That portion of Asia in which the Burman empire is situated slopes from the central mountains towards the south; and the Burmese territory is watered by four great streams, namely, the Irawadi and the Kyen-dwen, which unite their courses at 21° 50' N. lat., the Sittang or Pounloung, and the Salwin. The first two rivers have their sources somewhere in the northern chain of mountains in the interior, one head stream of the Irawadi probably coming from Tibet; the Salwin further to the east in Tibet; and the Sittang, which is the smallest of the four, in the hills to the S.E. of Mandalay; they all run in a southerly course to the Indian Ocean. The Irawadi aud the Salwin are large rivers, which in the lower part of their course overflow the flat country on their banks during the season of the rains, and in the upper force their way through magnificent defiles. The former is navigable a considerable distance above Bhamo; but the latter is practically useless as a means of communication, owing to the frequent obstacles in its channel. The Burmese empire with its present limits contains no maritime districts, and only isolated tracts of alluvial plain; it is in the main an upland territory, bounded at its southern extremity by a frontier line at the distance of about 200 miles from the mouths of the Irawadi, in 19° 30' N. lat. From this point the country begins to rise, and thence for about 300 miles farther it contains much rolling country intersected by occasional hill ranges; beyond this it is wild aud mountainous.

Though inferior in point of fertility to the low-lying tracts of British Burmah, the upland country is far from being unproductive. The chief crops are rice (of which the Burmese count 102 different sorts), maize, millet, wheat, various pulses, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. The sugarcane appears to have been long known to the Burmese; but, though the climate and soil are extremely favourable, it is not generally cultivated. A cheap and coarse sugar is obtained from the juice of the Palmyra palm, which abounds in the tract south of the capital. The cocoa and areca palms are not common. The tea-plant, which is indigenous, is cultivated in the hills by some of the mountain tribes at the distance of about five days’ journey, and by others in still greater perfection at the distance of about ten days’ journey, from the capital. It seems, however, to be another plant, probably the Eloeodendron persicum f which furnishes the principal ingredient iu the hlapét, or pickled tea, that forms one of the favourite condiments of Burmah. Cotton is grown in every part of the kingdom and its dependencies, but chiefly in the dry lands and climate of the τιpper provinces. Indigo is indigenous, and is universally cultivated, but in a very rude manner; it is still more rudely manufactured, and is wholly unfit for exportation.

The most common fruits in Burmah are the mango, the orange, the citron, the pine, the custard apple, the jack, the papaya, and the plantain. The yam and the sweet potato are grown, but not extensively; the common potato is unknown. Onions are produced; and capsicum, which, after salt, is the most ordinary condiment used by the Burmese, is cultivated everywhere.

The forests of Burmah abound in fine trees. Among these the teak holds a conspicuous place; some of the finest teak forests were lost to the Burmese, however, with Pegu. Almost every description of timber known in India is produced in the Burmese forests, from which also an abundant supply is obtained of the varnish employed by the Shans and the Burmese in their manufacture of lacquered ware. Sticklac of an excellent quality is obtained in the woods.

