ABOVE MANDALAY,
The river scenery between Mandalay and
Bhamo (or Bamaw, as it is pronounced) is the

THE COUNTRY. 77
finest in Burma, and Is all the more pleasur
able because one gradually gets rid of the
eternal pagodas which make the whole extent
of the lower river look not unlike a big grave
yard. An hour's steaming from Mandalay
brings you to the Mingohn pagoda, a huge
mass of bricks four hundred feet square at the
base, and Intended to rise to a height of five
hundred feet. It was, however, never finished,
and an earthquake In 1839 rent the gigantic
cube with fantastic fissures from top to bottom,
A queer cavernous slit enables you, if you
can hold on tight, to scramble up to the top,
whence a grand view may be had of the wide
silvery Irrawaddy, the gilded spires of Man
dalay, and the pagoda-sprinkled heights of
Sa-gaing, There Is a curious chimney-stack
like erection rising some twenty feet above
the level of the summit, and extending, it is
said, all the way to the base, the object of
which is not apparent. Close to the great
pagoda hangs the largest bell In Burma,
second only in size to the monster at Moscow.
It is eighteen feet high, seventeen from lip
to lip, and eighteen inches In thickness. The
weight Is over ninety tons, and has proved too
much for the supports, for one side of the bell

78 BURMA.
rests on the ground. All around are gigantic
mango and tamarind trees.
Above this the river banks become more
and more deserted. Here and there Is a
small fishing village, looking even more
dismal and dilapidated than those below the
royal city. The larger towns, such as
Malay, Sheen-pagah, Katha, and Shway-goo,
are simply places where a few thousand
people gather together and keep from starving.
Beyond these Is the Third Defile, where the
stream narrows to a thousand yards, and
flows for thirty miles through a low undu
lating tangle of hills, covered with luxuriant
forest-growth, noble palmyras, and gigantic
.clumps of bamboos, relieved by the pale
tropical green of the tamarind and the plantain
growing close down to the water's edge and
trailing great creepers into the stream itself
It is almost like lake scenery, each long reach
of deep smooth water seeming barred by
wooded cliffs. Huge fresh-water dolphin
tumble their round heads about in the stream,
or race with the steamer, while overhead snowy
egrets and gay paroquets fly past the occa
sional heavy flapping hornbill, and flocks of
monkeys on the banks chatter defiance at the

THE COUNTRY. 79
noisy paddle-steamer. Half way through the
defile Is a small rocky island with a pagoda
and monastery on It, The monks here, as
in many other places in Burma, have so
tamed the fish that they will come to their
call and will feed out of the hand.
Beyond this defile there is flat country
again, with the lofty Kachyen and Shan hills
looming In the distance. Here again are a
few villages, whose inhabitants live in con
stant fear of raids from the wild hill-tribes
and visits from scarcely more fierce tigers.
Tagoung and Old Pagdn, ancient capitals, are
passed, and then the Second Defile Is reached
— a magnificent gorge which is one of the
sights of the country. The river, above and
below quite a mile wide, here narrows to
three hundred yards, to burst at right angles
through the mountain range. For five miles
one winds round gigantic precipices, covered
with stunted trees, while here and there a
bald peak rises like a vulture's head from
among the forest-growth, festooned clumps •
of palms, bamboos, and graceful musse alter
nating with the broad-leafed eng-tree and
the mast-like oil-palm. In the middle of the
defile stands the Deva-faced cliff, the Angel

So BURMA.
Rock, as it is called — a wall of stone rising six
hundred or more feet sheer out of the water,
the trees on the summit looking like so much
heather. In the rains several rivulets leap
over the side, breaking into spray before they
are a quarter of the way down. Perched on
a great boulder at the base Is the little
Sessoungan pagoda, where sure-footed wor
shippers deposit offerings to be eaten by the
long-tailed monkeys that abound in the defile.
There is a wonderful echo in the gorge : a
gun discharged reverberates like a park of
artillery ; the call of the water-bird floats
weirdly from cliff" to cliff", and sinks away in
the distance ; the hum of the bees on the
flowering shrubs booms from side to side like
the notes of a great organ ; and the splash of
the paddle-wheels raises a continuous roar
like that of Niagara, Bottom has not been
found at sixty fathoms. At each short turn
the river seems to rise bodily out of the
mountains. Suddenly we turn round a peak
with great lanes torn through the forest-
growth on its sides by descending boulders,
and we are in the level country again, with a
great plain before us extending to the foot of
the Kachyen hills, and half way up which,
twenty miles off", lies Bham6,

THE COUNTRY. 8i
Bhamo is the navigation limit for steamers
on the Irrawaddy, and there used to be deep
water immediately under the high bank on
which the town stands. The channels, how
ever, seem to have changed recently. The
Irrawaddy here, nevertheless, eight hundred
miles and more from the sea, is three-quarters
of a mile wide, so that there can be no diffi
culty in keeping open the river communica
tion. The town of Bhamo practically consists
of a single street a mile and a quarter long,
following closely the bank of the river. On the
land face there is a log stockade ten feet high,
about four hundred yards from the river-side,
and intended to keep out reiving hill-men
and prowling tigers. The population Is about
2500, and is mostly Shan-Burmese, a cross
between the old Inhabitants and the hill-men
of the adjoining principality of Momelt,
Perhaps a quarter of the Inhabitants are
Chinamen, and they are certainly the most
important people there. They have the best
houses and all the money, but very few of
them are permanent residents. They come
over with a caravan, transact their business
and make their purchases, and then return
over to Yung-chang or Tali, leaving perhaps G

82 BURMA.
a clerk or two to make investments against
their return and to see about the disposal of
what goods may remain over.
The idea that China would ever take, or
even wanted, Bhamo never entered any one's
brain three or four years ago. The place
was certainly captured and held for some
months in the beginning of 1885 by a com
bined band of Chinese and Kachyens, but
the Chinamen were just as much robbers as
the Kachyens were, and their action was
disavowed by the Imperial Government as
well as by the provincial Governor-General,
Between Bhamo and the foot of the hills to
the east extends a plain about twelve miles
wide, all cultivable land, but at present
covered with bamboo and other jungle, with
stretches of elephant-grass. The Kachyen
hills then interpose a strip of neutral territory,
some twenty or twenty-five miles wide,
between Burma and China, and the peoples
then reached are Chinese Shans rather than
Chinamen, We have therefore on this side
as satisfactory a frontier as could be desired —
a thing which it would have been impossible
to obtain if the Middle Kingdom had crossed
the watershed. The railway to be con-

THE COUNTRY. 83
structed from Toung-oo to Mandalay will be
pushed on through an easy country to Bliamd,
and then we shall have a junction with the
Indian railway system at Dibrogurh in
sight. Some score miles or so above Bhamd the
Irrawaddy passes through the First Defile,
This is as grand as the Second, but infinitely
wilder. The river is narrowed from a
thousand yards to a hundred and fifty, and
rushes through sheer walls of rock. Prodi
gious boulders in mid-stream produce eddies
and backwaters and whirlpools, and render
all navigation Impossible except for the
smallest boats, and even for these it is a very
dangerous matter. These narrow gullets, one
of them no more than fifty yards wide, are
repeated several times, with quiet but rapid
reaches in between, until the " Elephant and
Cow" are reached. After these two fantastic
rocks are passed, the stream widens out
again, and, after receiving the Tapeng river
from the eastern hills, flows on quietly to
Bhamd. The sources of the Irrawaddy have
never been seen, but it is now definitely
settled that the Sanpu, the mysterious river
of Tibet, is not the upper Irrawaddy, as has
G 2

84 BURMA.
long been asserted. The Sanpu is un
doubtedly the Dihong. Above the junction
v/ith the Mogoung river, the Irrawaddy splits
into two, the Mylt-gyee and Mylt-nge (the
large and small river), and at this point is
nine hundred yards across. It seems there
fore probable that the source of one or other
of the arms must be a lake to produce this
huge volume of water. In any case the
Irrawaddy Is one of the finest rivers in the
world — certainly one of the finest navigable
rivers.

TIIE PEOPLE.

Ill,— THE PEOPLE.

BURMESE KINGS.

"OROM the brief glance we had of the
-*• history of Burma, especially of the
connections we have had with the Burmese,
it might be supposed that they are an
entirely objectionable race. Nothing could
be more unjust with regard to the people at
large. Their rulers have been bad enough,
and indeed a Burman In authority, even
under our control in the lower provinces, is
not always the most amiable of personages.
To mention a Burmese policeman to an
Ano^lo-Burman, or even to a Burman for the
matter of that, has much the same effect as
squirting hot water into his ear. He becomes
voluble and abusive on the spot. Conceit is
the greatest fault of the Burman, In" some
respects It is not altogether a bad quality,
but it entirely depends upon your point of
view with regard to the person who exhibits

86 BURMA.
it. The Burmese kings exhibited it in most
grandiose fashion. The first Burmese War
was described in the following fashion : —
" The white strangers from the West
fastened a quarrel upon the Lord of the
Golden Palace. They landed at Rangoon,
took that place and Prome; and were per
mitted to advance as far as Yandabo ; for
the king, from motives of piety and regard
to life, made no effort whatever to oppose
them. The strangers had spent vast sums
of money on the enterprise ; and by the time
they reached Yandabo their resources were
exhausted, and they were in great distress.
They petitioned the king, who, in his clemency
and generosity, sent them large sums of
money to pay their expenses back, and
ordered them out of the country,"
The strangers, however, have stayed ever
since in the provinces of Arakan and Tenas
serim, and they were rude enough to call the
money for their expenses an indemnity.
Shortly before the above declaration, the
king had sent a note to Sir Archibald
Campbell representing that " it was contrary to

THE PEOPLE. 87
his religious principles and the constitution of
the empire to make any cession of territory,
and he was bound to preserve its integrity,"
The king was referred to as the " emperor
of emperors, against whose Imperial majesty
if any shall be so foolish as to imagine any
thing, it shall be happy for them to die and
be consumed ; the Lord of great charity and
help of all nations ; the Lord esteemed for
happiness ; the Lord of all riches, of elephants
and horses, and all good blessings ; the Lord
of high-built palaces of gold ; the great and
most powerful Emperor in this life, the soles
of whose feet are gilt and set upon the heads
of all people," ^^
The Burmese " Royal Chronicle of Kings "
enumerates 587,000 and some odd hundreds
of these distinguished personages. Age did
not stale their infinite variety, but, on the
whole, it is a matter of congratulation that
the world has done with them. The founder
of the dynasty of which King Theebaw was
the last representative was a very favourable
specimen, Aloung Payah stood five feet
eleven inches, a great height for a Burman,
and was of a very athletic build. He was
fighting all his life, and therefore had no time

88 BURMA.
for the simple massacres which his descend
ants indulged in. But he had a right royal
opinion of himself A Captain Baker, the
commander of an East Indiaman, was sent by
the Company to enter Into relations with him.
He brought the king a present of a few
chests of gunpowder, a couple of muskets, a
gilt looking-glass, some lavender-water, and
some red earth In bags, and offered him the
assistance of the Company. The captain
evidently looked upon Aloung Payah as
little better than a savage, and was some
what astonished at the king's defiant laughter
and the self-confidence of his reply : —
" Have I asked or do I want any assist
ance to reduce my enemies to subjection ?
Let none conceive such an opinion ! Have
I not in three years' time extended my con
quests three months' journey In every quarter
without the help of cannons or muskets ?
Nay, I have, with bludgeons only, opposed
and defeated these Peguans who destroyed
the capital of this kingdom, and took the
prince prisoner ; and a month hence I intend
to go with a great force to Dagohn [Rangoon,]
when I will advance to the walls of Pegu,

THE PEOPLE. 89
blockade and starve them out of It, which Is
the last town I have now to take to complete
my conquest, and then I will go in quest of
Bournon [the French governor of Syriam,
whom he afterwards did put to death].
Captain, see this sword ; it is now three
years since it has been constantly exercised
in chastising my enemies ; it Is Indeed almost
blunt with use ; but It shall be continued to
the same till they are utterly dispersed. Do
not talk of assistance. I require none. The
Peguans I can wipe away as thus [drawing
the palm of one hand over the other]. See
these arms and this thigh [drawing his loose
coat-sleeves up to the arm-pit, and lifting his
waist-cloth so as to display a brawny tattooed
leg] ; amongst a thousand you cannot see my
match. I can crush a hundred such as the
King of Pegu."
He also announced that he Intended
seeking the French out In Madras, and that
if a nine-pounder shot were to hit him it
could do him no harm, with a good deal
more to the same effect. But he at any rate
was a great commander. His successors
had all his arrogance without his abilities.

90 BURMA.
One of them goes by the name of the
drunkard, or fisherman king, both pastimes,
fishing as well as drinking, being abhorred
by good Buddhists. Another announced
that he was the fifth Buddha who is to
appear in this world cycle. The monks
refused to believe It, so he cut the heads off"
a few thousand of them and commenced
building the Mingohn pagoda, not far from
Mandalay, which, even In its present un
finished state, is the largest mass of brick
work In the world. After him several of the
line were subject to fits of insanity, but even
in their madness they did not commit such
atrocities as when they thought the matter
calmly out. Tharrawaddy had a celestial
spear which he always kept by him, and
occasionally used to spit a courtier, and it
was in his time that the Idea sprang up that
the ordinary amusement of kings of Burma
was to sit at their parlour window and shoot
their subjects as they passed by. His son,
Moung Lohn, the " old king " as he is called
in Burma, King Theebaw's father, was much
the best king the country ever had. He was
very pious, did many good works, and was
particularly fond of his title " Convenor of

THE PEOPLE. 91
the fifth great synod," but even In his time
there were sudden deaths, even of his own
sons. The king would say emphatically,
" I don't want to see that man any more,"
and he did not. The offender died of
" official colic " within a few hours.
Of King Theebaw very little need be said.
He was a weak creature, entirely under the
control of his harridan queen and her mother.
The latter was described the other day as
"the ordinary type of old woman," Happily
this Is a libel. Ordinary old women, even in
Burma, do not have their step-sons and
daughters and their coadjutor or sister wives
killed by the half-dozen. That was the point
about King Theebaw that his subjects did
not like. They did not mind the massacre
ings; that was quite proper, and sanctioned by
old custom ; but that he should have only one
wife seemed to them undignified and weakly
in the extreme. By the actual Constitution
of the country he ought to have had four —
the queens of the north, south, east, and west
palaces — and as many more "inferior" wives
as he cared for. The pious and enlightened
monarch, his father, had fifty-three recognized
wives, besides an indefinite number of hand-

92 BURMA.
maidens. By the wives he had one hundred
and ten children, forty-eight sons and sixty-
two daughters. The children of the hand
maidens were not counted, partly because
they were not worth killing in the event of
a disputed succession. Careful statisticians
aver that the orthodox old gentleman
averaged seven children a year. Against
this record Theebaw could only show five
children in five years, and three of these
were dead. Such an unkingly state of
things seemed to the Burmese people in the
highest degree indecorous,
BURMESE OFFICIALS.
With kings of the character we have seen,
it is not to be wondered at that the Ministers
and officials of lower rank were not very
estimable people. This was not because
there was no system of administration. On
the contrary, the governmental Institutions
were ancient, well developed, and elaborate
down to the minutest details. The number,
rank, and functions of the Ministers were
strictly defined by precedent, and they were
supposed to be appointed for special abilities.

THE PEOPLE. 93
There is no hereditary rank, out of the royal
blood, in Burma any more than there is in
China or in any of the Indo-Chinese
countries. Any one might become a
Minister, and. Indeed, instances In which men
of the lowest rank, and even coolies, have
risen to the highest posts have been far from
uncommon. But it was much easier to fall/
than to rise, and, as every one's positionl
depended upon the king, the country suffered/
just as much as if no Constitution existed au
all. Therefore a Burmese Minister never]
did anything but take the utmost care that he
was neither beheaded nor tortured nor dis
missed. All that he ever accomplished In
the way of forming a policy was to suggest
that the Lord of the Golden Throne might
like such and such a thing done. But even
so much as that was only ventured upon by
extremely conscientious men or by personal
favourites. As for the ordinary run of
officials, when they were questioned about
their departments, they gathered, or guessed,
from the questions, what was expected to be
done, and then declared that it was done, and
afterwards proceeded to do it.
Nevertheless, the number, rank, and functions

94 BURMA.
of the different officers were strictly defined
by precedent. The absolute power of the
king, the despotic character of the govern
ment when a weak, vicious, or ignorant man
was at the head of it, rendered the working
of the Constitution a mere farce. The country
suffered just as much as if there were absolute
chaos. Still, a sketch of the administrative
system may be interesting.
There were two classes of Burmese
Ministers :
I, The Woon-gyees, who were the adminis
trative officers properly so called; and
2. The A-twin-woons, whose authority and
responslblity were confined to the Palace.
On paper, their duties and position were
quite distinct, but, as a matter of fact, as long
as we have any knowledge of the conduct of
Burmese affairs, the officers of the household
have had quite as much to do with the affairs
of the nation as the class to whom these were
supposed especially to belong. Every one
M'as prepared, and was very often called upon,
to do everything- — to advise on matters of
state, politics, finance, or revenue ; to try a
case, civil or criminal ; direct military or naval
operations (from an elephant on the river

THE PEOPLE. 95
bank), or superintend the building of a royal
pagoda or other work of merit. One of the
officers of the household was, in fact, appointed
commander-in-chief, under King Theebaw,
of the army which made so'sllght a resistance
in the third Burmese War. He knew nothing
about military weapons or military tactics, but
that was a matter which did not greatly con
cern either him or the king-.
Technically, there were only four Woon-
gyees and four A-twin-woons, but this
number was not unseldom exceeded. The
Woongyees were naturally the more import
ant officers, and they, with the lower grades
of the same department, constituted the Great
Council of State, the Hloht-daw, or H loot-
daw as it is sometimes written.

