1825-1826.
Arrival at Prome—Prome under English rule—Re-assembly
of the Burmese armies—Negotiations for peace—Battle of
Meaday—Melloon—Yandabo—Treaty of peace.
The general did not tarry long at Donabew, but pushed forward toward
Prome, where the rainy season was to be passed. On his way to that place,
he was joined at Tharawa by McCreagh’s reserve column from Rangoon, and
the united forces pushed forward for Prome. The charm was now broken, and
as the British lines advanced, the prince of Tharawadi, at the head of
the opposing army, fell back, and, though strong in numbers, offered no
resistance to the progress of the Anglo-Indian army. Prome was reached by
the 25th of April, and taken without one round of firing. The indecisive
conduct of the prince seems to have arisen partly from a wish to
negotiate a peace, which was attempted at Turriss Miu, a few miles below
Prome. A native soldier came to the camp with a letter from two of the
Atwenwoons, proposing an accommodation; but Sir A. Campbell replied, that
at all events he should advance to Prome: and though another letter was
received from the Atwenwoons, he continued in his resolve. Luckily for
him, he arrived in time to save the place from being stripped of all the
necessaries of life, in the same manner as the towns he had before passed
had been served. On hearing of the arrival of Campbell, Prince Tharawadi
left for Ava, to insist upon a peace being concluded.
The British had only just arrived in time to stand the change of the
seasons in this place,—a more favourable spot than the lower country
for that purpose. Previous to the setting in of the rainy season,
the thermometer had risen in the shade to 110°, but the nights were
still cool, and the climate was not unhealthy. The monsoon brought its
ordinary effects upon the condition of the European troops, who, though
suffering much less severely than at Rangoon, lost almost one-seventh
of their number between June and October; the native troops were much
more exempt, although not wholly free, from disease. Although the level
of the country was higher than in the coast districts, yet the site of
the town was so low as to be under water at the rise of the river, and
to the east extended for many miles a plain laid out principally in
rice-cultivation; south of the town was a range of low hills, crowned by
the principal pagodas, and thither some of the troops were removed, when
the suburbs in which they had been quartered were found liable to sudden
inundations; supplies were in some abundance, and there was comparatively
little demand for the active services of the force; it seems probable,
therefore, that much of the disease that still prevailed was the
consequence of previous exposure and exhaustion, although ascribable in
some measure to the effects of climate and of ill-selected quarters for
the troops.[311]
It were almost beyond the limits of this volume to enlarge upon the
prosperous state of Prome under British rule, and Mr. Mac Farlane’s able
sketch will compensate in every way for my own shortcomings. In speaking
of an excursion made by Colonel Graham, partly for forage, and partly
to calm the fears of the natives themselves, the historian of India
continues:[312]—“Almost immediately after their return, the persecuted
and dislodged inhabitants of the town poured in from every quarter, some
from the woods, bringing their families, their cattle, their waggons, and
other property; and some escaped from the military escorts and disjointed
corps of the king’s fugitive army. Food and covering were given to the
starving and naked; and those who had houses and property were secured in
the possession of them. Our British soldiers assisted them in rebuilding
their wooden houses and their bamboo huts, and in a very short time Prome
had risen from its ashes, a greater town than it had been before the war.
As the people were punctually paid for whatever they brought, plentiful
bazaars were soon established, and our soldiers lived in comfort and
abundance, and unmolested ease; while the ill-conducted armies of the
king of Ava, unpaid, unsupplied, and driven up the country, were left to
the alternative of starvation or dispersion. The towns and districts
in our rear followed the example of the provincial capital, and the
banks of the Irawadi below Prome were soon enlivened by the presence of
a contented people. An excellent depôt was soon formed at Prome, with
supplies sufficient not only for the rainy season, but for the long
campaign which possibly might follow. The plains which our soldiers
had traversed on their advance up the country without seeing a single
bullock were again covered with numerous herds; from every pathway of
the deep and extensive forests, which cover far more than half of the
country, droves of the finest oxen—the oxen of Pegu —now issued daily.
The menthagoes, or hereditary headmen of the districts and chief towns,
tendered their allegiance, and were restored to their municipal functions
by the British generals. A state of desolation and anarchy once more
gave way to order and plenty; and from Rangoon to Prome, from Bassein
to Martaban, all classes of natives not only contributed their aid in
collecting such supplies as the country afforded, but readily lent
their services in facilitating the equipment and movement of military
detachments.[313] The only anxiety which the people seemed to find was,
that the English would leave them, and give them back to their old
masters.”
It was now the rainy season, and the operations of both parties were,
to a certain extent, suspended. Little was done by the British, and
the Burmese made no preparations against any hostile aggression on
our part. The only event that at all did away with the tedium of the
period was the discomfiture of the Thekia Wungyee at Old Pegu, where the
Taliens, who trusted (a sad reliance, as it afterwards was found) in the
British assistance towards the hoped-for object of the recovery of their
independence, rose, and seized as many of the officers of his detachment
as they could secure; one chief of importance was amongst them,—the
Thekia Wungyee himself escaping. Their prize they brought to Rangoon, and
delivered to Brigadier Smith.
The successes of the British naturally created the utmost dismay at the
metropolis; but the native arrogance of the people, so common in a
semi-civilised race, soon caused the usual lofty tone to be assumed, and
generals stepped forward, willing to risk a combat with the British army,
or pay the hard penalty that awaited an unsuccessful commander. This man
was the Pagahm Wungyee, a chief of no little consequence and considerable
vanity. A leader found, it was necessary to get an army,—a far more
difficult task. It may easily be conceived, that the forces levied in a
hasty manner, and without any attention as to their courage, could not be
very formidable; and so, indeed, it proved on _reconnoissance_.
But war costs money, as Sir A. Campbell found, and he was now fully
sensible of the fact, that little was to be regained from the enemy.
Therefore, he gave the Burmese government another opportunity of coming
to a peaceful conclusion, by means of a letter addressed to the prince
of Tharawadi, and borne by a servant of that person, who had come under
English protection to Prome. However, it was totally unavailing; no
answer was received, and therefore the hostile preparations of the king
of Ava were continued; and to facilitate these, the commander-in-chief
went down to Rangoon in the _Diana_, and did not return till the 2nd of
August. It was satisfactory to find that, in the lower provinces, “a
state of desolation and anarchy once more gave way to order and plenty;
and from Bassein to Martaban, and Rangoon to Prome, every class of
natives not only contributed their aid to collect such supplies as the
country could afford, but readily lent their services to the equipment
and march of military detachments.”[314]
Soon after, intelligence was received of the approach of the mighty
armament of Burmah, amounting to 40,000 men (so it was said), under the
command of Memia-Bo, a brother of the king himself. There were also
12,000 at Tongho, under the prince of Tongho. General Cotton was sent to
reconnoitre their force, which he discovered at Meaday, on the 15th, on
the west bank of the river. Our forces, it may be observed, amounted to
but 3,000 men, though 2,000 more were daily expected. The preparations at
Meaday were very energetic, and the force amounted to 16,000 men, at the
lowest estimate.
