CXC111 



BRITISH BURMA. 



361. The provinces of British Burma, which have been acquired 



in the first and second Burmese campaigns. 



first P'f ed ? er a Chief Commissioner 

 in 1860-61, by amalgamating Arracan to the 

 north, Pegu in the centre, and Tenasserim to the south, which territory 

 extends nearly a thousand miles along the eastern side of the Bay of 

 Bengal, and reaching to where, zoologically speaking, Wallace defines 

 the Malay Archipelago to commence, from its northern boundary the 

 Naf estuary at 20 50' north latitude, to the Pakchan stream in the 

 south at about the 10 of north latitude. The whole aggregates about 

 90,070 square miles, with a population of about 26 to the square mile. 



362. The fresh- water fisheries in British Burma are of consider- 



able value, as will be seen by the revenue 



, 



tive rule. are received from the licensing the use of 



nets and farming out the tank and smaller 



river fisheries. Major Sladen having obtained for me from Mandalay 

 a statement of how the fisheries under the King' of Burma are managed, 

 I insert it in this place. It has been the practice in Upper Burma to 

 annually collect revenue from the fisheries of lakes and ponds, the 

 amount in each case being assessed by the local officials ; but should the 

 Revenue Minister mistrust the statement, he sends a Deputy to exa- 

 , mine and decide. In villages where there are " amhoodans" or hereditary 

 slaves of the Government, whose necks and hands are tattooed, they 

 and the headman of the village only, and to the exclusion of everybody 

 else, are entitled to become the lessee of any fisheries which may exist. 

 In the absence of " amhoodans," the headman becomes the renter : should 

 there be both, they have the fisheries on alternate years. The sub -lessee 

 works from October to April, and fisheries are formally made over in the 

 presence of a witness, care being taken that the rent is duly paid. 

 Sub -lessees often allow other fishermen to net their waters, the original 

 owner receiving two-thirds of the captures. The former sovereigns 

 used to permit the queens, concubines, princes, princesses, ministers, and 

 members of the Royal Dancing Company to enjoy the revenue from the 

 fisheries, but the present king has appropriated them and pays the 

 foregoing persons monthly salaries instead. Some sub-lessees pay direct 

 to the Royal Collectors, others through the heads of villages and town- 

 ships. In case no lessee comes forward, the inhabitants round a Like 

 or tank have to provide the annual revenue, for which the headman is 

 responsible. If fishermen wish to carry on their employment in the 

 river, leave has to be obtained, and a defined tract is let out to each, 

 others being prohibited from interfering. Lately, at the instigation of 

 the Buddist priests or Poongees, an order has been issued, prohibiting, 

 under pain of imprisonment and other penalties, any one fishing within 

 the limits of the Royal City of Mandalay ; also in some lakes, ponds, 

 and even a portion of the Irrawaddi River, which are deemed to be 