Burmah is rich in minerals, and produces gold, silver, copper, tiu, lead, antimony, bismuth, amber, coal, petroleum, nitre, natron, salt, limestone, and marble, the jade or yu of the Chinese, sapphires, and other precious stones. Gold is found in the sands of different rivers, and also towards the Shan territory on the eastern frontier; but the demand is very much greater than the native supply. Silver is got also near the Chinese frontier. The mountainous districts of the Shan territory contain almost all the other metals; but they are not worked, and the copper and tin, which are seen in the capital, are imported from China. Iron is found in several places, and is wrought especially at Poukpa, near a mountain of that name to the eastward of the old capital Pagân, and also at Maedoo, north-west of the capital; but, owing to ignorance and the want of proper methods, about 30 or 40 per cent, of the metal is lost in the process. Large deposits of rich magnetic oxide, as yet untouched, exist in the ridges east of the capital near the banks of the navigable river Myit-Ngé, and the same district contains lime in great abundance and of remarkable whiteness; while statuary marble, equal to the best Italian specimens, is found about 15 miles north of the capital and east of the Ira wadi. Mines of amber are wrought, among other places, at Hookhong or Payendwen, near the sources of the Kyen-dwen, and their produce must be abundant if one may judge from the price of the article at the capital. Nitre, natron, and salt are found in various quarters. Sulphur also occurs in some places, as in the district of Silleh-Myo and in the neighbourhood of the petroleum wells; but the quantity is comparatively small, and a supply has to be obtained from China. Coal has been discovered in patches, but not in any quantity worth working. Petroleum, which is used by all ranks among the Burmese for burning in lamps, and also for smearing wood as a preservative against insects, is found near the village of Ye-nang-gyoung, on the banks of the Irawadi. Here are upwards of one hundred pits or wells, with a general depth of from 210 to 240 feet; though some of them are deeper, and reach to the depth of 300 feet. The shaft is of a square form, from 3 to 4 feet across, and lined with horizontal balks. The liquid appears to boil up from the bottom like au abundant spring, and is extracted in buckets, and sent to all quarters of the country. The annual yield is calculated at 11,690 tons. A good deal is now imported into England.

The precious stones which are produced in the Burmese territories are chiefly the sapphire and the ruby. They are found about 60 or 70 miles in a north-east direction from the capital, over an area of about 100 square miles, by sinking pits in the gem beds. The varieties of the saoDhire found there are the blue or oriental sapphire, the red or oriental ruby, the purple or oriental amethyst, the yellow or oriental topaz, besides different varieties of chrysoberyl and spinelie. The Crown lays claim to the produce of these rivers; and all the stones that exceed the value of £10 are sent to the treasury. No stranger is ever permitted to approach the spots where these precious stones are found. The yu or jade mines are situated in the Mogoung district, about 25 miles south-west of Meinkhoom. During certain seasons no fewer than 1000 men—Shans, Chinese, Panthays, and Kakhyens—are engaged in the excavation of the stone, which is found in the form of rounded boulders, sometimes of considerable size. Each digger pays so much a month for the right of search, and all he finds becomes his own. Momien, in Yunnan, was formerly the chief seat of the manufacture of the jade, and still produces a considerable quantity of small articles.

The country of the Burmese, abounding in forests, affords extensive shelter to wild animals. The elephant and the rhinoceros—both the one-horned (R. indiens) and the twohorned (7?. sumatranus)— are found in the deep forests of the country. The tiger and the leopard are numerous, as well as the wild hog, and several species of deer, such as the Indian roe, the axis, and the barking deer (Cervus muntjac). In the Irawadi is found, as far up as Bhamo, a peculiar kind of dolphin. The rivers and lakes abound with fish, from which the inhabitants prepare their favourite condiment of ngapee. A detailed description of several of the species will be found in Day’s contributions to the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1869, 1870. Of birds, the jungle-fowl is common, and is seen in coveys in all the forests of the country; while domestic breeds, often of very large size, are kept in great numbers, not only for the sake of the eggs or the flesh, but also to afford amusement of a barbarous kind. Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus m,elano-g aster), scissor-bills (Rhyncops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises. There are also peacocks, and varieties of pheasants, partridges, and quails.

The domestic animals are the ox, the buffalo, and the horse. Oxen are used for draught in the υpper country, and buffaloes in the southern parts. They are of a good description, and, ranging in the luxuriant pastures of the plains, they commonly appear in high order. The buffalo is confined to agricultural labour, and the ox alone is used as a beast of burden or of draught. The Burman horses, which are rarely more than thirteen hands high, are never used but for riding. Elephants are kept for the pleasure of the king, and the taming of those that are newly caught is one of the favourite spectacles of the people. A white elephant (apparently an albino), when found, is greatly prized, and is kept at court as a sacred appendage of royalty. The dog is neglected, and is seen prowling about the streets, a prey to famine and disease. Cats are numerous; and about the capital a few goats and sheep, of a puny race, are kept more for curiosity than for use. A few asses are also seen, which are brought from China. The camel is not known.

