APPENDIX. 
91 
frames and no courage. They have never yet fought 
with so strong and brave a people as the Burmans, skilled 
in the use of the sword and spear. If they once fight 
with us, and we have an opportunity of manifesting our 
bravery, it will be an example to the black natives, who 
are now slaves to the English, and encourage them to 
throw off their yoke.” About a month before my impri¬ 
sonment, the King’s sister, already mentioned, said to me 
in conversation, that it was obvious the English were 
afraid to fight; that their conduct on the frontier was 
mean and cowardly; that they were always disposed to 
treat and not to fight; and that upon some occasions, 
when the Burman and British troops met, the British 
officers held up their hands to entreat the Burmans not 
to advance. She insisted that the whole conduct of the Bri¬ 
tish for some time past indicated unequivocal symptoms of 
fear. She added : “ We shall now fight certainly, and will no 
longer be dissuaded. The new Governor-General acts fool¬ 
ishly ; he is afraid of us, and attempts to coax us, yet conti¬ 
nues the usual course of aggression and encroachment.” 
Q. Did you ever hear the Seah Wonghee, the King’s 
tutor, express any opinion on the prospect of a war with 
the English?— A. The late Seah Wonghee was a man of 
few words and of a cautious disposition. I have often 
heard him talk of the danger to the Burmans of the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the British power, and the necessity of watch¬ 
ing their conduct. I once obtained a grant of land for a 
house through this officer. He took a long time in word¬ 
ing the document, and took especial care to mention to his 
people, in my presence, calling upon me to understand what 
he said, that the grant was not in perpetuity, lest it might 
hereafter be claimed, he said, as the territory of the Ameri¬ 
can Government. In this he appeared to me to refer to 
