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 mi presented to the Uoyal Asiatic Society by Colonel H. Burney
 
 PERSONAL NARRATIVE 
 
 BURMAH. 
 
 BY HENEY GOUGEK. 
 
 WAR BOAT. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 See page 107 
 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1860. 
 
 The right of Translation is reserved.
 
 LONDON : PRINTF.n BY V. CLOWES AND SONS, STANFORD STREET, 
 AND CHARING CKOSS.
 
 PERSONAL NARRATIVE 
 
 OF 
 
 TWO YEAKS' IMPRISONMENT 
 
 IN 
 
 BURMAH, 
 
 1824-26. 
 
 BY HENRY GOUGEE. 
 
 Illustrations. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 I860. 
 
 [The right of Translation is reserved.]
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER, 
 ANQEL COURT, SKINNER STREET.
 
 DS 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 SEVERAL friends, to whom I have from time to time 
 re]ated fragments of the story told in the following pages, 
 expressed an opinion that a connected narrative would 
 possess sufficient interest to engage the attention of a 
 class of readers who seek for amusement, and who might 
 not think it the less exciting hecause it is true. These 
 friends have often urged me to prepare such an one for the 
 press. Perhaps I might have adopted their suggestion, 
 hut never having followed literary pursuits, I was natu- 
 rally diffident of my powers of description, and of my 
 ahility to convey to the minds of others the impressions 
 which the events related had very forcibly imprinted on 
 my own, or even of relating the facts themselves in a 
 sufficiently engaging manner. 
 
 Eecently, however, during an attack of illness which 
 confined me several months to my couch, I overcame this 
 diffidence, and attempted the task for my own amusement. 
 The occupation proved a very efficient aid to the physi- 
 cian, and many a weary hour was beguiled of its sadness 
 as the story proceeded. If my friends derive half as 
 much pleasure in reading as I did in writing it, I shall 
 be amply satisfied.
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 Should this book chance to fall into the hands of any 
 persons who have become acquainted with Burmah and the 
 Burmese of late years, especially since the last war in 
 185xi, it is possible they may not recognize a very strong 
 resemblance. I must therefore beg such persons to keep 
 in mind that I am not writing of Burmah as it is, but as 
 it was at a time when to the inhabitants of the interior a 
 white man was a novelty; when the arts and sciences, 
 the habits, sentiments, and opinions of the nations of the 
 West were altogether unknown to them. 
 
 After reading the interesting book of Major Yule, and 
 there finding the King and his Court discussing the merits 
 of treaties with some appearance of common sense, 
 holding disputations on nice questions of government 
 and civil policy, giving good dinners, criticizing paintings, 
 manifesting good faith in compacts, getting rid of bad 
 customs, abolishing degrading compliances at Court, 
 correcting its institutions, and, above all, coming to 
 understand the map of the world, and the necessity of 
 treating other nations with consideration and respect, I 
 must confess it is with some difficulty I do myself recog- 
 nize the ignorant, conceited, and arrogant Power it was 
 when I became acquainted with it. Most nations have 
 undergone great changes during the last forty years, and 
 the Burmese seem to have kept pace with them. 
 
 H. GOUGER. 
 
 Froymore House, Blackwater, 
 October, 1860.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAG* 
 
 Tlie object and origin of my expedition. I embark in the Alfred for 
 Rangoon. Escape from wreck on the Preparis Rocks. Arrive at 
 Rangoon. Official "Visit" on board the Alfred. Mr. Lanciego, 
 the Akoupwoon. Duties levied in kind. My investment at- 
 tracts attention. I engage an interpreter. Pagoda lake. 
 First impressions of the Burmese. Preparations for pursuing 
 my voyage. Visits to the Viceroy. I secure his protection. 
 Boats' crews. Their honesty. Food. Ngapwee. Departure 
 for Amerapoorah. Favourable prospects .... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Delta of the Irrawuddi. Musquitos and jungle. The great river. 
 Voyage up the river. Fleets of native boats. Inland trade in 
 rice. Safety of the river. Hilly country. Picturesque sail 
 beyond Prome. Monasteries and monks. Their habits. Edu- 
 cation general among the people. I acquire the language. 
 Arrival at Amerapoorah. Tolls and transit dues abolished. 
 Safety of the river .16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The King removes from Amerapoorah to Ava. The population in a 
 state of transition. Amerapoorah. No exactions on landing. 
 I take a house. Gain easy access to His Majesty. Abandon the 
 use of shoes. The King's temporary Palace. Apparition of an 
 Englishman. Mr. Rodgers. I am introduced to the chief 
 Queen. Her character and influence. Musical-glasses. The 
 Quesn's present.- Betel-chewing. The King's practical joke . 25 
 
 b 2
 
 VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. PAOK. 
 
 A day in the Palace. Ladies of Her Majesty's household. Their 
 demeanour. Bargaining. Strange salutation. Honesty in the 
 Palace. The Queen's present. Constitution of the household. 
 The Men-tha-mees. The King's dinner. Flattering reception. 
 Factions at Court. Visit to the Prince of Tharawudi. Men-tha- 
 gee. Their characters and mutual hostility. Tharawudi's em- 
 barrassing familiarity ........ 28 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Visit to various Chiefs. Their occupations. The Hlut-dau. Bur- 
 mese law-courts. Bribery and corruption. The Loo-byo-dau. 
 Their visits. I am accused of stealing the King's sheep. His 
 Majesty's adjudication. Slaughter of oxen. I am protected by 
 Tharawudi, who participates. Wretched bazaar. I attend the 
 Royal Council. The Yoong-dau. Facility of acquiring infor- 
 mation. Absence of amusements. Salubrity of climate . . 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mercantile prospects. Export trade. General system of prohibition. 
 Astonishing profits on imports. Prospects of immense for- 
 tune. On what circumstances depending. Difficulties. How 
 to be overcome ......... 50 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Rodgers. His history. Irascible character of the King. His 
 attack upon his Council. New Palace at Ava. It is injured 
 by lightning. Consequent execution of the architect. I take 
 leave of the King.- His commands. I return to Rangoon under 
 convoy. Kyouptaloung Thegee. Gross treatment of Europeans 
 at Rangoon. An instance. -Singular escape of a Lascar . . 68 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Arrival in Calcutta. Hesitation about returning. I determine to 
 follow our scheme. Disgraceful neglect of the Bengal Govern- 
 ment. I engage Mr. Richardson. We sail for Rangoon. Mr. 
 Stockdale. Return to Ava. Explosion of a priest. "Red 
 Rat" and "Red Gold." I make myself independent of inter- 
 preter. Death of Mr. Stockdale. A boatman drowned. Es- 
 cape from drowning. Alligators. Strange habit. A boatman 
 of Dr. Price taken by one. Anecdote of VTellesley Province . "S
 
 CONTENTS. vii 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Our arrival in Ava. No European settlers. Mr. Cabral, his fate. 
 Ava occupied. Mr. Lanciego lends me a house. Audience of 
 the King. Present him with the dog. Absence of all love of 
 sports among the Burmese. Sale of investments. Mercantile 
 proceedings. Mr. Rodgers. Arrival of Dr. Price, a missionary. 
 Anecdotes of the old King. His character. He forces Ma- 
 homedans to eat pork. His astrological whims. Brahmin 
 astronomers versus Burmese. Prediction of eclipse. The King 
 consigns a section of his Court to the horse-pond. Escape of 
 Mr. Rodgers. Rebellion at the accession of His Majesty. 
 Complicity of Mr. Rodgers. How he cleared the Irrawuddi of 
 pirates 90 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 First indications of war. Causes assigned for it. Opinions of 
 Tharawudi. Popular feeling in favour of war. Bundoola 
 crosses the river with an army.- War boats. Magnificent re- 
 gattas. Dr. Judson arrives. Bundoola's army marched for the 
 British frontier. Accusation about Mr. Stockdale's property. 
 I accompany the King to the Shwai-dyke. Tempting exhibition 
 of silver. Attempt to walk off with it. My failure therein. 
 Growing dislike and suspicions. I confine myself much to my 
 house ........... 102 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Perplexities. Departure of Mr. Richardson, who escapes in safety. 
 Taking a wild elephant. .Mode of taming him. Royal pugi- 
 lists. My last interview with the King. Scheme for escape with 
 the Sakkya Woongee. Defeated by delays. Might have been 
 worse .......... 114 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Rangoon bombarded. Effect of the news. Hopes and plans of the 
 Americans. Mr. Rodgers. Lanciego. I confine myself to the 
 house. State of the city. Message from Tharawudi. Cure for 
 cholera. I am shunned by every one. Summoned to the Bya- 
 dyke. Arrival of Mr. Laird. I am accused of being a British 
 spy. Examinations. I am committed to the custody of the 
 Taing-dau, and remanded 124
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 l-AGF. 
 
 Changed prospects. My guards accompany me home. Oar flight 
 discovered. I am taken back to prison at midnight. Another 
 examination lasts all night. I am again committed to the Taing- 
 dau, and consigned to the stocks. Punishment of my keepers. 
 Corruptibility of the Taing-dau. I am stripped and carried to 
 the Death Prison. Some account of that establishment. Let- 
 ma-yoon. Terror of its name. I am loaded with three pairs of 
 fetters. ... 138 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 I find Mr. Laird in irons before me. Mr. Rodgers taken. Appre- 
 hension of the American missionary, Dr. Judson. His ill- 
 treatment. Dr. Price arrested. The " Red Rat" entrapped. 
 We are prohibited the use of the English language. We are put 
 on the bamboo. Prison discipline. Our first night. How 
 passed. Starvation of prisoners. Alms-giving in the prison. 
 I am taken from my companions. Torture of a man accused of 
 robbery. Its result . 150 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 lam examined about my property. Hour of execution in the pri- 
 son. A Greek and an Armenian arrested. Arrakeel's escape 
 from Tharawudi. Our second night in prison. Dr. Judson 
 examined about his property. The "Rat" and Mirza released. 
 Mrs. Judson visits her husband in prison. She gains us some 
 comforts. We are lodged in an outside shed. Examinations by 
 torture. How practised. Our growing apathy at beholding these 
 scenes ......... .163 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Some account of our prison party. Dr. Judson. Remarks on the 
 Baptist mission to Burmah. Missionary misrepresentations. 
 Some account of Dr. Price. And of Mr. Rodgers. His super- 
 stition. Some account of Mr. Laird. Constantino, the Greek. 
 Arrakeel, the Armenian 174
 
 CONTENTS. ix 
 
 / 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PACK 
 
 We are shut up in the inner prison again. Our property is seized. 
 Impure state of the inner prison. How to change our dress. 
 We are released from the bamboo. News from Rangoon. Sig- 
 nal-guns. Prison thoughts. Thunba Woongee made General. 
 Prison disclosures. Superstition. Execution of a native for 
 stepping over the King's image. Strange treatment of a man 
 who fancied he could fly. Arrival of an Irish soldier. His 
 treatment. News brought by him 185 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 We are transferred to the cells. Description of them. Plan of the 
 prison. Plague of rats. Murder in the prison. Its cause. 
 Frailty of a Menthamee. How punished. My house being 
 burnt down, I am accused of arson. Narrow escape. Fortunate 
 destruction of my journal. Providential interferences. Anec- 
 dote of escape from a tiger 196 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 My utter destitution. .My servants abscond. Fidelity of my Maho- 
 medan baker. Defeat and death of Thunba Woongee. We are 
 thrust into the inner prison again. A prisoner brought in with 
 smallpox. We escape infection by tobacco. Its universal use. 
 Prison recreations of Dr. Price. I play chess with Dr. Judson. 
 Chess in the Palace. Amusements of Mr. Rodgers and of Mr. 
 Laird. Laxity of prison regulations.- JViy dangerous illness. 
 Barbarity of the gaolers. I recover unexpectedly . . . 208 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Bundoola is recalled from Arracan to command the army. Runaway 
 soldiers. Their superstitious reports. Captured sepoys arrive 
 and are imprisoned with us.- We escape suffocation. I am 
 chained to a leper. Native officers starved to death. Their 
 want of endurance. One man saved. News of Mr. Richard- 
 son. Accusations revived. A gang breaks out of prison. Op- 
 pressions in prison. Father Ngalah's system. Uncomfortable 
 dispute between the missionaries. A mother and daughters in 
 irons .... . 219
 
 x CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MM 
 
 Our fetters are increasjd to five pairs each. Increased severities. 
 Orders given for our assassination. Why not executed. We are 
 not allowed to be seen. The Governor's communication to Mrs. 
 Jiulsnn. Bundoola's victory. His defeat and death. The 
 King's Horse in prison. Advance of the British army. The 
 crowing hen. Superstitions. Nostrum to ensure longevity. 
 Prison museum. Pacahm-woon in irons. He is appointed 
 Generalissimo. His hatred of the English. Mr. Lanciego ar- 
 rested and put to the torture. Our wretched condition . . 230 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 We are removed from the Let-ma-yoon, and taken to Oung-ben- 
 lai. Our sufferings on the journey. My terror. Dr. Judson. 
 His intense suffering. Murder of the Greek. The ringed 
 men leave us. Night at Amerapoorah. We are carted to Oung- 
 ben-lai. We are in fear of being burned.- The prison de- 
 scribed. We are put in the stocks. Contrivance for hoisting 
 them. Musquitos. We are chained in couples. My baker's 
 fidelity. Mrs. Judson follows her husband. The Governor's 
 warning to her 242 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Some comforts at Oung-ben-lai. Our anxious position. Ignatius 
 Brito, a Roman Catholic priest, is arrested and imprisoned, and 
 goes mad. A lioness in prison with us. Our conjectures and 
 terror. The lioness starved to death. Object of the Pacahm- 
 woon. Insalubrity of Oung-ben-lai. Mrs. Judson takes small- 
 pox. Judson takes fever. He inhabits the lion's den. Plague 
 of snakes. We kill great numbers of the cobra capello. 
 Nandau snakes. My marvellous escape from a cobra . . 254 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 British army goes into quarters at Prome. The Talain race join and 
 assist it. Preparations of Pacahm-woon. His intention to 
 bury us alive in Oung-ben-lai. He is suspected of treason, and 
 put to death. Causes of his fall. Doubt about the plot. We 
 escape by his death. Summoned to Amerapoorah. Translation
 
 CONTENTS. xi 
 
 PACK 
 
 of letters. Offer to negotiate for peace. Negotiations. Jud- 
 son taken from prison. Bad faith. Melloon stormed. Judson 
 protected by a Chief. Ava put in a state of defence. The Bur- 
 mese are routed at Pagan. Dr. Sandford deputed to the British 
 General. Returns to prison. Burmese incredulity. Dr. Price 
 is released and employed ....... 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The British army advances. Rumours. The King prepares for flight. 
 Kindness of Dr. Sandford. I am supplied with arrack. 
 Doubtful policy of the Court. I make preparations to escape. 
 Koh-bai gained over. Major Jackson. His munificent present. 
 Another strange cage of prisoners. Liberated on the 16th. 
 February, and carried to Ava. Interview with the Myo-woon. 
 I embark on a war-boat and start for our camp. Passage 
 down the river. Stopped by the Kaulen-mengee. Remains of 
 the Burmese army. Its dejected state. Interview with Bur- 
 mese General. I am allowed to proceed . . . . .277 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Arrive at the British camp. My joy at regaining my liberty. Alarm 
 of my crew at the steamer. I am kindly received by Major 
 Armstrong. I report myself to Sir A. Campbell. His hos- 
 pitality. The army advances to Yandabo. Timidity of the 
 Indian Government. Their anxiety for peace. Translation of 
 the Treaty. I save the Government 70,000. The- Commis- 
 sioners refuse to admit my claims. Treaty of Peace. I leave 
 Yandabo with Sir A. Campbell ...... 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Voyage from Yandabo to Rangoon. A dispatch received by Sir A. 
 Campbell to proclaim Pegu independent. Too late to act on it. 
 Delightful voyage. An unexpected adventure. Capture of 
 a war-boat. I am appointed police magistrate for the Pegu dis- 
 trict. Its disturbed state. Burmans and Peguers. Instances 
 of Burmese revenge on the revolted Peguers. Massacre of a boat's 
 crew. Attack on a Talain village ...... 301
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Famine in Pegu. Depredations of tigers. One shot in the town of 
 Rangoon. Payment of the money under Treaty. Mr. Crawfurd 
 appointed Envoy to Ava. Dr. Judson accompanies him. Death 
 of Mrs. Judson. The Burmese secretly collect arms in Rangoon. 
 Their seizure. Crowded state of my gaols.- Woongee arrives 
 in Rangoon. Sir A. Campbell honours him with a State dinner. 
 Some account of it.--How the Woondouk enjoys it. Other 
 amusements at table. Embarkation of the troops. Evacuation 
 of Rangoon. I proceed to Amherst. Some notice of it. I go 
 in search of teak forests. Depopulation of the country. In- 
 teresting sight of a herd of wild cows. Conclusion . . 313 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 ROYAL PALACE AT AVA ..... Frontispiece. 
 
 WAR BOAT . Title-page, 
 
 A BURMAN OP RANK To face page 31 
 
 EXTERIOR OP PRISON, AVA . . . . . ,, 144 
 
 INTERIOR OF PRISON ...... ,, 154 
 
 A BURMESE GIRL 198
 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 OF A 
 
 TWO YEARS' IMPRISONMENT 
 
 IN BUEMAH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The object and origin of my expedition. I embark in the A Ifred for Ran- 
 goon. Escape from wreck on the Preparis rocks. Arrive at Rangoon. 
 Official "Visit" onboardthe^Z/rai. Mr. Lanciego, the Akoupwoon. 
 Duties levied in kind. My investment attracts attention. I engage 
 an interpreter. Pagoda lake. First impressions of the Burmese. 
 Preparations for pursuing my voyage. Visits to the Viceroy. I secure 
 his protection. Boats' crews. Their honesty. Food. Ngapwee. 
 Departure for Amerapoorah. Favourable prospects. 
 
 THE year 1822 found me residing in the district of 
 Bauleah in Bengal, where, for two or three years, I had 
 been following the hazardous occupation of producing 
 raw silk in competition with the commercial Resident of 
 the East India Company. I say hazardous, hecause the 
 arbitrary power which that Government possessed was 
 intrusted to its servants, who used it in the most un- 
 scrupulous manner to crush the spirit of private adven- 
 ture, and to retain in their hands the virtual monopoly 
 of a branch of industry which by an act of the British 
 
 B
 
 2 SILK MONOPOLY. [CHAP. I. 
 
 legislature, in 1813, had been declared open to all its 
 subjects, under certain restrictions.* 
 
 * The days of monopoly are now happily at an end, but it may not be 
 uninteresting to look back to those times, and to rejoice in the change. 
 The East India Company competed with the private trader in the produc- 
 tion of raw silk. They had their commercial Residents established in 
 different parts of the silk districts, whose emoluments mainly depended 
 on the quantity of silk they secured for the Company, who permitted 
 these agents (or residents as they were termed) to charge them a certain 
 commission on its value. 
 
 The system pursued by both parties was this : Advances of money 
 before each bund or crop, were made to two classes of persons first, to the 
 cultivators who reared the cacoons ; next, to the large class of winders 
 who formed the mass of the population of the surrounding villages. By 
 the first, the raw material was secured ; by the last the labour for working 
 it. These advances were regarded as legal earnest money, or as pledges 
 by the receivers to confine their dealings to the party disbursing it. 
 
 The larger the quantity of silk the resident provided for his masters 
 the greater was his remuneration, a state of things which naturally 
 created a jealousy between the functionary and the private trader, as 
 their interests clashed. But there was no equality in the competition, 
 the one being armed with arbitrary power, the other, not. I will state a 
 case of every-day occurrence. 
 
 A native wishing to sell me the cocoons he produces for the season 
 takes my advance of money ; a village of winders does the same. After 
 this contract is made, two of the Resident's servants are despatched to the 
 village, the one bearing a bag of rupees, the other a book, in which to 
 register the names of the recipients. In vain does the man to whom the 
 money is offered protest that he has entered into a prior engagement with 
 me. If he refuses to accept it, a rupee is thrown into his house, his 
 name is written down before the witness who carries the bag, and that is 
 enough. Under this iniquitous proceeding the Resident, by the authority 
 committed to him, forcibly seizes my property and my labourers even at 
 my own door. 
 
 Nor does the oppression stop here. If I sued the man in Court for 
 repayment of the money I had thus been defrauded of, the judge was 
 compelled, before granting a decree in my favour, to ascertain from the 
 commercial Resident whether the defaulter was in debt to the East India 
 Company. If he was, a prior decree was given to the Resident, and I lost 
 my money.
 
 CHAP. I.] VOYAGE TO AVA PROPOSED. 3 
 
 In the year above named I was attacked by an obstinate 
 complaint which baffled medical skill, and was advised, as 
 a last resource, to try a change of climate as affording 
 the only means of recovery. This advice I was the more 
 disposed to follow, as the expiring efforts of the East 
 India Company to retain its ascendancy in the silk 
 districts seemed likely to bring about my ejection at no 
 distant time, with great damage to my fortune. I there- 
 fore arranged my affairs as quickly as possible, and went 
 down to Calcutta, quite undetermined in what part of the 
 world to seek the restoration of the health I had lost. 
 
 While in this state of uncertainty, an intimate and 
 dear friend,* now no more, first suggested to me the 
 idea of a voyage to Rangoon, the chief seaport of the 
 Burmese dominions, and thence by the river Irrawuddi to 
 Amerapoorah, then the capital of the Empire. 
 
 At that period the Burmese Empire might truly be 
 styled terra incognita, for, with the exception of three 
 or four traders at Kangoon, who had rarely penetrated 
 beyond a few miles from the town, this vast country was 
 destitute of European inhabitants, and its capacities 
 for commerce almost totally unknown. The published 
 narratives of two missions,t from the Bengal Govern- 
 ment to the Court of Ava, contained all the information 
 
 ' Another weapon in the hand of the Resident was the settlement of 
 prices to be paid to the cultivators at the close of each season, the East 
 India Company's price regulating that of the private trader. The higher 
 the price, the greater his commission, the money was not his own, and 
 his masters had a long purse. Under a system like this my willingness to 
 escape ruin cannot be wondered at. Yet this was called in those days 
 free trade. 
 
 * The late John M'Kenzie, Esq., of Calcutta. 
 
 t That of Colonel Michael Symes^ Envoy in 1795, and of Captain 
 Hiram Cox in the year following. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 RELATIONS WITH BURMAH. [CHAP. I. 
 
 we could collect. These I read with the deepest interest, 
 but I cannot say there was much in them to encourage 
 the undertaking, for they both, especially the later one 
 by Captain Cox, were records of a tissue of ignorance, 
 insult, and caprice, such as would render commercial 
 dealings on a liberal scale utterly impracticable. On the 
 other hand, although haughty and jealous to the repre- 
 sentative of a foreign power, I might find them quite the 
 reverse when it was discovered that my objects were 
 purely mercantile. Many abortive attempts to form 
 trading establishments among the Burmese had been 
 made during the last century, not only by the English 
 East India Company, but also by the French and other 
 western nations. In every instance they appear to have 
 failed through the treacherous conduct of the Govern- 
 ment, and long before the East India Company had 
 ceased to be a trading corporation, all further efforts in 
 this direction were abandoned by them. Even private 
 individual enterprise, which, especially in commercial 
 affairs, often succeeds in effecting what a Government 
 or powerful Corporation would attempt in vain, had ap- 
 parently been frightened from the field, for I could not 
 learn that a single person deserving the name of a mer- 
 chant had ever the hardihood to embark capital to any 
 extent in dealings with a nation whose security was so 
 questionable. 
 
 My friend, an intelligent merchant, in whose judg- 
 ment I placed great reliance, said he had reason to 
 believe that a highly lucrative commerce might be esta- 
 blished with Amerapoorah and the regions beyond, espe- 
 cially in the introduction of British cotton manufactures, 
 which were at this time beginning to supplant the native 
 fabrics in most of the markets of the East. To ascertain
 
 CHAP. I.] EMBARK IN THE "ALFRED." 5 
 
 the wants of the population in this particular, and to 
 acquire a knowledge of the various products of the 
 country suitable for export, were the main objects of the 
 proposed expedition, while at the same time an equally 
 important question might be set at rest, whether, under 
 such an arbitrary government, life and property would be 
 sufficiently secure to justify the attempt. My choice lay 
 between accepting this proposal, and undertaking a dull 
 routine voyage with no other object than the fulfilment 
 of the doctor's injunction, and the reader will have little 
 difficulty in deciding which of the two offered the 
 strongest attractions, when I add that, at this time, I was 
 barely twenty- three years of age. The love of novelty 
 and adventure quickly settled the question in my mind, 
 and I at once entered enthusiastically into the views of 
 my friend, who, on his part, manifested his confidence 
 in the success of the scheme by engaging to supply me 
 amply with the means necessary to carry it out. 
 
 I soon found a ship sailing for Rangoon, the Alfred, 
 Captain Dolge, and in her I embarked at the end of 
 June, 1822, having supplied myself with a few suitable 
 presents for the King and his Court, which, it appeared 
 from the books before alluded to, would be almost indis- 
 pensable to my success. My friend, Mr. Mackenzie, 
 also expended a few thousand pounds in furnishing me 
 with such sorts of British goods as he thought best 
 adapted to the purpose of testing the vrants of the 
 people. Meanwhile, my health continued so precarious 
 that it was deemed prudent to associate with me a gentle- 
 man,* whose services happily were not long needed. 
 
 * The late Mr. A. Tainsh, who remained at Rangoon, and subsequently 
 had the good fortune to escape with his life when the town was captured 
 by our troops.
 
 6 ESCAPE A SHIPWRECK. [CHAP. I. 
 
 He proceeded with me no further than the port of Ran- 
 goon, -where I left him. 
 
 The weather, from the time the pilot took his leave, 
 was a constant succession of squalls and rain, for which, 
 at this season of the year, the Bay of Bengal is noted. 
 While this lasted we kept our course hy dead reckoning, 
 for the clouds were so dense and the rain so continuous, 
 that we had nearly traversed the bay before we obtained 
 a sight of the heavenly bodies. As he neared the land, 
 Captain Dolge became rather anxious. One afternoon, 
 at three bells, as we were seated at dinner, the rain pour- 
 ing down in such a deluge that nothing was visible fifty 
 yards from the ship, it suddenly ceased, the weather, 
 for the moment, became clear, when the terrible shout, 
 " Breakers ahead !" quickly brought us from the table to 
 the deck. We now discovered that the breakers were 
 not only ahead, but also on either bow, forming the shape 
 of a horse-shoe, into the hollow of which the ship was 
 fast ploughing her way. Had the rain lasted ten minutes 
 longer, every soul on board must have perished. As the 
 wind fortunately was free, we had still time to clear the 
 outermost reef, but near enough to use a nautical 
 phrase, rather hyperbolical to pitch a biscuit on it. 
 Once out of danger, our captain found the occurrence 
 most useful, as it gave him a correct knowledge of our 
 position, and told him we were on the Preparis shoal, 
 well known to mariners, and much dreaded by them. 
 Two or three days more brought us abreast of the town 
 of Rangoon, where we anchored about the middle of 
 July. 
 
 Rangoon has, no doubt, undergone great improvement 
 since it became a dependency of the British Crown, but 
 at that time it was a miserable, dirty town, containing
 
 CHAP. I.] OFFICIAL " VISIT." 7 
 
 8000 or 10,000 inhabitants, the houses being built of bam- 
 boo and teak planks with thatched roofs, almost with- 
 out drainage, and intersected by muddy creeks, through 
 which the tide flowed at high water. It had altogether 
 a mean, uninviting appearance, but it was the seat of 
 government of an extensive Province, ruled over by a 
 Viceroy, a Woongee of the Empire, in high favour at the 
 Court. 
 
 On the day after her anchoring, the Alfred was to re- 
 ceive what was technically called the " Visit," previous to 
 which, according to custom, she was not permitted to 
 commence the discharge of her cargo. This official visit 
 was conducted by the Akoupwoon, or Collector of the 
 Customs, the only office under the Crown held by a 
 European. At this time it was filled by Mr. Lanciego, a 
 Spaniard by birth, who had resided many years in Bur- 
 mah, which he had made the country of his adoption by 
 marrying a lady of the Court, the sister of a favourite 
 Queen. As this gentleman will be frequently mentioned, 
 I may here remark that he was a man of liberal education, 
 having been brought up in his own country to the medical 
 profession. He was about fifty years old, of a somewhat 
 irascible, but generous temper. The changes and chances 
 of the French revolution threw him on this coast, where 
 it was said he was wrecked while privateering against 
 British commerce. Although no lover of my nation, he 
 once generously interfered at a critical moment to save 
 my life, as will appear hereafter in these pages. 
 
 In the train of the Akoupwoon came a rabble of twenty 
 or thirty native followers, who were allowed to range over 
 the ship at their pleasure, and to devour whatever pro- 
 vision they might find, while their Chief was occupied 
 with a more civilized repast prepared for him in the great
 
 8 THE KING'S WAREHOUSE. [CHAP. I. 
 
 cabin. A Burman is not very particular in his food he 
 will eat almost anything. Mr. Lanciego told me that on 
 one of these visits his followers observed him eating some 
 cheese, and in prowling about the ship they presently 
 came upon what they took to be a similar delicacy, but 
 which to their grief turned out to be a bar of yellow 
 soap. They did not discover their mistake, nor discon- 
 tinue their attacks upon it, until their mouths were foam- 
 ing with the lather, and in utter astonishment at their 
 master's predilection for such nastiness. The visit was 
 ostensibly to examine the ship's papers and manifest, but 
 in reality it was a mere pretext for the extraction of a 
 present. 
 
 In order to place the ship entirely at the mercy of the 
 authorities, Captain Dolge was required to unship and to 
 send on shore the vessel's rudder; but this degrading 
 demand he was allowed to evade by giving a bribe to the 
 Akoupwoon. 
 
 When these ceremonies had been gone through, the 
 ship was permitted to send her cargo on shore to a large 
 brick building, where the Koyal duties were taken in kind. 
 They consisted of one tenth part of every article imported 
 which was capable of division, and the heterogeneous 
 mass of stuff of all kinds collected by this barbarous 
 process, fit only to stock a marine store, was annually 
 escorted to the capital by the Akoupwoon, there to be 
 presented to his Majesty. Even pieces of cloth were 
 torn asunder when the number of them was insufficient 
 to permit a tenth piece to be taken, giving to the custom- 
 house, for the time, the appearance of a large haberdasher's 
 shop. After my goods had thus passed through the 
 King's warehouse, excised of one-tenth, I was allowed to 
 remove them to my temporary residence until I had pro-
 
 CHAP. I.] THE PAGODA LAKE. 9 
 
 vided boats to convey me up the river. It was ominous 
 of good to observe that while they were thus exposed to 
 public view in the King's warehouse they excited the eager 
 curiosity of a crowd of native dealers, who flocked to see 
 them, and who urged me to sell them all at once, offering 
 enormous profits as an inducement ; but, as this would 
 have defeated my main object of making it a voyage of 
 discovery, I declined every offer, much to their chagrin. 
 
 My first business on shore was to engage an inter- 
 preter, who, at the same time, was able to assist me in 
 matters of business. He was a native of the Malabar 
 coast, who had passed all his life in Burmah, and had 
 adopted, as usual, a Burmese name, Shwai-ee. He could 
 not speak English, but communicated with me through 
 the Hindostanee language, the common field of inter- 
 course between Europeans and the various races of India. 
 
 As there was no particular cause for my immediate de- 
 parture, and as my health was rapidly improving, I deter- 
 mined to remain at Kangoon for a month, picking up 
 what information I could gain to smooth my way on the 
 voyage which was before me. Each morning before sun- 
 rise, when the weather permitted for the rain falls in tor- 
 rents during the south-western monsoon I rode out to a 
 secluded little lake, two or three miles from the town, be- 
 yond the celebrated Shwai-tukoon pagoda, where, tying 
 my pony to a tree, I enjoyed a delicious bath, the tall 
 gilded dome and spires of the temple towering above me. 
 This lake was well concealed from public view by magni- 
 ficent trees and brushwood, and, strange to say, was so 
 little frequented that I was rarely disturbed by an in- 
 truder. How was I grieved, when I repeated my visit 
 after the war, to see its dilapidated banks ; its luxuriant 
 trees cut down, and its clear sparkling waters converted 
 
 B 3
 
 10 FIRST IMPRESSIONS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 into a filthy slimy pool ! It seemed to have been made 
 the common washing-pot for the whole British army. 
 
 I soon found that I had left behind me all the com- 
 forts and luxuries which Europeans enjoy hi British 
 India ; the large, richly-furnished houses, the handsome 
 equipage, the luxurious, well-served table, the convivial 
 party, the comfortable palanquin, the phalanx of appro- 
 priate servants, the civilized society, even my umbrella 
 to shield me from the sun and rain, I was obliged to carry 
 myself, for in this country the long umbrella carried by a 
 servant, figures as an important article among the insig- 
 nia of rank. Money could not purchase any of these 
 luxuries. Such a state of things might well appal an 
 old Indian, and one item perhaps beyond all others, the 
 free-and-easy bearing of the natives, contrasting so 
 harshly with the obsequious cringing and the polished 
 insincerity to which he had been accustomed in Hin- 
 dostan. Here, there was no aristocracy of colour, or 
 rather none that is not involuntarily accorded to the 
 higher civilization of the white races. The conditions 
 of society were reversed; the dominant race was the 
 native, whose Nobles and Governors exacted the same 
 tokens of respect and submission from the European, 
 who casually dwelt among them, as they did from 
 their own subjects. I confess, at first, it seemed strange 
 to me to ascend with unshed feet the house of some 
 magnate of the land, and there, in his presence, to twist 
 myself into a constrained contortion of body, half sitting, 
 half kneeling, while the great man before me was enjoy- 
 ing his ease on some cushion of honour. But I soon got 
 accustomed to these little disquietudes, and descended 
 into the rank of the homage-paying class with less of 
 the feeling of wounded pride than I had thought possible.
 
 CHAP. I.] BURMESE CHARACTER. 11 
 
 To make amends for this there was the never-failing 
 compensation of living among the common people on 
 terms, in some respects, approaching to equality. Even 
 between me and my Burman servants there was as 
 much of liberty and equality as would have satisfied 
 the pride of an American " help," without degenerating 
 into disobedience or insolence. The exemption of these 
 people from the prejudices of caste, the freedom allowed 
 to their women, who are never secluded, even among 
 the highest class, their good-nature and rude hospita- 
 lity, their inquisitive characters, and the total absence of 
 anything like servility or flattery all tend to create a 
 favourable impression on any stranger whose mind has 
 not been vitiated by the obsequious manners of the 
 natives of British India. 
 
 I am now speaking of their manner and bearing to- 
 wards each other and to foreigners, who, like myself, had 
 no official rank to maintain. On the other hand, it must 
 not be supposed that this freedom extends to their inter- 
 course with the governing classes, towards whom there is 
 certainly no lack of servility. Submission, even to obse- 
 quiousness, is inflexibly demanded by the one, and yielded 
 by the other from motives of fear. The possession of 
 power is ruin to the Burmese character ; so much so, 
 that the governors and the governed seem to possess 
 almost different natures. It is rare to find a man in 
 authority who is not oppressive, corrupt, crafty, and 
 cruel. A plebeian advanced to power leaps from one 
 nature to the other at a bound, and exercises the pride 
 and tyranny of office with as much apparent ease as if it 
 had been his birthright. 
 
 My excursions into the country were bounded by the 
 thick jungles which covered it at a short distance from
 
 12 NO FIELD SPORTS. [CHAP. L 
 
 the town, leaving few roads practicable even for horse 
 exercise. For the same reason there was little amuse- 
 ment for the sportsman. The fallow deer abounded in 
 the plains of Pegu, but were difficult to get at. The 
 Burmese having no love of sport kill them by decoy for 
 the profit of selling them in the market of Eangoon, 
 which at some seasons is pretty well supplied with veni- 
 son. Wild fowl and snipe were abundant, but they could 
 not be followed while the monsoon rains kept the country 
 under water. I saw also a few of the jungle fowl. My 
 promenades, therefore, resembled those of a horse in a 
 mill; every accessible part of the country was soon known 
 to me. In one of my walks I came unexpectedly upon 
 the bodies of two men who had just been executed for 
 robbery. They were lying on the roadside with their 
 backs upward, their decapitated heads being reversed and 
 fastened to the ground by wooden pins driven through 
 their mouths. No one was on the spot, nor did the cir- 
 cumstance seem to cause any sensation in the town. 
 
 The work of fitting out boats, and engaging crews for 
 a voyage to Ava, was a very dilatory affair. It was not 
 the custom to let out boats on hire; it became neces- 
 sary, therefore, to purchase them. After a long and 
 fatiguing search along the banks of the river and the 
 muddy creeks, two sound strong canoes were found, 
 and while these were being fitted out with masts, sails, 
 oars, &c., I made several visits to the Viceroy of the 
 province. 
 
 He was a tall, gaunt old man, of dignified bearing, 
 who Avasted very few words on his visitors, but had a 
 kinder disposition than his solemn features at first led 
 me to expect. He had an ugly habit, unknown to me 
 when I made my first visit, of using a long spear as a
 
 CHAP. I.] THE VICEROY MEEADAI MENGEE. 13 
 
 walking-stick. I was seated with my interpreter on the 
 floor of a long gloomy apartment in his palace when this 
 stately old Governor entered from a door at the extreme 
 end of the hall, stalking towards me with the aid of the 
 formidable spear, the point of which glittered above his 
 head. He had to walk a long distance before he reached 
 the spot where I sat, which he traversed slowly and si- 
 lently as a ghost, never stopping until he stood over me 
 in most uncomfortable proximity. I thought the old 
 man was mad, and did not at all like my situation, but he 
 soon broke silence, and before we parted he became quite 
 affable. Meeadai Mengee, for such was his title, had 
 done good service to His Majesty, when, at his accession, 
 the Throne had been contested by his two uncles,* secur- 
 ing immense influence at the Court thereby. When I 
 unfolded my plans, and stated my desire to proceed to 
 Amerapoorah to settle there under the protection of the 
 Golden Feet, he encouraged the idea, and promised to 
 address the Hlut-dau (the chief Council of State, of which 
 he was a member), to secure me a good reception; 
 warned me of the dangers of the river, and offered me 
 his special passport, which he said would protect me on 
 my voyage if I got into any difficulty or needed assist- 
 ance. He was as good as his word, and the document 
 proved to be of great value in extricating me from exac- 
 tions and delays and suspicions in various parts of the 
 river. I considered myself fortunate in gaining the good- 
 will and countenance of this powerful minister. 
 
 Early in August, my two boats, " well fitted, victualled, 
 and manned," were ready for service. The decks were 
 thatched with cadjan leaves, well laced together by a 
 
 * The Princes of Prome and Toungoo, who were reported to have been 
 put to death in a manner too revolting to describe.
 
 14 PREPARATION OF BOATS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 strong netting of split bamboos. At the stern of one of 
 them a comfortable cabin was built for my accommo- 
 dation of the same materials, quite impervious to the 
 weather. The crews consisted of sixteen stout boatmen 
 and a hle-thegee, or helmsman, to each boat, making 
 thirty-four in all, besides my interpreter and four Hin- 
 dostanee servants. Most of the men were armed with 
 spears, or swords, and as I was well provided with fire- 
 arms for my own use, we mustered altogether a formi- 
 dable force. The men were engaged for the voyage up to 
 Amerapoorah, where they were to be discharged, at the 
 rate of fourteen ticals of flowered silver each man, equal 
 to about thirty-five shillings ; the pay of the steersman, 
 who had likewise the authority of captain, being double. 
 To their credit be it said, that although nearly all this 
 money was paid to them in advance before the boats left 
 their moorings, there was not a single instance of deser- 
 tion throughout the voyage, an example of good faith for 
 which I~was little prepared. The commissariat also was 
 supplied at my cost, but the Burmese, as before observed, 
 not being a dainty race, the expense was trifling, and 
 they were easily satisfied. Their rations consisted merely 
 of rice and ngapwee, a kind of preserved fish, used rather 
 plentifully as a condiment. Although the rank scent of 
 this delicacy is certainly not agreeable to the fastidious 
 European at first, yet in the course of time, after this 
 prejudice has been overcome, many use it with great 
 relish ; and, at the risk of being laughed at, I am not 
 ashamed to confess that after the lapse of thirty-eight 
 years since I first made its acquaintance, I do, up to the 
 present time, enjoy it as a luxury when my friends are 
 kind enough to supply me with it, as they sometimes do. 
 If a man be content to live under the tyranny of his
 
 CHAP. I.] DEPART FROM RANGOON. 15 
 
 nose, he may for ever lose the enjoyment of some of the 
 most recherche fruits of the East. 
 
 I had grown tired of the monotony of Rangoon, and 
 it was with pleasure I saw my boats loosed from the 
 shore at noon-day, the crews joining in a loud and 
 cheerful song, keeping time as cleverly with the stroke 
 of their oars as if they had been long practising re- 
 hearsals. 
 
 The short stay I made at Eangoon tended to encourage 
 me in the mission I had undertaken. The general and 
 eager demand for manufactures of the descriptions I had 
 brought, very few of which had yet found their way into 
 the country, clearly proved that my far-sighted friend 
 had neither miscalculated the extent to which this trade 
 might be carried on, nor been much mistaken in the 
 character of the goods he had selected. The friendly 
 reception accorded to me, the absence of all unautho- 
 rized exactions, the good-will of the Viceroy, and his 
 ready and cordial assent to my proposal to settle at Anae- 
 rapoorah, were all encouraging signs, and gave promise 
 of security in my operations. It is true the lazy, desolate 
 appearance of their chief seaport was disappointing, 
 as almost the only export trade which could be dis- 
 covered there was in the article of teak timber, which 
 strewed the banks of the river in innumerable rafts. The 
 value of this trade, however, was insignificant in amount, 
 and the poverty of the place indicated no small difficulty 
 in finding adequate means of exchange for extended com- 
 merce with foreign countries. Still, on the whole, I had 
 reason to be satisfied with this first stage in my work, and 
 I set forward on my voyage with ardour and in high 
 spirits.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Deltaof the Irrawuddi. Musquitos and jungle. The great river. Voyage 
 up the river. Fleets of native boats. Inland trade in rice. Safety of 
 the river. Hilly country. Picturesque sail beyond Prome. Monas- 
 teries and monks. Their habits. Education general among the people. 
 I acquire the language. Arrival at Amerapoorah. Tolls and transit 
 dues abolished. Safety of the river. 
 
 EVERY one .who has heen to sea knows the discomfort of 
 a ship at the beginning of a long voyage until she has 
 sent away her pilot, ceased her communication with the 
 shore, stowed away her tackle, and finds herself at last in 
 hlue water. Even so, to a certain extent, it was with my 
 boats, every one of my crew had forgotten something, 
 or had something else to do, or had some friend to see; 
 so, to accommodate all parties and begin the voyage in 
 good- humour, I proceeded only a short distance up the 
 river with the flood-tide, and spent the remainder of the 
 day at a village a few miles above Eangoon, called 
 Kemindine. Having shaken ourselves into our places, 
 and found a hole or corner for the stowage of every one's 
 baggage, we commenced our voyage in earnest on the 
 following morning. 
 
 And here, before my boats start from the shore, I must 
 remind the reader that he has to expect nothing more than 
 a personal narrative of events which happened to me as a 
 pioneer attempting to open a commerce with the interior of
 
 CHAP. II.] NARRATIVE, A PERSONAL ONE ONLY. 17 
 
 the country. Had this book been written at the time those 
 events occurred, it would, no doubt, have been far more 
 interesting, as possessing the charm of novelty. It would 
 then have been unpardonable to have neglected the va- 
 rious topics of information usually given by travellers 
 passing through a country but little known. Some no- 
 tices of the history, government, productions, employ- 
 ments, and habits of the people might have been expected ; 
 but the two wars which followed, and the published 
 accounts of the missions * they gave rise to, have so 
 opened the heart of the country to those who read for 
 information, that were I now to advert to them on all 
 occasions these pages would be merely a repetition of the 
 observations and researches of men far more capable than 
 I am of doing them justice. I shall therefore make no 
 further allusion to such subjects than may serve to illus- 
 trate my story or to render it intelligible, and I mention 
 this to avoid the reproach of passing through a country 
 with my eyes closed, as it were, to all the objects of inte- 
 rest it presented. 
 
 For two days after leaving Kemindine we threaded the 
 windings of this, one of the chief channels of the delta of 
 the Irrawuddi. The country seemed hopelessly aban- 
 doned to a state of nature, bringing to the imagination 
 the accounts we read of the feverish swamps of the Mis- 
 sissippi, or of parts of the West Coast of Africa. Either 
 bank was covered to the water's edge with thick reed and 
 bush jungle, the resort of wild animals, the recess of the 
 tide leaving exposed numerous banks of slimy mud. Of 
 course, such a wilderness was almost destitute of inhabi- 
 tants, though here and there a few wretched huts were 
 
 * The mission of Mr. Crawfurd, Envoy to the Court of Ava in 182G, 
 and of Major Phayre in 1857, narrated by Major Yule.
 
 18 JUNGLE AND MUSQUITOS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 seen peeping through the jungle, which threatened to 
 entwine them as part of itself. At one of these miserable 
 hamlets on the verge of the mud, and in a dank, steamy 
 atmosphere, we prepared to pass the first night, but 
 directly the sun was down my boatmen were attacked 
 with swarms of musquitos, so venomous that, finding 
 sleep out of the question, they again got the boats under 
 way, preferring to pull throughout the night to the 
 alternative of being eaten up by insects. Walking on 
 shore, I found the interior of all the huts and cattle-sheds 
 filled with the smoke of smouldering cow-dung, the only 
 mode of rendering existence possible. 
 
 My boatmen told me that not long since a criminal 
 was put to death by being exposed, during a night, to 
 the attacks of these insects. It is unaccountable that 
 human beings should make choice of such a desolate 
 habitation, when healthy plains are not far from them. 
 
 On the third day we emerged from these dense, un- 
 wholesome jungles, which the breath of heaven could 
 scarcely penetrate, and opened the broad expanse of the 
 noble Irrawuddi with the feelings of those who are ex- 
 changing a noisome dungeon for the pure air of freedom. 
 The boatmen had now little use for the oars at which 
 they had hitherto been labouring, but, unfurling their sails 
 to the strong south-westerly winds, stemmed the rapid 
 current of the river, now swollen by the waters of its 
 tributaries to its extremest bounds. When the wind 
 failed us, which was not often the case, my powerful crews 
 took to the rope rather than the oars, tracking the boat 
 at a slow walking pace wherever the banks were practi- 
 cable. Each night, when a town or village was within 
 reach, we sought its protection, and when no such friendly 
 shelter could be found, we selected some open spot, clear
 
 CHAP. II.] THE IERAWUDDI. 19 
 
 of cover or jungle, to prevent surprise and set our watch 
 for the night. A long line of laden boats fringed the 
 bank of every town at night, as the inhabitants were held 
 responsible by law for their safety from gang robbery 
 while made fast to the shore under their protection. In 
 any suspicious neighbourhood I took the middle watch 
 myself, and whether it was from the knowledge of my 
 being well armed (for I always discharged my fire-arms 
 in the evening by way of advertisement), or whether the 
 river was at the time unusually quiet, we pursued our voy- 
 age to the end in perfect safety. At several places, it is 
 true, attempts were made by the local authorities to detain 
 me by rumours of gangs of pirates, at others to attempt to 
 enforce illegal exactions on many frivolous pretences ; but 
 in all cases a judicious use of the Viceroy's passport, and 
 representing that my boats contained presents for the 
 King, relieved me from such molestations. 
 
 Our progress now became as cheerful as it had hitherto 
 been dreary and monotonous. Large fleets of boats 
 under full sail, laden with rice and ngapwee for the sup- 
 ply of the capital and the upper provinces, enlivened the 
 scene, increasing in numbers as we proceeded. Some of 
 these boats were of considerable tonnage, capable of 
 carrying from 100 to 200 tons of cargo. Their sails 
 were of immense spread, but of clumsy construction, 
 and would not draw unless the wind was free. They lost 
 much time, therefore, in waiting for a fair wind, or in 
 tracking up the unfavourable reaches of the river, render- 
 ing it impossible to compass more than one voyage to 
 Ava in the season. The lands enclosed in the delta of 
 the great river, and the fertile plains which are inundated 
 or partake of the heavy periodical rains, are not only the 
 most productive in the kingdom, but yield a quality of
 
 20 CHEERFUL ASCENT OF THE RIVER. [CHAP. II. 
 
 grain superior to that grown in the higher districts, and 
 the enhanced price it commands in the capital amply 
 repays the expense of its transit. Often I could count 
 more than 100 of these boats in view at the same time. 
 With some of them we amused ourselves by challenging 
 to an animated race, and were frequently beaten from the 
 immense width of canvas they carried. The ardour of 
 my men when they entered into these races could not be 
 restrained, the boats, having no keel, were not fitted to 
 bear an unusual press of sail, and more than once their 
 rashness brought us to the verge of destruction. 
 
 In a few days we came in sight of the distant hills 
 of the Arracan range on the right bank, some of their 
 spurs extending to the river, and affording a cheering 
 sight to one who for some years past had not seen a 
 rising ground higher than an ant-hill. Long before I 
 got to Prome looked upon usually as the half-way 
 town between Eangoon and Ava and for many days 
 after leaving it, I found myself sailing among picturesque 
 well-wooded hills, rising abruptly from the river on each 
 bank. I have ever looked back with great delight on 
 this part of my voyage. The view was enlivened by nu- 
 merous towns and villages, most of them adorned with 
 monasteries and pagodas, the pretty white spires of the 
 latter rising in the distance among the rich foliage, and 
 recalling to my imagination the village churches of my 
 own happy country. 
 
 In choosing my evening walks I was seldom mistaken 
 or disappointed when I took the path which led from the 
 village to the neighbouring monastery. These eccle- 
 siastics had almost invariably displayed good taste in 
 appropriating the prettiest locality for their residence, in 
 which particular I believe the monks of the Buddhist per-
 
 CHAP. II.] MONKS AND MONASTERIES. 21 
 
 suasion are by no means singular. Although the life led 
 by these priests is on the whole an idle one, yet it is im- 
 possible not to be struck with the value of the order in 
 one most important particular the very general diffusion 
 of education through their instrumentality among the 
 common people. By education I mean simply the art of 
 reading and writing their own language. At a very early 
 hour in the morning the convent is alive, when a division 
 of the brethren sally forth as mendicants to collect from 
 the neighbouring community their voluntary gift of pro- 
 visions for the day's consumption. These offerings are in 
 all cases ready-cooked for use. I was much amused at 
 watching the morning perambulations of these mendi- 
 cant friars as they passed through the villages. Covered 
 by a long yellow robe, his crown shaven and exposed to 
 the weather, he pursued his walk in solemn silence, look- 
 ing neither to the right hand nor the left, and carrying 
 before him a large lacquered tray, into which those who 
 were religiously or charitably disposed placed their con- 
 tributions. When, as was usually the case, the contri- 
 butor happened to be one of the fair sex, far from 
 acknowledging the gift, he averted his face in a most 
 ungallant manner, as though the glance of a female car- 
 ried with it a contaminating influence. How far this 
 public parade of chastity is borne out in private life one 
 may be inclined to doubt, though, to do them justice, 
 common report gave them a better character in this 
 respect than it does to the monks of other religious 
 orders nearer home. This system of removing tempta- 
 tion rather than overcoming it, appears to be carried out 
 by this religious order as a general principle. They are 
 forbidden to possess or even to touch the precious metals, 
 as a guard against avarice to taste anything stronger
 
 22 MONKS NOT ALTOGETHER USELESS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 than water, to avoid intoxication ; enjoined to shave the 
 head, as proof against personal vanity to have no cuisine, 
 to prevent luxury all which, no doubt, may prevent posi- 
 tive crime, but, even if effectual, are practicable only by 
 an idle priesthood. 
 
 While a part of the brethren are thus employed in pro- 
 viding for the daily sustenance of the community, the 
 Convent they have left resounds with a loud clatter com- 
 monly made by beating the boarded floor with small 
 wooden mallets. This is the call of the village children 
 to their lessons, which are imparted gratuitously to as 
 many as are sent by their parents to take advantage of 
 them. Thus, as this simple education costs nothing 
 beyond the time it occupies, vast numbers avail them- 
 selves of it, and my impression was, that a larger pro- 
 portion of the common people could read and write in 
 Burmah than could be found among similar classes in 
 our own country. 
 
 Having much leisure time during this six weeks' 
 voyage, I now set myself with great industry to acquire 
 the language. My fat, indolent Malabaree proved but 
 a very indifferent instructor, but I was fortunate enough 
 to possess a little vocabulary, prefaced by some useful 
 hints on the construction of the language, printed at the 
 Serampore press, by Dr. Judson, and this I found to be a 
 great assistance. I soon mastered the written character. 
 As the language is essentially monosyllabic, there is 
 hardly a combination of two or three letters which has 
 not its appropriate signification, and it was my daily 
 amusement to put together a number of these at a ven- 
 ture, and then ferret out their meaning from my inter- 
 preter. Words gained by this process became indelibly 
 fixed on the memory, and it surprised me to see how soon
 
 CHAP. II.] THE BURMESE LANGUAGE. 23 
 
 I became possessed of a large stock of them. My ear, 
 too, was rarely greeted by any other sounds than those of 
 the Burmese, an advantage in acquiring this language 
 beyond most others, as it possesses a peculiarity of em- 
 phasis and intonation and a nice precision of sounds 
 most difficult to attain by any one living among Euro- 
 peans, and taking up the language as a mere study. I 
 have heard even Dr. Judson, whose grammatical knowledge 
 of it was perfect, but whose ear was not good, lament 
 that he had never been able to conquer this difficulty, and 
 that he never expected to do so. For want of this pecu- 
 liarity of emphasis, or intoning, his addresses to the 
 natives lost much of their power. By the time I reached 
 Amerapoorah I had the gratification to find that I could 
 express myself on common topics with some degree of 
 fluency and correctness. 
 
 I gave myself no holiday, so to speak, on this voyage. 
 I had a great desire to visit various places on the river 
 where objects of interest were to be seen, especially the 
 celebrated earth oil wells at Yainangyoung, and to wan- 
 der among the ruins of the ancient temples of the city of 
 Pagan ; but I denied myself all such excursions of plea- 
 sure, as they would have carried me away to a distance 
 from my boats, which I thought it prudent constantly to 
 protect by my presence. I believe I might have done so, 
 however, with perfect safety. 
 
 It was late in September when the tall spire of the 
 Royal palace at Amerapoorah came into view, the voyage 
 having been accomplished in about six weeks, the ordi- 
 nary time for boats laden like mine at this season of the 
 year. 
 
 Another doubtful point, of no small importance to the 
 success of my project of settling at Amerapoorah, was
 
 24 I ARRIVE AT AMERAPOORAH. [CHAP. II. 
 
 now satisfactorily set at rest. From this first experiment 
 I had good reason to believe that with ordinary precau- 
 tions my boats would be able to make the voyage to and 
 from Kangoon without much danger. Nor, so far as I 
 could discover, were there any annoying exactions or 
 tolls to impede them on their passage. Some years back 
 transit dues had been levied on the native inland com- 
 merce at various stations on the river, but these, and the 
 far greater exactions they gave colour to by the rapacious 
 local authorities, so interfered with the supply of the 
 necessaries of life at the Capital, that it was found neces- 
 sary to abolish them altogether to avoid starvation. The 
 entire passage of this noble river from Eangoon to Ame- 
 rapoorah might now be said to be free from any hindrance 
 or molestation whatever.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The King removes from Amerapoorah to Ava. The population in a state 
 of transition. Amerapoorah. No exactions on landing. I take a 
 house. Gain easy access to His Majesty. Abandon the use of shoes. 
 The King's temporary Palace. Apparition of an Englishman. Mr. 
 Kodg*s.- I am introduced to the chief Queen. Her character and 
 influence. Musical glasses. The Queen's present. Betel-chewing. 
 The King's practical joke. 
 
 THE epoch of my arrival at Amerapoorah was rather an 
 unfortunate one ; for the King, who had succeeded to 
 the Throne of his grandfather only three years, with the 
 usual caprice of Burmese monarchs, had determined to 
 abandon his stately Palace, and to build a new one on 
 the site of the ancient city of Ava, five miles lower down 
 the river. This city had met a similar fate in a former 
 reign, and was, until the late order to restore it, a de- 
 serted heap of ruins. The removal of the palace means, 
 in Burmah, the removal of the entire population of the 
 Capital. The nobles did not care about it, as they were 
 repaid for the little inconvenience it caused them, by rill- 
 ing their pockets from the corrupt distribution of the 
 building sites of the new city, and the frequent litiga- 
 tion it gave rise to. To the people it was the source 
 of ruinous loss and discomfort, to winch none but an 
 unfeeling despotism would have dared to subject them. 
 It was melancholy to see them breaking up their old 
 habitations, and seeking new ones at great cost and 
 
 c
 
 26 KING REMOVES HIS PALACE. [CHAP. III. 
 
 labour. This senseless custom of changing the Royal 
 residence is by no means uncommon. I have since read, 
 that when this present wayward King was a few years 
 later deposed by his younger brother, a similar freak 
 possessed the brain of the usurper, who, in his turn, gave 
 up his brother's newly-built city and palace at Ava to 
 the owls and the bats, for the whim of again restoring 
 the seat of government to this now half-demolished town. 
 Such is Despotism ! 
 
 With the exception of a few of the principal streets 
 where the houses boasted of tiled roofs, Amerapoorah 
 was constructed entirely of teak wood, bamboos, and 
 thatch. For a town built of such fragile materials, it 
 must have .presented a respectable appearance before the 
 work of demolition commenced. The houses, according 
 to the usual plan of their domestic architecture, were 
 supported on strong poles of teak timber, the floor front- 
 ing the street being laid two or three feet from the 
 ground, forming a kind of enclosed verandah, which 
 served for the shops of the traders. At the back of this, 
 a staircase or a short ladder leads to the dwelling-rooms, 
 which, from their increased height of floor, leave an en- 
 closed room below, used as a store, or for various pur- 
 poses ; but where this is not required, a free passage is 
 left under the whole building. This plan of building is 
 peculiarly well suited to a country liable, like Amera- 
 poorah, to frequent shocks of Earthquake. One of these 
 occurred while I was there, but, though it was rather a 
 severe one, no damage was done ; the houses merely 
 rocked backwards and forwards without injury, and it 
 seemed to cause very little alarm to the inhabitants. I 
 have since read that a remarkably severe shock occurred 
 in 1839, which converted many substantial pagodas into
 
 CHAP. III.] EARTHQUAKES AT AMERArOORAH. 27 
 
 heaps of ruins, and caused great damage to the now 
 Palace then building at Amerapoorah, though the severest 
 shock could do little injury to houses such as I have de- 
 scrihed. The duration of this earthquake, or rather of 
 this series of earthquakes, was most remarkable. A 
 respectable witness of them says, after describing the 
 terrific violence of the first shock, " For four or five days 
 we had nothing but earthquakes, every fifteen or thirty 
 minutes, and, for six months after, scarcely a day passed 
 without one." He estimates that 300 or 400 persons were 
 killed in the first shock.* 
 
 The main streets were wide and cheerful, dotted 
 here and there with noble tamarind trees, affording an 
 agreeable shade, though the natives hold it to be un- 
 healthy to live under the shelter of these trees. The 
 town was surrounded by a high brick wall with battle- 
 ments, and a wide ditch ; this was nearly half a mile 
 from the river, which, above an island that has formed 
 in the stream opposite the town, appears to be a mile 
 broad. A large proportion of the population lived be- 
 tween the wall and the river, and it was in this suburb, 
 on the river side, that I hired a house. 
 
 The day after my arrival, my property and effects were 
 carried up from the boats without having sustained any 
 damage by weather, or loss by pilfering. No Royal or 
 municipal dues were demanded ; no troublesome official 
 appeared to obstruct the course of business ; my boats' 
 crews were discharged quite satisfied with their treatment, 
 and I found myself comfortably established in my new 
 quarters, with less vexatious annoyance than I should 
 have encountered in any town in Europe. All this was 
 gratifying. 
 
 * Yule's Embassy, page 350. 
 
 c2
 
 28 THE SHOE DIFFICULTY. [CHAP. III. 
 
 The news tbat a white foreigner had arrived, with a 
 prodigious amount of goods for sale, spread like wildfire 
 through the town, and the state of chaos into which 
 everything was thrown by the unhappy exodus did not 
 prevent a crowd of traders from flocking around my in- 
 terpreter, urging him at once to open his stores. Cheering 
 as this symptom was, he thought a little delay would 
 only tend to sharpen their appetite : besides, it was im- 
 perative that I should first bow before the Golden Feet, to 
 present my offerings and solicit the Royal protection. I 
 therefore sent Shwai-ee to inquire of one of the Attwen- 
 woons, whether I might have that honour on the following 
 day. He returned with a gracious answer. 
 
 After breakfast the next morning, I mounted one of 
 their beautiful little ponies, and, accompanied by Shwai-ee, 
 set forth on my Royal visit with alacrity, as to a holiday 
 treat. I had first to go to the court of the Attwenwoons, 
 called the By a- dyke, dismount at the gate, and take off 
 my shoes before I entered the building. And here I 
 cannot help stopping a moment, to exclaim against the 
 folly of my countrymen generally, in raising a senseless 
 clamour against a custom so truly agreeable in a tropical 
 climate. I found the comfort of it so great, that from 
 that day forth I never wore our detestable foot-gear of 
 stockings and boots so long as I remained in the country. 
 The cool light sandal of the native, slipped on and off 
 with facility, was quite a luxury after the foot became 
 trained to the use of the strap that binds it to the sole. 
 The entering a house barefooted, or walking abroad in san- 
 dals, carries with it an idea of degradation to the European, 
 which is quite foreign to the mind of the Burman. They 
 did not object to my retaining the stockings, nor the hat, 
 but I did not wish either of them.
 
 CHAP. III.] TEMPORARY ROYAL PALACE. 29 
 
 Our Envoys have always complained of vexatious 
 delays before they could secure a reception at Court. 
 Nothing of the kind was experienced by the foreigner 
 who had no state dignity to uphold. As for myself, I 
 found far less difficulty in gaining an audience of his 
 Majesty than I should have had in getting an interview 
 with our Secretary of State in Downing Street ; a few 
 questions were asked at the Bya-dyke, and in less than 
 an hour I was in the presence of the King. 
 
 For some astrological reason, His Majesty had vacated 
 his gorgeous Palace, and was inhabiting a temporary one 
 near to it, constructed of bamboo and thatch. Of course 
 DO attempt had been made to decorate such a building. 
 The apartments were large, and the Royal style of raising 
 roof upon roof had been attended to, a hugs bunch of 
 straw crowning the whole, as the gilded tee or umbrella 
 did the finished building ; but it was so slightly put to- 
 gether that the floors creaked and bent uncomfortably 
 under our weight as we walked over them. 
 
 My ideas of the Court of His Majesty of Burmah were 
 derived from the descriptions of our former Envoys.* I 
 
 * "We had been seated little more than a quarter of an hour, when 
 the folding-doors that concealed the seat opened with a loud noise, and 
 discovered His Majesty ascending a flight of steps that led up to the 
 Throne from the inner apartment. He advanced but slowly, and seemed 
 not to possess a free use of his limbs, being obliged to support himself 
 with his hands on the balustrade. I was informed that this appearance 
 of weakness proceeded from the weight of the regal habiliments in which 
 he was clad ; and, if what we were told was true, that he carried on his 
 dress fifteen viss, upwards of fifty pounds avoirdupois of gold, his diffi- 
 culty of ascending was not surprising. On reaching the top, he stood 
 for a minute as if to take breath, and then sat down on an embroidered 
 cushion with his legs inverted. His crown was a high conical cap, richly 
 studded with precious stones ; his fingers were covered with rings, and in 
 his dress he bore the appearance of a man cased in golden armour, whilst
 
 30 AUDIENCE OF THE KING. [CHAP. III. 
 
 left my house, -expecting to gain a momentary glance at 
 a personage dressed up like a heathen idol, before whom 
 all people were bowing in profound adoration whose 
 glory was too great to permit him to unbend, and to 
 whom I should not be suffered to address a word in per- 
 son. My imagination was filled with the idea that I was 
 merely to go through a needful ceremony which I might 
 not be permitted to repeat, and it was with the sensation 
 of one who had to witness a curious and splendid show 
 rather than to secure any tangible and permanent advan- 
 tage, that I appeared before the Palace gates. From 
 what I had read, I could not disconnect the King's 
 human nature from the pageantry and exclusiveness with 
 which it pleased his Court to invest it. 
 
 Filled with these misconceptions, judgs of my surprise, 
 when, on entering a spacious apartment used as an 
 Audience Hall, the floor creaking in a most uncourtly 
 manner at each step, I beheld at the end of it a young 
 man, about thirty years old, with a pleasant, good- 
 humoured countenance, seated cross-legged on a gilded 
 arm-chair of European make, manifesting no sign or 
 symbol of state other than the chair he sat in, which 
 rested on a stage very slightly raised from the floor. 
 This was His Majesty ! His costume did not vary from 
 that of his courtiers, except that the silk cloth worn 
 
 a gilded, or probably a golden wing on each shoulder, did not add much 
 lightness to his figure." After the presentation of presents, the Envoy 
 adds, "His Majesty remained only a few minutes longer, and during 
 that time looked at us attentively, but did not honour us with any 
 verbal notice, or speak at all, except to give the order before mentioned. 
 When he rose to depart, he manifested the same signs of infirmity as on 
 his entrance. After he had withdrawn, the folding-doors were closed, 
 and the Court broke up." Embassy to the Kingdom, of Ava, by Lieut. - 
 Syuius, Vi'Jj.
 
 A BURMAN OF RANK IN UNDRESS COSTUME. 
 Extracted from a ftroup In -Yule's Embaaav.' 
 
 To face page 31
 
 CHAP. III.] MANNER OF INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 round the loins was a bright scarlet check, a colour con- 
 fined to the use of the Eoyal family. This, and a light 
 jacket tied with strings in front, made of white muslin, 
 with a handkerchief of the same material twisted round 
 the head to confine the hair, completed the costume of 
 both the Bang and his people. There were probably forty 
 or fifty persons assembled before him on the floor, in a 
 posture half sitting, half kneeling, their bodies bent for- 
 ward, their eyes fixed on the ground, and their hands 
 clasped as in an attitude of respect, with some of whom 
 His Majesty was apparently conversing on rather familiar 
 terms. 
 