The Burmese in person have the Mongoloid characteristics, common to the Indo-Chinese races, the Tibetans, and tribes of the Eastern Himalaya. They may be generally described as of a stout, active, well-proportioned form; of a brown but never of an iutensely dark complexion, with black, coarse, lank, and abundant hair, and a little more beard than is possessed by the Siamese. The name they give their own race is Mrau-mà (as written), generally pronounced Ba-nιa, and from this the various forms of “Burmah” appear to have been taken. Besides the Burmese proper, there are numerous tribes of Paloungs, Toungthoos, Karens, and others toward the east, many of them in a state of semi-independence; and all round the northern frontier and along the ranges that traverse the upper regions, vast hordes of Kakhyens or Singphos maintain a rough, cateran life, and come down to levy black mail on the more peaceful inhabitants. The Shans constitute a great number of small principalities along the whole eastern border, subject some to Burmah, some to China, some to Siam, and in some cases owning a double allegiance, according to their position. The Shans everywhere profess Buddhism, and have some kind of literature and the traces of culture. To their race the Siamese themselves belong. The Kakhyens are square-faced, strong-jawed, and obliqueeyed. They are still in a low’ state of civilization, are destitute of letters, aud continue in paganism. Their chiefs are supported by offerings in kind,— receiving, for example, a leg of every animal that is killed. One kind of industry—the manufacture of toddy and arrack—is extensively carried on, and the whole population are regular consumers of the produce. Various other tribes, as the Pwons and the Kakoos, are scattered throughout the empire; but they are not of much individual importance. The population of the country has been variously estimated and grossly exaggerated by the ignorance of Europeans, who have raised it to 17,000,000, 19,000,000, and even 33,000,000. Mr Craufurd, on the best data that he could procure, rated the inhabitants at 22 to the square mile, which, under the now contracted limits of the empire, would give a total population of 3,090,000, and Colonel Yule estimated, in 1855, that, within the area between the British frontier and 24° N. lat., it probably did not exceed 1,200,000, while within the whole empire at its widest limits there were not more than 3,000,000. Count Bethlen states, in 1874, that he obtained statistics of tho houses in Burmah from a Burmese official, which made the number 700,000, without including those among the Shans to the east of the Salwin; so that if we allow five inhabitants to each we have 3,500,000 for a total population, and if we include the Shans probably 4,000,000.

The Burmese government is a pure despotism, the kiug dispensing torture, imprisonment, or death, according to his sovereign discretion. The chief object of government seems to be the personal honour and aggrandizement of the monarch; and the only restraint on the exercise of his prerogative is the fear of an insurrection. He is assisted in his administration by a public and a privy council, known respectively as the Hlot-dau and the Byadeit; all questions, before they are submitted to the public advisers of his majesty, are debated in the privy council, which consists generally of four Atwen-woons to whom are attached deputies, secretaries and other officers (Tsaré dau-gyis, great royal writers;” Than-dau-zens, “receivers of the royal voice ”), who carry messages, and report from time to time the proceedings of the council to the king. The Hlot-dau also usually consists of four ministers or Woongyis, and is presided over by the crown-prince (Einshé-men, or lord of the eastern house). The paymaster-general is an officer of high importance; and the other officers of distinction are the king’s armour-bearer and the master of the elephants, but the latter have no share in the administration of public affairs. The king may order any of those great officers to be punished at his pleasure; and a minister may, by his order, be seized by the public executioner, and laid at the side of the road for hours under the burning sun with a weight upon his breast; and after undergoing this disgraceful punishment, may continue to discharge his high function as before. The country at large is ruled by provincial governors, and is divided into provinces (or Myos), townships, districts, and villages. The civil, military, judicial, and fiscal administration of the province is vested in the governor, or Myo-woon, who exercises the power of life and death, though in all civil cases an appeal lies from his sentence to the chief council at the capital. In all the townships and villages there are judges with a subordinate jurisdiction. But from a mere detail of the provincial administration and judicial institutions of the Burmese, their extreme inefficiency can scarcely be known. No Burmese officer ever receives a fixed salary. The higher class is paid by an assignment either of land or of the labour and industry of a given portion of the inhabitants, and the inferior magistrates by fees, perquisites, and other emoluments; and hence extortion and bribery prevail amongst all the functionaries of the Burmese Government. Justice is openly exposed for sale; and the exercise of the judicial functions is so lucrative, that the two executive councils have by their encroachments deprived the regular judge of the greater part of his employment.