At this juncture, a letter of Sir A. Campbell took effect on the
Burmese, and on the 6th September, a boat arrived at Prome, with a flag
of truce, and two commissioners presented a reply from the general of the
Burmese army. Accounts differ as to the terms of the letter, but Wilson
is decidedly the best authority; and according to him, the letter was
proud and unconciliating, yet a wish was expressed in it for a lasting
peace. “Sir Archibald Campbell lost no time in sending two British
officers to Meaday, to offer an armistice, and to propose a meeting of
commissioners from the two armies. The Burmese prime minister tried hard
to delay the meeting. It was found necessary to allow a delay of nearly
two weeks, the Wongees protesting that they must wait until full powers
arrived from their court. The Keewongee, or prime minister, agreed to be
one of the commissioners, and it was finally settled that the meeting
should take place at a spot midway between the two armies, and that each
party should be accompanied by 600 men, the rank of the Keewongee not
permitting him to move with a smaller escort.”[315]
It seemed, however, impossible to come to any determination with this
uncivilised, changeable race. On discussing matters, on our demanding
compensation, there was much hesitation, and, at last, when the armistice
was on the point of expiring, the Wungyee sent these words to Sir A.
Campbell:—
“If you wish for peace, you may go away; but if you ask either for money
or territory, no friendship can exist between us. This is Burmese custom.”
It is, indeed, Burmese custom! Nothing is to be obtained from them
without force; not that they do not feel the demand just, but because
they will hold doggedly to what they can get, though it benefit them not,
nay, even if it be hurtful.
“The court of Ava,” observes Wilson, “indignant at the idea of conceding
an inch of territory, or submitting to what, in oriental politics,
is held a mark of excessive humiliation, payment of any pecuniary
indemnification, breathed nothing but defiance, and determined instantly
to prosecute the war.”[316] It was then that, on the numerous incursions
of the Burmese, the definite reply was returned to the British
commander-in-chief, proving that, after all, the advances made by the
Burmese were only made to gain time.
The gallant general now determined to advance boldly on the enemy. His
forces now amounted to 5,000 men, of whom 3,000 were British. Up to the
1st of December, operations were rather unfavourable than otherwise; on
that day, however, fickle fortune again turned over to the English side.
I shall give the events of the day in the words of Wilson:[317]
“Leaving four regiments of native infantry for the defence of Prome,
General Campbell marched, early on the morning of the 1st of December,
against the enemy’s left, while the flotilla, under Sir James Brisbane,
and the 26th Madras native infantry, acting in co-operation, by a
cannonade of the works upon the river, diverted the attention of the
centre from the real attack.
“Upon reaching the Nawine river, at the village of Zeonke, the force was
divided into two columns. The right, under Brigadier-General Cotton,
formed of his Majesty’s 41st and 89th regiments, and the 18th and 28th
native infantry, proceeding along the left bank of the river, came in
front of the enemy’s intrenchments, consisting of a series of stockades,
covered on either flank by thick jungle, and by the river in the rear,
and defended by a considerable force, of whom 8,000 were Shans, or people
of Laos, under their native chiefs. The post was immediately stormed.
The attack was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Godwin, with the advanced guard
of the right column, and the stockades were carried in less than ten
minutes. The enemy left three hundred dead, including their general, Maha
Nemyo, and all their stores and ammunition, and a considerable quantify
of arms were taken. The left column, under the commander-in-chief,
composed of his Majesty’s 13th, 38th, 47th, and 87th regiments, and 38th
Madras infantry, which had crossed the Nawine river lower down, came
up as the fugitives were crossing, and completed the dispersion of the
Burman army.
“Following up the advantage thus gained, General Campbell determined
to attack the Kyee Woongyee in his position, without delay. His force
accordingly marched back to Zeonke, where they bivouacked for the night,
and resumed their march on the following morning at daybreak. The nature
of the country admitted of no approach to the enemy’s defences upon the
hills, except in front, and that by a narrow pathway, accessible to but a
limited number of men in line. Their posts at the foot of the hills were
more readily assailable, and from these they were speedily driven; but
the attack of the heights was a more formidable task, as the narrow road
by which they were approached was commanded by the enemy’s artillery and
breastworks, numerously manned. After some impression had been apparently
made by the artillery and rockets, the first Bengal brigade, consisting
of H.M.’s 13th and 38th regiments, advanced to the storm, supported on
the right by six companies of H.M.’s 87th. They made good their ascent,
in spite of the heavy fire they encountered, and to which scarcely a shot
was returned; and when they had gained the summit, they drove the enemy
from hill to hill, until they had cleared the whole of the formidable
and extensive intrenchments. These brilliant advantages were not gained
without loss; and in the affair of the 1st, Lieutenants Sutherland and
Gossip, of H.M.’s 41st, and Ensign Campbell, of the royal regiment, were
killed; and Lieutenant Proctor, of H.M.’s 38th; Lieutenant Baylee, of
the 87th; and Captain Dawson, of H.M.’s ship _Arachne_, in that of the
second. The division under General Cotton, which had made a circuitous
march to take the enemy in flank, was unable to make its way through the
jungle to bear part in the engagement. On the 5th a detachment from it
proceeded across the river, and drove the right wing of the enemy, not
only from their post upon the river, but from a strong stockade about
half a mile in the interior, completely manned and mounting guns. The
enemy were dispersed with severe loss in killed and prisoners, and their
defences were set on fire.”
No time was now lost in advancing upon the retreating army. On the 9th of
December the march of the British columns began, and their path lay along
“dismal swamps,” and jungles, which, overrun with every kind of reeds and
elephant-grass, presented a dreary and dispiriting aspect to the troops.
Indeed, the effect of the marshy country was soon felt on the army, for
on the 12th the cholera broke out among the troops, and, according to
Lieutenant-Colonel Tulloch,[318] nearly two regiments were placed in an
unfit condition for action. At Meaday the sight was sad enough. “Within
and among the stockades,” says Mac Farlane,[319] “the ground was strewed
with dead and dying Burmese lying promiscuously together, the victims of
wounds, of disease, or of want. Several large gibbets stood about the
stockade, each bearing the mouldering remains of three or four crucified
Burmese, who had been thus barbarously put to death for having wandered
from their posts in search of food, or for having followed the example of
their chiefs in flying from the enemy.”[320]
I must pass briefly over subsequent events. Conferences for the purpose
of settling a peace were sought and obtained by the Burmese; but the
negotiations came to nothing. It seemed that all feelings of any kind
had left them. They neither sought to conclude a peace, nor, on the
other hand, did they prepare for contesting the advance of the army on
the capital. At last, after much deliberation and little determination,
a treaty of peace was concluded by commissioners appointed for that
purpose, through the intervention of a priest. However, after all, it
never reached the king for his ratification. “During the conferences,”
however, “the Burman commissioners repeatedly declared their being
furnished with full powers, and their firm persuasion, that whatever
they agreed to, the king would ratify; they expressed their entire
satisfaction with the spirit in which the negotiations had been conducted
by the British commissioners, and their gratification at the prospect
of a speedy renewal of friendly relations; they made no secret of their
motives, and frankly and unreservedly admitted that the king had been
ruined by the war, that the resources of the country were exhausted, and
that the road to Ava was open to the British army. There appears every
reason to credit their assertions, and all who had an opportunity of
exercising personal observation were impressed with this conviction, that
the negotiators were honest.”[321] I cannot, however, but point out to
the reader that there appears to be a singular dash of cunning in their
confessions. The king was ruined, at least so they said; thus it was
useless ever to require money for expenses. Otherwise, there seems to be
simplicity enough.