 The presents intended for His Majesty were borne in 
 gilded trays by some of the attendants in the Royal 
 household, and, being numerous, they formed rather an 
 imposing procession. They consisted of a large, richly- 
 cut crystal dish, selections from the best portions of 
 my British manufactures, and twelve stands of capital 
 muskets and bayonets, which were, no doubt, used 
 against us with effect in the war which followed. 
 These last attracted the greatest notice, and were ex- 
 amined with attention. These offerings were carried 
 forward and placed in front of his Majesty for his inspec- 
 tion, while I followed, bending forward as I walked, and 
 took my seat on the floor in a spot pointed out to me in 
 advance of the assembled company, imitating, as well as I 
 was able, the attitude of those whom I saw near me. My 
 interpreter, Shwai-ee, was crouching behind me. 
 
 The disease of Court favour is very contagious. I 
 caught it at once ; though it cannot be denied there is a 
 mixture of fear in the gratification one feels at being in 
 favour with an uncontrolled Despot. I could not but reflect 
 that the man sitting before me, cross-legged, on that arm-
 
 32 APPARITION OF AN ENGLISHMAN. [CHAP. III. 
 
 chair, was indeed an object to be feared, and by no means 
 to be trifled witb, though at the present moment clothed 
 with smiles. How soon might this calm surface be lashed 
 into fury by an unguarded word or an untoward circum- 
 stance ! It is at sucb a time, when the lives of human 
 beings are mere toys in his estimation, that the unbridled 
 power of an irresponsible Despot shines forth in its true 
 and hateful colours, and to such sudden changes and 
 paroxysms this smiling Monarch was far from being a 
 stranger. Well might those who sought his favour, crouch 
 in his presence ! At the present moment, however, kind- 
 ness and good-humour were in the ascendant. 
 
 After some inquiries about my country, and the objects 
 I had in view in coming to Ava, His Majesty addressed a 
 few words to some one in the ranks behind me, which, to 
 my no small astonishment, elicited an address to me in 
 clear, good English accent " Are you, sir, an English- 
 man ? " Eobinson Crusoe's surprise at the celebrated foot- 
 print in the uninhabited island could hardly have surpassed 
 mine, for I thought myself 500 miles away from any of 
 my own race. I turned my head to the quarter where the 
 voice came from, and shall never forget the whimsical 
 figure the speaker presented to my view. He was a large, 
 strongly -built man, slightly bent by age, attired after the 
 fashion of the natives, already described a long, ample 
 silk cloth round the waist, a loose muslin jacket, tied with 
 strings in front, covered his body, but did not conceal the 
 white skin beneath, barelegged of course, and his long grey 
 hair twisted into a knot at the crown, where it was con- 
 fined by a strip of white muslin. His long grey beard was 
 so thinned, according to the native fashion, that that por- 
 tion only which appertained to the middle part of the chin 
 was preserved, and this being of a texture stiff as horse-
 
 CHAP. III.] GRACIOUS RECEPTION. 33 
 
 hair wagged backwards and forwards in a most ludicrous 
 manner whenever he attempted to speak. He spoke Bur- 
 mese fluently, and might well have passed for a native, 
 had not his fair complexion, his light-blue eyes, and pro- 
 minent nose, of such shape and colour as I have never 
 seen except among my own respected countrymen, unmis- 
 takably attested his origin. He was addressed as 
 " Yadza" (the nearest approach the Burmese language 
 admits to " Rodgers"), and I now recollected that when 
 in Eangoon I had heard of such a person residing at 
 Amerapoorah, who had formerly held the office of Collector 
 of the Port, now filled by Mr. Lanciego. His history 
 is a melancholy one, and I will give it hereafter as I 
 heard it from his own lips. The King was highly amused 
 at hearing a conversation in the English language for the 
 first time, and encouraged us to continue it, though I 
 fear some of the free remarks his aged servant was im- 
 prudent enough to make, would not have gone unpunished 
 if they had been understood. 
 
 The King was extremely affable, permitting me to take 
 many little liberties which would not have been tolerated 
 for a moment in his own subjects. Finding, from my 
 awkward and undignified twistings, that I could not accom- 
 plish the native feat of sitting on one half of my body 
 only, he desired that I should be at my ease, when, to the 
 horror of all present, I proceeded to change my posture 
 to a cross-legged seat, such as a tailor uses on his shop- 
 board. I was not rebuked for this, nor when I sat up- 
 right, nor when I had the audacity to stare His Majesty 
 in the face. It was evident he was pleased at the idea of 
 my settling at the capital, by the protection^he promised, 
 in a manner that left no doubt it was intended. After 
 liberty had been given to present my offerings to the chief 
 
 c3
 
 84 THE CHIEF QUEEN. [CHAP. III. 
 
 Queen, and to come to the Palace as often as I liked, I was 
 allowed to withdraw, backing out, as I saw others do, on 
 all-fours for a few yards before rising. 
 
 I had now to be presented to a more powerful person 
 in the State even than His Majesty. The chief Queen 
 had been raised to the Throne from the humble condition 
 of chief gaoler's daughter. Although some years older 
 than the King, and far from possessing any personal 
 charms, she had, by the judicious use of her influence, 
 and a certain determination of character, obtained com- 
 plete control over the mind of her easy husband. By 
 corrupt means she had acquired immense wealth her 
 intrigues had filled most of the important offices in the 
 Kingdom with her creatures, and through the instrumen- 
 tality of her only brother, a fit agent for the purpose, she 
 was enabled to carry on a large traffic in bribery and ex- 
 tortion. As avarice, backed by unlimited power, naturally 
 leads to cruelty, this venal pair were as unscrupulous and 
 vindictive as they were avaricious. They were equally 
 feared and detested by the people. 
 
 On our first acquaintance her Majesty was pleased to be 
 unusually gracious. I was ushered into her reception-room 
 without much ceremony, the presents which I had prepared 
 being borne in front as before. She was seated on a 
 square cushion laid upon the floor. Several persons were 
 crouching before her, apparently engaged on business, 
 while a few female attendants behind had charge of her 
 betel-box, golden cup, fan, &c. She did me the honour 
 to order a rush mat to be spread for me on the floor, 
 which was considered to be a mark of great condescen- 
 sion. Unlike the King she examined the presents care- 
 fully, and was so much enamoured of the fine muslins 
 and prints of Manchester and Glasgow that, on being
 
 CHAP. III.] EMBARRASSING PRESENT. 35 
 
 told that I had a large quantity of them for sale, she 
 expressed a wish that I should send forward several 
 packages and repeat my visit on the morrow, when a 
 great many of the ladies of the Palace would like to huy 
 them. Here, indeed, was a piece of good luck I had 
 little expected ! Her Majesty could not have made a 
 proposition more exactly suited to my taste. No one 
 was there to taunt me with becoming the Court Haber- 
 dasher, or even if they did, or ten times worse, such an 
 opportunity for a day's amusement would not have 
 been allowed to pass neglected. I gladly promised 
 obedience. 
 
 Her Majesty then condescended to present me, as 
 a mark of her especial favour, with a pawn from her 
 own box. It was a leaf enclosing a combination of 
 substances at which my stomach revolted, areca-nut, 
 tobacco, terra japonica, lime, and spices, and I know not 
 what besides. What was I to do ? I could not chew 
 all this nastiness to a pulp, as was evidently required of 
 me, so with great deliberation I put it into my waistcoat- 
 pocket. A burst of laughter followed from the young 
 ladies behind at what they supposed to be my ignorance ; 
 another peal, when I told them I should keep it for ever 
 as a mark of Her Majesty's distinguished favour. The 
 present of a pawn in its crude state is not much amiss, 
 but the exhibition of it in a different shape quite sick- 
 ened me. Her Majesty, after some chewing of one of 
 these delicacies, took it from her mouth and handed it 
 over to a pretty girl behind her, who, esteeming herself 
 highly honoured by the gift horribile dictu ! popped 
 the nasty morsel into her mouth, and completed its masti- 
 cation. How fortunate an escape that her Majesty did 
 not so far honour me ! I have witnessed a more uncere-
 
 36 ROYAL PRACTICAL JOKE. [CHAP. III. 
 
 monious transfer of this delicious quid than even the 
 one related, but I spare my reader the disgusting detail. 
 
 Among my presents to the Queen was a handsome box 
 of musical glasses, and while I was explaining to her the 
 method of using them, His Majesty unexpectedly entered 
 the apartment. He asked me if I could play upon them. 
 I answered that I would attempt to do so (for I had 
 amused myself with them in my voyage up the river), but 
 that it would be necessary to provide me with a cup of 
 water for the purpose. A large cup of water was 
 brought. His Majesty seized it from the attendant in 
 transitu, and dashed it with great force over the ranges of 
 cups, deluging the musician, and sprinkling the great Lady 
 besides, as she was seated not far off. As His Majesty 
 laughed heartily at this Royal practical joke, it was of 
 course expected that the company should join in the 
 merriment, and we all did so. After putting my glasses 
 in order again, I had the honour to entertain them with 
 " God save the King," performed in very tolerable style 
 for an amateur, in a place where it certainly had never 
 been heard before. 
 
 It is not, however, altogether prudent for a man to 
 parade his accomplishments at the Court of His Majesty 
 of Ava. I saw there a band of adroit but unfortunate 
 jugglers, who had crossed from Madras, on speculation, 
 to exhibit their feats before the King. They were so 
 successful that he issued his Royal command that they 
 should be kept at his Court, on an allowance of a basket 
 of rice to each person monthly. I was told that they 
 had suffered this detention for two years, and were still 
 not allowed to depart. 
 
 On returning home, and thinking over the events of 
 the day, I confess I was very much bewildered. All my
 
 CaiP. III.] HIS MAJESTY'S FAMILIARITY. 37 
 
 preconceived notions of the dignity and exclusiveness of 
 this great Monarch had heen suddenly blown to the 
 winds. It is true that when a private merchant only had 
 to be presented, some descent from the formality of state 
 might reasonably be expected, but that I should have 
 been laughing and joking with the King and Queen, and 
 that I should have been invited to what was pretty sure 
 to be a repetition of it to-morrow on a larger scale, 
 seemed almost incredible. My interpreter, Burman 
 though he was, seemed equally astonished. In the 
 mean time this footing of intimacy with Crowned Heads 
 was far from disagreeable to think on, and I looked 
 forward with pleasing anticipations of amusement in 
 repeating my visit to the Palace on the morrow.
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 A day in the Palace. Lad ias of Her Majesty's household. Their 
 demeanour. Bargaining. Strange salutation. Honesty in the Palace. 
 The Queen's present. Constitution of the household. The Men- 
 tha-mees. The King's dinner. Flattering reception. Factions at 
 Court. Visit to the Prince of Tharawudi. Menthagee. Their 
 characters and mutual hostility. Tharawudi' s embarrassing familiarity. 
 
 I EXPECTED an amusing day, and I was not disappointed ; 
 howbeit the picture my imagination had formed of the 
 Royal household was nearly as far from the truth as that 
 of yesterday, when I looked for a proud Monarch half 
 concealed from vulgar gaze by a cloud of exclusiveness, 
 and found instead, a man, affable, inclined to unbend, and 
 throw off the trammels of Royalty so far as a Despot may. 
 I now painted a galaxy of Burmese beauties, sought 
 throughout the breadth of the land for their superior 
 charms, and living a life of luxurious indolence within the 
 Palace walls ; in fact, the harem of a Sultan improved by 
 the infusion of a spice of liberty. What puzzled my 
 brain was to account for my easy access to such a com- 
 pany, for it looked very much like an unwarrantable 
 invasion of the sacred privacy of Royalty. I will relate 
 the circumstances of this visit, as it will give some idea 
 of the domestic state of the Royal household. 
 
 Several packages were sent away from my house eorly 
 according to the Queen's command, and I followed them
 
 CHAP. IV.] A DAY IN THE PALACE. 39 
 
 to the Palace about two o'clock, just after Her Majesty had 
 taken her noon-day nap. Female curiosity, however, was 
 there before me. Howjcould it be expected that fifty or sixty 
 ladies should do violence to their feelings by submitting 
 to unnecessary delay, when unheard-of finery lay hidden 
 in the iron-bound boxes before them ? The chests had 
 been opened, and their contents strewed about in wonder- 
 ful confusion. One young lady had attached herself to 
 twenty or thirty yards of Manchester chintz, in which she 
 was strutting about for the amusement of the rest, the 
 superfluous length trailing on the ground behind her. 
 Others glided about like ghosts enveloped in endless 
 white Glasgow muslins. Many dispersed themselves into 
 little coteries of two and three, passing their remarks on 
 articles for dress perhaps new to them. The clatter of 
 tongues was great, and no effort was made to restrain 
 laughter and fun. The moment I entered, many left the 
 goods to talk to the merchant, a still greater curiosity. 
 The unfortunate interpreter was worried with questions 
 much faster than he could answer them, and, as it was 
 e\ 7 ident I was the subject, my deficiency in the language 
 was a sore trial. As tongues went faster, and practical 
 jokes with the contents of the chests increased, there 
 was some danger that these pleasantries might extend 
 into rather riotous proportions, when the entrance of the 
 chief Queen set matters to rights and restored order. 
 
 While Her Majesty was engaged in asking me questions 
 about myself and my country, the ladies completed their 
 selections. Her presence did not seem to impose more 
 than a salutary restraint, for it did not prevent the con- 
 versation of the rest, which went on in a more subdued 
 tone. Presently the King entered the apartment as if by 
 accident. When he saw me seated on the floor he came
 
 40 FREAKS OF COURT LADIES. [CUAP. IV. 
 
 forward rapidly, and gave me a smart slap on the head by 
 way of recognition. Corrected as my ideas had been 
 about the Regal dignity, I was yet little prepared for such 
 a flattering mark of familiarity as this, arid the dread 
 Monarch was fast descending in my estimation to the 
 level of a buffoon or a man of weak intellect. In this, 
 however, I was quite mistaken ; it was merely an indication 
 that His Majesty was in a good humour, and might be 
 approached with safety. When informed how his ladies 
 had occupied themselves the last hour, His Majesty com- 
 manded each one to come forward in turn to give me 
 an account of what she had taken, thus affording me an 
 opportunity of saying a few words to each Lady of the 
 Court singly, a gratification for which I was duly thank- 
 ful. The female dress of the Burmese does not admit of 
 much taste or variety. A heavy silk cloth of gaudy 
 colours is wrapped round the body, completely enveloping 
 it from the neck to the feet; it is open in front, over- 
 lapping considerably, and is fastened by a peculiar twist 
 above and below the breast. Females of rank wear this 
 garment of greater length than the common people, those 
 worn in the Palace trailed on the ground fully six inches 
 or a foot. This is exclusively a native manufacture, and 
 cannot be successfully imitated, it is therefore only the 
 upper garment or loose jacket in which any room is left 
 for the display of taste, and it was for new material for 
 this that they had so greedily dived into my chests. Not 
 being sufficiently skilled in the language to write their 
 titles correctly in the Burmese, I made use of the Roman 
 character, which seemed to puzzle them all excessively, 
 and they were surprised when at His Majesty's command 
 I read the list aloud with tolerable accuracy. A hearty 
 laugh followed any glaring mistake in the pronunciation
 
 CHAP. IV.] THEIR BARGAINING. 41 
 
 of their titles, and no doubt I left a sobriquet to many a 
 fair one that stuck to her long after I had departed. 
 
 So far everything went on agreeably, but now came the 
 painful duty of telling each of the fair purchasers how 
 much she had to pay, and the still more difficult one of 
 assessing the value of the gold and silver she presented 
 for payment. The King's command, however, must be 
 obeyed. Each lady must again be paraded in turn to 
 make payment for what she had taken. His Majesty 
 remained to see fair play, and entered into the spirit of 
 the trafficking, laughing heartily at every dispute which 
 subsequently occurred. 
 
 Scales and weights were now introduced, but this I 
 could not stand; my amour propre rebelled against it. I 
 thought of Shylock the Jew, and though the two cases 
 bore no similarity beyond the apparition of the weights 
 and scales, he was present to my thoughts, and I insisted 
 on making over this part of the play to Shwai-ee, who 
 never having read Shakespeare had no such fancies to get 
 over. I professed my ignorance of the touch of gold 
 and the face of silver, an avowal that no doubt relieved 
 the apprehensions of the ladies, who were looking for a 
 grasping creditor, and who, with all their good-humoured 
 smiles, were not free from a spice of avarice, or it might 
 have been only a love of bargaining. Never was a man 
 so baited as the poor Malabaree. Whenever he gave his 
 honest opinion of the value of the gold, he was instantly 
 assailed, accused of cheating, threatened, coaxed, bullied 
 and called very hard names. When I was appealed to, I 
 always gave judgment in favour of the lady, for finding 
 the gentle creatures were, by their own unbiassed and 
 voluntary assessment of prices, paying five or six times 
 as much as the goods cost, I could well afford to be
 
 42 ANOTHER EMBARRASSMENT. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 generous. The easy indifference I manifested in sub- 
 mitting to what they knew to be attempts at imposition 
 gained me high favour, while it conferred also perhaps the 
 character of a greenhorn. I felt a great disposition to 
 gain immortal renown by making them a present of all 
 they had chosen, which would not have been a very 
 extravagant gift after all, but I feared the precedent might 
 be a troublesome one. With all their eagerness to take 
 petty advantages, honesty was enforced in the main, and 
 no one was allowed to evade the payment of her debt. 
 
 My factotum put up his gold and silver into bags, and 
 I thought the day's amusement had drawn to a close, 
 when I found that I was not to be released without 
 another mark of the Queen's favour, far more embarrassing 
 than that of the pawn, which had been so dexterously 
 evaded; in fact, one would think she selected her honours 
 purposely with the view of plaguing me. Two pieces of 
 rich silk tartan were produced in two shades of blight 
 scarlet colour, extremely beautiful, and such as I should 
 have valued had the gift been unshackled by absurd con- 
 ditions. It was doubtless with the view of enhancing 
 the value of the present, that Her Majesty desired I 
 should wear one of these gay cloths whenever I made 
 my appearance at the Court in future. The pattern and 
 colour were such as none but the Royal family were per- 
 mitted to wear : the intent, therefore, was evident ; but 
 what was to be done ? I could not submit to dress like 
 a native, with a red wrapper round my waist, and yet it 
 was plain this was intended. Though much mortified, I 
 was compelled to receive them with thanks, and to pro- 
 mise compliance, as there was no mode of escape with- 
 out giving offence. But on reaching home my mind 
 was relieved by a hint from Sh\vai-ee, that although
 
 CHAP. IV.] COURT BEAUTIES. 43 
 
 Her Majesty had commanded me to wear them, she 
 had not prohibited me from cutting them ! The thought 
 was a bright one ; they were passed into the hands of 
 my tailor, who soon converted them into a complete suit, 
 of jacket, waistcoat, and trousers, and thus attired in 
 bright scarlet silk from head to foot, like a mountebank, 
 I was obliged in future to parade through the city when- 
 ever business or pleasure called me to the Palace. For- 
 tunately, there was no one to ridicule me in my distress. 
 
 This visit gave me a pleasing impression of the free- 
 dom allowed to the inmates of the Palace. The hilarity, 
 good- humour, and cheerfulness exhibited by the ladies of 
 the Koyal household were sufficient evidence that no ex- 
 cessive strictness of discipline was exerted to mar their 
 happiness. But there was one thing unaccountable and 
 grievously disappointing. Where was the blaze of beauty 
 that my imagination had conjured up ? It is true the 
 Tartar features, which are strongly developed in the. Bur- 
 mese physiognomy, are not, in our estimation, favourable 
 to beauty ; but, still, youth and comeliness have charms 
 in all races, and here there seemed to be a total disregard 
 of them. There were not more than six or eight really 
 pretty girls in the whole company. Many of them were 
 older than the King himself, and could have had no preten- 
 sions at any time to personal charms. The use of the 
 abominable betel-nut had stained the whiteness of their 
 teeth, and the liberal application of sandal-wood ground 
 into powder and dusted over their faces and necks, though 
 it might divert the attention from the incipient wrinkles of 
 those who had passed their prime, certainly did not add 
 to the attractions of the younger and prettier, who needed 
 no such foil. I felt a deep contempt for the taste of the 
 young Monarch, and thought, with such a field to choose
 
 44 FEMALE HOSTAGES. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 from, what a much more satisfactory selection I would have 
 made myself. On relating my disappointment to Mr. 
 Rodgers, he pointed out to me clearly my mistake. In 
 the choice of the females of the Royal household beauty is 
 of little or no account. The Palace unites the character 
 of a harem with that of an honorary prison. Whenever a 
 post conferring great power or confidence is bestowed on 
 a subject, especially if it be that of Governor of a distant 
 province, the jealous feeling of the King is awakened. It 
 is thought necessary to secure his loyalty either through 
 gratitude or fear, and with this view his nearest female 
 relative, usually a daughter, is taken into the Palace in 
 some sense as a hostage for the father's fidelity. If a 
 daughter cannot be given, a sister is taken, and this 
 accounts for the number of ladies of mature age among 
 them. When introduced into this new honour, the 
 revenue of a town or district is granted them for sub- 
 sistence, from which also they derive their title. This 
 title clearly indicates their position Men-thamee (Go- 
 vernor's daughter) being applied indiscriminately to 
 them all. 
 
 It was late when I got away from the Palace. As I 
 was leaving, the remains of the Royal dinner were being 
 carried out on covered lacquered trays. Many neat little 
 cups and plates, some gold, some porcelain, were filled 
 with salads and a variety of strange substances of doubt- 
 ful character, requiring prudent investigation before be- 
 ing admitted to closer acquaintance. Being already a 
 favourite, I was permitted to gratify my curiosity by 
 tasting one of the most suspicious-looking dishes. It 
 was a kind of sand-cricket fried crisp nice enough, ex- 
 cept in name, as a condiment, with boiled rice. Another 
 favourite insect with the Burmese though I did not see
 
 CHAP. IV.] THE KING'S DINNER. 45 
 
 it among the King's dishes is one which I would not 
 offend the stomach of my reader hy culling it a maggot, if 
 I could find another word equally appropriate. It some- 
 what resembles a nut-maggot, magnified to three or four 
 inches long, and is found embedded in every joint or 
 sprout of a species of palm, close to its insertion into 
 the main trunk of the tree. When fried and spread on a 
 toast, it is not to be distinguished from marrow, though 
 I never could altogether overcome my repugnance to its 
 shape and its large black head, with which it was brought 
 to table entire in undisguised hideousness. A wonderful 
 stride in luxury must have been made since those days, 
 when I read of a British Envoy being entertained at 
 breakfast by a Woongee of the Empire, who displayed 
 an array of fifty-seven different dishes, some of them 
 being by no means contemptible specimens of the culi- 
 nary art.* 
 
 Altogether, on weighing the events of these two days, 
 my reception at the Court could not be considered other- 
 wise than highly successful, and such as gave promise of 
 my being protected in carrying out my plans, so far as it 
 rested with his Majesty. But Despots are seldom their 
 own masters. They are generally in their turn ruled by 
 favourites or factions, and so I found it in Ava. There 
 were two powerful parties at the Court, both in favour 
 with the King, but fiercely hostile to each other. I must 
 say something of the leaders of these factions, as their 
 influence will be seen as the story proceeds. One of 
 them was the Prince of Tharawudi, the younger brother 
 of his Majesty, a daring, reckless young fellow, about 
 twenty-five years old, whose thoughtless extravagances 
 
 * Yule's Mission, page 101.
 
 46 FACTIONS AT COURT. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 (lid not deprive him of the wit to perceive that if his 
 brother's Throne became vacant, there must be a deadly 
 fight for it, which, according to custom, could only end 
 by the total destruction of one party or the other. The 
 rightful Heir, a youth of fifteen, the son of the King by a 
 former marriage, was little regarded by either party. He 
 was kept back from power, and looked on only as an ob- 
 stacle to be removed when necessary. Tharawudi sur- 
 rounded himself with bands of daring ruffians, bandits, 
 pugilists, and such like, who lived near his Palace, formed 
 a kind of body-guard, and were ready at a moment's call 
 for any desperate undertaking. As his vices were of a 
 Royal kind, he was a favourite with the people, in spite 
 of the violence and oppression resorted to to support his 
 extravagance. 
 
 The other faction has been already indicated. It pos- 
 sessed all the material power of the Kingdom through the 
 influence of the chief Queen. Her brother, styled Men- 
 thagee (the great Prince), was reputed to be a man pos- 
 sessed of every vice which can debase human nature 
 proud, rapacious, oppressive, vindictive, and cruel and 
 such, when times of trouble came, I found him to be. 
 The sure road to office was bribing the Menthagee, who 
 secured his influence throughout the country by the veiy 
 means which filled his coffers. He was equally hated and 
 feared by the people, and his designs on the Throne formed 
 a topic of general conversation, apparent to all except the 
 indolent and misguided King. 
 
 Another day was devoted to my visits to these great 
 men, with presents as usual. I found them occupied in 
 conformity with their reputed characters the Prince sur- 
 rounded by courtiers, dancers, and wrestlers the Men- 
 thagee, in dispensing justice, or, to speak more correctly,
 
 CHAP. IV.] THE PRINCE THARAWUDI. 47 
 
 in taking bribes to defeat it ; the one Lad a frank, easy 
 manner, the other was the picture of an unscrupulous 
 miser. 
 
 Both were civil enough in fact, the wild Prince quite 
 embarrassed me with his familiarities. He besought me, 
 when I came to see him again, to bring with me some 
 bottles of beer (how he acquired the taste, or even the 
 name, I cannot tell), that we might drink together, and 
 then sent a man to show me over his stables and dog- 
 kennels. In one of the latter I found a noble English 
 mastiff, made furious by being kept chained in a solitary 
 shed, so that no one, but his keepers who fed him, dared 
 to approach within the range of his chain. The moment 
 I entered he flew at me to the extent of his tether like a 
 tiger, but in less than a minute, by whistling and talking 
 to him, I could see that the creature had old associations. 
 One knows almost instinctively whether a dog may be 
 safely trusted, and as this one appeared to recognize me 
 as a countryman, I put faith in him, and, to the astonish- 
 ment and alarm of the keeper, we were instantly caressing 
 each other like old friends. The King and his brother 
 are both dog-fanciers; the Prince prided himself on 
 having the larger and better kennel of the two, but both 
 keep them as mere objects of curiosity, and not for sport 
 or amusement. Before he parted with me, His Koyal 
 Highness proposed a frolic, which brought to my mind 
 the recreations of Prince Hal, recorded by our immortal 
 poet. I was to provide him with a suit of my white 
 linen clothes, and, thus attired, we were to burst forth, 
 like Tom and Jerry, on a nocturnal ramble through the 
 suburb, where peace and order were supposed to be main- 
 tained under the protection of his magistracy. No doubt 
 it was a most promising adventure after a few bottles of
 
 48 WILD OATS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 the beer he coveted, and I felt every inclination to fall in 
 with his humour, and should have done so, but for the re- 
 monstrance of my more prudent Moonshee, who became 
 alarmed for his own safety if his master became involved 
 in a row. His contrivance for extricating us from the 
 doubtful consequences of refusing the Prince's sugges- 
 tion was more ingenious than true. He represented to 
 the Prince that my clothes were all sewed together by 
 women a fatal obstacle to his projected fun, as a Bur- 
 man of rank has a superstitious repugnance to wearing 
 any garment stitched by the other sex. 
 
 To the Woongees, also, I thought it prudent to pay 
 the compliment of a visit, and was, in every case, well 
 received.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Visit to various chiefs. Their occupations. The Hlut-dau. Burmese law- 
 courts. Bribery and corruption. The loo-byo-dau. Their visits. 
 I am accused of stealing the King's sheep. His Majesty's adjudication. 
 Slaughter of oxen. I am protected by Tharawudi, who participates. 
 Wretched bazaar. I attend the Royal Council. The Yoong-dau. 
 Facility of acquiring information. Absence of amusements. Salubrity 
 of climate. 
 
 THESE necessary preliminaries being completed, I had 
 leisure to attend to the more immediate objects of my 
 voyage ; but as I intend to devote the next chapter to the 
 unfolding of my mercantile projects, which, it will be 
 seen, opened out prospects of wealth, brilliant beyond my 
 most sanguine expectations, I shall first say a little on 
 the manner of life this novel seclusion entailed on me. 
 Cut off from all European society, I was necessarily 
 thrown on that of the natives. My visiting list, as it 
 would be called in England, sounded magnificently 
 King, Princes, and Nobles were glad when I called on 
 them, and those who treated me with the greatest affa- 
 bility had the largest share of my attentions. 
 
 In their private houses I was allowed to sit and hear 
 the various business the multitude of callers had to trans- 
 act. Petitioners, litigants, dependants preferred their 
 memorials, causes, and reports, gave information, craved 
 assistance, claimed advice, applied persuasive bribes (where 
 
 D
 
 50 BURMESE LAW COURTS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 they were not in the gross form of bullion, which was 
 reserved for the secret chamber) ; and gradually, but 
 rapidly, I became conversant with the state of society and 
 its secret workings, which I should have sought in vain 
 by any other means. 
 
 Sometimes I attended the hlut-dau, the great Council 
 of State, where the Woongees of the Empire sit to 
 decide causes, and carry on the business of the country. 
 All legal proceedings here were public. Petitions were 
 presented in the first instance, but the investigation and 
 evidence were taken verbally. The number of these 
 Woongees depends on the pleasure of the King ; at this 
 time there were five, four sitting in the hlut-dau, and one 
 residing at Rangoon the old Viceroy, Meeadai Mengee, 
 already noticed. The pressure of the war that followed 
 increased their number to seven. Each Woongee hears 
 causes separately, and some, more affable than the rest, 
 would allow me to approach near them for the conve- 
 nience of hearing, as a Judge in England will invite a 
 distinguished visitor to sit beside him on the bench. Here 
 I would sit at the feet of the great Gamaliel, and watch 
 the rocks and shoals and under-currents of the perilous 
 navigation of Burmese law, bringing on its victims all the 
 evils we deplore in England. But the fountain of justice 
 is by no means so pure. Though no money passes openly, 
 unmistakable indications of the horseleech constantly 
 peeped out, delays, doubts, hints, quite comprehensible 
 to the litigants and their lawyers. In fact, it maybe said, 
 once for all, that bribery is the mainspring by which all 
 manner of business is moved throughout the country. 
 Nothing could be done without it few things fail to be 
 accomplished by its aid. This is so well understood that 
 the best cause is lost unless the Judge is primed. It is
 
 CHAP. V.] BRIBERY INDISPENSABLE. 51 
 
 not only in litigation that bribery is practised it pervades 
 society. No power of any sort can be obtained without 
 it. The chiefs of these bribery shops have favourites 
 who act as touters. Do you want Menthagee's influence ? 
 Bribe his touter, arrange the price, and he will secure it. 
 Finding this hateful system was universal, and that it was 
 ridiculous to expect to get on without it, I becaine in 
 time as expert a briber as the rest, and more successful, 
 as I had an unfathomable pocket. Conscience prevented 
 its being resorted to for an unjust purpose, but I was ab- 
 solutely compelled to look upon it as the legitimate means 
 of securing anything which I could conscientiously de- 
 mand. To refuse the use of this national custom would 
 be like a traveller kicking willingly against every asperity 
 on the road when the path round it was easy, so, as I 
 did not come to Burmah to teach them a purer code of 
 political or judicial morality, there was nothing for it but 
 either to adopt theirs, or give up my object of pursuit 
 altogether. 
 
 At the Palace, of course, I was a frequent visitor. My 
 standing well there was indispensable, and the ground- 
 work of my safety. If I failed to appear for many days 
 together, the King would ask for me. 
 
 Although Princes and Ministers of State would have 
 thought their dignity compromised by returning my 
 visits, there was a class of the junior nobility, called 
 loo-hyo-dau (Royal youths), composed chiefly of the 
 sons of men in high office, who did not so consider it, 
 and many of these were frequent visitors at my house. 
 They passed most of their time in the Palace, ministering 
 flattery to the King, watching opportunities to wriggle 
 themselves into office through his favour, and, unfor- 
 tunately for me, too glad when they could attract His
 
 52 I AM ACCUSED OF [CHAP. V. 
 
 Majesty's notice by any kind of news-bearing, be it ever 
 so mischievous. As I encouraged this kind of intercourse, 
 in common with every other means of gaining local infor- 
 mation, their visits became rather troublesome, especially 
 ' when the rogues found out my hour of dining. Still it 
 aided me in acquiring the language, and it was with some 
 pride I began to find I could walk alone without the aid 
 of Shwai-ee, who had hitherto been as indispensable to 
 me as a walking-stick to a cripple. I could never move 
 without him. Two of these ungrateful youngsters, who 
 had been enjoying my hospitality, brought me into a 
 scrape, which might have been attended with serious con- 
 sequences, and put the favour of his Majesty to a severe 
 test. 
 
 It is well known that the Burmese, being followers of 
 Boodh, do not rear animals for food, though they do not 
 object to eat the carcases of such as die a natural death. 
 Sheep, therefore, are not to be found in the kingdom, ex- 
 cept on the banks of a lake near to Arnerapoorah, where a 
 flock of several thousands, the property of the King, may 
 be seen feeding. 
 
 It was long since I had tasted mutton, so long that 
 the temptation was irresistible, and yet I could not bring 
 myself to eat it after it had become carrion. A negotia- 
 tion was therefore opened between the chief shepherd on 
 the one part, and my man of business on the other, 
 which terminated in half a dozen of the flock being trans- 
 ferred by night, and deposited safely in the enclosed room 
 under my house. So far all was well. For some days I re- 
 joiced to see mutton on my table, though, to the disgrace 
 of His Majesty, it was lean and tough. It so chanced that 
 when two of these loo-byo-dau were sitting in my verandah, 
 one of these unlucky creatures, most vexatiously, began
 
 CHAP. V.] STEALING THE KING'S SHEEP. 53 
 
 to bleat. The unusual sound was not lost on the quick 
 ears of my guests, who, like shabby fellows, carried the 
 news to the King that the white foreigner had been steal- 
 ing his sheep ! The next day an officer from the Palace 
 came to explore, found my little flock (now reduced to 
 five), took possession, and drove them away for His Ma- 
 jesty's inspection. In a like scrape a Burman would 
 have bribed the whole party; but, nothing daunted, I 
 mounted my pony and rode after them to the Palace to 
 protect my interests. It was noon His Majesty was 
 taking his siesta, and the sheep were below, waiting his 
 waking. I took my seat in the hall, in an almost un- 
 governable rage with the tale-bearers who confronted 
 me, and passed an uncomfortable half-hour, wondering 
 what the end of this affair might be. I could see by 
 their manner that the rascals thought me in a bad 
 way. 
 
 When at length the King entered after his nap, he saw 
 me and the sheep at a glance, and asked me what I 
 wanted them for. My politic but mendacious Malabaree 
 wished to tell the King that I was going to domesticate 
 them for amusement ; this, of course, I would not allow, 
 but, proud of my growing proficiency in the language, 
 I blurted out the whole truth at once, and informed His 
 Majesty that it was impossible for an Englishman to live 
 in sight of mutton without tasting it. He burst into a 
 hearty laugh, gave me back two of them, which were 
 black-faced (the best for my purpose), and ordered the 
 remaining three, with white faces, back to his flock. The 
 courtiers were astounded at my escape. The chief shep- 
 herd, no doubt, made a good profit by his flock, which die 
 at convenient times, as wanted by his Majesty or by his 
 other customers. My mistake was in buying them alive.
 
 54 BEEF AND MUTTON. [CHAP. V. 
 
 The shepherd escaped of course by a bribe, and always 
 afterwards contrived a death among his flock whenever I 
 gave him notice, though I was obliged to abandon the 
 idea of fattening them. 
 
 It was not without an unpleasant twinge that I read in 
 an unpublished manuscript, lent to me for perusal some 
 years ago by the late Colonel Bumey, in which he gives 
 a graphic description of the Revolution which placed 
 Tharawudi on the throne, the following butcher- like 
 paragraph: " On this day the King ordered a poor man, 
 who had killed a sheep, to be put to death and quartered 
 in the same manner as he had quartered the sheep." 
 And who was this King, but the very man who was now 
 my confederate in setting at defiance the laws of the 
 Boodh and the King ! 
 
 I soon found out that my jovial friend, the Prince 
 Tharawudi, was as great a lover of beef and mutton as 
 myself. No doubt he made good use of his brother's 
 flock on the lake, but, by some strange process of casu- 
 istry, these pious Buddhists appeared to weigh the enor- 
 mity of the crime by the size of the animal that suffers, 
 and I question whether even he dared to incur the ini- 
 quity or the odium of slaughtering an ox, or even a calf. 
 I saved him both the trouble and the sin. Among my 
 servants were four Mahomedans, willing agents in obtain- 
 ing beef and veal. We used to slaughter them at night 
 in an out-building, but though all secresy was used, it 
 was impossible to say whether accidental discovery might 
 not entail unpleasant consequences. We were living in 
 a quarter of the town under the Prince's immediate juris- 
 diction; complaints would therefore go to him. This 
 facilitated matters wonderfully, as my compliments al- 
 ways went to His Royal Highness, with a quarter of an
 
 CHAP. V.] CARRION FOOD. 55 
 
 animal which " had unfortunately died in my yard last 
 night." We perfectly understood each other, and the 
 Prince being particeps criminis, we could eat our beef 
 without fear of the consequences. 
 
 Unpleasant as it was to run counter to the prejudices 
 of the natives in the supply of my table, the state of 
 their shambles justified it. Joints of carrion ponies, 
 oxen and cows, rats, snakes, and pigs (the scavengers of 
 the streets), could not be tolerated, and a daily mess of 
 boiled rice, with ngapwee and wild vegetables, formed a 
 meagre fare to one who had been long used to a generous 
 one. Ghosts of poultry and eggs were certainly to be 
 had, with now and then some indifferent lake fish. Much 
 might be done for health and comfort on a future voyage, 
 by the precaution of having a good supply of preserved 
 meats ; but that I had unluckily neglected to provide. 
 
 Captain Cox says, " This filthy custom of eating the 
 flesh of diseased animals is the cause of a dreadful dis- 
 order which attacks the extremities with ulcerous sores, 
 which soon mortify, and leave those who survive dis- 
 gusting and mutilated objects."* I have known a horse, 
 which died of disease in the stable of a friend, to be cut 
 in pieces on the spot and carried away for food, the 
 operators eagerly contending for the best portions of the 
 delicacy. 
 
 One of the most interesting sights at the Court was 
 the meeting of the Royal Council. Although it is not 
 usual to admit strangers to it, an Attwenwoon, named 
 Moung-tsa, whose acquaintance I had made, relying on 
 the favour shown me by the King, ventured to take me 
 there, an unauthorized guest, under the shadow of his 
 
 * Mission of Captain Hiram Cox, page 192.
 
 56 THE ROYAL COUNCIL. [CHAP. V. 
 
 wing. No clock was needed to summon this assembly. 
 It was held every morning punctually as the sun peeped 
 above the horizon, at which time it was expected that 
 every high functionary would be in his place, waiting His 
 Majesty's appearance, a condition, I trow, which, however 
 salutary, would damp the aspirations of many of our 
 senators at home. 
 
 , Nothing could exceed the order and solemnity with 
 which business was transacted, for although I very im- 
 perfectly understood what was going forward, and 
 although bribery and corruption might be at the root 
 of every subject discussed, yet if was evident that 
 there was a discussion, that rival interests were repre- 
 sented, and that the semblance at least of a certain 
 amount of freedom of opinion was preserved. The usual 
 form of introducing a topic was by a written document, 
 which was read, or rather sung or intoned, by an officer 
 of the Court, called a Thatidausen, and before the Royal 
 order was given on it those present were permitted to 
 express themselves. Few opened their lips, however, ex- 
 cept the Woongees and the Attwenwoons, unless appealed 
 to, and on their representations the Royal order was 
 given and registered by the same officer who had chaunted 
 the memorial. No dresses of state were worn, nor deco- 
 ration, except a simple belt of a few thin cotton cords 
 thrown over the left shoulder, the number of these cords 
 indicating the rank of the wearer. Colours were avoided 
 in the robe and head-dress, both of which were of white 
 muslin. No seats or mats were allowed ; all sat on the 
 boarded floor, arranged according to their respective 
 rank, nearer to, or more distant from, the Throne, the 
 gilded arm-chair I before alluded to. His Majesty, on 
 recognizing me, said a few words to my protector, but
 
 CHAP. V.] FREEDOM OF INTERCOURSE. 57 
 
 did not address me directly. The sight was altogether 
 an imposing one, calculated to inspire confidence in a 
 stranger by the strict order and apparent deliberation that 
 prevailed in the assembly. The retiring of His Majesty 
 was the signal for the breaking-up of the Council. 
 
 There was another Court of Justice in the city called the 
 Yoong-dau, presided over by the Myowoon, or Governor 
 of the town, answering to our police-courts. It took 
 cognizance of all criminal cases occurring within the 
 precincts of the town. I was surprised at the few in- 
 stances of robbery or other great crimes that came before 
 the court, but after-experience too clearly explained this, 
 when the secrets of the dread Let-ma-yoon, or death- 
 prison, where the terrible inquisition into crimes of this 
 nature was conducted, became unfolded to my view in all 
 its cruelty. 
 
 What with frequently dropping into their Courts, visit- 
 ing the chiefs at their houses, encouraging the society of 
 such as chose to call on me, constant familiar intercourse 
 with the more respectable portion of the traders, and, 
 above all, keeping habitually on the alert to lose no 
 opportunity, I acquired, in two or three months, a pretty 
 correct insight into the people and their institutions. 
 The general publicity pervading all affairs of business or 
 of State, as well as the free domestic habits of the com- 
 mon people, much aided me in gaining this knowledge. 
 If I happened to stop at a decent shop, the chances were 
 that I should be asked to go inside and chat with the 
 wife and children. Their worst habit was an utter dis- 
 regard to truth where an object could be gained by lying. 
 This was a vice common to all classes, practised, too, with 
 such little skill or adroitness, that it was easy to detect 
 truth from falsehood at the first glance.
 
 58 CLIMATE, SALUBRIOUS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 Of amusements there were few beyond those created 
 by novelty. Unlike Eangoon the country round Araera- 
 poorah was open and accessible for horse exercise by 
 decent roads ; but this solitary riding I soon found weari- 
 some, and cared little for it. There was a woful lack 
 of game within a reasonable distance from the town, and 
 I could not but foresee that if a love of lucre should 
 tempt me to make this my place of residence for any 
 lengthened period, I must be content to make the pursuit 
 of gain for the time almost my only solace. 
 
 That the climate was salubrious, the robust condition 
 of the population sufficiently testified. During the cool 
 months, from November to March, the temperature was 
 delicious. In the morning I often found the roads hard 
 with frost, thin ice covering the puddles. I was told, 
 however, that in the summer, before the periodical rains 
 set in, which here are far from heavy or constant, the 
 heats were very intense ; but, altogether, I saw nothing to 
 fear from the climate.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mercantile prospects. Export trade. General system of prohibition. 
 Astonishing profits on imports. Prospects of immense fortune. On 
 what circumstances depending. Difficulties. How to be overcome. 
 
 IT is now time that I should advert more particularly 
 to the prime objects of my enterprise. The disclosure of 
 the golden harvest which lay ready to the sickle of any 
 one who saw his way to reap it, and to surmount the 
 various obstacles in his path, will not fail to astonish the 
 reader, as it did me. It is, however, more surprising that 
 so recently as the year 1823, after many years of active 
 search by a host of adventurers for new markets in which 
 to extend British commerce and force her manufactures, 
 so important a field as Burmah should have been over- 
 looked or neglected, than that the first person who 
 thoroughly explored it should discover a mine of wealth 
 to work to his own advantage. No doubt there were 
 frightful difficulties in the way of establishing an ex- 
 tended commerce, that must be overcome before success 
 could attend these efforts, and very likely the knowledge 
 of these difficulties may have hitherto deterred any one 
 from making the attempt. But my observations led me 
 to believe that some of the most formidable might be 
 removed by judicious management, and if they were so 
 removed, the way to untold wealth was plain and certain.
 
 60 MERCANTILE PEOSPECTS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 In those days Burmah may be said to have had 
 almost no external commerce at all. The only traffic 
 worthy the name was that with the Chinese, who carried 
 off large quantities of cotton by the highway of the 
 Irrawuddi, for the supply of their southern provinces, 
 giving in return many articles fit for home con- 
 sumption, which arrived annually in caravans, trans- 
 ported by mules and other beasts of burden, at a village 
 called Medai, a few miles to the northward of Amera- 
 poorah. The article of the greatest value in this caravan 
 was raw silk. 
 
 There was also another mart for barter with the 
 Chinese higher up the river, but too distant for me to 
 attend it. 
 
 From their sea-port of Eangoon little else was ex- 
 ported than teak timber, which their extensive forests 
 furnished in boundless quantity. The money value of it, 
 however, was insignificant, and quite inadequate for pur- 
 poses of exchange. As the encouragement of commerce 
 was not thought of, the industry of the country had not 
 been directed to produce or to manufacture articles for 
 export, and even those which existed such was the 
 ignorance of the Government were prohibited from ex- 
 portation, under the absurd idea that the country would 
 be drained of useful commodities, and become im- 
 poverished thereby. Such, for instance, was the case 
 with the silk imported by land from China. It was not 
 to be exported, for fear sufficient 'should not remain for 
 the clothing of the population ! Eice, the most abundant 
 product of the country, often raised in such inexhaustible 
 quantity that men and cattle conjointly could not con- 
 sume it, was under a similar law. The precious metals, 
 the produce of native mines, which, for want of the re-
 
 CHAP. VI] ABSURD PROHIBITIONS. 61 
 
 quisite skill among the Burmese, were farmed to and 
 worked by Chinese, were guarded with still greater 
 jealousy, under the mistaken notion that gold and silver 
 constituted the wealth of a nation. Their spirited little 
 ponies were vainly considered so valuable, that means 
 were adopted to perpetuate the breed in Burmah alone, 
 taking care that foreign countries should not participate in 
 the benefits. Their beautiful marble, for which there might 
 possibly have been a foreign demand, was also prohibited, 
 being sacred to the manufacture of their idols. Titus, 
 from one cause or other, almost every product of value 
 was fettered, and industry crushed by legislation such 
 as prevailed with our ancestors in by-gone times, but 
 which has been gradually abandoned as its folly became 
 apparent. Rubies and sapphires of the finest quality 
 are found in abundance; but even precious stones, a 
 commodity which, from its small bulk, would seem to be 
 beyond the reach of fiscal laws, partook of the restric- 
 tion. In fact, one would argue, from the state of the 
 laws, that the Government had the definite object in view 
 completely to exclude any commercial intercourse what- 
 ever with other countries. 
 
 Such an unpromising state of affairs existing, one 
 may naturally ask how I could indulge a ray of hope ? 
 Whence the extravagant prospect of success held out at 
 the commencement of this chapter ? I answer, that the 
 very conditions so depressing and forbidding to the 
 multitude are precisely those by which an individual may 
 profit, and which he may turn to the greatest advantage. 
 Not that I contemplated evading their laws by entering 
 into illicit trade, which, irrespective of the unanswerable 
 moral argument against it, might have led to dangerous 
 consequences; but perhaps my ideas may more clearly
 
 62 . ENORMOUS PROFITS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 develope themselves if I first pass to the other side of 
 the question, and show the marvellous success that 
 attended our little trial adventure in the import trade. 
 
 It is necessary I should remind the reader that I had 
 brought with me from Bengal a variety of the cotton 
 manufactures of Manchester and Glasgow, such as my 
 friend there thought most likely to suit the wants of the 
 people. The cost of them in Calcutta was ;3000. 
 "With the exception of a few chests sent to the Palace at 
 theQueen's desire, these were all now at my house. When 
 the formalities of presentation at the Court had been 
 gone through, Shwai-ee gave notice to the eager traders 
 that I was now ready to dispose of these goods. They 
 came and a scene ensued that opened my eyes at once 
 to the fortune which might be rapidly amassed by the 
 pioneers in this field. The contention among these men 
 as to who should be the fortunate buyer ran so high that 
 I began to fear a fight would ensue ; therefore, as prices 
 had been already offered that might have satisfied the 
 greediest extortioner, the strife of the battle-field was 
 calmed down by the assurance that each should participate 
 in the purchase. The almost incredible sum of about 
 8000 was the result of this negotiation ! But even 
 these figures do not represent the enormous profits 
 disclosed to my wondering view. Many of the goods 
 were ill chosen and unsuitable to the market, a mistake 
 inseparable from a first essay with uncertain means of 
 information, but which it was easy to avoid in future. 
 Without entering into uninteresting detail, it is enough 
 to say, that the more favoured selections might be re- 
 presented by the figures 5s. or 6s. on the one hand, 
 and 35s. on the other; the first being the cost at the 
 place of manufacture, the last, the selling price at
 
 CHAP. VI.] BURMESE BONDS. 63 
 
 Amerapoorah, or about six or seven times their first 
 cost. 
 
 It was impossible to say to what extent this trade 
 might be carried, or how long such astounding prices 
 would continue ; but this was quite certain, that the 
 demand would be beyond what I had the power to 
 supply, and that prices would not fall un^l the restrictions 
 on exportable produce should be removed. Competition 
 would then step in as the knowledge of the commerce 
 became generally known, and prices and profits would 
 as usual conform. The population of the Capital was. 
 not the only one to be supplied. These goods would 
 find their way into the northern provinces of the Empire, 
 which could not be supplied from any other source. 
 
 The next day my fiiends came with bags of silver and 
 gold in bullion to pay for their purchases. Some, not 
 so wealthy, I suppose, as their brethren, asked me to 
 grant them credit. As I had made up my mind to 
 remain at the least two months, for the purpose of 
 acquiring information, and wishing to test the honesty 
 and trustworthiness of the dealers, I willingly consented 
 to do so, and it spoke well for the people that none of 
 them failed in their payments. One delinquent hesitated, 
 but on my threatening to tell the King how he endea- 
 voured to defraud a foreigner, the money was immediately 
 paid. Their very loose manner of committing engage- 
 ments to writing astonished me. A coarse thick paper, 
 like pasteboard, made of bamboo macerated and pulped, 
 and rendered black by a preparation of charcoal and 
 other substances, is written on with a stick of soap-stone, 
 just as we use our slate and slate-pencil, the writing 
 being as easily obliterated by a damp sponge. On this 
 the bond is written, the names of the witnesses being
 
 64 NO EXPORT TRADE. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 inserted, and without any signature, either of the party 
 bound or hy the witnesses, is placed in the possession of 
 the creditor. In fact, it partakes only the character of a 
 memorandum. At first, I demurred to such a frail docu- 
 ment, hut on being assured it was their custom, and that 
 the debt could be established by the witnesses, I submitted, 
 though it mustibe confessed a less binding document, 
 or one more liable to evasion, can hardly be imagined. 
 They seemed to have no idea of proof by signature, or 
 by the recognition of handwriting. Perhaps the continu- 
 ous sameness of formal circles constituting the Burmese 
 writing does not admit the same facility of identification 
 as the more varied forms of the Roman character. 
 
 But now the difficulty before contemplated comes pro- 
 minently into view. It is true I have got 8000 in 
 gold and silver, but what am I to do with it ? It seems 
 to be about as valueless as the same weight of iron. I 
 want to transport it, or its equivalent, to Calcutta, but 
 how is this to be accomplished ? The simple mode 
 would be to send the bullion itself, but that is illegal. 
 The next impulse is to buy the productions of the 
 country suited for exportation, but I am met by the 
 same obstruction, except in the staple of teak timber 
 and a few articles of even less value. Besides, how many 
 huge ships will it require to carry away 8000 worth of 
 timber, and what the loss and delay in effecting it ? The 
 thought is indeed disheartening, but can no mode of 
 relief be hit upon ? It is certainly clear enough that if 
 a man residing in Bengal worth 10,000 wishes to emi- 
 grate, and become a denizen of Burmnh, he may in 
 effecting the change convert his 10,000 into 25, 000 or 
 even 30, 000, but there he must remain for the remainder 
 of his days at least his property must. But the worst
 
 CHAP. VI.] NOTHING BUT BRIBERS. 65 
 
 has not yet been stated. So jealous was the Government 
 of the drain of the precious metals from the country, 
 that it objected to my removing so large a sum from the 
 capital to their own port of Rangoon, under the con- 
 viction that I should do so merely for the facility it 
 afforded of smuggling it on board ship. Altogether this 
 was indeed a maze of embarrassment and perplexity, and 
 unless I could find a pathway through it, the only alter- 
 native was to spend my money as quickly as possible, and 
 then decamp. 
 
 As I was not at all disposed to do this, I began to 
 act in the spirit of the well-known adage which advises 
 us to fall in with the customs of the country we happen 
 to live in ; and what would a Burman do under such 
 circumstances ? What but extricate himself by bribery? 
 If ever doubtful means were not only admissible but 
 justifiable, they were so here ; so I opened my batteries 
 against the strongholds of prohibition, by sending balls 
 of gold and silver into Menthagee and the Woongees 
 with such effect that the outworks were soon demolished. 
 First fell the refusal to permit me carrying my treasure 
 to Rangoon, then (bringing heavier metal to bear) the 
 liberty to buy and export a little raw silk. I dared no 
 more for the present ; but I left off firing with this con- 
 viction, viz. that if I chose to bribe high enough, and 
 in the right quarter, there were few privileges that were 
 beyond my reach. If I determined to follow up this 
 first essay by a permanent residence at Ava, a few 
 thousand pounds spent among the Princes and Ministers 
 annually a 'sum which would hardly be felt where the 
 gains were so large would suffice to secure the whole 
 Court in my interest. 
 
 It thus appears that one, and only one, serious impedi-
 
 66 GRAIN FOR EXPORT. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 ment stood in the way of any individual seizing the 
 tempting opportunity to make a gigantic fortune, and 
 that, too, in a very unexpected manner, in times when 
 every comer of the world was supposed to he overrun 
 and explored hy hosts of indefatigable fortune-hunters. 
 This one impediment was how to get the profits out of 
 the country after they had heen made. For the precious 
 metals there was no hope ; the prejudice was too deeply 
 rooted to he assailed with any chance of success. But 
 there was another article of commerce, already slightly 
 adverted to, which would serve my purpose far hetter, 
 and at the same time was not so likely to meet with 
 opposition. If I could only succeed in shaking the 
 ohstinacy and ignorance of the Hlut-dau, the wanting 
 link would be supplied, and the chain of commerce made 
 perfect. I allude to Kice. My information led me to 
 believe that in the luxuriant plains of Pegu and Arracan 
 it was a common thing in some years of plenty to allow 
 the excess of production of grain, after supplying the 
 demand for home consumption, to go to destruction, the 
 cultivators not deeming it worth the labour to clean the 
 grain from the husk, when no certain market could 
 afterwards be found for its sale. I thought, by represent- 
 ing the folly of this waste (liberally backed by that without 
 which no good could be effected), I might get the Hlut- 
 dau to grant an order to the Viceroy to allow me to 
 purchase it for export. When the cultivators once saw 
 that they could depend on a market, the production 
 would rapidly increase, and it would form a monopoly in 
 my favour of incalculable value. The course of events 
 subsequent to the war go to prove the accuracy of my 
 calculations, for in a few years after the cession of 
 Arracan to us, those prolific plains alone, raised such an
 
 CHAP. YL] LARGE FORTUNE IN VIEW. 67 
 
 astonishing quantity of grain as actually glutted for a 
 time all the markets of Europe, after providing for their 
 own sustenance. It was a subject, however, which required 
 delicate handling, as their prejudices were strong on this 
 point, so I left it for future diplomacy, contenting my- 
 self on this occasion in following the old beaten path, 
 with such little variations as lay within my reach. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter (in which it will be 
 seen from my remarks that I have anticipated and made 
 use of information acquired during subsequent months), 
 a few figures embodying the opinions I had arrived at may 
 still more astonish the reader. They may have been 
 sanguine, but even now, on a retrospect, I am not at all 
 sure they were so. It must be remembered that a com- 
 merce, which now supports numerous flourishing mer- 
 cantile establishments, was at that time unfolded to me 
 alone, and lay at my feet, a huge monopoly, requiring only 
 dexterous management to be converted into a mine of 
 wealth. I say, then, that 50,000 embarked in the 
 trade annually would readily find a market, and produce 
 three times that sum, or 150,000, leaving an apparent 
 gain of 100,000 per annum. If the prohibition could 
 be sapped in the articles of grain and raw silk, and 
 assuming that the latter was of a quality saleable in the 
 European markets, which I was now in the way of 
 proving, there would be little difficulty in remitting this 
 sum to India or to Europe, and in thus securing the profit. 
 On the contrary, should my diplomacy in this matter fail, 
 and I was cast upon the unmanageable timber trade alone, 
 one fourth part of that sum would hardly find remittance 
 even this perhaps at a loss; and the whole enterprise 
 might then be regarded as a failure, scarcely worth the 
 anxiety and risk which must necessarily be encountered.
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 Mr. Rodgers. His history. Irascible character of the King. His attack 
 upon his Council. New Palace at Ava. It is injured by lightning. 
 Consequent execution of the architect. I take leave of the King. 
 His commands. I return to Rangoon under convoy. Kyouptaloung 
 Thegee. Gross treatment of Europeans at Rangoon. An instance. 
 Singular escape of a lascar. 
 
 As Mr. Bodgers, the old gentleman whose acquaintance 
 I had made in so singular a manner, was the only Euro- 
 pean within reach, we naturally saw a good deal of each 
 other, and most valuable to me his long experience of 
 the country proved in forming my conclusions as to the 
 security to he enjoyed at the Capital. I was curious to 
 know by what train of accidents he had been brought to 
 spend his life in this rude country, and he gave me an 
 outline of his history, which, as he and all the actors in 
 it must long since have passed away, there can be no 
 objection to my giving, as nearly as I can recollect it, in 
 his own words. A useful moral may be drawn from his 
 sad story. 
 
 " In the year 1 782 I was the fourth officer in one of the 
 ships belonging to the East India Company, trading to 
 Calcutta. On the outward voyage complaints were made 
 by the crew of the bad quality of the salt provisions served 
 out to them, and I had the misfortune to discover, when I
 
 CHAP. VII] HISTORY OF ME. RODGERS. 69 
 
 was sent below to get up some fresh casks, that the chief 
 officer was dishonestly feeding them with tainted meat 
 which belonged to himself, intending to replace it by so 
 many casks from the ship's stores. He was much exaspe- 
 rated when, on returning to the upper deck, I taxed him with 
 the fraud. An altercation ensued, then blows. For this, 
 being the junior officer, I was placed under arrest, from 
 which I was not released when the ship anchored in the 
 river Hooghly. I was allowed, however, to go on shore for 
 exercise occasionally at Fultah, where there was a solitary 
 tavern at which the officers used to regale themselves. 
 
 " Here I hid myself until an opportunity offered 
 of meeting my oppressor as he was walking alone in a 
 garden behind the house. I then approached him with 
 two of the ship's pistols, taxed him with his ill-usage, and 
 demanded satisfaction, offering him his choice of the 
 pistols. This he refused, when, urged on by the desire 
 of revenge, I attacked him with a Penang lawyer,* which 
 I had provided for the purpose, intending only to inflict 
 a severe chastisement ; but each blow seemed to increase 
 my fury, which, as my injuries arose to my mind, became 
 quite ungovernable. At last I left him insensible, I 
 feared, perhaps, dead. What was to be done ? Eeturn 
 on board my ship I dared not, so I got into a dingy, and 
 taking the flood-tide paid the men to pull me with all 
 speed to Barrackpore, a place some miles above Calcutta, 
 where the cadets who came out as passengers in the ship 
 were quartered. I cast myself on their protection, which 
 was readily granted, as the chief officer was by no means 
 a favourite, and they knew the provocation I had received. 
 Here I lay hidden by them for some weeks, and then, sup* 
 
 *A thick cane, so called.
 
 70 HISTORY OF MR. RODGERS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 plying me with money, they sent me forward to Chittagong, 
 whence I made my way across the British frontier into 
 Arracau, and eventually to Rangoon, where, in an un- 
 known foreign country, I found a safe asylum. From 
 that time I have never once quitted the Burman territory, 
 though I might have done so with safety, as I heard 
 afterwards that the man I had so unmercifully punished 
 happily recovered, and made subsequent voyages in the 
 service of the East India Company." 
 
 It is much to he feared that this melancholy story will 
 not admit even the alleviation noticed in the sequel, hut 
 that the subject of it fell into the common delusion of 
 believing that which he so earnestly wished to be true. 
 If the crime was great, so was the retribution; it was 
 life-long, and terrible enough almost to justify the ex- 
 clamation of the first murderer, "My punishment is 
 greater than I can bear." For more than forty years had 
 tliis unhappy man (by no means destitute of kind and 
 benevolent feelings) been a fugitive from justice, banished 
 from civilized life, suffering alone the pangs of remorse, 
 the constant victim of oppression from which he dared 
 not fly, and harassed by the continual fear of being 
 claimed as a criminal by the Indian Government. He 
 had long ceased all communication with his family, but 
 had heard that he had a younger brother, a teacher of 
 music at a town in Lincolnshire, which report, singularly 
 enough, I was able to confirm, as I had been in his 
 company some years before at the house of a friend 
 where he attended professionally. It was impossible not 
 to be drawn into sympathy with such a sufferer, while I 
 listened with wonder to the incidents with which his 
 strange life abounded. Mr. Kodgers had married a 
 native Portuguese woman, by ^yhonl he had a son, about
 
 CHAP. VII.] DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 71 
 
 twelve years old of course nearly native in all his habits 
 and ideas. 
 
 Once in conversation I alluded to the good-humoured, 
 condescending manners of the King. "Pretty well at 
 times," was the reply, " but he is not to be trusted, sir. 
 He gives way to sudden bursts of passion, when for a 
 little while he is like a raging madman, and no one 
 dares to approach him. I was once present at a full 
 durbar where all the officers of Government then at the 
 Capital were assembled. The King was seated on n 
 gilded chair as you have seen him, to all appearance in 
 his usual good temper, when something was said by one 
 present which irritated him. His Majesty rose quickly 
 from his chair and disappeared at a door opening to a 
 private apartment behind the Throne. The Council looked 
 all aghast, not knowing what to think of it, but when he 
 re-appeared armed with a long spear, the panic was uni- 
 versal. Sauve qui petit. We made a simultaneous rush 
 to the wide flight of steps leading to the Palace-yard, like 
 a herd of deer before a savage tiger ; down the stairs we 
 went pell-mell, tumbling over each other in our haste to 
 escape, without respect to rank or station. His Majesty 
 made a furious rush at us, chased the flying crowd to the 
 head of the flight of stairs, and then, -quite forgetting in 
 his frenzy who was the delinquent, launched his spear in 
 the midst of us at a venture. It passed my cheek, and 
 stuck in the shoulder of an unfortunate man on the step 
 before me without doing him any very serious injury. 
 The only man who remained in the Council Hall was the 
 old Sakkya Woongee, who could not escape because of his 
 infirmity, however much he might have wished it. He 
 had the cunning to crawl up to a huge marble image of 
 Guatama always erected in the Hall, ready to receive His
 
 72 A DESPOT. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 Majesty's devotions, pretending to offer up prayers for the 
 averting of the King's wrath. He might have saved himself 
 the trouble, for it was already appeased by his mad attack 
 upon his Council, and he spoke kindly to the old Minister 
 for not having joined in the flight. If ever you see 
 him getting into a passion, I advise you to keep out of 
 his way." 
 
 I had not to wait long, to witness a more tragic in- 
 stance of this unbridled temper, verifying the words of 
 our poet, 
 
 ' ' How wretched 
 Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favours !" 
 
 I have said that the King was demolishing his old 
 Palace at Amerapoorah, and was building a new one at 
 Ava, four or five miles down the river. This new struc- 
 ture was designed to eclipse the old one in its size, and in 
 the splendour of its decoration, and was now far advanced 
 towards completion. It was, indeed, a remarkably beauti- 
 ful building. The tallest of the teak trees of his forests 
 had been hewn and carved into pillars, long, elegant 
 vistas of which, richly gilded, already marked its noble 
 proportions. The tall spire, consisting of a number of 
 roofs tapering one above the other, in the well-known 
 Chinese style, had just been' crowned by the golden tee, 
 or umbrella, regarded as the glory of the Palace, the use 
 of it being confined to the Eoyal residence and to sacred 
 edifices. This spire is erected over the Hall of Audience, 
 and the sacred " tee" on its pinnacle, with its hoop of 
 sonorous bells, is placed as nearly as possible over the 
 Throne itself. The architect who planned the Palace, 
 stood deservedly high in his master's favour, for it was 
 admired by every one as a perfect specimen of good 
 taste. The King was so much pleased with it, that he
 
 CHAP. VII.] ROYAL ARCHITECT EXECUTED. 73 
 
 often amused himself by going to inspect the progress of 
 the works. On one of these excursions the town was 
 visited by a terrific thunder-storm, the saored tee was 
 struck by the lightning, the massive iron stanchions sup- 
 porting it bent nearly to a right angle, and the ill-fated 
 umbrella of course reversed. It was indeed a melancholy 
 spectacle to behold the fragments of this beautiful pin- 
 nacle, suspended at an immense height, a mark for all the 
 fury of the storm. But the tempest was nothing in com- 
 parison with that which raged in the breast of the Tyrant 
 when he beheld his glory blown to shreds, and an omen 
 of evil brought upon his Throne. As he could not vent 
 his fury on the elements, he turned it on the able but ill- 
 fated Architect. I did not see him at the moment, but 
 was told his rage was like frantic insanity. The poor 
 man was hunted up and dragged to the place of execu- 
 tion, the Tyrant ejaculating every few minutes, "Is he 
 dead ? " " Is he dead ? " as if grudging a prolonged 
 existence even of a few minutes. 
 
 But on the execution -ground a scene was enacted 
 that illustrates my remarks about the universality of 
 bribery. It is common, when the executioners have a 
 victim of rank, or one able to pay, to suspend the blow 
 till sunset, to give time to his friends to negotiate for his 
 pardon. This chance was offered to the dejected Archi- 
 tect, who, almost as mad as his master, refused the boon, 
 and insisted on their performing their office instantly; 
 they complied, and the expected reprieve arrived too late. 
 It is a pity that Despots do not always show themselves 
 in this guise, without redeeming their character by any 
 lucid interval. The genus would then soon become 
 extinct. 
 
