TO THE COURT OF AYA. 97 
Petroleum is used by the Burmans for the 
purpose of burning in lamps ; and smearing 
timber, to protect it against insects, especially 
the white ant, which will not approach it. It 
is said that about two-thirds of it is used for 
burning; and that its consumption is universal, 
until its price reach that of sesamum oil, the 
only one which is used in the country for burn¬ 
ing. Its consumption, therefore, is universal 
wherever there is water-carriage to convey it; 
that is, in all the country watered by the Ira- 
wadi, its tributary streams, and its branches. 
It includes Bassien, but excludes Martaban, 
Tavoy and Mergui, Aracan, Tongo, and all the 
northern and southern tributary states. The 
quantity exported to foreign parts is a mere 
trifle, not worth noticing. It is considered that 
a consumption of thirty viss per annum for each 
family of five and a half persons is a moderate 
average. If it were practicable, therefore, to 
ascertain the real quantity produced at the 
wells, we should be possessed of the means of 
making a tolerable estimate of the inhabitants 
who make use of this commodity, constitut¬ 
ing the larger part of the population of the 
kingdom. 
With the view of collecting data for this es¬ 
timate, I made such enquiry into the nature 
VOL. I. H 