Still the war was not at an end. The treaty was not ratified; nor
destined to be. Time was asked, and repeatedly granted; but treachery was
found to be at work again in the Burman hearts. They felt no peace with
the wild foreigners. At last they were told, that on their withdrawing
from Melloon by the morning of the 20th, and their passage to Ava,
hostilities would not be recommenced. But they refused; therefore they
received intimation of an attack on the 18th. “Batteries were accordingly
erected with such expedition,” says Wilson, “that by ten the next
morning, eight and twenty pieces of ordnance were in position on points
presenting more than a mile on the eastern bank of the Irawadi, which
corresponded with the enemy’s line of defence on the opposite shore; nor
had the Burmas been idle, having, in the course of the night, thrown up
additional defences of considerable strength and extent, and well adapted
to the purposes for which they were constructed.”[322]
The heavy cannonade which ensued, soon drove away the fickle Burmese, and
crowned the British armies with success. It is to be observed, that the
rapidity and precision of the English movements insured our success. Here
was it discovered that the treaty had not been sent to Ava at all, and
when a note was sent by the British to the chief commissioner, informing
him that the treaty had been left behind and would be restored, that
official replied, that a large sum of money had also been left behind,
which he likewise hoped would be refunded. The whole show of negotiation
was a blind for hostile preparations of no avail, as it was afterwards
found.
“By this time,” says Mr. Mac Farlane,[323] “the Golden Face was
completely clouded with despair. Every hope and every promise had failed;
every day fixed upon by his star-gazers as a lucky day had turned out
an unlucky day; and all his astrologers and soothsayers had proved
themselves to be but cheats and liars. Sir Archibald assured the two
envoys that he was desirous of peace, and that his terms would vary very
little from those which had been offered and accepted by the Wongees at
Melloon. He furnished them with a statement of his terms, and promised
not to pass Pagahm-mew for twelve days. On the following morning, the 1st
of February, 1826, the two delegates quitted the English camp to return
to Ava, the American missionary being sanguine in his expectations of
returning in a few days with cash, and a treaty of peace, duly signed by
the king. Yet, in truth, his Burmese majesty was still undecided, and, in
the course of two or three days, it became known in the British camp that
he was displaying a determination to try the fortune of war once more ere
he submitted. He was probably encouraged herein by a knowledge of the
smallness of the force with which Sir Archibald Campbell was advancing
upon his capital, and by the intelligence received of the defeat of a
weak British detachment, before the strong stockade of Zitoung, in Pegu,
where the commanding officer, Colonel Conroy, and another officer, were
killed, and several wounded, and where the loss in men was very heavy for
so small a force.
“Sir Archibald Campbell continued his advance. On approaching Pagahm-mew,
a town about a hundred miles above Melloon, he obtained positive
information that a levy of 40,000 men had been ordered; that the Golden
Foot had bestowed upon his new army the flattering appellation of
‘Retrievers of the King’s Glory,’ and that this army had been placed
under the command of a savage warrior, styled Nee Woon-Breen, which has
been, variously translated as ‘Prince of Darkness,’ ‘King of Hell,’ and
‘Prince of the setting Sun.’
“Upon the 8th of February, when within a few days’ march of Pagahm-mew,
Sir Archibald ascertained that the Retrievers of the King’s Glory and the
Prince of Darkness were prepared to meet him under the walls of that city.
“On the 9th, the British column moved forward in order of attack, being
much reduced by the absence of two brigades, and considerably under
2,000 fighting men. The advanced guard was met in the jungle by strong
bodies of skirmishers; and, after maintaining a running fight for several
miles, the column debouched in the open country, and there discovered
the Burmese army, from 16,000 to 20,000 strong, drawn up in an inverted
crescent, the wings of which threatened the little body of assailants
on both their flanks. But Sir Archibald pushed boldly forward upon the
point for their centre, threw the whole weight of his column, broke and
shattered it in the twinkling of an eye, and left the unconnected wings
severed from each other. The Retrievers of the King’s Glory did not fight
so well as those who had been accused of forfeiting his majesty’s glory:
they all fled, as fast as their legs could carry them, to a second line
of redoubts and stockades, close under the walls of Pagahm-mew; but the
British column followed them so closely, that they had little time for
rallying in those works; and as soon as a few English bayonets got within
the stockades, all the Burmese went off screaming like a scared flock of
wild geese. Hundreds jumped into the river to escape their assailants,
and perished in the water; and, with the exception of 2,000 or 3,000 men,
the whole army dispersed upon the spot:” and from this time no opposition
was offered to the British. The Burmese were now wearied out; their
resources, as it has been observed, were exhausted, their spirit broken,
and while the court felt that resistance was impossible, the nobles
individually saw that the Company was a better ally than the sovereign
of Ava; yet it was still attempted to gain some advantage, and inactive
despair, succeeded by active flight, showed the English what the general
sentiment of the Burmese nation was. As a means, however, of gaining some
little advantage, the European prisoners were retained in custody by the
nation; but at Yandabo it chanced that our troops caught sight of several
of the captives, and their misery caused the troops to be more anxious
than ever for vengeance upon the Burmese government. The two or three
prisoners held out as a bait by the Burmese monarch, were not of much
avail. The same sum of twenty-five lacs of rupees was demanded, and the
Burmans had to pay; shuffling was of no use.
“After halting two or three days at Pagahm,” says Wilson,[324] “General
Campbell resumed his march, which now seemed likely to conduct him to the
capital of Ava. There, one feeling alone prevailed, and although various
reports were thrown out, at one time of the intention of the king to
defend the city to the last extremity, and at another to protract the war
by flying to the mountains, these purposes, if ever conceived, originated
in the anxiety of the moment, and were never seriously entertained. The
king and his ministers felt that they were in the power of the British;
and their only anxiety was that the personal dignity and security of the
sovereign should not be violated. It was with as much satisfaction as
astonishment, therefore, that they learned from Mr. Price, on his return
from Ava, that the British commissioners sought to impose no severer
terms than those which had been stipulated in the treaty of Melloon. To
these there was now no hesitation to accede, although a lurking suspicion
was still entertained that the invaders would not rest satisfied with the
conditions they professed to impose. With a mixture of fear and trust,
Mr. Price was again despatched to the British camp to signify the consent
of the Burman court to the terms of peace; and Mr. Sandford was now set
wholly at liberty, and allowed to accompany the negotiator to rejoin his
countrymen. These gentlemen returned to camp on the 13th of February; but
as the envoy had brought no official ratification of the treaty, Sir A.
