B I R 



439 



B I R 



the months of June, July, and August. In some place 

 the difference of the lowest and highest water-mark is no 

 less than thirty -two feet. After tlu first rains in May, twi 

 months and a half follow in which not a drop of rain fall 

 in the valley of the Irawaddi. The second or great rain: 

 begin in the middle of August, and last to the end of Octo 

 her. They are generally heavy, but it sometimes happens 

 that these second rains do not come at all, or are not suffi 

 ciently plentiful, and in such anevent scarcity is the natura 

 consequence. Such a disaster never occurs in the low 

 lands. 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 which 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. 



The thermometer ranges in the low lands between 55 

 and 90, rarely passing these two extreme points, but more 

 frequently the latter than the former. In the valley of the 

 Irawaddi it descends lower in the cold season and rises higher 

 in the hot, occasionally to 94 and upwards. 



We are unacquainted with the climate of the northern 

 mountainous districts, except that of the country of the Bor 

 Khamti, at the most northern extremity of Birma, which 

 was visited in 1827 by Lieutenant Wilcox, who states that 

 after rain the thermometer fell five or six degrees, when 

 the air was delightfully clear, and the sky partially co- 

 vered with clouds. Within three or four days the atmo- 

 sphere thickened, and the thermometer regained its highest 

 range, when it became excessively close, till another storm 

 reduced the heat. In the morning at sunrise the range 

 was from 72 to 78 in the shade, and at the hottest time 

 of the day from 84 to 94. The nights were comparatively 

 cool and pleasant. The observations were made in the 

 month of May. From the 15th of October to February, the 

 weather is clear and dry; the remainder is perfectly un- 

 certain. The heavy rains set in about the 15th of June, 

 and continue to the 15th of September. 



Gold is obtained in Birma by washing in some rivulets, and 

 is said to exist more abundantly in Lao. But the produce is 

 not equal to the consumption, which is considerable, espe- 

 cially for gilding ; and a considerable quantity is imported 

 from China. Mines of silver, copper, and tin exist in a dis- 

 trict situated on the confines of China, not far from Bhamno, 

 and called by Hamilton, Boduaen ; by Crawfurd, Bor-twang. 

 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. But in general the metallic riches 

 of the country are much neglected. Iron, however, is got in 

 several places, but though the ore is good, the produce is 

 indifferent, owing to the ignorance of the natives. 



Of precious stones, those of the sapphire family and the 

 spinelle ruby are chiefly found. They are found at two 

 places not far from each other, called Mogaut and Kyat- 

 pe'an, about five days' journey from the capital, in an 

 east-south-east direction. The stones are obtained by dig- 

 ging and washing the gravel in the beds of rivulets or small 

 brooks. The varieties said to exist are the oriental sap- 

 phire, the oriental ruby, the opalescent ruby, the star ruby ; 

 the green, the yellow, and the white sapphire; and the 

 oriental amethyst. Noble serpentine or green-stone, is 

 found in most of the upper branches of the Irawaddi, 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 

 pav a large price. [Wilcox.] 



Mines of amber are found on the branches of the Kyan- 

 Duayn, and in the vicinity of the BhammY They seem to 

 be abundant, from the circumstance of the unwrought ma- 

 terial being very cheap at Ava. Coal seems to be plentiful, 

 but it is not used. Limestone exists in great abundance 

 in the mountains near the capital ; and at a place called 

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

 of the Irawaddi, statuary marble is worked, which Mr. 

 Chantry considers equal to that of Carrara. 



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

 arid and calcareous tracts in the upper provinces, and chiefly 

 in the neighbourhood 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. 



Among the vegetable productions 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 teak of Ava is 

 considered less durable than that of the coast of Malabar 

 when employed in naval architecture; but it has been 

 determined by careful experiments, that it is stronger, 

 and therefore fitter for gun-carriages and machinery. The 

 second timber-tree is the Hopaea 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 Heretiera robusta, called in India 

 soondry, which grows in great quantities and of a large 

 size on the sea-coast, and everywhere within the influence 

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

 new species of oak, many of them fine forest-trees, of which, 

 the timber promises to be useful. No trees of the pina 

 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 ; some will 

 measure one foot and a half in diameter, and are large 

 enough to form the principal pillars of a house. The Mi- 

 mosa catechu, which affords the terra jdponica, or catechu, 

 rises to the height of thirty and forty feet, and is found ge- 

 nerally in the upper and lower countries. The drug is ob- 

 tained by boiling the wood cut down into chips, and in- 

 spissating the produce. This article is much used in the 

 country and largely exported, particularly to Bengal. The 

 Birman forests yield also the varnish which is generally 

 used in the fabrication of the lacker ware ; the best cornes 

 from the country of the Shans, and especially from Upper 

 Lao. From the forests of the same country is obtained a 

 arge quantity of stick lac, of excellent quality. 



The following are the objects of agriculture in Birma : 

 rice, maize, millet, wheat, various pulses, palms, sugar- 

 cane, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. In the valley of the Ira- 

 waddi two crops of rice are generally obtained, and occa- 

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

 others through means of artificial irrigation. The return is 

 seldom above fifteen or twenty-fold for the seed. In the 

 3elta and tie adjacent alluvial countries, only one crop is 

 ;ot, immediately after the rains, which frequently yields 

 ifty and sixty-fold. Maize and millet are cultivated in the 

 u'gher lands as winter-crops ; but neither produces in such 

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

 mndred-folii for the seed. Wheat is only grown in the 

 leighbourhood of the capital, but though it yields from forty 

 o sixty- four- fold, and in the worst soil from ten to twenty- 

 bur-fold, its cultivation is not much extended, because the 

 Jirmans prefer rice. The pulses most commonly cultivated 

 are the Phasenlus max, the Dolichos Bengalensis, the Ci- 

 cer arietinum, and the Arachis, or earth-nut. The Sesa- 

 mum Indicum is very generally grown throughout the 

 upper provinces, its oil being used in cookery as a substitute 

 "or butter; and for the lamps, where petroleum is high- 

 rieed. 



Tea is cultivated in a district, about ten days' journey 

 north-east of Ava, but it is not used as in China and with 

 us. The Birmans eat the leaves pickled, with oil and gar- 

 ick ; they consume an immense quantity of this article. 



Cocoa and areca palms are not frequent ; but the palmyia 

 r Borassus flabelliformis, forms immense groves in t,he- 

 alley of the Irawaddi. Its wine, when inspissated, gives 

 a cheap but impure sugar, which is universally *on- 

 umed, partly like that of the cane, and partly for the pre- 

 paration of a strong liquor. The sugar-cane forms also an 

 bject of agriculture, but to a small extent : the only use 

 made of it is to eat it in its crude state. 



Excellent tobacco is grown in the higher lands. Cotton 

 s cultivated in every part, but more especially in the higher 

 ands. There are two species of cotton, one red, which is 

 lot frequent, and is the most esteemed. The white species is 

 he Gossypium herbaceum ; its product has a fine and silky 

 exture, but a short staple. At the market of Dacca, to 

 which large quantities are brought, it :'etches a higher price- 

 han the ordinary varieties of Indian cotton. Indigo is like 



