92 JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
of Peace ; but it was found that such an arrange¬ 
ment, had it been sanctioned by higher authority, 
came much too late to be proposed to the Bur- 
mans, who were sensibly alive to the political, mi¬ 
litary, and commercial advantages of the port of 
Rangoon. The benefits which would have ac¬ 
crued from this measure would have been great. 
It would have exonerated us from our too ex¬ 
tensive territorial acquisitions from the Burmese 
Government,—settled our pecuniary claims on the 
Court of Ava,—placed us in a commanding mili¬ 
tary attitude, which would have relieved us from 
all apprehension of annoyance from the power of 
the Burmese,—given us the command of the na¬ 
vigation of the Irawadi, and possession of a port, 
which, in a commercial and military view, is pro¬ 
bably, under all circumstances, the most conveni¬ 
ent and useful in the Indian seas. 