THE HLOHT-DAW.
As this Council has been retained, probably
only as a temporary measure, since the
occupation of the country, a detailed de
scription of it may be of some interest. The
Hloht was Cabinet, House of Legislature, and
Supreme Court of Justice rolled in one, and
there was no appeal from its decisions, unless

96 BURMA.
the king changed his mind. It was this
Council that summarily decided the case of
the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation
which was the immediate cause of the
ultimatum despatched to King Theebaw, It
used to meet In a building situated between
the royal eastern gate of the Palace and
the outer gate of the Palace enclosure, on the
wide esplanade or court- yard. Each Minister
had his special office at no great distance on
this same esplanade. If rule were observed,
the king himself, or, falling him, the heir
apparent or some one of the royal blood,
was the president. But King Theebaw
Issued all his orders beforehand, and the
Hloht only assembled to hear them announced
by the Taing-dah Woon, who was his great
favourite and adviser. If there could be said
to be a president, it was the Kin-woon Min-
gyee, the so-called Prime Minister, the one
able and experienced man in the Council as
It existed under King Theebaw, He was in
England in 1872, and ever since then repre
sented order and the peace party in Mandalay.
But he was no favourite of the king's, and
would probably have been made away with
long ago had it not been that he held a

THE PEOPLE. 97
patent, given him under the seal of King
MIndohn, guaranteeing him from being put
to death by any of an extraordinarily lengthy
and categorically set forth list of methods of
execution. Inventive genius was often sorely
tried In endeavouring to find out a process
against which he was not safeguarded.
The Ministers who composed the Hloht
were not divided by any sharply defined line
as superior and ministerial, though the titles
assigned to them seemed to point to some
such distinction of grades. Nominally, there
were fourteen grades, and eleven of these
properly consisted of four members, each
ranking by seniority. Power, or the want
of it, however, entirely depended upon the
freaks of the king. Colonel Sladen no
doubt has arranged some system of prece
dency If it was considered worth while, for
the Council cannot last long.
The Woon-gyees or Min-gyees were the
first in rank. Woon means "burden" —
metaphorically, the burden of State affairs;
actually, a burden to the people. The usual
rendering in English was Secretary of State,
and, if the title was to be translated at all, this
was undoubtedly the best rendering. As
H

98 BURMA.
said above, each of these Ministers had his
own department or departments, but the dis
tribution of work was an entirely personal
matter, and was never definitely fixed.
Indeed, though the Woon-gyees, like the king
himself, had always territorial as well as a host
of other titles, even these were not attached
to the office, but were given from time to
time by the man who arranged everything,
the king. As in the rest of Indo-China and in
China itself, these titles were not hereditary.
Next to the Woon-gyees ranked two officers,
the Myin-thoo-gyee Woon, or Master of the
Horse, the commander of the chief cavalry
regiment and representative of the mounted
services generally, and the A thee Woon, who
had charge of the concerns of all people not
in the royal service. His duties were a
mere sinecure, for no one would have had
the slightest chance of getting the better of a
dispute with any one In the royal employ
ment. Neither of these officers had much to
do in the Council, unless they were told off"
for some special service not included in their
departmental scheme.
Following these came the Woon-dauks,
Dauk means a "prop," The Woon-dauks

THE PEOPLE.

99

were therefore assistants of the Woon-gyees,
and may be called Assistant Secretaries of
State, They also were properly four in
number, but there were usually many more.
The rank was often conferred for a special
purpose, as when an envoy was sent abroad,
or sometimes as a reward for good service.
Each Woon-dauk had a department, or per
haps several, assigned to him,- but he no more
confined himself to the duties of that depart
ment, or necessarily performed any one of
them, than any other Burmese official. As a
general rule, however, all matters that were
not important enough, or too troublesome, for
the Woon-gyees were left In their hands.
These two classes practically did all the work
there was to do, and formed the real Min
istry. Below the Woon-datcks came four officials
called Nd-kan-daws, " receivers of the royal
ear." They formed a species of Black Rod,
and carried messages from the king to the
Council and from the Council to the king.
The royal words were too precious and
weighty to be borne by word of mouth, and
therefore these officials wrote them down in
large note-books in gorgeously gilded covers,
H 2

loo BURMA.
and carried these in both hands ostentatiously
before them, as insignia of their office and
intimation that nothing was to bar their way.
The fifth grade was that of the Sayay-daw-
gyees, "the great royal writers," They had
much more important duties than those of
mere secretaries, and, as the great bulk of the
administrative work fell on them, the tech
nical number of four was always greatly
exceeded, and there were seldom fewer than
a score. They were, in fact, executive officers,
and may be compared to the registrar of a
court, with a good deal more multifarious
work than falls to the lot of that functionary.
To them fell the task of holding preliminary
investigations In Important judicial matters,
and sometimes they would even decide minor
cases themselves, subject to the approval of
one of the superior Ministers, AU matters
of detail were left to them, and, as an imme
diate consequence, no Woon could do any
thing without his Say ay -daw -gyee.
Allied to them, but with considerably
Inferior .powers, though not less work, were
the Ame-n-daw-yays, the "writers of royal
orders." The name Is not inaptly chosen,
for the decrees were as much personal edicts

THE PEOPLE. IOI
as any ukase or hatti humayoum, and the
Government occupied a inere formal position
in the orders, which related to the appoint
ment and transfer of officers, the collection of
revenue, raising and marching of troops,
leases of forests, and hundreds of other
matters. Ranking below them were the A-thohn-
sayays, " the work writers," whose duties
were very much those of the members of a
public works department. They were sup
posed to keep roads and bridges In order, to
repair public buildings, and build new ones
when they were required. Except in their
latter capacity, and in clearing the city streets
for a royal progress, their duties were very
perfunctorily performed.
The eighth grade is that of the A-hmat-
sayays, the "notice writers," They drafted
and wrote out all orders. Injunctions, and
letters issued or to be issued by the Council,
Allied to them in duties were the A-way-
yotik-sayays, the "clerks for matters from
afar," They received, read, made a prdcis
of, and docketed all letters sent from a dis
tance, whether from a remote province or
from some Independent country. With the

102 BURMA.
last grade. In fact, they were the correspond
ence clerks, and did all the more laborious
and irksome work of the Woons. They had
naturally large numbers of assistants in train
ing for these and higher posts.
The tenth grade was that of the Than-
daw-kans, the " receivers of the royal voice."
These were merely ceremonial officers, and
there were only two of them. It was the
custom In Burma to hold periodical Kadaw-
pwes ; " beg-pardon days " they were usually
called. On such occasions, all officials, and
chieftains who held their principalities under
the king, were expected to come and do
homage in the great Hall of Audience,
There were usually three such functions In
the year, but sometimes there were more.
New Year's Day, which in Burma falls in
April, and the end of the Buddhist Lent, in
October, were Invariable dates. The duty
of the Than-daw-kans was to make lists of
those who had attended, to read the letters
of those who had sent excuses, and to report
the names of defaulters. In former days It
was a favourite trick of Burmese kings to
receive our representatives on such " beg-
pardon days," so that it might appear to the

THE PEOPLE. 103
people that he was recognized as suzerain
over all foreign nations. It may be remarked
that when Chinese envoys came they were
always present at such receptions, a fact which
may be fairly set against the vapourings of
the Peking Gazette.
Of the same character were the Letsoung-
sayays, the "present clerks," No one could
go before the king without making a present.
The gift or gifts were announced aloud by
these officials before the throne. They
correspond to the Tosha-khana clerks of
India, The Yohn - saw was a kind of Master
of Ceremonies, He superintended all the
arrangements for audiences, notified the
officials who were expected to attend, and
informed them what business was to be
transacted, what dresses they were to wear,
and such-like details.
Under him was the Necha, or usher, who
pointed out to each official, or visitor, the
place he was to occupy at ceremonial meet
ings of the Council and at levies. The
places in the Hloht-daw are marked by little
holes in the floor — a circumstance which has a
rather curious origin. The floor is raised off"

164 BURMA.
the ground on piles, and, underneath, each
man had his servant with his pipe. The
attendant thrust up the long stem through
the hole in the planking and held the bowl
below. In later days the pipes have been
mostly given up, but the holes remain.
Smoking is so universal in Burma that it
was not considered at all out of place for
the highest Minister to hold a cigar in his
hand while he made his reverence to the
king, and his Majesty himself puffed away
vigorously all the time.
The lowest in rank of the officials of the
Hloht were the Thissa - daw - sayays, the
"royal oath clerks." It was their business
to administer the oath of fealty to all who
entered the king's service. The ceremony
Is somewhat curious, and was based on an
old legend, which obtains currency in Siam
as well as in Burma, and results in similar
formalities. The oath Avas written down on
paper as follows : —
" I, the most glorious and famous Lord
of the Celestial Elephant, and Lord of many
White Elephants, Lord of the Heavenly
Weapon, and Sovereign of the whole world,

THE PEOPLE. 105
declare that if you [here was Inserted the
candidate's name] obey and follow my com
mands, you will be free from all the ninety-
six diseases and from the eight accidents,
under the aid of the five thousand Nats
[spirits] that guard religion, the Nats that
guard the trees, the Nats that guard the
earth, the Nats that guard the skies, and all
kinds of Nats, the Nats that guard the forest,
the Nats that guard the hills, the Nats that
guard the five great rivers, the Nats that
guard the five hundred little rivers, the Nats
that guard the Irrawaddy, the Thawkwaddy,
the Dohttawaddy, all the Nats that guard
the rivers, and the Nats that guard the
Pohppa hill ; but if you break your oath
which you have ratified by drinking this
water, in which swords and spears have been
dipped, then may you die by these weapons,"
This was read over in a temple before an
image of the Buddha, the candidate for office
repeating the words after the Thissa-daw-
sayay. Then the paper was burnt and the
ashes were stirred up in a cup full of water,
with a little bundle of models of the five kinds
of weapons used by the Burmese, the bow

io6 BURMA.
the spear, the sword, the rifle, and the cannon.
The person to be sworn In drank this, ashes
and all, and could be called upon to repeat
this formality of " the water of the oath " at
pleasure. All foreigners who entered the
king's service had to go through this cere
mony. This completes the list of the officers of the
Hloht-daw, the Supreme Council of State,
THE OFFICERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.
The chamber, or place of assembly, of the
officials charged with the duties of the interior
of the Palace was called the Bye-deht. Bye
Is said to be a Talaing word meaning
" bachelor," so that the place would bear the
name of the bachelors' room. Formerly, it
Is said, the king's pages in waiting used the
Bye-deht as an ante-chamber, and the king
himself is said to have come occasionally to
see his elephants exercised there. Of late
years, however, the chamber has been ex
clusively used as a public office. It might
be called the Court of Privy Council,
Of this second order of Ministers, the
A-twin-woons, "interior Ministers," were
the highest in rank. Their principal busi-

THE PEOPLE. 107
ness was supposed to be the conveying of
important matters of discussion from the
Hloht-daw to the king, but they actually
concerned themselves with everything or
nothing, according to the degree of favour
in which they stood. They slept in turn,
two at a time, in the Palace, as Indeed almost
all the officers of the Council did. The
A-twin-woons ranked above the Woon-dauks.
There were four other grades in this class,
but, except the second in rank, the others
were of little importance. These were the
Than-daw-zins, the "royal voice trans
mitters," They were always in close attend
ance at levies, and on other occasions took
down the king's orders and carried them to
whomsoever they might concern. They also
bore forth In state, royal letters from the
Palace, and were therefore attached to all
missions. The others, the Bye-deht Than-zin, the
See-mee-htoon-hmoo, and the Tin-dan-tan-
hmoo, were no doubt officials, and thought
a good deal of themselves, but their duties
were rather those of a menial than of a
Privy Councillor, They kept a record of
every one sleeping within the Palace stockade,

io8 BURMA.
and warned those required when it was their
turn to remain all night, looked after the light
ing of the royal buildings, the furniture and
appointments, and the like. Any one found
Inside the main gate after dark whose name
was not down in their books would have
been liable to grave suspicion and consequent
punishment. These officers had, therefore,
not a little power in their hands, and were
practically a species of secret police.
METHOD OF APPOINTMENT AND PAYMENT,
-^ There was no system of literary examina
tion in Burma, as there Is In nearly all the
other Indo-Chinese countries, for appoint
ment to office. Rise to office depended
upon chance or favour, Seve'ral of King
Theebaw's most trusted advisers have been
his body-slaves.
This was not a very satisfactory way of
administering the country, and the way in
which the officials drew their pay was still
less so. Each officer had given to him a
province, district, or town to govern for the
king's and his own benefit. From this
appointment he got his territorial title and

THE PEOPLE. 109
his living. He was Myo-sah, or "town-
eater," of such and such a place. Most of
these devourers of the people were non
resident, and had to appoint deputies, and
these deputies also drew their salaries by
fleecing the people. The division of the
country for the collection of the revenue was
identical with that for administrative purposes,
and the several duties were carried on by the
same persons with the same assistants. The
one man was civil administrator, judge,
colonel of the local militia, and revenue
collector for his locality, whether province,
circle, or simple village. The fixed revenue
demanded by the Myo-sah, whether prince
of the blood royal. Minister, maid of
honour, royal spittoon-bearer, coxswain of
a despatch boat, or Lord White Elephant,
was remitted to Mandalay by the deputy-
lieutenant of the province, together with a
certain overplus for the Myo-sah' s secretary^
clerk, and treasurer. The more a marl
cultivated, the more grievously was hd
squeezed, so that all enterprise and industry
were long ago crushed out of the life of the
Upper Burman. Wheat grows In abundance
wherever it is planted, but hardly any one

IIO BURMA.
dared to cultivate it lest he should be called
upon to pay double rates. It was the same
with cotton, sugar-cane, Indian corn, and
sessamum. Upper Burma might have grown
quantities of tea, tobacco, indigo, and cutch,
but the terrible system of government drove
all life out of the people, and only showed
danger In what ought to have been a profit.
Teak was a royal monopoly, but there were
other valuable woods everywhere throughout
the forests, yet no one dared cut them, even
to build himself a house, lest a comfortable
house should suggest hidden riches,
THE PEOPLE,
It Is not at all wonderful, therefore, that
the natives of the country we have just
annexed were somewhat soured in their
disposition. Years of grinding oppression
changed courage into something like ferocity,
and open-heartedness into gloom and sus
picion. Nevertheless, the rapidity with
which one of King Theebaw's subjects assimi
lated his ways to those of our seaboard
provinces showed that nothing was wanted
but changed conditinnc; nf jife to make a

THE PEOPLE. Ill
light-hearted creature of him. It was not
easy for him to cross the frontier, for all the
outlets were well guarded, and the relations
of any man who was known to have settled
in the lower provinces were put to death ;
but the number that steadily every year came
to establish themselves in Pegu was quite
sufficient to show that the settlement of our
new pos.sessinn will be neither a long nor a
troublesome matter. The arrival of our
troops In the country was marked by a most
favourable omen. During the advance there
was an almost continuous rain, a most
unusual thing in Upper Burma in the month
of November, but an earnest of a fine harvest
in the month of February. The Burmese
are a very superstitious race, and they will
consider this rainfall, which has averted what
seemed the certainty of a famine in the
country, as a proof that the British arms are
supported by the powers of Nature, Such
an indication was, however, hardly wanted,
W^ rnay be sure tViaf tViey \kiW\ arrept nnr
rule willingly, and that under its influence
they will grow prosperous and forget the
pride they enjoyed in having a ruler of -their
own race, however bad he might be.

BURMA.

THEIR FAULTS,

At any rate the Upper Burmans will soon
acquire the geniality which is a type of the
race, and makes our older British Burmans
so popular. They are favourites equally
with the freshest griffin ten days landed and
with the oldest resident, whose liver has made
him testy for many a year. Their very faults
lean to virtue's side. They are most marvel-
Inii.cjly and inrnnceivably lazy. .!^erffgtic
people declare that a Burman is good at
nothing but steering a boat or driving a
/7\ bullock cart. But too great laziness is
C^flin^j'' "<•¦ "T^'-'^ — nKjerl-innahle  than tnr»
systematic plodding. The Chinaman, who
grubs money night and day, is not a charming
spectacle. In Burma no one can starve, and
there is not a beggar to be seen except the
poor lepers on the pagoda steps, and the
special class who are bound to beggary by
birth and religion, and who are ofteii ,
extremely wealthy. The ordinary Burman
takes a job at carpentry work, or In the
harvest field, to get a little money, and then
he does nothing till he has got rid of it all,
'\yhen he does make a. large sum of money.