 Many amusing and many alarming anecdotes were 
 

 
 74 A FAVOURITE PUNISHED. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 told me, by Mr. Rodgers, of the Bang's vagaries ; but those 
 I have related will give a pretty correct idea of the fickle 
 and hasty character of the Monarch whose favour must 
 be the groundwork of my safety, and indispensable to the 
 success of my enterprise. Sometimes his anger would 
 take a more ludicrous turn. A youth in the Palace had 
 incurred his displeasure, but being a prime favourite, and 
 not wishing to degrade him in the eyes of the public, 
 His Majesty possessed himself of a sugar-cane, and be- 
 laboured the delinquent with it in a Princely style with 
 his own hands, and with such severity as to leave no 
 doubt about the reality of the punishment. Still this 
 King, notwithstanding his violent and irritable disposition, 
 was generally regarded as a mild and merciful Sovereign, 
 and possessed the affections of his people. He was cer- 
 tainly partial to foreigners, or a different fate would have 
 attended me and my companions in our subsequent cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 After passing two months under the Golden Feet, and 
 feeling my way to a satisfactory solution of the queries 
 which were the object of my voyage, I began to think 
 of returning to Calcutta, to relate my adventures to the 
 friend who had provided the means for the exploration. 
 My boats were prepared, my crews engaged, my treasure 
 and effects embarked, when I presented myself at the 
 Palace to take my leave. The King was exceedingly 
 gracious, asked if I had been well treated, and was appa- 
 rently gratified when he heard that I intended to return 
 the following year to live under his protection. When I 
 asked whether there was anything my country produced 
 that would be acceptable to His Majesty, he thought for a 
 few moments, and then said, " My brother, Tharawudi, 
 is always crowing over me about his dogs ; it is very im-
 
 CHAP. VII.] THE KING'S COMMAND. 75 
 
 proper that he should have a larger one than me. Can 
 you bring me a dog taller than any in his kennel ? " I 
 replied that I would do my best to take the conceit out 
 of the Prince. " But," added he, " do not let him know 
 what I tell you." The Prince was to be kept in profound 
 ignorance of the humiliation he was to undergo, and the 
 King was as delighted as a child at the idea of quietly 
 outwitting his brother. 
 
 I then went to leave my P. P.O. with the Prince of 
 Tharawudi. Here, in an outbuilding, I found the Chief 
 of Kyouptaloung, a village on the river side a few miles 
 below, who had fallen under the Prince's displeasure, and 
 had been sentenced to a degrading and painful punish- 
 ment. He implored me to intercede with his exaspe- 
 rated master, and, like a very frail Buddhist, promised to 
 have an ox ready to put on board my boat when we 
 passed his village, as a recompense for my good offices. 
 I obtained the poor fellow's pardon, but did not delay 
 my boats to claim the promised reward. 
 
 It happened that at this time the Prince was despatching 
 a war-boat to his province of Tharawudi, which he offered 
 to me as a protecting convoy. The large amount of 
 treasure on board was likely to prove a temptation to the 
 gangs of robbers who always more or less infested the 
 river; I therefore thankfully accepted his offer. The 
 Chief of the war-boat faithfully executed his orders; 
 indeed, he went beyond them, for he never lost sight of 
 me until he had escorted me down to Eangoon. 
 
 I left Amerapoorah early in December, in company 
 with this war-boat, rowing about sixty oars. The water 
 in the river had much diminished, many islands and 
 sandbanks, which we had sailed over in the rainy season, 
 were now dry, rendering our progress circuitous and 
 
 E2
 
 76 TREATMENT OF FOREIGNERS [CHAP. VII. 
 
 tedious ; the current was comparatively sluggish, and the 
 monsoon winds having ceased, we had to depend only on 
 our oars. Nine or ten days brought me again to Ran- 
 goon, after an absence of five months. 
 
 Here I made my dispositions for transferring my 
 money to Calcutta, which, with all the energy I could 
 use, took two or three months to accomplish. I then 
 followed as quickly as possible in the good ship Alfred, 
 the same that brought me from Calcutta the previous 
 year. 
 
 After the very kind and liberal treatment I had expe- 
 rienced at Amerapoorah, it was with regret I noticed that- 
 a system the very reverse was practised towards the few 
 Europeans who were living at Rangoon. This was, no 
 doubt, partly their own fault, for it must be admitted, 
 that the unruly conduct of some of them tended rather 
 to invite oppression than to inspire respect. An instance 
 happened under my own eye, and may serve, not as a 
 singular case, but as a sample of the little consideration 
 usually shown them. 
 
 Captain Darnells, the master of a British ship called the 
 Aram, was sitting in my house late in the evening, when 
 a man arrived with the intelligence that a native lascar 
 of his crew had jumped overboard to avoid a threatened 
 punishment by one of the mates, and was unhappily 
 swept away by the rapidity of the tide, and, in the dark- 
 ness, was drowned. No sooner did the accident reach 
 the ear of the Viceroy than an order was issued to seize 
 the unfortunate mate, who, without inquiry, was thrust 
 into a filthy prison, called by the foreigners the " fire- 
 house." Here the poor man remained the whole of the 
 night in the stocks, and a heavy fine would have been 
 imposed, had not the strange disclosure of the following
 
 CHAP. VII.] IN RANGOON. 77 
 
 morning brought him relief. The innocent cause of this 
 mischief then, to the surprise of every one, reappeared on 
 deck. He had saved himself unperceived, by catching 
 hold of some timber made fast to the stern, and re-entered 
 the ship by the open raft port. He remained concealed 
 all night in the hold, fearing the threatened punishment, 
 while the anger of his oppressor was evaporating in the 
 horrors of the " fire-house." This kind of extortion, 
 carried to excess, brought about the second Burmese war 
 in 1851, and the very act for which compensation was 
 demanded and refused in fact, the casus belli was 
 almost as insignificant as the one I have here related. 
 
 The lascar alluded to seemed to carry a charmed life. 
 Although it has nothing to do with my story, the anec- 
 dote is so strange that I cannot resist giving it as it was 
 related to me by Captain Daniells. The man fell overboard 
 by accident from the Aram, on a former voyage, in the 
 Bay of Bengal, on a dark, squally night, in which no 
 effort to save him was practicable. Of course every one 
 concluded he was drowned. Some days afterwards, how- 
 ever, Captain Daniells fell in with a vessel, which spoke 
 him, and asked, " Have you lost a man overboard ? " 
 On the answer having been given in the affirmative, 
 " Send a boat for him, we have picked him up." On his 
 being restored to the ship, it was found that the poor 
 fellow had been all the night the sport of the waves, and 
 at daylight on the following morning he was literally 
 almost run over by the ship that saved him.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Arrival in Calcutta. Hesitation about returning. I determine to follow 
 our scheme. Disgraceful neglect of the Bengal Government. I engage 
 Mr. Richardson. We sail for Rangoon. Mr. Stockdale. Return to 
 Ava. Explosion of a priest. "Red Rat " and " Red Gold." I make 
 myself independent of interpreter. Death of Mr. Stockdale. A boat- 
 man drowned. Escape from drowning. Alligators. Strange habit. 
 A boatman .of Dr. Price taken by one. Anecdote of Wellesley Province. 
 
 ONCE again arrived in Calcutta, I made my friend, Mr. 
 M'Kenzie, acquainted with the details of my interesting 
 expedition, and the fair fortune which lay exposed to 
 view, but which, like the rich clusters of grapes the fox 
 gazed at, was yet out of my reach. The only ladder 
 likely to lead to its possession was a frail one, each step 
 fraught with danger, and if it gave way, not only would 
 the prize he lost, but the adventurer would hazard life or 
 limb by the fall. There it was, however, a glittering 
 bait sure enough, but provokingly obscured by clouds and 
 mist. I began to consider, too, that, even if successful, I 
 should be paying rather a heavy perlalty. A few years' 
 banishment from civilized life, and the being cast for so- 
 ciety on the semi-barbarous natives, might go far to trans- 
 form me into a savage like themselves ; and much as I was 
 in love with novelty and adventure, and with no dislike 
 to the golden harvest it might produce, I could not help 
 hesitating. Then I might be mistaken in my estimate of
 
 CHAP. VIII.] RETURN TO CALCUTTA. 79 
 
 the efficacy of the means by which alone I could grasp 
 the prize ; though in this I had great confidence, yet if 
 I was mistaken, it must, as I have before remarked, be a 
 complete failure. Again the idea would present itself of 
 ignobly abandoning a project so successfully begun. At 
 last the urgent desire of my friend that I should persevere, 
 and his promise to afford whatever assistance I might 
 want, settled the question. In an evil hour I consented, 
 little dreaming of the disasters which were to follow. 
 
 Had the wholesome publicity which is now generally 
 given to political affairs through the medium of the 
 press been the practice of those times, the disputes of 
 our Government with the Burmese would have been known, 
 and its subjects would have been saved from hazarding 
 their lives by placing confidence in a barbarous Power 
 likely soon to be at war with us. To the disgrace of 
 Lord Amherst's Government be it said, that down to the 
 time when the war was declared, and the expedition to 
 Rangoon determined on, no timely warning, no merciful 
 hints of danger, were thrown out to deter the unwary 
 merchant or traveller from the hazard he was incurring. 
 I know not whether it is considered among Governments 
 the bounden duty of the Ruling power to give such 
 reasonable notice ; but this I do know, that the omission 
 of it nearly cost the lives of several British subjects, 
 and that whether it be considered an official duty or not, 
 the moral responsibility rests on him who has the power 
 to give such friendly caution, and cruelly neglects to 
 exercise it. I feel that I have a right to attribute all 
 my subsequent sufferings, to the thoughtlessness or the 
 cruelty of Lord Amherst's Government. Be this as it 
 may, the trap was open, and the incautious bird flew 
 into it.
 
 80 AGAIN IN RANGOON. [CHAP. Vllfc 
 
 Having once resolved, no precious time was to be lost. 
 As we now contemplated embarking a large amount of 
 money, prudence suggested that I should have an assis- 
 tant who could assume charge of the property if any ill 
 fate befel me, and, when at leisure, protect our argosies 
 up the Irrawuddi. I made choice of Mr. Kichardson, a 
 young man who afterwards had the wisdom to escape by 
 a timely flight the waves of trouble that overwhelmed his 
 less fortunate master. That he might not enter on his 
 duties a complete novice, I took him with me in the first 
 instance to Amerapoorah. 
 
 We sailed from Calcutta together, with a larger invest- 
 ment than before, in the Anne, a ship which I had 
 chartered, and reached Kangoon early in July without 
 incident. The port is easy of access. Captain Gibson, 
 who had been there only once before, finding there was 
 no pilot available at the mouth of the river, did not 
 think it worth while to wait for one, but took the 
 ship drawing fifteen feet of water up by the lead, and 
 anchored her abreast the town of Eangoon without 
 accident. 
 
 A few weeks sufficed for all I had to do in Eangoon. 
 This time I had to equip three boats, of which I took 
 the command of one, put Mr. Richardson in charge of 
 another, and the third we kept well up between us. A 
 Mr. Stockdale, residing at Rangoon, had some business 
 up the river, and asked leave to join my fleet for protec- 
 tion, a request readily granted, as I found him a well- 
 educated, companionable person, whose society enlivened 
 our evenings when we assembled to make all safe for the 
 night. He had a little boat of his own. 
 
 Just as we were embarking, a crowd of people in their 
 holiday suits were seen pressing out to a little open plain in
 
 CHAP. VIII.] "KED RAT" AND "RED GOLD." 81 
 
 the suburbs. Curiosity induced me to join the concourse. 
 I found they were going to blow up a priest of Boodh 
 who had recently died, and was deemed of sufficient 
 sanctity to cause some noise in the world he had just 
 quitted. A small pagoda-shaped shed made of thatch 
 had been erected, and contained the corpse surrounded by 
 gunpowder and combustibles. At this target a number 
 of rudely-constructed rockets on wheels, carrying gro- 
 tesque figures, were fired one after another, at the distance 
 of 100 or 150 yards, not only without success, but to the 
 imminent danger of the assembled crowd, upon whom 
 many of them seemed inclined to turn round and expend 
 their fury. They were more successful at last in firing 
 one of these projectiles directed to the object by a strong 
 rope, along which it glided to its mark, when the cere- 
 mony terminated by the explosion of the edifice. 
 
 The obese Malabaree, my aide-de-camp on the former 
 voyage, having departed this life during my absence at 
 Calcutta, I had to look out for a substitute. This time 
 I engaged two native Mahomedans, not that I wanted 
 two, but because they were such sworn friends that 
 they flatly refused to be parted. The name of the 
 one was Kewet-nee (Anglice " Ked Rat"), while his 
 Jidus Achates bore the more dignified appellation of 
 Shwai-nee ("Red Gold"). Nothing in the character or 
 the appearance of the one or the other verified the 
 nomenclature, unless indeed "red gold" might have 
 typified fidelity. It is well known that, as a race, the 
 Indian Mahomedan is proverbially unfriendly to the 
 Englishman, but I cannot deny that these two friends, 
 so long as our intercourse lasted, were found to be " as 
 true as gold." 
 
 E 3
 
 82 PROFICIENCY IN THE LANGUAGE. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Who that has travelled in a foreign country, heing 
 ignorant of its language, has not endured torment from 
 the insufferahle tyranny which existed mutually between 
 himself and his interpreter? The organ of speech is 
 just as useless to you, when he is absent, as if you were 
 horn dumh. You must speak with his tongue, hear with 
 his ears, helieve what he tells you, form your judgment 
 from his representations, in fact, without him constantly 
 at your elbow, you feel yourself to be little better than an 
 unreasoning beast. He must follow you like your shadow, 
 though never trusted. His exacting master is as much a 
 tyrant to him, as he to his master. How happy was I 
 now to find myself able to walk through the villages and 
 streets, talk to whom I would, command my own men, 
 do my own work, without this everlasting incumbrance 
 sticking to one like an " Old Man of the Sea" ! The 
 country and all it contained assumed a new interest. I 
 talked for the sake of talking, like one who has discovered 
 a new faculty, and it was only on a rare or important 
 occasion that I troubled either the " Red Eat " or the 
 " Eed Gold." 
 
 Nothing could have been more agreeable than our pro- 
 gress up the Irrawuddi, until we had passed the half-way 
 town of Prome. Every day we spent singly, each one 
 in his particular boat, following out his own reading or 
 amusement, and ever alert to prevent danger by the pro- 
 pensity of the steersman to carry too much sail, or to 
 enter too ardently into races with other boats ; which 
 seclusion during the day served only to render our evening 
 rendezvous the more refreshing. We knew neither anxiety 
 nor sorrow, each doing his best to beguile the tedium of 
 the long evenings, until death invaded us, and we had to
 
 CHAP. VIII.] A DROPPING WELL. 83 
 
 mourn the illness and death of our poor friend Stockdale. 
 He met his death in the following manner. 
 
 When we had ascended the river a day or two's sail 
 above Prome; my hoatmen told me of a natural curiosity 
 to be seen less than a mile from the bank of the river, in 
 a secluded spot, where there was a beautiful example of 
 a dropping well. The day was intensely hot, when we 
 imprudently sallied forth in the afternoon, to gain a 
 sight of this freak of nature. One of the boatmen, 
 who knew the way, led our little party, by a narrow path- 
 way, through the jungle. The tall, rank grass, towering 
 many feet above our heads, closed upon the footpath on 
 either side, so as to admit our advancing only in Indian 
 file, and rain having recently fallen, the tangled jungle 
 was steaming with the heat of the sun, and swarming 
 with insects. Neither was our march rendered more 
 cheerful, when we were told that the place was infested 
 with tigers, a report which greatly accelerated our speed. 
 It is difficult to explain why a man should walk quicker 
 when he dreads the chance of being sprung upon by a 
 tiger, but it is certain he does so. I have read of fear 
 giving wings to flight, but in our circumstances no wings 
 could have afforded us safety, unless by enabling us to 
 soar above the danger. We soon found ourselves fol- 
 lowing the leader in a state of dripping perspiration, at 
 a pace continually mending, until at last it amounted 
 almost to a trot. 
 
 We reached the cavern in a deplorable state of heat 
 and exhaustion. Its coolness was at first refreshing, and 
 the large basin worn into the rock below, by the dropping 
 water from the high, overhanging roof, through many 
 ages, stood before us, invitingly filled to the brim with
 
 84 DEATH OF MR. STOCKDALE. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 sparkling water of icy coldness. The temptation was not 
 to be resisted. We each indulged in a fatal draught, the 
 folly of which was brought home to our senses in a very 
 few minutes. 
 
 At the first sensation of a chill, I beat a rapid retreat, 
 not stopping long enough even to examine the secrets of 
 this gloomy cave ; but it was too late. We hurried back, 
 thinking a like exertion might counteract the effects of 
 our imprudence. In this we were mistaken. Stockdale 
 and I were seized with shiverings, but Richardson escaped. 
 Not knowing exactly what was best to be done, I thought 
 the most sensible thing was to swallow a wineglassful 
 of brandy, and to this I attribute my preservation. Mr. 
 Stockdale preferred waiting an hour till dinner was ready. 
 He had received his mortal stroke. Fever ensued. We 
 had medicines of all sorts, but none of us knew how to 
 administer them. Nevertheless, seeing it must end 
 fatally, unless some active steps were taken, I strongly 
 urged the use of calomel. Poor Stockdale, however, had 
 such an antipathy to medicine, that he steadfastly refused ; 
 therefore, all that could be done to alleviate his suffer- 
 ings was limited to good nursing, and attention to his 
 comforts, which we did not fail to administer to the best 
 of our ability. They proved unavailing ; he sank under 
 the disease, and died a few minutes after my boats 
 anchored at Ava. The next day I saw him decently 
 buried in the native cemetery, outside the walls of the 
 town. I have been thus particular in relating the 
 circumstances of this gentleman's death, because it is 
 not at all likely his relations in this country, with whom 
 I am not acquainted, can ever have heard of his fate, 
 and it is possible this account, if it should meet
 
 CHAP. VIII.] A BOATMAN DROWNED, 85 
 
 their eye, may be the first authentic tidings they may 
 have of it. His death was the cause of some trouble to 
 me, as will be seen hereafter. 
 
 It is said that " misfortune rarely comes singly." It 
 was so with us; for, a few days afterwards, a gloom 
 was again cast over our spirits by the loss of the 
 merriest of my crew, by drowning, in a somewhat sin- 
 gular manner. My boat was being towed within a few 
 feet of the bank, when this man, wishing to go on 
 shore, jumped into the water, thinking to reach it by one 
 or two strokes of swimming. He had leaped into an 
 eddy so strong, that he could not stem it even that short 
 distance, and was carried, with wonderful rapidity, into 
 the stream. As nobody thought he was in any danger, a 
 fatal minute was lost before putting the boat round to his 
 rescue. A quarter of this minute so lost would have 
 saved him. When our fears were at length aroused by 
 the rapidly-increasing distance between the unfortunate 
 man and the boat, we followed as quickly as our oars would 
 take us, and were within a few yards, preparing to extend 
 the hand of safety, when the last remains of strength 
 were exhausted, and the waters closed over his head so 
 near, that the boat shot over the very spot where the 
 last struggle for life had been made. It is a fatal mis- 
 take, under such circumstances, for a swimmer to endea- 
 vour to stem the current. The man was not a bad 
 swimmer, and if, instead of exhausting his powers by 
 vain efforts to regain the boat, he had turned round and 
 gone with the stream, he could have landed himself a 
 mile or two below without any difficulty. 
 
 About the same time I had myself, too, a narrow escape 
 from a watery grave. One evening, while my crew were
 
 86 ALLIGATORS. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 cooking their evening ragal on shore, I sauntered alone a 
 little way into the country for a walk, and coming upon a 
 retired spot where a small tributary stream was making its 
 way into the main river, the desire arose of a refreshing 
 swim. Some years had passed since I last put my powers 
 to the test, hut after carefully eyeing the breadth of the 
 rather sluggish stream, I felt no doubt of my ability to 
 cross it, as I could easily have done in former times. So I 
 stripped and plunged in, but when about two-thirds over, 
 I became a little doubtful of the prudence of the attempt. 
 Still, it was too late to think of returning, and I pushed 
 on, till, finding my strength failing, I thought I would 
 sound for a bottom, and on doing so, what was my relief 
 to find I touched the ground about chin deep ! I waded 
 on shore, took a minute's rest, and then, seeing I must 
 either perform the feat again, or wander naked in the 
 jungles nobody knows how long, I took to the water with 
 more confidence, from my having done it once, and re- 
 gained in safety the envied spot where my clothes were 
 deposited. It taxed my powers, however, to the utmost. 
 Bathing in the rivers of India is at all times a hazar- 
 dous and foolish practice, especially in the Irrawuddi, 
 which is teeming with alligators of huge size and terrible 
 voracity. They are often known to take a man from the 
 stern of his light canoe, depressed as it is almost to the 
 water's edge by his own weight, offering a tempting bait 
 to these ravenous creatures. I have seen them at times 
 basking on the rushy bank, apparently asleep, with their 
 horrid jaws wide open, and distended almost to a right 
 angle. The natives say that while they are indulging in 
 this way, their pestiferous breath attracts the swarms of 
 flies and insects abounding on such sedgy banks, and that
 
 CHAP. VIII.] INSTANCE OF THEIR VORACITY. 87 
 
 when their mouths are well lined with them a single snap 
 secures the prey. This is not at all improbable, and must 
 form rather a pleasant mode of taking a delicate dessert 
 after a glutting meal of putrid carrion. A few years after, 
 when my boat was once gliding noiselessly down the Saluen 
 river, the men resting on their oars, I came unexpectedly 
 upon one of these hateful reptiles as he lay extended in 
 the cooling attitude just described. He was either asleep, 
 or too intent upon his interesting amusement of fly-catching 
 to notice my approach, until a charge of a very different 
 description went down his nasty throat. A loud plash in 
 the water followed, almost as quick as the report from my 
 gun, and I saw him no more. There is no doubt he died, 
 for the alligator rarely recovers from a severe wound. 
 
 Dr. Price, an American missionary, whose acquaintance 
 I afterwards made in Ava, told me that when he was 
 ascending the Irrawuddi, one of his crew having some- 
 thing to do over the boat's side, which necessitated his 
 immersion in the water, was seized by an alligator of extra- 
 ordinary size, and was, in the first instance, dragged quietly 
 under water in sight of his comrades. While Price and 
 the crew were staring at each other in mute consternation, 
 the head and shoulders of the monster reappeared close 
 to the boat's side, bearing the unfortunate man, probably 
 still living, in his jaws. The alligator had seized his 
 prey by the waist, the man lying across like a stick 
 grasped in the middle. Rising with his prey several feet 
 above the water, he brought it down with great force 
 and a loud crack upon the surface, as if to facilitate the 
 operation of breaking up the body the red stain in the 
 calm river marking with what fatal effect the object had 
 been accomplished.
 
 83 FORTUNATE ESCAPE [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 I can never think of an alligator without associating in 
 my mind the providential escape of a very dear friend, 
 whose intimacy for more than thirty years has heen one 
 of the most solid pleasures of my life. To those who 
 only take their daily walk through one of the parks, the 
 anecdote may be interesting, and, moreover, may tend to 
 reconcile them to wandering on the hanks of the Serpen- 
 tine, even though they should occasionally incur the 
 trouble of pressing their handkerchiefs rather closely to 
 their noses. They will find that there are more unen- 
 viable promenades in the world than that. 
 
 My friend, then, was in the Civil Service of the East 
 India Company on the Penang establishment, and the 
 duty to which he was appointed was the magistracy of a 
 tract of country on the adjacent coast of Malacca, called 
 Province Wellesley, under the same Government. 
 
 Not fur from his house was a lake or swamp, the banks 
 of which in places were lined with rank grass and rushes, 
 the favourite resort of these amphibious reptiles. On the 
 banks of this lake my friend was in the habit of wander- 
 ing alone in the evening to enjoy the cooling sight of the 
 water, accompanied by a favourite dog of the fast- disap- 
 pearing breed of the English bull-dog. One evening he 
 was incautiously walking nearer to the reedy bank than 
 prudence would warrant, playing a game of romps with 
 his dog, who, in his ecstasy of play, was performing a 
 series of leaps at his master, he in his turn receiving his 
 favourite on a walking-stick held by the two ends, thus 
 throwing him over on the recurrence of each of these 
 mimic attacks. Taking advantage of his helplessness 
 after one of these tumbles, a giant Alligator leaped with 
 the rapidity of lightning from his hiding-place among
 
 CHAP. VIII.] FROM AN ALLIGATOE. 89 
 
 the reeds, and in a moment disappeared with the dog ! 
 No doubt he would have been " happy with either," but 
 the poor dog was first, and my friend, fearing a fresh dash 
 from another member of the family, if any remained, was 
 fain to retreat with the loss of his pet. One's blood 
 curdles in trying to realize such a scene. Among all the 
 horrid forms of death none can be more revolting to the 
 imagination, than being ground down under water by 
 such an ogre ; and grateful am I to the merciful Disposer 
 of human life that such a frightful fate was averted from 
 my friend.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Our arrival in Ava. No European settlers. Mr. Cabral, his fate. Ava 
 occupied. Mr. Lanciego lends me a house. Audience of the King. 
 Present him with the dog. Absence of all love of sports among the 
 Burmese. Sale of investments. Mercantile proceedings. Mr. Rodgers. 
 Arrival of Dr. Price, a missionary. Anecdotes of the old King. 
 His character. He forces Mahomedans to eat pork. His astrological 
 whims. Brahmin astronomers versus Burmese. Prediction of eclipse. 
 The King consigns a section of his Court to the horse -pond. Escape of 
 Mr. Rodgers. Rebellion at the accession of His Majesty. Complicity 
 of Mr. Rodgers. How he cleared the Irrawuddi of pirates. 
 
 OUR little fleet had been so impeded in its progress by the 
 strength of the freshes setting down the river, that seven 
 weeks passed away before it reached its destination. 
 Throughout this long voyage, with a solitary exception, we 
 had not seen a single European a pretty good proof, if any 
 were wanting, that, away from the centre of power, no pro- 
 tection for property could be relied on, or many an adven- 
 turous spirit would have been found pushing his fortunes 
 on the rich banks of the Trrawuddi. This one exception was 
 a Portuguese, named Cabral, who, for some cause or other 
 beyond conjecture, had buried himself among the natives 
 at Prome. It could not be for the sake of trade, for he 
 had none; nor from misanthropy, for his amiable phy- 
 siognomy and manners forbade the supposition. What- 
 ever the cause, he met an evil fate. When troops were
 
 CHAP. IX.] AVA AGAIN INHABITED. 91 
 
 levying for the subsequent war, the poor man, not aware 
 that the Burmese had superstitions somewhat in keeping 
 with those of ancient Eome, unwittingly crossed the path 
 on which a small body of them were marching, and was 
 instantly cut to pieces by the leading soldiers, converting 
 an augury of evil into an auspicious one. 
 
 At length, after an absence of nearly a year, the tall 
 spire of the Palace at Ava again came into view. An 
 architect, more fortunate, it is to be hoped, if not more 
 skilful than his predecessor, had been found bold enough 
 to replace the golden tee which now shone on high in 
 glittering splendour. His Majesty had finally abandoned 
 the Capital of his grandfather, and was now holding his 
 Court in the place of his choice. His people had fol- 
 lowed him, and had rebuilt the ancient town, little dream- 
 ing that ten or twelve years later a new Despot would 
 inaugurate a fresh exodus. The place now began to 
 assume a busy appearance, at the expense of its nearly- 
 deserted rival. As it was also the residence of the Court, 
 and was likely to become the great internal mart of the 
 kingdom, I judged it advisable to settle there at once, 
 rather than return to the fading old town above. The 
 most difficult subjects to move were the Chinese settlers, 
 of whom there are several thousands at Amerapoorah, 
 who seemed to prefer clinging to their old homes, and 
 who remained there long after the Court had withdrawn. 
 
 It happened most opportunely that Mr. Lanciego, the 
 Eangoon Akoupwoon, was now on his annual visit to Ava, 
 to present the Port duties to the King. But for the kind- 
 ness of this gentleman I might have found it impossible 
 to get a house in this half-finished town. He gave me 
 the use of one, run up in his own allotment, which, 
 although of the usual fragile material, had accommoda-
 
 92 MY DOG "DART" [CHAP. IX. 
 
 tion enough both for myself and Mr. Richardson. It was 
 on the river side, and had a fine view of the noble woods 
 and hills of Tsagain, with its nests of white and gilded 
 pagodas on the opposite bank, the only feature of the 
 country the eye could rest on with pleasure. It was 
 otherwise a hot, dusty plain, with few fine trees even to 
 recommend it. 
 
 Having consigned the remains of my unfortunate fel- 
 low-traveller to their mother earth, in a spot where none of 
 his own faith before, and probably none since, have rested 
 beside him, and having taken undisturbed possession, as 
 before, of my new abode, it became high time that I 
 should again assume my scarlet, and present myself before 
 my Royal protector. No time indeed was to be lost, for 
 the ever-curious eyes of the loo-byo-dau had caught sight 
 of a personage of more interest for the moment than my- 
 self, who, concealed from vulgar gaze, I vainly hoped had 
 eluded their prying propensities. This was the famous 
 dog which was to bring glory to the King and confusion 
 to the younger brother. 
 
 . The Prince's mastiff was a giant, quite safe to be un- 
 matched in inches, so, failing in point of size, I bad 
 turned my attention to rareness and beauty. As I knew 
 they had not got an English greyhound, I purchased in 
 Calcutta a white one, of rare size and beauty, whose 
 company had solaced me on my voyage, and was now to 
 be parted with, not without a pang. But he was going 
 to a good master, too good in fact, for he soon killed him 
 with kindness. His fame had gone before me, and if a 
 sharp look-out had not been kept, he would have gone 
 too, for be it known that the custom at this Court was to 
 gratify the King without reference to the means. If a 
 man could steal my dog, and present it to the King, the
 
 CHAP. IX.] INTRODUCED AT COURT. 93 
 
 rogue would, to use a native expression, " gain face," 
 which means that His Majesty would not fail to associate 
 the giver with the gift, and in this it cannot be denied 
 they exercised an intimate knowledge of human nature. 
 Here I was their match, and, wishing to gain face 
 myself, I carefully guarded my treasure, and kept him 
 securely from their grasp, until we appeared together, 
 side by side, in the Royal presence. 
 
 "Dart" exhibited a wonderful sense of propriety, in 
 quietly taking his seat beside me, with all the gravity of 
 a senator, but in a little while he forgot his manners, by 
 a yawn wide enough to engulf a rabbit, which seemed to 
 intimate, in very plain language, "lam tired of your 
 Majesty's company." Then, with an intelligent look at 
 me, quite as easily interpreted, he asked, " Can't we be 
 off?" Notwithstanding his uncourtly manners, he be- 
 came, on the instant, a prime favourite, was clothed in 
 scarlet like his old master, and died a year or so after- 
 wards, the death of an Alderman, from the effects of inac- 
 tivity and high living. I suggested to His Majesty, in order 
 that he might comprehend his worth, to try him at a hare, 
 but the Burmese monarchs, unlike those of Hmdostan, 
 have no fancy whatever for sport, nor could I discover 
 much of the true spirit of field sports among any of his 
 subjects, who rather estimated the value of a stag by what 
 he would bring in the shambles, than by the amusement 
 he afforded in the stalking. Their faith as Buddhists is 
 not the cause of this, for, strange as it may appear, the 
 destruction of wild animals is not viewed with the same 
 horror as the slaughter of those domesticated. Being 
 very fond of field sports myself, I looked with an eye of 
 covetousness on the King's group of noble elephants, and 
 thought of the crashing line they would form in the tiger-
 
 94 KING'S CORDIAL RECEPTION. [CHAP. IX. 
 
 haunted jungles of India, and wondered how a Prince, 
 who had all the best appliances within his reach, could 
 he so stupid and apathetic as to place no more value on 
 them than he did on his flock of sheep. There is no 
 accounting for taste ! 
 
 Nothing could have been more satisfactory than my 
 audience on this occasion. Far from discovering the 
 seeds of discord which were at this very time vegetating 
 on the British frontier, and, indeed, almost producing 
 fruit, I found the King kind and cordial, and condescend- 
 ing almost to familiarity, as formerly. Promises of pro- 
 tection were repeated ; the haughty Queen even joined in 
 them, as did also the Prince of Tharawudi, in spite of 
 the eclipse given to his kennel. Everything conspired to 
 make me confident of good usage, and of liberty to con- 
 coct and to carry out my ambitious schemes of fortune 
 without fear of interruption. 
 
 In a few days my investment of goods brought from 
 Calcutta was again sold, with as great success as before, 
 and I began to think of sending Mr. Eichardson down 
 to Eangoon, to wait there the arrival of others, and see 
 them safely forwarded to me ; but I was anxious before 
 doing so to see what business could be transacted in the 
 annual fair held by the Chinese at Medai. The caravans 
 did not usually begin to arrive before the new year, and I 
 had reason to believe that many of the commodities they 
 brought would be of the greatest value to me as means 
 of exchange. Besides raw silk, there was one which I 
 had hopes of gaining the privilege to export, a valuable 
 one indeed, and likely to extend my commerce immensely. 
 It was the gold-leaf imported by the Chinese for the 
 gilding 'of the sacred edifices, &c. As the Burmese did 
 not beat out their own gold for this purpose, it could
 
 CHAP. IX.] CHINESE CARAVAN. 95 
 
 easily be distinguished and identified so as not to be con- 
 founded with the native metal, and on this ground I 
 might hope for success, by a judicious use of the usual 
 instruments of negotiation before adverted to. If I could 
 acquire this privilege, Mr. Eichardson might carry the in- 
 telligence to Calcutta, and prepare my friends for a large 
 extension of their commerce. No occupation could be 
 more absorbing than the one I was engaged in at this time. 
 It was not the mere making of money by drudgery in any of 
 the old beaten tracks, in which the act of accumulation 
 itself in most instances forms the only recompense for 
 the labour. It was the pleasure of discovering new 
 sources weighing the advantages compassing the means 
 removing impediments surmounting difficulties and 
 this in an unexplored field, where treasure lies concealed 
 in many places, but where no human being who knew 
 their value had yet sought for them. 
 
 I was glad to find my aged acquaintance, Mr. Eodgers, 
 still in good health. The old gentleman was busily en- 
 gaged in compassing the means to supplant his rival, the 
 Spaniard, in the office of Akoupwoon of Kangoon, the 
 only appointment under Government open to the ambi- 
 tion of a white man. The post had alternated from time 
 to time between these contending parties, the tactics of 
 each being as openly known to the other as those of 
 Whig and Tory when contending for power in England. 
 Bribes were the means always used. Unfortunately for me, 
 their rivalry had at last descended to personal quarrel, 
 which prevented me from enjoying their society together. 
 As I was uninterested in their jealous bickerings, I kept 
 aloof, and, by carefully avoiding the subject of conten- 
 tion, maintained a friendly footing with both. 
 
 Another recent arrival had thrown animation into the
 
 96 HERETICAL KING. [CHAP. IX. 
 
 European community of Ava, in the person of Dr. Price, 
 an American citizen and missionary from the American 
 Board of Baptist Missions. Mr. Rodgers had no faith 
 in missions, nor, to say the truth, had I much myself at 
 that time; but this was a prejudice arising from want of 
 opportunity for information, or rather perhaps from a 
 careless want of observation which was totally removed 
 by later experience. " What do you think he would do," 
 said the old gentleman, " if he were put to such a test as 
 I once saw a number of Mahomedans subjected to?" 
 He then told me a story of abominable cruelty, but as- 
 suming rather a ludicrous form, which, as it is charac- 
 teristic of Burmese despotism, I must relate. 
 
 The old King, grandfather of the present one, was by 
 turns a bigot and a heretic ; at one time slaying his sub- 
 jects because they were not orthodox Buddhists; at an- 
 other unfrocking their priests and confiscating their mo- 
 nasteries with as little remorse as our own " bluff King 
 Hal," his subjects also following the lead with equal 
 obsequiousness. At one period, when the heretical mood 
 was in the ascendant, His Majesty was troubled in mind 
 while in search of the true Religion, which he had the 
 sagacity to see that Buddhism was not. 
 
 Once launched on the ocean of speculation, the cur- 
 rents drifted the uneasy Monarch hither and thither, until 
 at last they set him on the shoal of Mahomedanism. 
 His Majesty hit upon a very curious method of taking 
 the soundings of this faith, in order to ascertain whether 
 there was good holding-ground at the bottom. He was 
 told that they abhorred pork, and would not eat it. 
 " Very right too," said His Majesty ; " your Sheen 
 Gautama tried to eat it, and you know it killed him." 
 " True, your Majesty," was the reply, " but our religion
 
 CHAP. IX.] ABOMINABLE DESPOTISM. 97 
 
 does not prevent our following his example if we like, 
 whereas with them it is a matter of their faith, they 
 would die rather than pollute themselves with it." The 
 cunning thought now passed through the Monarch's 
 mind, that if they would rather die than taste a bit of 
 pork, there must be some virtue at the root of their faith. 
 " We will try." 
 
 Now there were many Mahomedans residing in Ava, 
 some of them foreigners, others native-bom subjects of 
 the King. Of these he commanded several of the most 
 considerable to assemble at his Palace, where, to their 
 consternation, the flesh of the hated animal was placed 
 ready- cooked before them, and they were commanded, 
 without further ceremony, to fall-to at once. What a 
 study for Lavater ! What a subject for Leech ! I feel 
 it is wrong to make tyranny, in its most detestable 
 form, an occasion for amusement ; but who can con- 
 trol the imagination in such a case ? Who does not 
 picture to himself the countenance of a solemn Moul- 
 \ie, with his hand on his flowing beard, cursing the 
 savoury sparerib, as, with a retching, sea- sick stomach, 
 he gapes to receive the unholy morsel ! The look of 
 despair the ill-concealed rage the mutual, recognizing 
 glances of the chief actors, as much as to say, "We 
 are all in the same boat don't tell of me, and I won't 
 tell of you." The scene must have been unique of its 
 kind. 
 
 But was there no one, with the spirit of a martyr, to 
 step forth from the throng, and, with the quiet firmness of 
 the three devoted Children before the Babylonish Monarch, 
 exclaim, " king ! we are not careful to answer thee 
 in this matter " ? No one, whose natural indignation 
 urged him to beard the Tyrant, and refuse ? None. Sad 
 
 F
 
 98 TEST OP FAITH. [CHAP. IX. 
 
 to say they did all partake of the abominable pig, and his 
 Majesty's doubt remained unsatisfied. 
 
 " Would Christian missionaries have done differently if 
 put to a similar test ? " asked Mr. Rodgers. Who can 
 answer that question ? We hope they would. 
 
 The whole affair looks like a practical joke of a cha- 
 racter which, fortunately for the interest of the human 
 race, few men in the world possess the power to play off. 
 This arbitrary Monarch, however, must have been a 
 humourist on a grand scale. Take another story. I 
 wish I could tell it with the simple humour, the ampli- 
 fication and detail of the narrator, in whose hands the 
 anecdote was irresistibly ludicrous. Let the reader take 
 the facts, and exercise his imagination on them. 
 
 An eclipse of the sun was expected. When such a phe- 
 nomenon was to happen, it was the custom of this whim- 
 sical Court, that the Cassay Brahmins, of whom there were 
 many residing in Amerapoorah, should notify the same 
 to the King, he being himself addicted to astrological 
 studies. Whether these predictions were given from 
 calculations made by themselves, or whether they acquired 
 their knowledge elsewhere, I forget, but the time at which 
 the eclipse was to take place was always presented from 
 some source or other. These Brahmins, from the influ- 
 ence they had acquired over the King's mind by their 
 proficiency in his favourite study, had become objects of 
 general envy, and it broke out fiercely at this time, the 
 malcontents taking their stand incautiously on very slip- 
 pery ground. They aspired to a short-lived victory by 
 denying the correctness of their opponents' prediction. 
 Many of the chief courtiers joiued the cabal from mere 
 hatred to the Brahmins, without the slightest knowledge 
 of the question, or dread of the consequences. The cun-
 
 CHAP. IX.] RODGERS AND THE ECLIPSE. 99 
 
 ning old King maintained a vexatious silence until the 
 chief men about his Court were committed to one side or 
 the other ; then, when he had drawn a sufficient number 
 into his net, he threatened to punish the losing party, 
 whichever it might be, for attempting to deceive him. 
 
 A pool of water lay invitingly near, and perhaps sug- 
 gested the thought. "The Brahmins, or their accusers, 
 shall stand up to the neck in that pond," said the King ; 
 then turning to Mr. Rodgers, " What do you say, Yadza ? 
 Are the Brahmins right or wrong ? " " Now," said Mr. 
 Rodgers, "if I had only had the wisdom to say that I 
 was an unlearned man, and knew nothing of these matters, 
 all would have been right ; but, fired with the ambition of 
 being thought a learned man, I replied, ' I have not made 
 the calculation, your Majesty.' ' Oh ! then you can 
 calculate eclipses ?' ' Yes, your Majesty, after a fashion.' 
 ' Then go home instantly, and let me know what you 
 say to-morrow.' 
 
 " I went home, not to study the deep things of New- 
 ton, you may be sure, but a book of far greater value to 
 my weak comprehension, the Bengal Almanack, a copy of 
 which had been sent me for that year. All I had to do 
 was the schoolboy task of correcting for the longitude, and 
 as bold as brass I gave the result to His Majesty. The 
 heads of many a man of rank, and of many an ill-starred 
 astronomer, did I behold, waving as thick as lilies, on the 
 surface of that pond ! But I had acquired a character that 
 taxed all my ingenuity to support, and from that time, 
 as long as the old fox lived, I took especial care, with the 
 fear of the horse-pond ever present, never to be without 
 a copy of the Bengal Annual Almanack" 
 
 The vagaries and eccentricities of the old King were 
 not allowed, by him, to embroil or imperil his Empire.
 
 100 MR. RODGERS IN POWER. [CHAP. IX. 
 
 They were controlled by so much of natural shrewdness 
 and penetration, that it continued to flourish during his 
 long reign, and at his death it descended to his grandson 
 in the very height of its prosperity. As the crown rarely 
 descends without a fight, two of the young King's uncles, 
 the Princes of Prome and Toungoo, so often mentioned 
 in the work of Colonel Symes, were accused of attempts at 
 usurpation, and suffered cruel deaths. The fact is that, in 
 such a crisis, suspicion and guilt are synonymous terms, 
 at least they meet the same fate ; and those of the Eoyal 
 blood who possess power, at the demise of the sovereign, 
 knowing they cannot escape the imputation of the 
 former, fly to open rebellion as affording the best chance 
 of safety. Mr. Eodgers was himself a partisan, and 
 nearly suffered in this rebellion. He was hidden some 
 months, and when the young King was firmly established 
 on the Throne, he saved his life by liberal bribery 
 among the Queen's party, and once more ventured to 
 appear at Court. No questions were asked, but he was 
 ever after regarded with suspicion, and had never been 
 able to regain his appointment of Akoupwoon. 
 
 It would appear that, when he was a younger man, the 
 energetic character of Mr. Rodgers was appreciated by the 
 old King, his master. There was a time, he told me, when 
 the Irrawuddi was so infested by gang-robbers through- 
 out its course from Amerapoorah to Eangoon, that the 
 native trade was entirely stopped, and the Capital suffered 
 for want of its usual supplies of grain from the low 
 countries. The Governors of some districts declared 
 their inability to put down these daring bands, whose 
 atrocities became the terror even of populous towns, 
 when the King, having great faith in the bold character 
 of his English subject, constituted him Admiral of the
 
 CHAP. IX.] HIS PRACTICES. 101 
 
 River, with unlimited powers. " I picked out," said the 
 old gentleman, " a little army of the hravest men I could 
 find, and let them loose upon the rohhers wherever we 
 came upon them, and, as the inhabitants were inclined to 
 help me with information, I was pretty successful. We 
 gave no quarter. Those who were taken alive we tied up 
 to trees, and used to paint a bull's-eye on their bodies 
 for my men to Jire at to improve their practice!" 
 How soon may a man forget the usages of civilized 
 countries and descend towards those of the savage ! He 
 could not see any impropriety in the manner of the 
 executions, nor in combining capital punishment with 
 holiday pastime. The result, he said, was quite satisfac- 
 tory; after a few months he succeeded in re-opening the 
 navigation of the river.
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 First indications of war. Causes assigned for it. Opinions of Tharawudi. 
 Popular feeling in favour of war. Bundoola crosses the river with 
 an army. War- boats. Magnificent regattas. Dr. Judson arrives. 
 Bundoola's army marched for the British frontier. Accusation about 
 Mr. Stockdale's property. I accompany the King to the Shwai-dyke. 
 Tempting exhibition of silver. Attempt to walk off with it. My 
 failure therein. Growing dislike and suspicions. I confine myself 
 much to my house. 
 
 IT was not until the year 1828 had nearly closed, when 
 I had heen two or three months at Ava, that the first 
 indications of an unfriendly feeling towards the British 
 Government hecame apparent. Up to that time the 
 horizon was unclouded, success attended me, and in 
 looking forward I saw nothing to check the sanguine 
 anticipations my imagination had formed. The ease with 
 which youth assimilates itself with the hahits and ideas 
 of the people of foreign countries, aided hy the liberality 
 my immense profits enabled me to dispense, had ingra- 
 tiated me into the favour of all classes. Having no 
 ambitious views of power, my favour at Court did not 
 make me an object of envy to the nobles, and the com- 
 mercial advantages I sought interfered with no interests 
 of a people who had, in reality, no commerce to sustain. 
 I was therefore a general favourite. 
 
 From this happy state of things I was aroused in the
 
 CHAP. X.] FIRST SYMPTOMS OF WAR. 103 
 
 month of December by the alarming recurrence to war- 
 like topics whenever I went among the leading Chiefs, all 
 pointing to a rupture with the British Government. The 
 immediate subject of dispute was the alleged protection 
 afforded by the British to four or five men who had 
 incurred the displeasure. of the King, and who had sought 
 an asylum on British ground. It may appear a slight 
 pretext for war, but I knew too well the value my 
 countrymen attach, as a point of honour, to their territory 
 being the sanctuary of the unfortunate, to suppose, for a 
 moment, that they would consent to give up political 
 offenders against an arbitrary Despotism, and this know- 
 ledge gave alarming importance to the rumour. In 
 England, the mean surrender of a political refugee to a 
 foreign Despot would cause more excitement than the 
 breaking out of a sanguinary war. From such a nation 
 there was no hope of concession. 
 
 Another cause of dispute was an insignificant boun- 
 dary question about a worthless island in the river which 
 divides our territory from the Burmese province of 
 Arracan. This rumour gave me less trouble, for I was 
 equally convinced that a trumpery question of this 
 nature would never induce our Government to enter into 
 a war. 
 
 But as time advanced these questions became the 
 topics of general conversation the constant talk of war 
 in the ears of a people who had been accustomed to- a 
 long course of victory and usurpation, inflamed their 
 ambition, and rendered it popular. The reports they 
 heard of the unbounded wealth of Calcutta ; the unwar- 
 like character of such of the borderers as they had met 
 on the frontier ; the interested reports of those foreigners 
 who hated our rule; the general forbearance of our
 
 104 THARAWUDI'S OPINIONS. [CHAP. X. 
 
 Government for a long course of years, interpreted into 
 timidity, all conspired to lead them to the idea that 
 Bengal would fall an easy prey, that, like the great 
 Roman, they had only to go, to inspect, and to conquer. 
 It was easy to see that the question of the Kefugees was 
 fast becoming a mere pretext, as was also that of the 
 island (called by the Burmese Sliemapyoo), and that if 
 both were ceded another would assuredly be found to 
 suit their warlike propensities. 
 
 These alarming rumours met me wherever I went, but 
 among the most open and violent instigators of the war 
 was my impulsive friend the Prince of Tharawudi, who 
 at once rushed into the debate whenever I went to see 
 him. 
 
 "You know nothing," he would say, "of the bravery 
 of our people in war. We have never yet found any 
 nation to withstand us. They say your soldiers, when 
 they fight, march up exposing their whole bodies. They 
 use music, to let us know when they are coming. They 
 do not know our skill and cunning. They will all be 
 killed if they attack us in this way. Besides, you have 
 taken our territory. When we conquered Arracan we 
 acquired a right to Bengal as far as Moorshedabad, which 
 formerly belonged to Arracan. You will have to give it 
 up again. We shall go to Calcutta and take it. There 
 is plenty of gold and silver there. The English are rich, 
 but they are not so brave as we are. They pay Sepoys to 
 fight for them. They are now frightened, lest we should 
 make war upon them," &c. 
 
 It will be seen from these remarks, which fairly repre- 
 sent the general feeling, that the Court had no apprecia- 
 tion of the Power it was defying. How could it have 
 any ? None of their own leading men had ever been in
 
 CHAP. X.] SUBJECTS IN DISPUTE. 105 
 
 Bengal, and those from whom they derived the little 
 information they possessed, were of classes whose hatred 
 to the British name was bitter, and who used all their 
 influence to precipitate the country into hostilities. I 
 allude to the Brahmins of Cassay, and the Maho- 
 medans, hoth of India and of native origin. The only 
 persons who could give honest and sound advice were the 
 two or three Europeans in Ava ; hut our counsels were 
 despised as timid and interested. 
 
 To the Prince of Tharawudi I could reply more freely 
 than to most of the Chiefs. I told him of the great 
 power wielded by the Governor- General the immense 
 army at his command their splendid arms, courage, and 
 discipline the conquests they had made the long friend- 
 ship that had existed between the two countries the 
 misery the war would cause and urged all the usual 
 arguments in favour of Peace. My representations to 
 him and to the Woongees were as honest and straight- 
 forward as I dared to make them ; in fact, I did every- 
 thing but tell them, in plain terms, that if they 
 went to war, they would be signally and disgracefully 
 beaten. 
 
 On reading the despatches since published, I was 
 surprised to find that this claim to the territory in 
 Bengal, as a dependency of Arracan, alluded to by the 
 Prince of Tharawudi, was not new. It had been made, 
 in an irregular manner, so far back as 1818, but was 
 allowed to lie dormant by the Burmese, as they had other 
 wars of aggression on hand with nearer neighbours, 
 which it was necessary first to bring to a successful issue. 
 They had made several attempts on Siam, but finding 
 her a tough customer, they were now turning their atten- 
 tions to the Honourable East India Company. 
 
 F3
 
 106 ARMY OF BUNDOOLA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 On the first of January, 1824, the new year was 
 ushered in by a splendid pageant, but one boding no 
 good for the tranquillity of the country. 
 
 The Burmese General, Mengee Maha Bundoola, the 
 Wellington of the army, so well known to the British in 
 the subsequent war, having been recalled from his career 
 of conquest in Assam, had levied a picked force of 6000 
 men, who had been assembled at the Capital, and were 
 now to cross the river to Tsagain on the right bank, in 
 the presence of the King and Court. My house com- 
 manded the river view, which gave me an opportunity of 
 witnessing this brilliant spectacle to great advantage. A 
 fleet of magnificent war-boats, many of them richly 
 gilded, were in readiness to receive the troops at mid-day, 
 who embarked in perfect order; each man was attired in 
 a comfortable campaigning jacket of black cloth, thickly 
 wadded and quilted with cotton, and was armed with a 
 musket or spear and shield, as suited the corps to which 
 he belonged. A profusion of flags, with gay devices, were 
 unfurled to the breeze, martial music resounded, the 
 Chiefs took their seats at the prows of their boats (the 
 post of honour, as the stern is with us), and in the mid- 
 dle of each boat, a soldier, selected for his skill, danced a 
 kind of hornpipe. When all was ready, the whole fleet, 
 lining the bank for a considerable distance, dashed all at 
 once across the river, nearly a mile wide ; the loud song 
 bursting from 6000 lusty throats, while the stroke from 
 thousands of oars and paddles kept time to their music. 
 It was an exciting spectacle, one which, but for certain 
 misgivings of its purport, I should have looked on with 
 delight. 
 
 No one seemed to know for certain what was the 
 destination of this army. I had called on the Bundoola,
 
 CHAP. X.] WAR-BOATS. 107 
 
 in the hope of ascertaining, if possible, but the great 
 man maintained a haughty silence. He was not of a 
 communicative disposition, and was beside himself with 
 pride. 
 
 In the management of these war-boats, the Burmese 
 are wonderfully dexterous. A finer sight than their 
 Eegattas, when the King is present, can hardly be con- 
 ceived; and perhaps no nation in the world was pos- 
 sessed of the means to get one up on so grand and im- 
 posing a scale. The boats are all of the light elegant 
 canoe build, the bottom scooped from the trunk of a 
 single gigantic teak tree, having very little beam, varying 
 in length from sixty to eighty or even one hundred feet, 
 and rowed by crews of nearly those numbers. They are 
 not all designed for warlike purposes, many are fancy- 
 boats owned by the chief Nobles, who, knowing the de- 
 votion of the King to that pastime, and following his ex- 
 ample, expend large sums in gilding and decorating their 
 favourite craft. It is quite a national amusement, into 
 which they enter with as much enthusiasm as the English 
 do into the sports of the field or the turf, and a Burmese 
 Noble will place as high a value on his favourite boat 
 and crew, as any of our nobility would on an unrivalled 
 racehorse. 
 
 At these Regattas, the wide river is covered with hun- 
 dreds of such beautiful boats, rowing in every direction 
 before the King, who is seated in his Water Palace enjoy- 
 ing the sport. It is astonishing how they avoid collision, 
 rowing hither and thither, and crossing each other's bows 
 at the top of their speed; now taking a wide majestic 
 sweep in turning, which seems to monopolize one-half of 
 the river's breadth, now performing the same evolution in 
 an almost fixed position, as though turning on a pivot,
 
 108 SPLENDID REGATTAS. [CHAP. X. 
 
 The whole has the appearance of heing done on a pro- 
 gramme, as much as a review in one of our parks, or 
 accidents must ensue. 
 
 When this intricate manoeuvring is finished, fresh boats 
 and crews appear for the race. You may see them 
 stretching to their oars here and there for short distances, 
 just to impart life and energy to the men, as I have seen 
 the experienced jockey canter his racehorse along the 
 course before starting, to stretch his muscles and get 
 him into wind. Then off they go like lightning. The 
 distance is too short to admit any jockeyship there is 
 no holding back the whole force is put out at once, and 
 a speed attained that would astonish our Champions of 
 the Thames. The velocity is such, that the contending 
 boats have to shoot down the river a great distance, after 
 passing the goal, before they can be rounded with safety, 
 as horses at a race often pass the judge's stand nearly a 
 quarter of a mile before their speed can be safely arrested. 
 On returning, one of the victorious crew may be seen in 
 the middle of his boat, dancing the favourite hornpipe to 
 the music of the song, in exultation over his crestfallen 
 adversaries. 
 
 Besides racing, many skilful feats of water-craft are 
 performed, such as propelling a boat against the stream 
 by merely beating the air with the paddles. This is done 
 by the crew standing, with lengthened paddles for the 
 purpose, and favourable circumstances are taken ad- 
 vantage of, such as a sluggish part of the stream, calm 
 weather, &c. But the most beautiful tiling I saw was a 
 boat with a powerful crew, which passed the Water Palace 
 at the top of its speed, and, before proceeding many 
 hundred yards, hid herself in a shower of sparkling spray 
 thrown up by the practised skill of the rowers. She
 
 CHAP. X.] ARRIVAL OP DR. JUDSON. 109 
 
 seemed to be entering an atmosphere of glittering mist, 
 und the spray she left behind which hid her from view, 
 was like that caused by the water of a cataract falling on 
 the rocks below. These truly Eoyal festivals must have 
 suffered a sad eclipse since the Monarchy has been shorn 
 of the best half of its dominions. Before that time, 
 every town or river district had to provide its own boat, 
 the Chiefs emulating each other to produce one with the 
 highest qualifications. 
 
 About the beginning of February, Dr. Judson, another 
 American missionary, arrived in Ava, to join his coad- 
 jutor, Dr. Price. He reported that on his passage up 
 the river, he had seen the Bundoola's army encamped 
 at Senpyoo-ghewn, a district assigned to support the esta- 
 blishment of the King's favourite white Elephant, who 
 had his Ministers and retinue like one of the magnates 
 of the land. From this spot, a road (if a mountain pass 
 deserves the name) communicates with Arracan, and 
 from the information Dr. Judson acquired, there was no 
 doubt the army was bound for the frontier, to support 
 their arrogant claim to a portion of Bengal. But had 
 more frequent communication with India been possible, 
 all doubts would long since have been removed*, for it 
 appears that so long back as October, fighting had begun, 
 and several of our sepoys had been slain in an attempt 
 of the Burmese to establish themselves in our territory. 
 I had not yet had leisure to organize post-boats for 
 my own use, and a month or two elapsed without any 
 opportunity of passing a letter to my friends in Bengal. 
 They, on their part, found equal difficulty ; I was there- 
 fore left wholly to rumour and conjecture as to the com- 
 plications of political affairs. 
 
 Meanwhile, as the proverb says, " a feather will show
 
 110 IN TROUBLE ABOUT STOCKDALE. [CHAP. X. 
 
 how the wind blows," and a significant event happened 
 about this time, clearly indicating that the current was 
 setting adverse to my interests. 
 
 I have already mentioned the name of Mr. Stockdale. 
 This gentleman, when he died, had some trifling property 
 in his boat, which, as usual, fell to the rapacity of the 
 Court. It was too little in value to make any great effort 
 about, or I might possibly, while in favour, have succeeded 
 in getting it restored to me for his heirs, though even 
 then the attempt would have been attended with danger, 
 as the money went into the coffers of the grasping and 
 vindictive Queen. A story was invented that I owed Mr. 
 Stockdale a large sum of money, and I was summoned to 
 the Shwai-dyke, or Royal Treasury, where the demand was 
 enforced. As no evidence was adduced to substantiate 
 the claim, all I could do was to deny the fact*. On the 
 contrary, Mr. Stockdale had borrowed a little money 
 from me, for which I held his written engagement. But 
 explanation and assertion were useless. I was detained 
 in custody at the Treasurer's house, and was not allowed 
 to return home until I gained my freedom by a consider- 
 able bribe. After this not a word further was said 
 about the alleged debt : the bribe was the ultima ratio, 
 it was all that was wanted. As this was the first instance 
 of extortion or personal disrespect, it was no dubious 
 indication that the feelings of the Court towards me were 
 undergoing a change. 
 
 I was now anxious to ascertain how far the King 
 shared in this feeling, but as I had reason to believe my 
 bribe had gone into the pocket of his abominable spouse, 
 I could not muster the courage for a formal complaint. 
 I absented myself from the Palace for a week or two, 
 waiting to see whether I should be sent for as formerly.
 
 CHAP. X.] ONE OF THE KING'S TEAM. Ill 
 
 My doubt on this point had not been cleared up, when, 
 in riding through one of the wide streets of the town, 
 I saw the Boyal guard approaching in the distance, and 
 knew by their manner that His Majesty was in the rear. 
 According to etiquette, every one seats himself on the 
 ground with clasped hands and downcast eyes while 
 Royalty passes, for here the proverb does not hold good, 
 that " a cat may look at a king." If an unfortunate puss 
 were so inquisitive from an eminence above His Majesty, 
 she would assuredly be brought down by the pellet-bows 
 of the guard, a few of whom carry them for such pur- 
 poses, and use them with great dexterity. As I always 
 tried to avoid this humiliation of squatting on the 
 ground, I sought the friendly screen of the trunk of 
 a huge tamarind tree, behind which I hid myself, holding 
 my pony by the bridle, and I thought he was hidden 
 as well as myself. His Majesty, however, caught sight 
 of the European saddle, and ordered me out of my 
 hiding-place. He was taking his ride in a richly- 
 omamented English buggy, no doubt the present of 
 one of our former Embassies. Between the shafts 
 were a number of the loo-byo-dau, highly-honoured 
 bipeds, proud to act as horses in the service of their 
 Monarch. I was invited to become one of the team, an 
 offer willingly accepted, as I rather enjoyed the fun. 
 When the buggy stopped at the foot of the flight of 
 the Palace stairs, I followed at his desire with the retinue, 
 His Majesty now and then addressing a question to me. 
 
 He took his walk to the Shwai-dyke, the scene of my 
 late dishonour, in front of which, exposed in the open 
 air, were ranged some hundreds of logs of pure silver, 
 shaped like pieces of ship's kentledge, but, unfortunately 
 for me, wanting the handle with which kentledge is
 
 112 TRY TO CARRY OFF [CHAP. X. 
 
 furnished for the convenience of lifting. The King 
 made some remark about them. "Your Majesty," said I, 
 " must have honest subjects : in my country they would 
 be stolen." 
 
 " They are too heavy," he rejoined, " they cannot be 
 lifted; each piece weighs 100 viss." 
 
 " My countrymen are very strong they would walk 
 away with them on their shoulders. I could almost do it 
 myself, your Majesty." 
 
 " Try ! " said the King ; " if you can lift one I will give 
 it you." 
 
 The calculation ran through my head in an instant 
 365 Ibs. avoirdupois of pure silver ! It is worth trying for at 
 all events. I stepped forward. Oh ! for the muscles of 
 Hercules ! I was young, and not deficient in strength. 
 Up went one foot of the log in an instant, and I believe 
 the Golden Foot was, for the moment, terrified lest I should 
 run away with it. Had there been a handle, I should 
 certainly have accomplished the feat of lifting it ; but the 
 sharp edge of the block cut my hands like a knife, and I 
 was obliged to give it up, amid the bantering laughter of 
 the King and Ms Courtiers. Little did they dream how 
 soon the glittering treasure was to change its ownership, 
 under the more expert practice of my countrymen ! 
 
 The King afterwards took me in to the Palace, and carried 
 me to the Queen's apartments ; nor could I discover from 
 his manner that I was in any degree less a favourite than 
 formerly. So long as this Koyal patronage lasted I was 
 safe; but how long could it be maintained, when the 
 growing dislike and suspicion of all by whom he was 
 surrounded, which was now but ill concealed, should 
 burst forth into open attacks? Every day, as this war- 
 fever gained strength, these suspicions increased. I could
 
 CHAP. X.] A LOG OF THE ROYAL SILVER. 113 
 
 not go anywhere without heing compelled to listen to 
 arrogant boasting, sometimes accompanied by a word of 
 commiseration for me, but oftener by scowling looks and 
 menacing expressions. By degrees I withdrew from inter- 
 course with the Chiefs, deeming it prudent to avoid these 
 irritating conversations on a topic fraught with danger, if 
 honest opinions were to be expressed. I began to stay 
 more in my house, leaving the " Ked Rat " to do my work, 
 and salclom stirred abroad for fear of open insult.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Perplexities. Departure of Mr. Richardson, who escapes in safety. 
 Taking a wild elephant. Mode of taming him. Royal pugilists. 
 My last interview with the King. Scheme for escape with the Sakkya- 
 Woongee. Defeated by delays. Might have been worse. 
 
 I WAS now involved in no slight perplexity. Had I been 
 merely a traveller, or residing for my own pleasure alone, 
 my course would have been plain. I should have at- 
 tempted my escape against all hazards, while escape was 
 yet possible. But such not being the case, it became a 
 struggle between inclination and duty. I was left with a 
 very large amount of property, which would unquestion- 
 ably be lost if left unprotected. This did not entirely 
 belong to me, and how should I reflect upon myself, and 
 how would my character stand, if I deserted the interests 
 confided to me ? I might be wrong, too, in my estimation 
 of the danger. If war were imminent, surely my friends in 
 India would have found means to warn me it was even 
 the duty of the Government to do so. Then why submit 
 to a certain sacrifice on such doubtful grounds ? Besides, 
 would not my flight be arrested ? Would permission be 
 granted ? An abortive attempt to leave the country 
 would make matters worse, and excite and increase 
 the ill-feeling against me. 
 
 In this state of doubt and hesitation I consulted the
 
 CHAP. XL] MR. RICHARDSON ESCAPES. 115 
 
 " Red Eat." He was a man of considerable penetration ; 
 but he could give me little comfort. He knew the feel- 
 ings and practices of the Burrnans in time of war, and 
 admitted that to remain in their power at such a time was 
 to perish ; but he was equally sure that permission would 
 not be granted for my departure, and secret flight was 
 perilous, not to say impossible, without detection. The 
 result of my reasoning was a determination to remain at 
 my post, while the fact of my doing so would facilitate 
 the departure of Mr. Richardson, whose fate there was no 
 necessity to link with mine. 
 
 After coming to this decision I advised Mr. Richardson 
 not to lose a single day, and if questioned on his voyage 
 down the river he was merely to say he was going on my 
 business. The " Rat" fully approved of this. The depar- 
 ture of one, he said,./o bring up fresh goods might pass 
 unnoticed, if the other remained with the property. 
 
 When this considerate scheme for his own safety was 
 unfolded to the party who was to benefit by it, what was 
 my surprise at meeting a flat refusal ! He dreaded the 
 dangers of the river knew not the language feared 
 being seized and sent back a prisoner ! He had acquired 
 a blind confidence in me, and thought that where I was 
 he should be safe. No argument could turn him from 
 his resolution. At last, a little vexed at his obstinate 
 folly, T reversed the proposition. As he would not go, 
 would he be content to remain, and allow me the oppor- 
 tunity of running for my life ? I said I was quite 
 ready for either course, but felt it my duty to give 
 him the option. This brought him to his senses. I 
 dared not ask permission for him to leave, fearing it might 
 be refused ; but embarked him privately on a small fast 
 boat, in which he happily arrived in safety at Rangoon.
 
 116 ENGLISHMEN AT RANGOON. [CHA?. XI. 
 
 I was rejoiced to hear of the poor fellow's escape, 
 though it will be seen, as the story proceeds, that it well- 
 nigh proved my destruction. Thinking it probable that 
 my countrymen at Rangoon, not being aware of the state 
 of feeling at the Capital, might be living in fancied secu- 
 rity, I wrote a few lines to one of them by the hand of 
 Mr. Richardson, warning him of their danger. The letter 
 was delivered, but the caution was disregarded. Their 
 negligence proved nearly fatal to themselves, for within a 
 fortnight after they received my letter the British fleet 
 appeared before Rangoon, and their lives were wonder- 
 fully rescued when in the extremes! peril. 
 
 When our fleet anchored abreast of the town, their 
 fate seemed inevitable. They were led to immediate exe- 
 cution. The executioners stood with their knives ready, 
 the floor was strewed with sand to receive their blood, 
 and nothing was wanting but the final order from the 
 Governor, when, before this arrived, a broadside from 
 H.M.S. Liffey providentially saved them. A 32-pound 
 shot tore through the building, and so alarmed the gang 
 that they instantly decamped, carrying their prisoners 
 with them. Not knowing in the confusion what to do 
 with them, the Governor having fled, they hid them in 
 a house near the Great Pagoda, where they were found 
 the next morning, heavily ironed, by a party of our 
 soldiers and released. As for Richardson himself, the 
 terror-stricken young man had wisely made good his 
 retreat in the first vessel sailing from the port. 
 
