22 
APPENDIX. 
far as my inquiries go, there can be no question. The late 
King of Ava, by disposition parsimonious, after a reign of 
thirty-eight years, more peaceful and tranquil than that of 
any of his predecessors, had accumulated a treasure, which, 
for a Burman prince, may be considered considerable. I 
have received three distinct accounts, from as many dif¬ 
ferent quarters, of the amount of this treasure. The highest 
statement makes it 7,500,000 ticals of flowered silver; and 
the second, upon which I place most reliance, makes it only 
4,600,000. The* third statement, which is also from good 
authority, gives only the treasure in silver, which it esti¬ 
mates at 3,600,000. By this last account, the amount of 
gold is alleged to have been very inconsiderable. All the 
three accounts assert, that the whole of this sum has been 
expended by his present Majesty in the removal of his ca¬ 
pital, in the building of extensive palaces and temples, but, 
above all, in conducting the late war, towards the latter part 
of which, it is sufficiently known that large disbursements, 
contrary to the general usage of Government, were made 
from the public treasury. 
His present Majesty ascended the throne in the year 
1819, and in pecuniary matters is of a very opposite cha¬ 
racter from his predecessor. He has no passion for accu¬ 
mulating money, and has hitherto levied no contributions, 
having that object immediately in view, as his predecessor 
had frequently done. During a considerable part of his 
short reign, he has been engaged in an expensive contest; 
has been long deprived, by our occupation of it, of the 
revenue of that portion of his country which had hitherto 
contributed the most to filling the public treasury; 
besides having, over and above these causes, already paid 
to ourselves, with the assistance of contributions from 
his courtiers, a sum amounting, by Burman estimation, 
to 3,750,000 ticals. 