THE PEOPLE. 113
be spenH.s by far the greater part nf it nn
some pious work, and rejoices In the t^hnugbt
t^t this will meet with its reward in his nfy^t
existence. If he never gathers together
enough to build any great public work, at
any rate he subscribes what he can, and is
generous In almsgiving to the monks. So
he jogfs on through a calm and contented
existence, the most cheerful of mortals,
troubled bv no cares, and free from all the
temptatiqns nf ambition The Other most
obvious fault the Burman has Is, as we have
1^ said, that be is very conceited. His rebVinn
anrl hjs pbysiral .strength and the natinnal
literature all tend towards humj;)tiousness, and
whenever a Burman can assert himself he
does. He has the most prnfonnd mntempt
for the natives of India, and will not endnre
being treated otherwise than as an equal, or
at any rate a. nnn-dependent, by F.nrnpeans
If you hit him, he will hit you back again.
l^fyniT pb"'^P bityi, he will justify himself and
rf;>]-a1iate This Is all very well when it
does not go too far, but they are frequently
absurdly nver-tounhy. and resent altogether
imaginary slights. T^^l'^i rnnpled with their
extremelv unbn^iqe-s^-l'ke ways^ makes them
I

114 BURMA. •
of very little use In offices or houses of
business, and they have, therefore, very little
to do in the Government departments or In
mercantile houses, where the methodical
Chinaman or the fawning native of India is
a hundred times more useful, if in other re
spects not so agreeable, to his chiefs. Still,
the Burman's sturdy Independence is a great
attraction in the F.a.st, where it is. In other.
races with whom we bave come in contact.
so markedly absent. THEIR VIRTUES.
Some one with a taste for comparisons has
called the Burmese ",the Irish of tbe Ka.st."
In their love of fun and rollicking they cer
tainly resemble " the finest peasantry in the
world," and they are quite as ready to break
one another's heads for the mere joke of the
thing, but they are much too easy-going to
bother themselves with demands for Home
Rule, or the organization of land or any other
leagues, A Burman is always ready to wel-
rnme a joke, and not unseldom is able to cap
it, while nothing is so remarkable about the
natives of India as their utter incapacity to

THE PEOPLE. IIS
recognize wit, or to appreciate humour that is
not of the broadest. The great similarities
of sound in a tonic language like the Burmese
give abundant opportunity for play on words,
and they are therefore very free in the use of
the "basis of all wit," and every dramatic
piece abounds In puns and plays on words.
One of the most remarkable traits of the
people is the complete egualltv "f all cksse.s-
They are perfectly republican In the freedom
with which all ranks mingle together and talk
with one another, without any marked distinc
tion in regard to difference of rank or wealth.
One ranse nf this nn rlnnV.tj is that there are
no regular working-men : another, and this is
the chief one. Is the character of the religion.
Buddhism brings all men — all Buddhists, at
any rate — down to the same level. The poor
man may be a king of spirits in the next life ;
the high-placed sinner may frizzle in the
awful pains of hell. There is. no difference
between man and man but that which is
established by superiority in virtue. In this
they remain true to the most startling teach
ing of the Great Master, as It is told in " The
Light of Asia," The Master had asked for
milk from the shepherd's lota : — \ 2

ii6 BURMA.
" ' Ah, my Lord,
I cannot give thee,' quoth the lad, ' thou seest
I am a Sudra and my touch defiles ! '
Then the World-honoured spake : ' Pity and need
Make all flesh kin. There is no caste in blood.
Which runneth of one hue, nor caste in tears.
Which trickle salt with all j neither comes man
To birth with tilka-mark stamped on the brow.
Nor sacred thread on neck. Who doth right deeds
Is twice-born, and who doeth ill deeds vile.
Give me to drink, my brother ; when I come
Unto my quest it shall be good for thee.' "
EXCELLENCE AS BUDDHISTS.
Burmese Buddhism Is probably the purest
form of that faith existing — the nearest to the
teachings of Prince Siddartha, the Buddha
Shin Gautama, as he is called in Burma,
Every man in the country enters the monas
tery at some period of his life ; enters It not
merely as a scholar, for the monasteries are
the only national schools, but actually as a
member of the holy order. He shaves his
head and wears the yellow robe for a longer
or shorter time ; for a Lent, perhaps — that is,
about four months — or perhaps only for a
month, or a week, or even only for a day ;
but he must enter it with all the formalities of
renouncing the world, and he must go at least

THE PEOPLE. 117
once round the village, with the begging-bowl
hung round his neck, with the regular
members of the monastery. Without this he
has not received " Buddhist baptism ;" he has
not attained to " humanity," to the full privi
leges of a man ; he could not count his present
existence as other than an animal's ; all the
evil he did would swell the sum of his
demerits, but not a single good action, no
uttermost act of charity or devotion, would
be recorded to his advantage In his next
transmigration, Man has less Innocence
than the animals, and cannot, like them,
progress by merely omitting to sin.
On entering a monastery, the lad — for
almost all become probationers In their teens
— assumes a new name, which, on the
analogy of Christian, may be called his
Buddhist name. This he retains as long
as he remains In the holy building; when
he leaves, he resumes his worldly name.
This entry into monastic life is, therefore,
certainly the most Important event in the life
of a Burman, and It influences the life of the
whole people. Except In the big towns In
our provinces, the great mass of the popula
tion get their education in the monastic

ii8 BURMA.
schools, before and after their induction.
Teaching is all that the brethren of the order
do for the people. They have no spiritual
powers whatever. They simply become
members of a holy society that they may
observe the precepts of the Master more per
fectly, and all they do in return for the alms
lavished on them by the pious laity Is [to
instruct the children in reading, writing, and
the rudiments of religion, gnt it is prerisely
\Wy^ pinrler^t)^ ^mnunt of teaching, revealing.
as it does, all the stern simplicity of the
monastir life, that keeps Rnddbism .so artiye
In the country, and res'sfs the effnrts pf
Christian missionaries in Burma. The tone
of the monks is undoubtedly good. Any in
fractions of the law, which Is extraordinarily
complicated, are very severely punished ; and
if a pohn-gyee (or " great glory "), as the
monks are termed, were to commit any
flagrant sin, he would forthwith be turned
out of the monastery to the mercy of the
people, which would not be very con
spicuously prominent. Beyond their teach
ing, the monks act simply as models to the
people. Buddhism is a very pronounced
form of atheism, notwithstanding the simi-

THE PEOPLE, 119
larity of many of its precepts to Christian
doctrine. In a religious system which ac
knowledges no supreme Deity, it Is Im
possible for any one to intercede with a
Creator whose existence is denied on behalf
of a man who can only attain to a higher
state by his own pious life and earnest self-
denial. The religious are, therefore, only
higher members of a community In which
every individual is striving at a greater
degree of sanctity; For this reason the
doors of the monastery are always open as
well to those who wish to enter as to those
who wish to leave it. The longest stayer
has the greatest honour.
In return for their self-denial the monks
are highly honoured by the people. In
Upper Burma all bow down when the
mendicant passes, and the women kneel on
each side of the road. In our lower pro
vinces such outward marks of respect are not
usual in the larger towns, but there is no lack
of veneration, and all make way for him
when he walks abroad. The oldest layman
assumes the title of disciple to the last
inducted brother, and with clasped hands
addresses him as Payah, the highest title the

120 BURMA.
language affords. The monk's commonest
actions, walking, eating, sleeping, are referred
to in honorific language different from . that
which would be used of a layman, or even of
the king, performing the same thing. Finally,
the pohn-gyee' s person is sacred and inviol
able. Nothing he does can subject him to
the civil law. He bears the title of
Thageewin Prince, as the heir of the scion
of Kapilavastu and receiver of his inherit
ance, / DOCTRINE OF GOOD WORKS,
Religion pervades Burma In a way that
Is seen in hardly any other country, per
haps because every one has, at some time,
been a monk. No-JBwmaji will take animjj,
iife, even of the most noxious kind. Stories
are told of mothers who have allowed snakes
or scorpions, that have bitten their children,
to escape unharmed. Our man in the moon
is, by the Burmese, changed into a rabbit,
because Gautama, when he was on earth
in the form of that animal, made a peculiar
sacrifice to a previous Buddha, All creatures
on earth were bringing presents ; the lion
brought venison, the hawk dainty birds, the

THE PEOPLE. 121
bee honey. The rabbit thought : " What
can I offer ? Grass is no use, for I cannot
bring enough to make a couch. Therefore I
will offer my body to be eaten." For this
sacrifice, the form of the rabbit was placed in
the moon. The tale naturally recalls that in
"The Light of Asia," where the Brahmin
resigns his life that the tiger and her cubs
may not die of famine. The " duty days,"
as the days for worship are called — the first
and eighth of the crescent moon, the full
moon, and the eighth of the waning — are
kept a great deal better than Sundays In
most Christian countries. On special fes
tivals the pagoda platforms are thronged by
crowds varying according to the sanctity of
the place, and at no time of the day can you
visit any pagoda with a repute for sanctity
without seeing some devout people reciting
the lauds of the Buddha before the shrines.
The niiml-ipr nf p p gr(-(rl -^c^ in thc couutry is
altogether extraordinary. There is no vil
lage so poor but that it has its neatly kept
shrine, with the remains of others mouldering
away round about it. No hill is so steep and
rocky, or so covered with jungle, as to pre
vent the glittering gold or snow-white spire

122 BURMA.
rising up to guard the place from ghouls and
sprites, and remind the surrounding people
of the Saviour Lord, the teacher of Nirvana
and the Law. The banks of the IrraWaddy
are lined with them from the source to the
northern hills.
There is good reason for this multiplication
of fanes. No work of merit is so richly paid
as the building of a pagoda. The pagoda
founder is regarded as a saint on earth, and
when he dies he obtains the last release ; for
him there are no more deaths. The man
who sets up a row of water-pots on a dusty
road does well ; he who raises a sacred post,
who builds a rest-house, presents an image
or a bell, or founds a monastery, gains much
merit and ensures a happy transincorporatlon
when he passes away ; but the Payah-tagah
Is finally freed from the Three Calamities,
his merits outweigh the demerits, and he
attains the holy rest. If not immediately, at
any rate much sooner than a less pious
individual. It may be remarked that it is of
no avail to repair a previous dedication,
unless it be one of the great world-shrines at
Rangoon, Pegu, Prome, or Mandalay, In
the case of ordinary pagodas the merit of the

THE PEOPLE. 123
repair goes not to the restorer, but to the
founder. Pagodas are built over relics of the
Buddha, or models of them, over the sacred
eight utensils of a mendicant, or imitations of
these, and over copies of the sacred books.
SUPERSTITIONS.
The Burmese religion thus enters into the
life of the people in a much more thorough
way than is to be seen in the majority of
other lands.
Religious buildings are the most con
spicuous things in the country, the only con
spicuous buildings indeed, for the Burman's
house Is a very insignificant erection, usually
of bamboo and mats, sometimes of timber,
but never of anything more substantial. But,
notwithstanding their devotion to Buddhism,
they have a great many superstitions derived
from the Shamanism which was undoubtedly
the faith of their forefathers before Buddha-
ghosha came among them as an apostle.
These heresies are also kept alive by their
contact with the spirit-worshipping hill-tribes
who surround them.
The most singular of these beliefs Is that
which affects the naming of the Burmans.

124 BURMA.
The consonants of the language are divided
into groups, which are assigned to the days
of the week, Sunday having all the vowels
to Itself With all respectable families It Is
an Invariable rule that the child's name must
begin with one of the letters belonging to the
day on which It was born. For example, a
child born on Sunday might be called Shway
O, Golden Pot. If It were a boy, it would be
called Moung Shway O, Mr. Golden Pot, or,
in later days, simply Oo O, Old Pot ; if a girl.
It would be Mah Shway O, Miss (or Mrs.)
Golden Pot.
On Monday the letters are k, g, and ng, or
these letters aspirated. Examples : Moung
Kway Yob, Mr. Dog's Bone; Mah Kyit
Sway, Miss Loved Darling.
Tuesday : Moung Sehn Nee, Mr. Red
Diamond ; Mah See, Mrs. Oil.
Wednesday : Moung Bah Wah, Mr, Father
Fat ; Mee Hla, Miss Pretty,
Thursday : Moung Bah Hmoay, Mr,
Father Fragrance ; Mah Poo, Mrs. Hot.
Friday : Hpo Thin, Grandfather Learned ;
Mah Han, Mrs. Haughty.
Saturday : Moung Hpo Too, Mr. Like His
Grandfather; Mah Noo, Miss Tender,

THE PEOPLE. 125
Also— -corresponding to the English
rhyme, "Monday's child is fair of face," and
so on — they have a notion that according to
the day of the week (or rather the constella
tion representing that day) on which a man
was born, so will his character be. Thus a
man born on Friday will be talkative ; on
Saturday, quarrelsome ; on Sunday, parsimo
nious ; and so on. Not only has every day
its special character and Its fixed letters, but
there is some particular animal assigned to
symbolize It, and red or yellow wax-candles
are made In the forms of these animals to be
offered at the pagoda by the pious. Each
worshipper offers a creature candle represent
ing his birthday, or that of any particular
friend or relation whom he wishes well. In
this way Friday Is represented by a guinea-
pig ; Saturday by a dragon ; Sunday by a
Kalohn, the fabulous half-beast, half-bird,
which guards the terrace of Mount Meru ;
Monday by a tiger, and so on. This super
stitious idea has considerable ramifications ;
for example, a man or a woman born on a
Friday ought not to marry one born on a
Monday. One or other, or both of them,
would die if they persisted in marrying one

126 BURMA.
another. Similar unhappy conjunctions are
the union of couples born on Saturday and
Thursday, or Sunday and Wednesday. Bur
mese young ladles know all these "hostile
days," as they are called, well enough ; they
are set forth in jingling rhymes, and as they
know the day a man Is born on by his Initial
letter, they cut short the supplications of a
swain who would rush on his own ruin. On
the other hand, there Is an elaborate figure
to show what unions according to birthdays
will be lucky. Sunday and Tuesday, Thurs
day and Friday, and Monday and Friday
are some of these benignant combinations.
In addition to this, there are some months In
which it Is exceedingly unwise to get married.
Nevertheless, though there is all this trouble
In getting a wife, complications undreamed of
by our novel-writers, the Burmese manage to
get married very early. Some of them also
get married very often, but these are only
rich people, and In our lower provinces
public opinion is against it, though the law
is not.

THE PEOPLE. 127
LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS.
Other notions about luck and ill-luck in
connection with days of the week are that
Tuesday and Saturday are bad days to do
anything. If you commence an extensive
work on either of these days, you will soon
die. But Thursday is a good day ; so is
Friday, if you are a student; you will become
an authority if you commence your reading
on that day. On the other hand, the Burmese
believe, as our sailors do, that it is a bad day
to begin a voyage, Saturday is a bad day
for everything, especially for fires. Washing
the head is a very serious matter in Burma,
where both men and women have very long
locks, not uncommonly, In the women, so
long as to trail on the ground. It is there
fore as well for them to know that it is
unlucky to wash the head on Monday,
Friday, or Saturday, Beyond this, men
born on certain days are exposed to dangers
in particular months. Children born on
Wednesday or Friday ought to be very
careful what they do In the months of May,
September, and January. The best thing
is for them to do nothing, and in Burma they

128 BURMA.
act on the precept with great zeal. So It is
with other days during other months. On
the other hand, there are days which are
exceedingly lucky in particular months.
Thursday and Saturday are the best days
in January, and Thursday and Tuesday In
February, It must, however, be remembered
that these days are only lucky for those who
were born on them, and not for everybody.
Naturally, where there are so many snares
awaiting the unwary, there are hosts of pro
fessional wizards and fortune-tellers to keep
people who can afford to pay for It from
getting into trouble. They act as doctors as
well as wise men, and deal In cabalistic
squares and symbols of the most Impressive
kind. When a love-sick maiden wants a
love-philtre to win back a truant swain, she
visits the Hmaw-sayah, and gets, along with
the draught, a long string of mixed sense and
nonsense, which she has to repeat before a
figure representing the base, deceiving young
man. When a man wants to build a house,
he consults the doctor, so that he may know
what kind of wood to use, what month to
begin it in, and on what day in that month,
and what the soil should be like. The doctors,

THE PEOPLE. 129
when they have to cure sick people, hark
back on the birthday again. There are two
sects of these men, the druggists and the
dietists. The latter especially affect the
birthday nostrum. They will not let a man
born on a Sunday eat any article of food
whose name begins with a vowel ; eggs (06)
and cocoanuts (Ohn-thee), for example, are
strictly forbidden. Similarly, a Monday's child
must refrain from seasoning his curry with
ginger (Gyin-sehn) or garlic (Kyet-thohn-byoo),
and must avoid any edible whose Burmese
name begins with a k, ag, or an ng, or any of
these letters aspirated. The druggists are no
less astonishing in their specifics. One of
them exhibited to an astounded English
doctor a green powder nostrum, with the infor
mation that it contained a hundred and "sixty
different ingredients, and was infallible in its
results. No doubt It was. The man who
could not be affected by one of these Ingre
dients could hardly have been worth curing.
THE MOST SOCIABLE OF MEN.
But under such circumstances the Burmese
hardly appear to their advantage. It is on
K