 Although I had resolved not to show myself again at 
 any of their public festivals, curiosity, on one occasion, 
 overcame my prudence. Sitting at my window, I saw a 
 huge, wild male Elephant escorted through the street by 
 about a dozen tame females without riders, except one or
 
 CHAP. XL] A WILD ELEPHANT TAMED. 117 
 
 two, who, sometimes hustling, sometimes coaxing him, 
 most ingeniously contrived to curb his vicious propensity 
 to mischief in his passage through the town. More than 
 once he manifested a disposition to unroof a house, when 
 it was curious to see how the females interfered to prevent 
 it by guiding away his uplifted trunk, and shouldering 
 him into the midst of the herd, out of the way of com- 
 mitting damage. 
 
 I soon learned that the King and his whole Court were 
 to be present at the entrapping of this beast. The tempt- 
 ation was too strong to resist. It was but a short dis- 
 tance from my house, so I sallied forth with the thousands 
 of holiday-makers, hoping to relieve, for a time, the 
 weight which oppressed my spirits, by joining in the 
 amusement of the day. The scene has been described 
 by travellers to Ava. 
 
 It is the duty of the female decoys to seduce the wild 
 animal into an enclosure from 80 to 100 yards square. 
 The brick walls of this enclosure are twenty or thirty feet 
 thick, affording ample space at the top for the crowd of 
 spectators out of harm's way. Within the walls, at a 
 convenient distance from them, strong posts are fixed 
 near to each other, as a refuge for the band of tormentors 
 when pursued by the enraged animal. There is an en- 
 trance-gate in the centre of one wall, and a sally-port 
 in the opposite one, through which the decoys escape, 
 one by one, as they find opportunity. Each of these 
 ports is opened or closed with great facility by means of 
 a swinging post, so contrived and of such strength as to 
 resist any effort to break through it. 
 
 When the herd reached the entrance-gate of this Quad- 
 rangle, the Hero of the day became suspicious that mis- 
 chief was intended. The decoys went in and came out
 
 118 ELEPHANT FESTIVAL. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 again, uttering a shrill note of pleasure, as if to convince 
 their captive that his fears were groundless; but even this 
 did not seem to satisfy him. Several times he went close, 
 looked in at the gate, and then, as if he had made up 
 his mind that all was not straightforward, turned round, 
 and rapidly retreated with a loud cry. After a little 
 while, finding him unreasonably suspicious, the decoys 
 proceeded to encircle him, using a little gentle coercion 
 and much coaxing. At length his scruples were over- 
 come, and the reluctant victim entered with the rest, 
 all together in a crowd. 
 
 Now came the difficult manoeuvre for exit, and it was 
 wonderful to see the tact with which some of these artful 
 decoys amused their dupe on one side of the square, while 
 their companions in deceit were making good their re- 
 treat on the other. It seemed as if each knew the exact 
 part she had to perform, and the whole was done so 
 quietly and cleverly, that the confiding male was not at 
 all aware how fast his seraglio was diminishing in num- 
 ber. At length, when he came to his senses, only one 
 unfortunate female was left within. There was something 
 terrible in the deliberate survey the savage took when 
 for the first time he missed his herd. He stood as though 
 astonished at the treachery, then, at the first impulse, he 
 made a ferocious attack on the poor solitary female, bury- 
 ing one of his immense tusks in her side. The wound 
 was mortal; the gush of blood might, without exaggera- 
 tion, be compared to the stream of water pouring out 
 from an ordinary house-pump. She, nevertheless, lived 
 to effect her escape at the well-known spot, while her 
 destroyer, who did riot repeat the attack, was furiously 
 ranging the enclosure, chasing the runners, who now 
 made their appearance, endeavouring to irritate him with
 
 CHAP. XL] MANNER OF TAMING. 119 
 
 shouts of defiance. After an hour or two of teasing, he 
 was entrapped in the sally-port, which he seemed all 
 along to recognize as the spot of his desertion, and 
 assaulted from time to time with great fury. Here the 
 walls were so close together, as to prevent his turning 
 round; once in, he was safe. 
 
 All the time the men were engaged in tormenting the 
 poor heast, a goat, introduced probably to attract his 
 attention occasionally from them, was quietly browsing, 
 in a most unconcerned manner, on the grass growing in 
 the quadrangle. Several times the Elephant made a 
 furious rush at it, but without the least chance of 
 success ; the goat never fled before him, but eluded his 
 attacks merely by dodging nimbly through his legs, and 
 when the Elephant had passed, he continued provokingly 
 to nibble the grass, as though the onslaught had not in 
 the least discomposed his nerves. 
 
 My house was so close that I went daily to watch the 
 manner of taming him. His cage was just large enough 
 to hold him. Above it, was a ponderous beam embedded 
 into the walls, and to this he was suspended by ropes, 
 dexterously passed under his belly and over the beam, 
 drawn tight enough to prevent his lying down, but suffi- 
 ciently slack to permit him to stand without pain. His 
 fore feet were then fastened together with fetters a very 
 taming process, as the writer can testify, as was also 
 the craving of hunger to which he was subjected. In 
 this solitary confinement he was left two or three days, 
 and when he next saw the human form, it was not in the 
 character of a tormentor, but in that of a benefactor, 
 bringing dainty food and using every art of conciliation. 
 He thus became accustomed to the sight, and voice, and 
 handling of his keeper ; the severities were gradually re-
 
 120 ROYAL PUGILISTS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 laxed ; in a fortnight he was suffered to shuffle out in his 
 shackles to a shed, where he was again introduced to the 
 civilizing society of his female hetrayers, and hecame 
 willing to forego his birthright of liberty for a mess of 
 pottage. I had not his acquaintance long enough to see 
 the end, hut I was told that in two or three months he 
 might he used with safety. 
 
 After the Elephant was secured, a hand of Royal pugilists 
 had a set-to. These combats would have appeared ludicrous 
 to one of the Fancy in our prize-rings. The left arm was 
 extended at full length, as though for the purpose of 
 seizing or clutching an antagonist, and was quite useless 
 for offence or defence, while the right fist was poised high 
 in the air, watching an opportunity to come down like a 
 sledge-hammer on the head of the opponent when he 
 attempted to close. After closing, the elbows and knees 
 were used with great dexterity as well as the fist. There 
 was nothing of the brutal fighting, a I'outrance, which 
 disgraces our English ring ; the first blood shown 
 usually decides the combat. The Prince of Tharawudi, 
 a great patron of the ring, asked my opinion of the 
 fights, and was incredulous when I told him we had a 
 hero in England named Thomas Cribb, who would think 
 it mere child's play to dispose of a dozen such cham- 
 pions one after another, and as to those produced at the 
 festival, I thought I could beat them myself. The re- 
 mark put his blood up, and he kindly invited me to enter 
 the arena against some of his own boxers. I thought it 
 prudent to decline the honour, not, however, from any 
 distrust of my own prowess. 
 
 This was the last time I ever gained access to the King. 
 He recognized me among the crowd of spectators, from 
 an open Pavilion erected on the walls, where his Court
 
 CHAP. XL] A CLOUD OVER DR. PRICE. 121 
 
 was assembled to witness the sport, and assigned me a 
 convenient place among them ; but it was easy to see, from 
 the bearing of the nobles, that his favour alone protected 
 me from insult. The amenities of a state of war had 
 commenced. 
 
 Dr. Judson thought it unbecoming a teacher of reli- 
 gion to appear at such an entertainment, but his less 
 scrupulous coadjutor was there, tempted either by the 
 sport itself, or more likely by the desire to attract the 
 notice of Royalty, for my friend, Jonathan David Price, 
 though an excellent person, set a higher value on the 
 smile of Eoyalty, than might have been expected from a 
 sturdy son of the States. If such were his motive, poor 
 Price was doomed to a bitter disappointment. He had 
 been, from some cause or other, out of favour at the 
 Court for some time, but seeing me in a place of honour, 
 he ventured to intrude, uncalled, into the Presence, when 
 the silence and averted face of His Majesty gave him a 
 hint that he had better retire, which he did, in great 
 despondency. 
 
 On returning home from the Elephant-catching, I found 
 a vanquished pugilist, who had been brought to my house 
 for aid. His skull was laid bare by a terrific hammer- 
 like blow such as I have described. 
 
 About this time a gleam of sunshine shot across my 
 path. A chance arose, which, if cleverly improved, 
 .might even yet open the net and bring deliverance. 
 
 My old acquaintance, Meeadai Mengee, late Viceroy of 
 Rangoon, had died, and a pacific old Woongee (Sak- 
 kya-mengee) had been ordered to Rangoon, to assume 
 the Government of the Province. It was strangely in- 
 consistent that, in the present excited state of the Court, 
 they should have selected almost the only reasonable
 
 122 A CHANCE FOB ESCAPE. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 man among them, and one decidedly averse to the 
 war. 
 
 When his hoats were ready, and he was on the eve of 
 taking his departure for his province, my " Red Rat" (for I 
 dared not go myself) sought an interview hy way of sug- 
 gesting that if he took me to Rangoon with him I might, 
 by my influence, open a negotiation between himself, as 
 Viceroy, and the Governor- General, which would result in 
 the British giving up whatever the King wanted, and so 
 maintain peace between the two countries ! He took 
 upon himself to say that I was quite a Burman at heart, 
 and would be sure to use my best energies in the King's 
 interest. The old Minister was already in his boat (though 
 he would not leave for two or three days), when he sent 
 for me to discuss the subject. I waited on him late at 
 night, and of course was loud in praise of Peace, as usual, 
 and promised, if he thought fit to take me in his retinue 
 to Rangoon, to undertake a voyage to Calcutta in the 
 character of his Envoy to the Governor- General. I repre- 
 sented that a great portion of my property was already in 
 gold and silver, ready to remove, that I would leave the 
 " Red Rat" at Ava, under Ms authority, to collect and 
 bring down the remainder, and that I was quite prepared 
 to accompany him at a moment's notice. 
 
 I knew the folly of the whole affair, and that my pro- 
 posed intervention was an utter absurdity ; still it did not 
 appear in this light to him, and as it might be the means 
 of saving my life, together with the chief part of my pro- 
 perty, and could do no harm to any one, I thought my- 
 self quite justified in allowing the old Woongee to remain 
 under the delusion. It was not my duty, as it certainly 
 was not my interest, to undeceive him. The suggestion 
 pleased the kind- hearted old man, and his conversation
 
 CHAP. XL] THE CHANCE LOST. 123 
 
 with me inspired his confidence. The affair was to he 
 left in his hands. He was to ohtain an order that I 
 should accompany him, without compromising himself 
 with the hlut-dau hy divulging his object. 
 
 Had time sufficed, this ridiculous compact would have 
 been carried out. The wayward course of events would 
 have conferred on me the character of a local Envoy to 
 the Governor- General, on a mission about as promising as 
 if I had to propose a union of the two Kingdoms. The 
 impossibility of bringing it to a successful issue did not, 
 however, render it the less welcome to me as a means of 
 safety. 
 
 How well do I remember the state of nervous excite- 
 ment in which I spent the few days following that night's 
 interview ! the irritation created by delays of State, or the 
 predictions of astrologers. Existence seemed to depend on 
 rapidity of movement, yet day by day some new whim, 
 some idle fancy, intervened to detain the Woongee's fleet, 
 until at last it was too late the time had gone by. The 
 next chapter will show that I was inextricably caught in 
 the toils ; my diplomatic aspirations were dismissed, and 
 the quasi ambassador had to succumb to circumstances 
 which he could not guide. 
 
 And how happy it is for him that he had not the power 
 to guide them ! How much more to his advantage were 
 they directed by the unseen and too often unacknowledged 
 hand of Infinite Goodness, which is always at work in 
 avertiug danger from our path ! Had my wishes been 
 gratified, there would have been little chance of my being 
 alive at this moment to acknowledge, as I now do with a 
 thankful heart, the failure of schemes laid with such ap- 
 parent foresight and prudence.
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 Rangoon bombarded. Effect of the news. Hopes and plans of the 
 Americans. Mr. Rodgers. Lanciego. I confine myself to the house. 
 State of the city. Message from Tharawudi. Cure for cholera. I 
 am shunned by every one. Summoned to the Bya-dyke. Arrival of 
 Mr. Laird. I am accused of being a British spy. Examinations. I 
 am committed to the custody of the Taing-dau, and remanded. 
 
 ONE Sunday morning, I think it was the 23rd of May, 
 I got into a canoe and paddled across the Irrawuddi to 
 the opposite bank of Tsagain, where Dr. Price lived, for 
 the purpose of uniting in worship, as we had been in the 
 habit of doing when opportunity permitted. Our little 
 congregation consisted only of our worthy host and Dr. 
 and Mrs. Judson, who met us by appointment. There 
 was something in the retirement and beauty of the spot, 
 the broad river, seen through the foliage of magnificent 
 trees, rolling at our feet, the smallness of our number, 
 assembled in a heathen, and it may be said by this time 
 almost a hostile country, and especially the perilous cir- 
 cumstances under which we met, which combined to throw 
 into our devotions on that day a peculiar impressiveness. 
 We all knew full well that a dark storm was gathering 
 around us, but from what quarter or in what manner it 
 would burst we could only form vague conjectures, and 
 never did bewildered mortals feel more in need of the aid 
 of that Wisdom which cometh from above, to calm and
 
 CHAP. XII.] CAPTURE OF RANGOON. 125 
 
 fortify their minds, an'd to guide them aright through the 
 intricacies of their difficult path. At that moment, 
 however, we were not aware how soon the evil which we 
 feared was to come upon us. 
 
 While thus occupied, our devotions were rudely dis- 
 turbed by a man rushing into the apartment in breathless 
 haste, with the appalling tidings that a British fleet had 
 arrived at Kangoon, that the town had been bombarded, 
 that the population had fled, and that the place was in 
 the possession of the assailants ; in other words, that a 
 sanguinary war had at last broken out between the two 
 nations, in which the British took the initiative. 
 
 A short time was now spent in anxious deliberation, as 
 to the course each party ought to pursue. A war between 
 civilized nations is waged in a very different manner, and 
 with very different feelings, to one maintained against a 
 semi-barbarous people. All their history told us, and 
 what we now saw and heard tended to confirm it, that the 
 extermination or slavery of their enemies was the usual 
 practice of the Burmese in time of war. The latter might 
 be expedient when adjacent nations or tribes were to be 
 subjugated, but the case was different when it respected a 
 handful of Europeans, of race and colour so totally 
 distinct; and there was reason to fear that the former 
 course, with all its barbarities, would immediately be 
 resorted to, as most consonant with their savage ideas 
 and antipathies. 
 
 Impressed with this fear, the Americans very reason- 
 ably argued that, as their safety entirely depended on 
 their being able to prove their distinct nationality, their 
 aim should be to avoid, in their future conduct, anything 
 which might tend to create a doubt or suspicion of its 
 truth. With this view they besought me to discontinue
 
 126 I AM TABOOED [CHAP. XII. 
 
 my visits, thinking that too close an intimacy or alliance 
 with a rebel Englishman might have the appearance of 
 complicity. Much as it grieved me to lose the society of 
 my friends at a time when it would have been most con- 
 solatory, I could not but subscribe to the prudence of the 
 movement on their part, and henceforth we saw little of 
 each other, until our fate involved us in one common 
 calamity. 
 
 With respect to Mr. Rodgers, the wily old gentleman 
 knew his interest too well to wish to exchange a word 
 with any of us. He depended on his life-long services, 
 his complete naturalization as a Burman subject, and 
 hoped to save himself from shipwreck by steering with the 
 art and skill acquired in his long experience. As to the 
 Spaniard, Lanciego, his court alliance would protect him, 
 but, .strong as that was, he felt a nervous dislike at my 
 entering his house, though close by, and this he told me in 
 the plainest terms. Thus every one had his own peculiar 
 plans to secure his life, all agreeing in this one fact, that 
 I was a mightily dangerous person, a most undesirable 
 acquaintance, and I found myself as strictly tabooed as 
 if I had been a leper. 
 
 Leaving my American friends, I now paddled back to 
 my own house, where I found the " Red Rat " awaiting my 
 return, in a state of great consternation. The negotiation 
 with the Sakkya-Woongee was of course at an end, he set 
 sail without me, not to take possession of his Province, 
 but to find it in the iron grasp of the British commander. 
 The " Rat " did not attempt to disguise the danger. He 
 recommended me to shut myself up in my house, there 
 to wait the course of events, and to avoid exasperating 
 the people by showing myself in the streets. He did not 
 think I should be molested for the present if I remained
 
 CHAP. XII.] BY ALL MY FRIENDS. 127 
 
 unseen, and, promising to come daily to report the state 
 of affairs outside, he left me to my reflections. 
 
 These were far from agreeable. I have heard it said that 
 there is a just line of limit between imprudent rashness, 
 a wanton exposure of ourselves to danger, and a cow- 
 ardly timidity or shrinking from it when a sense of duty 
 calls us to endure the risk. This line of demarcation 
 must be thin as a hair and hardly ascertainable, for all 
 my logic failed to convince me whether I had been acting 
 the part of a reasonable man or that of a simpleton, in 
 allowing myself to be caught in this trap. It certainly 
 did no great credit to my penetration, for nothing had 
 happened that might not have been foreseen ; but the 
 growth of this feverish ardour for war had been so 
 gradual, so insidiously creeping from mere rumour to 
 acknowledged facts, that by the time I was aware of my 
 real danger it could hardly be said there was a choice 
 left me. As for the American missionaries, there was no 
 excuse : they were positively to be blamed. They had no 
 money to protect or to take away, and, allowing a strong 
 missionary spirit to operate, it is not easy to see what 
 good they could expect to arise out of their teaching, 
 even if they were allowed to live at large, in the midst of 
 such a scene of anarchy as must ensue. Their resolution 
 to remain was little else than courting martyrdom, which 
 they were likely enough to find, unless the Burmese were 
 further advanced in geography and history than they had 
 any right to look for. 
 
 The day and night passed away without molestation. 
 My house was in a remote suburb, so that the noise 
 and clamour prevailing in the town and around the 
 Palace was too distant to disturb me.
 
 128 POPULAR EXCITEMENT. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 On the following dny Kewet-nee brought me the 
 news. The whole city was convulsed with rage, as may 
 be supposed, at the loss of their great sea-port, but there 
 was an element in the popular excitement which was 
 working in my favour, and to it I attribute my pre- 
 servation on the first ebullition of their fury. It was 
 a feeling of satisfaction and exultation that the white 
 foreigners had entered into a trap from which they could 
 not escape, and would inevitably be destroyed like 
 vermin. Such a hold had this delusion taken, that the 
 only fear now expressed was that their enemies would 
 plunder the town and escape, before the Eoyal army had 
 time to arrive and give them battle. Their expressions 
 of confidence were as unbounded as their indignation ; 
 indeed, this buoyancy of feeling gave the town the 
 resemblance of a joyous festival, intermingled with fits of 
 frantic rage. Many songs were extemporized, teeming 
 with ridicule and defiance. The burden of one of them 
 was singularly refined and elegant. It contemplated 
 nothing less than hunting the British General for the 
 sake of his hide ; he was to be caught, flayed, and his 
 skin tanned into leather to make shoes for the Heir 
 apparent ! Little did the innocent poets know of the 
 vigour Englishmen manifest in defence of their hides ! 
 His Majesty at the same time issued a merciful command. 
 He did not wish the white men to be involved in indis- 
 criminate slaughter, but desired that a certain number 
 should be caught alive to serve him as slaves, and espe- 
 cially that their arms should be preserved with great 
 care, to be ready for his next attack on his neighbours, 
 the Siamese. My reporter could not hear that any in- 
 quiry had been made about me.
 
 CHAP. XII.] THARAWUDI'S KIND OFFER. 129 
 
 The following day a polite message came from the 
 Prince of Tharawudi, which may be fairly rendered into 
 plain English, as follows : 
 
 " The Prince of Tharawudi presents his compliments 
 to Mr. Gouger, and, having formed a partiality for him, 
 would be sorry to see his throat cut, and recommends 
 him to come quickly to his Palace, where the Prince 
 would like to see the man who dares to touch him. 
 P.S. Mr. Gouger had better bring his wine and beer, 
 igold and silver, for safety." 
 
 This was very kind, and, in truth, something of the 
 sort had passed through my mind more than once; but 
 before accepting this all-powerful protection, I thought I 
 would consult the " Red Rat," to whose guiding genius I 
 had committed myself. Common sense told me that I could 
 not well be in a worse plight than at present, and dictated 
 compliance; but common sense also suggested that it 
 might be as well first to take counsel from one much 
 better versed in the intricacies of Burmese diplomacy 
 than myself. It was well for me that I used so much 
 caution. 
 
 When the " Rat " made his appearance, and saw how 
 elated I was with the idea, he looked a kind of contemp- 
 tuous pity, as much as to say, " You have made but little 
 progress in the knowledge of Burmese character under 
 my teaching." " Sahib," said he, " if the Prince were to 
 know what I am going to tell you, my life would not be 
 worth a day's purchase. This offer is only made that he 
 may get you and your property in his power, and you 
 would then soon find a grave in his garden, as many 
 persons have done before, when it suited his purpose. 
 He knows you have a great deal of gold and silver, and 
 thinks he may as well get it as any one else. When you 
 
 G 3
 
 130 I LIVE IN CONCEALMENT. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 came to be demanded by the hlut-dau, as you would be, 
 the only answer he could give would be that you had died, 
 and there the matter might end. You will stand a better 
 chance by remaining quiet, and allowing yourself to be 
 apprehended by the Woongees, and disposed of according 
 to their pleasure." 
 
 So spoke my Ahithophel. His counsel was as an 
 oracle, and experience proved its -wisdom. A few years 
 later, when in troublous times this truculent tyrant 
 usurped the Throne of his brother, no fewer than 3000 of 
 his subjects were sacrificed to his jealousy, and that 
 of his hopeful son -who succeeded him not slain in 
 war, but victims of private assassination. His palace- 
 yard was spoken of as teeming with bodies foully dis- 
 posed of. This was probably an exaggeration, but it is 
 certain that I had no reason to be proud of my acquaint- 
 ance. A polite answer was returned to His Royal High- 
 ness, couched in terms of equal dissimulation. " With a 
 thousand thanks for his benevolent intentions, I had 
 such perfect confidence in the promise of protection, 
 given me by His Majesty, that I reposed without fear, 
 knowing he would not permit any violence to be done to 
 a stranger, who lived under his favour." 
 
 For two or three days I was allowed to brood in silence 
 over my hapless fate. Shunned by all my fellow- crea- 
 tures, the mind constantly reverting, in spite of every 
 effort, to the same harassing train of thought, I became 
 at last a distressing burden to myself; books could not 
 solace me in this nervous state of depression, and I 
 began to think a change to positive suffering, if it only 
 brought activity, would be a relief. My faithful reporter 
 came daily with his budget of local news ; but I could hear 
 nothing about myself, nor could he collect any authentic
 
 CHAP. XII.] CURE FOR CHOLERA. 131 
 
 tidings of the fate of the few of my fellow-countrymen, 
 who were living in fancied security at Rangoon when 
 the British fleet made its unwelcome appearance. It 
 was much to be feared they were all massacred, and such 
 was the report. 
 
 One night, while sitting in my house, in this dis6on- 
 solate mood, pondering as usual on the strange vicis- 
 situdes of my fate, the voices of a multitude of people 
 outside aroused me from my reverie, and presently com- 
 menced such a furious attack, with sticks, on the frame- 
 work of the house fronting the street, that I thought, at 
 last, the vindictive mob had found me out, and was 
 about to turn its fury on me. Soon it extended along 
 the whole length of the street, while the yelling and 
 shouting became louder and fiercer, mixed with horrid 
 imprecations and threats of vengeance. What could it 
 mean ? The house stood firm, and no one attempted to 
 force open the door. I Listened with bewildered astonish- 
 ment, fter five minutes of screaming, and yelling, and 
 thumping, as if Bedlam had been let loose, the tumult 
 suddenly ceased, and the silence of the night was re- 
 stored. I believe the faculty has long been searching 
 out a specific for the cholera. Here was the Burmese 
 mode of treating it. The demon had been making havoc 
 in our neighbourhood, and the parishioners had united to 
 frighten and hunt him out. If the evil spirit loved to 
 pursue his work of destruction in silence, there was no 
 doubt he would decamp to seek a more quiet field for his 
 labours elsewhere. 
 
 On the 28th of May, a body of men made their way 
 into my house and carried me off to a court of justice, 
 called the Bya-dyke, held in the palace-yard, pre- 
 sided over by the Attwenwoons ; and the first examination
 
 132 JOHN LAIRD'S NEWSPAPER. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 there convinced me that I was caught in a net, from 
 which there was about as much chauce of my disentan- 
 gling myself, as there is for an unfortunate fly to free 
 itself from the web of a spider. The ostensible cause of 
 this examination was simple enough. 
 
 An. unlucky Scotchman, named John Laird, who had 
 recently commanded a ship in the country trade, had 
 aspired to be the agent to the Prince of Tharawudi, in 
 Rangoon, for the sale of teak timber, with which the 
 Prince's forests abounded. It did not enter into the 
 ambitious Captain's calculations that the honour he courted 
 was a perilous one. The Prince, his master, foreseeing 
 the course affairs were likely to take, and wishing to have 
 Ms slave in his power, despatched a boat to Rangoon, 
 with instructions to the crew to return with Mr. Laird 
 to Ava. There was no " habeas corpus " to save him. 
 When safely on board, he was astonished at the exhibi- 
 tion of a pair of fetters, but from this indignity he freed 
 himself by a bribe. Fortunately for himself he had not 
 brought with him property sufficient to tempt his master 
 to violence. He had just arrived in Ava, bringing with him 
 a Calcutta newspaper, of late date, containing a paragraph 
 indicating, in no doubtful terms, that a hostile expedition 
 to Rangoon was meditated by the British Government. 
 This newspaper he had shown to me ; but at the same time 
 he had been imprudent enough to have it explained to 
 his Royal master also. It was to answer for my complicity 
 in this transaction, knowing the intention to invade the 
 country and not revealing it, that I was now brought to 
 justice. The accusation was unpleasant, but standing 
 ulone it might have been explained. In the course of the 
 examination, however, I found that it only formed a link 
 in a chain of evidence to bring on me the fate of a spy.
 
 CHAP. XII.] I AM CHARGED AS A SPY. 133 
 
 I was accused of having made maps of the country, by 
 means of instruments, and of having forwarded them to 
 the enemy ; of having sent away my emissary, Mr. 
 Richardson, with intelligence, and of furnishing him with 
 money for his journey ; of retaining the Missionaries in 
 my pay, giving them constantly money for their sub- 
 sistence ; of having written to Bengal about affairs of 
 State ; of being lavish in my gifts and expenses, and of 
 keeping a retinue of servants inconsistent with a private 
 station, and only such as a man in office could support. 
 The worst of it was that all these accusations were more 
 or less true, while the explanations of them, though 
 simple, were not understood, or, if understood, were not 
 credited; but had they been both understood and 
 believed, they would not have saved me from the con- 
 sequences. 
 
 The history of the maps was this. Before leaving 
 Bengal, a friend (the late Captain Thomas Prinsep, of 
 the Bengal Engineers) expressed to me a wish to get 
 some sketches of temples, monasteries, and scenes near 
 Ava, and, as I was unpractised in the art, he made me 
 a present of instruments to assist me ; I had used 
 these without secresy, often for the amusement of the 
 Burmese themselves. - The application of this to my 
 case is evident, and certainly it looked ugly enough. As 
 to Mr. Richardson, his flight and the cause of it have 
 been already described, it had, nevertheless, a suspicious 
 appearance. The sums given to the Missionaries were 
 of course repaid to me by the agent to the Board in 
 India; still it proved a troublesome charge, especially 
 against the Americans, who were now regarded as my 
 accomplices in Treason. The extent of my gifts or 
 bribes, and the number of my native servants, were no
 
 434 NATURE OF ACCUSATIONS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 doubt excessive and unaccountable, in their estimation ; 
 and as to writing the news to Bengal, I could not deny it. 
 It will therefore be seen, that to none of these accusa- 
 tions could I oppose a flat denial, and their total igno- 
 rance of our customs prevented their believing such 
 explanations as I could offer. The result was and I 
 must do them the justice to say that I do believe it was 
 the honest opinion of my judges that I stood before 
 them a convicted Spy. It was in vain I urged that my 
 countrymen, being anxious to avert a war, had no need 
 of spies to give information; the invasion of the coun- 
 try, though the aggression was entirely on the part of 
 the Burmese, was regarded as undeniable proof to the 
 contrary. . 
 
 Among the various reports flying about to my preju- 
 dice, Kewet-nee told me of one, singularly sagacious, 
 that I was brother-in-law to the East India Company 
 (Goombanee Meng) in disguise, that the East India 
 Company had married my sister! No doubt my lavish 
 expenditure had been the means of procuring me this 
 undesirable honour, as they found it difficult to reconcile 
 the show of wealth I had displayed with any other than 
 a high station. 
 
 A lengthened examination was taken, which was the 
 more alarming as it was conducted with an affectation 
 of unimpassioned calmness, while in its progress every 
 word I uttered was tortured and twisted into evidence 
 against myself. At its close I was not permitted to 
 return home, but was detained under what in Eng- 
 land would be called a remand. I was committed 
 to the custody of a body of men designated the Taing- 
 dau (the Royal Shield), a figurative and pretty expres- 
 sion, indicating that they were the personal Guard of
 
 CHAP. XII.] COMMITTED TO CUSTODY. 135 
 
 the King. These troops had a long line of sheds in the 
 Palace-yard, serving as barracks. Two of them, who 
 were appointed my sentinels, lodged me in their own 
 small apartment, for the present, without any further 
 restraint than close confinement to the cell, receiving me 
 in charge, with strict injunctions to keep me safely and 
 ready to be produced, for further examination, when it 
 might please the Attwenwoons to summon me again for 
 the purpose.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Changed prospects. My Guards accompany me home. Our flight disco- 
 vered. I am taken back to prison at midnight. Another examination 
 lasts all night. I am again committed to the Taing-dau, and consigned 
 to the stocks. Punishment of my keepers. Corruptibility of the 
 Taing-dau. I am stripped and carried to the Death-Prison. Some 
 account of that Establishment. Let-ma-yoon. Terror of its name. I 
 am loaded with three pairs of fetters. 
 
 THE events of this day gave a new current to my thoughts. 
 It was clear that the immediate danger I dreaded was 
 averted, only to give birth to another, which seemed more 
 certain and more revolting in its character. Instead of 
 becoming the victim of an enraged mob, I had now to 
 look forward to undergoing the judgment of a vindictive 
 Government for a crime it never forgives. Death always 
 is the penalty of disloyalty^ and what they chose to think 
 disloyalty in this instance, was aggravated by feelings of 
 revenge for their humiliation in the attack on their sea- 
 port. 
 
 It is a misfortune to a man, when he is thrown into 
 circumstances of distress of which he cannot see the 
 end, to have Iris perceptions too acute for the occasion, 
 to try to trace and to reason them through various uncer- 
 tain phases, to a result either favourable or disastrous to 
 liimself, as his temperament inclines to be hopeful or 
 melancholic : in the one case, he renders himself liable
 
 CHAP. XIII] FEAR OF TORTURE. 137 
 
 to the pangs of disappointed hope; in the other, to 
 harrowing anxiety and fear of evils which are never to 
 happen. How much better is it, instead of this, to repose 
 on the truly philosophic as well as Christian maxim, 
 that the evil of each day is sufficient for a person to 
 endure, without encouraging thoughts of a perplexing or 
 disturbing nature beyond it ! What an amount of heart- 
 misery should I have avoided in the two years of 
 wretchedness and of marvellous preservation on which I 
 am now entering, had I only learned to adopt this simple 
 but difficult lesson, the hardest that the active mind of 
 man can be brought to submit to, and never achieved but 
 under the influence of strong Christian faith ! In the 
 absence of this frame of mind, which might have brought 
 me repose, I now began to speculate on the probabilities 
 of the fate I had to endure. I knew the common practice 
 of the Burmese to resort to barbarous tortures when they 
 wished to extract evidence or confession, the crime im- 
 puted to me was one peculiarly within its province; the 
 remembrance of the calm, determined manner of my 
 judges, placid and cruel as priestly Inquisitors, was ever 
 present; the threatened renewal of my examination, the 
 varied charges, the trouble and care it must have cost to 
 get them up, these and many other topics were contem- 
 plated, until my imagination, in spite of a naturally 
 hopeful disposition, pictured to me racks and horrid tor- 
 tures consummated by an agonizing death. Now it can- 
 not be denied, that all these were likely enough to happen, 
 but it is equally certain that the Christian maxim heartily 
 adopted would have drawn the venom from the sting, by 
 leaving realities only to distress me. Truly does one of 
 our poets say, 
 
 "We die a thousand deaths in fearing one/"
 
 138 I GAIN OVER MY GUABD, [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 My two guardsmen were not inclined to subject their 
 prisoner to any severer treatment than his safe detention 
 rendered necessary. This was fortunate, for the hottest 
 reason of the year, when the mercury rarely stands lower 
 than 100 in the house, was harely over, and the front of 
 the line of sheds exposed to the maddening glare of the 
 western sun, would have been insupportable had the 
 soldiers prevented me from adopting some protection 
 from its intense glitter and heat. In a few hours we be- 
 came excellent friends; they procured admission for my 
 terror-stricken servants to pass the gates at all hours to 
 bring me food and comforts, the more readily as I soon 
 found the way to their hearts was no other than that 
 which never fails to gain a British guardsman, beer and 
 brandy ; and these were not to be got by excluding my 
 people, or by ill-treating me. During the day, they had 
 the prudence to keep me closely hidden in my crib of 
 eight feet square, for fear the eyes of His Majesty, who 
 often walked that way, should chance to light on the 
 Traitor ; but at night, when no one was stirring, the good- 
 natured fellows allowed me to sally forth and take the 
 air in front of the huts. 
 
 After two days and nights of wearisome anxiety had 
 been passed in this ward, I began to feel an irresistible 
 desire to see my home once more, and try to bury my 
 sorrows for a short time by a good sound sleep in a com- 
 fortable bed. Seeing my Judges had not sent for me a 
 second time, that my Guards were easy fellows, fond of 
 a bribe, and owed me a good turn for liberal drink, I 
 ventured to propose it to them. At first they were 
 alarmed at the consequences of discovery to both parties, 
 wondered what I wanted to go for (well they might!), 
 feared the Attwenwoons would send again for me, and a
 
 CHAP. XIII.] WHO ALLOW ME TO GO HOME. 139 
 
 hundred other things; but at last I overcame all their 
 scruples, and they promised to accompany me home that 
 night, on my assurance that I would not attempt to make 
 my escape (a run of 500 miles through a strange 
 country!), and that I would return with them to my 
 prison before the day dawned. It was at best an insane 
 thought, and it is not easy to say what prompted it, 
 unless it were a desire to run away from myself, to restore 
 a wholesome state of mind by a long walk and a night's 
 rest. 
 
 When night came, my confederates disguised me in a 
 native dress, and away we went. My house was a mile 
 and a half distant, the only difficulties to be encountered 
 before reaching it, being the sentries at the two gates of 
 the Palace walls. One of my conductors took the lead 
 to answer questions, while I followed close behind with 
 the remaining doughty guardsman. In this manner we 
 safely passed the sentries, and no one but he who has 
 suffered the weariness of close confinement can estimate 
 the exhilaration I felt, when, emerging beyond the walls, 
 we rapidly pursued our way through the streets of the 
 half- deserted and silent town, with an assumed air of 
 boldness that ill assorted with the nervous fear of 
 detection lurking within. My servants, who never 
 looked for such an apparition, were struck dumb with 
 astonishment, but were sadly cast down when they heard 
 that my stolen visit was to last only a few hours. The 
 soldiers claimed their reward, and kept a watch at the 
 gate while I sought what I so much needed a good 
 night's rest. 
 
 But, alas! the best-laid plans are often disconcerted. 
 A little after midnight a posse of armed men aroused me 
 from a deep sleep with loud clamour and vociferations,
 
 140 MY FLIGHT DISCOVERED. [CnAP. XIII. 
 
 that told me at once my flight had been discovered. My 
 trusty guards, terrified at the consequences of their 
 breach of discipline, wisely took to their heels, leaving 
 me in the hands of a dozen of their corps who had been 
 sent in search of me. As ill luck would have it, the 
 Attwenwoon on duty that night (for one of these ministers 
 was always on watch through the night in his Court, 
 guarding his Monarch's rest') bethought himself that he 
 should like to beguile some hours of darkness by renew- 
 ing my examination, perhaps at the same time thinking 
 he might take me off my guard by the unseasonable hour 
 he selected. Great was his consternation when it was 
 reported that the Traitor, with his keepers, had made their 
 escape. The hue-and-cry was instantly raised, and men 
 were despatched in pursuit in all directions, with what 
 success the reader is already aware. 
 
 My captors, who were not in a heavenly temper, would 
 not give me a moment with my people, but hurried me 
 back along the road I had so recently traversed, never 
 resting until they had ushered me into the august 
 presence of the old Minister, the Cerberus of the night. 
 For hours did this wily old interrogator use every art and 
 dissimulation to induce me to commit myself by a con- 
 fession, coaxing and threatening by turns, but of course 
 in vain. My refusal, or rather my inability to confess 
 anything, was looked upon as obstinacy, and every 
 moment I was expecting the introduction of the cord or 
 the hammer, the usual instruments of persuasion in such 
 cases ; but from this terrible infliction the merciful pro- 
 vidence of God, which so repeatedly succoured me in the 
 perils of the two following years, now preserved me. 
 When the morning dawned, the old rogue, growing tired, 
 ordered me back to my old quarters, but to prevent a
 
 CHAP. XIII.] A MIDNIGHT EXAMINATION. 141 
 
 second attempt at flight, he directed that my feet should 
 be made fast in the stocks night and day. Nature was 
 exhausted by the events of the night, and I fell into 
 a deep sleep in spite of the stocks and angry Taing-dau. 
 
 This was paying dearly for my frolic, but it fared even 
 worse with my unfortunate confederates. When caught 
 they were pegged down to the ground by the wrists and 
 ankles, in extenso, with the face upwards exposed to the 
 fierce rays of the vertical sun. Such an infliction would 
 have killed a European in a very short time. Barbarous 
 as this punishment may seem, and impolitic, as being 
 likely to cripple a soldier for life, it is not long since we 
 ourselves emerged from such folly. I have a lively recol- 
 lection of seeing, when a boy, two soldiers, for a less 
 crime, suspended by cords in such a manner as allowed 
 the whole weight of their bodies to rest on a spike tipped 
 with a button about the size of a penny. On this button 
 the culprit stood with bared foot at the manifest risk 
 of being lamed for life. This torture was called tl picket - 
 ting" 
 
 When I awoke, a feeling of shame passed over me as I 
 contemplated the result of my foolish escapade, the 
 undignified attitude to which I had sunk being that of a 
 disorderly rogue found drunk in a country village. Very 
 degrading, certainly, but well merited by my folly. Two new 
 men of the same corps had the charge of me, rather morose 
 fellows, rendered more sulky, perhaps, by the scrape their 
 comrades had fallen into through their kindness -to me. 
 But, alas ! they were destined to fall away from their duty 
 by the force of the same seduction; and I do believe, 
 that, like true soldiers, there was hardly a man of the 
 corps of the Royal Shield whom I could not have gained 
 over by the promise of a glass of grog. As soon as the
 
 142 PUT IN THE STOCKS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 tempter became aware of his power, the stocks lay before 
 him a useless piece of furniture. Our compact was that 
 I was to be on the alert to secure them from danger 
 by slipping my feet into the stocks on the approach 
 of any stranger. So we got on together amicably 
 enough. 
 
 Through the latticed bamboo walls I frequently saw 
 the King pass by on his visits to his stables, so close that 
 I was strongly tempted imprudently to raise my voice 
 from within in supplication for liberty. Did he know 
 how ignominiously I was treated ? 
 
 Ten days of this melancholy life passed away, still no 
 remand, no further examination. What could it mean ? 
 Had a sentence been arrived at, and what was it? The 
 uncertainty was becoming insupportable ; but nothing is 
 more true than that every condition of life, bad as it may 
 be, is capable of becoming worse. 
 
 This was bitterly exemplified on the eighth of June, 
 when the face of affairs changed from bad to worse. On 
 that day a gang of boisterous ruffians, carrying cords and 
 long canes, rushed into my little room with some evil 
 intent, as their manner and countenances indicated. My 
 feet being released from the stocks into which I had 
 thrust them, according to my compact, a furious battle 
 commenced between the intruders and the Taing-dau 
 soldiers for the few trifling articles of furniture the 
 apartment contained. One might have supposed from 
 the fierceness of the contention that something of value, 
 at least, would reward the victorious party. No such 
 thing. A knife and fork, some pieces of worthless glass 
 and old crockery, and a not very clean pillow, were the 
 only plunder within reach. After appropriating these, an 
 attack was made upon me for the clothes I wore, and it
 
 CHAP. XIII.] MOVED TO THE " LET-MA-YOON." 143 
 
 really seemed as if I should be torn in pieces by the 
 combatants for the possession of my jacket, shirt, and 
 trousers. 
 
 "They will be of no use to you," urged the con- 
 siderate guardsmen ; " they are going to carry you to the 
 Let-ma-yoon toung" the Death-Prison ! Now, thought 
 I, for the last scene of this trying drama ; the fate of the 
 spy comes at last. This was an appalling piece of intel- 
 ligence, but wherever they were to take me, I, did not 
 wish to go naked, so I successfully resisted their attempts 
 to denude me. My jacket and waistcoat were torn off, 
 but the rest I succeeded in saving. In doing so I was 
 not at the time aware, that I was merely acting as a 
 partisan of the worst faction of the two, who knew they 
 could plunder me more at leisure when they got me into 
 their den, or I should not have thought it worth while to 
 make so vigorous a defence. They now proceeded to 
 bind my arms behind my back with a piece of cord, and 
 to lead me away bare-footed and bare-headed to the 
 Young -dau, or Criminal Hall of Justice, presided over by 
 the Governor of the town. To ascend the steps of his 
 Court-house was too great an honour for such an atrocious 
 criminal. I was made to squat down in front of it in 
 the street below, while my name and crime were entered 
 in the Prison list, which being done, the procession 
 moved onward, and halted at the gate of the Let-ma- 
 yoon, nearly opposite. 
 
 There are four common prisons in Ava, but one of 
 these only was appropriated to criminals likely to suffer 
 death. It derives its remarkably well-selected name "Let- 
 ma-yoon" literally interpreted, "hand! shrink not" 
 from the revolting scenes of cruelty practised within its 
 walls. This was the prison to which I was driven. To
 
 144 THE DEATH-PRISON. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 those acquainted with the Burmese language, the name 
 conveys a peculiar impression of terror. It contemplates 
 the extreme of human suffering, and when this has 
 reached a point at which our nature recoils when it 
 is supposed that any one bearing the human form might 
 well refuse to be the instrument to add to it, the hand 
 of the executioner is apostrophized, and encouraged not 
 to follow the dictates of the heart. "Thine eye shall 
 not pity,, nor thy hand spare." 
 
 My heart .sank within me as I entered the gate of the 
 prison-yard, which, as it closed behind me, seemed to 
 shut me out for ever from all the interests and sym- 
 pathies of the world beyond it. I was now delivered 
 over to the wretches, seven or eight in number, who 
 guarded this gaol. They were all condemned malefactors, 
 whose lives had been spared on the condition of their 
 becoming common Executioners; the more hideous the 
 crime for which he had to suffer, the more hardened the 
 criminal, the fitter instrument he was presumed to be for 
 the profession he was henceforth doomed to follow. If a 
 spark of human feeling remained, it could hardly be ex- 
 pected that any of these men would voluntarily adhere 
 to their calling ; therefore, to render escape without de- 
 tection impossible, the shape of a ring was indelibly 
 tattooed on each cheek, which gave rise to the name 
 they were commonly known by, " pah-quet" or " ring- 
 cheeked," a term detested even by themselves as one of 
 reproach, and one we never dared to apply in addressing 
 them. The nature of his qualification for the employ- 
 ment was written in a similar manner across the breast. 
 The Chief of the gang was a lean, wiry, hard-featured 
 old man, whose qualification for his office stared in 
 unusually large characters, as though he were proud of
 
 CHAP. XIII.] OUR GAOLERS. 145 
 
 it, " Loo -that," Anglice "murderer." On the principle 
 that " a soft answer turneth away wrath," we taught 
 ourselves to address this miscreant under the appellation 
 " aphe" " father," as did all his subordinates. Another, 
 bearing ail appropriate motto, had murdered his brother, 
 and had hidden his body piecemeal under his house. A 
 third was branded " thoo-kho" " thief," another, who 
 had a spice of the unnatural humour of Petit Andre, 
 " myeng-kho" " horse-stealer." 
 
 This troop of wretches were held in such detestation, 
 that the law prohibited their entering any person's house 
 except in execution of their office. It happened, soon 
 after I entered, that the exigencies of this brotherhood 
 were great from an increase of business, and no brave 
 malefactor (inhumanity was always styled bravery here) 
 being ready to strengthen the force, a young man con- 
 victed of a petty offence was selected to fill the vacancy. 
 I beheld this poor youth doomed to the most debasing 
 ignominy for the rest of his life by these fatal rings, his 
 piteous cries at the degradation he was undergoing being 
 drowned by the jeers and ridicule of the confederates. 
 They soon made him as much a child of the Devil as 
 themselves. Such were my gaolers ! 
 
 The "father " of this interesting family received me 
 at the gate with a smile of welcome like the grin of a 
 tiger, and, with the most disgusting imprecations, hurried 
 me to a huge block of granite embedded in the ground 
 in the centre of the yard. To his mortification I had 
 been partially rifled before, so that little remained to be 
 done in this way beyond the mere gleaning of my dress 
 that was left. I was made to sit down and place my ankles 
 on the block of stone, while three pairs of fetters were 
 struck on with a maul, a false blow of which would have 
 
 H
 
 146 PUT IN IRONS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 maimed me for ever. But they were too expert for this, 
 and it was not a time to care for minor dangers. Thus 
 shackled, I was told, as if in derision, to walk to the 
 entrance of the prison-house, not many yards distant; 
 but as the shortness of the chains barely permitted me 
 to advance the heel of one foot to the toe of the other, 
 it was only by shuffling a few inches at a time that 
 the task was accomplished. Practice, however, soon 
 made me more expert 
 
 It is not easy to give a correct idea of the scene which 
 the interior of that Prison-house disclosed, as the door 
 shut behind me, and left me to survey it at leisure ; yet, 
 as it was destined to be my dwelling-place for the first 
 year of my captivity, I must endeavour to describe it, 
 impossible as the task may be to convey by words what 
 the eye alone can appreciate. 
 
 Although it was between four and five o'clock on a 
 bright, sunny afternoon, the rays of light only penetrated 
 through the chinks and cracks of the walls sufficiently to 
 disclose the utter wretchedness of all within. Some time 
 elapsed before I could clearly distinguish the objects by 
 which I was surrounded. As my eyes gradually adapted 
 themselves to the dim light, I ascertained it to be a room 
 about forty feet long by thirty feet wide, the floor and 
 sides made of strong teak-wood planks, the former being 
 raised two feet from the earth on posts, which, according 
 to the usual style of Burmese architecture, ran through 
 the body of the building, and supported the tiled roof as 
 well as the rafters for the floor and the planking of the 
 walls. The height of the walls from the floor was five 
 or six feet, but the roof being a sloping one, the centre 
 might be double that height. It had no window or 
 aperture to admit light or air except a closely-woven
 
 CHAP. XIII.] THE PRISON DESCRIBED. 147 
 
 bamboo wicket used as a door, and this was always kept 
 closed. Fortunately the builders had not expended much 
 labour on the walls, the planks of which here and there 
 were not very closely united, affording through the 
 chinks the only ventilation the apartment possessed, 
 if we except a hole near the roof, where, either by 
 accident or design, nearly a foot in length of decayed 
 plank had been torn off. This formed a safety-valve 
 for the escape of foul air to a certain extent ; and, but 
 for this fortuitous circumstance, it is difficult to sec 
 how life could have been long sustained. 
 
 The only articles of furniture the place contained were 
 these : First, and most prominent, was a gigantic row 
 of stocks, similar in its construction to that formerly 
 used in England, but now nearly extinct; though 
 dilapidated specimens may still be seen in some of the 
 market-places of our country towns. It was capable 
 of accommodating more than a dozen occupants, and like 
 a huge Alligator opened and shut its jaws with a loud 
 snap upon its prey. Several smaller reptiles, interesting 
 varieties of the same species, lay basking around this 
 monster, each holding by the leg a pair of hapless 
 victims consigned to its custody. These were heavy logs 
 of timber bored with holes to admit the feet, and fitted 
 with wooden pins to hold them fast. In the centre of 
 the apartment was placed a tripod, holding a large 
 earthen cup filled with earth oil, to be used as a lamp 
 during the night-watches; and lastly, a simple but sus- 
 picious-looking piece of machinery whose painful uses 
 it was my fate to test before many hours had elapsed. 
 It was merely a long bamboo suspended from the roof 
 by a rope at each end, and worked by blocks or pulleys, 
 to raise or depress it at pleasure. 
 
 H 2
 
 148 FILTH OF THE PRISON. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Before me, stretched on the floor, lay forty or fifty 
 hapless wretches, whose crimes or misfortunes had 
 brought them into this place of torment. They were 
 all nearly naked, and the half- famished features and 
 skeleton frames of many of them too plainly told the 
 story of their protracted sufferings. Very few were 
 without chains, and some had one or hoth feet in the 
 stocks besides. A sight of such squalid wretchedness 
 can hardly be imagined. Silence seemed to be the order 
 of the day; perhaps the poor creatures were so en- 
 grossed with their own misery that they hardly cared 
 to make many remarks on the intrusion of so unusual 
 an inmate as myself. 
 
 If the ensemble be difficult to portray, the stench 
 was absolutely indescribable, for it was not like anything 
 which exists elsewhere in creation. I will, therefore, give 
 the facts, and leave the reader's nose to understand them 
 by a synthetic course of reasoning if it can. 
 
 The prison had never been washed, nor even swept, 
 since it was built. So I was told, and have no doubt it 
 was true, for, besides the ocular proof from its present 
 condition, it is certain no attempt was made to cleanse it 
 during my subsequent tenancy of eleven months. This gave 
 a kind of fixedness or permanency to the fetid odours, 
 until the very floors and walls were saturated with them, 
 and joined in emitting the pest. Putrid remains of cast- 
 away animal and vegetable stuff, which needed no broom 
 to make it move on the stale fumes from thousands of 
 tobacco-pipes the scattered ejections of the pulp and 
 liquid from their everlasting betel, and other nameless 
 abominations, still more disgusting, which strewed the 
 floor and if to this be added the exudation from the 
 bodies of a crowd of never-washed convicts, encouraged
 
 CHAP. XIII.] PUTRID ATMOSPHERE. 149 
 
 by the thermometer at 1Q0 , in a den almost "without 
 ventilation is it possible to say what it smelt like? 
 
 As might have been expected from such a state of 
 things, the place was teeming with creeping vermin to 
 an extent that very soon reconciled me to the plunder 
 of the greater portion of my dress. 
 
 I have done my best to give a faithful picture of the 
 Burmese Let-ma-yoon on first impressions but this 
 was merely superficial its hidden secrets had yet to be 
 learned.
 
 CHAPTEK XIV. 
 
 I find Mr. Laird in irons before me. Mr. Rodgers taken. Apprehension 
 of the American missionary, Dr. Judson. His ill-treatment. Dr. 
 Price arrested. The " Red Rat " entrapped. We are prohibited the 
 use of the English language. We are put on the bamboo. Prison dis- 
 cipline. Ocr first night. How passed. Starvation of prisoners. 
 Alms-giving in the prison. I am taken from my companions, Torture 
 of a man accused of robbery. Its result. 
 
 MUCH time was not given me on entering to make these 
 observations, for a young savage (himself a felon in 
 chains) who had intrusted to him the safe keeping of 
 his fellow-prisoners, came shuffling up to conduct me to 
 the darkest and most loathsome corner of the dungeon. 
 Here I was sorry to find my fellow-countryman, Mr. 
 Laird, who had already gone through the same process 
 as myself, and now lay weltering in the filthy sty allotted 
 to him. I attempted to speak to him, but the first words 
 had scarcely escaped my lips when the young savage, 
 brandishing a formidable club, gave me to understand 
 that he had received strict orders from our worthy 
 " father " to brain any foreigner who attempted to speak, 
 unless in the Burmese language. This put a stop to 
 our conversation, as poor Laird did not understand a 
 word of Burmese. 
 Stretched on the floor by the side of my countryman,
 
 CHAP. XIV.] LAIRD, EODGERS, JUDSON. 151 
 
 I waited to see what was next to happen. A short time 
 brought Mr. Rodgers, already known to the reader. All 
 the precautions his timidity suggested had been unavail- 
 ing to shield him from suspicion, and his hope of safety 
 from naturalization was -as nothing when contrasted 
 with his rebel origin. It was melancholy to see the 
 poor old man, bending with age, tottering to join our 
 company. 
 
 All the Englishmen were now collected. We three 
 were the only true rebels in blood, and we had reason to 
 hope, as no others had yet appeared, that our friends, the 
 Americans, had made good their defence, and would 
 escape the general destruction. We soon perceived our 
 mistake. 
 
 Dr. Judson was next brought in. We hud scarcely 
 seen each other since the memorable Sunday when we 
 were dispersed like a flock of sheep at Tsagain, by the 
 news of the fatal invasion. Useless were all the politic 
 and cautious steps they took to avoid suspicion in vain 
 did they plead their sacred profession as teachers of 
 Religion in vain that they were the subjects of a sepa- 
 rate State, often at war with the English : they spoke 
 our language they were supplied with money by the 
 English spy they had been his intimate friends that 
 was enough. As to their sacred character, it probably 
 told against them, seeing they had been making uncon- 
 cealed attempts to subvert the Buddhist faith. We all 
 suffered the same treatment, though it is probable we 
 were not all in the same danger of our lives. From one 
 of Mrs. Judson's letters, written after the war, Dr. Judson's 
 arrest appears to have been attended even with greater 
 barbarity than my own. One cannot read it without a
 
 152 FORBIDDEN TO SPEAK. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 feeling of sympathy in the sufferings of a lady of refined 
 and amiable manners.* 
 
 Dr. Judson had just taken his place by our side, 
 when the tall, gaunt figure of Dr. Price came into view. 
 Unable, at first, to distinguish our disconsolate group 
 through the gloom and smoke, we watched him as he 
 entered with an air of bewilderment and a soliloquy 
 which, at any other time, would have made us all laugh, 
 but it was quickly interrupted by a flourish of the club of 
 
 * " On the 8th of June, just as we were preparing for dinner, in rushed 
 an officer, holding a, black book, with a dozen Burmans, accompanied by 
 one, whom, from his spotted face, we knew to be an executioner, and a 
 ' son of the prison.' ' Where is the teacher ?' was the first inquiry. Mr. 
 Judson presented himself. ' You are called by the King,' said the 
 officer ; a form of speech always used in arresting a criminal. The 
 spotted man instantly seized Mr. Judson, threw him on the floor, and 
 produced the small cord, the instrument of torture. I caught hold of his 
 arm; 'Stay!' said I, 'I will give you money.' ' Take her too, ' said 
 the officer; 'she also is a foreigner.' Mr. Judson, with an imploring 
 look, begged they would let me remain until further orders. The scene 
 was now shocking beyond description. The whole neighbourhood had col- 
 lected. The masons, at work on the brick-house, threw down their tools, and 
 ran the little Burman children were screaming and crying the Bengalee 
 servants stood in amazement at the indignities offered their master and 
 the hardened executioner, with a kind of hellish joy, drew tight the 
 cords, bound Mr. Judson fast, and dragged him off I knew not whither. In 
 vain I entreated the spotted face to take the silver, and loosen the ropes ; 
 but he spurned my offers, and immediately departed. I gave the money, 
 however, to Moung Ing to follow after, to make some further attempt to 
 mitigate the torture of Mr. Judson ; but instead of succeeding, when a 
 few rods from the house, the unfeeling wretches again threw their pri- 
 soner on the ground, and drew the cords still tighter, so as almost to 
 prevent respiration. The officer and his gang proceeded on to the court- 
 house, where the governor of the city and officers were collected, one of 
 whom read the order of the King to commit Mr. Judson to the death- 
 prison, into which he was soon hurled the door closed, and Moung Ing 
 saw him no more." Mrs. Judaon's Published Letters.
 
 CHAK XIV.] THE "RED RAT" ENTRAPPED. 153 
 
 the young savage. Price seemed at first inclined to 
 show fight, like a true free-born Yankee, at being thus 
 arbitrarily deprived of the liberty of speech and the 
 relief of uttering his lamentations aloud, but the up- 
 raised arm of power satisfied him that he had better 
 quietly succumb to his fate. He was quite subdued, 
 when at length he beheld his silent friends, by whose 
 side he took his place. 
 
 With the exception of the Spaniard, there was not 
 another white face in Ava, and, knowing he was secure, 
 we now thought our number complete but again we 
 were mistaken in our conjecture. 
 
 To my consternation, as it was growing dark, I could 
 distinguish the diminutive forms of the " Eed Rat " 
 (caught at length in the trap) and his friend the "Red 
 Gold," glimmering in the portal. If any confirmation 
 were needed of the conviction of the Government of my 
 treasonable practices, it was now furnished in the fact 
 that these two men, native born, never having left the 
 country, conversant with all the convolutions of Burmese 
 diplomacy, had not been able, with all their cunning, to 
 keep their necks out of the halter. Their presumed 
 complicity with the arch-Traitor was the crime they were 
 charged with. 
 
 When night came on, the " father " of the establisH- 
 ment, entering, stalked towards our corner. The mean- 
 ing of the bamboo now became apparent. It was passed 
 between the legs of each individual, and when it had 
 threaded our number, seven in all, a man at each end 
 hoisted it up by the blocks to a height which allowed 
 our shoulders to rest on the ground while our feet de- 
 pended from the iron rings of the fetters. The adjust- 
 ment of the height was left to the judgment of our kind- 
 
 H3
 
 154 SUSPENDED FROM A BAMBOO. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 hearted parent, who stood by to see that it was not high 
 enough to endanger life, nor low enough to exempt from 
 pain. Having settled this point to his satisfaction, the 
 venerable chief proceeded, with a staff, to count the num- 
 ber of the captives, bestowing a smart rap on the head 
 to those he disliked, whom he made over to the savage, with 
 a significant hint of what he might expect if the agreed 
 tally were not forthcoming when the wicket opened the 
 next morning. He then took his leave, kindly wishing 
 us a good night's rest for the old wretch could be 
 facetious the young savage trimmed his lamp, lighted 
 his pipe, did the same act of courtesy to all who wished 
 to smoke, and the anxious community, one by one, sought 
 a short oblivion to their griefs in sleep. 
 
 In vain, however, did our little party court that bless- 
 ing ; passing by the torment of thought, the sufferings 
 of the body alone were enough to prevent it. I had 
 youth on my side, and my slender frame enabled me to 
 bear the suspension better than my fellow-sufferers. The 
 tobacco-smoke was a mercy, for it robbed the infliction 
 of half its torment. A year afterwards, when we had to 
 undergo a punishment somewhat similar, though in a 
 purer atmosphere, we found the sting of the musquitos, 
 on the soles of our undefended feet, " without the power 
 to scare away" these venomous little insects, was intoler- 
 able ; whereas in this well- smoked apartment a musquito 
 could not live. We were not aware at the time what a 
 happy exemption this was. 
 
 What a night was that on which we now entered ! 
 Death, in its most appalling form perhaps attended with 
 the agony of unknown tortures was thought by all to 
 be our certain lot. Kewet-nee, who occupied the next 
 place on the bamboo, excited a horrible interest by the
 
 CHAP. XIV.] EXPECTED TORTURE AND EXECUTION. 155 
 
 relation of a variety of exquisite tortures which he had 
 known to be perpetrated under that roof. It chilled us 
 to the heart to think on them, but the very abjects 
 around us confirmed their truth by giving utterance to 
 their opinions on our case, spoken sotto voce, as between 
 themselves, though too well understood by those they 
 chiefly concerned. 
 
 But all sank into insignificance before the awful 
 thought that soon perhaps in a few hours all affinity 
 with this world's cares and troubles would cease, and we 
 should be summoned into Eternity. I must make my 
 honest confession that it was then I felt the force and 
 value of those sacred truths which I had so often heard, 
 but so little regarded. A thoughtless, careless life, 
 absorbed in the pursuits of this world, to the utter 
 neglect of a future one, is a sad position from which to 
 contemplate the sudden change to Eternity. I felt it 
 truly to be so. No one can enter completely into the 
 thoughts, and feelings, and imagination of a person in 
 this fearful position it is useless to attempt to describe 
 them, for words cannot convey an idea of the intensity 
 of the struggle between doubt, and hope, and fear, which 
 by turns flit across the unprepared soul in the prospect 
 of its immediate change. For a long time I lay, as 
 Jeremy Taylor quaintly expresses it, " like a fox caught 
 in a trap," aware of my danger, and racking my imagina- 
 tion for the means to break through it. But the more I 
 thought, the more confused and misty my thoughts be- 
 came. Kegrets in parting with the world hardly found a 
 place. The gloom of the prison, and the mass of misery 
 strewed about it, brought dimly into view by the melan- 
 choly light of the single lamp, were in harmony with the 
 diseased tone of my mind, and led me to acknowledge
 
 156 THOUGHTS IN THE PROSPECT [CHAP. XI Y. 
 
 that this is not a world one ought to grieve at parting 
 with. Just look on the scene before me, and think of 
 what the coming day will disclose, and then judge. No! 
 it was not the giving up this world, for I felt in my 
 irritable mood it was not worth keeping ; but the doubt 
 of attaining the future one in safety, the leap in the dark, 
 was the alarming thought. The sufferings of the body, 
 severe as they were, disappeared before the all-important 
 question, which was worse to endure than the fetters of 
 the Monarch, or the sword of the Executioner. I could 
 reason myself without much difficulty into contempt of 
 bodily pain, were I but satisfied with my title as it stood 
 to future happiness. It is probable that a large majority 
 of my fellow-creatures, even of my own faith, would un- 
 dergo similar perplexities and misgivings, if suddenly 
 hurried into a like state of peril. Our religion, intended 
 to fortify us against the terrors of death, must be wofully 
 misused when it becomes the means of exciting alarms, 
 which even heathens do not feel to the same extent. The 
 deficiency does not lie in our creed, but in our habitual 
 neglect of its provisions, as I could not but acknowledge 
 and lament in this, my hour of trial. 
 
 After some hours of painful confusion of intellect, my 
 mind became more calm. The hope which our Faith alone 
 holds out to sustain those who sincerely believe its sacred 
 truths, dawned on my mind. I was not ignorant of the 
 foundation of the Christian's hope, and began to reason, 
 that if the gift of Eternal life, through our Saviour, was 
 promised, not to those who laid claim to it in virtue of a 
 strictly moral and holy life, but to those who were con- 
 vinced of their inability to attain it by such means, why 
 should I hesitate to appropriate the promise to myself? 
 Could I doubt the sincerity with which I embraced its
 
 CHAP. XIV.] OF IMMEDIATE EXECUTION. 157 
 
 provisions at this awful moment ? The theology of 
 learned schoolmen was as nothing to me now. It was 
 not a time to reflect on their subtle reasonings and nice 
 doctrinal distinctions ; but I felt that my Eeligion was 
 nothing if it failed to afford consolation at such a 
 time as this. God does not demand impossibilities, 
 nor does He consign any human being to despair. 
 The usual proof of sincerity held out that of a blame- 
 less life it is impossible for me to acquire, if I have 
 only a few hours to live ; but I can, at all events, show 
 it by sustaining the trial allotted to me with forti- 
 tude, and resignation, and hope. I recalled to memory 
 the various promises which, in the plainest and most 
 forcible language, are to be found mercifully scattered in 
 profusion throughout the Holy Scriptures, to give light 
 and comfort to the troubled spirit, and I found, with grati- 
 tude, that those promises did most amply meet the emer- 
 gency. With the mind once in the right direction, and 
 with earnest prayer to the Almighty that He would suc- 
 cour us in our utmost need, such as those alone can utter 
 who are on the verge of Eternity, composure of mind was 
 restored, and the natural horror in the contemplation of 
 torture and death was so far overcome that I could at 
 least regard them in their true light, as things of transi- 
 tory trouble only, and the appointed gate of entrance to 
 a happier state of existence. The cruel prohibition to 
 use our own language prevented our uniting our prayers ; 
 but my companions passed the night in training their 
 minds in a similar manner to the events which they 
 expected would befall them on the morrow. 
 
 The rays of the morning sun now began to struggle 
 through the chinks of the prison walls, and told us that 
 day had dawned, bringing life and happiness to the world
 
 168 FIRST NIGHT AND MORNING. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 outside, but only the consciousness of misery to all with- 
 in. As it slowly emerged from the darkness, one could 
 not help thinking the scene more cheerless than when the 
 night concealed the half of its horrors. The sleeping 
 convicts awoke one by one with a yawn, clanking their 
 chains and shaking the swarms of loathsome vermin from 
 their rags, only to scatter the plague upon their neigh- 
 bours. All that offends the eye became more visible. 
 The melancholy but musical intoning over and over again 
 some words in the Pali language, the meaning of which 
 the singers themselves did not understand, formed the 
 matins of some of our fellow- captives more attentive to 
 the claims of their rubric than the rest. At another time 
 I could have listened to these plaintive airs with pleasure, 
 but now they disturbed my thoughts and were annoying. 
 How indelibly are they engraven on my memory ! Every 
 note of their monotonous chaunt, which each succeeding 
 morning gave notice of the first streaks of light as 
 regularly as the crow of the cock, is so vividly imprinted 
 on my memory, that even after this lapse of years I 
 should have no difficulty in setting it to music. 
 
