B I R 



B I R 



much more acceflible tlian the river of Bengal, which is the 

 only port in our polTcffion within the bay. The entrance 

 ir.to this is an intricate and dangerous channel ; but from 

 the harbour of Negrais a (hip launches at onee into the open 

 bay, and oiay work to the fouthward without any impedi- 

 ment bcfiJes that which i: occafioned by the monfoon. The 

 Birman empire po(Ti;ff.s fnch a variety of advantages refult- 

 iiig from fnuation, ext -nt, produce, and climate, that it 

 may be reckoned, arnong eaflcrn nations, fecond in impor- 

 tance to China alone ; whilft, from its contiguity to Briti/h 

 India, it i^ to us of miun greater confcqnence. To preferve 

 a good conefpondence a .d a good underllanding with the 

 court of Ava is therefore eifi-ntial to our profptritv. It is 

 our intereil to maintain the independence of tlie Birmans, 

 and to guard it from foreign encroachment ; and then the 

 BIrman government will be united to ours in b »nds of reci- 

 procal amity and coitidcnce. The refult of the embaffy of 

 Col. Symts, fent by our governor-general of India to the 

 kingdom of Ava in 1795, ha5 been the eflablifhment of this 

 kind of am'ty and frit'ndfh p. To the memorial prefented on 

 this occafion, the B rn^an monarch replied : " I, the king 

 immortal, whofe philanthropy is univerlal, whofe anxiety for 

 the benefit and welfare of all mankind never ce^^js, direft, 

 that all merchant (liips of the E: :g!i(h nation, who rcfort to 

 Birman ports, ihall pay cuftom?, charges, warehoufe hire, 

 fearchers, &c. agreeab'y to former ellablifhed ufage. Eng- 

 li(h merciiants are to b^ permitted to go to whatever part uf 

 the Birman dominions they think piopcr, cither to buy or 

 to fell, a 'd they are on no accou;'t to be ftoppt-d, molefted, 

 or ojjpvefTcd ; and they fnall have liberty to go to whatever 

 part of the Birman domi::ions they choof^, for the purpofe 

 of buying, fel'ing, or bartering, &c." by themfclves of their 

 agents ; and it is further commanded, that tiiey ihall be at li- 

 berty to fix a rcfident at Rangoo: , &c. and that Englilh 

 Ihips driven into Birman ports by ftrcfs of weather ihall be 

 fupplicd with all neceffarics, Stc. at the current rates of the 

 country ; and that the enemies of England, European as 

 ■well as Ind an, (hall not be allowed to purchafe warlike wea- 

 pons, lead, and powder, which rcftriftion is extended to all 

 nation?." 



The manufaStires of the Birmans confiil of cotton and 

 f;lk, faltpetre and gunpowder, various kinds of pottery, 

 and marble ftatues ; tlicy alfo excel in gilding, to which 

 purpofe the greateft pa:t of their gold is applied, and feveral 

 oth;r ornamental manufaftures. Their edifices and barges 

 are coiiilrufted with lingular oriental talle and elegance ; the 

 mod remarkable edifice is the Shomadoo at Pegu. Their 

 kloums ai^d temp'cs, which are numerous, exhibit a very 

 rich and fantallic kind of architefture ; and their grand hall 

 of audience, or Lotoo, at Ummerapoora, is as fplendid an 

 edifice as can be well executed in wood. Many of their 

 houfes are very fimple in their ftrufture, and arecrefted in a 

 day, or even in a few hours. The requifite materials are 

 bamboos, grafs for thatching, and the ground rattan. The 

 whole edifice is conftrutted without a fingle nail ; a row of 

 ftrong bamboos, from eight to ten feet high, are fixed firm 

 in the ground, -which form the outline, and are the fupport- 

 ers of the building ; fmaller bamboos are then tied horizon- 

 tally, by ftrips of the ground rattan, to thefe upright polls; 

 the walls, compofed of bamboo mats, are fallened to the 

 fides, with fimilar ligatures ; bamboo rafters are quickly 

 raifed, and a roof formed, over which thatch is fpread in 

 regular layers, and bound to the wood by filaments of 

 rattan j a floor of bamboo is next laid in the infide, ele- 

 vated two or three feet above the ground ; this grating is 

 fupported on bamboos, and covered Mfith mats and carpets. 

