below the Ghauts, and is said to have then been 24 m. in |
circ. this portion of the conjoined cities is now about
8 m. in circ., nearly uninhabited, and in ruins; these
however, are all of granite, and far excel in extent and
grandeur those of any other Hindoo city. Bijanagur has
a most remarkable site. "It is built," says Hamilton, "in
a plain, enclosed by and encumbered with stupendous
masses of granite, which, in some places, swell up from
the surface to the form and magnitude of hills, and in
others present detached blocks of various forms, piled
over one another in all sorts of fantastical combinations;
occasionally surrounding little isolated valleys, and else-
where obstructing all passage except through the narrow
winding defiles which separate the fragments. The com-
munications from street to street, and in some cases the
streets also, follow the mazes of these chasms, and in one
quarter the principal thoroughfare is under a naturally
covered passage formed by the rocks; the ancient battle-
ments, turrets, and gateways are still in a high state of
preservation: the main streets paved with immense
flags of granite, are intersected at intervals by aque-
ducts; and tanks and wells are excavated in the rock.
Temples, choultries (hotels), and many other edifices,
public and private, of the purest style of Hindoo archi-
tecture and great dimensions, are seen perched on the
most conspicuous eminences of the naked rock, or ranged
in long lines on the plain. ... There is a continued suc-
cession of paved streets, now nearly uninhabited, for
three miles, from the Toombuddra ferry to Humpa, at the
W. extremity; and the appearance of the ruins about
Camlapoor, on the S. W., indicate that they also were
once included within the city boundaries.... The walls,
pillars, arches, and even the flat roofs and beams of all
these structures are composed of granite.... Some blocks
are from 12 to 15 feet broad, and thick in proportion;
and though of unequal bulk and various shapes, are uni-
versally well cut, fitted to each other with the greatest
nicety, and display at this day an exterior lustre sur-
passing that of most buildings of 20 years' standing."
The Toombuddra is about one third of a mile broad, but
at the upper part of the city contracts greatly, and here
there was once a stone bridge: its bed is clogged by
detached granite rocks, which rise above its surface, and
are generally surmounted by some religious edifice. It
forms the N. and E. boundary of the city, which is en-
closed S. and E. partly by its natural barriers, partly by
strong stone walls. The chief edifices are the temple
of Wittoba (an incarnation of Vishnu), nearly in the
centre of the city, which consists of one central and four
subordinate buildings, surrounded by several smaller
pagodas and numerous cells, and occupying an area
400 feet long by 20 wide; this temple contains a cha-
riot cut entirely out of granite, on which the image of
the god is exposed on holidays: the temple of Maha-
deva, at Humpa, with a pyramidical portico of 10 stories,
and 160 feet high, well endowed, and attended by many
Brahmins, faces a fine street 90 feet wide, lined with hand-
some stone buildings decorated with sculptures, running
nearly parallel to the Toombuddra, from which it is
separated by rows of trees, and leading to another temple,
where there is an image of the bull Nundy, 12 feet high,
carved out of the solid rock. Between Humpa and
Camlapoor the rocks are studded with pagodas, the
principal of which are the great temple of Krishna, and
a smaller one dedicated to Ganesa, but which contains
also a colossal granite image of the former, 16 feet high
by 10 feet broad. The inner city near this is the resi-
dence of the rajah, and contains the remains of four
different palaces. Bijanagur has a temple of Rama, with
pillars of black hornblende, and amongst a group of
temples near the ferry is a gigantic figure of Huniman,
carved in bas-relief. This city was built by two brothers,
between A. D. 1336 and 1343: in 1564 it was taken and
completely sacked by the Mohammedans. (Hamilton's
E. I. Gaz., i. 239, 240.)

BIJNEE, or KHUNTAGHAUT, a territory of Hindostan, prov. Bengal, bordering on Assam, and belonging partly to Britain and partly to Bootan. It lies on both sides the Brahmaputra, extending S. as far as the Garrows mountains, and consists chiefly of a level country, well fitted for the production of rice, especially that portion S. of the Brahmaputra, which is the most valuable, and besides wheat, produces barley, mustard, pulse, betel, sugarcane, and mulberry-trees. The villages are generally neater than those in Bengal, and have sugar-cane and betel plantations. For a considerable period Bijnee was not known to be included in the Dewanny territories, but was considered to belong to Bootan; presents of elephants, &c. were, however, made yearly to both the Deb. rajah and the British government, and a kind of dependence on either or both of them, acknowledged by the Bijnce rajah. In 1785 the payinent in elephants was commuted by the British government into a tribute of 2,000 rupees: the Bootan tribute consists chiefly of dried fish. Half the rents of the rajah are paid in coarse cotton cloth woven by females. His affairs generally are very ill managed; his country plundered by needy re

tainers; its trade ruined by exactions and monopolies ;
and some years since he was so poor as to be obliged
once in three years to raise loans by absolute begging.
The people are divided into two sections, the Bhakat, or
worshippers of Krishna, and the Gorami, who eat pork
and other meats, and drink liquors. The British gov.
claim the right of investiture to the zemindary.
BUNEE, a town of Hindostan, cap. of the above rajah-
ship, 23 m. N. Goalpara; lat. 26° 29′, long. 90° 47′ E.
It contains a fort defended by a brick wall, the residence
of the rajah, some small brick temples, and about 100
thatched huts. It appears at present to belong to
Bootan. (Hamilton's E. I. Gaz. i. 241-213.)

