Willard Bartlett

“ The Burmese, who highly relish these ants as food, lay up stores of them.—The Burmese have made but little advance in the useful arts. Women carry on the whole process of the cotton manufacture, using a rude loom, and displaying little ingenuity or skill. Porcelain is imported from China; British cottons are imported, and even in the interior undersell the native products; though the Burmese smelt iron, steel is brought from Bengal; silks and cottons are manufactured at Ava and Amarapura. ”

“ The soil is taxed according to crops. The tobacco tax is paid in money; other crops pay 5 per cent. in kind. The farmers of the royal lands pay over one half their crops. Fishing posts on lake and river are let either for a stated term or for a proportion of dried fish from the catch. These revenues are collected by officers of the crown, each of whom receives a district, from the proceeds of which he lives. The royal revenue is raised from the sale of monopolies of the crown, among which cotton is the chief. ”

“ While a very great variety of goods is imported, the exports are comparatively insignificant, those to China, with which the Burmese carry on their most extensive commerce, consisting of raw cotton, ornamental feathers, chiefly of the blue jay, edible swallows' nests, ivory, rhinoceros and deer's horns, and some precious stones. ”

“ The Burmese Buddhists avoid to some extent the picture worship practised in China, and their monks are more than usually faithful to their vows of poverty and celibacy. Their religious ministrations are confined to sermons. They live in monasteries, instruct the children, and subsist entirely on the contributions of the public. They may at any time leave their convents and resume the ordinary occupations of life.—The ancient history of the Burmese commences with a cosmology similar to that of the Hindoos. ”

“ The art of making sugar is scarcely known. Coarse sugar is obtained from the juice of the Palmyra palm, of which numerous groves are found, especially south of the capital. Indigo is so badly managed as to be almost unfit for exportation. Rice in the south and maize and millet in the north are the standard crops. Sesamum is raised for cattle. On the northern hills the tea plant is cultivated; but the natives, instead of steeping it, eat the leaf prepared with oil and garlic. Cotton is raised chiefly in the dry lands of the upper provinces ”

“ The valley of the Irrawaddy is hilly and uneven, and sometimes the hills form its banks. They are generally covered with forest trees of considerable size. Cultivation here is confined to the narrow flat tracts which here and there separate the hills from the river. The plains in the south are fertile, and produce large crops of rice. The valleys in the centre and north are well watered and teem with rich pasturage.—Burmah has been deprived of its most fertile territory, but that which remains is productive. Agriculture and horticulture are defective. ”

“ In the lower provinces elephants are very numerous, and often do great damage to the rice fields. Hares and various kinds of monkeys are found. Of birds, the wild cock is common; and there are also varieties of pheasants, partridges, and quails. Peacocks, parrots, and pigeons are very numerous in the forests of the lower provinces. Fish are plentiful in the Irrawaddy. There are many lizards and serpents. Leeches of large size are numerous. The domestic animals are the ox, the horse, and the buffalo. The elephant also is used as a draught animal. ”

“ Justice is rarely dealt out to the people. Every officeholder is at the same time a plunderer; the judges are venal, the police powerless, robbers and thieves abound, life and property are insecure, and every inducement to progress is wanting. No person in Burmah possesses any hereditary rights except the descendants of subdued princes, who are privileged to use the insignia of royalty, as white umbrellas, &c. ”

“ There is no regular system of conscription, and every man is liable to serve. Nearly all are infantry armed with long spears, two-handed swords, muskets, and the jinjal, a kind of carbine. In the province of Padoung every soldier is quartered upon two families, who receive five acres of tax-free land, and must furnish the soldier with half the crops and 25 rupees per annum, besides wood and other minor necessaries. ”

“ Several distinct tribes inhabit the Burman dominions. The Burmans or Mranmas, as they style themselves, the rulers of the country, claim to have been originally celestial beings who descended to earth, where they gradually degenerated. The Salain live between the Salwen river and the Galladzet and Anapectomu mountains. The Shans, resembling the Siamese, are scattered over the E. and N. provinces. The Cassayans live chiefly in the capital. The Yo, probably a Chinese tribe who adopted Burmese customs, live on the Irrawaddy. ”

“ Horses are used exclusively for riding, and are rarely more than 13 hands high. The ox is the beast of draught and burden in the north, the buffalo in the south.—Burmah has great natural mineral wealth, but it is little developed. There are gold mines at Bhamo, near the Chinese frontier, and auriferous sand is found in several of the rivers. Silver is obtained at Bortwen, on the confines of China, in some parts of the interior, and in the mountains bordering on Siam. ”

“ Trial by ordeal often takes place, and in criminal cases punishments have been marked by the greatest cruelty.—In physical conformation, the Burmese, like most of the race which inhabits the countries between Hindostan and China, have more of the Mongolian than of the Hindoo type. They are short, stout, well proportioned, fleshy, but active ”

“ The good, after death, are happy in Nirvana, a state of perfect rest, while the had are punished by a degrading metempsychosis. The other sect rejects entirely the doctrine of the metempsychosis, and the picture worship and cloister system of the Buddhists; considers death as the portal to everlasting happiness or misery, according to the conduct of the deceased; and worships one supreme and all-creating spirit. ”

“ Earthquakes are frequent, and often usher in and conclude the wet season. Insects are numerous, and a few weeks before the rainy season myriads of winged ants, field bugs, and other insects infest the dwellings. ”

“ The revenues proceed from a house tax, which is levied on the village, the village authorities afterward assessing householders according to their respective ability to pay. Those subject to military duty, the farmers of the royal domain, and artificers employed on the public works, are exempt. ”

“ Heavy mists occur in November and December, but no snow falls, and only a little hail in April or the beginning of May. The transitions of the seasons are extremely sudden; the greatest heats are in March and April. ”

“ They form also a high court of appeal, before whom suits are brought for final adjudication; and in their individual capacity, they have power to give judgment on cases which are not brought up to the collective council. As they retain 10 per cent. ”

“ Soon afterward Alompra, a village chief of ability, placed himself at the head of the malcontents, defeated the Peguans, recovered Ava, and became king and lawgiver of Burmah, and founder of the present dynasty. ”