APPENDIX. 
133 
Yes, one occasion particularly, when I took to him a Cal¬ 
cutta newspaper, containing a conciliatory paragraph, re¬ 
specting the dispute concerning the Island of Shaparee, 
or Shemabero. 
Q. What did he say upon the subject ?— A. At the time 
alluded to, I was not well versed in the Burman language, 
but what was said by the Saya Woonghee was afterwards 
explained to me by an European gentleman who accompa¬ 
nied me, and who understood it perfectly. The expres¬ 
sions he used were to this effect, as far as my memory 
serves me: that the newspaper paragraph alluded to, was 
a proof of the timidity of the English; that he was of 
opinion that the Burmans were superior to the British in 
military prowess; and that unless every demand made upon 
the latter was yielded, war would certainly ensue. 
Q. Do you know what became of the army of the Saya 
Woonghee, to which, in a former part of your deposition, 
you have alluded ?— A. The army, as I was informed, 
marched to Cassay, where it suffered dreadfully from sick¬ 
ness. The Saya Woonghee himself, an old man, fell a 
sacrifice to the climate : on his death the command devolved 
on his Chekao Moungyit, an Attawun, and shortly after¬ 
wards dispersed. A small part of it returned to Ava, 
under his command, and, as I Was informed, without 
having seen the face of an enemy. 
Q. What, according to your opinion, led to the late war 
between the British and Burman Governments?— A. In 
my opinion, it may be attributed primarily to a desire, on 
the part of the Burman Court, to try its strength with the 
British. The counsels of Bandula, on his return from the 
conquest of Assam to the capital, about the month of 
December, 1822, hastened the event; and I believe it is 
chiefly owing to his advice that the war was so soon deter¬ 
mined upon. 