Campbell declined suspending his march until it should be received.”
Thus, at Yandabo the British were met by the returning envoy bearing the
money, and the rest of the required despatches. On the 26th of February,
the memorable treaty of Yandabo was drawn out, and by it British
ascendancy in the farther peninsula of India fully established.
In order that the reader may be fully acquainted with the bearings of our
negotiations at Yandabo, I shall here give the treaty _in extenso_, from
a late official document.[325]
“TREATY OF PEACE between the Honourable East-India Company on the
one part, and his Majesty the king of Ava on the other, settled by
Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell, K.C.B. and K.C.T.S., commanding
the expedition, and senior commissioner in Pegu and Ava; Thomas Campbell
Robertson, Esquire, civil commissioner in Pegu and Ava; and Henry Ducie
Chads, Esquire (captain), commanding his Britannic Majesty’s and the
Honourable Company’s naval force on the Irrawaddy river, on the part of
the Honourable Company; and by Mengyee-Maha-Men-Klah-Kyan-Ten Woongyee,
Lord of Lay-Kaeng, on the part of the king of Ava; who have each
communicated to the other their full powers; agreed to and executed at
Yandaboo, in the kingdom of Ava, on the 24th day of February, in the year
of our Lord 1826, corresponding with the fourth day of the decrease of
the moon Taboung, in the year 1187, Mandina era:—
“ARTICLE I.—There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the
Honourable Company, on the one part, and His Majesty the King of Ava on
the other.
“ARTICLE II.—His Majesty the King of Ava renounces all claims upon, and
will abstain from all future interference with, the Principality of
Assam and its dependencies, and also with the contiguous petty states of
Cachar and Jyntia. With regard to Munipore, it is stipulated, that should
Ghumbheer Singh desire to return to that country, he shall be recognised
by the King of Ava as rajah thereof.
“ARTICLE III.—To prevent all future disputes respecting the boundary-line
between the two great nations, the British Government will retain the
conquered provinces of Arracan, including the four divisions of Arracan,
Ramree, Cheduba, and Sandowey, and His Majesty the King of Ava cedes
all rights thereto. The Annonpeeteetonmien, or Arracan Mountains (known
in Arracan by the name of Yeornabourg or Pokhengloung range), will
henceforth form the boundary between the two great nations on that side.
Any doubts regarding the said line of demarcation will be settled by
Commissioners appointed by the respective Governments for that purpose,
such Commissioners from both powers to be of suitable and corresponding
rank.
“ARTICLE IV.—His Majesty the King of Ava cedes to the British Government
the conquered Provinces of Yeh, Tavoy, Mergui, and Tenasserim, with the
islands and dependencies thereunto appertaining, taking the Saluen River
as the line of demarcation on the frontier. Any doubts regarding their
boundaries will be settled as specified in the concluding part of Article
III.
“ARTICLE V.—In proof of the sincere disposition of the Burmese Government
to maintain the relations of peace and amity between the nations, and as
part indemnification to the British Government for the expenses of the
war, His Majesty the King of Ava agrees to pay the sum of one crore of
rupees.
“ARTICLE VI.—No person whatever, whether native or foreign, is hereafter
to be molested by either party, on account of the part which he may have
taken, or have been compelled to take, in the present war.
“ARTICLE VII.—In order to cultivate and improve the relations of amity
and peace hereby established between the two Governments, it is agreed
that accredited Ministers, retaining an escort or safeguard of fifty
men, from each, shall reside at the Durbar of the other, who shall
be permitted to purchase, or to build a suitable place of residence,
of permanent materials, and a Commercial Treaty, upon principles of
reciprocal advantage, will be entered into by the two High Contracting
powers.
“ARTICLE VIII.—All public and private debts contracted by either
Government, or by the subjects of either Government, with the other
previous to the war, to be recognised and liquidated upon the same
principles of honour and good faith as if hostilities had not taken place
between the two nations; and no advantage shall be taken by either party
of the period that may have elapsed since the debts were incurred, or in
consequence of the war; and, according to the universal Law of Nations,
it is further stipulated, that the property of all British subjects who
may die in the dominions of his Majesty the King of Ava shall, in the
absence of legal heirs, be placed in the hands of the British Resident
or Consul in the said dominions, who will dispose of the same according
to the tenour of the British law. In like manner, the property of
Burmese subjects, dying under the same circumstances in any part of the
British dominions, shall be made over to the Minister or other authority
delegated by his Burmese Majesty to the Supreme Government of India.
“ARTICLE IX.—The King of Ava will abolish all exactions upon British
ships or vessels in Burman ports, that are not required from Burman ships
or vessels in British ports: nor shall ships or vessels, the property of
British subjects, whether European or Indian, entering the Rangoon river,
or other Burman ports, be required to land their guns or unship their
rudders, or do any other act not required of Burmese ships or vessels in
British ports.
“ARTICLE X.—The good and faithful ally of the British Government, his
Majesty the King of Siam, having taken a part in the present war, will,
to the fullest extent, as far as regards his Majesty and his subjects, be
included in the above treaty.
“ARTICLE XI.—This treaty to be ratified by the Burmese authorities
competent in the like cases, and the ratification to be accompanied by
all British, whether European or native (American), and other prisoners,
who will be delivered over to the British Commissioners; the British
Commissioners, on their part, engaging that the said treaty shall be
ratified by the Right Honourable the Governor-General in Council, and the
ratification shall be delivered to his Majesty the King of Ava in four
months, or sooner if possible; and all the Burmese prisoners shall, in
like manner, be delivered over to their own Government as soon as they
arrive from Bengal.”
Subsequently, the following article was added:—
“The British Commissioners being most anxiously desirous to manifest the
sincerity of their wish for peace, and to make the immediate execution
of the fifth article of this treaty as little irksome or inconvenient
as possible to His Majesty the King of Ava, consent to the following
arrangements, with respect to the division of the sum total, as specified
in the article before referred to, into instalments; viz., upon the
payment of twenty-five lacs of rupees, or one-fourth of the sum total
(the other articles of the treaty being executed), the army will retire
to Rangoon; upon the further payment of a similar sum at that place,
within one hundred days from this date, with the proviso as above, the
army will evacuate the dominions of His Majesty the King of Ava, with the
least possible delay; leaving the remaining moiety of the sum total to
be paid by equal annual instalments in two years, from this 24th day of
February, 1826, A.D., through the Consul, or Resident in Ava, or Pegu, on
the part of the Honourable the East-India Company.”
