30 
APPENDIX. 
taining, is, that they were worsted not owing to our supe¬ 
rior courage, but to our possession of arms and discipline, 
—advantages, according to their account, merely fortui¬ 
tous. In regard to fire-arms especially, they believe that 
little more is required than an ample supply of these to 
enable them to renew the war with every prospect of 
success. They are already making some feeble efforts to 
supply this want, by purchasing muskets wherever they 
can obtain them, giving at least double the prices at which 
the Americans have of late been enabled to supply the Sia¬ 
mese. There can be no doubt, but that, through the 
French and American trade, they will soon be furnished 
to the full extent of their means of purchasing. 
The same spirit accounts for the avidity with which 
they receive European and Indian deserters, even to camp 
followers and private servants, and the facility with which 
they listen to pretensions made to a knowledge of fire-arms 
and artillery by the humblest of these adventurers. 
In coming down the Irawadi, a few days after quitting 
Ava, it escaped from the Burmese chief who was conduct¬ 
ing the Mission to Rangoon, that the King was now con¬ 
vinced of the necessity of maintaining a standing force 
adequately armed and disciplined ; and that he was fully 
aware of the inefficiency of the hasty and forced levies of 
which the Burmese troops had heretofore consisted. With 
these views, he stated that his Majesty had given orders 
for raising a standing force of fifty thousand men, and 
that thirty-five thousand were already enrolled for this 
purpose. It is probable that this statement, if true at 
all, is much exaggerated; but the very circumstance of 
the idea being entertained is a strong indication of the 
temper and feeling of the Government. 
Whatever may be the anxiety of the Burmese Govern¬ 
ment to maintain a standing army, it seems exceedingly 