 The prisoners being counted, and found to tally cor- 
 rectly with the reckoning of the overnight, symptoms of 
 the routine of the day began to attract attention. Our 
 considerate parent made his appearance, and, with his 
 customary grin, lowered down the bamboo to within a foot 
 of the floor, to the great relief of our benumbed limbs, in 
 which the blood slowly began again to circulate. At 
 eight o'clock the inmates were driven out in gangs of ten 
 or twelve at a time, to take the air and for other pur- 
 poses, for five minutes, when they were huddled in again, 
 to make way for others ; but no entreaty could secure a 
 repetition of the same favour that day, though a bribe,
 
 CHAP. XIV.] PRISONERS FED BY CHARITY. 159 
 
 which few could promise, might effect it. Fresh air, the 
 cheapest of all the gifts of Providence, was a close mono- 
 poly in the hands of the Sons of the Prison, who sold it 
 at the highest price, and with a niggard hand. 
 
 At nine o'clock one of my servants ventured to come 
 with some hreakfast for me, tied up in a towel. The 
 packet was taken from him at the outside gate, and, after 
 heing opened for inspection, was handed to me within hy 
 one of the pahquets ; but I was not permitted to hold 
 any communication with him. 
 
 The only chance any of the prisoners had of getting 
 their daily food was hy the kind offices of their relatives 
 or friends at large. If they were so unfortunate as to he 
 friendless, they had only to depend on the fortuitous cha- 
 rity of strangers ; in other words, it was slow starvation. 
 One of the most meritorious forms of almsgiving and a 
 very useful form of charity it was, for many lives were 
 saved hy it was held to he the feeding of the prisoners. 
 It was a common thing, especially on their festivals at 
 the change and full of the moon, to see large baskets 
 brought into the place, containing as much boiled rice 
 and ngapwee as would afford a hearty meal to every pri- 
 soner ; but often a week or two would pass without such 
 bounty, and during that time the destitute portion had to 
 depend on the uncertain remnants of those who had the 
 heart to leave a trifle of their scanty meal. This accounts 
 for the famished look of many of the prisoners. An 
 abundant supply of the broad leaves of the plantain-tree 
 always accompanied these offerings, serving, when torn, 
 as platters for the feast. Their thickness, and glossy 
 surface, admirably adapted them for this use, and im- 
 parted a rather picturesque appearance to the dinner. 
 When the famished creatures had satisfied their cravings,
 
 160 MY FINAL EXAMINATION. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 if any remained, they were seen carefully to roll it up in 
 the leaf, fasten it with a little bamboo skewer, and carry 
 it inside the prison for the next day's use ; the heaps of 
 these rotten leaves inside formed one of our standing 
 pests. It was said, indeed, that a basket of rice was 
 allowed by the King to each man by the month ; but 
 if such was the case, it must have gone to enrich the 
 brotherhood of the spotted men, for we never saw any 
 sign of rations during our long incarceration. 
 
 We noticed that the most frequent benefactors were 
 women, whose hearts here, as everywhere, are most open 
 to acts of charity. The donors, dressed out in their finest 
 cl'othes, prudently accompanied their offerings in person 
 to ensure their being properly applied, as well as to receive 
 the pleasing gratitude of the starving recipients of their 
 bounty.* 
 
 Just as I had finished my breakfast, I was singled out 
 from among my companions, and conducted into the 
 prison-yard by one of the ringed men, shuddering as I 
 felt the villain's fingers on my shoulder. "Now," thought 
 I, " for some indication of my fate ;" and so thought those 
 I left behind, who took farewell by a word, while their dis- 
 tressed countenances indicated their fears that we should 
 never meet again. A Myo-serai (assistant to the Governor 
 of the city) was seated in the opposite shed, but had an 
 unpleasant investigation on hand at the moment, which I 
 
 * When a man is imprisoned for any State crime, especially if it takes 
 tlie form of treason, few people have the courage to supply him with 
 food, lest it might bring on them a charge of complicity or commiseration 
 for the prisoner. A curious instance of this is related by Colonel Burney. 
 When Tharawudi became King he sent our present enemy, Men-thagee, 
 to the Let-ma-yoon, where he would certainly have starved had not the 
 British Envoy sent him his daily mess of boiled rice. No other person 
 had the courage to do it. Manuscript of the late Colonel Burney.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] A PRISONER TORTURED. 161 
 
 had to witness with very disagreeable anticipations. The 
 fresh air was reviving, and how my ill-used lungs did leap 
 to inhale it ! So let the Myo-serai take his time. 
 
 Seated on the ground opposite to the Judge was a 
 young man, accused of heing concerned in the robbery 
 of the house of a person of rank. Whether the accusa- 
 tion was well founded or not I had no means of judging 
 except by the result ; but certainly the man had not the 
 appearance of a robber. As a matter of course he denied 
 the crime ; but denial was assumed to be obstinacy, and 
 the usual mode of overcoming obstinacy was by some 
 manner of torture. By order of the Myo-serai, therefore, 
 lie was made to sit upon a low stool, his legs were 
 bound together by a cord above the knees, and two 
 poles inserted between them by the executioners, one 
 of whom took the command of each pole, the ground 
 forming the fulcrum. With these the legs were forced 
 upwards and downwards and asunder, and underwent 
 a peculiar kind of grinding, inflicting more or less pain 
 as the Judge gave direction. Every moment I expected 
 to hear the thigh-bone snap. The poor fellow sustained 
 this torture with loud cries, but still with firmness, 
 until the agony became so intense that he fainted. 
 " The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." To re- 
 store animation they resorted to cold water and sham- 
 pooing. Thus revived, he was again 'thrust back into 
 his den with menaces of fresh torture on the morrow, 
 as no confession had yet been wrung from him. I may 
 as well finish the revolting story at once. 
 
 True to his word, the Myo-serai returned the next day 
 to renew his diabolical practices. This time the culprit 
 was tied by the wrists behind his back, the rope which 
 bound them being drawn up by a pulley just high enough
 
 162 HOW, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 to allow his toes to touch the ground, and in this manner 
 he was left until he should become more reasonable. At 
 length, under the pressure of agonizing pain, just in time 
 to save the dislocation of the shoulder, the criminal made 
 his confession, and criminated two respectable persons as 
 accomplices. From what followed I presume this was all 
 that was wanted. The man of justice had now two men 
 in his toils who were able to pay. The unfortunate 
 man, who, when relieved from the pain of the torture, 
 acknowledged he had accused innocent people, was 
 returned to gnol fearfully mangled and maimed; but 
 instead of meeting a felon's fate, when time had been 
 given to fleece the two victims, he was released !
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 lam examined about my property. Hour of execution in the prison. 
 A Greek and an Armenian arrested. Arrakeel's escape from Thaia- 
 wucli. Our second night in prison. Dr. Judson examined about his pro- 
 perty. The ' ' Rat " and Mirza released. Mrs. Judson visits her husband 
 in prison. She gains us some comforts. We are lodged in an outside 
 shed. Examinations by torture. How practised. Our growing apathy 
 at beholding these scenes. 
 
 HAVING disposed of this every -day affair with as much 
 unconcern as a London magistrate would get rid of one 
 of his trifling night- charges before proceeding to more 
 serious business, the Myo-serai next turned his attention 
 to me. The Governor of the city, his immediate superior, 
 very rarely showed his face within the prison compound. 
 
 Besides heing considered rather infra dignitatem 
 to descend from his court in the Yoong-dau, for the 
 purpose of prison examinations, he was a man of a 
 naturally mild, henevolent temper, and these disgusting 
 scenes of cruelty were better suited to the shark-like 
 character of his Deputy, who had no feelings of pity 
 or delicacy to disturb him in the prosecution of his hate- 
 ful office. As my story proceeds, it will be seen that we 
 more than once owed our lives to the Governor's kind 
 interference. 
 
 As his Deputy turned his meagre visage and unpitying 
 eye on me, I saw in a moment there was nothing to hope
 
 164 MY LAST ACCOUNT. [CHAP, XV. 
 
 from his commiseration or clemency. Notwithstanding 
 the scene I had witnessed, my mind was remarkably calm 
 and composed; the meditations of the past night had 
 not been without their influence, and I felt in some 
 measure prepared to meet the worst that could happen. 
 I was aware that if this sort of questioning was to be 
 applied to me, it could not be to extort money, for all I 
 had was already at their disposal ; but for the more legi- 
 timate, though impossible, object of ascertaining my 
 complicity with the Indian Government in the invasion 
 of the country. I think the fellow saw through my sus- 
 picions, and my mind was relieved from a sore burden 
 when he told me such were not his intentions. His 
 orders were simply to take a schedule of my property, 
 together with a list of all persons indebted to me. No 
 doubt they were pretty closely fleeced, but that was 
 no business of mine. I rendered a faithful and, ap- 
 parently, a satisfactory account of property to a large 
 amount. 
 
 It was ominous of evil that no questions were asked 
 with reference to the crime imputed to me, nor was it 
 even alluded to in the most distant manner. I therefore 
 concluded that affair to be finally settled against me, and 
 that the account now taken was a prelude to the closing 
 scene; a kind of last settlement of all worldly affairs 
 which need no longer disturb the mind of the passing 
 criminal, and so thought my companions, to whom I 
 found means to whisper all that had passed on my return 
 to join them in the prison. During my absence their 
 feet had been released from the torturing bamboo. 
 
 Within the walls, nothing worthy of notice occurred 
 until the hour of three in the afternoon. As this hour 
 approached, we noticed that the talking and jesting of
 
 CHAP. XV.] THE SOLEMN HOUR OF THREE. 165 
 
 the community gradually died away. All seemed to be 
 under the influence of some powerful restraint, until that 
 fatal hour was announced by the deep tones of a power- 
 ful gong suspended in the Palace-yard, and a death-like 
 silence prevailed. If a word was spoken, it was in a 
 whisper. It seemed as though even breathing were sus- 
 pended under the control of a panic terror, too deep for 
 expression, which pervaded every bosom. We did not 
 long remain in ignorance of the cause. If any of the 
 prisoners were to suffer death that day, the hour of three 
 was that at which they were taken out for execution. 
 The very manner of it was the acme of cold-blooded 
 cruelty. The hour was scarcely told by the gong, when 
 the wicket opened, and the hideous figure of a spotted 
 man appeared, who, without uttering a word, walked 
 straight to his victim, now for the first time probably 
 made acquainted with his doom. As many of these 
 unfortunate people knew no more than ourselves the fate 
 that awaited them, this mystery was terrible and ago- 
 nizing ; each one fearing, up to the last moment, that the 
 stride of the Spot might be directed his way. When the 
 culprit disappeared with his conductor, and the prison- 
 door closed behind them, those who remained began again 
 to breathe more freely; for another day, at least, their 
 lives were safe. 
 
 I have described this process just as I saw it practised. 
 On this first day, two men were thus led away in total 
 silence ; not a useless question was asked by the one 
 party, nor explanation given by the other; all was too 
 well understood. After this inhuman custom was made 
 known to us, we could not but participate with the rest 
 in their diurnal misgivings, and shudder at the sound of 
 the gong and the apparition of the pahquet. It was a
 
 166 A GREEK AND AN ARMENIAN. [Ciur. XV. 
 
 solemn daily lesson of on impressive character, "Be ye 
 also ready." 
 
 This day our party was increased by two fresh arrivals; 
 a Greek of Constantinople named Constantino, and Arra- 
 keel, a young Armenian merchant, who had some pro- 
 perty in Ava, were the gleanings of the class the Burmese 
 call Kula-pyoo (white foreigners). We did not know, 
 until now, even of the existence of these two persons. 
 Of the black Kulas, natives of British India, they ap- 
 peared to take very little notice ; their colour, and the 
 numbers always spread through the country, probably 
 protected them. To this, and to their having nothing 
 to be plundered of, may be attributed the escape of my 
 native servants from arrest. 
 
 The Prince of Tharawudi had tried the experiment 
 on Mr. Arrakeel which had been attempted and failed 
 with me. The young man had been seduced into his 
 Palace by promises of protection, only to be committed 
 to the stocks the moment of his arrival there, and it is 
 more than probable, that the instant demand which fol- 
 lowed for his surrender by the Hlut-dau, to which, in 
 spite of his boasting, the Prince thought it wise to suc- 
 cumb, was the means of saving him from assassination. 
 
 As night drew near, the old scene was reproduced. 
 The " father " again entered with his staff to take an 
 account of the number of his children ; superintended 
 the adjustment of our limbs on the dreaded bamboo, 
 and saw it hoisted to its proper height ; gave his renewed 
 orders to the young savage to use his club effectually if 
 we attempted to speak ; and took his leave. The savage 
 trimmed his lamp, advised us to be quiet, lighted sundry 
 pipes, and then all who could take advantage of the 
 blessing, sought repose.
 
 CHAP. XV.] PRISON SLUMBERS. 167 
 
 Wearied nature now asserted her merciful prerogative, 
 and in spite of horrors, past, present, and to come, we 
 slept. But what a sleep ! ye who with untroubled 
 minds stretch yourselves on beds of down, look on this 
 scene and be thankful ! Picture in your imagination the 
 filthy planks for a pillow, the benumbed bloodless extre- 
 mities, tbe creeping vermin, the clank of the chains, the 
 pestiferous atmosphere, and beyond all the tortured mind, 
 which raised visions as horrid as the waking realities, and 
 denied us the welcome companion of sleep to the wretched 
 forgetfulness. It was rather a state which our Noble 
 poet happily distinguishes from it: 
 
 ' ' My slumbers if I slumber are not sleep, 
 But a continuance of enduring thought 
 Which then I can resist not : in my heart 
 There is a vigil, and these eyes but close 
 To look within." 
 
 The " vigil " was too painful for description. It might 
 be compared to that of a condemned person the night 
 before his execution, who was conscious of his innocence 
 of the crime for which he was to suffer, though in other 
 respects indifferently prepared for the coming change. 
 
 Unrefreshed by such broken and uneasy returns of 
 partial oblivion, the hours of the night wore away, and 
 again we beheld the streaks of light force their way 
 through the prison-walls. The religious Buddhist sang 
 his intellectual matins, the " father " counted his sons 
 and daughters (for there were some women among us 
 in chains), and the prison woke again to life. 
 
 On this day, the third of our captivity, the Myo- serai 
 paid us another visit. This time it was Dr. Judson's 
 turn to make over his temporalities, a movement which 
 he justly considered as a very sinister one, placing him,
 
 168 "RED RAT" RELEASED. [CHAP. XV. 
 
 as it did, in the same category as myself, so far as the 
 event foreboded evil. In rendering his account, he was 
 again compelled to admit that he had heen supplied by 
 me with money. On this fact they seemed to found 
 ridiculous assumptions of his guilt; perhaps because 
 they could find no other. I may here remark, that each 
 morning the My o- serai returned to take information of 
 the prisoners' goods and chattels, until all in their turn 
 had been questioned. 
 
 My two employes, Kewet-nee and Mirza, were removed 
 from us this day, and we saw them no more. We sur- 
 mised that these two men were arrested, and allowed to 
 remain a short time with us, as spies on our secret con- 
 versation, and if such were the case, as is very likely, it 
 was consolatory to reflect that not one word which we 
 uttered could in any way tend to compromise us. My 
 mind was at all events relieved from one source of dis- 
 comfort by their release, seeing I was the innocent cause 
 of their arrest. 
 
 As the day advanced, the ominous gong in the Palace 
 gave out the hour of three. I had lain all the morning, 
 in the expectation of the approach of the paliquet at that 
 fatal hour ; but I might have saved myself those harrow- 
 ing thoughts, for the time passed, and I was still in exist- 
 ence. A faint hope now arose, that as the third day" 
 had gone I might be mistaken, and the course of events 
 in the afternoon tended to confirm the hope that, at least 
 for the present, my life was not in such imminent danger 
 as my fears led me to believe ; and if so, who could say 
 that some favourable but unforeseen turn might not yet 
 save me ? 
 
 Mrs. Judson, who had been closely guarded in her 
 house during these two eventful days, had managed to
 
 CHAP. XV.] MRS. JUDSON AIDS US. 169 
 
 convey a bribe to the Myowoon. He desired that she 
 might be brought into his presence, and, once there, 
 being well versed in the language and the management of 
 Burmese officials, she pleaded for mitigation of the suf- 
 ferings of the Missionaries in such eloquent terms, that 
 the old man could not refuse her permission to see and 
 converse with her husband in the prison. The meeting 
 was most affecting, for though she had been informed 
 of his being in fetters, she was quite unprepared for 
 such a scene as she was now about to witness. It so 
 happened, that at the moment of their interview outside 
 the wicket-door, I had to hobble to the spot to re- 
 ceive my daily bundle of provisions, and the heart-rending 
 scene which I there beheld was one that it is impossible 
 to forget. 
 
 Poor Judson was fastidiously neat and cleanly in his 
 person and apparel, just the man to depict the metamor- 
 phosis he had undergone in these two wretched days in 
 its strongest contrast. When Mrs. Judson had parted 
 from him he was in the enjoyment of these personal 
 comforts, whereas now none but an artist could describe 
 his appearance. Two nights of restless torture of body 
 and anxiety of mind had imparted to his countenance 
 a haggard and death-like expression, while it would be 
 hardly decent to advert in more than general terms to his 
 begrimed and impure exterior. No wonder his wretched 
 wife, shocked at the change, hid her face in her hands, 
 overwhelmed with grief, hardly daring to trust herself to 
 look upon him. Perhaps the part I myself sustained in 
 the picture may have helped to rivet it on my memory, for 
 though more than thirty-five years have since passed 
 away, it reverts to me with all the freshness of a scene of 
 yesterday. Chains and Felons are so inseparably con- 
 
 I
 
 170 OUR LOATHSOME APPEARANCE. [CnAP. XV. 
 
 nected in the imagination of an Englishman that he 
 cannot look upon a man whose limbs are bound with the 
 one without investing him with the character of the 
 other. When first under restraint and in the stocks in 
 the barracks of the Taing-dau, my mind ran on some- 
 thing like roguery or petty larceny, but now my chains 
 had raised me, in my own imagination, to the infamous 
 dignity of Felony. At this distance of time it causes a 
 smile when I call to mind the shame I felt at first at 
 being seen even among my abandoned associates wearing 
 a badge so degrading, and the foolish arts I used when 
 let out in the morning to hide my chains from the in- 
 quisitive gaze of the passer-by as he stood to watch us 
 through the bars of the outer gate. 
 
 When I saw what a loathsome figure my friend Judson 
 presented, and looked at myself, I made my recognition 
 of his wife as short as possible for very shame's sake, 
 and shuffled back to my den. Had a stranger seen the 
 group, his pity would hardly have restrained his laughter 
 for the moment. 
 
 But Mrs. Judson was not a person to waste her 
 energies in useless grief. In addition to amiable manners 
 and a benevolent disposition, this excellent lady was 
 endowed with unwearied activity in ministering to the 
 wants of those who needed her aid, and before night came 
 on with its attendant horrors, the soothing effects of her 
 diplomacy were felt by us all. The Governor and the 
 Spotted brotherhood had been bribed to gain some relief 
 for her husband, and a promise had been given that we 
 should all follow her example according to our means, a 
 promise which, as yet, we had the power to fulfil, as the 
 flight of harpies had not yet alighted on our dwellings, nor 
 swept away our subsistence. The effect of this was per-
 
 CHAP. XV.] SOME RELIEF. 171 
 
 ceived in an instant. Our quarters were changed from the 
 filthy corner to an open shed opposite to the prison-door, 
 where the Inquisitor sat when questioning his culprits. 
 This was a boon indeed which called forth our gratitude 
 to our amiable negotiator. Irrespective of the. freedom 
 from the bamboo, the filth, and the vermin, we regarded it 
 as an indication of our lives being safe for the moment, 
 assuming that if we were doomed to immediate execution,' 
 this favour would not have been extended to us. In this 
 we were mistaken, as we afterwards found it was a fertile 
 source of the standing revenue of the gaol establishment, 
 who sold this sort of favour to all who could pay for it; 
 but, at all events, we had the consolation of thinking so. 
 Heavily ironed as we were, a pahquet guard stationed at 
 the entrance was considered sufficient for our security, 
 and this arrangement gave us the unspeakable comfort of 
 communing with each other on our sorrows for the first 
 time without the fear of the Savage and his club. We 
 had also the luxury of water to cleanse our begrimed 
 persons, which had been hitherto denied us. 
 
 The next morning, however, disclosed to us that the 
 alleviation we had purchased was not without its alloy. 
 The horrors of the inner prison were of a different 
 character, but barely less endurable than those of the 
 yard outside. There, we heard the cries of agony, and 
 saw the results ; here, we had to witness their perpetra- 
 tion. What we gained in comfort to the body, we lost in 
 the constant disturbance of our peace, and the violence 
 done to our feelings. 
 
 It is not my intention to make this narrative a 
 chronicle of all the diabolical cruelties inflicted in this 
 den of abominations, but the first specimen which greeted 
 our eyes on the morrow may serve as a fair sample of the
 
 172 PRISON EXAMINATIONS. [CHAP. XV. 
 
 practices which it was our fate to behold almost daily. 
 The routine was generally this : 
 
 The Magistrate takes his seat in the front of the shed 
 in which we occupy the back-ground, as though the 
 spot had been selected for our convenience, as spectators 
 to behold an amusing exhibition. A criminal is now 
 summoned from the interior. He hobbles out and squats 
 down in terror before the Judge the crime of which he 
 is accused is stated to him he denies it he is urged by 
 various motives to confess his guilt perhaps he knows 
 that confession is only another word for execution 
 therefore he still denies the magistrate assumes an air 
 of indignation at his obstinacy and now begins the 
 work of his tormentor, the man with the ringed cheek, 
 who has hitherto stood by waiting the word of command. 
 He has many means at his disposal, but the one selected 
 for the present instance was a short iron maul. It would 
 simply excite disgust were I to enter into detail. Suf- 
 fice it to say that after writhing and rolling on the ground 
 and screaming with agony for nearly half an hour, the 
 unfortunate wretch was assisted to his den, a mass of 
 wounds and bruises pitiable to behold, leaving his Judge 
 not a whit the wiser. 
 
 Shall I be credited when I say that, in process of time, 
 such spectacles as these passed unheeded and almost 
 unfelt, that the sufferings of our fellow- creatures, 
 which at first we shuddered at, and almost fainted to 
 behold, we lived to regard with unconcern? Strange 
 and unnatural as it may at first appear, such, neverthe- 
 less, was the fact; and what makes this apathy more 
 surprising is, that we knew at the time the extreme 
 probability of our being ourselves subjected to similar 
 treatment. It is terrible to think on the force of habit.
 
 CHAP. XV.] OUR GROWING APATHY. 173 
 
 I do not mean to say that our reason was perverted, or 
 that we looked with complacency on such doings, reason 
 and Religion taught us to hate and ahhor them ; but 
 the finer feelings and sympathies of our nature were 
 so continually and violently outraged, that in time they 
 became, in a great degree, unimpressible and callous. 
 This force of habit appears to be a law of nature, often 
 even making that. attractive which was at first repulsive; 
 but happily it is powerful for good as well as for evil, 
 or I fear we ran the risk of becoming very unsympathiz- 
 ing members of society during the rest of our lives. At 
 any rate, it was a merciful law for us, for had our 
 sensibilities remained acute, we must have been driven 
 mad.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Some account of our prison party. Dr. Judson. Remarks on the Bap- 
 tist mission to Burmah. Missionary misrepresentations. Some account 
 of Dr. Price. And of Mr. Rodgers. His superstition. Some account 
 of Mr. Laird. Constantino, the Greek. Arrakeel, the Armenian. 
 
 As our society was now made up for nearly two years 
 to come, it may not be irrelevant to my subject to say a 
 few words on each of its component members, for fate 
 had thrown us inseparably into one common calamity, 
 and much of our comfort (if such a term be admissible 
 where that quality is absolutely excluded) depended on 
 our good-fellowship. 
 
 We were seven in number. Dr. Judson has been 
 already introduced to the reader. He was then about 35 
 years old, generally cheerful in disposition, but subject to 
 intervals of depression, well read in literature, of a strong 
 discerning mind and agreeable conversation, not un- 
 mixed with a keen sense of the ridiculous, often extort- 
 ing from us a hearty laugh, even in the midst of our 
 afflictions. I have before remarked that he was imbued 
 with deep religious feeling, which referred every trial and 
 suffering to the will of God, and in exercising a perfect 
 resignation to His dispensations he had a resource, 
 similar I hope in character, but far greater in degree, 
 than the rest of his companions. Dr. Judson was a great
 
 CHAP. XVI.] DR. JUDSON. 175 
 
 admirer of Madame Guyon, and seemed to aim at the 
 calm and placid spirit, and at acquiring the heavenly 
 temper, of that rather enthusiastic lady, the more, perhaps, 
 as he knew his own naturally to point another way. 
 Often have I heard him repeat some of her simple verses, 
 as translated by our poet Cowper, and long to attain the 
 spirit of them: 
 
 " No bliss I seek, but to fulfil 
 
 In life, in death, Thy lovely will ; 
 No succour in my woes I want, 
 
 Except what Thou art pleased to grant. 
 Our days are number' d let us spare 
 
 Our anxious hearts a needless care ; 
 'Tis Thine to number out our days, 
 
 And ours to give them to Thy praise." 
 
 At the same time he had thorns peculiarly his own. 
 He had an amiable and beloved wife involved in his 
 troubles, whose unprotected state gave him great alarm, 
 and what made the matter worse, she was in a con- 
 dition which would peculiarly need his aid, and add to 
 his anxieties. His temper was quick and hasty, too 
 apt to take offence, and his painful sensitiveness to any- 
 thing gross or uncleanly, amounting almost to folly, was 
 an unfortunate virtue to possess, and made him live a 
 life of constant martyrdom. 
 
 I cannot refrain, while speaking of Judson, from mak- 
 ing a few remarks about the Burmese mission, with 
 which he was connected, gleaned partly from conversa- 
 tions with him, and partly from my own observations. 
 As is well known, Dr. Judson was the first missionary 
 sent out by the American Board of Baptist Missions. 
 His landing on the coast of Burmah, in 1813, was purely 
 accidental. It was not his original destination when he
 
 176 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION. [CHAP. XVI. 
 
 left America, but was the result of the needless alarm 
 of the East India Company, who were at that period sensi- 
 tively jealous of interference with the superstitions of the 
 natives, and tyrannically chased him from their territories, 
 one after another, until an asylum was found in the in- 
 dependent kingdom of Burmah. Here was a field suited 
 to the ardent missionary aspirations of Dr. Judson. With 
 a vigour and perseverance for which he was remarkable, 
 he spent some years in mastering the language, and in 
 translating and printing the New Testament. He then set 
 about his work of conversion, by preaching to the natives, 
 with but very limited success, for some years, due more 
 to the intolerance of the Government, than to a disincli- 
 nation on the part of the people. Up to the time when 
 we met in Ava, he could barely number twenty converts, 
 and these were compelled to hold their meetings in secret 
 places, like the early Christians, for fear of punishment. 
 
 After various unsuccessful attempts to obtain tolera- 
 tion for his proselytes, hearing that his coadjutor, Dr. 
 Price, had succeeded in establishing a reputation at 
 Court by his medical cures, he proceeded thither to make 
 another attempt, founded on the favour Dr. Price had 
 acquired, which ended, as is seen, by his arrest and 
 imprisonment. 
 
 Although the number of Judson's converts was not 
 great, they were earnest and sincere, and under a tolerat- 
 ing Government would have proved the nucleus of a 
 flourishing church. Unlike the sweeping conversions of 
 the Roman Catholics, every one who was admitted to 
 baptism had undergone a long probation, and had re- 
 ceived careful religious instruction. Two or three of 
 these converts had accompanied him to Ava, where I 
 had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with them.
 
 CHAP. XVI.] ITS ENERGY AND SUCCESS. 177 
 
 I sometimes spent my evenings at Dr. Judson's house, 
 where they were present at the family devotions, which 
 were held in the Burmese language, and it was impossihle 
 not to he struck with the reverence of demeanour, the 
 propriety of language, and ahove all the knowledge of 
 the New Testament and its saving doctrines, which some 
 of them manifested in their extempore prayer. No one 
 who heard could douht their sincerity. One man I 
 especially rememher. He had heen a fisherman, and as 
 a disciple of Boodh had heen trouhled in conscience hy 
 the guilt he was incurring from the wholesale destruction 
 of lives he caused in the prosecution of his calling. He 
 was no longer ignorant, hut entered into the spirit of the 
 Gospels with surprising intelligence and delight. 
 
 My ideas of missions, for I was much inclined at the 
 time to consider them useless, were changed hy what 
 I saw, and although there may he, and I know there are, 
 many disgraceful exaggerations in journals devoted to 
 the subject, yet I know also that churches of sincere 
 helievers have heen founded in Burmah, and that, as 
 a large tract of the country is now under British 
 rule, they may he indefinitely extended. If those who 
 take an interest in missions were aware of the mischief 
 these misrepresentations do to the cause, we should 
 never see them resorted to. I will give an instance, 
 one which, at the time, shook the little faith I had in the 
 whole undertaking. 
 
 When Dr. Price first arrived in Ava, the King was 
 desirous that a few youths should he instructed in the 
 English language, merely to qualify them as interpreters 
 when their services were needed. Price undertook the 
 task, though, like most whims of the King, it was never 
 followed out; and thinking it might he a good opportu- 
 
 i 3
 
 178 MISSIONARY MISREPRESENTATIONS. [CiiAp. XVI. 
 
 nity to insinuate the English Bible, he wrote to Calcutta 
 an indent for a few Bibles, merely as school-books. What 
 was our astonishment, shortly after, to read in a periodical 
 the announcement that the King of Ava was favourable to 
 the Christian religion ; that there was every prospect of 
 his immediate conversion to Christianity ; that he had 
 sent to Calcutta for a number of Bibles ; and that we 
 might hope as the result, that the whole of this mighty 
 nation would become shortly evangelized! Judson knew 
 so well this tendency in America, and had seen his own 
 letters so garbled, that he wrote a peremptory prohibition 
 to print his letters, unless they were given entire. No 
 one who knew him could doubt his truthfulness. 
 
 I have lately read, with great pleasure, that this Mis- 
 sion, so faithfully and ably begun by Dr. Judson, has 
 rapidly extended, and that its churches are numerous 
 and flourishing. The American Baptists were the 
 pioneers in Burmah, and have done their work well. 
 I had also the pleasure to know several of the mission- 
 aries who afterwards joined Dr. Judson in the work, all 
 of whom had imbibed the same spirit. 
 
 Having been an eye-witness of their zealous and self- 
 denying efforts, and the actual good they have accom- 
 plished, I cannot allow any minor differences in our 
 respective creeds to interfere with the honour and esteem 
 in which I hold them, but most heartily wish them con- 
 tinued success. 
 
 A life of Dr. Judson has been published in America. 
 Although in the main it is a faithful biography, I was 
 rather amused in reading the following paragraph : 
 " He had not been long in New York, before he con- 
 trived to attach himself to a theatrical company, not with 
 the design of entering upon the stage, but partly for the
 
 CHAP. XVI.] DR. JONATHAN PRICE. 179 
 
 purpose of familiarizing himself with its regulations, in 
 case he should enter upon his literary projects, and 
 partly from curiosity and love of adventure." 
 
 Now this is german to the pious frauds on the reli- 
 gious public, which I have just complained of. Why not 
 tell the truth at once ? It is not one that will not hear 
 the light. I will give the story as I heard it from the 
 actor's own mouth, and, as nearly as I can recollect them, 
 in his words : " In my early days of wildness, I joined 
 a band of strolling players. We lived a reckless, vaga- 
 bond life, finding lodgings where we could, and bilking 
 the landlord where we found opportunity in other 
 words, running up a score, and then decamping without 
 paying the reckoning. Before leaving America, when 
 the enormity of this vicious course rested with a depress- 
 ing weight on my mind, I made a second tour over the 
 same ground, carefully making amends to all whom I 
 had injured." 
 
 Judson's coadjutor, Dr. Jonathan David Price, was 
 a very different character, a tall, gaunt, rawboned, 
 sallow- complexioned Yankee, singularly uncouth in ap- 
 pearance, his light hair bristling towards all points of the 
 compass, and his nose of the kind termed, by those who 
 have classified this feature, "celestial," I suppose from 
 its tendency to point upwards. Price had acquired a 
 smattering of the medical science, by attending some 
 hospitals in America, and possessed a decided turn for 
 mechanics, both of these accomplishments affording him 
 amusement in his after prison life. He was a sincerely 
 religious man, and, in his way, was no doubt a very 
 useful missionary, but his eccentricities were at times not 
 a little troublesome to his brethren. His wife, who came 
 out with him from America, having died, he had married a
 
 180 AN ECCENTRIC MISSIONARY. [CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Wind native woman, of Siamese extraction, who had a 
 little sight left when she submitted to an operation hy 
 the doctor, and he, through his want of skill having 
 deprived her of that little, married her by way of com- 
 pensation. I venture to hazard this conjecture, as her 
 plainness of person, irrespective of her blindness, was 
 repulsive, nor was there any other conceivable motive. 
 At first Judson, who saw the folly, refused to perform 
 the ceremony, but a threat of a peculiar nature by the 
 eccentric doctor, rendered it expedient that he should 
 comply with his request. "Brother Judson, the law of 
 America and of nature provides for cases where a 
 minister is not to be found!" 
 
 I once had the little wit to place myself in his hands 
 to get rid of a headache with fever. I very soon found 
 my head shaven, several snake-like leeches pendant from 
 its bald surface, bleeding at the arm, and a dose of opium 
 which sent me to sleep for a night and a day from 
 which last I awoke just in time to save my skull from 
 being trepanned. The worthy doctor, who was somewhat 
 absent in mind, and had forgotten what an ad-libitum 
 dose he had administered, had been shaking me and 
 using other means to awake me without success; when, 
 at last, to use his own expression, thinking I " was 
 sleeping the sleep of death," he prepared to experi- 
 mentalize with his trepanning instruments. He was a 
 very simple-hearted, good fellow, notwithstanding ; and 
 no one could quarrel with him, even though he put their 
 lives in jeopardy. As may be supposed, such a character 
 was utterly careless of dress and cleanliness, taking to a 
 prison life and its impurities with better grace than any 
 of us, as though it were not altogether uncongenial to his 
 habits and feelings.
 
 CHAP. XVI.] MR. JOHN LAIRD. 181 
 
 Mr. John Laird, the thoughtless wight who got me 
 into trouble about his newspaper, was a hardy Scot. He 
 had commanded a ship in the country trade before he 
 settled at Rangoon, and told us, for our comfort, that he 
 had been twice shipwrecked in his earlier days, once in 
 the United Kingdom, off the Cape of Good Hope, and 
 once in a transport on the coast of France, on both which 
 occasions he was one of twenty-two persons saved from a 
 watery grave, while several hundreds on board perished. 
 On the strength of these fortunate escapes, he foretold 
 that, however present appearances might be against him, 
 he should be saved from death now. The inference we 
 drew from the premises was not quite so bold, but merely 
 extended to the conjecture that he was not lorn to be 
 drowned. Mr. Laird's religious opinions were very much 
 those of a fatalist, and he cherished, what appeared to 
 him at the time a consolatory belief, that there was no 
 such thing as hell, except in the punishment of a man's 
 own evil conscience in the life that now is. How he 
 came to entertain such an absurd fancy I now forget, but 
 I should think the doctrine could not have been taught 
 him by the good minister of Forfar, his native town. 
 Whenever any sudden or unexpected cause of disquietude 
 befel us, he did not appear to derive much consolation, 
 either from his bearing a charmed life, or from this 
 strange conceit ; and, from an article in a public journal, 
 which I have since read, it was with pleasure I observed, 
 that before his death, which happened many years ago, 
 such fantasies and heterodox opinions had vanished, under 
 the faithful guidance and teaching of the missionaries. 
 He was a very kind-hearted, inoffensive person, and lived 
 on excellent terms with us ; but he had the misfortune to 
 possess a countenance so frightfully seamed, and indented,
 
 182 MR. GEORGE RODGERS. [CHAP. XVI. 
 
 and discoloured by the small-pox, that when presented to 
 the King as a Scotchman, His Majesty, struck with his 
 matchless visage, innocently inquired whether all Scotch- 
 men were as ugly as he was. The manner of life he had 
 led rendered him hardy, and well fitted to endure the 
 buffets of fortune. 
 
 Mr. Rodgers, the old gentleman who surprised me at 
 my first audience of His Majesty, was as much a native 
 as it is possible for an Englishman to become. His forty 
 years of experience had taught him to form a just ap- 
 preciation of our present perilous position, and it was far 
 from encouraging to us to witness the utter despair to 
 which he was reduced. To avoid the pains of torture 
 which he looked upon as certain to follow, he resolved to 
 commit suicide by poison. He had found means to dis- 
 close his intention to his wife, and to desire her to pro- 
 vide him with the fatal dose ; but the good woman had a 
 more hopeful disposition than her husband, and refused. 
 Knowing what he was bent on doing, it was with a 
 feeling of horror I saw him ransacking the bundle of 
 boiled rice brought him for dinner, in the hope of finding 
 this last resource of a soul without hope. His despon- 
 dency was great when he could not obtain his desire. 
 
 Mr. Rodgers was as superstitious as the people among 
 whom he had passed his life. One would hardly credit 
 the follies he was driven to by the total subjugation of 
 his mind to such influence. Once he had to go a journey 
 of several days, on horseback, from Amerapoorah, and 
 after accomplishing nearly a whole day's march, he was 
 encountered by a hornet, which disputed his passage, 
 repeatedly attacking him in front whenever he attempted 
 to move forward. " It desired me to go back, as clearly 
 as if it spoke my language ; so, thinking there was some
 
 CHAP. XVI] HIS SUPERSTITIOUS CHARACTER. 183 
 
 fatal mischief ahead, T took the hint, and rode hack 
 again." He was satisfied it was a preternatural "inti- 
 mation. 
 
 He had once suffered the wreck of his hoat, on the 
 Irrawuddi, through the indignation of a Nat, or evil 
 Spirit, who rules a reach of the river near Thelai, and 
 has a temple erected to his honour, where voyagers make 
 votive offerings to avert his wrath. This temple he had 
 impiously passed without allowing his crew time to make 
 their propitiatory offering of rice and fruit, and in revenge 
 for this the Evil Spirit wrecked his boat ; but he adds, " I 
 took good care never again to incur his displeasure, as I 
 was often passing that way from Prome." Mr. Eodgers 
 was bending under sixty-five years of an anxious life, 
 but had an iron constitution, and was found afterwards 
 to be as well able to endure privation as his younger 
 companions. 
 
 Our two remaining comrades could not speak a word 
 of English, and but little Burmese ; we therefore held 
 but little communication with them. The Greek was a 
 poor diseased creature, advanced in years. The Burmese 
 had no hesitation in pronouncing him a leper, kula-noo 
 the "leprous foreigner" and it cannot be denied he had 
 very much that appearance. His colour indicated it, as 
 did several suspicious- looking sores upon his limbs. He 
 seemed to be aware of the fact himself, growing sullen 
 because, from motives of prudence, we did not court his 
 propinquity. He was a thorough hater of the English 
 nation, and was not blessed with an amiable temper. 
 
 The Armenian was a quiet, good young man, who took 
 to his fate without repining. 
 
 These were my companions for the next two years. 
 Considering we were thrown together by accident, and
 
 184 OUR PRISON PARTY. [CHAP. XVI. 
 
 not drawn by any mutual sympathy or choice on our own 
 part, we could not be called unfortunate in our society. 
 The only one on our list, whose malady made him an 
 unenviable comrade, was destined to be taken from our 
 company when we had travelled but half of our journey 
 through this dreary wilderness, by an inhuman death ; but 
 I must not anticipate the events of my story.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 We are shut up in the inner prison again. Our property is seized. Im- 
 pure state of the inner prison. How to change our dress. We are 
 released from the bamboo. News from Rangoon. Signal -guns. Prison 
 thoughts. Thunba Woongee made General. Prison disclosures. Su- 
 perstition. Execution of a native for stepping over the King's image. 
 Strange treatment of a man who fancied he could fly. Arrival of an 
 Irish soldier. His treatment. News brought by him. 
 
 ON the evening of the third day of our incarceration 
 we were removed to the more comfortable shed I have 
 alluded to. Here we were allowed to remain three or four 
 days without further molestation than that described, wait- 
 ing, in torturing suspense, the first news of the war from 
 Rangoon. As so many days had rolled on, and our lives 
 were still preserved, it was clear we had passed through 
 one crisis in safety the one we had most dreaded and 
 that our fate now depended on the course events might 
 take at Rangoon. We knew better than our tormen- 
 tors what that course must be when civilized man was 
 matched against the barbarian; discipline and steady 
 bravery against a tumultuary army and the fitful ebulli- 
 tion of savage fury. What we now feared was the anger 
 of the King on the overthrow of all his sanguine hopes 
 of conquest. We could but wait the result in patience, 
 and encourage ourselves in the protection of the Al- 
 mighty. There was only one man among us who
 
 186 THE INNER PRISON. [CHAP. XVII. 
 
 doubted the success of our arms ; this was Mr. Rodgers. 
 He looked upon the advantages the Burmese possessed 
 in their dense jungles and forests, their numbers, their 
 hardy endurance, their skill in bush-fighting, the want of 
 roads, the facility of cutting off supplies, as fully counter- 
 balancing the superior discipline of the British army. It 
 must be admitted that the Burmese did not make the 
 best use of these advantages in the subsequent war, but 
 committed the fatal error of meeting their foe in masses 
 within their entrenchments and stockades, and even in the 
 open field. 
 
 On the fourth day we were hastily thrown back, amidst 
 the usual torrent of abuse, to our old quarters in the 
 inner prison. What did this portend ? Had the dreaded, 
 but expected, disastrous intelligence reached the Court 
 from Rangoon? Had our time come? As the usual 
 mystery was preserved, and no reason assigned, we were 
 left to conjecture until the following morning, when the 
 truth came out. 
 
 The official plunderers had visited our houses, and, in 
 carrying off our property, had come to the knowledge that 
 large bribes had been given to the Myowoon and his gang, 
 which they had now either to disgorge, or to share with 
 others. Our ill-usage was the consequence of their rage 
 at being detected. All the horrors and impurities within 
 were renewed. Reader ! did you ever take a voyage in a 
 packet-boat? the State-room overcrowded with passen- 
 gers, the reeking viands removed, rain pouring down, 
 thermometer at 100, gratings and skylights down, sea- 
 sick wretches filling every berth and strewing the floor ? 
 Ascend to the upper deck, breathe for a while the pure 
 breezes of heaven, then try to re-enter the fetid cabin, 
 and you will have some idea a faint one, it is true, but
 
 CHAP. XVII.] A PUZZLE. 187 
 
 the nearest approach I can call to mind of the perma- 
 nent atmosphere of the Let-ma-yoon. 
 
 While outside in the shed we each obtained the luxury 
 of a pillow to rest our heads on, and we found it so com- 
 fortable, that, by an effort, we carried them inside with 
 us ; but, alas ! no comfort there ! we were obliged to rest 
 contented with the planks of the floor, for the living 
 reasons before assigned. Perhaps the most ridiculous 
 sight in the prison was our little white pillows, glittering 
 like so many stars in a firmament of unspeakable dingi- 
 ness. The wretched criminals persisted in cherishing 
 their long hair even in their desperate plight. It was an 
 intolerable nuisance to their neighbours, and we set them 
 a wholesome example by clipping ourselves quite bald 
 with a pair of scissors lent us by "papa" almost the only 
 favour he ever did us but the ruse did not take. They 
 were not to be so easily entrapped into losing the glory 
 of their crowns, and our attempt at salubrity only made 
 us the laughing-stock of the whole community. 
 
 Hitherto we had not been able to effect a complete 
 change of our raiment, much as we stood in need of it ; 
 there was a difficulty in the way which we knew not how 
 to overcome. The shirt we did manage, but how were 
 we to divest ourselves of our nether habiliments ? The 
 problem was this with three rings on each ankle, and 
 each pair of rings united by a short chain, how to take 
 off a pair of trousers without tearing or cutting them. 
 We thought it over, and gave it up in despair, and were 
 about to tear the subject of the problem into shreds from 
 our bodies, when a knowing pahquet solved the difficulty. 
 The rogue must have had some trouser- wearing animal 
 in his clutches before; he showed us that it was not the 
 impossibility we supposed, and the wonder is that we did
 
 188 OUR HOUSES PLUNDERED. [CHAP. XVII. 
 
 not discover it without his assistance. As the discovery 
 is not likely to he generally useful in this happy country, 
 I leave the modus operandi as a riddle for the ingenuity 
 of the reader. 
 
 While we were in the shed, the work of confiscation went 
 forward at our houses. Everything of value was taken 
 away except some wearing apparel, which the entreaties 
 of our servants induced these plunderers to leave, and 
 this was not much objected to, seeing it formed hut an 
 insignificant part of the general stock, and from its 
 foreign fashion was useless to them. We had now no 
 more the means of bribery beyond the value of a few 
 pence now and then to avert the tyranny of our gaolers, 
 supplied by our servants from what they had been able 
 to hide before the plunderers visited the house. 
 
 I must not omit to state that when it was found we 
 had really no more to give, we were released from the in- 
 fliction of the bamboo, and were removed from the dark 
 corner to enjoy our fair share of the comforts of the 
 prison in common with the rest of the convicts ; an exact 
 spot was assigned to each person, from which we were 
 not allowed to move. That dark corner, and that bam- 
 boo, constituted the inaugurative ordeal of those who 
 were supposed to have money at command. 
 
 After passing a few days of suspense in the inner pri- 
 son, the booming of a gun from the river-side announced 
 that news had at length arrived from the seat of war. In 
 order that no time might be lost in conveying the intelli- 
 gence to the Palace, a Eoyal command had been issued, 
 that whenever a battle had been fought, the war-boat 
 which brought the news should fire a signal-gun if a 
 victory had been gained, two guns if decisive, and the 
 invading army had been driven back into the sea, three
 
 CHAP. XVII.1 SIGNAL-GUNS. 189 
 
 guns. This plan was so far useful to us as it gave us 
 some vague idea of the news in the prison as soon as 
 they had it in the Palace. On the present occasion but 
 one gun was heard, and the rumour soon gained ground 
 that the British troops, leaving their lines, had carried 
 some stockades with the bayonet, killing several hundreds 
 of their defenders within. The gloomy countenances of 
 the ringed men silently confirmed the truth of the report. 
 
 It was now to he seen how the news of disaster would 
 operate on our fate. The moment was an anxious one ; 
 but the crisis passed, and we had cause for thanksgiving. 
 It was a cheering indication that the day went over with- 
 out any further mischief than brutal abuse, which, in the 
 face of more serious evils, we soon learned to disregard. 
 Our condition, in all respects, remained unchanged. 
 
 As days rolled on, and our heads were still on our 
 shoulders, we began to lose the sense of immediate 
 danger in the more harassing and abiding feeling that 
 we were living in the daily and hourly liability to it. 
 This may be said to be the case with all mankind, and 
 that ours was only the common lot exaggerated. This is 
 true, and the reflection was not altogether without its 
 value. The difference is, that in the one case the cruelty 
 of man and the hand of violence are the instruments to 
 bring it about, while, in the other, the skill and sympa- 
 thies of man are exerted to avert it. In many respects 
 death, when contemplated from the gloom of a dun- 
 geon, should be more desirable and welcome than when 
 viewed from a bed of sickness, surrounded by sympa- 
 thizing friends; yet, contrary to this admission, it is 
 always most dreaded when our reason tells us it ought to 
 be most welcome. The arguments which succeed in con- 
 vincing our reason fail to overcome this natural horror of
 
 190" HOPING AGAINST HOPE. [CHAP. XVII. 
 
 death by the hand of man. Nature revolts at the idea. 
 It was this terrihle uncertainty, with all the chances in 
 human estimation against us, which, for nearly two years, 
 weighed with such depressing force upon our spirits. 
 Argue as we would, we could never admit any reasonable 
 chance of our ultimate escape. It was the despairing 
 feeling of a man condemned to death, hut kept in con- 
 stant ignorance of the day and manner in which he was 
 to suffer. Although my case was admitted to he the 
 most desperate of the party, hope never altogether de- 
 serted me, unless at moments, which too often happened, 
 when my fate seemed so near and certain that to hope 
 was almost presumptuous. 
 
 The historian Hume puts a just value on this san- 
 guine and hopeful spirit when he says, " I was ever more 
 disposed to see the favourable than the unfavourable side 
 of things; a turn of mind which it is more happy to 
 possess than to be born to an estate of ten thousand a 
 year." I also had the happiness to possess the turn of 
 mind the historian alludes to ; it was a great help to me 
 in my trouble, and, like him, I estimate the inheritance 
 as more valuable than that of wealth. 
 
 Many weeks passed over our heads before the signal- 
 gun announced fresh news. The first reverse they had 
 experienced, though insignificant in itself, had taught 
 our enemies that they had a more difficult task than was 
 at first expected, and they did not hazard another attack 
 until a larger force was concentrated before Rangoon. 
 My old friend, the Sakkya Woongee, was found unequal 
 to the command ; he was superseded by another General, 
 styled the Thunba Woongee, in whom greater confidence 
 was placed. 
 
 In the mean time, we were settling down into the
 
 CHAP. XVII.] PRISON DISCLOSURES. 191 
 
 habits of the prison, and were becoming familiar with 
 such scenes as I have recounted. We began also to 
 speculate on the length of time nature could hold out, 
 if we were left to test it. How long could we live in 
 such plight, without the use of water or other means of 
 cleanliness ? Would habit reconcile us to it, as it 
 apparently had done many of our fellow-prisoners ? 
 Some of them had lived there for years. 
 
 We gradually became acquainted with them and with 
 their crimes, real or imputed. There were many cases 
 in the calendar that were almost incredible, and showed 
 that accident, caprice, superstition, and even carelessness, 
 occasioned their confinement. One grimy, half-starved 
 old man, had been kept there three years, and neither 
 knew why he was there nor who sent him ! Our young 
 friend with the club was an old inhabitant, and was 
 probably kept there because he could be trusted as the 
 guardian of the night a good watchdog. The crime of 
 another must have been that of a madman, or more 
 probably it was a false accusation, preferred to gratify 
 private revenge. Ke was said to have made an image of 
 the King, and to have walked over it ! The mere impu- 
 tation of practising necromancy cgainst the sacred per- 
 son of the King was a fatal charge. The poor fellow 
 was taken from among us at the hour of midnight, and 
 despatched by breaking his spine. Why this singular 
 method of slaughter was resorted to, as well as the man- 
 ner of carrying it into execution, was as mysterious as 
 the crime itself; but they were not at all particular as 
 to the mode of depriving their victims of life, but seemed 
 to be guided altogether by caprice. 
 
 But the most ridiculous instance of superstition, was 
 that of a man brought into prison because lie said he
 
 192 A MAN WHO CAN FLY. [CHAP. XVII. 
 
 could fly. Why they should interfere to prevent his doing 
 so, if he really possessed the power, no one could tell. 
 
 The case was a difficult one. " Father" Moung-lah was 
 responsible for his safe custody, and was in terror lest 
 the bird should take wing in the course of the night. 
 The sagacious old man thought it was possible he might 
 be able to fly out of one sort of fastening, but not out 
 of another; so he wisely determined to take every kind 
 of security his wits could invent. 
 
 The man was first put in three pairs of irons, the jaws 
 of the central Alligator then snapped upon his ankles, 
 holding them tight, his wrists were bound together with 
 a long rope tied to one of the rafters of the roof of the 
 building, his long hair was twisted into braids, and each 
 braid fastened separately to the floor, another rope was 
 tied round his waist and confined it to the floor also. 
 
 As he lay thus prostrate, Moung-lah stood over him 
 in contemplation, apparently deliberating in his own 
 mind what further means he could adopt to clip the 
 wings of this subtle captive. At last he bethought 
 himself of the holes pierced in the man's ears, which 
 usually are large enough to save the trouble of carrying 
 a cigar-case, and through these holes the ingenious 
 Mouug-lah contrived to pass strings, confining his ears 
 also to the floor. One would have thought he had read 
 Gulliver. Still the cautious " father" had his misgivings, 
 and before leaving the prison, very strict injunctions 
 were delivered to the Savage with the club, to watch the 
 creature, and if it attempted to fly, he was to brain it as 
 it rose. While all this was going on, the sufferer 
 ceased not to ridicule all their precautions, and to assert 
 his own ability to elude them, as he fully intended to do 
 in due time. The confidence of his manner raised the
 
 CHAP. XVII.] AN IRISH SOLDIER CAPTURED. 193 
 
 credulity of Mr. Rodgers. " These people know more 
 than you think they do," said he to me. I suggested our 
 tying ourselves to him, perhaps he might take us under 
 his wing, and so we should escape when he took his 
 flight. " Wait till you see, sir." We did wait, and to 
 the joy of our Chief, next morning, the bird had not 
 flown. The gaolers soon began to doubt his powers ; 
 day by day the lashings were relaxed, and when it 
 clearly appeared that he was an Inhabitant of this Earth 
 only, and that he had no power to soar above it, no fur- 
 ther means were taken to confine him to it. The poor 
 lunatic was permitted to participate in the usual privi- 
 leges of the prison. 
 
 The next time the signal gun was fired from the river- 
 side, while we were listening in breathless anxiety for 
 some indication of the news it might announce, the 
 silence was broken by the entrance of a new captive. 
 We could hardly credit our senses. He was a rough, 
 strongly-built Irishman, around whose body a thick iron 
 ring was fastened with a fathom of chain appended to it, 
 just as in olden time I have seen the dancing bear 
 exhibited in England. By this he had been led, and by 
 it he was now staked down to the floor, as if he were a 
 wild animal that might do mischief if you went within 
 the range of his chain. Poor Cassiday (for that was his 
 name) was by no means so wild as his appearance in- 
 dicated. When he discovered among the dense tobacco- 
 smoke a row of faces which were intended by nature to 
 be white, he gave way to an exclamation of joy, which 
 was quickly repressed by the Savage, but was quite 
 enough to disclose to us the isle of his birth. The 
 English language was now more, strictly forbidden 
 than ever, and it was not until late at night that we 
 
 K
 
 194 THE IRISHMAN'S EXAMINATION. [CHAP. XVII. 
 
 learnt his history, not from himself hut in the following 
 manner. 
 
 Late at night he was called out for examination hy the 
 Woongees, Mr. Rodgers attending in his chains as inter- 
 preter. After an hour's ahsence, they returned together to 
 prison, when Mr. Rodgers related to us what he remem- 
 bered of the colloquy. That portion of it which interested 
 us most ran as follows. To elude the vigilance of the youth 
 with the club, it was passed in a low whisper, a few words 
 at a time, from one to another, as we lay extended in a 
 line on the floor. 
 
 Woongees. What do the Kulas want by coming to 
 Rangoon ? 
 
 Cassiday. I believe they are going to march up to 
 take the country (a loud laugh). 
 
 Woongees. How many men have they brought with 
 them ? 
 
 Cassiday. About 3000 British soldiers, besides a 
 good many black troops. 
 
 Woongees. What do you think will become of them, 
 when they are attacked by 100,000 of our army? 
 
 Cassiday. I think we should make very short work 
 of your army, if they be no better than those we met in 
 the stockades. My regiment has had great experience 
 with the bayonet (great excitement). 
 
 Woongees. What is the name of the Kula-loh-kyop 
 (Commander-in-chief) ? 
 
 Cassiday, They call him Major-General Sir Archi- 
 bald Campbell. 
 
 When the Woongees had done, it became the Irish- 
 man's turn to put a question that was near to his heart. 
 " Will you be kind enough, sir, to ask these people what 
 rations they allow their prisoners ? " The question was
 
 CHAP. XVIL] HIS DISCLOSURES. 195 
 
 so simple that Pat had no idea -what it was that caused 
 the burst of laughter which followed it. He was told he 
 should have some food, and was ordered back to his stake. 
 
 It is not likely that the ring and chain were made after 
 securing the prisoner; they had no doubt been manu- 
 factured wholesale, under the impression that they would 
 be worn by all the white men when paraded before His 
 Majesty in triumph. Mr. Rodgers told us the Woongees 
 were still in high spirits, and he attributed to this our 
 preservation up to the present time. 
 
 We had by this examination learned the force of the 
 invading army, and what to me individually was another 
 source of alarm, the name of the General commanding it. 
 I had known Sir Archibald Campbell in Calcutta, and I 
 now feared this acquaintance might become known to the 
 Burmese, by the inquiries the General would naturally 
 make about me. Any such inquiries, however kindly 
 meant, would only tend to revive and strengthen the 
 charges against me, already sufficiently numerous. Cas- 
 siday was a private in the Honourable Company's Madras 
 European regiment. He had been captured by the 
 enemy while absent from the camp, wandering about in 
 search of pine-apples, with which the country abounded : 
 in a day or two he was taken away from us., and we saw 
 him no more. 
 
 K 2
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 We are transferred to the cells. Description of them. Plan of the pri- 
 son. Plague of rats. Murder in the prison. Its cause. Frailty of a 
 Menthamee. How punished. My house being burnt down, I am 
 accused of arson. Narrow escape. Fortunate destruction of my jour- 
 nal. Providential interferences. Anecdote of escape from 'a tiger. 
 
 IT is not improbable tbat we should have sunk under the 
 intense heats of the month of June, in such a place and 
 under such circumstances as I have described, had not 
 our guardian angel, Mrs. Judson, again contrived to soften 
 the heart of the Governor, when his anger at being com- 
 pelled to restore our bribes had a little subsided. 
 
 The plan I have given of the prison -yard shows that 
 on two sides there were a number of small cells, used for 
 many purposes by the ringed brotherhood, and the plead- 
 ing of our amiable protectress secured for us the liberty 
 to occupy them. It is true they were very small, the one 
 I inhabited being about five feet wide, with just enough 
 length to He down in ; it was also so low that I could not 
 stand upright, except in the middle, where the roof was 
 highest; but it was Elysium when compared with the 
 suffocating choke of the inner prison. Nor could it be 
 called altogether solitary confinement, for one of our 
 gaolers had a pretty daughter, about sixteen years old, 
 who took a wonderful fancy to me, and was a frequent
 
 CHAP. XVIII.] 
 
 PLAN OF THE PRISON. 
 
 197 
 
 :fZ 
 
 1C 
 
 Public Sir eel. 
 
 Scale o/ Feet. 
 
 1. Entrance gate. 
 
 2. Stone on which fetters were struck on. 
 
 3. Magistrate's shed. 
 
 4. The gaolers' guard-room. 
 
 5. A lane round the prison. 
 
 6. The inner prison. 
 
 7. The cell occupied by the author. 
 
 8 to 17. Cells occupied by various prisoners and the pahquets.
 
 198 THE JAILOR'S DAUGHTER. [CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 visiter in my cell. She supplied me, too/ with an unspeak- 
 able luxury, water for ablution. Oh ! who can appreciate 
 the gift but those who have been long deprived of it. A 
 scrap of rag, moistened with some of the water given us 
 to drink, only served to smear the grime like a plaster 
 over our bodies. Now, once again, I could call myself 
 comparatively clean. 
 
 My cell had other advantages. My eyes escaped many 
 scenes of revolting cruelty ; my ears, many foul anathe- 
 mas and gross abuse; my lungs and olfactories, all sorts 
 of abominations. It abutted also on the main street, and 
 through the chinks I could amuse myself by watching 
 the passers-by. I once saw my old favourite "Dart," who, 
 happier than his master, continued to enjoy the Royal 
 favour, as was evinced by his ridiculous costume, while 
 led on his constitutional airing. I was strongly tempted 
 to whistle to him from my hiding-place, but dared not. 
 
 The chief loss was the society of my friends. The 
 rats, too, were numerous and troublesome at first; but 
 these, though a disgusting nuisance, I managed to turn 
 to account by the fancy of the pahquets for their flesh. 
 The Burmese hold rats in about the same estimation as 
 we do hares, and sell them commonly in their markets 
 for about their own weight in lead. My cell, therefore, 
 might be regarded as a well-stocked preserve for game. 
 The burrows ran in all directions, and hardly a day passed 
 without my bagging a few heads of this novel kind of 
 game, and handing them over to my pretty visitor's 
 father, who willingly lent me his spear for the purpose of 
 destroying them. The bait of a few grains of boiled rice 
 at the entrance of the burrows brought them out in 
 shoals, and gave me the opportunity of spearing them. 
 " What do you expect will be your fate ?" said this pious
 
 A BURMESE GIRL NOT UNLIKK MY JAILOR'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 From ' Tale.' 
 
 To face pa^e IS
 
 CHAP. XVIII.] PLAGUE OF RATS. 199 
 
 Buddhist, as he once took the struggling vermin from the 
 spear, "when the time comes for me to serve you as you 
 are serving that creature ! " They all looked forward to 
 the pleasure of decapitating us, and, when in a mild 
 humour, would promise me, as a favour, to use their 
 greatest skill so that I should scarcely feel it. What a 
 consoling thought ! 
 
 Shut up close in my little cell, I thought that, at all 
 events, my feelings would no longer be harrowed with the 
 sight of deeds of blood. To a certain extent it was so ; 
 but even here there was no abiding peace and quietness. 
 One night, as I was vainly endeavouring to coax myself 
 asleep, the screams of an unfortunate wretch in the inner 
 prison fell upon my ear, and, the door of my cell being 
 at the time unfastened and the prison wall not more 
 than three feet off, curiosity prompted me to peep 
 through a crack to see what fresh mischief was on foot. 
 Never shall I forget the foul assassination I witnessed. 
 The inmates were breathlessly silent, evidently expecting 
 some evil. 
 
 The cries proceeded from a young man, who lay 
 stretched on the floor, with his feet in the stocks. The 
 lamp was burning dimly, giving just enough light to 
 show the form of a grim pahquet striding towards his 
 victim. Without a word he stamped several times on the 
 mouth of the youth with his heavy wooden shoes, with a 
 force which must have broken his teeth and jaws into frag- 
 ments. From my hiding-place, where I stood trembling 
 with terror, I heard the bones crack and crash. Still, the 
 cries were not altogether silenced, when the monster 
 seized the club of the Savage, and with repeated blows on 
 the body and head, pounded the poor sufferer to death.
 
 200 A MURDER IN PRISON. [CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 The corpse was then taken from the stocks and buried in 
 the prison-yard. Chilled to the heart by what I had seen, 
 I crept back into my cell unperceived, with a resolution 
 never again to give way to unnecessary curiosity. " My 
 soul, enter not thou into their secrets." What a gang of 
 fiends was I living amongst ! 
 
 I noticed that a deed of blood, whether in the way of 
 a public execution or a private murder, invariably raised 
 a hell of bad passions in the breasts of the brotherhood 
 for some hours after it had been committed, and until 
 these excited passions had subsided it was dangerous to 
 speak to them ; but the following day I ventured to in- 
 quire what was the cause of this butchery. 
 
 It turned out that the youth was a slave of the Prince 
 Menthagee a Cassayer by birth, who had made the 
 acquaintance of a girl of the same nation, also a slave of 
 the same master. A criminal intercourse followed, and 
 was detected. What became of the female I did not 
 hear, but the youth was consigned to the Let-ma-yoon 
 by the Prince, with private orders that he should be assas- 
 sinated. The spotted men thought the least troublesome 
 way was to starve him to death, but the cries of the fa- 
 mished creature were heard by the passers-by in the 
 street, and caused his sufferings to be ended more quickly, 
 as we have seen. As some note of the transaction must 
 be made on the prison register, as a matter of form, it 
 was recorded that he was an opium-eater, and that he 
 died for want of his favourite drug ! 
 
 And this was the all-powerful Tyrant that governed the 
 country ! in whose hands our destinies were held ! A 
 righteous retribution overtook the monster some years 
 afterwards. After suffering prolonged and appropriate
 
 CHAP. XVIII.] FRAILTY IN THE PALACE. 201 
 
 tortures,* he perished in the rebellion which placed his 
 rival, Tharawudi, on the Throne. 
 
 Peccadilloes of this kind are not always so severely 
 punished, even when they affect the sacred person of the 
 King himself. A son of my old acquaintance, Meeadai 
 Mengee, had been guilty of a folly of the kind, wherein a 
 young lady in the Palace, of the class of Menthamee, 
 was involved. The Sovereign was merciful. The lady's 
 beauty was marred by the tattooing of her face, and Lo- 
 thario was banished to Mogoung, to work as a charcoal- 
 burner in the forests, with a heavy timber-frill strongly 
 clamped round his neck. I saw him take his departure, 
 looking very foolish ; but I heard afterwards that he suc- 
 ceeded in captivating the heart of the daughter of the 
 Governor of Mogoung, through whose influence he was 
 eventually pardoned. 
 
 One would think, from the course of events which I 
 have endeavoured to describe, that it was not easy to add 
 to the weight of our troubles ; nor from the circumscribed 
 intercourse which it was possible for us to hold with the 
 outer world did there seem much reason to fear that any 
 fresh crime could be imputed to us. I have before re- 
 marked, however, that there is no lot which man has to 
 sustain in this life so wretched that it is incapable of 
 becoming worse. In our discontented imaginations we 
 may think we have reached the bottom of the pit, and be 
 disposed to defy Fate to make us more completely miser- 
 able; but in this we are mistaken. Some unlooked-for 
 mischance sends us still lower, and shows us that no line 
 can sound the depths of the calamities to which human 
 
 * Colonel Burney relates that his ill-gotten wealth was extracted from 
 him by bringing him face to face with alligators, and threats to throw 
 him among them. 
 
 K 3
 
 202 I AM ACCUSED OF ARSON. [CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 life is liable. After I had been two months in the Let- 
 ma-yoon a misfortune happened which left me still more 
 destitute, and at the same time the reader will stare with 
 astonishment well nigh cost me my life- for the crime of 
 arson ! " Did I then, in a fit of despair, set fire to the 
 prison," he will ask, " and try to make an end of all our 
 miserable lives in one general conflagration ? " Not much 
 to be wondered at if I did. But no such thing. 
 
 One morning, about ten o'clock, while I was seated in 
 my cell, hungry, and wondering what could have pre- 
 vented my man from bringing the daily bundle of boiled 
 rice, as usual, a cry of "fire!" arose in the street, and 
 people were running in great excitement to the quarter 
 whence the danger proceeded. In a city built of com- 
 bustible materials, like Ava, a fire is a terrible thing to 
 contemplate. A division of the spotted men rushed away 
 with the crowd, like so many vultures to their prey, ex- 
 ulting in the hope that some of their craft would be in 
 request ; nor were they mistaken in their conjecture. 
 