Since the conclusion of this treaty, little has occurred in the kingdom
of general interest, as far as we are concerned, until the recent war.
From the year 1826 to our own day, revolution has overthrown revolution,
and the same spirit is at work at present as in the days of the creator
of Burmese importance, Alompra, with this difference, that while at that
period the turbulent elements disturbing the peace of the peninsula could
in some measure be controlled, as there was a man of consummate talent
and great power capable of so doing, there is now no one; and further,
that if we do not annex the country, there is not a doubt, but that we
shall find a disadvantage in not having done so. In the first place,
the trade with the country will be destroyed by the hardness of the
officials; and, secondly, it has not been forgotten by the Peguese, that
we foully betrayed them in 1827. They are now giving us another trial:
let us show that we are worthy of confidence.
I shall now close this sketch of the fortunes of the Burmese nation with
a few remarks made during a former crisis by an Edinburgh reviewer,
as they will, no doubt, be found somewhat applicable to the present
time:[326]—
“The difficulty of dealing with inflated barbarians, and of resisting
the constant provocation to chastise them, not merely into civility, but
into the due observance of their federal obligations, and the necessary
restraint of the plundering propensities of their subjects upon our
borders, is extreme.
“Yet the dire necessity of entering upon another war with such enemies
must be contemplated with unmixed dislike. There is nothing, either of
honour or profit, to be gained; and the process, from the nature of the
country, and the remoteness of its vital parts from the stations of our
troops, must always be tedious and expensive. The seat and strength
of the government is fixed almost at the upper extremity of the long
valley of the Irrawaddy. The capital is six or seven hundred miles from
the sea. The lower part of the valley is a pestilential swamp during
a considerable portion of the year. Though the shorter route to the
capital, over the Arracan mountains, would unquestionably be taken by our
main army, the expense of transporting a considerable body of troops,
with an adequate supply, not only of military appurtenances, but of
provisions (for the Burmese proved, to our cost, in the last war, that
they could effectually sweep the country of all resources), through such
wildernesses, and by such mere footpaths, would necessarily be great.
These were the circumstances which, joined with much ignorance and
carelessness, rendered the last war so tedious and costly.”
FOOTNOTES
[1] Judson, in Documents, pp. 223, 229.
[2] Or Dr. Buchanan. See his paper in the Edinburgh Philosophical
Journal, vol. ii. p. 99 sqq.
[3] Penny Cyclopædia, vol. iv, p. 435 sq.
[4] Penny Cyclopædia, vol. iv. p. 437.
[5] Embassy to Ava, vol. ii. p. 227 sq.
[6] Embassy to Ava, vol. iii. p. 233 sq.
[7] Near Amarapura, however, Symes observed a man in a plantation using a
wheel to a well. See his Ava, vol. ii. p. 87, small edition.
[8] Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 127 sq.
[9] Malcom, Travels in South-Eastern Asia, vol. i. p. 96 sq.
[10] Malcom, vol. i. p. 173 sqq.; and Wallich, _Plantæ Rariores_, &c.
[11] Prescott’s Conquest of Peru, vol. ii. p. 101-3.
[12] Malcom, vol. i. p. 167.
[13] See Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. iv. p. 704. On
the Further Discovery of Coalbeds in Assam, by Capt. F. Jenkins; also
vol. viii. p. 385. The existence of coal has, however, been disputed.
[14] Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. ii. p. 75 sq.
[15] The _viss_ is equal to 3½ pounds. The Burmese word is _peik-tha_.
[16] Japon, Indo-Chine, et Ceylan, par M. Dubois de Jancigny, p. 236.
[17] Crawfurd’s Ava, vol. ii. p. 222, to whom I am mainly indebted.
[18] Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, vol. iv. p. 499.
[19] Races of Man, p. 137. See his Ethnological map.
[20] Prichard, vol. iv. p. 506.
[21] Asiat. Res. vol. x. p. 240.
[22] Low’s Grammar of the T’hay.
[23] See my remarks in Buckley’s Great Cities of the Ancient World, p.
369.
[24] In concluding this subject, allow me to refer the reader to some
useful observations on Ethnology by Dr. Prichard, in the Admiralty Manual
of Scientific Inquiry, edited by Sir John Herschel, p. 423-444.
[25] Embassy to Ava, vol. i. p. 286 sq.; later edition, vol. i. p. 148.
[26] Sangermano’s Description of the Burmese Empire, p. 58.
[27] Prescott, Conquest of Peru, vol. ii. p. 80.
[28] Ava, vol. ii. p. 137 and note.
[29] Malcom, Travels, vol. i. p. 249.
[30] My immediate authority is Sangermano, p. 60. This most lucid and
interesting account of the Burmese empire, containing more than its title
imports, deserves the most earnest attention of the historian. Compiled
from Burmese documents, it bears the highest worth in itself.
[31] Sangermano, p. 64.
[32] Ava, vol. ii. p. 137.
[33] In accordance with my suggestions at p. 16 of this work.
[34] Thucydides, lib. i. c. 138.
[35] Malcom, vol. i. p. 262.
[36] Sangermano, p. 66.
[37] Ava, vol. ii. p. 149 sq.
[38] Page 74.
[39] Ava, vol. ii. pp. 152-156.
[40] Sangermano, p. 67.
[41] My authority is, as usual, the excellent Sangermano, p. 68.
[42] This shows how the Burmans fear _justice_. How deeply seated is this
disorder, and who can unseat and drive it away?
[43] I am indebted to Malcom, vol. i. p. 256, and others.
[44] Report on Bassein.
[45] Ava, vol. ii. p. 156.
[46] Travels, vol. i. p. 256.
[47] Ava, vol. ii. p. 157.
[48] This is remarkably applicable to a certain European nation.
[49] I should not have ventured to say as much as this, had I not
found myself corroborated by Dr. Buchanan Hamilton. His remark is as
follows:—“I should certainly have been silent, had I thought that Captain
Symes or Mr. Wood’s inquiries on these subjects had prepared them to
give their opinions with advantage. But I imagine that this has not
been the case; and I hope the information I here give may be of use to
professional men.”—MS. in the British Museum, Additional MS. No. 13,872.
In the same collection of papers on Ava are a number of communications
from Symes to the Marquis of Wellesley, in the course of his second
embassy. It is but fair to add, that these letters appear written under
more just impressions than his printed journal was.
[50] Ava, vol. ii. p. 206.
[51] Residence in Ava, p. 134.
[52] Embassy to Ava, vol. i. p. 93 sq.
[53] Governor or chief man.
[54] Ava, vol. i. p. 98 sq. See also Cox, Residence in Ava, pp. 37-45.
[55] Cox, on the contrary, was informed that there were five hundred and
twenty wells: this, however, is ably shown to be impossible by Crawfurd,
not by snappish contradiction, but by calculation. The captain was,
evidently, misinformed.