130 BURMA.
one of the great pagoda feast-days that they
are seen at their best. Then It Is difficult to
say which sex is the more brightly dressed ;
the men with their brilliant turbans and
gorgeous costly silk walstcloths, not unlike a
kilt with a long end, either thrown over the
shoulder or tucked in at the waist, or the
women with their gay neckerchiefs, snowy
white jackets and tamehns, or skirts, of
endless pattern and striking contrast of
colour, red or white flowers wreathed in
their jet-black hair, and jewellery in extra
ordinary profusion. The sight is one which
Is not readily forgotten, and is impossible to
describe. Wind-stirred tulip-beds, or a stir
about of rainbows, or a blind man's idea of a
chromatrope are the only suggestions which
can be offered. After devotion at the pagoda,
there is the meeting with friends from remote
parts of the country, the picnicing in the rest-
houses, and the religious and other plays at
night, when the old people gossip and listen
to the moral declarations from the stage,
while the young people do as much flirting
_as can be managed under the circumstances.
They are as hospitable as the traditional
Scotchman, and are fond of the company of

THE PEOPLE. 131
Europeans, although they are inclined to '
pity them because, not being Buddhists, they
are as likely as not to become animals, if not
something worse. In another existence. If
you enter a remote village in the jungle,
where perhaps no white man has ever been
seen before, you are sure of a pleasant
reception. You may be splashed with the
mud of the jungle paths, your clothes ragged
from the attacks of wait-a-bit thorns, and
your general appearance anything but sug
gestive of respect, say to the Inhabitants of
an English village. Your coolies with the
provisions and baggage may not have arrived,
and there is nothing to show that you are not
a mere loafer. No matter ; the first house
holder you see takes note of nothing except
that you are tired and thirsty. One man
takes your pony, if you have one, and rubs
it down and sees that it has something to
eat ; another leads you off" to his house and
produces a chair or a mat for you to sit on
while he gets some refreshments, palm-toddy,
or a freshly opened cocoanut, or lemonade or
beer. If he has It, and anything more solid
that he thinks you are likely to care for.
Not until you have refreshed yourself does
K 2

J

132 BURMA.
he ask where you have come from and what
your business is. By this time the headman
of the village has heard of your arrival, and
comes along to pay his respects, and suggests
that you should make use of his house, and
in the evening he probably gets the village
performers together for a concert, or a
country dance, or even a regular dramatic
performance, in your honour. While you eat,
the master of the house himself will stand at
hand to serve and entertain you, and the
other members of the household will go
outside so that you may be entirely at your
Pease. The perfect freedom of the women,
and the unconstrained way In which they
answer your questions and ask others of you,
is particularly pleasant to an Englishman, and
very different from the state of affairs which
you would find In India or in most other
Indo-Chinese countries.
It is unpleasant to say that this open-
heartedness Is very often abused. Deserters
from British regiments, and sailors who have
left their ships, and the miscellaneous class of
loafing blackguards who are a disgrace to the
British name in the East, are never in want
of a meal or a roof over their heads in the

THE PEOPLE. 133
smallest Burmese village, and might stay for
months without being asked to do a hand's
turn for their maintenance, as long as they did
not get drunk and uproarious, which, as a
matter of fact, they always do. This natu
rally results In their being requested to go
elsewhere. Nevertheless, however badly his
predecessor may have conducted himself, the
loafer meets with unfailing kindness, even
though he asks for money, as some of them,
lost to all sense of decency, are not ashamed to
do. Charity is the most prominent doctrine of
Buddhism, and the Burmese carry it to extra
ordinary lengths, but money very few Burmans
have. When they do make a lucky haul with
a judicious paddy speculation, or a coup in the
timber trade, they forthwith spend all the
money in works of merit, or in hiring a
wandering troupe of actors for the amusement
of the neighbourhood. Then they are penni
less and happy again. They have entirely
avoided the curse of Adam, and scout the
necessity of earning their bread with the sweat
of their brow.
It is in their sports that the Burmese are
most energetic. Hunting and shooting they
do not care for, because they Imply the

u^

134

BURMA.

jtaking of life, and are severely punished In a
7uture life. But in all sorts of games they
\engage with the greatest enthusiasm, and
/display a vigour which would do credit to the
anost energetic of nations. It is enough to
say that the Burman goes wild with excite
ment over boat-races and foot-races and pony-
races, that he wrestles and boxes with equal
vigour, and that he rejoices in the introduction
of English football because, as he says, it
Is "just like fighting." Unfortunately, he
gambles almost as freely as the Chinaman on
anything on which money can be staked.
Nevertheless, he is an extremely good fellow,
manly, good-humoured, and kindly, and the
mains of cocks and buffalo-fights in which he
delights have none of the brutalities about
them which characterize these sports In other
countries. Above all, he is sober and abste
mious In his way of life, except In a few cases
where he has been spoilt by Western example
in the coast-ports. It Is their natural kindness
and that first of all qualifications for the title
of gentleman, consideration for the feelings of
others, which make the Burmese such general
favourites with all who come across them.

THE PEOPLE. 13s
FREEDOM OF THE WOMEN.
The freedom which the women enjoy in
Burma Is not to be paralleled anywhere In the
East. All the money and possessions which
a girl brings with her on marriage are kept
carefully separate for the benefit of her
children or heirs, and she carries her property
off with her If she is divorced, besides any
thing she may have added to it in the interim
by her own trading or by inheritance. Thus
a married Burmese woman is much more Inde
pendent than any European even in the most
advanced States, The Burmese maiden dis
poses of her affections as she pleases, marries
the lad she likes best, and separates herself
from him afterwards, if he offends her, by the
simple process of going before the village
elders and stating her case. If the complaint
is just, the request is never refused. The
women, though they are not nearly so well
educated as their brothers, are nevertheless
wonderful managers, A farmer's wife will
carry out the sale of the whole rice-crop to
the agent of an English rice firm, and gener
ally strikes a better bargain than the farmer
would himself. If the village constable is

136 BURMA.
away, his wife will get the policemen together,
stop a fight, arrest the offenders and send
them off to the lock-up all on her own re
sponsibility. The wife sits by, no matter what
business Is being transacted, and often puts
In her opinion quite as a matter of course.
In fact, she is virtual master of the house, and
henpecked husbands are not by any means
uncommon — King Theebaw was a notable
instance. Courting in Burma Is carried on under
somewhat singular conditions. The lovers
never meet alone. Walks in lovers' lanes
and rendezvous a quatre yeux would be
looked upon as highly improper, no matter at
what hour of the day. There Is a fixed hour
for the occupation — about nine o'clockat night,
which Is, therefore, commonly referred to in
the country as " lads go courting time." Pre
paration is duly made by the girl. She gets
herself up for conquest, and calls in some
friends to support her. The lover, also with
a friend or two, comes round at the courting
hour and makes his presence known by
whistling — an accomplishment at which many
Burmans are not by any means proficient.
To avoid useless labour in blowing out their

THE PEOPLE. 137
cheeks in futile attempts to get to the sound
ing point, some of them prefer to bring one-
stringed fiddles with them, and saw^ backwards
and forwards In a somewhat agonizing way.
This he has to do till the girl signals that the
old people have gone to bed, for the old
people are not allowed to be present in the
room, though it Is said that the mother has
always a crack In the wall through which she
can survey operations, and see that the
soupirant is a suitable personage. When the
flirt of a handkerchief has announced that the
coast is clear, the lover ascends with his
supporters, and they sit down in front of the
girls and smoke and philander as much as
they can under such conditions. Kissing and
caressing are not permitted. Such proceed
ings a Burmese girl would consider highly
indecorous, no matter how many people were
looking on. If the parents do not object, a
very few meetings of this kind are enough,
and the pair are married off" with the most
ardent-lover-like rapidity. The marriage Is
a mere civil rite, and depends more upon the
publicity of the thing than anything else.
All the people of the village, or of the neigh
bourhood. If it is a large town, are invited to

138 BURMA.
the bride's house. The men sit together and
chew betel and drink lemonade and other
sweet drinks and talk for an hour or two, and
the women gather In an inner room and
smoke cigars and discuss matters generally.
Formerly the bride and bridegroom used to
eat rice out of the same dish and feed one
another with morsels in turtle-dove fashion ;
but this has been given up of late years, and
there Is really no ceremony at all. One old
tradition which is still kept up seems to be
the most tangible point In the whole formality.
The young men of the district gather together
after dark and fling stones on the roof of the
happy pair. Some people Imagine that this
is a mere sordid attempt to extort money,
but it has a much more creditable and ancient
origin. When the primaeval Brahmas came
down to this earth, there were nine of them.
As they gradually became deteriorated by
eating gross earthly food, four of them
assumed the form of women and five of men.
Eventually they paired off and married, but
there remained one Brahma an enforced
celibate, and to relieve his feehngs he
went and threw stones at the houses of the
blissful new-married couples. In sympathy

THE PEOPLE. 139
with him, the Burmese bachelors show their
envy in a similar way.
Separation is just as simple as the union
itself It is not an easy matter to blame the
Burmese for this. The system puts a speedy
end to unhappy and Ill-assorted unions, and,
as a matter of fact, divorces are not common,
and the parties are always made the butt of
the village wits, and not uncommonly marry
one another again when they have thought
It over.

A NATION OF SMOKERS.
It is commonly asserted that the Burmese
all smoke, and that Burmese babies cry for a
cigar instead of crying for the moon. This
is not so, Burmese children never smoke
before they can walk, but as soon as they can
do that they start with cigars that might do
as walking-sticks for them. It Is quite com
mon to see a lot of little boys and girls in the
street making mud-pies and puffing clouds
with equal enthusiasm, Burmese cigars are
very big, nearly an inch in thickness, and
they round a young lady's mouth a little too
much perhaps. But they smoke them all

I40

BURMA.

the same, and the usual present a Burmese
belle makes to the favoured swain is a
bundle of cigars rolled by her own fair
hands.

CONTENTED WITH BRITISH RULE.
There can be no doubt that the people are
satisfied with our rule. They grumble at
the taxes, of course, but everybody does that
everywhere. Nevertheless, it seems undeni
able that our system might be considerably
improved. In Lower Burma we have based
our land revenue and capitation tax on the
old national system as we found it laid down
in the codes when we annexed the country.
But officers trained in India have modified it
according to their Indian experiences, and
the result Is, perhaps, not very happy. Thus
our capitation tax Is levied at rates which
vary In different districts from one to five
rupees, but every householder, rich or poor,
has to pay the same. Our land revenue Is
collected on all cultivated larids at rates vary
ing, according to circumstances, from less
than a rupee to five rupees an , acre. In
Upper Burma there has been theoretically no

THE PEOPLE. 141
land-tax at all. The land-tax is, no doubt,
an admirable form of raising revenue, but the
system does not seem to suit the Burmese,
and one result has been a tendency for the
proprietary right in land to pass into the
hands of money-lenders and capitalists, a fact
which must be very adverse to the well-
being and happiness of the people generally.
The holdings are usually very small. Along
the old frontier they averaged only about five
acres ; In the Rangoon district, from sixteen
to twenty acres. Larger tenancies are, how
ever, entirely against the genius of an easy
going people like the Burmese, and it would
be a misfortune If our system Improved away
the humdrum and lazy, but good-natured and
well-affected, old farmer. In favour of the
capitation tax hardly anything Is to be said.
The people pay It dutifully enough, but it is
unjust, because it presses equally upon rich
and poor, on the young man just starting In
trade or in a farm and on the wealthy old
trader or money-lender who lives close by.
Money is so easily got that the grievance
does not become serious ; but if it could be
remitted, or converted into some tax on con
sumption, the boon would be very consider-

142 BURMA.
able to the poorer classes. Under our
present inelastic system, not only is no
exemption granted to the very poor on
account of their poverty, and no additional
demand made on the rich on account of
their wealth, but the traders get off without
paying their proper share, for they are much
more wealthy than the agriculturists, and
they pay little but the capitation tax. If an
income-tax, the principle of which exists In
the national Burmese system, though it never
appeared in reality except as oppression,
were established, the general result would be
much fairer. Particular care will have to be
taken In this respect in our new province, fqr
not only are the people there most abjectly
poverty-stricken, but they have no notion of
what taxes are collected for unless it be for
the special benefit of the rulers. The poverty
cannot fail to disappear in so fertile a
country, but the people will have to be
educated into civilized methods of collecting
revenue. ASCENDENCY OF THE CHINAMAN,
In any case It seems almost certain that, in
no very long time, Burma, or at any rate the

THE PEOPLE. 143
large trading towns of Burma, will be for all
practical purposes absorbed by the Chinese
traders, just as Singapore and Penang are
virtually Chinese towns, quite as much
Chinese as Hong-Kong or the English and
American concessions in Shanghai. Unless
some marvellous upheaval of energy takes
place in the Burmese character, the plodding,
unwearying Chinaman is almost certainly
destined to overrun the country to the ex
clusion of the native race. The Burmese
do a good deal of trading, but it is In a small,
huckstering way, and It is usually carried on
by the women. Great numbers keep stalls
in the market, or in their houses, who do not
at all stand in need of the profits to be made
In this way. It is a mere shadow of the
great instinctive trading energy of the China
man. Proof of this, if it were wanted, would
be found in the fact that the women keep all
the profits to themselves, usually to be ex
pended In alms for the monks or other
pious works. Money is not what Is sought
after, and without a desire for gains trade
cannot flourish to any very great extent.
The attraction Is usually the gossip of the
market-place or of the casual purchaser, the

144 BURMA.
new faces to be seen, and, in the case of
young ladies, the openings for flirtation which
it offers. The sale of a few packets of
pickled tea, or of the lime and betel leaves
and areca-nuts for chewing, or of the big
green cigars, suggests compliments to the
gallant purchaser, and. If It does not do that,
at any rate It gives opportunities of enlarging
the circle of acquaintance. But beyond this
there Is almost nothing. In Rangoon and
Maulmein there are no Burmese shopkeepers
selling anything but the produce of the
country, and that in the smallest way — vege
tables and rice and various utensils for the
pagodas, tapestry work, gongs, and dishes
for offerings, and such-like matters. All the
large shops that compete with the European
stores (and with great success, too) are
Chinese, So are the more ambitious
ventures in the shape of mercantile houses
engaged in the rice and timber and piece-
goods trades. Even as clerks In Govern
ment offices and places of business, the young
Burmans are distanced by their Chinese and
Indian rivals. Their extreme touchiness and
resentment of fancied slights Induce them
to resign on the faintest provocation, and then

THE PEOPLE. 145
they have to start afresh at the bottom
of the ladder in some other situation. Be
sides this, it is rare for them to take a
genuine interest in their work, such as the
Chinaman always does with a view to pos
sible future essays on his own account. The
Indian Is much too fond of his position to
risk losing it by remonstrance against no
matter what censures may be passed or un
expected tasks suddenly imposed on him.
On the whole, therefore, it would seem
probable that In no very great time the
Burmese will be almost entirely a rural
population, or at the most only hangers-on
about the great towns. They will live peace
fully and contentedly on their small farms,
or in little townships remote from the bust
ling, greedy world. There is probably no
where in the world at the present time
a population which is so generally well off"
as our low-country Burmans. There are no
very rich people among them, but on the
other hand, there are none that do not >
support themselves in a very considerable
degree of comfort. Burma is a country that
has never known, and can never know,
famine except as a direct result of civil war
L

146 BURMA.
and misrule. It is perhaps a pity that the
Burmese have not more vigour about them,
but, on the other hand, it would be a pity If
so simple and contented and genial a people
were to be spoilt by a new and sordid desire
for the acquisition of wealth.

TRADE,
Burma has been visited by traders as far
back as we can find historical writers.
Indeed, there is not wanting the usual
enthusiast who identifies the country with the
Ophir whence Solomon obtained his gold.
However that may be, Arabs and Chinese and
Indians were succeeded by Portuguese and
Persians, and so the trade has gone on till, at
the present day, nearly every commercial flag
in the world may be seen in Rangoon
harbour, and In the streets are to be seen
natives of every country, from Japan to Russia
and from Sweden to the Pacific coast.
No shipping statistics are to be obtained
earlier than the beginning of the present
century. From 1801 to 181 1 the average
number of vessels that cleared out was from
eighteen to twenty-five yearly. In 1822 it

THE PEOPLE. 147
was calculated that the utmost amount of
tonnage likely to find employment annually
between Calcutta and Rangoon was 5400 tons.
After the first Burmese War, from 1826 to
1852, the average annual number of arrivals
and departures was only 125, of which no
more than twenty were European vessels, the
rest being from the Madras coast and China,
coasting schooners, and junks and kattoos.
Heavy duties in kind, at the rate of 12 per
cent,, and the conduct of the Burmese autho
rities acted as a great clog to enterprise.
After the annexation of Pegu In 1856, trade
increased rapidly and has gone on doing so
with hardly any perceptible check. Even
after King Theebaw's accession to the throne
there was an increase in the private export
trade from the United Kingdom into Burma,
as will be seen from the following returns: —

&

Three years before King Theeba-w's
accession 
Year of accession ....
Four years after King Theebaw's
accession 

£

1876-77

4,709,404

1877-78

4,644,116

1878-79

5,922,123

1879-80

5,970,002

1880-81

7,040,640

1881-82

6,384,893

I8S2-83

6,789,63s

1883-84

7,313,451

Kino- Theebaw's misrule did not even
materially reduce the yearly trade between
L 2

148

BURMA.