 After a short time they returned, bringing with them as 
 a prisoner, to my consternation, the very man who ought 
 to have brought my breakfast one of my Bengalee ser- 
 vants. The whole affair was now plain enough without 
 further explanation. He had accidentally set the house 
 on fire while boiling my rice, and was paying the penalty 
 of his carelessness. The fellow would have turned pale 
 with fright (for a Bengalee can turn pale), had not his 
 countenance been liberally smeared with charcoal by the 
 spotted men when they took him into custody, while 
 round his neck they had suspended a firebrand, to indi- 
 cate his crime. His hands were bound behind him, and 
 in this guise he was turned into the inner prison, there to 
 wait until the morrow, when the usual punishment of
 
 CHAP. XYIIL] A HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPE. 203 
 
 flogging round the town would be administered ; for, a 
 man who may be ruined by his house taking fire, instead 
 of meeting assistance and sympathy as in England, is 
 here unmercifully flogged for his misfortune, unless he 
 can buy himself off. Doubts were expressed whether I 
 should not have to participate in the punishment, as the 
 house was considered my dwelling. 
 
 When the news of the fire reached the Palace, and it 
 was known that it originated at my house, enemies were 
 not wanting to throw the crime on me. The King was 
 made to believe that the traitorous Spy had, by his emis- 
 saries, attempted to burn the town ; and it was not to be 
 wondered at, blackened as my character already was, if 
 the excitable nature of the King led him to credit it. 
 While the question was being debated, and while the 
 King was working himself up into one of his insane fits, 
 and on the point of issuing the ultima ratio of Despots, 
 one of those trifling but decisive incidents happened 
 which so often intervened opportunely to save my life. 
 Mr. Lanciego entered the Palace, and gave the King a 
 correct version of the affair. When, at a later period, 
 this gentleman fell into the same condemnation as our- 
 selves, and joined our party, he told me that his oppor- 
 tune arrival saved me that His Majesty was fast rising 
 into his accustomed frenzy at the instigation of those 
 around him, and that a delay of a few minutes would 
 most likely have sealed my fate. 
 
 Nor did this providential escape stand alone. Another, 
 still more marvellous, stands connected with that fire, 
 and deserves to be recorded. 
 
 In happier times it was my custom to keep a journal, 
 for in a country so little known scarcely a day passed 
 without some interesting matter occurring to commit to
 
 204 MY DIARY DESTROYED. [CHAP. XYIII. 
 
 my diary. As politics became complicated, and dangers 
 began to appear, it may be supposed that remarks on 
 passing affairs, and on the Government, would creep into 
 it, even if I had used greater precautions than I was 
 wont to do. Common sense told me that it was a 
 dangerous book to possess in troublous times like the 
 present, so, not without some regret, I ordered its 
 destruction, while I was a prisoner in the barracks of 
 the Taing-dau.* The man to whom this duty was com- 
 mitted, knowing the value I put upon the book, instead 
 of obeying my instructions, dug a hole in the ground 
 under the house, and hid it there in a small box, hoping, 
 that if happier times came, I should be pleased at re- 
 covering it. Now comes the marvellous part of the 
 story. What could have influenced me to inquire, a few 
 days before the fire broke out, whether the book had been 
 destroyed as I had desired ? What but the guiding 
 hand of God's Providence, which in a thousand different 
 ways, unseen and unnoticed by us, is constantly main- 
 taining man's life by averting hidden perils ? His Will 
 was that I should not perish, and this being so, little did 
 it matter whether we " dwelt in the midst of alarms," or 
 whether we were living in seeming security in a peaceful 
 home. The fact is, we are so completely influenced by 
 outward circumstances and appearances, that we are apt 
 to forget this, and to lose our confidence, until the truth 
 is again brought home to our minds by some such in- 
 cident as the one I am narrating. Influenced by a 
 higher Power, I did make the inquiry about this book, 
 and finding my order had not been obeyed, I repeated 
 
 * Mrs. Judson also kept a diary of the same kind, which, she tells us, 
 she felt it prudent to destroy on the first indication of approaching 
 hostilities. Life of Judson.
 
 CHAP. XVIII] PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 205 
 
 it, and the journal was dug up and destroyed just in 
 time. 
 
 It is common with the Burmese, when a house is 
 destroyed by fire, to dig up its site to search for 
 valuables, and in this case, where booty was probable, 
 the plunderers did not fail to follow out the practice with 
 more than usual care. Now, suppose for a moment the 
 diggers had discovered a small box concealed under- 
 ground the box to contain a book written in the 
 English language which book, on being translated, is 
 found to be full of strictures on the characters of the 
 King and his nobles, and on the acts of their Govern- 
 ment ! Yet all this must have happened but for the 
 inquiry being made just at the time it was. I did, 
 indeed, tremble when I heard of the search that had 
 been made, and thought of what must have followed. 
 The loss of this journal was a misfortune to me. Had 
 it been preserved, the book which I am writing would 
 have been better worth the reader's perusal. 
 
 I have heard men, whose opinions on most subjects I 
 should willingly adopt, object to our appropriating to 
 ourselves, as special interferences of God's Providence in 
 our favour, what they look upon as the ordinary accidents 
 and occurrences of life. Instead of dogmatizing on a 
 subject which is from its nature incomprehensible to us, 
 we ought, they say, to rest satisfied in the general con- 
 viction that the Judge of all the earth must do right. 
 Besides, if we are justified in appropriating these special 
 interferences with gratitude, by a parity of reasoning, 
 adverse dispensations would tend to encourage feelings of 
 an opposite character, which we all acknowledge to be 
 sinful and repulsive, not only to our ideas of virtue and 
 morality, but to our very nature. Perhaps the best reply
 
 206 AN ANECDOTE. [CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 to such objectors is, that facts are against them, for it is 
 invariably found that those persons who, acknowledging 
 a particular Providence, feel the deepest gratitude for 
 special benefits, are the very last to impugn the benefi- 
 cence of their Creator when afflictive dispensations befall 
 them. For my own part, I feel that in such instances as 
 I have narrated, and many that will follow, there is no 
 reason why my heart should not be as grateful as if I 
 beheld with my own eyes the Hand that delivered me. 
 
 I was once relating to a friend, wbo held such uncom- 
 fortable opinions, an anecdote which, although it has 
 nothing to do with the subject of this book, I feel a 
 desire to introduce; its truth may be relied on, as I 
 had it from the mouth of the gentleman who so dex- 
 terously slipped out of the scrape. 
 
 Sometime about the year 1830, an old friend of mine, 
 in the Indian Navy, commanded the Honourable East 
 India Company's surveying vessel Investigator. He was 
 sent on service, in company with his senior, Captain Koss, 
 to survey the sea entrances of the river Hooghly, and 
 the duties of this service included the coast of the well- 
 known tiger-tenanted island of Saugor. On this low 
 island of jungle, neither building nor hill, nor any 
 natural object, presented itself to assist the survey or with 
 a good landmark for his operations, and my friend was 
 obliged to content himself with the indifferent object of 
 the dead stump of a solitary tree, some 200 or 300 yards 
 from the shore, which, to render more conspicuous, he 
 proposed to daub over with white paint. 
 
 " I landed," said he, " with one lascar, to whom I gave 
 my sextant and a pot of white paint, leaving the rest of 
 the crew to take care of the boat. We reached the tree 
 in safety, washed it with the paint, and prepared to
 
 CHAP. XVIII.] ESCAPE FROM A TIGER. 207 
 
 return. The path, apparently the track of wild animals, 
 was among patches of long grass and tangled jungle. I 
 walked first, the lascar following a few feet behind me, 
 carrying, as hefore said, my sextant and the paint-pot. 
 When about halfway between the tree and the boat, our 
 passage was disputed by a tiger of enormous size, who 
 had actually taken his fatal spring at me when I first 
 caught sight of him. There was a moment only for me 
 to evade it. I had just time to make one step aside, 
 when the impetus of the spring brought the animal, with 
 its full force, directly upon my follower, whom it carried 
 off into the jungle with as much ease as I would carry a 
 hare. The tiger and his prey had disappeared almost 
 before I could turn round." 
 
 " Surely," said my friend, " you do not mean to say 
 that the Captain had a right to claim this as a special 
 interference to save his life ! What would the man who 
 carried the paint-pot say about it if he could speak ! "
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 My utter destitution. My servants abscond. Fidelity of my Maho- 
 medan baker. Defeat and death of Thunba Woongee. We are thrust 
 into the inner prison again. A prisoner brought in with smallpox. 
 We escape infection by tobacco. Its universal use. Prison recreations 
 of Dr. Price. I play chess with Dr. Judson. Chess in the Palace. 
 Amusements of Mr. Rodgers and of Mr. Laird. Laxity of prison 
 regulations. My dangerous illness. Barbarity of the gaolers. I re- 
 cover unexpectedly. 
 
 MY life was thus saved, but how was it to be sustained '? 
 Hitherto my people had been able to pay the expense of 
 supporting me from what they had managed to secrete 
 before the confiscators visited my house. All they had 
 was now gone, as well as the few clothes which enabled 
 them now and then to give me a clean -shirt. Nothing 
 was left but the clothing I then wore. After the shirt 
 and trousers had rotted off in shreds, a native waist- 
 cloth constituted the whole of my wardrobe. 
 
 Seeing the state of utter destitution that had befallen 
 me, all my servants forsook me and fled, except my 
 Mahomedan baker, a bright example of attachment and 
 fidelity, who, at this time, seeing his master deserted, and 
 in danger of starvation, set to work industriously at his 
 calling, and supported me from the profits of his labour. 
 He baked hard biscuits, a sort of food much sought 
 after by the Burmese troops departing for the war from
 
 CHAP. XIX.] MY FAITHFUL BAKER. 209 
 
 its keeping quality, and from its requiring no cooking ; 
 for these he had a ready sale, with sufficient profit to 
 support us both. For more than a year- and- a-half this 
 faithful fellow never allowed me to pass more than a 
 single day without food of some sort, and that exception 
 of one day arose from an impossibility to convey it, nor 
 did he cease to minister to my wants until we both 
 together rejoiced in our freedom. For fear I should 
 forget it, let me here record, that when my friends in 
 Calcutta heard the story from me, knowing that having 
 lost everything, it was out of my power to reward these 
 faithful services, they made up for him a purse of 1000 
 rupees as an acknowledgment of his devotion, on the 
 strength of which the foolish fellow got married, and 
 sp'ent every farthing of it in the usual extravagance on 
 such occasions. 
 
 Time rolled on, with little more than the ordinary dis- 
 gusting detail of the prison, such as I have attempted 
 to describe, until the middle of July, when the report of 
 the signal-gun again aroused our curiosity and alarm. 
 Still it was but one gun, announcing a battle, but no 
 more. Within an hour, the lowering countenances of our 
 keepers told that some disaster had befallen the Burmese 
 arms. 
 
 This time the defeat was more severe and decisive. 
 The Thunba-Woongee had been attacked in his stock- 
 ades, his whole force dispersed, with the loss of 1000 
 men killed, among whom was the Woongee himself, who 
 was slain, bravely defending his position to the last. 
 
 The Governor wreaked his vengeance on us. We were 
 all hustled again from our cells into the inner prison, 
 to await any fresh orders that might be issued from 
 the Palace. A merciful Providence again averted the
 
 210 SMALLPOX IN THE PRISON. [CHAP. XIX. 
 
 danger. For a few days, probably a week, we were kept 
 in the old den of corruption, when time, as before, soft- 
 ened down asperities, the rage of the Governor and of 
 our keepers began to evaporate, and a little renewed 
 coaxing, backed by such insignificant bribes as our 
 people could yet afford to pay, regained for us the favour 
 of the cells, in which we were once more installed, and 
 my war of extermination against the rats recommenced. 
 
 While we were passing this week in the inner prison, 
 a frightful event took place, which threatened the imme- 
 diate destruction of the whole community ; indeed, it is 
 wonderful that the instinct of self-preservation did not 
 deter our parent of the prison from executing his order. 
 
 A woman was brought in covered with the pustules of 
 the smallpox ! Our doctor looked aghast, and so did 
 we all, as well we might. It was a case quite beyond 
 his treatment, though it is strange the versatile doctor did 
 not undertake the cure. Even the Burmese prisoners 
 themselves expressed their astonishment, but remon- 
 strance was useless. The gaolers, however, showed a 
 little common sense by placing the unfortunate creature 
 in a clear spot by herself to avoid contact with the other 
 inmates of the prison, with delicate threats of punishment 
 if she moved from it. We never heard what induced this 
 barbarity, but she was most likely suffering for the mis- 
 conduct of some relative in the war, and the authority 
 who sent her there could not have been aware of the 
 disease, for she had not been among us more than 
 twenty- four hours when she was again taken away. 
 
 But by what means was infection averted ? Inocu- 
 lation or vaccination was unknown. Here were about 
 fifty persons living in the same confined room, without 
 ventilation, and yet not one of them took the disease.
 
 CHAP. XIX.] SAVED BY TOBACCO-SMOKE. 211 
 
 The fact seems almost miraculous, and I should have 
 doubted the nature of the malady had it not been ac- 
 knowledged and dreaded by every one, the natives as 
 well as ourselves. I can only account for our immunity 
 by the free use of tobacco. 
 
 What a luxury as well as safeguard in this pest-house 
 was tobacco ! Every one smoked it. It was so cheap as 
 to be within the reach of all ; for if any one was so 
 absolutely destitute as to be unable to procure it, he 
 was liberally supplied by his neighbours. There is hardly 
 a person in the kingdom who does not smoke. I observe, 
 in reading an account of a recent mission to the Court 
 of Ava, by Captain Yule, that the King and Queen both 
 smoked cigars while seated on the Throne, even at a state- 
 reception, and that it is no breach of etiquette, either 
 in a stranger or a subject, to smoke a cheroot during 
 an audience, though I never saw this attempted.* Our 
 prison imitated the example of the Palace the atmo- 
 sphere was often so beclouded that it had the appear- 
 ance of the densest fog, it overpowered all hurtful 
 miasma, that of smallpox not excepted ; and such 
 was our faith in its purifying properties, that we did 
 certainly smoke with increased vigour while the infected 
 person was in our company. Irrespective of infective 
 disease, the effluvium from so many bodies in a confined 
 space might have created deadly evils, but for the coun- 
 teracting force of tobacco-smoke. We all acknowledged 
 that we were indebted to it for the preservation of our 
 lives. 
 
 As each scrap of intelligence arrived from the seat of 
 war, or as any change or caprice influenced the mind of 
 
 * Yule's Embassy, page 85.
 
 212 RECREATIONS OF DR. PRICE. [CHAP. XIX. 
 
 the Court, we were now bandied about from the prison to 
 the cells, or from the cells to the prison, sometimes en- 
 joying the seclusion of the one for weeks, then hurried 
 again, without knowing why, into the seething-pot of 
 the other. In the absence of books we sought to be- 
 guile our gloomy thoughts by such occupations as were 
 yet within our reach. 
 
 Our worthy but eccentric Doctor had crept up the 
 sleeve of the Chief of the prison so far as to draw from 
 him the gift of a bamboo and a lump of clay, which he 
 promised to convert into a clock, that should go well 
 enough to keep the prison time. How he expected to 
 succeed with such materials I know not, and began to 
 think he had taken leave of his senses. After much 
 labour and thought bestowed upon it he began to see his 
 folly, and gave it up in despair ; but unwilling to part 
 with his playthings, the versatile doctor made use of 
 the clay to model a human head with phrenological com- 
 partments, on -which he discoursed to an auditory of 
 wondering convicts, endeavouring to instil scientific 
 knowledge with about as much success as attended his 
 experiment on the clock. 
 
 One of the spotted men was afflicted with a large 
 troublesome wen, or swelling, on one of his eye-lids. 
 The doctor had often cast a longing eye on this wen ; 
 his fingers itched to be at it, but his case of instruments 
 had been taken by the plunderers. At last he summoned 
 the resolution to beg the rascal to submit to have it 
 extracted with the stump of a common penknife. We 
 became alarmed. We were all, to a certain extent, in 
 this man's power, and fearing a result as disastrous as 
 followed the experiment on his wife's eye, without such 
 ample means of making peace in the event of failure,
 
 CHAP. XIX.] SURGICAL OPERATION. 213 
 
 we remonstrated. The undaunted Doctor, however, per- 
 sisted ; the opportunity for practice was irresistible. 
 
 Never did I see such a hacking ! Such a mopping ! 
 I could not have wished my worst enemy in more ruth- 
 less hands. After many ejaculations and contortions on 
 the part of the patient, the operator succeeded in whit- 
 tling out a something which very much resembled in 
 appearance two or three inches of a large dew- worm ; 
 when, I suppose, not knowing what more to do with it, 
 or unable to extend his discoveries further, the disgusting 
 string was snipped off. The result was a little better 
 than was anticipated. After some days, when the wound 
 healed, it was found that although the inconvenient 
 swelling had been removed, the muscular power had by 
 some means been destroyed, and the lid fell helplessly 
 over the eye like a curtain, leaving the sight uninjured. 
 The Doctor cared little for this, and tried to console his 
 patient by telling him how much better off he was than 
 before. He had an eye always ready in reserve. " Never 
 mind," said he, " the eye will keep all the better. When 
 you want it, all you have to do is to lift the bid, and when 
 you have done with it let it drop again it will be always 
 at hand, you know." Such were the prison recreations of 
 Jonathan Price. 
 
 Judson and I hit upon a much better resource ; a 
 game at chess. What ! a game at chess in the Let-ma- 
 yoon ! Yes, it certainly has a sound of civilized life ; 
 but let not the imagination of my reader carry him to 
 two comfortable arm-chairs placed opposite to each other, 
 while between them stands a table spread with curiously- 
 carved pieces of red and white ivory. Our surroundings 
 could not boast that elegant character. We set our wits
 
 214 CHESS-PLAYING WITH JUDSON. [CHAP. XIX. 
 
 to work with more success than our friend Jonathan 
 David, whose knife and discarded bamboo very soon 
 produced such a set of pieces as answered our purpose, 
 though they bore but a faint and ludicrous resemblance 
 to their established forms. Still we had no difficulty in 
 assigning their respective powers to these nondescript 
 whittlings, nor in distinguishing them readily enough 
 after a few games. The board would have been a 
 serious difficulty if the earth oil cup had not befriended 
 us, in yielding a good supply of lamp-black, which we 
 smeared into chequers on an old remnant of buffalo hide, 
 discovered in the abandoned corner of the prison. Cross- 
 legged, or stretched at length on the greasy floor, how 
 many hours did we beguile with this absorbing game, 
 which must otherwise have been passed in deep dejection, 
 or in unprofitable speculation on the course of a destiny 
 which we could neither alter nor improve ! 
 
 Our gaolers, when in a good humour, allowed us this 
 privilege. Chess was a game well known; there was 
 no suspicion of necromancy. It was commonly played 
 in the Palace, where two or three large boards are kept in 
 the outer Hall for the amusement of the Courtiers. The 
 game differs in several essentials from ours, especially in 
 the arrangement of the pieces, which are disposed on 
 three lines instead of two as with us. As I have seen it 
 played in the Palace, it differs still more in the manner of 
 conducting it. Instead of being a silent, contemplative 
 game, it is a very noisy, boisterous one. The players 
 make their moves rapidly, with an abundance of chatter- 
 ing and bullying, and when one of the combatants has 
 driven his adversary into the necessity of thought for his 
 next move, a burst of ridicule is sure to follow at the
 
 CHAP. XIX.] VISITING LIST OF MR. RODGERS. 215 
 
 expense of the hesitating party, the spectators thinking 
 it hy no means indecorous to join in it. The charm of 
 the game is thus quite destroyed. 
 
 Mr. Eodgers, who, as I have already said, was as 
 much native as English in his thoughts and habits, 
 passed most of his idle hours in chatting with the 
 convicts learning their several histories, with all which 
 he soon became familiar and in discussing with them 
 the fashionable news of the day ; even the ringed men 
 themselves now and then honoured him with their com- 
 pany, talking kindly and jesting with him with about as 
 much feeling as a butcher might be expected to manifest 
 when he caresses a lamb one day which he expects to be 
 called on to slaughter the next. His list of acquaint- 
 ance was certainly not very inviting, but anything was 
 welcome which could, for the moment, occupy the mind. 
 After we had been relieved from the bamboo, and when 
 the savage passions of the brotherhood were not under 
 any peculiar excitement, the old gentleman was allowed 
 to hobble about the room in his irons, and to pay a 
 gossiping visit to each of his friends in turn. 
 
 Poor Laird was most at a loss for something to do. 
 Smoking and meditating he did not form a pleasing 
 picture, but time brought some alleviation even to him. 
 There is nothing permanent or abiding in a Burmese 
 prison except dirt and cruelty. Any new order or 
 regulation, especially if it be one to inflict pain, is 
 energetically and furiously acted on at first, but by slow 
 and imperceptible degrees, when it is no longer new, it is 
 suffered to fall into neglect by the simple lapse of time. 
 Thus it was with the prohibition to speak in our native 
 tongue. So long as our faces were new to the gaolers,
 
 216 ATTACKED BY DYSENTERY. [CHAP. XIX. 
 
 they regarded us as dangerous prodigies, in whose 
 mysterious consultations Treason or Witchcraft might 
 lurk. Gradually, as we hecame hetter known to them, 
 the stringency of the order relaxed, though it was not 
 rescinded. So, also, with the order for our rigid confine- 
 ment to the exact six feet by three on the prison floor, 
 which had heen allotted to us. As these died away, our 
 friend Laird had, once more, the consolation of holding 
 intercourse with his fellow- creatures. 
 
 Oh, that we could have had the unspeakable relief of 
 a few books, but above all, the Book of books, where 
 consolation might be found for suffering humanity ! I 
 concluded that my Bible had gone with the rest of my 
 eflects, but as I should not, under any circumstances, have 
 been allowed, at this time, to read it, inquiries after it 
 were useless. 
 
 Down to the month of September, in spite of all 
 privations, my health had not given way. Time had 
 brought me through the rough handling of Jonathan 
 Price, and the harassed mind seemed to insist on the 
 body supporting it under its trials. After some months, 
 however, when the changes and chances of the prison 
 had brought me again into one of the cells, the damps of 
 the night in the rainy season penetrating its latticed walls, 
 aided perhaps by the want of sufficient clothing, brought 
 on an attack of acute dysentery, which, in the absence 
 of medicines and proper treatment, made rapid progress. 
 The poverty of diet, too, might have assisted, for rice 
 boiled in water and flavoured with ngapwee, and a cup of 
 water to drink, was but a sorry substitute for the more 
 generous diet to which I had been accustomed. What- 
 ever the cause, the disease, unchecked in its course, soon
 
 CHAP. XIX.] INHUMAN TREATMENT. 217 
 
 brought me to a piteous state of helplessness that 
 threatened to carry me, in a short time, beyond the reach 
 of human cruelty. 
 
 When brought to such a state of weakness that I 
 could scarcely stand, one of the spotted men came to my 
 cell as night was closing in, and ordered me forthwith to 
 follow him into the inner prison. Remonstrance was 
 useless. Even the rascal's pretty daughter, who I believe 
 felt for me, and was the only being who ever uttered a 
 kind word, could not prevail. With the man's aid I got 
 inside, but the slight exertion was too much for me, and 
 I sank on the floor at the spot pointed out, quite 
 exhausted. We had been so often bandied backwards 
 and forwards from cell to prison, and from prison to cell, 
 that the movement ceased to cause surprise, but on this 
 occasion I could not understand why my fellow-prisoners 
 were not subjected to the same treatment. Up to this 
 time we had all shared the same fate. Why were they 
 now absent ? Why was I the only sufferer ? What could 
 it mean ? I concluded that at last the Government had 
 made the distinction between my guilt and that of my 
 companions, and that I had to die a felon's death. They 
 must be quick, however, or the last Enemy would snatch 
 the prey from their grasp. 
 
 Again I was wrong. I did not owe it to this ; nor is 
 it likely that any human being not a pahquet could 
 guess the true reason. I did not myself learn it until 
 some time after. It was this : If a prisoner dies within 
 the walls of the prison, his funeral obsequies are performed 
 at the expense of the Government. His body is rolled up 
 in a mat, slung on a bamboo, and deposited in the adjoin- 
 ing grave-yard. If he dies within thd cells, his corpse 
 is disposed of in a similar manner, the only difference 
 
 L
 
 218 RESTORED TO MY CELL. [CHAP. XIX. 
 
 being, that in the one case the cost of the mat is paid by 
 the Government, in the other it falls on the keepers. 
 These men, judging from appearance that I might die 
 that night, had an eye to saving the expense of the mat, 
 a few pence at most, probahly none at all, as an old one 
 serves for the purpose. 
 
 Again I say, how often are we wrong in the conclu- 
 sions we come to when appearances are against us. How 
 often an event, which comes in the guise of an enemy, 
 proves to be our best friend. In this instance the very 
 act, which, in human reasoning, ought to have deprived 
 me of life, was overruled to he the one which preserved 
 it. It so happened that the inner prison was unusually 
 full that night. The heat brought on a profuse perspira- 
 tion. I fell asleep and awoke better the next morning. 
 The equal temperature of the inner prison, and the ex- 
 clusion of the night damps that penetrated the cell, 
 gradually restored me to health in spite of all the 
 abominations of the place. Let none despair. 
 
 While health was returning I made no effort to return 
 to the cell, preferring to put up with the living foulness 
 until I could venture with safety to return to my solitary 
 abode, where at length, seeing they were not likely to 
 incur the expense of the mat, the gaolers made no objec- 
 tion to restore me.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Bundoola is recalled from Arracan to command the army. Runaway 
 soldiers. Their superstitious reports. Captured sepoys arrive and 
 are imprisoned with us. We escape suffocation. I am chained to a 
 leper. Native officers starved to death. Their want of endurance. 
 One man saved. News of Mr. Richardson. Accusations revived. 
 A gang breaks out of prison. Oppressions in prison. Father Ngalah's 
 system. Uncomfortable dispute between the missionaries. A mother 
 and daughters in irons. 
 
 DURING this time the whole strength of the country was 
 put forth in the prosecution of the war. After the defeat 
 of the Thunba Woongee, the Court hegan to see the wrong 
 estimate it had formed of the enemy it had to encounter. 
 No success had yet cheered them. On the contrary, 
 their outlying provinces on the sea-coast, Arracan, Mar- 
 taban, and others, had, one after another, fallen into the 
 hands of the invaders, and the eyes of the nation were 
 now turned on the hitherto successful Chief Bundoola, as 
 the only man to whose skill and bravery they could 
 confide the conduct of the war. He was recalled from 
 the British frontier of Chittagong, where he had gained 
 some trifling advantages, and was now organizing a con- 
 siderable force to attack us in Rangoon. 
 
 The confidence of the nation was far from being de- 
 stroyed, though the reports of those who had seen the 
 attacks of the British troops might well have inspired. 
 
 L 2
 
 220 SUPERSTITIOUS REPORTS. [CHAP. XX. 
 
 terror. Some of these men, \vho had fled from the war, 
 \vere thrown into our prison, and gave us marvellous 
 accounts of the skill and prowess of the English troops, 
 exaggerated by their own superstitious fancies. They 
 firmly believed in our using enchantments. One of 
 these convicts affirmed, that even our missiles were 
 charmed before they were fired off, and knew what they 
 had to do. He was standing, he said, near his Tsek- 
 kai, an officer of rank, when a huge ball of iron came 
 singing " tsek, tsek," which he distinctly heard in its 
 flight, when, true to its mission, it hurst upon the very 
 man it was calling out for, the unfortunate Tsek-kai ! 
 Those who have seen shell practice know the peculiar 
 hissing noise made by the fuse in its course through the 
 air, and can enter into the mistake of the wonder- 
 stricken soldier. Our surgical operations too had come 
 to his knowledge, but, with the ignorance of a savage, 
 he concluded our surgeons amputated injured limbs, 
 only to repair and fit them on again. He could not 
 conceive any other motive for cutting them off. 
 
 Bundoola left Ava in October. I saw through the 
 crannies of the wall the march of his troops in parade. 
 It was melancholy to see thousands of fine athletic 
 fellows, ill-armed, and without discipline, marching with 
 exulting confidence to certain destruction. Spears, 
 swords, with shields, and muskets, were intermixed in 
 admirable confusion. 
 
 While this redoubted Commander was in Ava, the 
 fruits of his victory, on the frontier, arrived. He had 
 succeeded in overpowering a body of native troops at 
 Eamoo, under the command of Captain Noton. Most 
 of the British officers were slain in the defence of their 
 entrenchment, the rest made their escape, but several
 
 CHAP. XX.] A BLACK-HOLE. 221 
 
 hundreds of the detachment now arrived as prisoners to 
 grace the triumph cf the victorious General. When 
 these men were drawn up in line, those who bore the 
 rank of officers were desired to step forward. It is clear 
 there must have been a difference of opinion among 
 them, some thinking that their rank would secure to 
 them better treatment, others, with more acuteness, argu- 
 ing that it would only place them in greater jeopardy. 
 Eight men only stepped out from the ranks. These, 
 together with as many of the sepoys as the building 
 would contain, were committed, for the night, to our 
 prison, merely as a matter of temporary convenience, the 
 intention being to march them on the morrow to a 
 considerable distance in the interior of the country. 
 
 Unfortunately, it so happened, that one of the freaks, 
 already noticed as common to the gaolers, had at this 
 time consigned all our party to the inner prison, and 
 we beheld, with horror, about a hundred of these men step 
 one after another through the wicket into our already well- 
 filled prison, one of the ringed fraternity remaining inside 
 to see that they were packed as close as possible. The 
 floor was literally paved with human beings, one touch- 
 ing and almost overlapping the other on every side. 
 
 It soon became evident what must follow. Difficulty 
 in breathing, profuse perspiration, and other disagree- 
 ables, overcame the natural terror of their tormentors, 
 and the suffering multitude began to cry aloud for air 
 and water. The horrors of the notorious black-hole 
 must have been re-enacted had the building been of brick, 
 but the manner of its construction, before explained, 
 fortunately prevented it. At length the clamour of the 
 captives, working probably on the fears of the gaolers 
 themselves, induced them to open the wicket door for
 
 222 I AM CHAINED TO A LEPER. [CHAP. XX. 
 
 the night, some of their number keeping ward outside 
 as sentinels. By this means a general disaster was 
 avoided. 
 
 This temporary influx of prisoners was the cause of 
 greater anxiety to me than to my companions from a 
 peculiar circumstance. The stock of fetters, in the 
 establishment, ran short, for it was thought necessary 
 to invest the eight heroic native officers with these deco- 
 rations, as well as others, whose dispositions were sus- 
 pected. To provide for this unexpected demand, our 
 three pairs of fetters were taken off for the night, one 
 ring only being left on the ancle, and by this we were 
 chained one to another, two by two, like hounds in 
 couples, only by the leg instead of the neck. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may think this was, at all events, 
 a slight respite, for which we ought to have been thank- 
 ful. So it was, to all except myself, for the luxury of 
 being able once more to stretch the legs apart, was, no 
 doubt, a most grateful refreshment. But my flesh creeps 
 when I think of it I was chained to a leper. My com- 
 panion was the unfortunate Greek, whose ancles had, by 
 this time, broken out into unmistakable open leprous 
 sores, with which a few inches of chain alone prevented 
 contact, while at the same time it kept me in terrible prox- 
 imity. The chain was kept at its full length all night, 
 as may be supposed, and sundry nervous jerkings from 
 time to time, on my part, to assure myself that it was 
 so, indicated the nature of my alarm to the poor man, 
 who was not unconscious of his malady, though he would 
 not openly admit it. He grew irritated at my studied 
 avoidance of him, and raised the question himself only 
 to deny it. This voluntary allusion to it by himself, 
 notwithstanding his denial, only tended to confirm the fact.
 
 CHAP. XX.] SEVEN SEPOYS STARVED TO DEATH. 223 
 
 With what joy did I submit myself the next day to the 
 hands of my worthy parent, while he again invested me 
 with my wonted complement of irons ! With what anxiety, 
 too, did I watch for weeks, searching diligently my ancles 
 for the first symptoms of the contagion, fearing I might, 
 unwittingly, have rubbed against the infected man, and 
 hecorne inoculated with his loathsome disease! I had 
 passed a good many nights of wretchedness, but this 
 was the worst. 
 
 The next day the place was cleared of all the sepoys, 
 the eight native officers only remaining with us. Being 
 unbefriended, they were starved to death in a few 
 weeks, one man alone escaping. Not that the Govern- 
 ment deliberately intended to starve them. It simply 
 neglected to take the trouble to see that they were fed. 
 When thrown on the bounty of the charitable persons, 
 whose benevolence I have elsewhere described, they one 
 day devoured a ravenous meal : another, or for several 
 days together, they endured starvation. ' Their line of 
 confinement was just behind ours, but crosswise, at right 
 angles, touching our heads. As we did not possess the 
 means effectually to relieve their necessities, we had to 
 endure the distress of seeing the emaciated creatures, day 
 by day, sinking under the cravings of hunger, or the 
 quick ravages of disease, until seven of the eight miser- 
 ably perished. One man who died was not removed until 
 the following day, and I had to pass the night in contact 
 with the stiffened corpse. 
 
 I was rather surprised at the want of endurance mani- 
 fested by these men, as I had always believed the natives 
 of India, from their constitutional apathy, could hold out 
 with less food, and live under greater hardships and pri- 
 vations than the European. They certainly might have
 
 224 HIS CASTE SAVES ONE MAN. [CHAP. XX. 
 
 made a better struggle for existence, if they had only 
 had the prudence to husband their resources, but they 
 appeared to lose heart and sink into despondency from 
 the beginning, and did not exhibit any sign of the forti- 
 tude in trouble that I had looked for. 
 
 These seven men who died were Mahomedans. The 
 survivor, Davy Sing, a Brahmin, who told me that he 
 held the rank of Jemmadar in the 45th N. I., owed his 
 life to the strict maintenance of his caste. He stead- 
 fastly refused to eat rice cooked by the Burmese. When 
 alms were distributed, he begged that his portion might 
 be given in uncooked grain, and this he carefully bound 
 in a strip of cloth round his waist, eating a little 
 now and then, as hunger impelled him. Strange to 
 say, on this meagre fare the man lived through the 
 war, and at its close was surrendered to the British army 
 alive but stone-blind. I have since been told that this 
 is a common consequence of subsisting on raw rice alone 
 for any length of time without change. 
 
 The old story about my being a Spy, which I hoped the 
 lapse of five months had sent into oblivion, was revived 
 about this time in a singular manner. This reproduction 
 of so dangerous an accusation was alarming, as the Bur- 
 mese Government is more apt to forget a crime than 
 to forgive it. However, it could not be helped. 
 
 It has been related how my assistant, Mr. Richardson, 
 had taken his timely flight, and had reached the port of 
 Rangoon in safety. After warning his countrymen of 
 their danger, he fled from the country in the first vessel 
 leaving the port, which happened to be a small schooner 
 bound for Bengal. After beating about the coast for 
 some days with contrary winds, they became in want of 
 water, and put into a harbour on the coast o Arracan to
 
 CHAP. XX.] OLD ACCUSATIONS EEYIVED. 225 
 
 replenish their stock. The anchor was cast at night, and 
 it was proposed to lower a boat at early dawn with some 
 empty casks, Mr. Kichardson desiring the mate to wake 
 him betimes that he might accompany the watering party. 
 Morning came: Mr. Richardson was called but on 
 what trifles does a man's destiny often depend ! he felt 
 drowsy, preferred his bed, and declined. 
 
 Mr. Sutherland (the mate) and some Lascars, ignorant 
 that war had broken out, proceeded on shore without 
 him. They were surprised by the natives, taken prisoners, 
 and sent to Ava. It soon got wind that it was the vessel 
 on which the Spy had made his escape. The first intel- 
 ligence I got of this unpleasant contre-temps was the 
 arrival of Mr. Sutherland in the prison-yard, where, to 
 my consternation, I could hear from within that in his 
 examination they got upon the dreaded topic. After his 
 examination he was carried away to another place, nor 
 was I ever allowed to see him, but I had heard enough to 
 make me very uneasy, and I passed many days in alarm, 
 lest this revival of the subject should direct their atten- 
 tion afresh to me. More urgent business at the moment 
 most likely prevented it. My emissary may be thankful 
 for his drowsiness ; had he been captured in the boat, we 
 should both, most likely, have undergone the question. 
 
 Before we changed the prison for the cells this time, a 
 daring plot, partially successful, raised the fury of our 
 " father " and his assistants almost to madness. 
 
 Among the select society we were associated with, there 
 was not wanting a liberal proportion of " roughs," despe- 
 rate fellows, ripe for any mischief. A gang of the boldest of 
 them had concocted a plan to make their escape. It was 
 carried into effect at midnight, by their quietly assisting 
 each other to take off their fetters, and then, dexterously 
 
 L 3
 
 226 ESCAPE OF FELONS. [CHAP. XX. 
 
 loosening a plank of the floor, they crept out from below, 
 unperceived by the drowsy pahquet sentinel outside. 
 Fortunately for his own throat he was asleep, but the 
 rush to break down the outer gate, when the gang found 
 themselves at liberty, aroused the brotherhood just in 
 time to see the enterprising rogues take to their heels 
 and disperse in all directions. The punishment fell on 
 the timorous ones who were left, for it was a wise pre- 
 caution of Father Ngalah to hold his captives jointly and 
 severally responsible for the safe keeping of the com- 
 munity. But where was the man to be found bold 
 enough to give the alarm, with the prospect before him 
 of being shut up in the same apartment with a gang of 
 irritated and disappointed ruffians ? Well might such an 
 one tremble for his officious fidelity ! Terrible, however, 
 were the penalties inflicted for some days on the faithless 
 securities inside especially on the Savage with the club, 
 who, albeit we owed him no debt of gratitude, was an 
 object of pity until the fury of the tempest abated, and 
 time, as usual, restored the old order of things. On the 
 whole, we were the gainers, by getting rid of some of 
 the most unruly and least amiable of our friends. 
 
 We had now become old gaol-birds ourselves. We 
 knew how to conduct ourselves and understood the 
 method of warding off many of the minor asperities of 
 the earlier months. When any petty privation was put 
 in force, we knew that it was time our people outside 
 should provide the means for a refresher. I had no 
 money nor effects, but a few of my good baker's biscuits 
 answered the purpose where nothing better could be 
 got. There were many methods of giving a hint before 
 resorting to severer measures; such as stopping for 
 a time our food or water the spot assigned to each
 
 CHAP. XX.] FATHER NGALAffS PRACTICE. 227 
 
 in the prison the stocks the weight of the fetters 
 preventing the communication with friends the work- 
 ing on the fears of the timid and innumerable screws 
 which they well knew how to work to the greatest advan- 
 tage. Our keepers never showed mercy even to the 
 destitute. Nor can it he wondered at they must either 
 oppress or starve. Judson has preserved a pithy remark 
 of Father Ngalah that exactly depicts the principle they 
 acted on. An under- gaoler was complaining to him that 
 he could get no more out of a poor fellow, whom they 
 had been tormenting for several days, his wife and house 
 being completely stripped. "My son," said the vene- 
 rable old man, " be sure you have never wrung a rag so 
 dry but that another twist will bring another drop." 
 They knew, almost by instinct, whether a drop of water 
 did remain in the rag, but, after the fire, I stood on 
 vantage ground, and, except for a biscuit or two, they 
 were quite aware it was labour in vain to give my rag 
 another twist. Not so was it with my comrades, who had 
 no such incontestable proof of destitution to produce. 
 
 We might almost have thought that Ngalah had dis- 
 covered a new and refined mode of putting on the screw, 
 by the classification of his prisoners; certes, if another 
 drop remained in Judson's rag, he might have wrung it 
 out by keeping him next in proximity to Brother Price. 
 Though he aimed at quietism, he had not altogether 
 attained it. The dangers and discomforts common to 
 all did not prevent an occasional burst of impatience, 
 sometimes from the most ridiculous causes. A feud 
 arose between these two excellent men, which had been 
 gradually gaining ground, and broke out on a certain 
 midnight with such violence and recrimination, that I was 
 fain to come between the contending parties to preserve
 
 228 AN UGLY HABIT. [CHAP. XX. 
 
 the peace. Every one who has had the patience to read 
 this book so far, cannot fail to appreciate the value to us 
 of sound sleep, when it could be got, and will admit that 
 it ought not to be lightly disturbed. 
 
 The prison was crowded the time was midnight. 
 Judson in a sound sleep Brother Price the same, being 
 next to each other on the row. But Jonathan Price, 
 though a good companion when he was awake, was a 
 wretchedly bad one when he was asleep. I have already 
 said that he was a gaunt, angular, raw-boned Yankee, 
 who could never compose himself to sleep, until he had 
 brought his knees to touch his nose, a custom of long 
 standing, acquired in times of yore when freedom sanc- 
 tioned his occupying as much space as he pleased. Now, 
 it is not to be wondered at, under present circumstances, 
 if during the night Jonathan was often disturbed by 
 evil dreams, and, when such occurred, he had the ugly 
 habit of launching his terrible knees, well weighted with 
 iron, with fearful force at the back of his unoffending 
 neighbour, till he made the fetters of both parties rattle 
 again. Judson bore these concussions with becoming 
 fortitude for some time, until one of these poundings 
 became more severe than human nature could endure. 
 " Brother Price ! you are a public nuisance. I insist on 
 your sleeping as other people do." Brother Price assured 
 him it was unintentional, but failed to convince him that 
 it was unavoidable. Some threats of retaliation passed, 
 in which poor Judson would have had no chance. To 
 restore harmony, I offered to sleep between them, and 
 when the battering-ram assaulted my back, I would 
 awaken the sleepy Doctor from his night-mare, and chal- 
 lenge him to a pipe of tobacco, which we smoked at all 
 hours of the night in good-humour. Besides, I could
 
 CHAP. XX.] A MOTHER AND DAUGHTERS IN IRONS. 229 
 
 get him to fall asleep sometimes on the other side, and 
 so hestow a fair share of his attentions on the sturdy 
 frame of old Mr. Eodgers, whose ill-luck brought him to 
 occupy the next place on the line. 
 
 But, notwithstanding little unavoidable disturbances 
 of this nature, we might be fairly called a " united" if 
 not a " happy family," and did our best to cheer each 
 other in the endurance of our afflictions. The politics 
 of the prison, as well as those of the nation, tended to 
 divert our thoughts, and to keep us from despondency. 
 The society was as continually changing as that at a 
 fashionable watering-place, and every new arrival was an 
 object of interest. Nor were they always of the baser 
 sort. A very nice family, consisting of a respectable 
 matron and several pretty daughters, were barbarously 
 sent among us, ironed like the rest the head of the 
 family having misbehaved himself in the wars. It was 
 painful to see their terror, and sickening to witness the 
 indelicacies they were subjected to. But if I were to 
 single out individual cases, my volume would be filled 
 with them.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Our fetters are increased to five pairs each. Increased severities. Orders 
 given for our assassination. Why not executed. We are not allowed 
 to be seen. The Governor's communication to Mrs. Judson. Bundoola's 
 victory. His defeat and death. The King's Horse in prison. Advance 
 of the British army. The crowing hen. Superstitions. Nostrum 
 to ensure longevity. Prison museum. Pacahm-woon in irons. He is 
 appointed Generalissimo. His hatred of the English. Mr. Lanciego 
 arrested and put to the torture. Our wretched condition. 
 
 THE old year closed, and the new one set in with fresh 
 disasters to the Burmese arms, and without throwing a 
 ray of hope across our desolate path. While our friends 
 and relatives at home were holding their family gatherings, 
 and enjoying the festivities of Christmas, our minds were 
 fast sinking into gloomy despondency, and our bodies so 
 changed hy the long endurance of trouble, that we should 
 hardly have been recognized at those happy meetings, 
 and so vile that the dogs would have hunted us from the 
 door. Every few days tidings reached us of fresh defeats, 
 sustained even by their great Chief, Bundoola, and these 
 were always followed by a renewal of some practice of 
 malice and revenge against us. It would be most 
 agreeable if I could vary this monotonous history by 
 recounting some act of grace, some relief to suffering, 
 some symptom of commiseration, but we were in a place
 
 CHAP. XXL] OUR FETTERS INCREASED. 231 
 
 where the accents of sympathy -were never heard, and 
 where the light of hope is almost excluded. 
 
 I pass over the time to the 1st March, one of those 
 days, riveted on my memory with, holts of iron, never to 
 pass into ohlivion. We had now endured this horrible 
 captivity nine weary months, daily expecting to he relieved 
 hy the hand of the executioner, and trying to sustain our 
 fortitude hy such little arts as we could invent to drive 
 away thoughts which, unchecked, would have led us to 
 insanity. In our condition it may he thought " laughter 
 is madness," and indeed so it appeared to me oftentimes ; 
 yet the sound of laughter would at times he heard even 
 in our chains. But let me speak of this day of despair, 
 the 1st of March. 
 
 It found us in our separate cells so often described. 
 Towards evening a pahquet went to each cell and brought 
 out his man, assembling the whole party around the 
 well-known granite block. No noise no abuse no 
 questions. Not a word was spoken. Hatred and revenge 
 were too deep for words ; besides, it was clear there was 
 business to be done, and of a nature which needed not 
 the usual garnish of execrations. We looked each other 
 in the face, and there read our several opinions of what 
 was going forward. We dared not break the silence hy a 
 word, surrounded as we were by a band of dumb demons. 
 One by one we were motioned to the block, where our 
 already heavily-laden limbs received two additional pairs 
 of fetters, making five pairs in all. This done, we were 
 directed to the inner prison, into which we staggered with 
 great difficulty, and where we were all huddled together 
 in a knot by ourselves. 
 
 When night set in, we ventured, in whispers, to com- 
 mune with each other. There was no disguising the
 
 232 ORDER TO ASSASSINATE US. [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 truth that we were left for death, not openly by the hand 
 of the executioner, but by secret assassination, most 
 likely on the spot where we lay. Those of us who 
 understood the Burmese language gathered this from the 
 conversation of our fellow-prisoners, who most likely had 
 heard it from some of the pahquets. A night followed, 
 so much resembling the first of our incarceration, that to 
 describe it would be mere repetition. Our meditations, 
 I trust, were all directed to the Throne of Grace, in pre- 
 paration for the great change that appeared so near at 
 hand. It was with an indescribable feeling of satisfaction 
 that I heard the spotted men outside sharpening their 
 knives for action, as it was an indication that our exit 
 from this world would be by the steel, and not by the 
 cord, and I had an instinctive terror of strangulation 
 beyond most other forms of death. Every moment of 
 that awful night, when the slightest noise disturbed the 
 silence, I looked for the entrance of the pahquet with his 
 instrument of slaughter. I believe the expectation of it 
 kept many of the native prisoners awake also. This con- 
 stant habit of listening to conversation going on outside 
 the building, to gain information, had a lasting and singu- 
 lar effect on my nervous system. For years after I gained 
 my freedom I could never hear people talking in another 
 room, or out of my sight, without a sensation of fear. 
 
 The morning returned, and with it fresh signs of our 
 condemnation, although the rumours of the night had 
 not been verified. We could not yet comprehend to what 
 we were indebted for our preservation during the night. 
 When the convicts were allowed their short breathing 
 dine in the morning we were deprived of it. When our 
 people brought us our daily rice we were carefully kept 
 from seeing them ; and I could not help noticing that,
 
 CHAP. XXL] HIDDEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW. 233 
 
 when strangers came to the prison, we were studiously 
 concealed from their view. Whenever I approached the 
 wicket for a breath of fresh air, as I sometimes ventured 
 to do, I was instantly driven back to my recess ; though, 
 strange to say, we were allowed our few minutes' grace in 
 the darkness of the night, when no one was moving, 
 instead of the morning, as had hitherto been the custom. 
 Our condition was altogether inexplicable. 
 
 Some days elapsed before the mystery was solved. 
 Our inveterate enemy, the Prince Menthagee, had desired 
 the Governor to dispatch us in secret. As this wretch 
 was all powerful at the Court, it may be asked why he 
 preferred thus satisfying his revenge in darkness, when 
 he might have brought about our public execution. 
 Perhaps he already foresaw the possibility of retribution 
 being taken for our blood ; perhaps he thought it might 
 not be agreeable to the King, who had shown favour to 
 some of us in former times. Be the cause what it may, 
 it is certain the Governor had received these diabolical 
 instructions ; but he, too, had his misgivings. He had 
 no public order to show; if any mischief ensued, or 
 if he should at any future time be called to account for 
 the deed, his superior might disavow the part he had in 
 the affair, and leave him to bear the consequences. He 
 therefore took the middle course of keeping us effectually 
 out of sight to afford some plausible excuse for his 
 daring to disoblige the Prince; and thus it would appear 
 that the increased severity of our confinement was in- 
 tended as an act of kindness, and became the means of 
 our escaping a worse fate. It is probable the Governor 
 wavered in the difficult choice he had to make, and only 
 came to the resolution to save us in the early part of the 
 night just in time.
 
 234 NO RELIEF POSSIBLE. [CHAP. XXL 
 
 Mrs. Judson, when she heard of her husband's intense 
 sufferings, made her way to the Governor, as usual, 
 entreating for relief, when the terrible communication 
 was made by him, as recorded in the memoirs of that 
 amiable lady. She had, by repeated visits, gained the 
 old man's sympathy. " He wept," she says, " like a 
 child. I pity you, Tsaya-Kadau, but believe me I do 
 not wish to increase the sufferings of the prisoners. 
 When I am ordered to execute them, the least I can do 
 is to put them out of sight. I will now tell you what I 
 have not told you before. Three times I have received 
 intimations from the Queen's brother to assassinate all 
 the white prisoners privately, but I would not do it, and 
 I now repeat it, though I execute all the others, I will 
 never execute your husband, but I cannot release him 
 from his present confinement, and you must not ask it." 
 
 The missionary was worthy such a wife. Though 
 sometimes giving way to despondency, he would gene- 
 rally comfort himself, in a true missionary spirit, by 
 thinking of the advantages the war must bring to the 
 cause of the mission. Often has he expressed to me 
 such sentiments as these : " Think what the conse- 
 quences of this invasion must be. Here have I been 
 ten years preaching the Gospel to timid listeners who 
 wish to embrace the truth, but dare not, beseeching the 
 Emperor to grant liberty of conscience to his people, but 
 without success, and now, when all human means seem 
 at an end, God opens the way by leading a Christian 
 nation to subdue the country. It is possible that my life 
 may be spared; if so, with what ardour and gratitude 
 shall I pursue my work, and if not, His will be done, 
 the door will be opened for others who will do the work 
 better."
 
 CHAP. XXL] "KING'S HORSE" IN PRISON. 235 
 
 It became now more difficult than ever to gain intelli- 
 gence of the state of affairs outside, as the people who 
 brought our rice were not allowed to see us. For some 
 time Mrs. Judson* managed to convey news to her 
 husband by a slip of paper hidden in his dish, but this 
 did not long escape the inquisitive search of the father 
 of the institution, and on its detection she narrowly 
 escaped becoming one of our party. 
 
 After the lapse of a week, news reached us through 
 the arrival of a notable prisoner, known among us by 
 the title of the " King's Horse." It was the duty of 
 this Hercules to attend His Majesty in his perambu- 
 lations, and to carry him like a child when he was tired. 
 He was a huge man, chosen to this post of honour for 
 his size, symmetry, and immense power; also, perhaps, 
 for the comfortable saddle his broad shoulders, well covered 
 with flesh, presented to his rider. It was altogether a very 
 ludicrous exhibition. At a given signal the Horse kneels 
 down, and His Majesty jumps astride his brawny shoulders, 
 maintaining his equilibrium with apparent ease, while the. 
 "animal" below him proceeds at a rapid trot or amble. 
 The revenues of the town of Tharowah had been given 
 him for provender, an unfortunate gift, as it lay exactly 
 in the line of march of the British army, when it 
 debouched from the jungles of the Delta on the main 
 river, and was consequently one of the first towns that 
 fell. This brought the Chief into trouble, though it is 
 difficult to see how he could have prevented it, while his 
 
 * The author of the "Second Burmese War," when speaking of the 
 release of the European prisoners at Rangoon at the opening of the first 
 war, says, ' ' Major Sale, afterwards the hero of Jellalabad, found Mrs. 
 Judson, of missionary celebrity, tied to a tree, and immediately released 
 her." Where could he have picked up such an idle tale ?
 
 236 A CEOWING HEN. [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 duties kept him at the Court. However this may he, His 
 Majesty soon found that his favourite animal was indis- 
 pensable to his comfort, so he wisely ordered his release, 
 before his paces were injured by his fetters, or his con- 
 stitution undermined by the impurity of his stable. 
 
 By this incident we learned that our army had safely 
 accomplished a most difficult part of its march through 
 the dense jungles which intervene between Rangoon and 
 Tharowah ; that the army of Bundoola had been totally 
 routed; and that the Chief had fled to his stronghold of 
 Denoobew, where he intended to make a stand, while 
 the victorious British were in full march towards the 
 Capital. 
 
 The only living creature to be seen within the prison- 
 yard (rats and pahquets excepted) was a bird of ill omen, 
 but a great favourite with the gaolers on that account 
 a hen that crowed. It was a nasty, ill-favoured bird, of 
 no describable colour, the head and neck covered with 
 ugly warts or excrescences, the feathers on its body grow- 
 ing in tufts here and there, and staring to every point of 
 the compass. It was, in truth, a frightfully-disgusting 
 piece of poultry ; but was caressed by the ringed men 
 especially for its gift of prophecy. When this unnatural 
 beast croaked for it could not be called a crow it was 
 an indication of good luck to the Establishment, in giving 
 notice of the advent of some prisoner of eminence worth 
 the bleeding. True it was they arrived so often in these 
 troublous times, that, crow when it would, the prophetic 
 hen could scarcely be mistaken. One morning it took to 
 crowing vigorously, when, to the joy of the eager pah- 
 quets, no less a personage than the great Pacahm-woon 
 was introduced to their good offices. He shortly after 
 doffed his fetters to command the grand army.
 
 CHAP. XXI.] THE PRISON MUSEUM. 237 
 
 I may remark, that as the ringed men enjoyed their 
 own superstitions within the prison, so it was a part of 
 their duty to provide materials for the superstitious prac- 
 tices of their superiors without. They were expected to 
 keep a depot of such articles as might be useful in incan- 
 tations, especially those which the nature of their craft 
 enabled them to supply with facility. The greater part 
 of the stock of this disgusting museum consisted of va- 
 rious parts of the human body hair, tongues, teeth, 
 finger-nails, &c., and when any such ingredients were 
 required by the cunning necromancers in authority, an 
 indent for them was made on the prison stock. One of 
 these men once gave me a tongue on a wooden skewer to 
 look at. Not knowing what it was, and mistaking it for a 
 twigof sticAlac, which, in its dry state it much resembled, 
 I attempted to chip it. The fellow screamed with fury 
 as he snatched it from my hand. It was the last tongue 
 in store, and had just been ordered to the Palace. "If 
 you had broken it, yours should have gone instead," ex- 
 claimed the wretch. Possibly it might ; or perhaps his 
 own, as it might happen. It is fortunate that these un- 
 holy practitioners did not perceive any peculiar virtue in 
 bits of white men, or some of us might probably have 
 been anatomized for the museum. Captain Cox tells us 
 that when he was in Ava, a wealthy criminal was exe- 
 cuted, and that the King's physician secured the tip of 
 his nose, his ears, tongue, and lips, with a little of his 
 blood, to form a nostrum to ensure longevity to any one 
 who received it from His Majesty's hand.* It is to be 
 hoped that homoeopathic doses only were administered, or 
 few would have a stomach for longevity under such 
 
 * Embassy of Captain Cox, page 342.
 
 238 DEATH OF BUNDOOLA. [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 treatment. A much more efficacious dose was lately 
 administered by His Majesty to a favourite Woongee in 
 the more elegant form of a title, running " Mengee Maha 
 Thetdau Shai," which, freely interpreted, is taken to mean 
 " Say what you will, and do what you will, your life is 
 safe -from the Koyal displeasure." Nor is this title an 
 empty honour. I was told that its fortunate possessor 
 has been known more than once to save his head by 
 pleading the Eoyal pledge. It was recently granted to 
 the Tsa-ya Woongee. 
 
 About the end of March, the wonder and joy of the 
 whole city was awakened, by the report of two guns from 
 a dispatch boat, announcing, for the first time, that a vic- 
 tory had been gained over the invaders. It was said 
 Bundoola had beaten them off in an attack on Denoobew, 
 and the report proved to be true. General Cotton had failed 
 in an attack on their entrenchments. Great as was the re- 
 nown of this Chief before, he was now regarded as the bul- 
 wark of the State, and invincible. The whole town was in a 
 state of ecstacy no name was heard but that of Bundoola. 
 
 Alas! these transports were short-lived, and served but 
 to deepen the despair which followed. Another fort- 
 night, and Bundoola was no more. He was killed by 
 the explosion of a shell in his fortress of Denoobew, 
 the missile having, of course, been charmed beforehand, 
 which sought his life. On hearing the disaster, his 
 troops hastened to evacuate the stronghold, and dis- 
 persed, leaving no army to oppose the progress of the 
 invaders. The panic was complete. The entire popula- 
 tion was distracted between terror and fury. Bundoola's 
 brother, who came to the Court with dispatches, fell a 
 victim his head was instantly taken. Even the Court 
 now became alive to the danger, though, as its pride was
 
 CHAP. XXI.] PACAHM-WOON MADE GENERAL. 239 
 
 not yet humbled nor hope destroyed, it did not exhibit the 
 slightest desire to make terms with the enemy. 
 
 Bundoola being dead, the Court took a step to supply 
 his place, which, for its temerity and absurdity, was per- 
 haps unparalleled by any Government on record. They 
 selected the man in the Let-ma-yoon, just introduced to 
 the reader, under sentence, it was supposed, for treason- 
 able practices the Pacahm-woon. How the King was 
 recompensed for his simplicity will be seen in the sequel. 
 This man had learned the art of war under Bundoola, 
 whose Lieutenant he was in the conquest of Assam, and 
 to this circumstance he owed his advancement from the 
 prison to the highest post in the kingdom. It was an 
 appointment ominous of evil to us, for his intense hatred 
 of the English was equalled only by the murderous 
 Prince under whose sentence we now lay. This dislike 
 could not be concealed even while he was imprisoned with 
 us, anticipating the same fate as we did ourselves. His 
 scornful countenance, when his glance turned our way, 
 clearly indicated his feelings, and was so disturbing that 
 our apprehensions at his appointment were in some de- 
 gree modified by our satisfaction at being rid of such 
 undesirable company. 
 
 It was not long before the savage tyrant made us feel 
 his power. I have said that the only European now at 
 liberty was the Spaniard, Mr. Lanciego. He had suc- 
 ceeded up to this time, by his alliance with the sister of 
 the second Queen, in maintaining his freedom, but now 
 fell before the hatred of the Pacahm-woon, who, accord- 
 ing to custom, was invested with the whole power of the 
 Kingdom. He would have made short work of us by 
 repeating the Menthagee's command, had he not reserved 
 us for a more deliberate and public example, as will be
 
 240 MR. LANCIEQO TORTURED. [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 seen hereafter. Mr. Lanciego suffered what I had from 
 the first dreaded, but had marvellously escaped the tor- 
 ture. I am happy to say I was spared the sight of the 
 infliction of it; hut it must have been very severe. A 
 small cord bound the wrists together, and was gradually 
 tightened by the application of a lever. At each wrench 
 he was exhorted to confess and be liberated; but the 
 Spaniard was too old a bird to be caught by that bait. 
 Knowing the consequence of confession, as it is called, he 
 courageously endured the torture to the last. And what 
 was he expected to confess ? That he had sold the Island 
 of Negrais to the English for a sum of money, which he 
 was now called on to give up to the King ! The Pacahm- 
 woon must have been sadly at a loss for a plausible 
 pretext when such an absurd one was adopted. The con- 
 dition of the poor sufferer's hands, when he was ushered 
 in among us, quivering from the effect of the pain in- 
 flicted, was terrible to behold. Every finger was as black 
 as pitch, and the points of them swollen to bursting with 
 the extravasated blood. The wrists were cut through 
 and mangled with the cord. The agony he endured must 
 have been excruciating, though this was generally looked 
 upon as one of the mildest methods of questioning a 
 culprit far less severe in its character than many we 
 had seen practised on others. He was ironed like our- 
 selves, and henceforth must be looked upon as one of our 
 brethren in affliction. 
 
 In the mean time we were left, in the sultry months of 
 March and April, without water to cool our feverish 
 bodies in the gloom of a filthy dungeon never behold- 
 ing the light of the sun heavily laden with five pairs of 
 fetters in company with a prisonful of felons and in 
 hourly expectation of being called on to submit to the
 
 CHAP. XXI.] OUR WRETCHED CONDITION. 241 
 
 last work of the gang of wretches outside, who were 
 rejoicing in the anticipation of the work of blood they 
 would have to perform. 
 
 When I look hack on the almost unexampled suffer- 
 ings of those two months, how light and insignificant do 
 all the ordinary troubles of life appear! When such 
 arise, I have only to reflect, and be thankful.
 
 CHAPTEK XXII. 
 
 We are removed from the Let-ma-yoon, and taken to Onng-ben-lai. Our 
 sufferings on the journey. My terror. Dr. Judson. His intense suffer- 
 ing. Murder of the Greek. The ringed men leave us. Night at Ame- 
 rapoorah. We are carted to Oung-ben-lai. We are in fear of being 
 burned. The prison described. We are put in the stocks. Contri- 
 vance for hoisting them. Musquitos. We are chained in couples. 
 My baker's fidelity. Mrs. Judson follows her husband. The Gover- 
 nor's warning to her. 
 
 DAY by day, and hour by hour, did we watch, with 
 anxious hearts, the proceedings of our inveterate Enemy, 
 newly raised to power, whose known hostility imparted a 
 tone of harshness to the conduct even of the old Go- 
 vernor himself. Every night, as he returned from the 
 Palace, we could hear his stentorian voice, very much 
 like that of a boatswain, bawling from the street as he 
 passed, '*" Are the white men safe ? Keep them tight," 
 as though circumstances had imposed on him increased 
 responsibility. It was rather a superfluous caution. John 
 Bunyan said, when for years he was imprisoned in a room 
 overhanging the muddy bed and slimy banks of the Ouse, 
 that he feared the moss would, in time, grow over his 
 eyebrows. Unless a change speedily came, I had the 
 more reasonable fear of being eaten up alive, eyebrows 
 and all. A change, however, did come, which, at all 
 events, released us from this source of alarm.
 
 CHAP. XXII.] A CHANGE, BUT NO RELIEF. 243 
 
 On the 2nd of May our party, now eight in numher, 
 again found itself assembled around the memorable granite 
 block. What a ghastly group ! The matted hair, the 
 hollow eye, the feeble gait, the emaciated frame, the 
 filthy tattered rags objects such as the sun surely never 
 before shone upon ! Around us the Spotted men gathered 
 for the last time. Thank God ! I never cast my eye upon 
 one of their detestable ringed cheeks after this day. They 
 were now armed with spears, and each held in his hand a 
 long piece of cord. Our irons were knocked off for the 
 first time for eleven months I found my limbs free. The 
 sensation was ridiculous. At first I could hardly stand 
 the equilibrium of the body seemed destroyed by the 
 removal of the fetters I had so long worn on my ancles 
 weighing fully fourteen pounds the head was too heavy 
 for the feet. This only lasted a short time, and I 
 enjoyed the first stretch of my legs. We were now tied 
 in couples by the waist, one at each end of the rope, a 
 pahquet, with a spear, holding the rein, just as children 
 are seen to drive each other in their sports. Off we went, 
 we knew not whither bound, but conjectured, by the man- 
 ner of the men and their weapons, we were going to the 
 place of execution. 
 
 And here, before starting on our journey, let me stop 
 a moment to inquire what is the reason that a man who 
 has long been living in the hourly expectation of a vio- 
 lent death looks upon it with calmness and fortitude at 
 one time, while at another he is as timid as a startled 
 hare ? Circumstances have not changed his miseries 
 in life, his hopes in death remain the same, yet is the 
 fact as I state it. Few, it is to be hoped none, who read 
 this book, can know it from experience; but they may 
 take my word for the fact. My life is worth no more to 
 
 M 2
 
 244 FEARFUL UNCERTAINTY. [CHAP. XXII. 
 
 me to-day than it was yesterday perhaps less yet the 
 tenacity with which I retain it to-day and the fear at part- 
 ing with it, strangely contrasts with the resigned feelings 
 of yesterday. It is not the fear of bodily suffering, for 
 I had long reasoned myself into the belief that the 
 common mode of execution with the sword is not more 
 painful than the extraction of a tooth ; in fact, that if dex- 
 terously performed, as it generally is in Burmah, it is not 
 felt at all. Yet the nerves are unstrung, and the whole 
 frame trembles with fright. 
 
 I do not pretend to answer the question ; but, be the 
 cause what it may, I confess that I never felt more con- 
 fused or terrified. How thankful I was that our drivers, 
 after having goaded us a few hundred yards towards the 
 place of execution, turned aside from that road and took 
 the one leading to the old town of Amerapoorah. By 
 this time I had recovered my senses a little, as also the 
 use of my legs. 
 
 Our road lay across a bridge that spans a rapid river, 
 called the Meet-ngai. The waters were low at this season, 
 and the torrent swept under it fully thirty feet helow the 
 parapet to join the Irrawuddi, at the north angle of the 
 town. It was here I overtook Mr. Judson, who was 
 coupled with Mr. Laird.* He was still fully impressed 
 with the belief that we were being driven to our death 
 iu some form or other, although we had turned our 
 backs on the usual execution ground, and in this con- 
 viction even his fortitude gave way. " Gouger," said 
 
 * In relating this story to my friends, I have said that Dr. Judson was 
 my companion. I find, however, on reading Mrs. Judson's letters, that 
 I was wrong. The conversation we had on the bridge might have given 
 me that impression, and as no notes could be taken until I had regained 
 my liberty, this erroneous impression may be easily accounted for.
 
 CHAP. XXII.] JUDSON'S SUFFERINGS. 245 
 
 he, " the parapet is low ; there can be no sin in our 
 availing ourselves of the opportunity." It was a momen- 
 tary feeling ; but he was evidently iu earnest, and 1 
 am not sure that, had he not been linked to a sturdy 
 Scotchman whose assent was absolutely necessary, he 
 would not have taken the fatal leap. For myself, I was 
 in no humour to follow such an indication. I was never 
 tempted to self-destruction throughout our trials, nor ever 
 for a moment harboured such a thought. One moment 
 more and the opportunity had passed the bridge was 
 crossed. 
 