[56] Ava, vol. ii. p. 178.
[57] Sangermano, p. 171.
[58] Ava, vol. ii. p. 162.
[59] Alves, quoted in Ava, vol. ii. pp. 167-9.
[60] A tical is worth about two shillings and sixpence. This would be
£6,250.
[61] See Wilson’s Documents of the Burmese War, Appendix, p. xliv.
[62] But, after all, this cannot be considered as other than the
substitution of a light or heavy, as the case might be, personal service
for a tax in kind or specie. The tax was taken in labour; that is all the
difference.
[63] Crawfurd, vol. ii. p. 175.
[64] See Malcom, vol. i. p. 174.
[65] Ava, vol. ii. p. 186.
[66] Page 75.
[67] Edinburgh Review, No. xliv. p. 354, Jan. 1814.
[68] I am chiefly indebted to Sangermano, pp. 76-9; and Crawfurd, vol.
ii. pp. 157-9.
[69] Page 77.
[70] Description, p. 77.
[71] Now, however, the soldiers have attempted to get into uniform, and
wear belts and conical cases of tin, to resemble the English cap.
[72] Snodgrass, Narrative of the Burmese War, pp. 64 and 65. We shall
hereafter return to these excellent “soldiers and gentlemen.”
[73] Ava, vol. ii. p. 160.
[74] Burmese War, p. 21.
[75] Description, p. 78.
[76] Sangermano, p. 79.
[77] Burmese War, p. 205.
[78] Ralph Fitch, in Hakluyt, vol. ii. p. 259. London, 1599.
[79] See p. 18.
[80] I have preferred to give the spelling of the black-letter folio, as
it is not very corrupt, and lends additional quaintness to the writer’s
remarks.
[81] Page 61.
[82] This intimated that the elephant was the divine ruler of the other
animals, and the scarlet borla of the Peruvian Inca was bound upon its
temples.—Prescott, Conquest of Peru, vol. ii. p. 44.
[83] Herodotus has recorded the fact of the fishermen of Egypt hanging
their nets around them to keep off the mosquitoes.—Herod. ii. c. 95.
The following remarks, for which I am indebted to my friend the Rev. J.
G. Wood, M.A., will, I am sure, interest the reader:—
“The same precautions are taken now. The fisherman plants a pole, usually
his fishing-pole, upright in the ground, and disposes his net over it so
as to form a kind of tent. Under this he sleeps securely, as no flies
dare pass through the meshes of a net, even were they an inch wide.
This may be proved by stretching a series of crossed threads across an
open window. No flies will venture to pass through the spaces, as they
evidently take the net for the toils of some overgrown spider. Should,
however, a gauze curtain be drawn across the window, and a small hole
made in it, plenty of flies will creep through. By thus stretching a net,
it is possible, even in the heat of summer, to enjoy the full benefit
of the fresh air, and yet to have the satisfaction of knowing that your
winged foes are buzzing outside in useless anxiety. There must be no
cross light, or the flies do not appear to see the net.”
[84] Crawfurd, vol. i. p. 247.
[85] Description, p. 63.
[86] Description of the Burmese Empire. Compiled from native documents,
by the Rev. Father Sangermano. Translated from his MS. by W. Tandy.
Published at Rome in 1833, in the invaluable series of the Oriental
Translation Committee. I have abridged the lengthy details in the work of
the father.
[87] Sangermano, Description, p. 2. See Buchanan, Asiatic Researches,
vol. vi. p. 168. The latter tells us that these measures are not used in
Burmah. Who can wonder at it?
[88] Strange this is; but at the same time it displays a species of
physical and mechanical knowledge which we should hardly have expected in
these legends.
[89] Sangermano, p. 3.
[90] Buchanan, Asiat. Res. vol. vi. p. 175.
[91] As. Res. vol. vi. p. 175 n. He adds that it would seem to be
identical with the Meru Paravada of the Brahmins.
[92] The eastern island is named Pioppavideha; the western, Amaragoga;
the northern, Unchegru; and the southern, Zabudiba. The tree of Godama
(mentioned in a former chapter, p. 23) is the _Ficus religiosa_, the
Bŏdhĕ-bayn.
[93] As. Res. vol. vi. p. 178.
[94] Sangermano, p. 6.
[95] Ava, vol. ii. Appendix, No. xi. p. 140.
[96] As. Res. vol. vi. p. 180.
[97] Trans. R. A. S. vol. i. p. 566.
[98] Description, p. 6.
[99] Page 7.
[100] Sangermano, p. 20.
[101] See Sangermano and Malcom, vol. i. pp. 289-294.
[102] Hesiod, Op. et Dies, lib. i. vv. 120-125. The above must rather be
called a paraphrase than a strict version.
[103] I have partly availed myself of the able summary of Crawfurd, vol.
ii. p. 274 sq.; as well as Malcom, vol. i. p. 287 sq.; and Sangermano, p.
80 sq.
[104] Encyclopædia Metropolitana, vol. iii. Miscellaneous, p. 55.
[105] Vol. iii. p. 56.
[106] Prinsep’s Tibet, Tartary, and Mongolia, p. 136 and 162 n.
[107] My immediate authority is Prinsep, in Tibet, &c. pp. 142-144.
[108] Tibet, Tartary, and Mongolia, p. 145.
[109] Prinsep, p. 167.
[110] I quote Prinsep’s summary, p. 168.
[111] Sangermano, pp. 80 et sqq.
[112] See my remarks on Buddhism in Peking; Great Cities of the Ancient
World, p. 177. It may be interesting to compare the oath of the witness
at p. 24, with the Buddhist treatise, translated from the Chinese by
myself, in the same work, pp. 181-184.
[113] As. Res. vol. vi. p. 255.
[114] Encyclopædia Metropolitana, art. Buddhism, p. 60.
[115] As. Res. vol. v. p. 115 sq.
[116] See my essay on the “Ruins of American Civilisation,” pp. 252-259,
in Great Cities of the Ancient World, by my friend the Rev. T. A.
Buckley, B.A.; also Prescott’s Mexico, vol. i. p. 60; and Peru, vol. i.
pp. 91-94.
[117] Ava, vol. i. p. 392 sq.
[118] Will no one observe that “correct orthography” is tautology, and
“false orthography” a contradiction? How can our language be pure under
such circumstances?
[119] I am indebted to Crawfurd, vol. i. p. 397.
[120] Two Years in Ava, pp. 262 sqq. This most interesting work seems
freer from prejudice than many of its more assuming brethren.
[121] I am chiefly indebted to Malcom, vol. i. p. 308 sq.
[122] Pages 89-94; but see also Malcom, _l.c._
[123] Travels in Tartary.
[124] Malcom, vol. i. p. 315 sq.
[125] Encyclopædia Metropolitana, _s.v._ Buddhism, p. 61.
[126] Lib. ii. cc. 86-90.