British Burma and the upper country, though
there were occasional periods of panic, which,
however, did not ordinarily last long. The
comparative figures are as follow : —
FOUR COMPLETE YEARS BEFORE KING
THEEBAW'S ACCESSION.

Exports from
British Burma
to Mandalay, &c.

Imports into
British Burma
from
Mandalay, &c.

Total Trade
between
British Burma
and Mandalay, &c.

1874-75.1875-76. . .
1876-77. . . .
1877-78. . . .
Average of the four years

£
1,470,261 1.355,9191,468,554
1,761,5411,514,069

£
1,457,5721,514,6131,551.8501,664,3851,547,105

£
2,927,8332,870,5323,020,4043.425,926
3,061,174

AFTER KING THEEBAW'S ACCESSION.

1880-81.

1,712,302

1,613,972

3,326,274

1881-82.

1,485,886

1,303.37s

2,789,261

1882-83.

1,581,079

1,670,682

3,251,761

1883-84.

1,826,114

1,705,848

3,531,962

Average of the four years

1,651,345

1,573,469

3,224,814

Mr. Bernard, the present Chief Commis
sioner of Lower Burma, and no doubt
destined to be first Lieutenant-Governor of
United Burma, in commenting on these
statistics, writes as follows to the Government
of India : —

THE PEOPLE. 149
" It Is perhaps worthy of note that the
volume of British trade across our frontier
with Ava equals 62 per cent, of the total
trade across the whole land frontier of
India, from Kurrachee to Chittagong. Ac
cording to Mr. Hamilton's report for 1881-82,
the value of the total trade across the
land frontier of India with Biluchistan,
Afghanistan, Cashmere, Tibet, Nepal,
Sikkim, Bhootan, Manipur, and the tribes
of the eastern frontier is valued at about
^5,145,000. Our trade with Ava, it has
been seen, has averaged ^3,224,814 a year
during the reign of King Theebaw. To
the credit of the Ava Government, it may
be mentioned that though the treaty allows
them to take a 10 per cent, ad valorem
import duty on British goods, yet hitherto
they have levied only a S per cent, import
duty. Additional exactions and Imports of
different kinds are doubtless laid on trade in
the interior of the country, and traffic along
minor routes In Ava is shackled in many
ways. But these obstacles to free commerce
would be found in a comparatively uncivilized
and comparatively misgoverned State under
any circumstances. And the difference

150 BURMA.
between the lo per cent, duty allowed by
treaty and the 5 per cent, duty now levied
is, pro tanto, a distinct gain to our merchants.
During the five years that have passed since
the withdrawal of the Resident from Mandalay,
the traffic of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company,
probably the largest and wealthiest river
navigation company in Asia, has grown
and flourished. The increase and the per
manence of British trade with Ava is largely
due to the exertions and good management
of this company."
The nature and amount of the trade of
Rangoon from and to all parts will be seen
by a glance at the appended extracts from
the Customs reports. The commerce with
Rangoon so completely overshadows that
Avith other Burma ports that it practically
represents the mercantile transactions of the
country.

THE PEOPLE.

iSi

IMPORTS.

Articles.

1883.

18S4.

3rd Quarter.

4th Quarter.

3rd Quarter.

4th Quarter.

Apparel Cotton twist and
yarn . .
Cotton piece-gds.
(including hand- -
Iterchiefs) .
Metals .
Oils .
ProvisionsSalt .
Silk piece-goods .
TobaccoWoollen piece-gds.
Total trade (inclu- ^
ding other items
not given in de- .
tail, but exclu
ding treasure) j

Rs.
3,38,1399,92,277
25,23,108 4,88,793
3,84,426
8,58,209 1,46,639
9,80,017
10,33,965 4,81,198
1,21,20,748

Rs.
5,02,079
13,80,588
29,25,122 5,14,478
5,14,049 7,10,502
2,88,566
15,75,321 6,40,464
9,36,038
1,57,01,939

Rs.
2,66,559
13,38,1-77
15,82,444 4,47,030
'8,29,650 8,19,468 3,26,376
15,98,149 6,99,4002,80,171
1,20,81,185

Rs.
4,47,513
10,27,693
21,96,746 4,97,136 6,29,732 8,91,869
3,49,117
22,08,247 6,37,325 5,68,993
1,49,81,089

152

BURMA.

EXPORTS.

Articles.

1883.

1884.

3rd Quarter.
4th Quarter.
3rd Quarter.
4th Quarter.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Caoutchouc, raw .
57,577
23,352
9,665
7,790
Cotton, raw
4,17,467
3,07,849
1,76,285
2,58,883
Paddy .
—
750
—
40,639
Rice .
45,38,371
31,25,639
33,93,048
28,69,223
Cutch .
3,52,969
6,23,191
3,25,415
5,19,102
Plides, raw .
3,98,264-
3,37;643
5,90,944
4,37,052
Horns
28,194
34,835
39,475
48,216
Oils, mineral
28,871
59,567
89,709
56,445
Stone, jade .
2,28,860
1,62,000
2,20,500
—
Tobacco
16,314
24,003
23,882
15,057
Wood, teak
17,65,431
19,52,057
13,79.269
10,28,330
Total trade (in- \
eluding other
items not given
in detail, but ex
cluding trea,sure)
83,97,980
71,04,837
67,20,704
57,69,363
THE PEOPLE.

IS3

The following tables similarly exhibit the
nature and amount of the Irrawaddy river
traffic to and from Upper Burma : —

IMPORTS.

Articles.

1883.

1884.

3rd Quarter.
4th Quarter.
3rd Quarter.
4th Quarter.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Caoutchouc .
46,782
6,700
32,700
1,800
Chinese and Japan
ese ware
38,845
63,617
52,442
83,493
Cotton, raw
2,38,669
1,96,805
57,891
1,83,873
Cotton piece-goods
(Indian)
56,216
1.37,424
38,763
1.33.723
Wheat
40,338
10,977
55,187
31.361
Gram and pulse .
98,685
39,720
1,33,797
72,804
Cutch .
1,53,258
1,99,888
85,896
1,02,335
Hides of cattle
1,55,898
1,61,388
3.02,503
2,22,933
Oils .
2,97,253
4,19,476
3.27.890
4,83,319
Provisions .
76,346
80,284
1. 17.144
34.496
Silk, manufactured
2,37,824
2,12,916
1.67,937
1,90,680
Stone, jade .
1,03,520
63,520
1,60,400
—
Sugar, unrefined .
3,30,703
2,23,362
3,50,133
3.61,529
Timber
7,283
3,01,891
8,782
5,67,217
Total trade (in
cluding other
items not given ¦
in detail, but ex
cluding treasure)
21,12,058
26,11,265
22,28,492
31,46,006
154

BURMA.

EXPORTS.

Articles.
1883.
I
i84.
¦
3rd Quarter.
4th Quarter.
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter.
Twist and yarn
(European)
Rs.
5,96,822
Rs.
2.90,370
Rs.
4,70,002
Rs.
2,93.507
Cotton piece-goods
(European)
7,29,752
7,30,812
5. 50, 907
8,06,410
Earthenware and
porcelain .
81,262
58,505
95,078
57.573
Rice, husked
1,67,215
4,99,024
13,55,123
6,69,171
Rice, unhusked .
5,80,160
38,872
10,79.847
63.234
Metals
1,35,343
92,529
1,37,231
64,690
Oils .
36,844
59,050
58,110
83,864
Provisions .
5,60,938
2,37,244
4,78,847
3,49,199
Salt ,
46,826
62,898
1,23,332
75^247
Silk, raw .
3,99.021
2,94,186
3,34,305
3,88,395
Silk, manufactured
4,09,121
4,49,621
5,30,477
7,17,584
Betel-nuts .
1.39.270
84,026
1,12,541
1,53,198
Sugar, refined
6,077
21,102
12,342
12,490
Woollen piece-
goods
46,620
3,00,268
61,022
2,02,943
Total trade (in--)
eluding other
items not given |-
in detail, but ex
cluding treasure) '
43.40,890
35,32,460
58,04,046
41,74,396
The trade reports of these two j^ears cover
the period when Rangoon mercantile matters
were at their worst, A great many European
firms failed, and there was almost a panic.
THE PEOPLE. ISS
Property in Rangoon rapidly declined in
value, the municipal revenues showed a
heavy falling off, and there were excited
statements that trade ' was irredeemably
paralyzed, and that nothing but complete
ruin stared the mercantile community In the
face. Nevertheless, statistical returns showed
on the whole scarcely any difference in trade ;
what was lost in one item was gained in
another. This was certainly poor consolation
to bankrupt merchants. The causes were
various, and doubtless the anarchy in Upper
Burma was at the bottom of them all. Over-
competition and reckless speculation brought
down many rice firms trading to Europe.
Others had to suspend on account of the
numerous serious failures that occurred
among Chinese and other native firms
who dealt in imported goods and sent
British goods to Upper Burma. The dis
turbed and lawless state of affairs under
the king prevented them from realizing their
dues from the up-country traders, and they
themselves were in their turn unable to
meet the liabilities they had contracted with
English importing firms. At the same time,
paradoxically enough, there was an actual

iS6 BURMA.
Increase in the total value of the trade with
Upper Burma during this very period. But
this was mainly due to the despatch of a
large quantity of rice and paddy to fill the
deficit caused by the failure of the food crop
In King Theebaw's territories in 1 883-84, and
this did not help the regular trader at all.
Nevertheless, the fact may be useful as a
warning. It Is too commonly assumed that
the annexation of Upper Burma will result in
an immediate and widespread increase to
our trade ; that we shall find hundreds of new
customers, not only in the new province, but
beyond In China and In the Shan States, and
so on. This is delusive, and may produce a
revulsion which would be equally lamentable.
The frontier dues are no doubt gone, and
therefore manufactured goods can be sold
cheaper than before, but, nevertheless, the
probability is that the trade up the Irra
waddy will not materially Increase for some
time. The manufactured silks and worsteds
and yarns and cutlery, which the Burmese
buy freely, have been sent up country, in
spite of the friction between ourselves and
the Mandalay Government, in almost as large
quantities as are required. It would there-

THE PEOPLE. 157
fore be a calamity if too great enthusiasm
were to lead to an over-accumulation of
stocks. It must not be forgotten that the
people of Upper Burma as well as of the
Shan States, although they are freed, are not
less poverty-stricken than they were before,
and they cannot become purchasers till they
have the means to pay. Wealth is certain to
come in time, but it cannot come for some
years. The persuasion of the Shans and the
Kachyens and the Chins and the Paloungs
and half a dozen other hill-peoples, that our
rule Is just and that we will welcome them to
the plains, will be the first preparation for
making United Burma the paying country
which the lower provinces have now been
for years. The new province will almost
certainly be no little expense for some
years, possibly for a good many years,
just as the three lower provinces were.
There are no roads whatever, and the con
struction of these will be a considerable drain
on the revenues of India for a longer or
shorter period. But the money spent in this
way will soon be returned in the purchasing
power thus created among our new subjects.
Pegu, Arakan, and Tenasserim were a great

158 BURMA.
expense to us at first, but they have come
to pay a handsome surplus Into the Indian
treasury, and the same will be true of Upper
Burma. The complaints of the native
Indian Press about the burden the' new
annexation is to be to Indian taxpayers are
particularly ungracious, when we consider
the actual facts. The surplus revenue of
India has, of late years, been mainly ex
tracted from Lower Burma, The table on
p, 159, the figures of which are taken from the
Administration Report published by the Pro
vincial Government, conclusively proves this.
These figures show a sum of close upon six
millions sterling absorbed in eight years by
India out of a total revenue of seventeen
millions. This seems a fairly heavy contri
bution to the cost of the Central Govern
ment, even if we allow that something has to
be returned to India for past expenditure.
In the same eight years less than two
millions were spent on public works, and this
seemed so downright a robbery to the Ran
goon community that they began to clamour
in 1885 for separation from India, There
can be no doubt that this would be In the
highest degree inadvisable, but at the same

THE PEOPLE.

159

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i6o BURMA.
time It is equally undeniable that it Is folly
not to develop as rapidly as possible a coun
try which, like Burma, teems with natural
wealth. After thirty years of British rule there are
scarcely any roads In the country outside of
the chief towns. The only railways are the
narrow-gauge line to Prome, a hundred and
sixty odd miles long, opened in 1877, and
another of nearly the same length to Toung-
oo, opened eight years later, and therefore
not yet a year old. According to the Ad
ministration Report on Indian Railways for
1883-84, the line to Prome during the four
years ending in 1883 yielded an average profit
per annum of 463 per cent, on the capital
expended, notwithstanding that the line prac
tically follows the course of the Irrawaddy
river, and has to compete with the fine and
well-served Flotilla Company's steamers. To
Toung-oo there is no opposition of this kind.
The river journey is a tedious matter of four
teen days, and the road is a mere jungle path.
The probabilities are that this line, therefore,
will pay even better.
The Burmese of the lower provinces
have proved to be purchasers of British

THE PEOPLE. i6i
manufactures to a very much larger exteM
per head of the population than the people\
of India, who have been so very much longer
under our rule. In 1884, it Is stated in a
petition presented by the London Chamber
of Commerce, the annual consumption of
British produce and manufactures per head
in India was '\6 pounds sterling. In
Burma, according to the statement of the
Rangoon Chamber of Commerce, "the Im
ports from Great Britain for the official year
1883-84 were ,1^2,830,336, exclusive of im
ports via Calcutta, In the Administration
Report for that year, the population of
British Burma is estimated at 4,334,000
persons, giving a consumption per head of
•65 pounds sterling, or four times that
of India, It Is true that part of these
imports are actually consumed in Upper
Burma and the Shan States-; but some of
the imports to Indian ports also find their
way beyond the frontier. The native of
India buys little else from the manufacturers
of Great Britain than a few yards of cotton
cloth. The people of Burma all spend their
money freely on Imported luxuries,"
The potential wealth in Upper Burma, M

1 62 BURMA.
not to speak of Western China, the Shan
States, and Karennee, is simply Incalculable,
We have now the means of opening them up
to our trade by railways and roads, and a
failure to do so as fast as It can be done
would be very short-sighted policy. The
money expended on these works would at
one and the same time reassure the people,
pacify the country, and give the inhabitants
the purchasing power they stand In need of
Upper Burma Is, undoubtedly, more fertile
and promising than our older provinces.
Wheat and other grains and pulse, cutch,
gums and resins, lac, petroleum, silk, sugar,
tea, tobacco, and timber have long been ex
ported-; and with a properly governed country
and a contented population, the amount of
these must inevitably and enormously In
crease. The mineral wealth of these regions
Is probably what will attract speculators most,
and a few details concerning this may not be
out of place.
Gold is found in small quantities in the
Shway-gyeen district of Lower Burma, and
on the upper waters of the Irrawaddy and
Chin-dwin, as well as of other rivers in the
north of Burma. The amount, however, is

THE PEOPLE. 163
not great; and most of the gold-leaf so
abundantly used on the pagodas and Images
comes from YUnnan and Ssu-ch'uen, Plati
num, called by the Burmese Shway Pyoo,
" white gold," also appears in the same
districts with the exception of Shway-
gyeen. In this latter district also, as well as in
various parts of the Shan States, ores of
antimony, lead, iron, and copper are found.
The Shans are noted blacksmiths, and do
a great deal of ironwork, mostly in the form
of swords. and spear-heads. There are also
rude blast-furnaces In the neighbourhood of
the Iron-mines at the Pohppa mountain, east
of Myin-gyan. Much silver is brought
down by the Kachyens from their hills to
Bhamd and other northern towns. Other
regions in the hilly Shan country to the
south are also spoken of as being rich in this
metal, traces of which are also said to have
been seen in the Shway-gyeen district.
Tin Is found in the Tenasserim prownce,
and has been worked by an English company
at Makwoon. The workings, however, were
given up, and are now in the hands of China
men, who make a good thing out of them,
M 2

1 64 BURMA.
The coal-fields of the Tenasserim province
have been reported on at length by Dr.
Qldham, Dr. Heifer, and Major-general
Tremenheere. The first-named gentleman
refers the seams to the Tertiary period of
geology, and describes them as " either
slaty or conchoidal pitch coal, or English
cannel coal, highly bituminous, without any
concomitant of iron pyrites." No attempt
has, up to now, been made to work the
coal in this part of the country. In Upper
Burma, however, coal Is found on the Irra
waddy itself, and has long been worked by
the Burmese, The chief mines are at
Thinkadaw on the Irrawaddy, about thirty
miles or so above Myin-gyan; also at Shway-
goo, old Pagdn, and Sheen-pagah, about
half-way between Mandalay and Bham6 ;
and in the Shan hills east of Mandalay.
The coal Is said to be somewhat light and
bituminous, and that in the Shan hills bears a
very high character.
Great quantities of amber come from the
country north of Bhamo, and this commodity
is very abundant and cheap in the Mandalay
bazaars. It is largely used for ear- tubes,
rosaries, necklaces, and similar ornaments by