 A Uoufe of this kind, fimple and expeditious in its ftrudure, 



is neverthelefs a fecurity again II very inclement weather ; and 

 if it fhould chance to be blown down by a tempeft, the in- 

 habitants might efcape without inj'iry. They have other 

 buildings, however, of a fuperior kind ; a:id they were for- 

 merly conftructed of various figures, pyramidal, triangular, 

 or four-fid-d, fnrrou 'd^d v/ith walls, a.;^ adorned with flow- 

 ers and figures carved in wood, and built with arches. But 

 the art of condrutting arches has been 1 ill among the Bir- 

 mans. From many buildnigs that now remain, it appears, 

 that they could formerly conftruft excellent brick arches, 

 both circu'ar and gothic ; but now no one in the empire can 

 be found fullicicntly fliilful to arch over the opening of a 

 window. Mafonrj- has fallen into ncgleft ; the jealonfy of 

 the late princes having prohibited to private individuals the 

 ufe of brick or Hone houfes. The Birmans have of late 

 years made rapid progrefs in the art of building boats and 

 Ihips ; and thefe may be conilrucled in the Rangoon river 

 for one third lefs than in the Ganges, and for nearly one 

 half what they would coil at Bombay. It is faid, however, 

 that the fhips of Pegu are not fo firmly conftruAed as tliofe 

 in our ports. The Birmans, like the Chinefe, have no coin; 

 Clver in bullion, and lead, are the current money of the 

 country. What foreigners call a tackal, properly kiat, is 

 the moil general piece of filver in circulation ; it w;;ighs ten 

 pennyweights ten grains and three fourths ; its fubdivifions 

 are the tubbee, two of which make one moo ; two moo one 

 math ; four math one tackal; and ico tackal amount to one 

 vifs. Rice is f >ld by a meafure called Tayndaung, or balket. 

 Weighing 16 vifs, or about 56 pounds ; and of meafurement 

 there are feveral fubdivifions. The average price of rice at 

 the capital is one tackal, rather more than half a crown, for 

 a balket and a half. At Rangoon and Martaban, one tackal 

 will purchafe four or five bail-cets. The Birman meafures of 

 length are a paulgaut, or inch, 18 of which compofe the 

 taim, or cubit. The faundaung, or royal cubit (varying ac- 

 cording to the will of the monarch), is equal to 22 inches ; 

 the dha, or bamboo, confi;ls of feven royal cubits ; 1000 

 dha make one Birman league, or dain, nearly equal to two 

 Britiih miles and two furlongs ; the league is alfo fubdivided 

 into tenths. The Birmans divide their time as follows. The 

 interval in which the finger can be raifed or depreffed, i> 

 called charazi ; 10 charazi make one piaan ; 6 piaan one bi» 

 zana, or about a minute. The day of 24 hours, commenc- 

 ing at noon, is divided into 8 portions, or yettee, of 3 

 hours each. Thefe divifions of time are afcertained by a ma- 

 chine refembling the hour-glafs, and fomstimes by a perfo- 

 rated pan placed in a tub of water. They are announced by 

 a llroke on an oblong drum, which is always kept near the 

 dwelling of the chief magiftrate of the city, town, or village ; 

 it is commonly raifed on an high bamboo ftage, under a 

 roof of mats to proteft it from the weather. Tiic Birmans, 

 whatever way they acquired it, have the knowledge of a fo- 

 lar year, confilling of 365 days, and commencing on the 

 18th day of April. But the common Birman year is lunar, 

 and of courfe 1 1 days (hortir than the folnr year ; it is di- 

 vided into I 2 month.s ; but the Birman lunations confift al- 

 ternately of 29 and 30 days, cccafioning a difference between 

 the Newtonian and Binnan lunar account of 8 hours and 48 

 minutes. In order to complete a folar revolution, they in- 

 tercalate in every third vear a month of 30 days ; in this third 

 year the firll and third months have each 30 days inilead of 

 29 ; they likewife fupprefs or pafs over a day, and by thefe 

 the number of days in three folar years amounts to IC95. 

 But ever)- fourth year will occafion the difference of a day 

 on account of our leap-year. This, and fome other defects 

 in their mode of computation, are fources of confufion ; in 

 order to remedy wliicb, their flyle, or mode of calculation, 

 3 N 2 has 