 We proceeded on our way to Amerapoorah. The road 
 was over a plain of burning sand and small gravel, inter- 
 spersed here and there with a tuft of short, parched grass. 
 By the time we were out of the town the sun was fast 
 reaching the meridian ; it flashed upon our undefended 
 heads like flames of fire. No one who has not been 
 subjected to a tropical sun at the hottest season of the year 
 can form any idea of its power. Walking on this arid 
 plain was like walking on a sheet of hot iron, and as 
 none of the party had shoes, the soles of the feet were the 
 first parts of the body to complain. They began in blisters, 
 but when these burst, as they very soon did, the pain was ex- 
 cruciating. I suffered little in this respect compared with 
 my companions ; indeed, so strangely is the mind of man 
 constituted, after I had got over my first panic I posi- 
 tively, for a time, found enjoyment in looking on the lofty 
 hills of Tsagain, skirting the opposite bank of the Irra- 
 wuddi, the noble forest trees, the wide expanse of water, 
 even the burning sky above had its charm after a year 
 spent in a foul dungeon. Besides, I had been fortified 
 by my breakfast, which some had not, and as I was the
 
 246 MURDER OF THE GREEK. [CHAP. XXII. 
 
 youngest, and had quite recovered from my illness, it 
 fared not so badly with me. 
 
 The Greek was the first to give in. Before we had 
 gone a mile, it was clear he could go no further, and he 
 fell helpless on the sands. For a few minutes, heating 
 and pricking with the spear kept him on, hut these per- 
 suasions had their limit ; it was of no use heating and 
 goading a dying man. On looking hack I saw the inhu- 
 man wretches dragging him on the sands with the rope 
 which tied him, while the dying man's hands were clasped 
 and raised as if in supplication for mercy to his tormen- 
 tors, but in vain. There was no possibility of helping 
 him, as we were all hurried forward under terror of the 
 spear. He just reached our halting-place in a cart, and 
 there breathed his last. 
 
 After the second mile Judson was on the point of 
 giving in, not so much from want of bodily strength to 
 go forward as from the state of his feet, which had lost 
 every vestige of skin from the scorching of the sands, 
 and the soles of them were now one mass of blood and 
 raw flesh. He could not endure the agony of putting 
 them to the ground, and was just on the eve of resigning 
 himself to his fate, and following the example of the 
 Greek, when a fortunate accident saved him. One of 
 my old servants, hearing that we were driven towards 
 Amerapoorah, came running after us to see the end 
 of his master, and arrived just at this critical moment' 
 Seeing Judson 's sufferings, he tore his turban from his 
 head, made it into shreds, and hastily wound them round 
 his wounded feet. With the help of this man, on whose 
 shoulder he rested for the remainder of the journey, 
 and the relief he had gained for his feet, Judson managed
 
 CHAP. XXII.] CARRIED TO OUNG-BEN-LAI. 247 
 
 to preserve his life. With great difficulty we reached 
 Amerapoorah at last, where we sunk exhausted with 
 pain and fatigue. 
 
 Here the Kinged men left us to return to their Elysium 
 at Ava, committing us to the care of other keepers who had 
 hearts, hard though they might be. They soon came to tell 
 us that we had four miles further to go, as our destination 
 here we heard it for the first time was Oung-ben-lai, a 
 country village, where another prison was ready to receive 
 us. But neither threats nor entreaties could get us on 
 our legs again, even had the alternative been, our being 
 slaughtered on the spot. They therefore made a virtue 
 of necessity, and permitted us to pass the night there, in- 
 tending to move forward early in the morning. Some slept 
 in a shed nigh at hand. I got under a cart on the road- 
 side and fell fast asleep till the morning. ' The next day 
 it was found we were less able to move even than yester- 
 day. Our joints worked as stiffly as rusty locks there 
 was no flexibility. I believe I was the only one who 
 could walk even a few yards. Happily for us we were 
 not now left to the tender mercies of the pahquets ; our 
 more reasonable gaolers saw the impossibility, and pro- 
 vided a cart, into which we mounted, and performed the 
 latter half of our journey in comparative comfort. 
 
 It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when the cart 
 put us down on a small plot of low grass, forming part 
 of an extensive plain in rice cultivation. The place had 
 a dreary and deserted appearance. Before us stood a 
 solitary, dilapidated wooden building, without a door, the 
 roof of which had fallen in, a few rotten bamboos and 
 tufts of decayed thatch only remaining. This brought 
 out into full view a massive range of stocks, occupying 
 the entire length of the building. Strange to say, although
 
 248 A TERRIBLE DOUBT. [CHAP. XXII. 
 
 this piece of furniture was evidently a relic of antiquity, 
 the number of holes tallied exactly with those required 
 for our accommodation, which will give the reader a pretty 
 correct idea of the dimensions of our prison. A few 
 posts arose out of the ground at a little distance, inclining 
 in every direction from the perpendicular, showing that 
 formerly it had heen carefully fenced round, hut that time, 
 or pilfering, or hoth, had now destroyed it. No dwelling 
 was to be seen nearer than a quarter of a mile, where a 
 few scattered huts and trees marked the site of the village 
 of Oung-ben-lai. The extent of the plain, as far as the 
 eye could reach, without an object for it to rest on, im- 
 parted to the place an air of desolation and melancholy. 
 On one side alone a range of broken hills, at four or 
 five miles distance, occupying a large space in the horizon, 
 afforded an object to look on. 
 
 But what most riveted our attention was a heap of dry 
 faggots, stowed with great precision so as to fill the space 
 between the ground and the floor of the building, which 
 might be four or five feet. It was the only thing we saw 
 that bore the appearance of recent labour or preparation. 
 They were so carefully laid that they touched the floor at 
 every point, and formed a continuous wall with the outer 
 planking of the house on every side. It was a strange 
 place to st&ckjireii'ood in ! We now recollected that it 
 had been reported in Ava that we were to be burned, a 
 rumour which, with a variety of others, we gave little heed 
 to at the time, but the sight of these faggots brought it 
 painfully to our mind. How easy is it to admit the truth 
 that we should place implicit confidence in the Providence 
 of God ! how difficult to put it in practice ! With what 
 anxiety did we argue the question between ourselves, but 
 could arrive at no result ; our gaolers forming a remark-
 
 CHAP. XXII.] SUSPENDED FROM THE STOCKS. 249 
 
 nble contrast with those of the Let-ma-yoon in their ex- 
 treme taciturnity ; and it was not until the following 
 morning, after passing a night of painful apprehension, 
 that we learned they had heen so carefully stacked to 
 prevent our escape through the dilapidated floor. Such a 
 wise precaution would have saved our venerable father 
 of the Let-ma-yoon the disgrace of having lost his gang 
 of ruffians. 
 
 Before night, some men came with palm-leaves to 
 repair the thatch, an encouraging sign, which raised our 
 spirits and tended to relieve our alarm. 
 
 When it became dark we were motioned inside and 
 submitted our feet to the stocks, as expected. We had 
 gone to bed (I cannot restrain a smile while I write the 
 word, the bare plank being our resting-place) with 
 stomachs uncomfortably light, and with minds anything 
 but placid. The gaol-guard was stationed below us in a 
 little apartment resembling a verandah, formed by a con- 
 tinuation of the roof, on a plan which the builders call a 
 " lean-to." As all became still, we began to compose our 
 thoughts as well as we could, in the hope of obtaining a 
 little sleep, when, to our astonishment, we felt the stocks 
 gradually and slowly moving upwards, as if by magic, 
 for there was no one in the room to put them in motion. 
 At first we were so taken by surprise that we did not 
 know what to make of it. Was it going up to the roof? 
 Was it some new species of torture ? Its movement was 
 majestically slow, and gave us a little time to think before 
 it reached the height at which it rested, when a very short 
 time discovered the trick. It was certainly very creditable 
 to the ingenuity of the rogues, and was, no doubt, looked 
 upon by them as a prodigy of mechanical contrivance, 
 as I could hear them outside enjoying the fun. There 
 
 M 3
 
 250 CHAINED IN COUPLES. [CHAP. XXII. 
 
 was a kind of crank outside which had escaped our notice, 
 so contrived as to raise or depress the stocks at the will 
 of the operator. When he had worked them to a suffi- 
 cient height he fixed them, and left us depending, in the 
 fashion of the bamboo at the Let-ma-yoon. And now 
 began, what I before hinted at, the attack of the mus- 
 quitos, which swarmed in from the stagnant water of the 
 rice-fields, settling unresisted on our bare feet. We could 
 not reach to drive them off, and a rich repast they, no 
 doubt, enjoyed on our flayed soles. At last it became 
 insupportable, and we lustily bawled out for pity from 
 our guard below. I must do them the credit to believe 
 they knew not the extent of the torture they were inflict- 
 ing, as before midnight they mitigated it by lowering 
 the stocks, when we could hold the enemy at bay. 
 
 In the morning we had the satisfaction to find our 
 gaoler, named Koh-bai, who soon became our only atten- 
 dant, not impracticable, though somewhat morose and 
 surly. Moreover, he had not the damning spot upon his 
 cheeks like those of the death prison. He allowed us to 
 go outside to enjoy the light and air in his verandah, and 
 sometimes to walk about the prison enclosure, which in a 
 day or two was restored to its original condition by a 
 well-made fence. 
 
 Being a country prison but rarely used, the stock of 
 fetters was found to be insufficient to bind the whole 
 party, and it became necessary to couple us in the man- 
 ner before described, when the leprous Greek was my 
 companion. This time I was better off, the kind-hearted 
 but ungainly Scot, John Laird, being my yoke-fellow. 
 Considering how mutually annoying we were of necessity 
 forced to be to each other, we agreed tolerably well, 
 though it must be confessed we were often compelled to
 
 CHAP. XXII] INSUFFERABLE ANNOYANCE. 251 
 
 curb the irritation of our tempers. I have heard that Sir 
 David Baird, when he was taken prisoner in 1782, by 
 Tippoo Saib, was coupled in a similar manner with 
 another captive. His mother, when she heard, in Eng- 
 land, of the misfortune that had befallen her son, know- 
 ing that he was not blessed with the most submissive 
 temper, bestowed the first burst of her sympathy upon 
 the party who most needed it "How I pity the poor 
 man that is chained to my Davie !" 
 
 This system of coupling is enough to ruin the most 
 amiable temper on earth. It is impossible to describe 
 the train of petty annoyances that attend it every minute. 
 Do I wish to recline, to stand up, to walk, to sleep, to 
 change my position ? I can do none of these things 
 without first obtaining the leave of my companion, who, 
 perhaps, desires exactly the opposite. Knowing the effect 
 on me, I have often wondered what kind of temper the 
 Siamese twins possessed, and how they got on together ! 
 One would suppose that, like animals, the stronger would 
 exercise tyranny over the weaker, and thus, at least, peace 
 might be established. Laird and I did not find it so during 
 the few days of our union, however ; and, from the little 
 experience I had, I feel convinced two of the most ardent, 
 devoted lovers the world ever saw (much as they may 
 doubt my judgment) need only be chained by the leg 
 together for much less time than a honeymoon, thoroughly 
 and heartily to detest the sight of each other. After two 
 or three days a fresh supply of irons came to our relief, 
 and restored our respect for one another. 
 
 But to return from this digression. My morning-call 
 of hunger was, for the first time, not responded to. I 
 had implicit faith in my magnanimous baker, if he knew 
 where I was goue ; but the suddenness of our removal
 
 252 MY BAKER FINDS ME OUT. [CHAP. XXI 
 
 left our people in complete ignorance for a time. Never- 
 theless he found me oat, and before noon his rapid stride 
 appeared in the distance with a bag of his biscuits to 
 relieve our immediate necessities. It used to astonish 
 me how this noble-hearted fellow found his way from Ava 
 two or three times a week to see me, never failing for 
 nine or ten months to bring me the news of the day and 
 wherewithal to support life. He was remarkably swift of 
 foot, accomplishing the nine miles in less than two hours; 
 but even this, with the same distance to return, occupied 
 the greater part of the day, and yet he found time to ply 
 his trade for our mutual support. The exchequer of the 
 rest was beginning to show signs of weakness ; whereas, 
 so long as my protector retained life and health, I had a 
 never-failing supply, and might, in this view, be consi- 
 dered the most wealthy man among them. After all, our 
 charges could not, at the most, have exceeded two shil- 
 lings a week for each person, which, if driven by neces- 
 sity, they could have got by legging a paltry vice, 
 be it said to their credit, altogether unknown among the 
 Burmans. 
 
 A day intervened before Mrs. Judson (who had been 
 confined some months previously) came out in a cart with 
 her baby, and got liberty to use part of a rice shed for 
 her habitation. Her distress, when she found her husband 
 had been carried off, no one knew whither, and when at 
 last she learned from the Governor of the town our pre- 
 carious situation, may be best expressed in her own words. 
 "I found the Governor wished to detain me until the dread- 
 ful scene in the prison was over. When I left him, one of 
 the servants came running with a ghastly countenance, 
 and told me the white prisoners were carried away. I 
 instantly went back to the Governor, who said he knew it,
 
 CHAP. XXII.] THE GOVERNOR AND MRS. JUDSON. 253 
 
 but did not wish to tell me. I hastily ran into the street, 
 Loping to get a glimpse of them before they were out of 
 sight, but was disappointed. I ran first into one street, 
 then another, inquiring of all I met, but no one would 
 answer me. At length an old woman told me the white 
 prisoners had gone towards the little river. I then ran to 
 the banks of the little river about half a mile, but saw 
 them not, and concluded the old woman had deceived me. 
 Some of the friends of the foreigners went to the place 
 of execution, but found them not. I then returned to 
 the Governor to try to discover the cause of their removal 
 and their future fate. The old man assured me that he 
 was ignorant of the intention to remove them till that 
 morning; that since I went out he had learned the pri- 
 soners were to be sent to Amerapoorah, but for what 
 purpose he knew not. ' I will send off a man imme- 
 diately,' said he, ' to see what is to be done with them. 
 You can do nothing more for your husband,' continued 
 he, ' take care of yourself' With a heavy heart I went 
 into my own room, and sank down almost in despair." 
 
 Little did the old Governor know the affectionate and 
 faithful heart to which he addressed this warning advice.
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 Some comforts at Oung-ben-lai. Our anxious position. Ignatius Brito, a 
 Roman Catholic priest, is arrested and imprisoned, and goes mad. A 
 Lioness in prison with us. Our conjectures and terror. The Lioness 
 starved to death. Object of the Pacahm-woon. Insalubrity of Oung- 
 ben-lai. Mrs. Judson takes smallpox ; Judson fever. He inhabits the 
 lion's den. Plague of snakes. We kill great numbers of the cobra 
 capello. Nandau snakes. My marvellous escape from a cobra. 
 
 THIS protracted imprisonment now exhibits a new phase. 
 The scene is altogether changed, much for the better as 
 regards personal comfort, arising more from the causes of 
 misery having been left behind, than from any wish or 
 intention on the part of the Government to alleviate it. 
 The horrid putridity of the inner prison, the smothering 
 crowd of wretched convicts, the ringed brotherhood of 
 the Let-ma-yoon, the tortures, the assassinations, the 
 hourly alarms, could not be transported to Oung-ben-lai. 
 We had fresh air, freedom from vermin, lighter chains, 
 less abuse, water for cleanliness, and after a few days 
 had established confidence in our new keeper, Koh-bai, 
 by showing him that he had not eight tigers to look after, 
 but so many submissive, quiet, and dejected mortals ; we 
 enjoyed as much comfort as a Burmese prison-house could 
 be expected to afford. When our wounded feet were 
 sufficiently healed to permit it, we were allowed to
 
 CHAP. XXIII.] ALARMING RUMOURS. 255 
 
 hobble about the enclosure for the greater part of the 
 day, feasting our eyes with the sight of the beautiful 
 range of hills in the distance. 
 
 My generous baker had bought me a new Burmese 
 cloth. I doffed the filthy remnants of the old one, (my 
 last shirt having rotted piece-meal from my back many 
 months before,) and again luxuriated in a well-cleansed 
 exterior, and pores unchoked with grime. So far the 
 change was salutary and refreshing, but there was that 
 within eating like a canker into our heart's core, and 
 sapping slowly and imperceptibly the constitution, 
 even though it might be naturally strong and robust. 
 I felt my mind, too, was growing weaker and less 
 capable of concentration of thought under the constant 
 pressure of anxiety of which there seemed to be no end. 
 I could not deceive myself into the belief that any of 
 these happy changes were intended for my comfort, nor 
 that my life was one hairs-breadth safer in this country 
 retreat than it was in the midst of the alarms of the town 
 prison. This abiding feeling of insecurity was kept alive 
 by every rumour which successively reached me, all point- 
 ing to the fact that we were sent here for some diabolical 
 purpose by the Pacahm-woon, though what that might 
 be was still shrouded in mystery. 
 
 Among the most probable of these rumours was one that 
 I hoped might be true ; that we were to be sent away to 
 Monai, a town some hundreds of miles to the eastward, on 
 the borders of the country of Lao, whose Princes were tri- 
 butary to the Burman Monarch. It was hardly to be ex- 
 pected that any one of us in our debilitated condition could 
 reach that place alive, yet the increased distance from these 
 hourly persecutions alone would be a blessing, and even 
 death itself appeared more endurable when it came in a
 
 256 PADRE IGNATIUS BRITO. [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 natural form by the exhaustion of vital strength under 
 the canopy of heaven, than when met in the darkness of 
 a prison by the cord of the assassin, or the more public 
 sword of the executioner. Besides, we heard that the 
 
 % 
 
 Eamoo sepoys had been sent there, which gave a colour 
 of truth to the report. 
 
 The zeal of the Pacahm-woon in hunting down 
 foreigners, now brought to our society a new member, 
 whose name even I had never heard until this time. 
 
 Ignatius Brito added another ingredient to the already 
 strangely-heterogeneous materials which composed our 
 society. He was a native Burman, of Portuguese extrac- 
 tion, as dark in colour as a native, and by what accident 
 he fell under suspicion no one knew. By profession he 
 was a Eoman Catholic priest. The only languages he 
 spoke fluently were his native ones, Burman and Portu- 
 guese ; therefore, as we were no longer prohibited the free 
 use of English, he joined but little in our conversations. 
 Had he not given way to frequent tirades against my 
 country and countrymen, I should have thought him an 
 agreeable companion. He was fond of music, he com- 
 posed a dance, which he called "deliverance from prison" 
 wrote it on the jailor's black book, and he attempted &pas 
 seul in his fetters to the tune of his composition with but 
 indifferent success; he had also learned some Latin songs 
 set to plaintive music in honour of the Virgin Mary, which 
 he was never weary of repeating, often breaking the silence 
 of the night when his companions were at rest by singing 
 these melodious airs in good taste and with good voice. 
 Some complained of the disturbance, but, I must confess, 
 to me they had a soothing effect, and I could lie awake 
 and listen to them with the same sort of pleasure as I 
 ever did (and do still, when I can get it) to the midnight
 
 CHAP. XXIII.] AN ALARM. 257 
 
 Christmas street-music in England. In two or three 
 months it was evident that his mind had given way under 
 his trials, though I have since heard that he recovered, 
 and became a useful and respected pastor of a small 
 church in those remote regions. Chance had now thrown 
 together, in one common calamity, two American Baptist 
 missionaries, a Portuguese Boman Catholic priest, a 
 Spaniard, an Armenian, a Scotch mariner, the old adven- 
 turer Mr. Rodgers, and myself, the poor Greek having 
 gone to his rest. 
 
 One night, soon after the events lately related, this 
 motley little family was trying to forget its sorrows in 
 sleep, when hollow rumbling sounds, like distant thunder, 
 disturbed its rest. Presently, as it came nearer, we could 
 distinguish the sound of wheels creaking as if some 
 clumsy vehicle was supporting a heavy weight, the voices 
 of men, and, above all, at intervals the loud roarings 
 of some wild animal, drowning for the moment all 
 other sounds. The wide, unbroken plain on which 
 the solitary prison stood, aided by the silence of the 
 hour, allowed these sounds to reach it from a con- 
 siderable distance. Few carts passed this unfrequented 
 road even in the daytime, but at this hour of the night 
 noises so strange excited the curiosity of every one. Old 
 Koh-bai, the gaoler, also seemed to be taken by surprise, 
 evidently not being prepared for any fresh arrival, and 
 should this prove to be such, he had no instructions to 
 guide him. The men who formed the escort professed to 
 know no more than himself ; they left their prisoner and 
 departed. 
 
 In the mean time when the object of our enquiry 
 had reached its destination, curiosity was changed into 
 error, by hearing that a huge Lioness, confined in a 
 strong cnge, to which wheels had been fixed for facility
 
 258 A LIONESS IN PRISON. [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 of transport, was the cause of all this uproar. With some 
 difficulty the clumsy car was drawn into the prison 
 enclosure, and placed close under our room. All night 
 long did we listen to the hungry roarings of the animal 
 with feelings of horror, eagerly searching for some pro- 
 hable motive that had influenced the Government to send 
 such a creature here, but always in vain ; returning in 
 dismay to that which appeared to be the most simple 
 interpretation, that we were to be thrown into the den of 
 the savage to be torn in pieces and devoured. The Royal 
 beast was so near that her breathings might be dis- 
 tinctly heard, and every roar or hungry growl made us 
 tremble in anticipation of the terrible doom that awaited 
 us. 
 
 After a night of agony, morning brought us no relief 
 beyond its own cheering light which itself serves to dis- 
 perse many of the illusive horrors which darkness con- 
 jures up to increase the misery even of the most wretched 
 and forlorn. No information could we gain. There 
 stood the Lioness, glaring on us with eyes of fury when- 
 ever we approached her cage ; here stood the astonished 
 gaoler, who could throw no light on the mystery ; no one 
 else was in the enclosure. We did not dare to name our 
 suspicions, fearing the mere surmise might bring on us 
 more rigorous confinement; and whatever Koh-bai's 
 thoughts might have been, he never gave them expression, 
 nor hinted at such a motive as we feared. 
 
 The day passed, still no orders came, but our fears 
 gained strength when we saw that the animal was kept 
 without food. The cravings of hunger made it still more 
 ferocious; the whole of the next night was spent in 
 listening to its dreadful bellowings, which might have 
 been heard at intervals across the plain. Little was it to 
 be wondered at that the brain of the worthy Father
 
 CHAP. XXIII.] A TERRIBLE MYSTERY. 259 
 
 Ignatius lost its balance, far more wonderful is it that 
 we any of us preserved our reason. Day after day the 
 starvation continued, and night after night the same fear- 
 ful bowlings were repeated, until in about a week the 
 poor creature began to exhibit signs of diminished 
 strength, and as these appeared, our hopes revived. 
 Could we be mistaken ? This unparalleled cruelty con- 
 tinued for about a fortnight, when the noble animal 
 yielded up its breath. The day before she died Koh-bai 
 squeezed a pariah dog through the bars, but it was too 
 late, the terrified cur retreated to a corner of the cage 
 and showed his teeth with impunity, the famished 
 Lioness had not strength to rise and seize him.* 
 
 Dr. Livingston, in his late travels through South 
 Africa, very much diminishes our respect for the King of 
 beasts, when he says, " the traveller who expects some- 
 thing very noble and majestic will merely see an animal 
 somewhat larger than the biggest dog he ever saw," and 
 that " nothing he ever learned of the Lion would lead him 
 to attribute to it the noble or ferocious character ascribed 
 to it." The Doctor ought to be a very good judge, but if 
 we were to form our opinion from the picture he has 
 favoured us with, where he is represented as lying prostrate 
 under the paw of the beast, and were to take it for a fair 
 representation, our early imagination can scarcely be said 
 to have misled us, either as to size, ferocity, or majesty. 
 At all events, either the lion of Arabia must be a nobler 
 animal than that of South Africa, or my fears must have 
 
 * I am aware that in Wayland's " Life of Judson" a different account 
 is given of this event, which is incorrect in time, place, and circumstance. 
 This arises most probably from the anecdote being given by Dr. Judson's 
 second wife, who professes to report it only from her recollection of con- 
 versations with her husband.
 
 260 HATRED OF PACAHM-WOON. [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 magnified it far beyond the truth, for I could no more 
 compare it with a dog, than I could a tiger with a cat. 
 The Lion is not found in Burmah. The subject of the 
 foregoing obituary notice was a native of Arabia, pre- 
 sented to His Majesty by the Imaum of Muscat. 
 
 No reason was ever made public as to the motives of 
 the Government in sending so strange a prisoner to keep 
 us company. Some conjectured that the Lion being the 
 British emblem, it arose from a superstitious desire to 
 degrade it. But this is not probable, for had such been 
 their wish, it would have been sent to the more appro- 
 priate Let-ma-yoon, which was much nearer, and where 
 the degradation would have been more complete. My own 
 belief is, that we were right in our first surmise that we 
 were destined to be thrown to the Lioness to be devoured ; 
 but that a change in the mind of the Pacahm-woon inter- 
 posed to avert the danger, especially as he had another tra- 
 gedy in view more in accordance with his own superstitious 
 nature, which, thank Heaven ! we were yet in happy igno- 
 rance of, and did not ascertain until the danger had nearly 
 passed away. But I must not anticipate the event. The 
 affair of the Lioness remained a fearful mystery. 
 
 The tract of country upon which the prison stood, al- 
 though it might be called pure and salubrious by those who 
 came from the pest-house of the Let-ma-yoon, was, never- 
 theless, generally considered unhealthy, being subject to 
 fevers of an obstinate character. As I have already re- 
 marked, it was an extensive low plain under rice cultivation, 
 and, as is usual with these crops, was periodically laid under 
 water, by means of sluices, from a large embanked lake in 
 the neighbourhood. At the time of this irrigation it pre- 
 sented the appearance of a vast sheet of water, the heads 
 of the green crops just peeping above the surface. The
 
 CHAP. XXIIL] JUDSON INHABITS THE LION'S DEN. 261 
 
 prison and the adjacent village were built on a plot of 
 ground slightly rising in the midst of it, just raising them 
 above the level of the surrounding water, but not enough 
 to free them from the damp exhalations hanging over the 
 cultivated land. It was a Royal demesne, under the go- 
 vernment of a Minister called the La-myne-woon, to whose 
 custody in chief we were now committed. 
 
 Mrs. Judson was the greatest sufferer from the insalu- 
 brity of this place. Smallpox broke out in the village. 
 She and her baby took the infection, while her husband 
 was attacked by the prevailing fever in the prison. For- 
 tunately it broke out mildly in her case ; she soon reco- 
 vered, and, from motives of benevolence, she inoculated 
 all the children in the neighbourhood, though she acknow- 
 ledged she knew nothing of the practice or the treatment. 
 It so happened that success attended her practice, and 
 she passed for a skilful person ; but the experiment was 
 dangerous, and might have brought her into trouble. 
 Judson, in his distress, cast a longing eye upon the den 
 of the Lioness, now vacated by its savage tenant, who had 
 caused us so much alarm, and was lying useless. It was 
 invitingly large and airy, well put together, with an excel- 
 lent floor and roof; and, weakened as he was with his 
 fever, it was a retreat in which he thought he could repose 
 without disturbance. Old Koh-bai, seeing his debilitated 
 state, allowed him to inhabit this ridiculous dwelling. 
 Once installed, he formed such an attachment to it that 
 no one could induce him to leave it, and for several months 
 he retained quiet possession of a habitation which he once 
 regarded with terror as his destined grave. 
 
 The elevated site of our habitation had its inconve- 
 niences. If it put us out of the reach of the inundation 
 of waters, it subjected us to an inundation of another
 
 262 INVASION OF SNAKES. [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 kind scarcely less disagreeable. When the sluices were 
 opened to irrigate the parched fields, vermin and reptiles 
 of all sorts, which did not wish to be drowned, sought a 
 refuge on this, the only dry spot of land they could find. 
 Eats, and varieties of the serpent tribe, many of the latter 
 possessing very disreputable characters, were our most 
 frequent visitors. So formidable was this invasion that we 
 were allowed to arm ourselves each with a stout stick for 
 protection, and many a deadly foe to our repose fell under 
 our hands. Considering the confined space we occupied, 
 it is surprising we did not fall victims to these unwelcome 
 guests. A tally was kept of the number killed. Of the 
 cobra capello alone, I think it was thirteen. The silent 
 gliding of the snake, giving no warning of its approach, 
 and the power it possesses of contracting its bulk, en- 
 ables one of considerable size to insinuate itself unper- 
 ceived into the presence of man. 
 
 A friend once told me that he came home from Calcutta 
 in a ship which, on the voyage, took up as a passenger a 
 large boa-constrictor, intended as a specimen for the 
 Zoological Gardens. By some accident the door of its 
 cage was once left open, and the reptile crept out nnper- 
 ceived, though on the upper deck of a crowded ship, in 
 the light of day. The discovery was made by an unusual 
 commotion among the sheep stowed in the launch for the 
 ship's use, where the monster was discovered embracing 
 in its folds the body of one of the flock, whose bones, 
 one after another, snapped with a distinct report, under 
 the tremendous pressure. My informant says the sight 
 was horribly disgusting. The first general impulse was to 
 destroy the huge assailant, but the more prudent Captain 
 gave him permission to finish his meal, which was per- 
 formed in about an hour, in the usual nasty manner, by
 
 CHAP. XXIII. ] FIGHT WITH A COBRA CAPELLO. 263 
 
 reducing it to a pulp, lubricating and swallowing it. The 
 ship's crew then handled the snake without fear, and re- 
 turned it to its cage in a state of torpor. 
 
 My enemies were not of this gigantic sort ; but were 
 equally dangerous. The largest was one I killed myself, 
 a very beautiful snake, about seven feet long, having alter- 
 nate rings of black and bright yellow from the throat 
 to the tail. The Burmese called it " Nandau-rmvai" 
 "throne-snake," and said it was harmless; though I con- 
 fess I distrust the whole tribe. Besides, he was found in 
 bad company, and we were too much terrified to make 
 nice distinctions. 
 
 But I have been saying all this about snakes, without 
 yet telling the story that induced me to introduce the 
 subject. Of all the hair-breadth escapes I had encoun- 
 tered this was the one that came nearest to a fatal result. 
 
 Koh-bai, when in a good humour, would sometimes 
 invite me, late at night, to enjoy the fresh air, and to 
 smoke my pipe of tobacco with him in his verandah below. 
 This verandah was ten or twelve feet wide, enclosed by 
 mats on two sides, the prison-wall on the third, the fourth 
 being open. The^ floor, raised two feet above the ground, 
 was made of split bamboos tied together, such as is known 
 to all Indians by the name of a bamboo mutchan. In this 
 snug retreat old Koh-bai and I were one night regaling 
 ourselves with our pipes, seated opposite to each other, the 
 everlasting earth oil-lamp occupying its customary po- 
 sition between us, shedding a dim, smoky light over the 
 apartment, when I became aware of something moving 
 noiselessly over my feet and ancles, which were thrown 
 behind me in the well-known sitting posture of the Bur- 
 mese. Although out of sight I immediately knew it to 
 be a snake, from its cold, glossy skin, as it slowly trailed its
 
 264 MY FORTUNATE ESCAPE. [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 whole length over my bare ancles. I had the presence 
 of mind to sit quietly, and say nothing to my companion, 
 hoping the creature would make its escape if unmolested, 
 for it had me at too great an advantage to warrant an 
 attack on my part. Presently it wriggled itself into sight, 
 coming close round my left side. It was a large cobra 
 capello, nearly four feet long. No sooner did the old man 
 catch a glimpse of the dangerous intruder, as it glided 
 between us, than, with a bound of which I thought him 
 incapable, he cleared the verandah at the open side behind 
 him, leaving me alone to deal with the enemy, now 
 alarmed and irritated by the noise. Gladly would I have 
 followed his example, but I was in fetters, and the com- 
 bat was not to be avoided. All the chances were in 
 favour of the beast, for my pipe-stick was my only wea- 
 pon ; but it was a tough, trustworthy one. My adversary 
 showed the first fight, by rearing its head and shoulders 
 nearly two feet high, expanded its horrid hood, and was 
 in the very act of making its fatal dart, when I made my 
 first blow. Thank God ! it took effect. The reptile, disap- 
 pointed in its spring, fell partially disabled, and, before it 
 could recover for another attack, my trusty pipe-stick 
 rained upon it a shower of blows, and gained me the 
 victory. I believe that, literally, a delay of one second 
 of time would have sealed my fate, for the fang of the 
 cobra always proves fatal. The construction of the floor 
 probably saved me : the snake must have received the 
 first blow on one of the projecting bamboos, which 
 injured the spine.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 British army goes into quarters at Prome. The Talain race join and assist 
 it. Preparations of Pacahm-woon. His intention to bury us alive 
 in Oung-ben-lai. He is suspected of treason, and put to death. Causes 
 of his fall. Doubt about the plot. We escape by his death. Sum- 
 moned to Amerapoorah. Translation of letters. Offer to negotiate 
 for peace. Negotiations. Judson taken from prison. Bad faith. 
 Melloon stormed. Judson protected by a Chief. Ava put in a state of 
 defence. The Burmese are routed at Pagan. Dr. Sandford deputed to 
 the British General. Returns to prison. Burmese incredulity. Dr. 
 Price is released and employed. 
 
 IT is time that I returned from the events of my new 
 prison, to take some notice of what was passing at the 
 seat of war. 
 
 After the defeat and death of the great Chief Bun- 
 doola, at Denohew, the victorious army continued its 
 march unmolested to Prome, where, from the month of 
 May to December, it went into quarters, as the General 
 did not think it prudent to take the field in the rainy 
 season, though the monsoon was much lighter than on 
 the coast. Finding the army of the invaders invariably 
 successful, and that no outrages followed their victories, 
 the whole population of the Southern provinces quietly 
 returned to their homes, gladly supplying our army with 
 provisions and the means of transport when they saw 
 that punctual payment was not withheld. Thousands of 
 
 N
 
 266 THE PEGUERS REVOLT. [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 labourers were at the command of the British General, 
 and the river was covered with their boats bringing in 
 supplies. Seventy or eighty years only had elapsed 
 since the whole tract of country they had marched 
 through, from Prome to the sea, was an independent 
 Kingdom, inhabited by a race called Talains or Peguers, 
 speaking a different language, and maintaining itself suc- 
 cessfully against the encroaching Burmans. Of late their 
 nationality had been fast disappearing, and there was 
 every prospect of the process of amalgamation witli the 
 conquering Burmans being complete in two or three 
 generations but this, the war rudely interrupted. When 
 they found the country freed from their conquerors by 
 the irresistible advance of the British army, the dormant 
 nationality revived with a renewal of the usual hatred of 
 an oppressed people. They had no idea that the British, 
 having once taken possession of the country, would ever 
 be induced to restore it. As such an act of folly, as it 
 appeared to them, could hardly enter their minds, the 
 unfortunate inhabitants compromised themselves by pre- 
 maturely throwing off the Burman yoke, little dreaming 
 that a day of retribution wc^uld arrive when these con- 
 quests would revert to their old masters. 
 
 The inactivity of our army, while it occupied comfort- 
 able quarters so many months at Prome, afforded leisure 
 to the Pacahm-woon' to re-organize his forces. Greater 
 efforts were now made than before. Large levies of men, 
 from the tributary States of the Shans, under the com- 
 mand of their own Princes, joined the army ; and as the 
 population became rather shy from the danger of the 
 service, excessive bounties from the Royal coffers were 
 distributed among the troops, wonderfully lightening the 
 long range of glittering logs which I had seen in front of
 
 CHAP. XXIV.] WE ARE TO BE BURIED ALIVE. 267 
 
 the Shwai-dyke. In numerical strength the army was 
 said to be greater than before ; but its ardour was much 
 diminished, and the vile wretch, who commanded it, ruled 
 even the Court itself by the arrogant use he made of the 
 almost Regal power confided to him. 
 
 I now learned, for the first time, and the discovery did 
 not at all tend to restore my peace of mind, that Oung- 
 ben-lai had the honour of giving birth to this oppressor. 
 That there was some mysterious connection of this fact 
 with the order he had issued for our being conveyed 
 to the place, hardly admitted a doubt, when we considered 
 how he was inflated with the pride of station, and that he 
 had the reputation of being the dupe of superstitious 
 omens and observances. 
 
 At last the horrid truth got whispered abroad that on 
 the 31st of May, when the Generalissimo's arrangements 
 would be completed, Head-quarters were to assemble at 
 Ouug-ben-lai, where the white prisoners were to be sacri- 
 ficed by being buried alive at the head of the army. This 
 is the only way I can account for the starving of the 
 Lioness, the superstitious tyrant had abandoned that idea 
 for one which would redound more to his own personal 
 aggrandizement. By a curious coincidence the name 
 Oung-ben-lai may be translated "field of victory,"* so 
 that it is not unlikely the name may have suggested the 
 idea. The field would be sown with seed likely to yield 
 a rich harvest of slaughter among his enemies. The first 
 
 * I observe Major Yule gives the translation of the name of this place 
 "Cocoa Tree rice fields." We always regarded it in the sense I have 
 attached to it, as I see Mrs. Judson does also. My recollection of the 
 Burmese language is becoming rather misty, but I think it might read the 
 "Sea of Victory,'' the extensive lake in its vicinity helping them to the 
 name. 
 
 N2
 
 268 THE TACHAM-WOON EXECUTED. [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 intimation of this appalling destiny was brought by my 
 baker, but happily for our peace I might say for our 
 Reason not until the fatal day had so nearly approached 
 that we were spared some weeks of mental agony. I 
 hasten to dismiss this harrowing part of my recital, and to 
 record again the merciful goodness of God in saving us 
 from a frightful end, and the retributive justice which 
 laid low the oppressor, and frustrated all his schemes 
 of cruelty and superstition. 
 
 It was on the afternoon of the 28th of May, three days 
 before our expected sacrifice, a day never to be forgotten 
 by me, that my trusty baker again reached the prison, 
 panting for breath, and exhausted by his speed ; gladness 
 lighted up his countenance, he was evidently the bearer 
 of good tidings; as soon as he could speak, the joyful 
 news burst forth. Our oppressor was dead ! he had been 
 hunted to his death like a wild beast. But " where did 
 you get the news ? are you sure of it ?" " I saw it 
 myself, he was dragged and beaten through the town to 
 the place of execution, and there trodden to death with 
 elephants." I will not attempt to describe a scene which 
 language can but feebly express. Let those who have 
 hearts to sympathize in the joys and sorrows of their 
 fellow- creatures think on the nature of the peril impend- 
 ing over us ; let them think of the manner of the escape, 
 and then let them imagine the feelings of the condemned 
 captives. 
 
 It was some time before the detail of the circumstances, 
 which brought about this righteous retribution, became 
 known to me. It then appeared that although entrusted 
 with the command of the army, and invested with the 
 almost unlimited influence of the office, the Pacahm- 
 woon had never been cordiallv restored to the Monarch's
 
 CHAP. XXIV.] WHAT LED TO HIS FATE. 2C9 
 
 favour, but was still regarded with suspicion. On the 
 eventful day in question, he was before the King in 
 Council, when, inflated with his elevation, he pressed for 
 concessions which led to his ruin. 
 
 I have said that the tributary Princes of the Shan 
 tribes had to bring their contingents into the field, which 
 it was usual for them to command in person. The 
 Pacahm-woon, probably from sound ideas of military dis- 
 cipline, asked for the Command-in-Chief of these levies, 
 but was refused, on the ground of the impropriety of sub- 
 jecting Eoyalty to the control of a subject. The request 
 was no doubt thought arrogant. He next solicited that 
 as the danger was pressing, and the safety of the kingdom 
 depended on his success, the King's body-guard my old 
 friends the Taing-dau might be ordered to accompany 
 him to the wars. This was a bold request, and created 
 fresh suspicions ; but what sealed his fate was a proposal 
 that before his army marched to encounter the enemy, 
 His Majesty would condescend to proceed to the sacred 
 pagoda at Mengoon,* a few miles from Ava, there to 
 make offerings and prayers for the success of his arms. 
 The words had scarcely escaped his lips, when the en- 
 raged Monarch, now apparently convinced of the treason- 
 able designs of his General, broke forth with, " Ha ! he 
 would take away my Guard, and then have me leave my 
 Throne!" The words were considered to justify what fol- 
 lowed, without any more precise sentence. The wretched 
 
 * The Mengoon pagoda was held in high estimation from its enormous 
 size, and being the pious work of the King's grandfather ; in fact, the 
 extent of the plan was such that it was found necessary to abandon it 
 before its completion. The weight of the bell attached to it ranks it 
 among the largest in the world. It is estimated to contain from 80 to 90 
 tons' weight of metal.
 
 270 WE ARE SAVED BY HIS DEATH. [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 man was instantly dragged by the hair from the Pre- 
 sence, and met his fate as before related. He had 
 counselled that a bounty of 100 tickals, equal to about 
 ;12, should be given to each recruit, and it was said that 
 immense treasures were found in his house, purloined 
 from the sums thus passing through his hands. 
 
 The want of deliberation manifested by the chief men 
 about the Court in thus hurrying the Pacahm-woon to 
 his death, without giving time for his examination, or ex- 
 tracting from him a confession of treasonable practices 
 was thought, not without reason, to throw suspicion on 
 others, whose participation would have been discovered by 
 delay. If there really was a plot, the conspirators acted 
 wisely in thus stifling inquiry under the plea of zeal for 
 His Majesty's safety. To me it was a matter of indiffer- 
 ence whether there was a conspiracy, or whether it was a 
 groundless suspicion of the King, the happy result being 
 the same. The contemplated spectacle, in which we were 
 to have borne so conspicuous a part, being one alto- 
 gether of the Pacahm-woon's planning, was abandoned at 
 his death. It was never again thought of, and although 
 for some days I had'my uncomfortable misgivings, time 
 convinced mo that the idea was dropped. As no second 
 Oung-ben-lai born tyrant appeared to enforce it, the 
 sentence was allowed to die a natural death. 
 
 Several months now passed away while the British 
 army was at Prome without any exciting incident. I 
 remained with my companions in dreary seclusion, seem- 
 ingly as much forgotten as if we were already among the 
 dead. Once indeed our fears were a little excited by the 
 arrival of a band of officers who showed authority to 
 place us in carts, and to drive us to Amerapoorah, for 
 what purpose we were at a loss to discover. On reaching
 
 CHAP. XXIV.] EMPLOYED TO INTERPRET. 271 
 
 the Governor's house there, we were further confounded 
 by finding ourselves divided, each heing placed in a 
 separate apartment alone; but it soon came out that 
 those of our number who spoke Burmese were required 
 to translate a document offering to treat for terms of 
 Peace, sent by Sir A. Campbell, as also a few letters on 
 private affairs from officers in the army to their friends 
 abroad, which had been captured with a post-boat on her 
 passage down the river. The separation from each other 
 was only a piece of cunning to ensure the obtaining true 
 translations by collating them, and thus avoiding the 
 possibility of collusion. 
 
 Having done what was required of us, the carts earned 
 us back to our old quarters, there to speculate on the 
 great event of the day. I knew the character of the 
 Court too well by this time to attach any great importance 
 to the considerate overtures of the British General. Their 
 chief value, in my estimation, lay in the additional security 
 afforded for the preservation of our lives, now that the 
 Court had found out our services might be required on 
 future occasions. It would hardly, unless driven to despair 
 at the last extremity, sacrifice those' who formed the only 
 means of communication with their enemies. So far the 
 incident was consolatory, but as to listening to such 
 terms as the British General was likely to offer with a 
 sincere desire to accept them, such an idea was not 
 entertained either by myself or my companions. They 
 must suffer further defeats, and find their King and 
 Capital in immediate peril before they could submit to 
 terms of humiliation. So far were they from entertaining 
 the notion of closing the war by Treaty, I had the oppor- 
 tunity of observing, that the effect of Sir A. Campbell's 
 offer was exactly the reverse of what he expected. It
 
 272 JUDSON TAKEN AS INTERPRETER. [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 was regarded as a sign of weakness, and as the forerunner 
 of a flight from a country which we could conquer, but 
 could not keep. Our long inactivity at Prome deceived 
 them. Ridiculous rumours got abroad, cholera had 
 broken out, and was destroying our camp ; war had 
 broken out elsewhere, and the Governor- General had re- 
 called the army, &c. In this last conjecture they were 
 not far wrong, for a considerable force had been ordered 
 to assemble for the reduction of the strong fortress of 
 Bhurtpore, and I had reason to believe that emissaries 
 from that State had reached Ava, and had encouraged the 
 Court to make a protracted resistance under the promise 
 of a diversion in its favour. This gleam of sunshine 
 therefore failed in any great degree to cheer our depressed 
 spirits. 
 
 In the month of December a movement of some im- 
 portance took place. Negotiations were entered on be- 
 tween the belligerents with all the semblance of sincerity ; 
 the one in good faith, with an earnest desire to put an 
 end to hostilities, the other in a spirit of dissimulation 
 and treachery, with the vain hope to throw the enemy off 
 his guard, and to attack him at a disadvantage when his 
 suspicions had been lulled to sleep. 
 
 Dr. Judson was taken from our prison, and carried to 
 Melloon in the capacity of Interpreter. The prelimi- 
 naries of a treaty of Peace were discussed, its terms 
 agreed to, it was actually drawn out and signed by 
 both parties, and Sir A. Campbell was assured that it 
 had been sent to Ava to receive the ratification of the 
 King. After a short time unmeaning delays occurred, 
 then prevarication, suspicions on our part revived, until, 
 convinced of their perfidy, and irritated by it, the British 
 General gave notice that the armistice was at an end,
 
 CHAP. XXIV.] INSINCERITY OF THE COURT. 273 
 
 and fighting recommenced. The stockades at Melloon, 
 where the negotiations had been held, were stormed, 
 and to the astonishment of Sir A. Campbell, the draft of 
 the Treaty which the Burmese General assured him had 
 been sent to Ava, was discovered in his quarters, a con- 
 vincing proof that he had only been trifled with through- 
 out. The General, thinking it a good opportunity to put 
 his adversary to shame for his duplicity, sent him the 
 Treaty thus strangely recovered, with an intimation that, 
 in the precipitation of his flight, he must have inad- 
 vertently left the precious document behind him. He 
 received a cool reply, acknowledging the General's polite- 
 ness in returning to him the Treaty, adding, that at the 
 same time he had forgotten his military treasure chest, 
 which he trusted he would also have the goodness to 
 restore. 
 
 This phantom of a negotiation having been laid, no 
 further use was found for Dr. Judson, who was again put 
 in irons, and ordered back to Oung-ben-lai. He was 
 fortunate enough, however, to interest a powerful Chief in 
 his favour, who granted him an asylum in his house at 
 Ava, and he thus had the happiness to avoid a recurrence 
 of the dangers and privations of the prison which he had 
 such good reason to dread. I saw him no more until we 
 both rejoiced in our freedom in the British camp. 
 
 In December, the fine army raised by the infamous 
 Pacahm-woon, placed at his death under the command of 
 Men-mya-boh, a half-brother of the King, was totally 
 defeated. A fresh one of inferior quality was raised, and 
 met the same fate at Pagan, led by another Chief of note, 
 Nai-wen-buren, its commander, being instantly beheaded 
 for his want of success. After the new year set in few 
 troops were left to oppose the progress of the victorious 
 
 N3
 
 274 AVA STRENGTHENED. [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 British, the greater part, convinced of the hopelessness of 
 the struggle, having dispersed to their homes, or sought a 
 shelter from oppression helow the British lines. 
 
 Great efforts were now made to strengthen the defences 
 of the Royal city, where it was determined to make a final 
 stand. Mrs. Judson, who was with her husband at the 
 house of his protector, had the opportunity of seeing the 
 preparations for defence, which I had not. She says, 
 "The Court did not relax their exertions to fortify the city. 
 Men and beasts were at work night and day, making new 
 stockades, and strengthening old ones ; whatever buildings 
 were in the way were torn down. Our house and all that 
 surrounded it was levelled to the ground, and our beau- 
 tiful little compound turned into a place for cannon. All 
 articles of value were conveyed out of the town, and 
 safely deposited in some other place." 
 
 The defeat sustained by the Burmese at Pagan on the 
 Oth of February, brought their powerful enemy within a 
 few marches of the Royal city. Their situation was des- 
 perate, but there was a difficulty in the way of putting an 
 end to the war by treaty, arising not so much from the 
 terms offered as from the impracticable character of the 
 people themselves. 
 
 Without entering minutely into the terms of the Treaty 
 offered, it is sufficient to state that it stipulated for the 
 payment of an indemnity of one million sterling, which 
 being paid, the British General engaged to restore all his 
 conquests, with some small exceptions on the sea-coast. 
 This was what staggered the Burmans; they could nei- 
 ther believe the promise, nor understand the motive. 
 Such an unheard-of thing as conquering a country and 
 then restoring it was incredible ! Measuring British 
 faith and honour by their own standard, they concluded
 
 CHAP. XXIV.] LIEUT. BENNETT AND DR. SANDFORD. 275 
 
 the intention was first to impoverish them, and then to 
 march on the Capital. Under this invincible incredulity 
 there was great reason to fear the negotiation would 
 fail, and the Burmans he driven to fighting in despair, 
 when circumstances occurred which shook their settled 
 opinion, and gave them hopes that this unaccountable 
 race were really in the hahit of heing so weak as to keep 
 their word. Troubled by these doubts, they proposed to 
 reverse the order of time that we should first restore the 
 territory, and then claim* the money, but in this they 
 could make no impression. 
 
 It so happened that two British officers were at this time 
 in Ava, who had been captured some time previously on 
 their way from the army to Eangoon on sick leave ; they 
 were Lieut. Bennett, of H.M.Eoyals, and Dr. Sandford. I 
 had never seen these gentlemen, but heard of them through 
 my baker. In their falling fortunes, it occurred to the Bur- 
 mese Court that it would not be amiss to try the persua- 
 sive powers of the doctor, being a man of peace, upon the 
 obdurate heart of the British General, in the hope that he 
 might be beguiled into more moderate terms. I presume 
 the worthy doctor was afraid to refuse so simple a request. 
 
 * It is singular that a people so naturally inquisitive as the Burmese 
 should have shown so little desire to make themselves acquainted with the 
 character and institutions of European nations. Their ignorance of them 
 was extreme, and often exhibited itself in a most ridiculous light. 
 Captain H. Cox tells us that when he took office as Resident at the Court 
 to protect British interests, he was required, as a preliminary, to swear 
 allegiance to the King, by swallowing a charmed potation in public before 
 one of their pagodas, was asked to officiate as accoucheur to one of the 
 Queens, &c. So little had they profited by experience that, even after 
 the war, when Colonel Burney held the same dignified office, His Majesty 
 saw no impropriety in asking him to translate the Encyclopedia Brl- 
 tannica into the Burmese language !
 
 276 THE BURMANS PUZZLED. [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 With tliis view our acquaintance, Dr. Price, was taken 
 from prison, and associated with him. The compact was, 
 that if success did not attend the embassy, they were to 
 return as prisoners to Ava. Of Price they were sure, as 
 he had a wife and two children to answer for him ; but as 
 to the other doctor, they had about as much expectation 
 of seeing the Governor- General come into voluntary cap- 
 tivity as of witnessing the return of Dr. Saudford. As 
 the reader may well imagine, the silly attempt was abor- 
 tive, but the astonishment of the Court was beyond all 
 bounds when they saw the British officer, punctual to his 
 promise, return into captivity. When wonder was ex- 
 pressed, they were told it was nothing surprising, that it 
 was the custom of the nation to keep its word inviolate. 
 The incident created confidence, and who can tell how 
 far its influence extended, or how many lives it saved ? 
 
 Still, not wishing to commit themselves too far, they 
 tried the experiment of sending Dr. Price a second time, 
 in a war-boat laden with treasure, but to a much smaller 
 amount than the instalment demanded, which was one- 
 fourth of the million sterling. This was looked upon as 
 a clever bait a sure test. Would the white people take it 
 and advance ? No such thing the boat, with the trea- 
 sure it contained, was indignantly returned. These in- 
 stances of honesty and good faith, so utterly at variance 
 with all their preconceived notions, puzzled them, but in 
 the end, when found to be consistent with the invariable 
 conduct of the British, could not fail to inspire confidence 
 and command respect. They no doubt had their weight 
 when it became necessary to choose between trusting in 
 tb.3 word of their conquerors, and carrying the war to 
 extremity.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The British army advances. Rumours. The King prepares for flight. 
 Kindness of Dr. Sandford. I am supplied with arrack. Doubtful 
 policy of the Court. I make preparations to escape. Koh-bai gained 
 over. Major Jackson. His munificent present. Another strange cage 
 of prisoners. Liberated on the 16th February, and carried to Ava. 
 Interview with the Myo-woon.- I embark on a war-boat and start for 
 our camp. Passage down the river. Stopped by the Kaulen-mengee. 
 Remains of the Burmese army. Its dejected state. Interview with 
 the Burmese General. I am allowed to proceed. 
 
 NEWS now came pouring in of the daily advance of the 
 army of the utter prostration of the Eurmans, their 
 panic fear, their exasperation, their hopes, their schemes, 
 their negotiations, the preparation of the Royal family for 
 flight, and rumours of all sorts, false and true. After so 
 long inactivity, the constant excitement kept up hy the 
 hourly recurrence of something new made me feel as 
 though I were an actor in the scene, having a real part to 
 perform instead of remaining the sport of events over 
 which I could exert no influence whatever. My baker 
 flew hackward and forward between Ava and Oung-hen-lai 
 with the rapidity of a weaver's shuttle. 
 
 On one of his visits he brought me a token, which, 
 coarse and sensual as it was, looked like the olive-branch 
 of Peace, the assuaging of the waters of strife, one of the 
 luxuries of civilization which I had not known for nearly
 
 278 I GET SOME COMFORT. [CHAP. XXT. 
 
 two years a cup of arrack! Ob ! who can tell the com- 
 fort a daily glass of strong waters administers to a frame 
 ready to sink with exhaustion ? It is indescribable. For 
 tbis treat I was indebted to the considerate kindness of 
 Dr. Sandford, who, though a stranger to me, had heard 
 of my destitution, and had given to my baker a small 
 sum for my use out of the money issued to him to bear 
 his expenses to the British camp on the occasion I have 
 mentioned. As Buddhists, the Burmese were prohibited 
 or discouraged from the use of spirits; but, with their 
 usual leniency to foreigners, the Chinese settled at Ame- 
 rapoorah were not included in this prohibition. How 
 they, being of the same faith, reconciled their consciences 
 to it, I know not ; but I now got a daily supply from 
 their shops, through my baker, to my great comfort. 
 In the old King's reign, during his fits of bigotry, when a 
 subject was detected drinking spirits, he was treated in an 
 exaggerated homoeopathic style, by having molten lead 
 poured down his throat. The law remained in force ; but 
 the reigning Sovereign's government was more lenient. 
 When it became known to the local Governors that 
 slaughtering his subjects was not the way to the King's 
 favour, a man was allowed to take his dram in secret, 
 when he could find one, without much fear for the con- 
 sequences in case of discovery. 
 
 The crisis of my fate had now arrived. If I survived 
 a few days, there could be no doubt I should be free. 
 The question to be decided was this : Will the Court hold 
 out, and compel our army to take the Capital by storm ? 
 or will their fears so far overcome their suspicions as to 
 induce them to capitulate and agree to terms of peace ? 
 The strengthening of the city fortifications and the pre- 
 parations for the flight of the King favoured the for-
 
 CHAP. XXV.] PLANS FOR ESCAPE. 279 
 
 meridea; while the frequent communications held with 
 Sir A. Campbell, through the medium of the American 
 missionaries, led us to hope the latter. It was the ques- 
 tion above all others which puzzled and alarmed me from 
 the moment I got into trouble to the present time. If 
 the city was to be stormed, I estimated my life as of little 
 value ; if, on the contrary, peace prevailed, of course I 
 was safe. 
 
 But even under the worst aspect of affairs, I was not in- 
 clined to give in without a last effort. I ventured to fathom 
 the depth of the integrity of old Koh-bai, and was happy 
 enough to find soundings in very shallow water. Though 
 by nature a surly fellow, our long acquaintance had gained 
 his good-will. Besides, if the city were stormed, he could 
 gain nothing by our slaughter; but, if he aided or con- 
 nived at our escape, I was lavish of my promises of 
 reward. If it must be, that the Royal city should be 
 stormed, there was little doubt our army would make 
 the assault below the town, on the South or West side, 
 where it would not have any rapid river to cross ; but, 
 unfortunately, this would cut off my communication with 
 it. Still, as I estimated the distance at not more than 
 ten miles at the most, and dear life was at stake, I deter- 
 mined to attempt it under cover of the night, if the 
 opportunity should be given me. I reckoned something, 
 too, on meeting parties which I felt sure my countrymen 
 would send to our rescue, now that they were apprized of 
 the place of our captivity. Such of my companions as felt 
 strong enough would join in the flight; but, to give the 
 scheme a fair chance of success, the greatest caution was 
 necessary, especially as to time. One of the captured 
 Sepoys had imprudently attempted it, but failed, and his 
 keepers cut off a foot to prevent a repetition of the offence,
 
 280 MAJOR JACKSOFS MUNIFICENCE. [CHAP. XXV. 
 
 as well as to deter the rest. I knew I could depend on 
 ray baker for correct information, unless at the approach- 
 ing crisis they arrested him also. The thing most neces- 
 sary was to respect the aphorism, that " many a man 
 saves his life by not fearing to lose it, and many a man 
 loses his life by being over anxious to save it." Failure 
 would be worse than inactivity. 
 
 I have alluded to Dr. Sandford's considerate gift ; but 
 it would be ungrateful to overlook the extravagant muni- 
 ficence of my friend Major Jackson, of the Bengal army, 
 who, without my knowing it, had been acting as Quarter- 
 master-general of the force ever since it took the field. 
 His commanding person, and the active duties he had to 
 perform, soon made him conspicuous to the Burmans, 
 who gave him the sobriquet of " Myet-hman Boh," or 
 " Spectacled General," from his habit of constantly using 
 spectacles in the field as well as in the tent; and little 
 did I think, while I was listening to wonderful stories 
 about this active Chief, that the hero was my old friend. 
 With the characteristic generosity of an old Indian, he 
 gave to Dr. Price, on his first visit to the camp, 500 
 rupees for my use a sum which, had it been known 
 to the Government, might have revived unpleasant 
 suspicions. My friend Jonathan David, however, with 
 more wit than I gave him credit for, knowing how 
 absurd and even dangerous the possession of such a sum 
 would be to me, did not hesitate to appropriate it to his 
 own use, and repaid the Major at the conclusion of the 
 war. One-hundredth part of the sum would have kept 
 me in luxury for a month. Dr. Sandford's gift had fallen 
 into the hands of an able and judicious purveyor, who 
 was gratified in nourishing me with such comforts as it 
 would purchase, among which not the least acceptable
 
 CHAP. XXV.] MY RELEASE. 281 
 
 was a warm, black, quilted Shan jacket. The cold had 
 been severe the last month, and trying to ill-clad captives. 
 
 At this late hour of the story we heard, for the first 
 time, of another cage of strange birds in a minor prison, 
 where caught, or how or when, I could not learn. It 
 consisted of a Jew, a Turk, and four or five Persians. It 
 is a pity they were not lodged with us, if only to make the 
 allotment more outrageously ridiculous. The Burmans, 
 however, are accustomed to divide foreigners into two 
 classes. One they call " kula yeen" or " tamed stran- 
 gers," being those who have resided in the country long 
 enough to be reclaimed from a semi-savage state by the 
 civilizing influence of polite intercourse with themselves ; 
 the other, " kula-yainff,"'or "wild strangers," being new- 
 comers, ignorant, and so unfortunate as not to have 
 partaken of this civilization. These must have belonged 
 to the latter class, and possibly Sandford and Bennett 
 also, who were never introduced into our State prison. 
 
 After the news of the battle at Pagan, every day was 
 an age. With a mind oscillating between hope and fear, 
 the situation was more trying than ever. Eight or ten 
 very moderate marches would bring my gallant country- 
 men before the walls of the city, almost, as my fevered 
 imagination pictured, within the sight of my eyes and 
 the sound of my voice. From the 9th to the 16th of 
 February passed away in fearful uncertainty. It ought 
 to have brought them close up. The delay was well- . 
 nigh insupportable, and to my unstrung nerves the glass 
 of grog was as nectar. Still I was left unmolested, and 
 intently dwelling on my plan for escape, when on that 
 happy, glorious day, 
 
 THE 16TH OF FEBRUARY, 1826,
 
 282 TAKEN TO AVA. [CHAP. XXV. 
 
 my good Genius the baker appeared, in company with a 
 band of liberating officers, who suddenly broke into the 
 prison. They were ruffians of the first water, and per- 
 formed their pleasing office with such churlish ill-feeling, 
 that it was some time before 1 could persuade myself of 
 the happy nature of their mission. Other and far-dif- 
 ferent orders would have been more to their taste. The 
 irons, which had so long galled our limbs, were now 
 struck off from the young Armenian, Arrakeel, and 
 myself, and we were abruptly told to follow our libe- 
 rators to Ava. Follow them to Ava ! Had our heads 
 been the forfeit, the tiling was impossible. Our stiffened 
 limbs refused to carry us this short distance, even when 
 life and liberty were its reward. It was now evident, on 
 a trial, what an absurd resolution I had formed, how 
 grievously I had 'miscalculated my own strength, when I 
 contemplated a nocturnal flight to the anny. How for- 
 tunate that I was not put to the test, for inevitable de- 
 struction would have been the consequence. 
 
 As their orders to take us to Ava were imperative, our 
 rough escort seized a cart and oxen in the adjacent 
 village, and while they were searching for it, we had time 
 to join in mutual gratulations. Those who were left 
 behind had their minds at ease, and could now, for the 
 first time, lay down their heads to sleep with the tolerable 
 certainty of finding them on their shoulders the next 
 morning. 
 
 It may seem strange that two only were taken and the 
 others left. The explanation is, that the four who re- 
 mained were considered to be Burmese subjects. Poor Laird 
 was paying the penalty of his vanity in aspiring to become 
 a titled Burmese nobleman and agent to his Royal High- 
 ness the Prince of Tharawudi, either of which honours, in
 
 CHAP. XXV.] MY FELLOW-PRISONERS. 283 
 
 Burmese estimation, would constitute him a Royal slave. 
 He was now wiser, and charged me to remember, when I 
 met the British General, to assure him that under all 
 circumstances he gave the preference to his British na- 
 tionality,' an injunction that I did not forget. The 
 Spaniard had his wife and family to hind him to the 
 country ; the Father Ignatius had his little flock, the 
 descendants of a few French and English captured nearly 
 a century ago, and now assimilated to the natives; hut 
 poor old Rodgers was a difficult and deplorable case. He 
 remembered how often in his chequered career his life 
 had been in peril how probable that it might be so 
 again he had a yearning, too, after his native country 
 but could he return there with safety ? I saw the con- 
 flict going on within, and ventured relying on all the 
 circumstances of his story to be correct to urge him to 
 authorize me in naming his case to the General, who 
 would not fail to demand the surrender of his wife 
 and family also. He hesitated some time, but to my 
 sorrow finally declined, and ended his days in Burrnah 
 not long after. 
 
 Leaving the rest of our fellow- sufferers in the hands 
 of Koh-bai, we mounted into the bullock-cart provided 
 for us. The old man, since he became our partizan in 
 the plan to escape, had shown us much kindness ; but 
 his position was anomalous, for he could never be certain 
 for an hour that he would not be compelled to throw 
 aside the garb of good-fellowship under an order to cut 
 his friends into mince-meat. 
 
 On the journey I had time to make myself acquainted 
 with the true position of affairs, which seemed publicly 
 known to every one, and to ascertain by what means my 
 happy deliverance was brought about. After the rout at
 
 284 THE BURMESE SUCCUMB. [CHAP. XXV. 
 
 Pagan, the remnant of the Burmese army which was still 
 faithful to the King was too weak in number and too 
 much dispirited by defeat to venture to meet the enemy 
 in the field. The march, therefore, was unopposed ; and in 
 the panic created by its steady advance, the Court chose 
 to place its hesitating confidence in the honour of its 
 enemy rather than endanger its existence altogether by 
 defending the city. It was this resolution that saved 
 me. It signified its assent to the terms offered, one of 
 which (and this was extorted as a preliminary to evince 
 its sincerity) was the instant surrender of the British 
 prisoners. Until these arrived in the camp, together with 
 the stipulated instalment of the indemnity, the General 
 would listen to no solicitation to stop the advance of 
 his army, a wise resolve after the duplicity practised on 
 him at Melloon. He modified this determination, how- 
 ever, by a promise that the advance should be made by 
 slow and deliberate marches, to afford time to the Go- 
 Vernment to complete its promises. This accounted for 
 the undignified haste of my liberation, and the disap- 
 pointment I had felt at the tardy movement of my 
 liberators. Such was the state of affairs when I quitted 
 the prison at Oung-ben-lai. 
 
 On reaching Ava in the afternoon, I was carried before 
 my old friend the Myo-woon, now a Woongee of the 
 Empire. He seemed very anxious to know what report I 
 should give to my countrymen of the manner of treat- 
 ment I had met during the war, as though it might have 
 some influence on the making or the marring of the 
 Treaty. He impressed on me the debt of gratitude I 
 owed to the King for saving my life when it was forfeited 
 by Treason and Rebellion. As this seemed to be the only 
 object of the interview, I became apprehensive that any
 
 CHAP. XXV.] SENT OFF IN A WAR-BOAT. 285 
 
 expression of complaint might compromise my safety 
 and prevent my surrender. My conscience did not 
 accuse me, therefore, when I practised a lesson out of 
 their own, book and descended to dissimulation. When 
 I went away, he was certainly impressed with the idea 
 that I was grateful to His Majesty for all my sufferings, 
 and that I intended to trumpet aloud the praise of his 
 clemency when I got among my countrymen. To him- 
 self, personally, I was sincerely grateful, for, be the motive 
 what it might, his partiality to me had certainly saved 
 my life more than once. 
 
 It was late at night when I was put on board a war- 
 boat with my friend Arrakeel. On the river bank, before 
 
 embarking, I encountered Mr. , a subaltern officer 
 
 in H.M.'s 47th Regiment, who was said to have dis- 
 appeared from his corps and fallen into the hands of 
 the Burmese in a manner not very creditable to his 
 military character, and still less so to his intellect as a 
 man of common sense. lie did not appear to be a prisoner 
 at the time, and would have entered into an explanation 
 had our haste permitted it ; all he could do was to beg I 
 would call on his commanding officer, Colonel Ellington, 
 and beseech him to see that his name was not omitted 
 in the list of prisoners claimed. This did not look like 
 guilt. I did as he desired, and surrendered he was, but 
 I was sorry to hear, that instead of clearing his fame by 
 a trial, he availed himself of an extraordinary clause in- 
 serted in the Treaty which protected rebels and deserters 
 on both sides, in the hope that it might afford protection 
 to the revolted districts of Pegu ! 
 