[127] I am indebted to an account by Mr. Carey in Asiatic Researches,
vol. xvi. p. 186 sq.
[128] Ava, vol. ii. p. 127.
[129] The Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 93. I may here take occasion to remark,
that the author of India in Greece, Mr. Pococke, to whose enthusiastic
labours I would do all the justice in my power, has not, in any part of
that work, acknowledged the manifold obligations under which he lies to
the author of the Anacalypsis. I make this remark more in self-defence
than otherwise, for, upon my attention having been lately turned to
Godfrey Higgins’s work, I there found my own theory of the population
of America anticipated, though not worked out in the manner it might
be done. I must own this, as I am anxious to avoid the imputation of
plagiarism. However, I find myself amply corroborated in some of my own
researches; but the writer’s whole feelings merge into a love of every
kind of mystical foolery that man has ever imagined.
[130] Malcom, vol. i. p. 321 sq.
[131] My immediate authority is Malcom, vol. i. p. 278.
[132] Pali Grammar, with a copious vocabulary in the same language. By
the Rev. B. Clough, 8vo. Colombo. 1824.
[133] Malcom, vol. i. p. 277.
[134] Vol. i. p. 277.
[135] I must not in this place forget to thank the gentlemen at the
Museum for the aid they so courteously and willingly gave me in my
examination of their Burmese MSS.
[136] Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 305 sq.
[137] Page 15.
[138] I do not know but that this ought to be written paruæk.—Buchanan.
[139] Buchanan, in Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 307.
[140] Description, p. 141 et sqq.
[141] Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 172.
[142] Asiat. Res. vol. ii. p. 285.
[143] Asiat. Res. vol. vi. p. 174.
[144] Burmese Empire, p. 111 sq.
[145] Burmese Empire, p. 113.
[146] Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. pp. 188-205.
[147] Description, pp. 11-14.
[148] Buchanan, _ubi supra_, p. 191; and Sangermano, p. 13.
[149] See book i. chap. iii. p. 50.
[150] Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 169 sq.
[151] Loubère, du Royaume de Siam, vol. ii. p. 102.
[152] Malcom, vol. i. p. 275.
[153] Crawfurd, vol. ii. p. 188.
[154] Malcom, vol. i. p. 275.
[155] Book i, chap. i. p. 9.
[156] Sangermano, p. 167.
[157] Sangermano, p. 167.
[158] Book i. chap. iii. p. 56.
[159] Sangermano, p. 126.
[160] Malcom, vol. i. p. 211.
[161] Sangermano, p. 124.
[162] Book i. chap. ii. p. 38.
[163] South-Eastern Asia, vol. i. p. 212.
[164] Sangermano, p. 129.
[165] Sangermano, _ubi supra_, p. 129.
[166] My principal authority is Sangermano, p. 136.
[167] My chief authority is Sangermano, pp. 144-146.
[168] Burmese Empire, p. 146.
[169] Malcom, vol. i. p. 272.
[170] Vol. i. p. 7, note.
[171] Lib. v. tit. 4, ley 16.
[172] Lib. ix. tit. 2, ley 8.
[173] Lex Salica, tit. 43, sec. 1, 8.
[174] Lib. vi. tit. 4, ley 1.
[175] Lib. vi. tit. 5, leyes 12, 13.
[176] Lex Salica, tit. 11, sec. 1, 3.
[177] Embassy to Ava in the year 1795, vol. ii. p. 41 sqq.; later ed.
vol. i. p. 208 sq.
[178] Called by Sir William Jones, Valmiec.
[179] Honymaan is worshipped by the Hindoos under the form of an ape,
and is one of the most frequent objects of their adoration; almost every
Hindoo pagoda has this figure delineated in some part of it. Honymaan
(Hanuman) is the term used by the Hindoos to denote a large ape. The
worship was widely extended even among the Mexicans, who portrayed
monkeys in their picture writings. In the Coptic-Egyptian, Haanu
signifies monkey.
[180] Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 305.
[181] Stock characters seem as prevalent as at the Victoria or Adelphi.
[182] Journal of the As. Soc. of Bengal, vol. viii. p. 535 sq.
[183] I am partly indebted to Cox, Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 497
sq.
[184] Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 499. Comp. Symes, vol. ii. p. 226,
small ed.
[185] Sangermano, p. 127.
[186] Vol. i. p. 240.
[187] Vol. i. p. 242.
[188] Burmese Empire, p. 128.
[189] My authority is an interesting article in the Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. v. p. 159 sq.
[190] A territory to the southward of Manipur.
[191] Sravasti in Oude.—Wilson.
[192] Yázá is the Burmese pronunciation of Rája.
[193] Book i. chap. iii. p. 47.
[194] Ava, vol. i. p. 270, small edition.
[195] Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. v. p. 164.
[196] One of the king of Ava’s titles is Nedwet bhuyen—Sun-descended
monarch. Strange coincidence with the Inca boast!
[197] Mr. Judson has given us a translation of a chronological summary,
which is of extreme value. It is now, together with the text, in the
British Museum.—(Additional MS., No. 12,400.)
[198] Symes, vol. ii. p. 51 sqq.
[199] Ib. id. p. 55.
[200] Symes, vol. ii. p. 58.
[201] Malcom, vol. i. p. 220.
[202] Sangermano, p. 119.
[203] Ibid.
[204] Sangermano, p. 120.
[205] Ibid.
[206] Symes, Ava, vol. i. p. 1.
[207] The particulars will be found in Captain Drury’s paper in No. V.
of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1851; and in Allen’s
Indian Mail, vol. x. p. 265.
[208] Burmese Empire, p. 47.
[209] Ava, vol. i. p. 12.
[210] My sketch of the Burmese revolution is derived from Symes.
[211] The first is a Burmese word signifying victory; the second, Pali,
for the same.—Crawfurd, vol. ii. p. 281.
[212] Jancigny, _Indo-Chine_, p. 255.
[213] See book i. chap. ii. p. 40.
[214] Ava, vol. i. p. 34.
[215] So Symes always spells the word. It is now generally spelt Burmans.
[216] Symes, vol. i. pp. 43-49.
[217] Ava, vol. i. pp. 53-55.
[218] Vol. i. pp. 56-57.
[219] Symes, vol. i. p. 67.
[220] Compare the following observations of a late excellent writer
upon India. “M. Dupleix’s wonderful talent for diplomacy and intrigue
soon obtained signal triumphs. His emissaries were everywhere; and the
native princes were all as fickle as faithless. In his intrigues with
them he is said to have derived wonderful assistance from his wife, who
was born in India, and perfectly understood not only the languages, but
also the character of the natives. In his union with this lady, who is
described as being even more ambitious than himself, we may probably
trace the cause of the essentially Oriental spirit of many of his
proceedings.”—Macfarlane’s History of British India, chap. iii. p. 31.
We shall, hereafter, have occasion to return to this work, in connection
with the Burmese war in 1824-26.
