TO THE COUItT OF AYA. 
91 
such a convention we ought under any circum-' 
stances to have secured exclusive privileges to our¬ 
selves. The conditions should be strictly reci¬ 
procal, and the letter and spirit of the engage¬ 
ment such as would tend to develope the resource 
of both countries, especially by removing all that 
was oppressive, vexatious, and impolitic in the 
system long tenaciously persevered in by the Bur¬ 
mese, and which had proved still more injurious 
to themselves than to the foreign nations which 
had been in the habit of commercial intercourse 
with them. The draft of a treaty containing such 
stipulations, as in my judgment would have ans¬ 
wered this end, was submitted to the Indian Go¬ 
vernment : but after the termination of the war, 
it was far too late to propose it to the Court of 
Ava. Before this could be done, it was reduced 
from twenty-two to seven articles: in the course 
of the negotiation, these last were again contracted 
to five ; and finally, four only, and these, in a mu¬ 
tilated and imperfect form, were carried. 
With respect to our political relations, 1 may 
add, that perhaps the best means of consolidating 
them would have been the retention of the port 
of Rangoon, and a trifling territory surrounding 
it, a position well secured by its military strength. 
I had the honour of suggesting this measure, and 
proposed to surrender in exchange for it our ter¬ 
ritorial acquisitions to the south, and the future 
pecuniary payments stipulated for in the Treaty 
