TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
315 
letter, which he would deliver to me; made me 
a present of eighteen oranges, two dozen heads of 
Indian corn, and five cucumbers: so I took my 
leave of this great Monarch, and came away; and, 
on our coming to the boat, Antonio told me that 
the boat I came in must go to Ava with the King, 
and I must remove to another boat, showing me 
a small inconvenient boat which was almost sink¬ 
ing. I was obliged to go into this boat, or go to 
Ava with the King; so I agreed, as I could not 
help myself. But I advise any gentleman that 
should come on these occasions, before they leave 
the Negrais, to get a good conveyance; for of all 
mankind which I have seen, the Buraghmah pro¬ 
mises the most and performs the least.” 
Mr. Lester obtained a grant of the Island of 
Negrais, and of a piece of ground at Bassein for 
a factory, with a favourable commercial treaty. 
But this was the last concession made to us, 
through mere diplomatic agency, by any state to 
the Eastward of the Bay of Bengal; and the rea¬ 
son is obvious. This was the very moment of 
the rise of our Indian empire—of the victories 
of Lawrence and Clive; and the progress of our 
arms naturally threw the Eastern princes upon 
their guard. In fact, two years after the mission 
of Ensign Lester, the Island of Negrais, reduced 
to a miserable garrison of a dozen individuals, by 
the withdrawing of the principal force for the 
