544 



BIIIMAN EMPIRE. 



The subjoined cut repn suits the costume of Bir- 

 niali foot soldiers. 



The revenue is a tenth part of the productions of 

 the soil, and of all imported goods. The treasury is 

 rich, and the sovereign regards an active trade among 

 his subjects as the surest uasis of national revenue: 

 he calls his great income from customs the tribute of 

 strangers. The empire at present consists of se\ en 

 provinces. The capital, Ummerapoora, contains 

 175,000 inhabitants. Rangoon, at the mouth of the 

 Irrawaddy (population 30,000), is an important trad- 

 ing city, and many Europeans reside in it. 



The population of Binnah h;is been estimated on 

 little else than conjecture. Colonel Symes, in 1795, 

 estimated it at 17,000,000. Captain Cox, who suc- 

 ceeded colonel Symes as ambassador, reduced these 

 17,000,000 to 8,000,000 ; and captain Canning, who 

 visited the country in 1810, and with whom Hamilton 

 agrees, brings down the number to 3,000,000. Mr 

 Crawfurd makes the population amount to 4,000,000, 

 which gives about 22 to the square mile ; and captain 

 Trant concludes, from the amount and proportion of 

 the military conscriptions, and from personal view of 

 the districts through which he passed, that the whole 

 population of the empire probably amounts to, though 

 it may not exceed, 6,000,000 of souls. It is far from 

 being a homogeneous mass, distinguished by the same 

 manners, language, and religion. It consists of at 

 least eighteen distinct tribes or nations, differing from 

 each other in many of those great physical and moral 

 features which constitute a wall of separation, as it 

 were, among men. Blumenbach and Virey have 

 classed the Birmans with the Mongols ; Bory de St 

 Vincent, with the Chinese; while Crawfurd whose 

 authority is certainly of great weight considers them 

 to be more nearly allied to the Malays. In Ava, the 

 Birmans Proper are at once the most numerous and 

 the most civilized ; and each nation, in proportion to 

 the smallness of its numbers, recedes further and fur- 

 ther from the point of refinement attained by the 

 leading tribe; but however much these tribes may 

 differ from each other in language, religion, and 

 refinement, they have all, according to Mr Crawfurd, 

 the same physical type, that is, the same cast of fea- 

 tures, the same complexion, and the same form. 



In dress the Birmans vary according to rank. 

 Among the common people, the principal part of 

 the male dress, which covers the loins, and reaches 

 half-way down the leg, consists of a double piece of 

 cloth about ten cubits long, and is loosely wrapped 

 about the body. Over this a frock is worn, with 

 sleeves open in front, and reaching below the knees : 



this frock consists in summer of white cotton, broad- 

 cloth, or veKet, and in winter is quilted. The head 

 is covered with a small square handkerchief, com- 

 monly of British book-muslin, which is worn like a 

 tiirhiin. The lower classes of women wear only a 

 simple garment, called a thabi, resembling a sheet. 

 This is wrapped round the body, and tru-ising the. 

 1'i-cjists, is fastened under the arms, li descends 

 aln ost to the ankles, but is not closed l>y u seam 

 before, so that like the Spartan females, if Euripi- 

 des belie them not when walking, a great part of 

 the leg is exposed. Among the upper ranks, sump- 

 tuary laws are established, which determine the 

 several ornaments and decorations by which the dif- 

 ferent classes are distinguished. The following cut 

 represents a mungi, or minister of state and his 

 wife. 



The nobleman's dress consists of a long robe of 

 flowered velvet, or satin, which reaches the ankles, 

 and of which the sleeves and collar are open. A 

 mantle, or scarf, thrown over this, hangs from the 

 shoulders. On the head is worn a high velvet or 

 silk cap, which, by being plain, or embroidered, in- 

 dicates the rank of the wearer. The men wear ear- 

 rings, which, in those of high rank, are generally of 

 a large size, and weigh down the ears almost to the 

 shoulders. The rank of women is distinguished by 

 the fillets and ornaments by which the hair is bound 

 in a bunch on the top of the head. Those of the 

 higher classes generally wear a shift, which reaches 

 only to the pit of the stomach, where it is drawn 

 tight, and fastened by strings. This is covered by a 

 loose jacket, with tight sleeves. A piece of silk or 

 cloth encircles the waist, and descends to the feet. 

 When they go abroad, a silk sash crosses the bosom, 

 while the ends are thrown over the shoulders. When 

 a woman wishes to be particularly fine, she stains her 

 nails, and the palms of her hands, of a red colour ; 

 she strews on her bosom the powder of sandal-wood ; 

 with the same powder she sometimes rubs her face ; 

 and she tinges her teeth and the edges of her eyelids 

 with black. The last custom is sometimes adopted 

 by the men. Both sexes wear the hair long ; the 

 men tying it in a knot on the crown of the head, the 

 women on the back. Fashionable young beaux fre- 

 quently tie the knot on one side. Sandals are often 

 worn, but neither boots, shoes, nor stockings ; every 

 man, woman, and child, however, carries an umbrella. 

 The barbarous custom of tattooing universally pre- 

 vails among the male part of the population. The 

 tattooed figures appear of a black or blue colour upon 

 a brown ground, and are produced by a kind-of lamp- 