THE PEOPLE. 165
the Burmese. The principal source of the
supply Is Payen-toung, a hundred and fifty
miles or so north of Bham6,
No small quantity of jade is also worked
at Mhin-khoon on the Moh-goung river, a
region known as the Burmese Siberia. Most
of It Is sent to China, where jade Is held in
higher estimation than most metals.
The ruby-mines of Burma are especially
celebrated. Rubies v/ere the monopoly of
the kings of the country, and no Englishmen
were ever allowed to go near the mining
districts. A French engineer, a Mons.
Bonvilkin, is reported to have Inspected the
most wealthy deposits, which are' at Kyay-
pyln, Kha-thai, and Moh-goht, about seventy
miles to the north-west of Mandalay, and to
have proposed to lease them for a period of
four years, paying thirteen lakhs of rupees
for the concession. The precious stones are
found In an extensive bed of gravel at no
great distance below the surface, and, besides
rubies, topazes and emeralds are found in
some quantities. There are also less pro
ductive mines close to Mandalay in the
Sa-gaing hills.
Everything, In fact, conspires to show that

1 66 BURMA.
Burma Is the most valuable addition to our
empire made for many years. The abun
dance of rich land, the facility with which
rights over it can be acquired, the great
demand for rice and the ever-increasing
counter-demand for European manufactured
goods, the cessation of all irregular and
unexpected collections, the absolute security
enjoyed by all under the British Administra
tion — all these benefits have resulted in
trebling the population of the lower provinces
since we took charge of them ; in the more
than trebling of the trade, the value of the
sea-borne merchandise alone having doubled
and reached thirteen millions sterling during
the last ten years ; and In the wonderful
increase of revenue, which has made Burma
hitherto the most valuable of all the provinces
under the Indian Government, a position
which it cannot fail to maintain now that its
troublesome neighbours have been turned
Into contented subjects. HILL-TRIBES,
Allusion has been made in the earlier pages
of this book to the great numbers of wild

THE PEOPLE. 167
tribes to be found scattered throughout the
hills of Burma, At the first blush, if one were
to believe the report of the peoples them
selves, and more particularly the names they
give themselves, it might appear that the
country was a veritable hotch-potch of nation
alities. But a closer examination of dialects,
and especially of traditions and customs,
proves that, as a matter of fact, they are
merely waifs and strays from the four main
stocks already noticed. They may call
themselves Chyens, Kyaws, Kyoungthahs,
Paloungs, Toungthahs, Khamis, Mros, Shan
doos, Yabehns, Pwos, Shyoos, and a score
of other names, but they do not represent the
absolute chaos the list of their appellations
hints at. It is true that the Salones of the
Mergui Archipelago, some of the Arakan
hill-tribes, and the Kachyens of the north
are entirely different in race from the Bur
mese, Peguan, Karenn, or Shan stocks, but
the others are not by any means so isolated
as they would make themselves out to be.
It is only the laborious condition of their
lives and the bullying to which they have
been subjected by Burmese officials that have
reduced them to their present wretched state.

1 68 BURMA.
To support themselves they have to shift
their settlements every few years. Rice can
be grown on the flat plain-lands year after
year with never diminished return, and no
greater labour than Is implied In the turning
loose of a number of buffaloes or oxen to
poach up the saturated grounds with their
hoofs — an easy substitute for ploughing,
which exactly suits the Burman's lazy tem
perament. But on the steep hill-slopes It is
a very different matter. There the shrub-
growth and the trees grow fast and dense,
and the rains of the monsoon wash away all
the mould that Is not held together by vege
table growth of some kind ; and, further than
this, the soil is so exhausted by a single crop
that It must lie fallow for years — from four to
seven — bfefore it can raise another harvest.
Therefore, when the cold winter months are
drawing to a close, each villager selects the
strip of ground which he proposes to culti
vate, and sets about cutting down the jungle
on It. It is toilsome work in any case, but
perhaps least so when the trees are of a fair
growth. This would'seem rather paradoxical
to a German forester, but the ingenuity of
the highlanders has been developed by the

THE PEOPLE. 169
painful experience of generations. They cut
a slight notch on the under side of the bottom
row of trees, and proceed upwards, for the
clearing is always on an incline, cutting
gradually deeper and deeper Into the trunks,
and leaving, as a rule, the smaller trees un
touched, until they come to the top of their
allotment. There' the tree-stems are com
pletely cut through and fall on those below,
snap them over, and so the process goes on
until the whole acre or so of forest-growth
goes down in one huge swaith. Even with
this lightening of the toil it takes many days ;
but by the end of April the jungle has been
cut long enough to be dry and ready for
burning. Then the heap is kindled, and the
hills far and near are lit up with the gleam of
the great bonfires. The ashes fertilize the
ground, but sometimes the rains come too
soon, and wash away half of the pitiful manure
and leave large half-burnt logs cumbering the
ground, which have to be painfully dragged
away by the cultivator and his family.
Therefore, he has to be a meteorologist as
well as a woodman that he may be able to
judge the best time to set fire to his pile of
wood.

1 70 BURMA.
However, when the timber Is burnt and
the rains have come, the whole field has to
be laboriously hoed up so as- to mix in the
ash-manure, and then comes the sowing. In
some fortunate districts this can be done
broadcast ; but far more frequently a sepa
rate hole into which a rice-grain may be
dropped has to be carefully dibbled. After
a short time, when the young plants have
sprung up a little above the surface, Indian
corn, cotton, and capsicums are planted
between the ridges, to serve as a last re
source in case the cotton-crop should fail ;
and near the wooden hut, with its low-
thatched eaves, crouching under the lee of
a protecting rock, there are yams, their
tendrils creeping over some blocks of wood
placed there for the purpose ; a row or two
of sugar-canes, somewhat stringy and sapless
in such uncongenial ground ; some taro,
perhaps, if there is a mountain brook near ;
a few poppies to supply opium ; and a line
of betel-vines to supply the leaf wherein to
wrap the areca-nut, the fragment of tobacco
and cutch, and the smear of lime which will,
when chewed, furnish comfort and consola
tion to the farmer if all does not go well.

THE PEOPLE. 171
Even with the sowing, the husbandman's
labours are not always over. Sometimes the
rains are only partial or intermittent, and the
parched soil refuses to produce even one
year's crop without irrigation. Then arti
ficial channels have to be dug and conducted
through the clearing, and infinite care is
necessary to prevent the water carrying off
earth, crop, and everything down the steep
Incline. When the grains begin to swell in
the ear, the farmer has to watch day and
night against feathered and footed marauders.
By day, flocks of screeching green parrots
and voracious buntings hover about the little
field, and by night herds of wild hogs and
deer would soon root up or devour the pro
vision for the year. Then at last, in Sep
tember or October, the harvest Is reaped,
the sickle used being as often'as not the dah,
the square-tipped, heavy-bkded sword with
which the trees were cut down in the early
part of the year. The grain is thrashed out
by the laborious process of beating the ears
against a log of wood laid on a bamboo-mat,
or by the even more irksome method of
trituration with the naked feet. Then, at
the end of the year, the highlanders pay

172 BURMA.
visits to the low country, carrying down
fowls and pigs (in baskets on their backs),
wild honey and bees'-wax, wild cardamoms,
betel-nuts, and whatever else their hill-tops
supply. With the proceeds of their sale they
make what small purchases they can — a
little more rice perhaps, some cheap finery
for their women-folk, and a few spare
clothes against the cold winter nights. The
winter is, however, their pleasantest time, for
then they can idle for a bit and, if they have
had a successful season, occasionally indulge
in carousals with khoung or sheroo — heady
liquors brewed from fermented rice, and
occupying a kind of debateable ground
between beer and spirits.
But when the winter is gone, the whole
labour begins over again, and, after a year or
two, the whole community has to migrate to
a new locality. It is this continual moving
about, and the necessary Isolation in which
each settlement dwells, that have produced
the dialectic differences which make inter
course with the hill-nomads so difficult a
matter. The new site is determined in
various superstitious ways. Each head of a
household goes away separately, and brings

THE PEOPLE. 173
back with him a clod of earth from what he
thinks a favourable spot. When all have
returned, the explorers place the clod under
their pillow at night, and await auspicious
dreams. These are communicated to the
village synod, and are solemnly considered
according to the canons laid down by ancient
tradition, and the most promising dream
settles the direction of the migration. Occa
sionally the dreams are not satisfactory, or It
is difficult to decide between two or three
equally tempting claims. Then a fowl is
cooked, and eaten with great formality by the
pioneers. The bones are picked clean — the
rnountain air induces healthy appetites — and
then they are broken and thrown Into an
earthenware jar. This is covered with a
cloth, and each house-father picks out a
fragment. The one who draws out the
biggest has the honour of leading the com
munity to its next dwelling-place. This
is seldom very far from the old habitation.
One range of hills ordinarily serves as the
locality for each particular sept during many
generations.

174 BURMA.
Their Religion.
In their beliefs these nomads are Nature-
worshippers of a somewhat random and equi
vocal kind. When they are prosperous, they
practically worship nothing at all. Sometimes
when they are wandering through the jungle
on a hunting or trapping excursion, or in
quest of the roots and leaves with which they
make messes to eke out the rice-supply, they
may here and there tie down the top of a
bamboo shoot and deposit a few humble
offerings of flowers and fruit to the spirit
guardian of the woods ; or they may fix upon
a particular tree, some great forest-giant, or
some rare species, as the abode of a Nat, and
make propitiatory signs, or mutter a few
prayers ; but they have no regular religious
services, though they are in constant fear of
the ghostly inhabitants of the cliffs and trees
and streams. It is only when they fall upon
bad times that they indulge in any organized
system of devotion. They ascribe their mis
fortunes to the anger of tlie demons, either on
account of neglect, or of some particular offence
against their dignity. The tvv^o spirits most
generally recognized and appealed to on

THE PEOPLE. 175
these occasions are the Nat of the forest and
the hills and the Nat of the village. To
these, pigs and fowls are sacrificed, libations
of rice-beer are poured out, flowers and fruit
and cooked rice are offered, a tiny hut or two
is built for them in the branches of a tree, and
there are many prostrations and noisy incan
tations. Nevertheless, in spite of the inter
mittent character of their adorations, they are
careful never to run the risk of offending any
satyr or dryad. When they make a clearing,
they always leave a tree or two standing so
that there may be a dwelling-place for the
local Nat, who. If he were evicted, would
inevitably revenge himself not only on the
reckless cultivator, but on the entire
community. Not unseldom, prayers and
incantations are scratched on the tree-trunks
to soothe the disturbed demon, and lull him
into acquiescence in the new conditions of
his haunts. But the spirits are not held in
anything like real reverence. They are all
considered to be evil-minded and malicious.
The worship, what there Is of It, is entirely
deprecatory. No one wants the Nats,
however easy-going they might be. If there
were any method of getting rid of them it

176 BURMA.
would forthwith be adopted, for the spirits
never do any good .except in the negative
kind of way of preventing others of their
kind, or strangers of earthly birth, from
encroaching on their domains and possibly
doing mischief Consequently, hill religious
principles are not by any means strongly
developed. Hope for the Nomads.
Ordinarily, these highlanders are meek,
harmless, broken-spirited people, who are
too hard-worked to have any time for Inter
fering with their neighbours, and have no
more hearty wish than to be let alone.
Under Burmese rule, they were often seized
and sold into slavery, and many villages died
of famine or pestilence rather than face the
greater danger of falling Into the hands of
one of King Theebaw's officials. Nowa
days, with a just and settled rule, they may
be tempted to come down from their eyries
and settle in the plains, where they will be
relieved from the hardships of long years,
and we shall gain Industrious and peaceable
citizens. Nevertheless, in spite of their

THE PEOPLE. 177
weakness whether for offence or defence,
the hill-tribes are proud of their traditions.
They look upon the Inhabitants of the low
lands as inferior people, " lower-born " in the
.physical sense of the word, descendants of
the hillmen, and with no claim to their
antiquity, or to their nearness to the heavens,
whence came the fallen spirits from whom
they believe all mankind to be descended.
Still, when It comes to a decision between
race-pride and a comfortable life In the level
country under English rule, ancestral dignity
will probably give way.
The Kachyens,
The Kachyens are a very different set of
.-people. They are hillmen too, but they do
¦ not care for hard work. They find it infi
nitely easier and more pleasant to plunder
'.their neighbours. Long ago they are repre
sented as having been a simple people,
hospitable to strangers, and inclined to be
.peaceable with all men. But constant extor
tion and brutal treatment on the part of local
¦Sfovernors have turned them into reivinsf
caterans. They were supposed to be tribu-
N

178 BURMA.
tary to the Burmese king on the one hand
and the Chinese on the other; but It is
long since either have got tribute-money
or homage out of them. They were much
more apt to " lift " cattle and loot caravans,
to drive off fat beeves and steal everything
that was not too hot nor too heavy from low
land villages. The Chinese walled towns
and train-bands were able to hold their own,
but It is many years since there has been any
neighbourliness between the mountain reivers
and the Burman villagers. Intercourse has
been confined to perpetual warfare, chequered
by crucifixions. Nevertheless, the Kachyens
form an admirable neutral State — if they
can be called a State — between China and
Burma. The very name Kachyen, given to them
by the Burmese and adopted by all the
surrounding nations. Is an outrage on their
feelings. They call themselves Singhpo
or Singpaw, which means "men," They
are the true men ; the lowknders are the
mere bye-blows of degenerate highlanders,
Ethnologically, they are simply a branch of
the vast horde of " Singhpos " proper, who
inhabit the northern Assam hills, and are

THE PEOPLE. 179
better known to us by their local names of
Gdros and Nagas, These truculent tribes
men have, after . better acquaintance with us, .
settled down into peaceable neighbours, and
it may be hoped that the Kachyens will do
the same. This southern branch of the race
is mixed up with Kakoos and Shans and
other tribes, and trends down Into Upper
Burma as far as the hills permit of it. The
farthest south of the Kachyen clans is about
in the latitude of Tagoung, one of the most
ancient Burmese capitals, about half-way
between Mandalay and Bhamo. Those of
the race who have settled In Hookong and
Assam attach great Importance to the
name of Singhpo, and call their eastern
and southern brethren " Kachyens " and
" Kakoos " as a term of reproach. The
tribesmen in the neighbourhood of Bhamd
have therefore no very friendly neighbours,
and of late years they have scorned all
attempts at conciliation, and have degene
rated more and more Into dangerous savages.
It is pointed out with considerable show of
reason that the Kachyens are probably the
"Gold-teeth" of whom Ser Marco Polo
writes ; if so, they have long since lost the

i8o BURMA.
wealth and civilization — if It can be called
such — which led them to adopt the singular
custom of casing their Incisors,
A Kachyen village is always as nearly as
possible on the top of a mountain peak,
either in a sheltered glen near a spring, or
straggling loosely up a gentle incline on what
the Scotch would call the " lown " side of
the summit. There is only one path up to
the village, winding up the boulder- and
jungle-covered hill-sides, and it Is not every
village that will admit a stranger. The few
Europeans that have visited them have, how
ever, always been well received. For years
no Burman has ventured so much as to set
his foot on a Kachyen hill. A peculiarity of
the Kachyen village is the formal avenue
which always leads Into it. This is lined
with bamboo posts at 'short distances, with
taller poles at Intervals, joined together with
rattan cords suspending bamboo stars and
circles and other emblems over the roadway.
The avenue Is usually about a couple of
hundred yards long, and at the end nearest
the village there are wooden knives and
axes and spears and swords fastened to the
tree-trunks. All these symbols and models

THE PEOPLE.

iSi

are for the benefit of the woodland and other
spirits, of whom the Kachyens stand in great
awe. Like the Chinese, they do not give
these demons credit for great wisdom or
acuteness. For one thing, they believe that
they can only move In a straight line. > There
fore, the Nats avoid going about in the .
depths of the jungle, and keep to the open
paths. A few judicious turns are made in
the avenue so as to throw the prowling devil
off if possible, but, if he should happen to be
cannoned off the tree-stems in the right
direction, there are the emblems to show
him where the things he Is in search of may
be found. If he Is hungry, there Is the
bullock's skull nailed to a tree to Indicate
where food may be found ; If he is thirsty,
a joint of bamboo points out where a libation
of rice-spirit has been made ; if he is more
dainty, a conventional sign leads him to
flowers and fruit ; if he has a grudge against
a fellow-devil, the spears and swords and
knives are there ready for him. The
Kachyens cordially object to the spirits, and
devote all their Ingenuity to keeping them
out of the way. There is a Nat In each
house, and for him a special door Is re-

i83 BURMA.
served, used only by him and by the house
hold. A stranger entering by this door
would be as likely as not be made the im
mediate propitiatory sacrifice to the offended
domestic devil. For the house spirits, though
perhaps a shade more enlightened than the
jungle ghosts, are still very dense, and might
very well wreak their vengeance on one of
the household instead of on the offending
visitor. The houses are long low barrack- or shed
like constructions, with thatched roofs comlno-
down all round close to the ground to pre
vent the hill-storms from dismantling the
place. They stand on low piles. A ladder
leads to the one long room which constitutes
the habitation. A few partitions, cutting oft
sections not unlike cattle-stalls, form the
sleeping apartments, and there are no doors
to these. The fireplace stands on the other
side. It is simply a range of bricks laid on
the bamboo floor, and there Is no semblance
of a chimney or of windows, so that the wood-
smoke causes a good deal of ophthalmia.
The cattle and pigs and dogs and fowls live
amicably below the house, and do not at all
interfere with the comfort of the inmates over
their heads.

