214 NOETLING : PETROLEUM IN BURMA. 



used to be one tical per roo viss, but that lately, in consequence of 

 the demand from Rangoon, it had risen ; at the price given 

 of 155". per ton, the price of 100 viss must have been something like 

 Ri-8. This estimate agrees very well with Captain Yule's state- 

 ment of the value of the oil imported into Lower Burma in 1855, 

 stated to be R2 1,972, which answers to a rate of about R 1-4-0 per 

 100 viss. 



The year following the visit of the members of the Mission to 

 Ava marks a new epoch in the history of the Yenangyoung oil field; 

 the extraction of oil was declared a Royal monopoly. 



Hitherto the well owners enjoyed the full benefit of the sale of 

 their oil, but from this time on they were bound to make it over to the 

 king at the fixed rate of R 1-8-0 per 100 viss. We are luckily in the 

 position to fix the introduction of the monopoly system very accurately. 

 It did not exist in 1855 when Captain Yule visited the oil fields, 

 but in a foot note, he says " petroleum which has acquired a great 

 additional value in consequence of the demand for the English 

 market has recently been added to the Royal monopolies." As the 

 narrative of the Mission to Ava was published in 1 858 we must assume 

 that the monopoly was introduced in 1856 or 1857. This supposi- 

 tion agrees perfectly with the native statement that in 1218 or 1219 

 of the Burmese era the king forced the well owners to sell him all 

 their oil at the fixed rate of R 1-8-0 per 100 viss. 



It is hardly a mere accident that the introduction of the petro- 

 leum monopoly nearly coincides with the occupation of Lower Burma ; 

 we may even say it was a consequence of it. With the annexation 

 of Lower Burma the demand for petroleum increased owing to the 

 establishment of a larger export and with the increased demand the 

 selling price naturally rose. The king quickly perceiving the advan- 

 tage he would derive if the whole of the oil trade were in his hands, 

 declared the oil to be one of the articles which, like rubies, were 

 Royal property and could only be sold by the king or persons author- 

 ized by him. Whether there was a formal agreement with the 

 well owners or not, is difficult to say. A Burman remarked philoso- 



( 260 ) 



