1097 



BIRMA. 



BIEMA. 



1098 



tinuea to the month of July. In May many trees shed their leaves, 

 but they are instantly clothed with new ones. During the season of 

 the heat the climate of the lowlands is less warm than the valley, 

 because the rain diminishes the heat. In the valley a little rain falls 

 in May or the beginning of June, and this rain is called the first rain ; 

 but sometimes the rains do not come on, and even when they are 

 abundant they do not continue long enough to change the tempera- 

 ture very much. During the hot season the clouds are carried by 

 the south-west monsoon between the two ranges of mountains which 

 inclose the valley of the river to the hilly country adjacent to it on 

 the north, where the moisture contained in them descends on the 

 mountains between Birma and Asam, and pours down to the valley 

 of the Irawaddl in torrents and streams, which cause the river 

 to rise and to inundate the lower tracts on its banks during the 

 months of June, July, and August. In some places the difference 

 of the lowest and highest water-mark is not less than 32 feet. 

 After the first rains in May, two months and a half follow in 

 which not a drop of rain falls in the valley of the Irawaddi. The 

 second or great rains begin in the middle of August, and last to the 

 end of October. They are generally heavy, but it sometimes happens 

 that tli-'xe second rains do not come at all, or are not sufficiently 

 plentiful , and in such an event scarcity is the natural consequence. 

 During the second rains the river rises and falls several times ; but in 

 general the waters are not entirely drained off before the end of 

 October, in whicb month the fair weather becomes settled, and the 

 agricultural labours begin, as well on those fields which have only 

 the advantage of the rains as on those annually inundated by the 

 river, which by its deposits renders the soil more fertile. 



In the country of the Bor Khamti, at the most northern extremity 

 of Birma, the range of the thermometer at sunrise during the mouth 

 of May is from 72 to 78 in the shade, and at the hottest time of 

 the day from 84 to 94. The nights are comparatively cool and 

 pleasant. From the 15th of October to February, the weather is 

 clear and dry ; the weather is then very variable and uncertain till the 

 rainy season commences. The heavy rains set in about the 15th of 

 June, and continue to the 15th of September. 



MineraU. Gold is obtained in Birma by washing in some rivulets, 

 and is said to exist more abundantly in Lao. Mines of silver, copper, 

 and tin exist in a district situated on the confines of China, not far 

 from Bhanm6. They are worked by the Chinese. Lead and antimony 

 are said to exist abundantly in the mountainous country of Upper 

 Lao, where they are worked, and the produce of the mines is brought 

 to Ava. Iron is got in several places. 



Of precious stones, those of the sapphire, amethyst, and ruby are 

 found. They are found at two places not far from each other, called 

 Mogaut and Kyatpean, about five days' journey from the capital, in 

 an east-south-east direction. The stones are obtained by digging and 

 washing the gravel in the beds of rivulets or small brooks. Noble 

 serpentine is found in most of the upper branches of the Iraivaddi, and 

 exported in considerable quantities by the Chinese to their own 

 country, where it is used for rings and amulets. The Uru, a branch 

 of the Kyan-Duayn, produces a stone the nature of which is not 

 known, but for which the Chinese pay a large price. 



Mines of amber are worked on the branches of the Kyan-Duayn, 

 and in the vicinity of the Bhanmo. Coal seems to be plentiful, but 

 it is not used. Limestone exists in great abundance in the mountains 

 that inclose the valleys of the Irawaddi in the latitude of Ava ; and at a 

 place called Sakyin, about forty miles above Ava, on the eastern bank 

 of the Irawaddi, excellent statuary marble is worked. 



Nitre, natron, and culinary salt are found in many of the arid and 

 calcareous tracts in the upper provinces, and chiefly in the neighbour- 

 hood of the capital. Natron, .in an impure state, is used by the 

 natives instead of soap, a preparation with which they seem to be 

 unacquainted. Salt is extracted from some lakes in the upper 

 provinces, especially near Monchabo, and from the sea-water in the 

 lower provinces. 



Vegetable Produrti, Agriculture, <tc. Among the vegetable pro- 

 ductions of the Birman forests the teak holds the first place. It is 

 not found in the low alluvial lands to which the tides reach ; but in 

 the high lands beyond their influence, it seems to be very generally 

 dispersed throughout the country. The forest of Sarawadi, situated 

 on the boundary-line between the low and high lands, furnishes 

 nearly the whole of what is exported to Bengal, Madras, and other 

 countries. The second timber-tree ii the Hopcea odorata of large 

 size, and very abundant in the lower provinces, where it is used in 

 boat-building, and the common canoes are often made of an entire 

 tree of it, hollowed out. Another valuable timber-tree is the 

 Jftretiera robutta, called in India soondry, which grows in great 

 quantities and of a large size on the sea-coast, and everywhere within 

 the inflnence of the tides. In the upper country have been found 

 even new species of oak, many of them fine forest-trees. No trees 

 of the pine family have been discovered. The bamboo grows every- 

 where in the forests, and in the lower parts of the country it grows 

 to an astonishing height and thickness; gome measure one foot 

 and a half in diameter, and are large enough to form the principal 

 pillam of a house. The Mimosa Catechu which afforda the catechu of 

 commerce rie to the height of thirty and forty feet, and is found 

 generally in the upper and lower countries. The dm* is obtained by 



boiling the wood cut down into chips, and inspissating the produce. 

