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felvM as natives of the comilr)-. The Siamefc. liowever, 

 though vaiiqurOied, remained uiifiibdued ; and the inherent 

 enmity tiiat fnblills between thcle two nations will probably 

 preveiit either fervitiide or alliance on the part of the one to 

 the other, unUfi they are broken by fuch repeated dcfeate 

 as muft nearly amount to extirpation. As <oon as it was 

 known that the Birmans had withdrawn into thc-irown teni- 

 tories, a Sianiefe prince affumed the monarchy, and m 1771 

 defeated tlie Birmans. The king, who had pnlillanimonfly 

 ibandoned his throne and people, is laid to have pi.nfhed m 

 the woods, probably by the dagger of the ufinper. Shem- 

 buan, the Birmaii fovereign, who had rebuilt ancient Ava, 

 the metropolis of the empire, which had fallen to ruin during 

 the late commotions, purfued his favourite fchenve of extend- 

 ing his conqucils towards the well, and having advanced 

 within two days' inarch of Cofpore, the capital of Cachar, 

 forced the raja of the province to fuljinit to his power, by 

 the moll uneiiuivocdl proofs of vaffalage, according lo the 

 cuftom of the cov.nti7. Shembuan died at Ava in 1776, 

 and was fuccceded by his Ion Chengnza, whofv.- tyranincal 

 conduA occafioned a confpiracy, at the head of which was 

 Shembuan Minderagce Praw, the younger brother of the de- 

 ccafed Shembuan, and the prefent monarch. Chcnguvta was 

 flain in 17H1, and fell nnlamented, as he liad hvcd dci"pifed. 

 Among other afts of favage cruelty, with wlnrfi he k 

 charged, one is his conduct towards his fccond wife, the 

 daughter of one of the Altawoons, or privy-connfellors, of 

 his court, a young woman endowed with virtue, beauty, and 

 i\ariou3 accomplilhments. Under the impulfc of fudden rage, 

 he accufed hev of infidelity, and without allowing time for 

 cool judgment, pronounced fentence of immediate death. 

 Accordingly the trembling and innocent viftim was dragged 

 from the palace, and inc'.ofcd in a fack of fcarlet cloth, richly 

 ornamented ; thusconfined, (he was put on board a boat, when 

 the fack being fufpended betiveen the narrow necks of two 

 earthen jars, the whole was funk in the deepeft part of the 

 rivtr Jerawaddy. Ha' aftliAed father, overwhelmed with 

 anguiili and deprived of all his offices, retired in dcfpair to 

 the city of Ch?gaing ; and waited the oppoitunity that 

 foon after occuned, of being avenged. Vt'hen Chenguza 

 was forcing his way towards the royal palace, the Attawoon 

 fiiatched a fabrc from Rn attendant officer, and at one ilroke 

 cut him through the bowels, aisd laid him breathlcfs at his 

 feet ; nor did any perfon offer to prevent or avenge the cruel 

 tyrant's death. Shembuan Minderagee withdrew the feat 

 .of government from Ava, ami founded a new city called 

 Ummerapoora ; which fee. The Birman conq^tfts having 

 already been extended as far as Mergui to the fouth, and 

 feveral of the northern provinces which formerly belonged 

 to Siam, having been reduced to fubjeftion and tribute, 

 fihembuan Minderagee, obferving the fupincnefs of the rajah 

 of Arracan, and the unvvaihke difpofition of his fubjtc'ts, and 

 allured by the ferti4ity of its foil, and its aptitude tor com- 

 merce, determined to invade thf country, and to annex it as 

 an appendage to the Birman crown. Accordingly, in I7'^3i 

 this conqucll was elTefted.. (See Arracam.) The Birman 

 arms were next diretled towards Siam. AJthotigh tlvc Bir- 

 mans could not retain pofTefTion of its inland parts, they main- 

 tained their dominion over the fea-coall ; fo that all the ports 

 on the weftern ihore of the peniiifula, as far as Mergui, in 

 N. lat. 12° 20', continued fubjeft to them. But they Hill 

 wilhed to obtain the ifland of Junkfeylon, which would give 

 them the entire dominion of the wellern coaft as far as the ter- 

 ritories of the Malay prince ofQ_iieedah, and not only enable 

 them to monopoli/.c the commerce of the peninfula, but prevent 

 the Siamefe from a cimmunieation with Itidia by any other 

 channel than that of the gulf of Siam. A fleet was fitted 

 <)ut in 1785 for fubduing this ifland; but the tiitei-prife 



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failed. The Birman monarch, mortified by the difappoint- 

 ment of his views, refolved as fpeedily as poffible to rtpaw 

 the dilgrace ; and for this purpofe he marched in the fpring 

 of 1786, from his capital at the head of 30,000 men, with a 

 train of 30 field-pieces, which army was hipported by a fleet 

 of 16 (hips, that blocked up the harbour of Junkfeylon. 

