January i6, 1902 J 



NATURE 



243 



reading;. The book is a great contrast to the other 

 recent Enghsh work on the same subject, by Dr. 

 Fleming, which is both readable and interesting. But 

 we feel that there is a place also for a book such as Mr. 

 Parr's, in which short accounts of many specific experi- 

 ments are given, and the book will be of value to 

 engineers as well as in a teaching laboratory. 



D. K. M. 



BURMA. 

 Burma under British Rule — and Before. By John 

 Nisbet, D.CE.C. Two volumes. Pp. xvii + 912. 

 (Westminster : Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 

 1901.) Price 32^^. net. 



LITTLE more than a year ago a most beautifully 

 illustrated, mteresting volume on "Burma," by 

 Max and Bertha Ferrars, appeared, which has been 

 most favourably received. And now we have a second 

 work on Burma. This comparatively recent part of 

 the empire, then, receives a full share of attention, 

 and not the least interesting part of the business 

 is that both Mr. Ferrars and Dr. Nisbet are retired 

 Burma forest officers. Even a cursory glance at the 

 books will show that these two gentlemen have become 

 most intimately acquainted with the customs and character 

 of the Burmese. As a matter of fact, though this has 

 not always been admitted, there is no branch of the 

 Indian services the members of which come into closer 

 contact with the inhabitants away from towns, than 

 Indian forest officers. If it is remembered that in many 

 cases the peoples in question live in out of the way 

 places and that many of them never see a magistrate 

 or a judge, it will readily be acceded that the selection 

 and training of the members of the Indian forest service 

 should be done with special care, since the happiness of 

 millions of ignorant people depends to a considerable 

 extent on the tact and sympathy of these officers. 



Mr. Nisbet's work is divided into two volumes. In the 

 opening chapter of voL i. he deals with the history of 

 Burma from the year 2266 B.C. to 1852 a.d. It will 

 readily be understood that this sketch, occupying twenty- 

 five pages, can only touch lightly on the history of this 

 interesting country, and, unfortunately, the notes appear to 

 us by no means as well arranged as they might be. 

 Chapter ii. describes the political and commercial rela- 

 tions between British India and Upper Burma during the 

 years 1853-80, relations which were anything but cordial. 

 Here we find the great shoe question recorded, that is to 

 say, that the British envoy had to take off his shoes 

 and kneel down if he wished to address the King of 

 Burma, until we come to the massacres of some fifty 

 members of the Royal house by King T+iibaw. The 

 existing and increasing differences are further described 

 in Chapter iii., explaining the causes of the third 

 Burmese war. It broke out in November 18S5, result- 

 ing in the annexation of Upper Burma. Apart from 

 the utter unreasonableness of the last two kings of 

 Burma and the cruelty of Thibaw, French intrigues con- 

 tributed most powerfully to hurry on the crisis. The 

 last straw, however, was the difference between King 

 Thibaw and the Bombay- Burma Trading Corporation, 

 the latter having been fined 153,000/. by the former. 

 NO. 1681, VOL. 65] 



For ourselves, we cannot conceal ; that we should have 

 been better pleased if the crisis had come without this 

 last incident. 



Chapter iv. deals with the third Burmese war, which 

 practically lasted only from November 13, 1885, till 

 January i, 1886 ; but it was followed by five years 

 during which the pacification of the country was 

 ultimately effected. 



Chapters vi.-viii. deal with civil and military adminis- 

 tration, law and justice under Burmese rule, and the 

 Royal Golden City. They contain much interesting 

 information, of which the marriage law is perhaps the 

 most curious. There were seven kinds of wives, of 

 which four could not be divorced, but there was no 

 difficulty in getting separated from any of the other 

 three kinds. 



Chapter ix. gives a rapid survey of " The British 

 System of Administration in Burma." It shows how an 

 orderly administration has been established in a compara- 

 tively short time as regards the organisation of the civil 

 authorities, law, military and police, public works, 

 forests, education and revenue. Of special interest is 

 the development of the latter, it having risen from 

 2,415,000/. in 1886-87 to 5,242,000/. in 1899-1900, while 

 the surplus has, during the same period, risen from 

 637,000/. to 1,821,000/ It is shown that Burma has 

 already more than repaid all the outlay upon it during and 

 since the third Burmese war. The net revenue includes 

 a sum of 400,000/ derived from the teak and other 

 forests, and this sum is capable of a further great 

 increase. 



Chapters x. to xiv. give a detailed account of the various 

 branches of administration, such as the land tenure, 

 settlements, agricultural and rural customs, minor rural 

 industries (such as sifting for gold dust, silk weaving, 

 dyes and dye-stufifs, pottery, fisheries, collection of wood- 

 oil, preparing and transport of timber, cutch boiling, 

 manufacture of cheroots, &c.) ; the mineral resources 

 (coal, petroleum, tin, silver, lead, gold, jade, rubies) ; 

 trade and commerce (the sea-borne trade of Burma in 

 1888-89 amounted to a value of 11,717,000/.; in 1899- 

 1900 it had risen to 20,820,000/.) 



The second volume opens with a chapter on Britain 

 and France in further India and south-western China, 

 and is followed by others on railway extensions ; Burma's 

 forest wealth and the importance of maintaining and 

 increasing the production of teak timber ; Burmese 

 Buddhism ; beliefs and superstitions ; national habits and 

 customs ; the social system ; national festivals and 

 amusements ; science and art among the Burmese ; 

 language and literature ; folklore ; arch;\;ology and the 

 hill tribes. 



It would be beyond the scope of this notice to go 

 into the details of all these matters, but attention may be 

 drawn to two points : As regards railways, Dr. Nisbet 

 points out that the most pressing need is to develop 

 internal communication before connections with the out- 

 side are established. When the time and money for 

 the latter have become available it will be well, in the 

 first instance, to connect Burma with India via Assam 

 (or.Arakan and Chittagong), then with Siam, leaving any 

 possible connection with China, by way of Yunnan, for 

 discussion in the future. Although we agree with this 