 This article is much used in the country and largely exported to 

 Bengal. The Birman forests yield also the varnish which is generally 

 used in the fabrication of the lacker ware ; the best comes from the 

 country of the Shans, and especially from Upper Lao. From the 

 forests of the same country is obtained a large quantity of stick-lac, 

 of excellent quality. 



The following are the objects of agriculture in Birma : rice, maize, 

 millet, wheat, pulse, palms, sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. 

 In the valley of the Irawaddi two crops of rice are generally obtained, 

 and occasionally three ; the best during the periodical rains, and the 

 others through means of artificial irrigation. The return is seldom 

 above fifteen or twenty-fold. In the delta and the adjacent alluvial 

 countries only one crop is got, immediately after the rains, which 

 frequently yields fifty and sixty-fold. Maize and millet are cultivated 

 in the higher lands as winter-crops ; but neither produces in such 

 abundance as in other countries ; maize, at the iitmost, one hundred- 

 fold. Wheat is only grown in the neighbourhood of the capital, but 

 though it yields from forty to sixty-four-fold, and in the worst soil 

 from ten to tweuty-four-fold, its cultivation is not much extended, 

 because the Binnans prefer rice. The Sesamum Indicum is very 

 generally grown throughout the upper provinces, its oil being used 

 in cookery as a substitute for butter; and for the lamps, where petro- 

 leum is high-priced. 



Tea is cultivated in a district about ten days' journey north-east of 

 Ava. The Birmaus eat the leaves pickled with oil and garlic. 



Cocoa and areca palms are not frequent ; but of the palmyra, or 

 Sorasms JlabeUiformis, there are large groves in the valley of the 

 Irawaddi. Its wine, when inspissated, gives a cheap but impure 

 sugar, which is universally consumed, partly like that of the cane and 

 partly for the preparation of a strong liquor. The sugar-cane forms 

 also an object of agriculture, but to a small extent : the only use made 

 of it is to eat it hi its crude state. 



Excellent tobacco is grown in the higher lands. Cotton is culti- 

 vated in every part, but more especially in the higher lands. There 

 are two species of cotton ; one red, which is not frequent, and is the 

 most esteemed. The white species has a fine and silky texture, but 

 a short staple. At the market of Dacca, to which large quantities 

 are brought, it fetches a higher price than the ordinary varieties of 

 Indian cotton. Indigo is likewise generally cultivated, but both the 

 culture and manufacture are rude, and the produce is unfit for 

 exportation. 



In the upper provinces a species of crotalaria is cultivated for 

 cordage ; in the southern provinces the rattan is the principal substi- 

 tute for hemp. 



Little attention is paid to gardening and horticulture. The young 

 shoots of bamboo, wild asparagus, the succulent stems of a variety 

 of aquatic plants and uncultivated arums are gathered and brought 

 to market. Few vegetables are cultivated. Potatoes, peas, carrots, 

 cabbages, turnips, mustard, cresses, radishes, &c. are not known. 

 Others are little attended to, as melons, cucumbers, the egg-plant, 

 pumpkins, yams, sweet potatoes. Onions are grown in the moun- 

 tainous tracts towards the north, and especially in Lao, whence they 

 are imported into the other provinces. Capsicum and the betel- 

 pepper are carefully cultivated. 



Fruit-trees are numerous. The most common are the mango, the 

 orange, the pine-apple, the custard-apple, the jaccax or jack-fruit,, 

 the papaya-fig, and the plantain. A species of mango called the 

 Marian bears a small fruit about the size and shape of a greengage, 

 and is much cultivated and prized by the natives, although unpala- 

 table to a European. It is found only in the lower provinces, where 

 also the pine-apple grows in great perfection. Sangermano enume- 

 rates among the vegetable productions of Birma, pepper, cassia, and 

 a species of nutmeg of an' oval shape, and larger but less aromatic 

 than those of the Moluccas. 



Animals, Domestic and Wild. The domestic animals are the ox, 

 the buffalo, the horse, the hog, the dog, and the cat ; goats and sheep 

 are only kept as rarities, and a few asses are brought from China. 

 The camel is not known. Both oxen and buffaloes are of a large size, 

 and extensively used for domestic purposes ; the buffalo is confined to. 

 agricultural labour, and the ox to burden and draught. The oxen are 

 generally of a reddish-brown colour, rarely black. Before carriages 

 they run at a quick pace. The horses rarely exceed thirteen hands 

 high and are used only for the saddle. Hogs are only useful as 

 scavengers, and are not taken care of, except at Rangoon, where they 

 are bred for the consumption of foreigners. Dogs are numerous, 

 and rove about without belonging to any body. The cats, like 

 those of the Malays, have only a short tail, and are excellent 

 Tnousers. 



The wild quadrupeds are the elephant, rhinoceros, hog, deer, oxen, 

 and buffaloes, the bear, otter, tiger, leopard, with wild and civet cats. 

 Elephants are very numerous in the lower provinces, where they often 

 enter the rice-fields and cause great damage. They are not used as 

 beasts of burden; only the royal family are permitted to mount 

 the elephant, and only few are tamed : the king has a small number 

 of white elephants. The one-honied rhinoceros is common in the 

 lower provinces, but probably less so than the elephant. Both are 

 hunted by the Karians. Stajp and deer are found iu large herds, 



