TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
161 
from the field. And indeed, after one or two 
attempts, they never ventured to show themselves 
in the presence of that small but gallant and well- 
disciplined corps. 
The fiscal system of the Burmese is charac¬ 
terised by the same rudeness and disorder as the 
rest of their institutions : indeed, I have little 
hesitation in saying that it is the most faulty and 
mischievous part of the whole administration, be¬ 
ing replete throughout with uncertainty, rapacity, 
and violence. 
Reclaimed land, according to the. custom, for it 
cannot very correctly be called law, of the Bur¬ 
mese, is considered private property whenever it 
is worth appropriation, which is not very often 
the case. This embraces common arable land, 
gardens, orchards, the sites of houses, and some¬ 
times of tanks and fish-ponds. In the vicinity of 
the capital, and that of large towns where popu¬ 
lation is concentrated and rent has commenced, 
lands are bought, sold, and pledged in the same 
way as immovable property ; but the great majo¬ 
rity of the lands of the country are unappro¬ 
priated, and, in the present state of society, of 
no more exchangeable value than air or water. 
The property of the land generally belongs to the 
immediate cultivators, and each estate therefore 
consists only of a few acres. There are no large 
accumulations of land in the hands of individual 
proprietors. Such a state of things could not 
VOL. II. M 