[221] Symes, vol. i. pp. 70-72.
[222] Sangermano, however, shows, by the ordinance of the port, that the
seizure of the vessel and its contents was nothing remarkable.—See his
Burmese Empire, p. 170.
[223] Vol. i. p. 74.
[224] Book i. chap. vi. p. 103.
[225] Symes, vol. i. p. 76.
[226] Book i. chap. iii. p. 56.
[227] Symes, vol. i. p. 81.
[228] Symes, vol. i. pp. 83-88.
[229] Ava, vol. i. p. 96.
[230] Symes, vol. i. pp. 106-109.
[231] Ib. id. pp. 113-115.
[232] Symes, vol. i. p. 120 sqq.
[233] Burmese Empire, p. 48.
[234] Ava, vol. i. p. 124.
[235] Symes, vol. i. p. 147 sq.
[236] Burmese Empire, p. 49.
[237] Symes, vol. i. p. 150.
[238] Ib. id. p. 151.
[239] Ib. id. p. 191 sqq.
[240] Symes alludes to the fate of Louis XVI.
[241] See book i. chap. iv. p. 78.
[242] I continue the narrative in the words of Sangermano, p. 50.
[243] According to Malcom (vol. i. p. 157), the _fourth_ son.
[244] His reign, however, included eleven days.—Symes, vol. i. p. 227.
[245] My chief authority is Symes, vol. i. p. 218 sq.
[246] Symes, vol. i. pp. 221-224. Sangermano’s account, it will be
perceived, is somewhat different.
[247] Ava, vol. i. p. 231.
[248] See book i. chap. ii. p. 40.
[249] My chief authority is Crawfurd, vol. ii. pp. 1-9.
[250] Ava, vol. ii, p. 5.
[251] Ib. id. p. 6.
[252] Ava, vol. i. p. 131.
[253] Ava, vol. i. p. 133.
[254] Symes, vol. i. p. 138.
[255] Alves in Journal quoted by Symes, vol. i. p. 140.
[256] Bassein.
[257] Symes, vol. i. p. 142.
[258] Marquis Wellesley’s Indian Despatches, &c.
[259] Macfarlane’s History of British India, p. 355.
[260] Macfarlane, _l.c._
[261] In 1802 Symes again visited Burmah for a diplomatic purpose; but
his letters, while they modify his book, add little of value to our
knowledge of the country.
[262] This is, however, very problematical. Mr. Macfarlane cannot have
forgotten the whole previous history of European intercourse with the
country, and how many distinctions and quibblings were brought forward at
different times upon that plea.
[263] Travels, vol. i. p. 159.
[264] See Sangermano, p. 113.
[265] Wilson’s Narrative of the Burmese War, p. 1 of the reprint of 1852.
[266] Wilson, p. 25.
[267] Wilson, p. 29 sq.
[268] Macfarlane’s British India, pp. 450-452.
[269] Burmese War, p. 52, ed. 1852.
[270] Burmese War, p. 54.
[271] Burmese War, p. 56 sq.
[272] Wilson, p. 61.
[273] Crawfurd’s Ava, vol. i. p. 304.
[274] Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxi, p. 361, July, 1840.
[275] Wilson’s Burmese War, p. 63.
[276] The gilt umbrella surmounting the highest pinnacle of the pagoda.
[277] Two Years in Ava, p. 26 sqq. This interesting and well-written book
seems to be the production of a naval officer attached to the expedition.
It is by far the most attractive narrative of the proceedings in 1824,
with which I am acquainted.
[278] Snodgrass, Burmese War, p. 12.
[279] See Two Years in Ava, p. 25.
[280] Snodgrass, p. 6.
[281] Two Years in Ava, p. 24.
[282] Ibid. p. 29. Cf. book i. chap. ii. p. 40 of this work.
[283] Burmese War, pp. 15-20.
[284] Page 16.
[285] Snodgrass, pp. 20-22.
[286] Page 25.
[287] Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxi. p. 358.
[288] Two Years in Ava, p. 40.
[289] Burmese War, p. 27.
[290] Page 43 sq.
[291] A doolie is a species of litter, used in the East to carry the
wounded from the field of battle.
[292] Burmese War, pp. 35-37.
[293] Two Years in Ava, p. 56. So, too, did the wild shouts and savage
songs of the Mexicans strike on the ears of the watching Spaniards.
[294] Wilson, Burmese War, p. 86 sq., and the authorities quoted there.
[295] Two Years in Ava, p. 60.
[296] Two Years in Ava, p. 66 sq.
[297] I may here mention, that Major Canning, who had accompanied the
expedition as political agent, about this time returned to Calcutta by
the _Nereide_, where, debilitated by the marsh fever of Ava, he shortly
died.
[298] Burmese War, p. 96.
[299] Book i. chap. ii. p. 39.
[300] British India, p. 463 sq. Geijer, the historian of Sweden, well
compares them to the Bersekkars.
[301] Wilson’s Burmese War, p. 105.
[302] It may be as well to state, that about this time Colonel Godwin,
after a gallant resistance, took Martaban for the first time; it has
since been given up to the Burmese; but in this last war it was again
taken possession of, and it is now in our hands.
[303] Wilson, pp. 106, 107.
[304] Wilson, p. 113.
[305] Burmese War, p. 119. My limits do not admit of my speaking much of
the war in Arakhan, which was yet undetermined. I shall content myself
with referring to Macfarlane, Wilson, and other historians, merely
adding, that the conquest of the province was completed by the end of
April, 1825.
[306] Wilson, p. 175.
[307] I may here mention, that the author of Two Years in Ava has
enriched his book by an excellent and complete plan of the fortress and
works of Donabew, which I most heartily recommend to the student of
military science.
[308] MacFarlane’s India, p. 479.
[309] Wilson’s Burmese War, p. 181.
[310] Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxi. p. 356.
[311] Wilson, Burmese War, p. 184.
[312] British India, p. 485.
[313] “In the month of August, Sir Archibald Campbell went down to
Rangoon, and returned from that place to Prome, in the steam-vessel the
_Diana_, with as much ease and tranquillity as we go from London-bridge
to Ramsgate and back again.”—Mac Farlane.
[314] Wilson’s Burmese War, p. 196.
[315] Mac Farlane’s British India, p. 487.
[316] Wilson, p. 209.
[317] Burmese War, p. 216.
[318] Statistical Report.
[319] British India, p. 490.
[320] It may not be inapposite here to mention that, according to a
writer in the _Times_ of the 7th of September, 1852, “letters were found
in the stockades at Prome, ordering white slaves to be sent up to Ava,
for the use of the Ava ladies.”
[321] Wilson, p. 229.
[322] Burmese War, p. 238.
[323] British India, p. 492.
[324] Page 355.
[325] Papers relating to the Hostilities with Burmah. Presented to both
Houses of Parliament by her Majesty’s command, June 4, 1852, pp. 87-89.
[326] Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxi. p. 356.
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