The Burmese laws are mainly contained in the Dliam-masat, a code ascribed to Manu, but quite different from the Manu’s Code of the Brahmans. It is said to have been introduced into Burmah from Ceylon by Buddaghosha, the traditional apostle of the Indo-Chinese nations. The criminal code is barbarous and severe, aud the punishments are shocking to humanity. Gang robbery, desertion from the king’s service, robbing of temples, and sedition or treason, are considered the most heinous crimes, and are cruelly punished, the criminal being in some cases embowelled, or thrown to wild beasts. Decapitation is the general mode of execution, but crucifixion and fracture of the limbs are also practised, and women are usually put to death by the stroke of a bludgeon across the throat. For minor offences, fines, whipping, and imprisonments are the punishments adjudged. In important cases torture is applied both to principals and witnesses; and the jailers often torture their prisoners in order to extort money from them. The English and American prisoners duriug the war of 1824 were frequently tortured, aud had to pay fines to the jailer in order to procure milder treatment. Trial by ordeal is sometimes resorted to, as well as other superstitious modes of procedure. The administration of justice, however vexatious and expensive, is far from efficient; and the police is as bad as can possibly be conceived.

There are no hereditary honours under the Burmese Government. All the public functionaries may be dismissed from their offices, and deprived of their rank at the caprice of the sovereign; while any subject, with the exception of a slave or outcast, may aspire to the first offices in the state, to which, in reality, persons of very mean origin do frequently attain. The great officers of Government hold the first rank after the king and the princes of the blood, and are distinguished by a chain or badge, which is the order of nobility, and of which there are different degrees, distinguished by the number of strings or small chains which compose the ornament. Three of open chain-work mark the lowest rank; three of neatly-twisted wire the next; there are then six, nine, twelve, and finally twenty-four, which the king alone is entitled to wear. But every article possessed by a Burman for use or ornament—his ear-rings, cap of ceremony, horse-furniture, the material of his drinking-cup, if it be of gold or any other metal, the colour and quality of his umbrella (an article in general use, and one of the principal insignia of rank), whether it be of brown varnished paper, red, green, gilded, or plain white, the royal colour— all indicate the rank of the person; if any of the lower orders usurp the insignia of a higher class, he may be slain with impunity by the first person who meets him; and so exclusive is the aristocratical spirit of the higher orders, that such a usurpation would be sure of punishment.

When a merchant acquires property he is registered by a royal edict under the name of Thuthé or “rich man,” which gives him a title to the protection of the court, while it exposes him also to regular extortion. The priesthood form a separate order, who are interdicted from all other employment, and are supported by voluntary contributions. They are distinguished by the yellow colours in their dress, which it would be reckoned sacrilege in any other person to wear. Aformal complaint was made, during the conferences with the British previous to the peace, because some of their camp followers were seen dressed in yellow clothes. There is also an order of nuns and priestesses, who make a vow of chastity, but may at any time quit their order.

The free labouring population consist of proprietors or common labourers; and they are all considered the slaves of the king, who may at all times call for their services as soldiers, artizans, or common labourers. Hence a Burman, being the property of the king, can never quit the country without his especial permission, which is only granted for a limited time, and never to women on any pretence. The British and others who had children by Burmese women during a residence in the country experienced the greatest difficulty, even with the aid of heavy douceurs, in taking them along with them. The Dhammasat numbers seven classes...