THE PEOPLE. 183
Each village or township has its own
chief, or Pawmaing, and there are thus
hundreds of independent princelings scat
tered along the hill-range. When the com
munity becomes too large, the eldest son of
the chieftain selects a number of followers
and goes off" to form a village on a hill of
his own. Such settlements are naturally on
terms of friendship with the parent village.
Otherwise, the hillmen fight among one
another like wild cats. They carry guns of
their own manufacture — curious things with
out stocks and fired from the cheek. These,
however, are used more for the intimidating
noise they make than with any notion that
they are valuable for killing people or game.
The Kachyen's true weapon is his dah, a
formidable sword worn In a half-sheath, sus
pended by a rattan sash over the shoulder.
That weapon flashes out on the slighest pro
vocation, and is used with unfailing skill for
all purposes — from paring the finger-nails
to cutting off a fellow-creature's head. A
Kachyen will allow no stranger, even in a
village, to pass him on the left or sword side.
A brandished dah or a savage slash will soon
remind the careless man of the impropriety
of his conduct.

i84 BURMA.
Notwithstanding their present lawlessness,
there is no doubt the Kachyens can soon be
reclaimed by kind treatment. Even of
recent years they have always carried on a
certain amount of trade with the Burmese
towns, using as intermediaries the inhabi
tants of the Shan or Burmese-Shan villages
at the foot of the hills. To these, immunity
from attack was accorded in consideration of
their services as go-betweens. Pigs, sulphur,
iron, and silver were the usual commodities
sent down by the hillmen ; and. In addition
to edible luxuries, the chief purchases they
made were Birmingham knives and looking-
glasses, beads for their women, and woven
stuffs for themselves. They have strong
commercial instincts, and there Is very little
doubt but that we shall find them not such
bad neighbours after all. They are particu
larly useful as forming a neutral band
between us and China, and it Is not at all
Impossible that in time we may form them
into as good military policemen, or soldiers
even, as the Goorkhas of Nepaul,

PRINTED BV EALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
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FROM

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15, YOEK StKEET, CoVENT G.IRDEN,
London, January, ISSO.
Nearly ready.
Sultan Stork,
And othbe Stoeies, Sketches and Ballads,
BY
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKEEAY.
Kow First Collected.

None of these pieces are included in the two recently pubHshed
volumes issued by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co.

With an Appendix containing the Bibliography of Thackee^
(first pubhshed in 1880), in a revised and enlarged form.

Y

CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION I. PROSE.
1. SULTAN STORK : being the One Thousand and Second Night
By Major G. O'. G. Gahagan. (184'2.]
2. LITTLE SPITZ. A Lenten Anecdote. [1841.]
S. DICKENS IN FRANCE. An Account of a French dramatic version of
" Nicholas Nickleby," performed at a Paris theatre. [1842.1
4. THE PARTIE FINE. [1844.]
5. ARABELLA; or, The Moral of the Partie Fine. By Lakcelot
WagSTAIT, Esq. [1844.]
6. GOING TO SEE A MAN HANGED. [1840.]
T. UNPUBLISHED LETTER (March, 1844) TO THOMAS FRASER OF
WHISTLE BINKIB.
S. EXHIBITION GOSSIP. [1842.]
il. LETTERS ON THE FINE ARTS. [1843.]
10. PARIS CORRESPONDENCE. [1833.]
II. VERSE.
11. SATIRICAL VERSES descriptive of (1) Louis Philippe ; (2) Mr. Bha-
ham ; (3) N. M. Rothschild, Esq. ; (4) A. Bonn ; (6) Sir Peieb
Laueie (Petrus Laureus). [1833.]
12. LOVE IN FETTERS. A Tottenham Court Road Ditty. [1833.]
13. "DADDY, I'M HUNGRY." Scene in an Irish Coachmaker's Family.
 [1843.1
THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THACKERAY. A Bibliographical List, arranged
in chronological order, of tlie published Writings in Prose and Verse, and
the Sketches and Drawings, of William Makepeace Thaokebay (1820-
1886). Revised and Enlarged.
GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S publications.

In crown Svo., in French grey wrapper. Price 6s.
Afeio copies on Large Paper. Price 10s. Gd.
The Bibliography of Swinburne ;
A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST, ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER, OF THE PUBLISHED WRITINGS
IN VERSE AND PROSE
_ OP
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE,
(1S57-1S84).

This Bibliography commences vdth the brief-lived College Magazine, to
which Mr. Swinburne was one of the chief contributors when an under
graduate at Oxford in 1857-8. Besides a careful enumeration and description
of the iirst editions of all his separately published volumes and pamphlets in
verse and prose, the original appearance ia duly noted of every poem, prose
article, or letter, contributed to any journal or magazine (e.g., Once a Wee/^y
The Spectator, The Cm-nJiill Magazine, The Morning Star, The Fortnightly Review,
The Examiner, The Darh Blue, The Academy, The Athenceum, The Tatlcr,
Belgravia, The Gentleinan's Magazine, la Ripublique des lettres, le Happel, The
Olasgojo University Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, etc., etc.), whether collected
or uncollected. Among other entries will be found a remarkable novel,
published in instalments, and never issued in a separate form, and several
productions in verse not generally known to he from Mr. Swinburne's pen.
The whole forms a copious and it is believed approximately complete record
of a remarkable and brilliant literary career, extending already over a quarter
of a century. *^,* ONLY 250 COPIES PRINTED.

GEORGE REDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S publications.

HINTS TO COLLECTORS
OF OEIGINAL EDITIONS OF
THE WOEKS OF
William Makepeace Thackeray.
BY
CHARLES PLTTMPTRE JOHNSON.
Printed on hand-made paper and hound in vellum. Croion Svo. , Qs.
The Edition is limited to Jioe hundred and fifty copies,
twenty-five of which are on large paper.

" .... A guide to those who are great admirers of Thackeray, and arc col
lecting first editions of his works. The dainty little volume, bound inparch-
nieiit and piinted on hand-made paper, is very concise and convenient in form ;
uii each page is an exact copy of the title-page of the work mentioned thereon,
a collation of pages and illustrations, useful hints on the differences in editions,
with other matters indispensable to collectors  Altogether it
represents a large amount of labour and experience." — The Spectator,
"Those who remember with pain having seen the original yellow backs of
Thackeray's works knocked to pieces and neglected years ago, may be recom
mended to read Mr. C. P. Johnson's 'Hints to Collectors.'"— 27ie Saturday
lieview. " . . . . Mr. Johnson has evidently done his work with so much loving care
that we feel entire confidence in his statements. The prices that he has
atBxed in every case form a valuable feature of the volume, which has been
produced in a manner worthy of its subject-matter." — The Academy.
' ' The list of works which Mr; Johnson supplies is likely to be of high interest
to Thackeray collectors. His preliminary remarks go beyond this not very
narrow circle, and have a value for all collectors of modern works."— uVo^es
and Queries.
" .... It is choicely printed at the Chiswick Press ; and the author, Mr.
Charles Plumptre Johnson, treats the subject with evident knowledge and
enthusiasm. . , . It is not a Thackeray Bibliography, but a careful and
minute description of the first issues, with full collations and statement of
the probable cost. . . . Mr. Johnson addresses collectors, but is in addition
a sincere admirer of the greatest satirist of the century." — Book-lore.
". . . . This genuine contribution to the Bibliography of Thackeray will bo
invaluable to all collectors of the great novelist's works, and to all who treasure
an 'editio princeps' the account here given of the titles and characteristics of
the first issues will form a trustworthy guide. . . . The special f eatiu-es
which will enable the purchaser at once to settle any question of authenticity
In copies offered for sale are carefully collated."— r/w Publisher's C'lrciUar.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

HINTS TO COLLECTORS
OF OBIGINAL EDITIONS OF
THE WOEKS OF
Charles Dickens.
BY
CHARLES PLUMPTRE JOHNSON.
Printed on hand-made paper, and hound in vellum.
Grown %vo,, Qs.
^Iie Edition is limited to five hundred and fifty copies, fifty of
which are on large paper.

' ¦ Enthusiastic admirers of Dickens are greatly beholden to Mr. C. P. John
son for his useful and interesting ' Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of
the Works of Charles Dickens' (Redway). The book is a companion to the
similar guide to collectors of Thackeray's first editions, is compiled vdth the
like care, and produced with the like finish and taste." — The ScAurday Review.
" This is a sister volume to the ' Hints to Collectors of First Editions of
Thackeray,' which we noticed a month or two ago. The works of Dickens,
with a few notable 'Dickensiana,' make up fifty-eight numbers .... and
Mr. Johnson has further augmented the present volume with a list of thirty-
six plays founded on Dickens's works, and another list of twenty-three
published portraits of Dickens. As we are unable to detect any slips in his
work, we must content ourselves with thanking him for the correctness of
his annotations. It is unnecessary to repeat our praise of the elegant /brmafi
of these books  " — The Academy.
"These two elegantly produced little books, printed on hand-made paper
and bound in vellum, should be welcomed by the intending collector of the
works of the two authors under treatment, and the more experienced biblio-
gi-apher will find the verbatim reproductions cf the original title-pages not
without use  For the purpose of checking the correct numbers of
these illustrations, verifying the collations, and detecting possible frauds . . .
Mr. Johnson's books are unique. The * Hints,' moreover, incorporated in his
prefaces. , . . and the ' Notes ' appended to each entry are serviceable, and
often shrewd ; indeed, the whole labour, evidently one of love, bestowed
upon the books is exceptionally accurate and commendable, and we hope to
welcome Mr. Johnson at no distant date as a bibliographer of a more preten
tious subject." — Time.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR, REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

In crown 8vo., 2 vols., cloth. Price 6s.
The Valley of Sorek.
BY
GERTRUDE M, GEORGE.
With a Critical Introduction by Richard Herne Shepherd.

*' There is in the book a high and pure moral and a distinct conception of
cliai'acter. . . . The dramntls personcB .... arc in reality strongly in
dividual, and surprise one vdth their inconsistencies just as real human
beings do. . . . There is something powerful in the way in which the reader
is made to feel both the reality and the untrustworthiness of his (the hero's>
religious fervour, and the character of the atheist, Graham, is not less strongly
and definitely conceived. . . . It is a work that shows imagination and
moral insight, and we shall look with much anticipation for another from
the same hand." — Contemporary Review.
"The characters are clearly defined, the situations are strong, and the
interest evoked by them is considerable. The women in particular are-
admirably dr,\wn." — Athen<xum.
" Hemy Westgate, the hero, is a study of no slight psychological interest.
... It is the development of this character for good and for evil, through
the diverse influence of friends and circumstances .... that Miss George
has portrayed with singular vigour and skilful analysis. ... It is impos
sible to read this story without wonderment at the maturity and self-restraint
of its style, and at the rare beauty and pathos, mingled with strength, which
mark every page." — literary World.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
In demy Svo., with Illustrative Plates. Price Is.
Chirognomancy ;
Or, Indications of Temperament and Aptitudes Manifested by the
rorm and Texture of the Thumb and Fingers.
BY
ROSA BATJGHAN.

"Miss Baughan has already established her fame as a writer upon occult
subjects, and what she has to say is so very clear and so easily verified that it
comes with the weight of authority."— itirf^s Pictorial.
GEORGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

REDWAY'S SHILLING SERIES, VOL. III.

An idition de luxe, in demy 18mo.
Tobacco Talk and Smokers' Gossip.
An Amusing Miscellany of Tact and Anecdote relating to
" The Great Plant " in all its Forms and Uses, including
a Selection from Nicotian Literature.

" One of the best books of gossip we have met for some time. . . . It is
literally crammed full from beginning to end of its 148 pages with well-selected
anecdotes, poems, and excerpts from tobacco literature and history." — Graphic.
" The smoker should be grateful to the compilers of this pretty little
volume. ... No smoker should be without it, and anti-tobacconists have
only to turn over its leaves to be converted." — Pall Mall Gazelle.
"Something to please smokers ; and non-smokers may be interested in
tracing the effect of tobacco— the fatal, fragrant herb — on our literature." —
Literary World.
GEORGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.

In crown 8vo., parchment. Price 3s. 6d.
The Anatomy of Tobacco ;
Or, Smoking Methodised, Divided, and Considered after a New
Fashion. BY
LEOLINUS SILtmiENSIS.

"A very clever and amusing parody of tho metaphysical treatises once in
fashion. Every smoker will be pleased with this volume."— .Yo!m attd Queries.
"We have here a most excellent piece of fooling, evidently from a University
pen. . . . cont.^ins some very clever burlesques of claesical modes of writing,
and a delicious parody of scholastic logic."— .Lilci'ari/ World.
" A delightful mock essay on the exoteric philosophy of the pipe and the
pipe bowl . . . . reminding one alternately of 'Melancholy' Burton and Herr
Teufelsdrooh, and implying vast reading and out-of-the-way culture on tho
part of the author."— Bookseller.

GEOEGB EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

An idition de luxe, in demy 18mo. Price Is.
Confessions of an English Hachish
Eater.

"There is a sort of bizarre attraction in this fantastic little book, with its
weird, unhealthy imaginations."— Whitehall Review.
*' Imagination or some other faculty plays marvellous freaks in this little
hook."— lUyd's Weekly.
"A charmingly written and not less charmingly printed little volume.
The anonymous author describes his experiences in language which for
picturesqueness is worthy to rank with De Quincey's celebrated sketch of the
English Opium Ei-AtQV."— Lincolnshire Chronicle.
" A weird little book. . . . The author seems to have been delighted with
his dreams, and .... carefully explains how hachish may be made from
the resin of the common hemp plant." — Daily Chronicle.
"To be added to the literature of what is, after all, a vei*y undesirable
subject. "Weak minds may generate a morbid curiosity if stimulated in this
direction." — Bradford Observer.
" The stories told by our author have a decidedly Oriental flavour, and we
would not be surprised if some foolish individuals did endeavour to procure
some of the drug, with a view to experience the sensation described by the
writer of this clever brochure." — Edinburgh Courant.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
Monthly, One Shilling.
Walford's Antiquarian :
A Magazine and Bibliographical Review.
EDITED BT
EDWARD WALFORD, M.A.
%* Volumes I. to VII., Noio Ready , price 8s . Qi.

GEORGE EEDWAY, YORK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.

10 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

THE ONLY PUBLISHED BIOGEAPHY OF JOHN LEECH.

An edition de luxe in demy Wmo. Price Is.
John Leech,
ARTIST AND HUMOURIST.
A Biographical Sketch.
BY
FRED. G. KITTON.
New Edition, revised.

" In the absence of a fuller biography we cordially welcome Mr. Kitten's
interesting little sketch." — Noles arid Queries.
" The multitudinous admirers of the famous artist will find this touching
monograph well worth careful reading and preservation."— Daiiy Chronicle.
" The very model of what such a memoir should be." — Graphic.

GEORGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.
Third Edition, newly revised, in demy 8vo., with Illustrative Plates.
Price Is.
The Handbook of Palmistry,
Including an Account of the Doctrines of the Kabbala.
BY
R. BAUGHAN,
AUTHOR OF "indications OP CHARACTER IN HANDWRITING."

" It possesses a certain literary interest, for Miss Baupfhan shows the con
nection between palmistry and the doctrines of the Kabbala." — Graphic.
"Miss Rosa Baughan, for many years known as one of the most expert
proficients in this branch of science, has as much claim to consideration as
any writer on the subject." — Sussex Daily News.
" People who wish to believe in palmistry, or the science of reading- charac
ter from the marks of the hand," says the Daily News, in an article devoted
to the discussion of this topic, "will be interested in a handbook of the
subject by Miss Baughan, published by Mr. Redway."

GEORGE REDWAY, TORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 11

EBEIEZER JOIES'S POEMS.

In post Svo., cloth, old style. Price 5s.
Studies of Sensation and Event.
Poems by Ebenezee Jonks.
Edited, Prefaced, and Annotated by Richaed Hhrnb Shepherd.
With Memorial Notices of the Author by Sumneb Jones
and W. J. Linton.
A new Edition. With Photographic Portrait of the Poet.

" This remarkable poet affords nearly the most striking instance of neg
lected genius in our modern school of poetry. His poems are f uU of vivid
disorderly power." — D. G. Eossetti.

GEOEGB EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.
In demy Svo., elegantly printed on Dutch hand-made paper, and
bound in parchment-paper cover. Price Is.
The Scope and Gharm of Anti
quarian Study.
BY
JOHN BATTY, F.R.Hist.S.,
Member oe the Yorkshire Aboh^ological and Topograpical
Association.

