RIRMAN EMPIRE. 



543 



he obliged the monarch to conclude a very unequal 

 peace at Palanagh, Dec. 3 1, 1825. As the treaty 

 was not ratified, on the part of Boa, the Birman em- 

 peror, by the time specified (Jan. 18, 1826), Campbell 

 renewed the war, on the 19th, and stormed the for- 

 tress of Munnun. Feb. 24, the peace was ratified, 

 and the war concluded. The king of the white ele- 

 phants ceded to the company the provinces of Arra- 

 can, Merguy, Tavoy, and Yea, and paid them a sum 

 amounting to 1,250,000. Assam was made once 

 more independent, and rajahs were appointed by the 

 company to govern the northern provinces of Munni- 

 pore, Assam, Kadschar, and Yeahung. The impor- 

 tant city of Rangoon was declared a tree port. Thus 

 all the western coast of the Birman empire was ceded 

 to the East India company, and the most powerful of 

 the East Indian states was divided and weakened. 



Before the rains commence, the heat in the valleys 

 of this, in most respects, healthy country, is excessive. 

 Thougli Birmah is in general fertile, it contains se- 

 veral vast deserts. In the northern part, it is moun- 

 tainous, and abounds in gold, silver, precious stones, 

 and marble ; also in iron, lead, tin, antimony, arsenic, 

 sulphur, and petroleum, which issues from the earth 

 in abundance. In the southern districts, owing to the 

 numerous rivers, the soil is marshy and extremely 

 productive. Here grow rice, sugar-cane^ fine tobacco, 

 cotton, indigo, and all the tropical fruits. Land is 

 cheap. Timber for ship-building, especially teak or 

 Indian oak, which grows most luxuriantly in a wet 

 soil, on the banks of rivers, is abundant. The price 

 of labour is high. All but the lowest lands produce 

 grain, or serve for pasture. Of manufactured goods, 

 B. exports cotton and silk stuffs, glass, saltpetre, 

 powder, porcelain, and marble images of Gaudama, 

 to which the workmen in stone give an exquisite 

 smoothness. The East India company builds vessels 

 even of 1000 tons burden in the Birman docks ; and 

 the shipwrights there (giants in comparison with the 

 puny Hindoos) find constant employment. The Pegu 

 ships, however, are not so well made as those built 

 by the company, in their own territory. 



The trade of the Birmans is very lively, especially 

 with China, by means of the river Irrawaddy, which 

 extends 1240 miles into the interior, and has populous 

 cities all along its banks. From Barnoo, goods are 

 conveyed through the interior to China, to which the 

 Birmans send many commodities from the eastern 

 archipelago of Asia. The government encourages 

 the increase of the population by favouring the set- 

 tlement of foreigners, tolerates the religion of every 

 nation in the ports of Rangoon, Negrais, and Mer- 

 guy, and encourages the intermarriage of foreigners 

 with Birman females. Instead of coin, silver and 

 lead in bars are used, and their purity is strictly tested 

 in trade. The forging and stamping of these bars 

 forms a particular branch of business. 



Menderagee removed the royal residence to the 

 new city of Ummerapoora (190 leagues east of Calcut- 

 ta), on a tongue of land which runs up, into the lake 

 of Tounzemahn. Ava, once so magnificent a city, 

 about four or five miles distant, now lies in ruins. 

 The buildings among the Birmans are very slight, as 

 the government requires them to be chiefly ot wood 

 or bamboo. There are well-organized fire-companies, 

 for the protection of these commistible edifices. 



The Birman nobles are distinguished from the 

 lower classes by their dress, houses, and furniture, 

 and are divided into several ranks. The prince is 

 absolute, but custom obliges him to ask the opinion 

 of the nobility in important state matters : he is not 

 bound, however, by their counsel. The Birmans are 

 all fond of painting both their faces and hands. They 

 slaughter no tame animals, and live simply ; for the 

 most part, on vegetables. No Birman can have more 



than one wife ; but he may have as many mistresses 

 as he will. The latter live in the same house with 

 the wife, and are her servants. A foreigner and an 

 adult male Birman may, at any time, leave the em- 

 pire ; but females and children are not allowed this 

 privilege. Females cannot appear before a court of 

 justice. The chief amusement of the Birmans is their 

 theatre, where declamation, dancing, and music al- 

 ternate : the higher classes are fond of dramatic spec- 

 tacles. The new year is celebrated with all sorts of 

 purification. At this time, young women appear in 

 public with water, and sprinkle every one they please. 

 It is considered improper, however, to sprinkle fe- 

 males first, or those in a state of pregnancy at all. 

 Among the Birmans, the distinguished dead are 

 burned; the poor are interred ; the richest are em- 

 balmed, commonly in the ancient simple mode, in 

 honey. Every Birman learns arithmetic, reading, 

 and writing. The common people write on palm- 

 leaves, with an iron style : the rich have libraries, 

 with books, the leaves of which are thin pieces ot 

 ivory, with gilt edges. The Birmans, in general, are 

 fond of gilding every thing. Their materia medica 

 is confined to herbs, spices, and mercury : with vac- 

 cination they have long been acquainted. The Eng- 

 lish missionaries are tolerated, and serve the East 

 India company as the outposts of their diplomatic 

 system. The literary Birmans translate from the 

 English all important works of science, particularly 

 on astronomy and law. The religion of the country 

 is that of Buddha, whom the people call Gaudama. 

 It enjoins no bloody sacrifices, and is extremely tole- 

 rant. The Birmans have no secular clergy, but only 

 a kind of monks dwelling in convents. All the 

 clergy practise celibacy, and eat but once a day. 

 Every carnal indulgence is punished by a disgraceful 

 and public removal from office. The clergy are lite- 

 rary men, and highly esteemed for their piety and 

 knowledge. They are permitted, however, to gild 

 and paint. Formerly, there were priestesses ; but 

 this order has been abolished, because it was found 

 injurious to the increase of population. The govern- 

 ment has long been struggling to maintain its inde- 

 pendence between the British dominions on the 

 Ganges and the Chinese empire. No part of Eastern 

 Asia seems to apprehend an excess of population, 

 and hence no female in China is suffered to emigrate. 

 The Birmans are skilful weavers, smiths, sculptors, 

 workers in gold and silver, joiners, &c. Of this the 

 citizens of London have had ocular evidence, in the 

 great state carriage, devoted to the service of the 

 gods, nineteen feet high, fourteen long, and seven 

 wide, which was taken by the British troops, in the 

 war of 1825. 



In Birmah there are no hereditary offices. Its 

 civil and criminal code is very judicious ; general 

 principles are first laid down, and then applied to 

 distinct cases. Robbery is punished with death only 

 when the property stolen is very great, or the offence 

 is aggravated by particular circumstances. Capital 

 punishment is commonly inflicted by decapitation, 

 and extends to those who eat opium freely, and to 

 drunkards in general. The magistrates have a great 

 discretionary power to mitigate the punishments of 

 the law, and few penal laws are executed in all their 

 severity. The standing army is small. Levies are 

 made, in case of war, by way of conscription ; and a 

 specified number of houses is required to furnish a 

 soldier completely equipped, or pay a considerable 

 fine. For the crime of insubordination, the conscribed 

 are either punished personally, or their families are 

 made to suffer, however innocent they may be. 

 The principal part of the militia are employed in. 

 the war-lxts of the crown, which draw about Hire:: 

 feet of water, and are provided with ordnance, 



