174 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
since, nor of any contribution comparable to this 
in amount. In reference to this tax, there is one 
important fact, which deserves mention. The ca¬ 
pital and districts attached to it are almost always 
exempted from its imposition by the Government 
itself, and always so from the irregular exactions 
in its name by the local officers. In fact, the seat 
of government, and its neighbourhood, are in all 
respects, owing to a more regular administration 
of law, and greater facility of appeal, by far the 
best-governed portion of the kingdom. While 
other parts of the country, therefore, are often 
little better than a wilderness, with a few villages 
thinly interspersed, the vicinity of the capital is 
comparatively w^ell cultivated and thickly inhabit¬ 
ed. From the accounts which I heard at Ava, and 
judging, indeed, by the various products of indus¬ 
try which they export, I am led to believe that 
several of the tributary Shan or Lao states, which 
have the advantage of being governed by their he¬ 
reditary rulers, and are free from the oppression 
and extortion of the temporary functionaries of 
the Burmese Government, are also more flourish¬ 
ing and prosperous than the greater number of the 
Burmese provinces. 
The capitation or family tax of the Karyens, 
differing in this respect from the occasional tax 
levied on the Burmans and Talains, is a fixed, in¬ 
variable, and annual impost; and hence, notwith- 