 And now, with fifty lusty men at the oars, the boat 
 shot down the smooth stream, each stroke lifting her 
 light stem out of the water and leaping forward as if in
 
 286 THE VOYAGE DOWN. [CHAP. XXT. 
 
 unison with the hearts of her passengers, beating with 
 ecstasy in the happy prospect of their emancipation. 
 Oh ! for a simile which could convey to the reader an 
 adequate idea of the delicious sensations of that night's 
 voyage ! My imagination can find none that would not 
 weaken the impression and fall short of the truth. The 
 night was cold and calm, we had no covering hut the 
 canopy of heaven, and I may almost add, no company 
 hut the stars above us, at which I lay gazing the greater 
 part of the night, trying to assure myself of the reality 
 of this marvellous change. Few words were spoken. I 
 was too happy in my own thoughts to interrupt the 
 silence hy conversation. What a change had been 
 wrought in a few hours ! What a contrast with all I 
 had been witness to for the last two years ! Dr. Paley 
 somewhere expresses an opinion, that the pleasure en- 
 joyed hy the cessation of severe bodily pain is a full 
 compensation for the suffering that pain has inflicted. 
 If it can be supposed to he true of the body, how cer- 
 tainly so of the more lasting and abiding ease of a 
 troubled mind or of both united ! At that moment I 
 should not have been disposed to dispute the doctor's 
 position. 
 
 These soothing meditations were interrupted in a most 
 unwelcome manner, about three o'clock in the morning, 
 hy a loud hail from some men on the left bank of the 
 river, who had perceived the boat shooting past them. 
 She rounded to, and I once more found myself among 
 what shall I call them enemies or friends? It proved 
 to be a picket of the beaten army of the Kaulen-mengee, 
 now encamped at this spot after the retreat from Pagan. 
 I was desired to land and to follow a guide to their Chief, 
 whose quarters, fortunately for me, were not more than
 
 CHAP. XXV.] THE DEFEATED ARMY. 287 
 
 ten minutes' walk from the bank. Accustomed as I had 
 been to sudden alarms, I began to feau some obstacle 
 would yet arise between me and liberty. Although the 
 day had not yet dawned, I could distinguish by the star- 
 light the deplorable state of this small body of troops. 
 They were dispersed in small groups, at short distances 
 from each other, some sleeping while others sat smoking 
 or keeping watch by a fire. No protection from the 
 weather was to be seen except here and there some 
 boughs of trees spread upon a few upright sticks, the 
 accommodation of the General being little better than 
 that of the men. I think I saw pretty nearly the whole 
 of them, and (although it is no more than a guess) I 
 judged they might number, at the most, a thousand men. 
 
 The encampment bore every sign of disorganization. 
 Arms and accoutrements were strewed about in confusion, 
 there was no regularity in the arrangement of the men, no 
 regularly-posted sentinels to be seen ; among the few who 
 were awake, there was a total absence of the hilarity one 
 expects to see in soldiers in the field a gloomy, dejected 
 silence prevailed, heightened, perhaps, in my imagination 
 by the darkness of the hour. Altogether it had more 
 the appearance of a gipsy camp, or still more, a band of 
 brigands, than a portion of the army of the State. One 
 could not look without a feeling of admiration on this 
 handful of brave men, the few who were faithful to their 
 King after the discouragements of constant defeats, among 
 the countless host that streamed down to the war, but 
 had deserted their colours in the hour of trial. Their 
 fidelity deserved a better fate. 
 
 I was kept waiting only just long enough to take a 
 hasty survey of the scene before me, when the TToongee, 
 now awakened, ordered me into his presence. Like the
 
 283 ALLOWED TO PROCEED. [CHAP. XXV. 
 
 Myo-woon, he was anxious to fathom my thoughts, and 
 ascertain how far I could he trusted to proceed ; like him, 
 too, he was deceived hy my disingenuous protestations. 
 He suggested my leaving my four Bengalee servants with 
 him, and even hinted at detaining me also. I replied 
 that I was sent down, without my consent heing asked, 
 hy the King's order, but that I was quite willing to re- 
 main if he ordered it. After an hour's hesitation, during 
 which I was suffering torture, he made up his mind to 
 let me proceed, and I joyfully retraced my steps through 
 the encampment, with the conviction that if this force 
 was their only dependance, the sooner they put them- 
 selves under the protection of a Treaty, the better for the 
 country.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Arrive at the British camp. My joy at regaining my liberty.- Alarm of 
 my crew at the steamer. I am kindly received by Major Armstrong. 
 I report myself to Sir A. Campbell. His hospitality. The army 
 advances to Yandabo. Timidity of the Indian Government. Their 
 anxiety for peace.' Translation of the Treaty. I save the Government 
 
 ' 70, COO. The Commissioners refuse to admit my claims. Treaty of 
 Peace. I leave Yandabo with Sir A. Campbell. 
 
 THE morning dawned as I again took my seat in the 
 prow of the war-boat, thankful to have escaped this last 
 hazard of detention, for the Treaty was not yet made a 
 fact by signature ; and in the storm of conflicting passions 
 which influenced the Court at this time, a thousand acci- 
 dents might happen to imperil it altogether. The half- 
 naked band of gloomy patriots I had just left were far 
 from being safe company under the existing state of 
 things, and it was a solid pleasure to count the hours as 
 they widened the distance between us. But for this 
 agreeable computation and for the inspiring hope of its 
 happy termination, the voyage of this day would have 
 been almost insupportable. The cold temperature of the 
 night was but little felt ; but far different the intense heat 
 and glare of the day that followed it. The sun, as is 
 usual at this season, rose without a cloud. For a time it 
 was pleasant enough ; but as the day advanced and the
 
 290 THE BRITISH FLOTILLA. [CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 sun began to gain its meridian height, the rays reflected 
 from the glassy surface of the water almost drove me 
 mad. I had no idea of the pain the sun's rays can give 
 to eyes which, from long use, have been accustomed to a 
 kind of dingy twilight, and as little fit to encounter a 
 glitter or bright light as those of a bird of night. Shelter 
 in the boat there was none, and but for the loan of a 
 handkerchief to cover my head, soaking it occasionally in 
 the river, I hardly know how I could have supported it. 
 
 At this season of the year the waters of the river had 
 subsided, the current was sluggish, and the boat had often 
 to pull a circuit of many miles round a projecting sand- 
 bank, which might have been crossed on foot in less than 
 half the time. It seemed to me that the remains of the 
 Burmese army had fled an unaccountable distance from 
 their enemy until this explained it. When noon had 
 passed we began to gaze, more and more eagerly, on the 
 left bank of the river, in the hope of gaining some indica- 
 tion of the object of our search. As the boat rounded each 
 successive point of land and opened out a fresh reach of 
 the river, the whole crew made a careful survey, without 
 any result, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, when 
 at the distance of some miles, at the bottom of a long 
 reach, eyes stronger than mine, though far less interested 
 in the sight, descried the masts of boats they well knew 
 were not those of their own country. I will not attempt 
 to describe my feelings when some of the crew told me 
 foreigners' boats were in sight. In fact, I believe I had 
 none. I was stupified. Nearer and nearer every plunge 
 of the oars brought me to my desired haven of rest 
 more and more distinct became the welcome sight. I do 
 well remember one thought that possessed me. " There 
 they are, certainly they are only a mile or two off but
 
 CHAP. XXVI.] AT LENGTH, I AM FREE. 291 
 
 shall I really reach them in safety? Will no ill chance inter- 
 vene, even yet, to thwart my hope ? I have my doubts." 
 Presently a gun from the leading gun-boat for it was, 
 indeed, no other than the advance division of our flotilla 
 fired in our direction, aroused the fears of my crew, who 
 seemed as little to like trusting themselves in the power 
 of the English as they did the formidable sort of saluta- 
 tion that greeted them. They did not understand it, and 
 were in the act of realizing my doubt by rounding the 
 boat and fleeing from such rough usage, when I explained 
 to them its cause, and desired them to row direct to the 
 gun-boat that fired the shot. Not without some trepida- 
 tion and misgivings lest they should be blown to atoms, 
 they complied. But with the sound of that shot, and 
 not before, came to my mind the conviction / am 
 free. 
 
 And now, since I am so, let me pause awhile, on com- 
 pleting this eventful passage in the history of my life. 
 Though thirty-five years have rolled away since these ter- 
 rible scenes were enacted, though I then was young and 
 now am old, they are as fresh in my memory as the 
 occurrences of yesterday; and whenever they recur to my 
 mind, as they often do, shame it would be if they ever 
 arose without being accompanied by the deep feeling of 
 gratitude which my deliverance from them is calculated 
 to inspire. The Almighty, in His wise and merciful go- 
 vernment of the affairs of the world, was pleased so to 
 order them, that while dangers of infinite variety, such as 
 to human eyes seemed to lead to certain destruction, 
 threatened me, they were averted by means in which I. 
 was not even in the most distant manner an actor. As 
 if to remove every sentiment of self-gratulation or vaunt- 
 ing in the idea that " my own hand hath saved me," and 
 
 o2
 
 292 I REJOICE IN MY SAFETY. [CHAP. XXVI- 
 
 to throw open the mind to unqualified praise and grati- 
 tude to God alone, I was not permitted throughout to 
 make a single effort, however weak, for my own preserva- 
 tion. My utter helplessness was a remarkahle feature in 
 this long captivity. My position might justly he com- 
 pared with that of a traveller who encounters an Alpine 
 storm, and sees with terror the threatening clouds, one 
 after another, driven across his path hy the fierceness of 
 the tempest, discharging their fury around him, but leav- 
 ing him unscathed one disappearing only to be followed 
 by another charged with equal ruin, but in like manner 
 passing harmless away. I had no more to do with my 
 own preservation than the traveller had in escaping the 
 flashes of lightning which glanced past him without 
 injury turned aside by a beneficent Power which it is 
 our happiness to acknowledge and confide in, though 
 " His ways are unsearchable and past finding out." 
 Many and severe have been the trials in after-life that 
 have fallen to my lot, such, perhaps, as may be thought 
 more common to the whole race of mankind than those 
 I have just related ; but if ever they have aroused a feel- 
 ing of disquietude or discontent, I had only to look back 
 to this period and be thankful. 
 
 Among the numerous instances of protracted imprison- 
 ment on record, I am not aware that any one presents 
 such a combination of bodily privation and misery, of 
 perils encountered from a variety of sources, and of un- 
 ceasing and intense anxiety of mind throughout as I have 
 attempted to describe. Again let me express my grati- 
 tude to Heaven for my wonderful liberation, and take 
 leave of the subject. 
 
 I now quit this digression and return to my war-boat, 
 which I left unwillingly complying with the demand of
 
 CHAP. XXVI. ] THE "DIANA" STEAMER. 293 
 
 the signal gun. On reaching the gun-hoat I found on 
 hoard, a lieutenant of H.M.S. Alligator, who commanded 
 the advanced division. The gallant officer was not a 
 little astonished when he saw his emaciated countryman 
 sink on the deck before him with hands joined in the 
 humiliating attitude of supplication, instead of rejoicing 
 in the hearty welcome and gratulation he was about to 
 offer. No doubt he thought I was bereft of reason, 
 and he was not very far wrong. The mind was wander- 
 ing the excitement had been too great for the spirit, and 
 it was some minutes before the kindness of the officer 
 restored me to my senses and enabled me to realize my 
 change of fortune. Our interview was short. With the 
 promptitude of his profession he ordered me once more 
 to enter the war-boat and to thread the flotilla until it 
 reached a river steam-boat, called the Diana, where 
 further orders would be given. 
 
 A steamer in those days was not in India the familiar 
 sight it has since become. Its performances had awakened 
 the superstitious fears of the natives, and the terrified boat- 
 men almost rebelled when the command was explained to 
 them. They begged hard for any other boat than that, 
 but the Lieutenant was inexorable. They were now in the 
 toils and must comply, so we took our leave, and in half- 
 an-hour espied the terrible monster riding at anchor. 
 Never did a timid bird approach its fascinating enemy 
 with more fluttering alarm, nor with less chance of 
 escape, than did the Captain of my war-boat, this work 
 of Enchantment. 
 
 On board the steamer I found a gallant soldier,* now 
 no more, whose hospitality, when he heard my story and 
 
 * The late Sir Richard Armstrong, K.C.B., who died in command of 
 the army at Madras.
 
 204 A SOLDIER'S WELCOME. [CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 saw my condition, knew no bounds. I must have the 
 hest of dinners, choice wines, and he must vacate his own 
 cabin and couch in order that I might have uninterrupted 
 rest. 1 believe he was truly disappointed when I assured 
 him that I should, for the present, sleep more soundly on 
 the planks of the deck than on a bed of down ; and as to 
 dinners, the little wit I had remaining told me, as if by 
 instinct, that what he called a good dinner, would be my 
 death. He kindly let me have my own way, and a night 
 of refreshing sleep on the deck of the Diana, the first 
 one in security for nearly two years, restored mind and 
 body to a certain degree of health and calmness. But 
 what half- forgotten luxuries met my eye in the morning ? 
 Let not the reader laugh, if he does, he sadly wants 
 sympathy in the happiness of others. A razor a hair- 
 brush a tooth-brush a clean towel a veritable basin 
 of water a cake of soap ! I had indeed leaped all at 
 once into the lap of luxury. 
 
 While I had been enjoying my rest, the war-boat had 
 been tied to the stern of the steamer all night. In the 
 morning, when she had got up her steam, we brought 
 some of the boldest of the crew on board. I believe 
 they looked upon her incomprehensible moving machinery 
 as the bowels of some infernal beast called into existence 
 by superior art in sorcery, and would have marvellous tales 
 to tell on their return home. Great was their relief when 
 they received their passport and permission to quit her 
 company. 
 
 I was now reminded that it was time I reported myself 
 to Sir Archibald Campbell, the General commanding, 
 whose tent was only a short walk from the river side. 
 We had met before in Calcutta. He recognized me, 
 but how changed the mere wreck of former times ! My
 
 CHAP. XXVI.] SIR ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL. 295 
 
 clothes if such they could he called, where shirt and half 
 the habiliments that cover or adorn the outward man, 
 even down to the shoes and stockings, were wanting were 
 unfit to appear in even among an army in the field. The 
 General's compassionate eye immediately detected it, and 
 after the example of the good Samaritan, to detect was to 
 relieve. His son, the late Baronet, who fell in the Russian 
 war while gallantly leading the 38th regiment, the same 
 his father commanded before him, was then a youth of 
 eighteen years old, acting as his father's aide-de-camp. 
 Fortunately for me, if not for himself, his stature was 
 pretty nearly my own. " Now, John," said the veteran, 
 " your clothes will fit Gouger better than mine, (a laugh, 
 he was corpulent,) go and divide your stock fairly with 
 him ; " and he added, " Gouger, you will take up your 
 quarters with me for the remainder of the campaign. 
 You may probably yet have the pleasure to see Ava 
 again." 
 
 The extreme kindness and consideration of the General 
 henceforth did much towards restoring me. As Peace 
 was not yet concluded, we had to make two or three 
 onward marches, which, as I could neither walk nor mount 
 a horse, he provided me with the means to accomplish by 
 water, meeting him, in his tent at the close of the day's 
 march. My old friend, Major Jackson, too, the spectacled 
 General, whose munificence I have recorded, greeted me 
 with a hearty welcome. He placed rather a high value 
 on the pleasures of the table, and was the only man in 
 the camp who could boast of a flock of sheep. A fat one 
 was killed to welcome me. 
 
 The armyj-continued to advance until it reached the 
 village of Yandabo, a place well known as being the spot 
 on which the belligerents settled their animosities, and
 
 296 BRITISH EAGER FOR PEACE. [CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 concluded the Treaty bearing its name. It will appear 
 strange that after a succession of victories that brought 
 us almost to the very gates of the capital, the Govern- 
 ment of India was quite as eager for the conclusion of a 
 treaty of peace as were the beaten enemy. The enormous 
 expenses of the war had alarmed them ; the tenacity of 
 the Burmese in their resistance had baffled their calcula- 
 tions, and as the policy of the home Government dis- 
 couraged an unnecessary extension of territory, and the 
 country was too poor to pay an adequate ransom, they 
 were not prepared with a scheme ready to meet the 
 difficulty if the Court fled further North, and continued 
 the war. 
 
 Sir A. Campbell had earnestly and repeatedly solicited 
 permission to declare the independence of the provinces 
 of Pegu, but our timid Government refused his request, 
 fearing it might involve further complications, and render 
 a permanent occupation or assistance to a new Govern- 
 ment necessary. Thus, in their ill-timed alarm, they 
 cruelly sacrificed to State policy a people who had ren- 
 dered them essential services ; who, although they could 
 not advance any specific pledge made to them, had cer- 
 tainly been allowed to believe they would not again be 
 subjected to the tyranny of their exasperated masters. 
 Fortunately this anxiety on the part of their conquerors 
 to put an end to the war was not known to the enemy, or 
 it might have encouraged a longer resistance. I am not 
 aware that this undignified feeling appears on the face of 
 the published documents. Perhaps it does not. Perhaps 
 it was communicated confidentially to the Civil Com- 
 missioner who was deputed by the IndianGovernment 
 specially to the camp ; but that I am right in attributing 
 it to them, no one could doubt who stood behind the
 
 CHAP. XXVI.] OBSTACLES IN THE WAY. 297 
 
 scenes at Yandabo. To it alone I owe the refusal of the 
 Civil Commissioner to enforce on the Court of Ava an act 
 of retributive justice to myself when it was proposed to 
 him by Sir A. Campbell. He was terrified lest it should 
 present an obstacle to the duty he had to perform, viz. 
 to make everything bend to the eager desire for peace. 
 
 On the 22nd or 23rd February two dignitaries from 
 the Burmese Court arrived in the camp with honest in- 
 structions this time to consent to the terms made known 
 to them. The preliminaries had been complied with by 
 the release of the prisoners and by the arrival of a quar- 
 ter of a million sterling in specie, being one quarter of 
 the stipulated indemnity. 
 
 But now a singular difficulty arose. How the British 
 army could have advanced thus far into the country with- 
 out having a man among them capable of translating a 
 State document into the Burman language, it is not easy 
 to explain. So it was, however, and this clearly shows 
 how slight the intercourse must have been between the two 
 countries before this time. The General's interpreter was 
 a native youth of Chinese extraction, who, of course, spoke 
 the Burmese fluently enough, and English indifferently. 
 With this his knowledge ceased; he could neither write 
 nor read the Burmese, and, had not Dr. Judson and my- 
 self been at the General's disposal, the impediment would 
 have been a serious one, as the Burmese could not be ex- 
 pected to put their hands to a document written in a lan- 
 guage they did not understand; nor, on the other hand, 
 could the British Commissioners trust to a native copy 
 alone. The English Treaty was therefore placed in our 
 hands for translation, and when we produced a Burmese 
 copy, both were to be acknowledged as original documents 
 of equal validity. It gave me great pleasure to make some 
 
 o 3
 
 298 I SAVE OUR GOVERNMENT 70,000. [CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 return for Sir A. Campbell's kindness in this and other 
 ways where my knowledge of the language was required ; 
 indeed, by an extraordinary accident, I was the means not 
 only of aiding the General, but also of enriching the ex- 
 chequer of the East India Company to the amount of 
 nearly 70,000, in a manner that was not the less grati- 
 fying to me because it came from the pocket of my late 
 oppressors. The affair is worth recording. 
 
 The fifth article of the Treaty has these words" 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." It will natu- 
 rally be asked, What kind of rupee is intended ? It is not 
 a coin of the country. The Burmese only know it as the 
 coin issued to the British troops, and these being chiefly 
 from the Madras Presidency, the Madras rupee was the 
 one issued and passed into general circulation. This was 
 the one commonly known to the Burmese, and one crore, 
 or ten millions, of these rupees they would naturally 
 expect to pay no other could have been reasonably 
 .demanded from them. But there was another kind of 
 rupee current in Bengal in those days, denominated the 
 sicca rupee, the metallic value of which was between 6^ 
 and 7 per cent, greater than the Madras rupee; and as 
 both the General and the Civil Commissioner came from 
 Bengal, I had reason to think the sicca rupee was the 
 one they intended, though they had failed to express it 
 in the words so carelessly used. As the Treaty was not 
 yet signed, I went to communicate my thoughts to Sir 
 A. Campbell. He saw the blunder at once, summoned 
 the Burmese Chiefs instantly to a conference, at which 
 I was present, and explained to them that although the 
 words would be allowed to stand in the Treaty, sicca
 
 CHAP. XXVI.] ITS UNGENEROUS RETURN. 299 
 
 rupees were those intended and would be claimed; and paid 
 they were ultimately, in full tale ! * A memorandum was 
 attached to the Treaty expressive of this understanding. 
 
 Similar success did not attend me when I brought my own 
 affairs before the British Commissioners. I asked whether 
 T was not entitled, besides the simple restoration of my 
 property, to claim from the King of Ava two years' inte- 
 rest on the sum they had despoiled me of, and was coolly 
 told in reply, that such a thing as interest on the restora- 
 tion of confiscated property was an unheard-of demand, 
 thus ignoring my right by the substitution of the word 
 " confiscation" for " robbery." I was too far worn-out in 
 mind and body to enforce my claim, and too happy in 
 the possession of life and liberty to care much about it, 
 though my loss on this score aloue was more than 
 2000. But by far the heaviest loss I had to complain 
 of was caused by the restitution of a large amount of 
 cotton goods, which had been stored through two rainy 
 seasons in a shed in the Palace-yard, and were now, 
 though comparatively worthless, ruled to be a fitting 
 satisfaction of my claims. This restoration of property 
 could hardly be termed " indemnity," yet it was allowed 
 to pass as such. I must do the General the justice to 
 say, that these were not his opinions. 
 
 The Treaty was signed on the 24th February, and while 
 it was undergoing the necessary ratification at Ava, the 
 
 * A stronger proof of the utter carelessness and want of thought in the 
 framing of this Treaty can scarcely be adduced than the discovery of so 
 important an error by a casual reader like myself. Considering the means 
 by which this large sum was saved, if the East India Company had devoted 
 a portion of it to the relief and complete indemnification of the few of its 
 subjects who suffered by the war, and whose sufferings, be it said, were, 
 in a great measure, attributable to its own culpable remissness, it would 
 hardly have been thought an instance of overstretched liberality.
 
 300 TREATY OF PEACE. [CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 Burmese deputies were busily employed in the delightful 
 task of providing boats for the return of the British army. 
 Though it was not likely they could be accused of any 
 want of alacrity in such a service, and though the brave 
 veterans of two campaigns were far from numerous, suffi- 
 cient water-carnage could not be provided ; it was there- 
 fore found necessary to divide the Force, some forming 
 land columns to return by different routes, the remainder 
 embarking in native boats and canoes of a motley cha- 
 racter. Sir A. Campbell, to save time, preferred to return 
 to Kangoon by water. He kindly offered me a passage 
 in his boat, which was a stout, decked row-boat, of twenty 
 oars, carrying a twelve-pound carronade gun in the bow, 
 and -the General's palanquin at the stern, in which he 
 slept. As the boat had no accommodation, his son and 
 I spread our mats and pillows under an awning on the 
 deck, and on the 5th of March I turned my back on the 
 scene of suffering, and sped my way again to the habita- 
 tions of civilized life, where happiness is more surely to 
 be found than in the dark parts of the earth, submerged 
 in ignorance and cruelty.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Voyage from Yandabo to Rangoon. A dispatch received by Sir A. Camp- 
 bell to proclaim Pegu independent. Too late to act on it. Delightful 
 voyage. An unexpected adventure. Capture of a war-boat. I am 
 appointed Police magistrate for the Pegu district. Its disturbed state. 
 Burmans and Peguers. Instances of Burmese revenge on the re- 
 volted Peguers. Massacre of a boat's crew. Attack on a Talain 
 village. 
 
 PERHAPS my narrative ought to end here. When it 
 first occurred to me to commit it to writing, my intention 
 was to tell a tale of Burmah, as it was, to exhibit an 
 instance of the numerous opportunities which, occurred 
 in bygone times to realize fortunes in new paths of 
 commerce to follow it out in all its bearings to show 
 the dangers and impediments it was liable to, and how 
 my golden dreams were defeated; to try to interest the 
 reader by the recital of such a story of imprisonment as 
 few can have endured to make him thankful for his 
 own immunity, and rejoice that his lot is not cast in a 
 land of savage ignorance, and finally to set forth and 
 acknowledge the beneficence of the great Creator and 
 Disposer of all things in bringing me out of all these 
 troubles and restoring me to the comforts of life. All 
 this having been done, perhaps I ought to close the 
 narrative without further infliction on those who may 
 peruse it ; but as the incidents between this time and my
 
 302 RETURN TO RANGOON. [CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 quitting the country have an interest to me, I cannot 
 persuade myself that they will be altogether uninteresting 
 to the reader. Besides, the story is not quite complete, 
 so long as we remain in the country of our late enemy. 
 
 We are now floating down the Irrawuddi. The Gene- 
 ral's flag is flying at the mast-head of the row-boat, and 
 he leads the fleet of native canoes filled with soldiers, 
 here and there interspersed with, and protected by, the 
 armed gun-boats of the Flotilla. The weather is glorious, 
 and the sight an animating one; always something in 
 view to demand our attention, either in the movements of 
 the motley fleet itself, or on the banks of the river, now 
 pretty well known to me on this, the fourth time of my 
 passing them. 
 
 On the second day a post boat met us, bringing dis- 
 patches from the Indian Government to Sir Archibald 
 Campbell, of the highest importance had they reached 
 the hand they were intended for in time to act on them, 
 but useless after hostilities had ceased. Nothing less 
 than the fate of a Nation rested on the timely receipt 
 of that sheet of paper ! 
 
 I have said that the General had long expressed an 
 urgent desire to proclaim the independence of Pegu, 
 either by re-creating it a separate Kingdom, or by incor- 
 porating it with the British dominions. His feelings 
 revolted at the idea of sacrificing a people who had 
 risen in his favour, and rendered his army such signal 
 services, to the tyranny of their exasperated masters. 
 The subsequent course of events proved that it would 
 have been not only an act of humanity, but a measure of 
 sound policy also. The excision of a few sea-board 
 excrescences of the Kingdom, as was effected by the 
 present Treaty, did not deprive it of much power, and
 
 CHAP. XXVII.] IMPORTANT DISPATCHES. 303 
 
 left it quite competent to future aggression. The con- 
 sequence was, that when the freshness of the impression 
 caused by their defeat wore away, the old spirit revived ; 
 they again became troublesome, and it was found neces- 
 sary some years after, by a renewal of the war, to adopt 
 the very measure our Government had so pertinaciously 
 refused the permanent occupation of Pegu. All this 
 ought to have been foreseen and avoided. The dis- 
 patches he now received authorized too late the step he 
 so ardently desired. To me, personally, the tardy assent 
 of our Government was fortunate, it probably saved my 
 life ; but the mortification of the General was great as 
 he threw the dispatch across the table to me, exclaiming, 
 " There, Gouger, if I had received that a fortnight ago, 
 your friends would not have got off so easily !" " True," 
 thought I, " nor I either!" There are two sides on 
 which to view every question. It would have been all 
 very well for the Talains, but what would have become 
 of me! 
 
 It took little more than a week to accomplish the voy- 
 age down the river to Rangoon. This is one of the little 
 fragments into which life is broken, that I look back upon 
 with peculiar delight. The weather, early in March, 
 though hot, was charming. Our days and nights were 
 passed upon the deck of the boat, a broad substantial 
 awning shielding us from the sun by day and the dews 
 by night. Our table was well garnished, the subjects 
 for conversation were never exhausted, and the extreme 
 kindness and sympathy shown me by my warm-hearted 
 friend and protector tended to cheer the dejected and 
 disordered frame of my mind, and to restore both it and 
 the body to a healthy action. There can be no doubt, 
 from the observation of my friends, though I was not
 
 304 VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER. . [CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 aware of it myself, that my mind, for a time, was much 
 weakened and impaired by long inactivity and anxiety. 
 It manifested itself to them by frequent returns of what 
 is called absence of mind, often unheeding the remarks 
 made to me, and omitting to reply to questions as though 
 they were unheard, or if answered, it was often incohe- 
 rently, also by a look of vacuity and a habit of inertness 
 and listlessness. Another year of the same sort of im- 
 prisonment would most likely have brought on a state of 
 settled and irrecoverable melancholy, from which I was 
 liberated just in time to save me. As it was, it was 
 merely temporary ; mixing once more with my fellow- 
 creatures rapidly restored me, and what contributed much 
 to do so, was the calm serenity of this river voyage, and 
 the cheering company it was my good fortune to enjoy. 
 
 The passage to Eangoon, however agreeable, did not 
 abound in adventures. One alone happened worth re- 
 lating. 
 
 The General's boat, as I have before remarked, headed 
 the fleet ; but sometimes, as it was powerfully manned, 
 we dropped astern just to see that all was right, then 
 shot ahead again to resume our proper position. I think 
 it was the day we left Prome, as the evening was setting 
 in, we were seated at our table on the deck making 
 vigorous attacks on a noble cold round of beef, when we 
 were surprised by a volley of musket-shots flying over 
 our heads. None of them hit us ; they appeared to be 
 aimed some inches too high. We were at that time four 
 or five miles ahead of the fleet. The right bank of the 
 river, from which the shots proceeded, and which were 
 pretty steadily kept up for two or three minutes, was 
 about 150 yards distant, and was lined with high grass, 
 flags, and jungle. As the river was nearly a mile wide,
 
 CHAP. XXVII. ] AN ADVENTURE. 305 
 
 it would have been an easy matter to put the boat out 
 of harm's way in a few minutes by rowing her into the 
 stream, and as Sir A. Campbell did not speak the Hin- 
 dostanee language, I took the liberty to ask his permis- 
 sion to give the required order for the purpose. But the 
 smell -of powder had put the old soldier's blood up. 
 " No, sir ! just tell the steersman to put the nose of the 
 boat right in among them." 
 
 Now, this may be called bravery with due submission, 
 I call it downright folly. Here were three men seated at 
 table on the deck of an open boat, offering an inviting 
 butt for concealed marksmen on shore, one of the three 
 (I beg his pardon), who ought to have known better, 
 absolutely donning his cocked hat in order to present a 
 fairer target, and showing by the flag at the mast-head 
 that it was the boat of the Chief risking his life for 
 what ? For the chance of punishing a gang of marau- 
 ders, who, if they are good shots, are pretty sure to make 
 him pay dearly for his temerity. 
 
 Having done my duty, and not wishing to be a mark 
 for the enemy, I retired behind the screen of the palan- 
 quin at the stern, while the General directed two or three 
 discharges of grape among the assailants before the boat 
 touched the shore. At one time his eye fell on me 
 snugly ensconced behind his palanquin. He laughed 
 " Gouger," said he, " do you think the shots can't go 
 through that palanquin ? It is only made of leather/' 
 " Certainly they can," was the reply; " but they are not 
 potting at me as they are at you at this moment." 
 
 As the boat touched the shore I quitted my screen ; 
 it is only when nothing is to be done that a man seeks 
 for shelter. She was lined with a row of formidable 
 boarding-pikes, enough to arm the whole crew. A line
 
 306 APPOINTED POLICE MAGISTRATE. [CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 was instantly formed, and we charged our unseen enemy 
 into the jungle, a mad trick, without knowing their 
 numbers or position, but fortunately with greater suc- 
 cess than our folly deserved. They retired before us some 
 hundreds of yards, and we emerged from the jungle just 
 in time to see a body of men escaping across a creek, the 
 entrance to which had been concealed from our view by 
 the denseness of the jungle on the river face. Following 
 them up, we made an unexpected prize of a fine, large 
 war-boat, lying concealed among the high flags : the 
 crew, our late enemy, finding their lair was discovered, 
 took to their heels and fled, leaving us in possession of 
 the splendid trophy of our victory to carry with us in 
 triumph to Rangoon. What chance of escape should we 
 have had, if these men had been decent marksmen ! 
 
 Launched once more on the busy world, it became 
 necessary that I should shake off the indolent habits the 
 last two years had encouraged, and address myself again 
 to some occupation. All my sanguine hopes of fortune 
 had been completely overthrown by the overwhelming 
 crowd of adventurers, who, now that the war had dis- 
 closed the sources of wealth, rushed into the field that I 
 had hitherto been in the habit of looking upon as a close 
 preserve of my own. These brilliant prospects having 
 vanished, Sir A. Campbell recommended me to offer my 
 services to the Government. By the provisions of the 
 Treaty made at Yandabo, we were to retain Rangoon and 
 100 miles of territory around it, until the remaining 
 instalments of the indemnity were paid ; and, as a con- 
 siderable time might elapse before this was done, and the 
 tranquillity of the country in the mean time had to be 
 provided for, he expressed a wish that I should undertake 
 the duties of a Police magistrate so long we as held
 
 CHAP. XXVII.] STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 307 
 
 possession. At the General's request I accompanied him 
 to Calcutta to have an interview with the Govemor- 
 General, and returned with all speed to enter on my 
 appointment. 
 
 It was no sinecure office that I had undertaken. A 
 state of war for two years had, as its usual concomitant, 
 encouraged all sorts of crime. The vices and passions 
 of a people, not naturally vindictive or cruel, had been 
 allowed to acquire strength from the want of means to 
 restrain them, until at length the whole district was in a 
 state of frightful anarchy. In most instances crime went 
 undetected, and when detected often unpunished. Mur- 
 ders and gang rohhery were of every-day occurrence; and 
 had it not been for the merciful protection it afforded to 
 the poor deserted Talains, that article of the Treaty which 
 assigned to us the temporary occupation of this large part 
 of Pegu would have been an unmitigated evil to the un- 
 fortunate inhabitants. But this prevalence of crime so 
 naturally follows a state of war, that I should not think it 
 worth while to continue this chapter to illustrate so evident 
 a truth, were it not to comment on the cruelty of giving up 
 a people to the tyranny of their former masters in a state 
 of revolt, of which we ourselves had been the occasion, 
 and which in truth we may be said to have encouraged for 
 our own advantage. 
 
 I have before said, that previous to the war the two 
 races of Burmans and Peguers were fast amalgamating 
 into one people. Time had almost obliterated the 
 memory of the separate independence of the latter ; their 
 Royal stock had long become extinct by the sword of 
 their conquerors, and all idea of again asserting their 
 claim to separate existence as a distinct nation had 
 vanished, when the British invasion once more aroused
 
 308 INJUSTICE TOWARDS PEGU. [CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 their hopes, and brought them into a state of revolt. 
 After their first alarm had subsided, they made common 
 cause with the invaders. Although their assistance in 
 the field was not needed, the services they rendered in 
 supplying our army with provisions and the means of 
 transport, were so important, that it may reasonably 
 be doubted whether we could ever have marched through 
 the country, and dictated a peace almost under the 
 walls of the Capital, had their assistance been with- 
 held. This may be admitted when we consider the 
 difficulty of marching some hundreds of miles through 
 jungles and forests, amidst a hostile population, where 
 communications might be easily interrupted, and sup- 
 plies intercepted, where carnage could not be ob- 
 tained, nor guides trusted, and contrast it with the 
 facilities we enjoyed by the adhesion of the Peguers 
 to our cause. Our march forward was assisted by a 
 friendly population, through whose good-will barring 
 the opposition of the regular army of the Burmans it 
 was as easy and safe as one through the plains of India. 
 No instance of treachery was ever charged against them, 
 the approach of our army being always hailed with 
 pleasure. 
 
 In proportion to the advantages we derived from the 
 adhesion of the Talains was the exasperation created in 
 the mind of the Burmans by their revolt. Little mercy 
 could they expect, if by any means they should again fall 
 under the iron rule of their former masters; and yet these 
 were the people sacrificed by us to an ungrateful and a 
 mistaken policy. 
 
 That a cruel retribution would be inflicted by the Bur- 
 mese on their revolted subjects was well known to the 
 British authorities. Besides an idle Treaty stipulation that
 
 CHAP. XXVII. ] AN UNPARALELLED MURDER. 309 
 
 they should have the benefit of a general amnesty, which 
 it was equally well known would not be regarded, the 
 temporary possession of the country in question for a 
 protracted period offered facilities for emigration to those 
 who felt themselves peculiarly obnoxious to the Govern- 
 ment. The adjacent province of Tenasserim on the one 
 side, or of Arracan on the other, both ceded to the 
 British, presented a safe asylum, and many, no doubt, 
 saved their lives by a timely flight ; but the bulk of the 
 population did not possess the means, otherwise there 
 might have been a much more general exodus. Mean- 
 while, the Burmese, inflamed with the desire of revenge, 
 saw the chief objects of it eluding their grasp, and chafed 
 at the stipulation which restrained their indignation 
 beyond the boundary line. 
 
 The worst cases I had to deal with were the offspring 
 of this national hatred. I will cite one instance out of 
 many, just to give an idea of the treatment these poor 
 creatures had to expect when the protection of our army 
 was withdrawn from Kan goon. 
 
 I was seated in my Court always crowded from sunrise 
 to sunset when a fine young man of the Talains came 
 before me with the following astounding story : 
 
 He and six other men of his race were in a canoe the 
 previous day fishing, hoping, as a famine of no slight 
 severity was afflicting the country, to take a fish or two to 
 mix with the leaves of trees to which they were reduced 
 for subsistence. They were inhabitants of a village on 
 the banks of the Panlang river, about thirty miles above 
 Rangoon, where the country was so thinly populated and 
 so little cultivated, that for many miles together nothing 
 could be seen from a boat on the river except a tangled 
 jungle on both banks, almost impervious to a human
 
 310 BURMAN REVENGE ON TALAINS. [CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 being. In this wild, secluded spot he and his companions 
 were endeavouring to provide a precarious meal, when a 
 fully-manned war-boat, rowed by fifty or sixty Burmans, 
 came in sight from below, ascending the river. She was 
 the bearer of dispatches to Ava, fully equipped and effi- 
 ciently armed, each of the boatmen, as usual, having his 
 sword or spear. 
 
 The canoe of my informant was hailed and brought 
 alongside, when the Chief of the war-boat demanded why 
 they, being Talains, dared to go about with offensive 
 weapons. The poor men, astonished that the fish-grains 
 fastened to a pole the only thing of the kind they had 
 in the boat could be mistaken for offensive weapons, 
 made no reply, and were immediately seized, and their 
 elbows pinioned behind them with ropes. No further 
 questions were asked, but they were made to kneel at the 
 head of the boat, and to bend over so that their heads 
 might fall into the water, and thus, one after the other, 
 they were deliberately decapitated. 
 
 My informant beheld his six companions slain in cold 
 blood in the manner I have described, and was himself 
 kneeling to receive the fatal blow, when, the boatman 
 who acted as executioner wishing to exchange the sword 
 for a sharper one, a slight delay occurred. At this mo- 
 ment, feeling that the rope that bound him had become 
 loose, and was giving way, the poor fellow suddenly 
 resolved to make a last effort for life, plunged into the 
 river and made good his escape to the adjacent bank, where, 
 after a few steps, the friendly jungle effectually concealed 
 him from his pursuers. After a fruitless search, the 
 war-boat proceeded on her voyage to Ava, and the for- 
 tunate refugee hastened to communicate the intelligence 
 to me.
 
 CHAP. XXVII.] TALAIN VILLAGE ATTACKED. 311 
 
 A month afterwards, on their return, I had the oppor- 
 tunity of arresting this crew of murderers as they were 
 unconsciously regaling themselves at Rangoon. The 
 crime was proved; in fact, it was hardly denied; hut, to 
 my regret, the General, fearing to incur responsibility, 
 or an unenviable reputation for cruelty, declined to exe- 
 cute the villains, who remained in my prison until the 
 town was surrendered, and were then released. 
 
 Is it possible to imagine a crime of grosser brutality 
 than this, divested, as it is, of every object which usually 
 excites to deeds of blood ? No offence, no quarrel, no 
 prospect of plunder, no plea of self-defence or protection, 
 but a feeling of revenge against a people, intense enough 
 to doom the whole race to destruction indiscriminately. 
 If the devoted Talains courted their own destruction by 
 refusing to emigrate, they cannot allege a want of ample 
 forewarning their enemies practised no disguise. 
 
 About the same time my duties called me to a Talain 
 village in the same neighbourhood, which had been 
 attacked and plundered with the usual atrocities. What 
 a melancholy picture is a secluded village after it has been 
 sacked by banditti ! The houses demolished their frag- 
 ments and contents strewed about and the whole place 
 silent and deserted ! Not a soul was to be seen except in 
 a corner of a broken-down house, a man and his son, ten 
 or eleven years old, who apparently had been overlooked 
 in the confusion. ,The boy had his arm broken in the 
 attack by a musket-shot ; and, as the fracture was a bad 
 one, an army surgeon who was with me advised ampu- 
 tation. I promised to provide for the poor little sufferer 
 for life, if he would submit to the operation; but the 
 feelings of the parent would not allow it, so we bound it 
 in a splint, and left him. Doctors are not infallible.
 
 312 AN IRISH SENTRY. [CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 Passing by the spot some months after, curiosity induced 
 me to inquire after his patient, -when I found the little 
 fellow in the full enjoyment of his limh. 
 
 I could never learn what became of the inhabitants of 
 this village, whether dispersed or driven away in a 
 body. The attacking party was reported to be in such 
 strength, that I thought it necessary to ask for fifty 
 European soldiers to capture or destroy them. Although 
 we were on the spot within twenty-four hours of the 
 attack, in the Diana steamer, their track could not be dis- 
 covered. On the passage up from Rangoon to the scene 
 of the attack, two Burmese voluntarily came on board, 
 one with a severe sword-cut on the right hand, which he 
 said was a wound given by himself in cutting wood, an 
 evident subterfuge, as it was easy to discover from his 
 movements that he was not a left-handed man. My sus- 
 picion being excited, I soon found they knew all about 
 the fight, and I gave them in charge to a sentry. Unfor- 
 tunately, the sentry was an Irishman, who put them into 
 an empty cabin, over which he kept strict watch outside 
 the door, but forgot that it had an open window, and 
 that the Burmese were amphibious. Pat's comic astonish- 
 ment but ill repaid me for the vexation of losing the 
 spies, and with them all chance of revealing the mystery. 
 
 I take these facts from a multitude, to point out the 
 condition of the country and the prospects for the unfor- 
 tunate Talains when we withdrew the protection of our 
 army, and left them to their fate.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Famine in Pegu. Depreciations of tigers. One shot in the town of Ran- 
 goon. Payment of the money under Treaty. Mr. Crawfurd appointed 
 Envoy to Ava. Dr. Judson accompanies him. Death of Mrs. Judson. 
 The Burmese secretly collect arms in Rangoon. Their seizure. 
 Crowded state of my gaols. Woongee arrives in Rangoon. Sir A. 
 Campbell honours him with a State dinner. Some account of it. How 
 the Woomlouk enjoys it. Other amusements at table. Embarkation 
 of the troops. Evacuation of Rangoon. I proceed to Amherst. Some 
 notice of it. I go in search of teak forests. Depopulation of the 
 country. -Interesting sight of a herd of wild cows. Conclusion. 
 
 FAMINE to a frightful extent prevailed for some months 
 during our occupation of Eangoon. In a land where 
 Nature had been lavish in her gifts, where the earth gave 
 its increase with less labour bestowed on it, and greater 
 certainty than in almost any other part of the world, the 
 wretched inhabitants were starving, and were driven to 
 all manner of violence for the preservation of their lives. 
 The obstruction it offers to the cultivation of the land is 
 one of the heaviest evils inflicted on a country by the 
 desolating hand of War. Rice had risen to such an 
 enormous price as to render it a luxury attainable only 
 by the wealthy, while the poor of the surrounding country 
 were driven to wild roots and the leaves of trees for the 
 means of supporting life. The entire Province must have 
 been depopulated, had not the spirit of commerce stepped 
 
 p
 
 314 FAMINE IN PEGU. [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 in to its relief by supplying it with the superabundance 
 of countries happily free from such a dreadful visitation. 
 Soon after want became apparent, ship after ship began 
 to arrive at Rangoon laden with grain from the opposite 
 coast of India, disposing of their welcome cargoes at 
 almost fabulous prices. Even when the port became 
 well stocked with provision, it was not easy to disseminate 
 the blessing through the interior, for a boat laden with 
 food became the instant prey of bauds of hungry marau- 
 ders. To effect this object in safety, I moved about the 
 rivers with heavily-laden cargo barges under the protec- 
 tion of a gun-boat with a military guard, dispensing my 
 bounty under the muzzle, as it were, of a twelve-pounder 
 gun. The calamity was not altogether removed until the 
 following crop of rice came in, and rescued the half- 
 famished people from their misery. 
 
 Whether from this, or some other cause, we were at 
 the same time besieged by an unusually large number of 
 tigers. They were at all times numerous around Rangoon, 
 the extensive jungles and abundance of deer affording 
 ample cover and sustenance for predatory animals, still 
 we had no fear in perambulating the country for a mile 
 or two round the town. It is a well-known fact that, in 
 times of famine, as the human race grows feeble and less 
 capable of defence, the beasts of prey become bold in 
 proportion, carrying their depredations even to the habi- 
 tations of man. Cattle and human beings were now 
 carried off in such numbers in the immediate suburbs of 
 the town, that I was allowed by Sir A. Campbell to issue 
 " brown Bess" on loan to as many of the natives as knew 
 how to use her, for the purpose of thinning the ranks of 
 these savage skirmishers, as also to promise a handsome 
 reward in money for each head of the enemy brought in.
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. ] TIGER SHOT IN THE TOWN. 315 
 
 I should hardly he credited if I said -these savage 
 animals were shot even in the streets of Kangoon in 
 broad daylight, but I should not be wandering very far 
 from the truth if I so stated it. 
 
 I was once walking very early in the morning (the 
 only time I had for recreation) along the main street of 
 the town in company with a friend,* when we heard a, 
 shot or t\vo fired in the direction we were going. The 
 sound was not far distant, and we proceeded until we 
 came to a little piece of waste land in the town lying on 
 one side of the street, perhaps about fifty yards square, 
 where the jungle grass had been allowed to grow till it 
 was from four to six feet high. Here I found that the 
 shots proceeded from the roofs of huts, where two of the 
 heroes I had furnished with muskets were taking their 
 practice, with very indifferent success, at a royal tiger 
 which was perambulating the grass. Knowing that 
 "brown Bess" was not a lady of very great precision of 
 character, especially when handled by those who ill 
 understood how to use her, she alarmed me more than 
 the beast who attracted her notice, and I crept behind a 
 bamboo lattice at the corner, thinking to be more out of 
 the line of fire. 
 
 From my frail hiding-place I beheld, to my surprise, 
 a soldier (an Irishman, of course) walk boldly into the 
 grass with his musket, which he levelled at the tiger, not 
 far distant. The faithless flint missed fire, the veteran 
 retreated a step or two, and deliberately chipped his flint, 
 with as much coolness as though no danger confronted 
 him, the tiger not attempting to charge. Again he came 
 forward the second shot told, but not fatally ; the beast 
 
 * The late Captain William Roy, of Perth.
 
 316 PAYMENT OF INDEMNITY. L CnAP - XXVIII. 
 
 rushed, not at his assailant, but directly to the spot where 
 I was ensconced with my friend, who fortunately had by 
 this time possessed himself of a musket from a bystander, 
 and gave . him his coup de grace, when he fell two or 
 three paces only from the spot where we stood. He was 
 probably bent on bursting from the cover, and attempting 
 an escape. It was a full-grown tiger, and had but two 
 shots, most likely those of the soldier and my friend. 
 
 Soon after my return home, Pat came to claim his 
 reward, when the secret of his heroism came out. He 
 and a comrade who were taking an early walk, saw a 
 native with a musket endeavouring to stalk the tiger 
 stealthily. Abusing him for a sneaking coward, they 
 forcibly took his musket, and boldly faced the enemy in 
 the grass. The enraged brute rushed upon his com- 
 rade, tore him terribly, and retreated further into the 
 grass. Pat Conolly (for such was his name) dragged 
 his dying comrade from the scene of conflict, and it was 
 to avenge his death that the second charge was made 
 which I had witnessed. How the tiger got there was a 
 mystery, as the town was surrounded by a close stockade, 
 the gates of which were always kept closed during the 
 night. 
 
 The unpleasant process of paying another instalment 
 of the money stipulated by Treaty proceeded slowly, eager 
 as the Burmese were to regain possession of the valuable 
 province held in pledge, and to commence their crusade 
 ngainst their revolted subjects, yet it must be all paid up 
 before we relinquished our hold on Rangoon. It so hap- 
 pened that the sum fixed for indemnity was most judi- 
 ciously assessed ; had it been more it could not have been 
 paid; as it was, many of the Crown jewels, rubies, 
 diamonds, and sapphires of great value, were sent down
 
 CHAP. XXVIII.] MR. CRAWFURD'S EMBASSY. 317 
 
 and sold to make up the required amount. It was indeed 
 a spoiling of the enemy well merited. 
 
 While these arrangements were in progress, Mr. Craw- 
 furd arrived in Rangoon, appointed by the Government 
 as our Envoy to the Court of Ava, for the purpose of 
 negotiating a Convention of Commerce between the two 
 countries as stipulated by the Treaty signed at Yandabo. 
 Although, no doubt, it was a grievous error to leave this 
 important question to future negotiation, when it might 
 have been so much better settled while we held our com- 
 manding position almost under the walls of the Capital, 
 yet it can hardly be regretted when we reflect that it was 
 the means of giving to the world a far clearer insight into 
 all the internal relations of the country than had yet 
 appeared, in the volumes afterwards published by that 
 intelligent and acute observer. 
 
 Mr. Crawfurd kindly made me a tempting offer to 
 accompany him on this mission as an assistant and inter- 
 preter, but I had no desire again to visit the scenes of my 
 affliction ; the memory of them was too fresh, indeed such 
 it has ever remained, and will remain, since time and 
 change have failed to obliterate it. Besides, Mr. Craw- 
 furd was fortunate enough to secure the services of a 
 much more able assistant in Dr. Judson, who was induced 
 to sacrifice his feelings, and accept the appointment from 
 motives of a far higher character than could be supposed 
 to influence a man of commerce like myself. Mr. Craw- 
 furd promised to use his best endeavours to obtain from 
 the Court the concession of religious toleration, with 
 liberty to preach our holy religion, and make proselytes 
 among the natives without fear of punishment either 
 to the teacher or his convert. It was this, hitherto 
 the great business of Dr. Judson's life, which induced 
 
 p 2
 
 Si 8 DEATH OF MRS. JUDSON. [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 his compliance, and deep was his disappointment when 
 it was found that the bigotry of the Court was proof 
 against the solicitations of the Envoy. What rendered 
 tins fruitless instance of self-sacrifice and devotion to 
 the cause peculiarly distressing was, that in his ab- 
 sence the amiable woman, his wife, who had so long 
 and successfully administered to his and our relief in our 
 troubles, passed away from this life, having been carried off 
 by a fever, which her impaired constitution had not strength 
 enough to resist. She was buried in a piece of ground 
 in front of my house, adjoining my garden in the new 
 settlement of Amherst, where her husband had some idea 
 of taking up his abode if Mr. Crawfurd failed in obtain- 
 ing the desired toleration. 
 
 The time now drew near when British faith was to be 
 put to the test by the surrender of the country we had 
 held in pledge. It was difficult for a nation so utterly 
 faithless as the Burmese to credit the fact, yet they had 
 already seen so much to bewilder them in the incompre- 
 hensible conduct of their new friends, that they really 
 began to think we should be foolish enough to give them 
 back their country. By the end of November they had 
 completed their part of the contract by paying the money, 
 and a Woongee had arrived from Ava, outside the boundary 
 line, to demand, and take possession of the Province. 
 
 But just as the last of the money was being told out, 
 I had the wickedness to enjoy a delightful little panic 
 their own folly gave me the opportunity to create among 
 them. 
 
 The Chiefs had been secretly accumulating arms in their 
 quarters to be in readiness to open upon the Talains the 
 moment they assumed the government. This was in 
 contravention of a written agreement attached to the
 
 CHAP. XXVIII.] SEIZURE OF ARMS. 319 
 
 Trenty, and when it came to my knowledge I thought 
 it my duty to report it to Sir A. Campbell, not be- 
 cause I apprehended any treachery, but as our troops 
 had been gradually withdrawn, and but few remained, 
 caution was necessary. The General saw it in the same 
 light. "I will thank you to go to the Chiefs, Mr. 
 Gouger, take out your watch, and tell them that un- 
 less the arms are surrendered within a quarter of an 
 hour, steps will be taken to secure them." I did so 
 they prevaricated like Burmans. When the time was up 
 I retired, and found every approach to the place already 
 occupied by parties of our soldiers. They kept the streets, 
 while I and one of their officers entered the houses of the 
 Chiefs, and brought to light heaps of trashy muskets, quite 
 as dangerous to themselves as to their enemies. I must 
 confess to a malicious gratification in allowing them for 
 a long time to remain in error as to our motives. They 
 had now no doubt we had outwitted them ! We had 
 taken their money, divested them of their arms, and 
 would certainly keep their country ! After a sufficient 
 punishment had been inflicted, I restored their peace of 
 mind by assuring them that we intended to leave their 
 country next week, when their valuable stock of arms 
 should be returned to them. 
 
 The 9th of December w'as the day selected for the 
 evacuation of Rangoon by our troops, and restoring it to 
 its old rulers. Its appointed Viceroy, the Woongee, was 
 invited to leave his distant quarters beyond the line of 
 boundary some days before the event, and to take up his 
 residence among us, that we might all rejoice together he 
 on his accession to power, we on resigning it, both 
 parties, I believe, being sincere in the happiness they ex- 
 pressed. Perhaps no one had better cause for rejoicing
 
 320 A STATE BANQUET. [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 than myself; in my department the measure had become 
 a necessity. My gaols were crowded with miscreants of 
 the most ferocious character; they had long been so full 
 of rapine and murder as to leave no room for misdemeanor 
 or petty larceny, and, as executions were not the order of 
 the day, it was not easy to conceive what might have been 
 the result of a longer occupation. 
 
 As it was a time of general rejoicing, the Woongee 
 could see no reason why these felons should be excluded 
 from participating in it, and proposed to me a general 
 gaol delivery to hail the auspicious event. I suggested 
 that as His Excellency would so soon have the power to 
 exercise this graceful clemency himself, I would leave the 
 agreeable task to him, as, for my own part, I should 
 prefer being on board ship before the sheepfold was 
 opened and my lambs turned loose. 
 
 To celebrate the approaching happy event, Sir Archibald 
 Campbell invited the Woongee and the elite of his staff 
 to a formal banquet at his house. The chief of the 
 military and naval officers were invited to meet them ; 
 but, although Lady Campbell and several other ladies had 
 joined their husbands, it was thought prudent to dispense 
 with the honour of their company at the table. The ar- 
 rangements, however, were such as to admit of their being 
 spectators while they themselves were screened from view. 
 The table was of great length, as richly ornamented as 
 circumstances would admit, and every delicacy within 
 reach was liberally provided for the gratification of the 
 most fastidious palate. Great attention had been paid to 
 the decoration of the Hall ; and the gay, mixed uniforms 
 of the different services, interspersed here and there with 
 the white drapery of their Burmese guests, produced at 
 the dinner-table a lively and elegant effect. The General
 
 CHAP. XXVIII.] HOW THE WOONDOTJK ENJOYS IT. 321 
 
 had his interpreter, the Chinese youth once before men- 
 tioned, behind his chair; but as few of the company 
 could utter a word of the native language, I was made 
 the most of by being placed between two of the chief 
 guests, while the Woongee occupied the post of honour 
 at the General's right hand. 
 
 Has the reader any curiosity to know how a Burman 
 of rank could conduct himself at a dinner-table in those 
 days ? He shall hear. 
 
 On my right hand sat a Woondouk, second in rank to 
 the Woongee. The dinner commences with soup, of 
 course. My neighbour tastes it, but thinks it not so 
 piquante as his ngapwee; the servant attempts to remove 
 it but he insists on keeping it before him ; a plate of 
 preserved salmon is handed to him he thinks it may 
 improve his soup, so he takes it from the plate and 
 plunges it in ; melted butter, soy, and anchovy sauce 
 follow it still it is not palatable ; a rich stew of duck is 
 handed round he thinks it may improve his soup, so a 
 spoonful goes into it : the mess is improving, but may 
 still get better. I now beseech him to have it removed, 
 and try his luck again by beginning afresh he declines, 
 he does not like taking so much trouble for nothing ; 
 other dishes come round a little is always experimen- 
 talized with the soup. He sees me drinking claret 
 tastes, and wonders I can drink such stuff. I tell a ser- 
 vant to bring him a glass of cherry-brandy that's the 
 thing at last he must have more of that the remove 
 comes my friend turns pale looks behind him calls 
 for his silver spitting-pot which holds near a gallon 
 turns round on his chair, and with surpassing facility dis- 
 charges the late contents of the soup-plate into the gallon 
 measure. Is my friend satisfied ? Not a bit of it ; he
 
 322 AMUSEMENTS AT TABLE. [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 returns to the charge manfully hopes for hetter luck 
 next time. The dinner, which occupied an unusual 
 length of time, afforded abundant scope for other elegant 
 vagaries, but I spare my reader the finale. 
 
 In another part of the table a little by-play took place, 
 which was irresistible. Colonel Kelly, of Waterloo cele- 
 brity, a man who never could resist a bit of fun, sat be- 
 tween two of the Burmese guests. Before him, as dinner 
 was concluding, stood a dish containing a huge ornamen- 
 tal lump of fresh butter, considered a great delicacy at 
 the time, the quality of which Lady Campbell was justly 
 proud of. "What's that?" said the man on his left. 
 The colonel cut off a considerable slice, and was preparing 
 to place it on the interrogator's plate, when he saw the 
 man open his mouth as though be expected it there. The 
 hint was instantly taken, and an ounce of fine solid butter 
 went into the fellow's mouth, which at once closed upon 
 it, the Colonel drawing the unloaded knife through his 
 clenched teeth. He was delighted, telling his friend on 
 Kelly's right how good it was. The same operation was 
 performed upon him. 
 
 Now, close by, sat a tall, sedate lieutenant in H.M. 
 navy, so solemn in appearance that he did not seem to 
 have a joke in him. He had watched this process in- 
 tently, when, perhaps thinking it might be some religious 
 ceremony, or at all events a customary mark of politeness, 
 seeing the butter dish come round to him, without moving 
 a muscle of his countenance or asking a question, he ex- 
 cised a slice which might have served a man for break- 
 fast, and, with the utmost gravity, exhibited it before the 
 face of an astonished Burman seated next to him. The 
 man taken by surprise mechanically opened his mouth, 
 and in went the delicious morsel evidently a mistake on
 
 CHAP. XXVIII.] SURRENDER OF RANGOON. 223 
 
 both sides ; the one mistaking it for an English custom, 
 the other for a Burmese one. 
 
 Notwithstanding such little contre-temps as those I 
 have described, the entertainment went off admirably, and 
 our guests were delighted. I must do the Woongee the 
 justice to say that he was an exception to the general 
 want of refinement and propriety. His manners were 
 dignified, calm, and self-possessed. 
 
 The following day the last party of soldiers embarked 
 in the transports. Sir Archibald Campbell had kindly 
 allotted to my use one of the gun-boats of the flotilla to 
 carry me to Amherst. When I was fairly afloat, but not 
 till then, the doors of my prison flew open, and a rare lot 
 of villains were let loose on society. The Woongee most 
 likely constituted them a corps of braves, and used them 
 against the Talains, who still stood on their defence, 
 poor fellows, though without the shadow of a chance of 
 success to their cause. 
 
 A signal gun was now fired from the General's ship, 
 and, with the sound, the sovereignty of Henzawuddu 
 reverted to its Burmese rulers. 
 
 One word, in conclusion, about Amherst. It is situated 
 on the point of an estuary into which the waters of the 
 river Salween discharge themselves, after receiving its 
 large tributaries, the Attaran and the Gyne, near to 
 Maulmaiu, about twenty-five miles up the river. The 
 climate was salubrious, the land high and hold to the 
 seaward, and the view of the distant hills of Balloo island 
 very captivating. It is not surprising that Mr. Crawfurd, 
 who had made a short visit to this spot, should have se- 
 lected it as the site for the chief Civil station of our new 
 possessions on the coast. But unfortunately he made 
 too light of the difficulties of the approach to its harbour.
 
 324 I RETIRE TO AMHERST. [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 A chain of rocks, some sunken, others appearing above 
 the -water, extends nearly a mile into the sea, across which 
 the tide sets with great velocity, rendering the entrance 
 to the harbour extremely hazardous except at high water, 
 and even then, with a leading wind, not entirely free from 
 danger. This eventually proved fatal to its success. I, 
 nevertheless, continued to reside there for some mouths, 
 in civil charge under the Commissioner of the province, 
 until there was little reason to hope for its prosperity. 
 The Talains at first did not emigrate in such numbers as 
 I had expected; old ties and associations were too strong 
 to be overcome, even when a despotic tyranny was to be 
 exchanged for freedom. Still, numbers flocked to me at 
 Amherst, and dispersed themselves on the coast. 
 
 As the country was entirely new to us I again indulged 
 my propensity to roam in search of novelties, and as often 
 as I could get away I passed several days in ascending the 
 rivers I have before mentioned. A ship's jolly-boat, rowed 
 by four natives, who accompanied me from Rangoon, pro- 
 vided with an awning for protection from the weather, 
 afforded all the means of transport I required; but, beyond 
 the features of the country itself, there was really very 
 little to investigate. On some of the rivers the Gyne, for 
 example scarcely a hut or an inhabitant was to be found 
 there were dense jungles, wide plains, deep forests, but 
 all without a vestige of population. The prime object of my 
 search, however, was teak-trees, forests of which, we were 
 led to believe, existed, though no one could tell us exactly 
 where to find them. I did, nevertheless, succeed in dis- 
 covering them at last, and, setting gangs of my natives 
 at work upon them, I had the honour to be the first 
 Englishman who ever cut a raft of teak timber upon our 
 .new possessions.
 
 CHAP. XXVIII.] SEARCH FOR TEAK FORESTS. 325 
 
 In one of my rambles in search of teak-trees up the 
 river Gyne,* I had the good fortune to witness one of the 
 most rare and interesting sights the depths of the forests 
 can disclose. 
 
 I landed on the right bank of the river with three of 
 my boatmen, leaving the fourth in charge of the jolly- 
 boat. As the forest was dense, and as we had to make 
 a pathway for ourselves through the brushwood, where 
 there was any, we walked in Indian file, one of the men 
 leading the line, in which I followed second, the other 
 two boatmen bringing up the rear. To avoid the danger 
 of losing our way, we took the usual precaution of 
 chipping the bark of the trees and breaking the branches 
 and twigs as we passed, or leaving what other mark we 
 could in our progress, or the probability is, without 
 such a clue, we should never again have found our 
 boat. 
 
 We had not proceeded in this way more than a quarter 
 or half a mile, when my leader, an intelligent woods- 
 man, being eight or ten yards ahead, stopped suddenly 
 and dropped on his knee ; a backward motion of his 
 hand told me to be quiet. I followed his example, re- 
 peated the signal to those behind, and so we all remained 
 still as death, until the leader, without venturing to look 
 round, motioned me forward with a finger. The nature 
 of the ground enabled me to creep in advance without 
 the noise even of my footstep, until I reached the spot 
 where the man was hidden. 
 
 A beautiful spectacle now opened upon me. A few 
 
 * I am not quite sure that this event occurred on the river Gyne it 
 might possibly have been the Attaran. I write the anecdote from 
 memory only.
 
 326 AN INTERESTING ADVENTURE. [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 bushes screened us from a circle of verdant herbage, 
 which had apparently been covered with water in the 
 rainy season, and in this little shallow basin were to be 
 seen a herd of wild cows quietly grazing on the rich 
 pasture. The' herd might have numbered about sixteen 
 or eighteen, and from the placid, unconcerned manner 
 in which they enjoyed their food, appeared to have no 
 sense of danger or knowledge of the proximity of any 
 unusual intruders. Not so the bull. When I first 
 caught sight of him he was motionless as a statue, his 
 bold front turned towards us, and his head and neck 
 stretched so erect towards the sky that his nose was on 
 a perpendicular line with his fore legs. He could not 
 see us, but he evidently smelt us, though there was no 
 wind to carry the scent in his direction. It was a hot 
 day and a dead calm. The sight was beautiful beyond 
 description. 
 
 I remained gazing at them in deep silence and admira- 
 tion for more than half a minute. My double-barrelled 
 gun, laden with balls, was in my hand, and I could easily 
 have brought down the bull, as he was not more than 
 thirty yards off, but the sight was too engaging, and I let 
 him off. On a sudden, the beautiful statue seemed to 
 have come to the decision that there was danger in the 
 wind, as he set off at full gallop into the forest in the 
 opposite direction to me, the cows, who to the last mani- 
 fested not the slightest sense of danger, left off feeding 
 in a moment and followed their lord at full speed, the 
 crashing of the brushwood for some time after we lost 
 sight of them attesting their alarm. T did not know at 
 the time what a rare sight I was witnessing, one which 
 I was afterwards told by an accomplished naturalist had 
 not been enjoyed by auy European traveller before me.
 
 CHAP. XXVIII.] HERD OF WILD COWS. 327 
 
 This was unfortunate, as, had I known it, my observation 
 would have been more minute. The following facts, 
 however, may be depended upon. 
 
 The cows were small in stature, considerably smaller 
 than the breed of Aldemey ; their shape and figure were 
 light and elegant; they did not possess humps, like the 
 domesticated cattle of India ; they were, without excep- 
 tion, of the same colour, a light reddish dun ; their 
 beautiful slender legs being all four white below the 
 knee. The bull was rather larger and thicker- set than 
 the cows he had a respectable dew-lap, which, together 
 with the breast and shoulders, was covered with a longer 
 dark hair, approaching to black. I do not well remember 
 the horns, but I am inclined to think they were not long, 
 or I should most likely have remarked them. Both the 
 bull and the cows were exceedingly sleek in their coats, 
 which shone as though they had been subjected to care- 
 ful daily brushing. 
 
 My intercourse with the Burmese country ends with 
 the failure of the settlement of Amherst. Our expec- 
 tations of its becoming a Port of thriving and increasing 
 commerce were totally disappointed. I remained there 
 nearly a year, until no hope of its prosperity remained, 
 when, tired of the monotonous life of an idle functionary, 
 I resigned my appointment under the Government, again 
 to engage in the busy world, and to follow the bent 
 of my mercantile inclinations in a wider field than 
 could be found in these depopulated and worthless pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 and Kinder, Printers, Augel Court, Skimicr Street,
 
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