TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
263 
the Straits of Malacca, or directly by European 
vessels. 
The merest fraction only of the area of these 
provinces is in a state of culture. The articles of 
agricultural produce are sufficiently various, but 
all upon a very limited scale, and the greater 
number the result of a rude and careless hus¬ 
bandry, as might naturally be expected. The 
principal are rice, cotton, indigo, black pepper, 
and areca nut. The quantity of land suited to 
the growth of rice is very great, especially in the 
district of Martaban ; the soil is there eminently 
productive, and the labour of cultivation very in¬ 
considerable. There are no forests to cut down, 
for the rice lands are extensive savannas, covered 
with a tall grass, readily burnt down in the dry 
season. The periodical rains, a harrow, and the 
treading of buffaloes, without the plough, suffici¬ 
ently prepare the soil for the seed, which very ge¬ 
nerally gives a return of from fifty to eighty fold. 
The grain is, of course, extremely cheap ; more 
so, indeed, than in any other part of the Bur man 
dominions. In ordinary years, two shillings per 
cwt. may be considered as a common price for 
good clean rice. When European and Chinese 
settlers become owners of the land, (and it is 
through these classes only that we can rationally 
expect any rapid improvement in its agriculture,) 
the soil and climate will be found to be peculiarly 
well suited to the growth of such important 
