212 JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
monsoon, prepare the ground sufficiently for the 
grain, which is sown broad-cast, and there is ge¬ 
nerally no subsequent transplanting. One crop 
only is taken from the land; but instead of a 
return of fifteen or twenty fold, fifty and sixty 
are not an unfrequent one; so that with less than 
one third the labour, the whole annual produce 
is at least equal to that of the upper provinces. 
The consequence of this is, that rice in the upper 
provinces is commonly at least fifty per cent, 
higher than in the lower, while the crops are 
much more precarious. It is, therefore, an article 
of export from the latter to the former. 
Maize, in Burman Praong-bu, and Indian mil¬ 
let, or Holcus sorghum , are cultivated to a consi¬ 
derable extent in the upper provinces as winter 
or cold weather crops. Either from unsuitable¬ 
ness of soil, or unskilful culture, and perhaps 
indeed from both, the produce is small in compa¬ 
rison to that of other countries. For the first, the 
highest return given to me was one hundred fold 
for the seed; whereas, in other parts of the world, 
four hundred, and five hundred, are not unfre¬ 
quent.—Wheat, which would probably not grow 
in the lower provinces, is grown, as before men¬ 
tioned, in small quantities in the neighbourhood 
of the capital. The grain is of a good quality, 
and the returns ample ; but as bread, this grain 
is no favourite with the Burmese. Shortly after 
the war, the British authorities at Rangoon direct- 