"It forms a useful and entertaining guide to a beginner in historical
researches." — Notes and Queries.
" The author has laid it before the public in a most inviting,* intelligent,
and inteUigible form, and offers every incentive to the study in every depart
ment, including Ancient Eecords, Manorial Court-EoUs, Heraldry, Painted
Glass, Miu'al Paintings, Pottery, Church Bells, Numismatics, Folk-Lore, etc.,
to each of which the attention of the student is directed. The pamphlet is
printed on a beautiful modem antique paper, appropriate to the subject of
the work." — Brighton Examiner.
"Mr. Batty, who is one of those folks Mr. Dobson styles 'gleaners after
time,' has clearly and concisely summed up, in the space of a few pages, all
the various objects which may legitimately be considered to come within the
scope of antiquarian study." — Academy.
GEOEGB EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.

12 MK. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

A few large-paper copies, witTi India proof portrait, in imperial Bvo.,
parchment. Price 7s. 6d.
An Essa)r on the Genius of George
Cruikshank.

"THETA" {WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY).
With all the Original Woodcut lUustirations, a New Portrait of
Cruikshank, etched by Pailthorpe, and a Prefatory Note on
Thackeray as an Art Critic, by W. E. Church, Secretary of
the Urban Club.

" Thackeray's essay 'On the Genius of George Cruikshank,' reprinted from
the Westminster Review, is a piece of work well calculated to drive a critic of
these days to despair. How inimitable is its touch ! At once familiar and
elegant, serious and humorous, enthusiastically appreciative, and yet just
and clear-sighted ; but, above all, what the French call personnel. It is uot
the impersonnel reviewer who is going through his paces . . . it ia Thackeray
talking to us as few can talk— talking with apparent carelessness, oven
ramblingly, but never losing the thread of his discourse or saying a word too
much, nor ever missing a point which may help to elucidate his subject or
enhance the chana of his essay. . . . Mr. W. E. Church's prefatory note on
'Thackeray as an Art Critic ' is interesting and carefully compiled." — West-
minster Eeview, Jan. 15th.
"As the original copy of the Westminster is now excessively rare, this
reissue wUl, no doubt, be welcomed by collectors." — Birmingham Daily Mail.
"Not only on account of the author, but of the object, we must welcome
most cordially this production. Every bookman knows Thackeray, and will
be glad to have this production of his which deals with art ci-iticism — a sub
ject 80 peculiarly Thackeray's own."— TAe Antiquary.
"It was a pleasant and not untimely act to reprint this well-known
delightful essay. . . . the artist could have found no other commentator so
sympathetic and discriminating. . . . The new portrait of Cruikshank by
F. W. Pailthorpe is a clear, firm etching."— 27ie Artist.

GEORGE REDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN,

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 13

In crown 8vo., cloth. Price Is. %d.
Theosophy, Religion, and Occult
Science. BY
HENRY S. OLCOTT,
PBESIDBNT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
WITH &LOSSAET OF EASTERI WOEDS.

"This book, to which we can only allot an amount of space quite incom
mensurate with its intrinsic interest, is one that will appeal to the prepared
student rather than to the general reader. To anyone who has previously
made the acquaintance of such as Mr. Sinnett's ' Occult World,' and 'Esoteric
Jiuddhism,' or has in other ways familiarised himself with the doctrines of
the so-called Theosophical Society or Brotherhood, these lectures of Colonel
Olcott's will be rich in interest and suggestiveness. The American officer is
a person of undoubted social position and unblemished personal reputation,
and his main object is not to secure belief in the reality of any ' phenomena,'
not to win a barren reputation for himself as a thaumaturgist or wonder
worker, but to win acceptance for one of the oldest philosophies of nature
and human life — a philosophy to which of late years the thinkers of the
West have been turning with noteworthy curiosity and interest. Of course,
should the genuineness of the" phenomena in question be satisfactorily estab
lished, there would undoubtedly be proof that the Eastern sages to whora
Colonel Olcott bears witness do possess a knowledge of the laws of the
physical universe far wider and more intimate than that which has been
laboriously acquired by the inductive science of the West ; but the theosophy
expounded in this volume is at once a theology, a metaphysic, and a socio
logy, in which mere marvels, as such, occupy a quite subordinate and unim
portant position. We cannot now discuss its claims, and we will not pro
nounce any opinion upon them ; we will only say that Colonel Olcott's
volume deserves and will repay the study of all readers for whom the bye-
ways of speculation have an irresistible cYiaxra." —Manchester Examiner.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

14 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.
Monthly, 2s./ Yearly Sviscription, 20».
The Theosophist :
A jJlagazine of Oriental Philosophy, Art, Literature and Occultism.
CONDUCTED BY
H. p. BLAVATSKY.
Vols. I. to VI. Now Beady.

"Theosophy has suddenly risen to importance. . . . The movement im
plied by the term Theosophy is one that cannot be adequately explained in
a few words . . . those interested in the movement, which iB not to be
confounded with spiritualism, will find means of gratifying their curiosity
by procuring the back numbers of The Theosophist and a very remarkable
book call 'Isis Unveiled,' by Madame Blavatsky. "—Xiierary World.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

NEW WORK BY JOHN H. INGRAM.

The Raven. BY
EDGAR ALLAN' FOE.
With Historical and Literary Commentary. By John H.
Ingram.
Grown 8to. ,parclinient, gilt top, uncut, price 6s.

"This is an interesting monograph on Foe's famous poem. First comes
the poet's own account of the genesis of the poem, with a criticism, in
which Mr. Ingram declines, very properly, we think, to accept the history
as Entirely genuine. Much curious information is collected in this essay.
Then follows the poem itself, with the various readings, and then its after-
history ; and after these ' Isadore,' by Albert Pike, a composition which
undoubtedly siiggested the idea of ' The Raven ' to its author. Several trans
lations are given, two in French, one in prose, the other in rhymed verse ;
besides extracts from others, two in German and one in Latin. But perhaps*
the most interesting chapter in the book is that on the ' Fabrications.' *'—The
Spectator. " There is no more reliable authority on the subject of Edgar AUan Poe
than Mr. John H. Ingram . . . the volume is well printed and tastefully
bound in spotless veUum, and will prove to be a work of the greatest interest
to all students of English and American literature."— TAe Publishers' Circular.
GEORGE REDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MK. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 15

NEW REALISTIC NOVEL.

620pages, handsomely hound. Price 6s.
Leicester :
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. BY
FRANCIS W. L. ADAMS.

"Even M. Zola and Mr. George Moore would find it hard to be.at Mr-
Adams's description of Rosy's death. The grimly minute narrative of
Leicester's schoolboy troubles and of his attempt to get a living when he is
discarded by his guardian is, too, of such a character as to make one regret
that Mr. Adams had not put to better use his undoubted, though undis
ciplined, powers." — The Academy.
" There is unquestionable power in 'Leicester.'" — The Athenaeum.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GAEDEN.

NEW BOOK BY MISS BAUGHAN.

The Handbook of Physiognomy.
BY
ROSA BAUGHAN
Demy 8vo., wrapper, Price I5.
Contents. — Chapter I. " The Eace is the Mirror of the Soul."
II. The Forehead and Eyebrows. III. The Eyes and Eyelashes.
IV. The Nose. V. The Mouth, Teeth, Jaw, and Chin. VI. The
Hair and the Ears. VII. The Complexion. VIII. Congenial
Paces. IX. The Signatures of the Planets on the Face. X.
Pathognomy. GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

16 MR. RED way's PUBLICATIONS.
Small 4*0., with Illustrations, bound in vegetable parchment.
Price lO-s. firf.
THE

Virgin of the World:
BY HERMES MEROURIUS TRISMEGISTVS.
A Treatise on INITIATIONS, or ASCLEPIOS; the DEFI
NITIONS of ASCLEPIOS ; FRAGMENTS of the
WRITINGS of HERMES.

TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY THE AUTHOKS OF "THE PERFECT
WAY."

With an Introduction to " The Virgin of the World " by A. K.,
and an Essay on " The Hermetic Books " by E. M.

" It will be a most interesting study for every occultist to compare the
doctrines of the ancient Hermetic philosophy with the teaching of the
Ved.intic and Buddhist systems of religious thought. The famous books of
Hermes seem to occupy, with reference to the Egyptian religion, the same
jiosition which the Upanishads occupy in Aryan religious literature."—
The Theosophist, November, 1885.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY's PUBLICATIONS. 17
In preparation.
NEW TRANSLATION OF "THE HEPTAMERON."
The "John Payne" Edition.

The Heptameron ,
OB,
Tales and Kovels of Margaret, Queen of Nayarre.
Now first done completely into English prose and verse, from the
original French, by Arthur Maohen.
With an Introduction by John Payne, Translator of "The
Poems of Master Francis Villon, of Paris," "The Book of the
Thousand Nights and One Night," etc.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
One vol. , crown Svo. , 400 pages. Price 6s.
A Regular Pickle :
How He Sowed his Wild Oats.
BY
HENRY "W. NESFIELD.

" Mr. Nesfield's name as an author is established on such a pleasantly sound
foundation that it is a recognised fact that, in taking up a book written by
him, the reader is in for a delightful half -hour, during which his risible and
humorous faculties will be pleasantly stimulated. The history of young
Archibald Highton Tregauntly, whose fortunes we follow from the cradle to
when experience is just beginning to teach him a few wholesome lessons, is as
smart and brisk as it ia possible to be." — Whitehall Review.
" It will be matter for regret if the brisk and lively style of !Mr. Nesfiold,
who at times reminds us of Lever, should blind people to the downright
wickedness of such a perverted career as is here described." — Daily Chronicle.

GEORGE BEDWAY, TORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

IS MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

Fourth Edition. With Engraved Frontispiece. In crovm Svo., C>s
Cosmo de' Medici:
Jn Historical Tragedy. And other Poems.
BY
RICHARD HENGIST HORNE,
Author of " Orion."

" This tragedy is the work of a poet and not of a playwright. Many of the
scenes abound in vigour and tragic intensity. If the structure of the drama
challenges comparison with the masterpieces of the Elizabethan stage, it is at
least not unworthy of the models which have inspired it."— 2'i7nes.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
Fcap. Svo., parchment.
Tamerlane and other Poems.
BY
EDGAR ALLAN POE.

First published at Boston in 1827, and now first republished
from a unique copy of the original edition, with a preface by
RioHAED Heenb Shepherd.

5[r. Swinburne has generously prsiisod "so beautiful and valuable a little
volume, full of interest for the admirers of Poe's singular and exquisite
genius."

GEORGE REDWAY', YOEK STEEET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY's PUBLICATIONS. 19

Just ready, in demy 8vo., choicely printed, and bound in Japanese
parchment. Price 7s. Sd.
Primitive Symbolism
As Illustrated in Phallic Worship ; or, The Reproductivd
Principle. BY
The late HODDER M. •WESTROPP.
With an Introduction by General Toeiong, Author of
"Rivers of Life."

' ' This work is a multum in parvo of the growth and spread of Phallicism, as
we commonly call the worship of nature or fertilizing powers. I felt, when
solicited to enlarge and illu.strate it on the sudden death of the lamented
author, that it would be desecration to touch so complete a compendium by
one of the most competent and soundest thinkers who have written on this
world-wide faith. None knew better or saw more clearly than Mr. Westropp
that in this oldest symbolism and worship lay the foundations of all the
goodly systems we call religions." — J. G. R. Fobloncs.

GEORGE EEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
In large crown Svo. Price 3s. &d.
Sithron, the Star Stricken.
Translated {Ala berehet Allah) from an ancient Arabic Manuscript.
Bt
SALEM BEN TJZAIR, of Bassora.

"This very remarkable book, ' Sithron' ... is a bold, pungent, audacious
satire upon the ancient religious belief of the Jews. . . . No one can read the
book without homage to the force, the tenderness, and the never-failing skili
of its wi'iter." — St. James's Gazette.

GEORaE REDWAY, TORK STEEET, COVENT GARDEN.

20

MR. EEDWAT'S PUBLICATIONS.

Post free, price 5d.
The Literature of Occultism and
Archasology.
Being a Catalogue of Books ON SALE relating to

.¦Vncient Worships.
Astrology.
Alchemy.Animal Magnetism.
Anthropology.
Arabic.
Assassins.Antiquities.Ancient History.
Behmen and the Mystics.
Buddhism.Clairvoyance.
Cabeiri. China.Coins.Druids.
Dreams and Visions.
Divination.Divining Kod.
Demonology.Ethnology.
Egypt. Fascination. Elagellants.
Freemasonry. Eolk-Lore.Gnostics. Gems.
Ghosts. Hindus.Hieroglyphics and Secret Writ
ing.
Herbals.
Hermetic.
India and the Hindus.
Kabbala.
Koran. Miracles.Mirabilaries.

Magic and Magicians.
Mysteries. Mithraic Worship
Mesmerism.Mythology.
Metaphysics.Mysticism.Neo-platonism. Orientalia.Obelisks.
Oracles.Occult Sciences.
Phallic Worship.
Philology.Persian. Parsees.
Philosophy. Physiognomy.
Palmistry and Handwriting.
Phrenology.Psyohoneurology.Psycliometry.
Prophets.'Kosicrucians.Round Towers.
Rabbinical.Spiritualism.Skeptics, Jesuits, Christians and
Quakers.
Sibylls.
Symbolism.Serpent Worship.
Secret Societies.
Somnambulism.
Travels.Tombs.Theosophical.Theology and Criticism.
Witchcraft.

GEORGE HEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 21
In preparation.
The Praise of Ale ^
OK,
Songs, Ballads, Epigrams, and Anecdotes relating to
Beer, Malt, and Hops.
Collected and arranged by
W. MABCHANT.

SS" Send for Prospectus.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
In preparation.
Park's History and Topography of
Hampstead.
Revised and brought down to the Present Time.
BT
EDWARD ¦WALrOE.D, M.A.,
Editor of " Walford's Antiquarian."

• Send or Prospectu

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY S PUBLICATIONS.

REDWAYS SHILLING SERIES,
Nearly ready. Vol. IV.

Wellerisms.
EDITED BY
CHARLES KENT.
A collection of all the " good things " for which the WeUers, pere
¦et fils, are famous — a posy culled from the pages of P'lchwiclc and
JJaster Humphrey's Clock.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
Nearly ready.
The Curate's Wife.
A NOVEL. BY
Mrs. J. E. PANTON,
Author of "Sketches in Black and White."

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
Nearly ready.
The History of the Forty Vezirs ;
OE,
The Story of the Forty Morns and Eves,
"Written in Turkish by Shetkh-Zada, and now done into English
by B. J. W. GiBB, M,R.A.S.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 23
In preparation.
Sea Songs and River Rhymes.
A Selection oe English Vekse, fhom Chaucer to Swinburne.
EDITED bt
Mrs. DAVENPORT ADAMS.
With Etchings ty Machaness.
This is a Collection of Poems and Passages by English Writers on
the subject of the Sea and Rivers, and covers the whole of the
ground between Spenser and Tennyson. It includes numerous
copyright Poems, for the reproduction of which the author and
publishers have given their permission.

GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GAEDEN.
Nearly ready.
Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs.
BY
THE COUNTESS EVEL'SN MAETINENGO-CESAEESCO.

CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION.
THE INSPIRATION OF DEATH IN FOLK-POETRY.
NATURE IN FOLK-SONGS.
ARMENIAN FOLK-SONGS.
VENETIAN FOLK-SONGS.
SICILIAN FOLK-SONGS.
GREEK SONGS OF CALABRIA.
FOLK-SONGS OF PROVENCE.
THE WHITE PATERNOSTER.
THE DIFFUSION OF BALLADS.
SONGS FOR THE RITE OF MAY.
TH]5 IDEA OF FATE IN SOUTHERN TRADITIONS.
FOLK-LULLABIES.FOLK-DIRGES.

GEOEGB EEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVEN'T GARDEN.

24 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS.

ique^

Shortly will be published in Svo. handsomely printed on antique,
paper, and tastefully hound. Price Is. to Subscribers.
Pope Joan
(THE FEMALE POPE).
A Historical Study. Translated from the Greek of Emmanuel
Rhoidis, with Preface by
CHARLES HASTINGS COLLETTE.

" The subject of Pope Joan has not yet lost the interest which "belongs to it,
us a fact in the province of historical criticism." — Dr. Dollivge^'.
THE PLATS OF GEOE&E COLMiN THE TOUIf&EE,.

The Comedies and Farces
OF
GEORGE COLMAN THE YOUNGER.
Now first collected and carefully reprinted from the Original Editions,
with Annotations and Critical and Bibliographical Preface,
BY
RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD.
In Two Volum es.

Some of these plays have become very scarce ; and of those which have kept
tho stage, the text has been more or less corrupted.
NEWLY-DISCOVERED POEM BT CHARLES LAMB.

Beauty and the Beast.
A Story in Verse for Children by Charles Lamb. Now fiist
reprinted from the Unique Original, with Preface and Notes
BT
RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD.

Only 100 Copies printed.

GEORGE EEDWAY, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN.

f LIBRARY

3 9002 04449

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