 The fovereign, fanguine in his expe6lations, had fcarcely 

 entered the Siamefe territories, before he was oppofed by 

 the king of Siam, and, after a furious engagement, com- 

 pletely routed. In the commencement of the enluing year, 

 the Siamefe invaded the viceroyalty of Marlaban, which com- 

 prehends within its jnrifdidion Tavoy, Mergui, and all the 

 Birman pofTeilions towards the fouth ; but having laid unfuc • 

 cefsful fiege to Tavoy, they were obliged to retreat and 

 abandon theentcvprife.' In 1793 overturer for peace were made 

 onthepirtofthe Siamefe; and they were followed by a nego- 

 ciation, which fpeedily terminated in the ratification of a 

 treaty highly favourable to the Birman interefts. By this 

 compaft, the Siamefe cede-d to the Birmans the weftern ma- 

 ritime towns as far as Mergui; tlnis yicldhig te them entire 

 poffeffion of the coall of Tenaiferem, and th-e two important 

 ports of Mergui and Tavoy ; which were acquifitions of 

 great moment, confidered either in a political or commercial 

 light. Troui this llatement it appears that the Birman em- 

 pire can fcarcely be computed to extend beyond the I02d 

 degree of longitude, and that only in the part to the north 

 of Siam. The Birmans are iudifputably pre-eminent among 

 the nations which inhabit the vail peninfula tliat feparates 

 the gulf of Bengal from theChinefe fea; they poffefs a terri- 

 tory equal in extent to the German empire ; and they are 

 bleflfcd with a falubrioiis climate, and a foil capable of pro- 

 ducing almod every article of luxury, convenience, and com- 

 merce, which the caft can fupply. After their treaty with 

 the Siamefe, they enjoyed the pleafing profpeft of a long 

 exemption from the miferies of war ; but their pride and rc- 

 fentmcnt embroiled them in fre(h troubles before they had 

 time to profit by the advantages of peace, and threatened to 

 excite againft than a foe more formidable than the Chinefc, 

 Arracaners, Pcgucrs, Siamefe, and Caffayers. The Birman 

 monarch, conceiving that the piratical banditti who infed 

 the Broken iflands, and commit various depredations to the 

 injury of trade, were protected by the Britiih flag, and that 

 they fought refuge in the Britiih diltiii^ls, ordered a body of 

 5000 men to enter the territories of the company, in order to 

 feize the dehnquent fugitives, and he ftationcd an army of 

 20,000 men at Anacan for the ptn-pofe of fupporting this 

 detachment. As the Birmans had made no previous appli- 

 <:ation for rcdrefs in a pacific way, a ft rong detachment was 

 formed at the prefidencv, and cntrufted to tlve conduft of 

 major-general Erflcine, for re(illing thisa^rgrefrion. On the 

 approach of the Britifh generzl, the Ririr.aii chief propofed 

 terms of accommodation, ftipukting for the furrender of the 

 fugitives as tiie bafis of the agreement. The general declined 

 all treaty whilii the Birmans continued on Englifh ground ; 

 but after a reprefcntation of the cafe made in perfon by the 

 Birman chief, he gave hopes, that if the Birmans peaceably 

 retired, the governor-general would inftitute a regular in- 

 ■Fjiiiry 'into the grievance which was the fubjeft of complaint. 

 The Birman chief, profefllng his reliance on the declaration 

 of general Erlltine, agreed to withdra%v hts troops, and con- 

 duced his retreat in the moll orderly manner. The matter 

 was afterwards inveftigated, and the guilt of the deliiKjuentS 

 being fatisfaftorily proved, they were delivered over to their 

 own laws, by whofe fentence two out of the three that had 

 been accufed underwent capital p\ini(hnient. The amicable 

 t<;rmination of this difference afforded favourable opportunity 

 for acquiring a more accurate knowledge than had hitherto 

 been obtained, of a people, whofe fituation, extent of terri- 

 tory, 