Their

BILBAO, a sea-port town of Spain, the ancient cap. of Biscay, in a fine plain, on the Nervion or Ibaizabal, about 10 m. above its confluence with the sea at Portugalete; lat. 43° 15′ 47′′ N., long. 2° 45′ W. Pop. 15,000. It is said to be healthy, notwithstanding the climate is remarkable for humidity. Houses lofty, uniform, and well-built, with projecting roofs, that afford shelter from the sun and rain. Streets well paved and level; several of them may be washed at pleasure with water conveyed by an aqueduct from a mountain a league distant. Bowles describes it as a paragon of cleanliness; but its pre-eminence in this respect is questioned by Mr. Inglis. No wheeled carriages are allowed to pass along the streets, but all goods are carried in panniers on mules, or in sledges, which have a contrivance by which they constantly moisten their path with water. There is a fine promenade by the river's side, over which a suspensionbridge is thrown in lieu of the old wooden one that formerly existed. There is also a stone bridge of 3 arches, and a handsome cemetery, formed by the corporation, at an expense of 30,000Z Convents and monasteries are here very conspicuous. They are immense piles, of little architectural beauty, having strong gratings to all the windows. Some of them are very rich; and a nun must take about 30,000 reals (3001) into the convent on admission. The abattoirs, or slaughter houses, in the Tuscan style, in the centre of the town, are well contrived, well ventilated, and copiously supplied with fresh water. The corporation is extremely rich. On the occasion of the visit of Ferdinand VII. no less than 2,000,000 of reals (20,0001.) were expended in feasts, decorations, and bull-fights. funds arise from octrois, or tolls, upon the various necessaries imported by sea or land, and the monopoly of the supply of beef, which is farmed to the butchers. They maintain an elementary school for teaching reading, writing, and Latin, by an impost of 4 reals per ton on foreign vessels entering the port. The Consulado, or Tribunal of Commerce, supports schools of drawing, architecture, mathematics, and the French and English languages, for the children of the town and neighbour. hood. There is an hospital calculated to accommodate 250 patients; it has a ward for the reception of strangers or persons above the lower class, who may wish for good advice at a moderate expense, without troubling their relations or friends. These pay half-a-dollar a day, and have the comforts of a private house, and the best hospital attendance. The manufactures consist of various descriptions of hardware, anchors, leather, paper, hats, tobacco, and earthenware. There are several docks for building merchant vessels; two large rope manufactories, &c. Bilbao is the principal port for the N. of Spain. The exports principally consist of iron and steel, wool, fish, fruits, chestnuts, &c., and sometimes large quantities of corn from the interior; but the trade of the port has declined ever since Saxon wools began to be preferred to those of Spain in foreign markets. The clearances are not now above half their former number. Some houses have still considerable returns from the fish trade, and one or two from the exportation of iron; but this also has fallen off, from the greater cheapness of Swedish iron. The imports consist principally of cotton and woollen fabrics, colonial products, &c. Large vessels usually stop at Portugalete, near the mouth of the river, or at Olaviaga, about 4 m. below the town. Spring tides rise about 13 ft.; and by taking advantage of them, vessels of considerable burden occasionally reach the town.

There are no public amusements, excepting occasional bull fights. Two attempts to establish a theatre have failed; partly, as Mr. Inglis supposes, through the agency of the priests. One or two houses are said to realise from 2,000l. to 3,000l. a year; but Mr. Inglis thinks no one spends 3001. Beef costs about 10 quartos (3d.) per lb.; mutton, 34d.; and the best bread, ljd. Labourers earn from 10. to 1s. a day; masons, carpenters, &c., from 20d. to 28. Good wine is 3d. a bottle. The markets are well supplied with vegetables and fruit, particularly the tomata, or love apple, a principal ingre. dient in Spanish cookery. There is plenty of game, among which the small birds called chimbos are great dainties. The cuttle fish, and a particular kind of eels are also highly esteemed. Circles of from 6 to 10 families agree to meet together every evening during the winter, at the house of one of the party, changing the rendezvous

BINGLEY, a market-to. of England, W. R. co. York, I 178 m. N. W. by N. London, 32 m. W. by S. York, near the Aire. Pop. in 1821, 6,176; 1831, 8,037. It consists chiefly of one long street, tolerably built, and well supplied with water. All Saints Church is a neat edifice, in the later English style: the Baptists, Independents, and Methodists, have places of worship. A free grammarschool was endowed by Henry VIII.; there is also a national school and some almshouses. The worsted, cotton, and paper manufactures are carried on, and there is some trade in malt, which is conveyed to other parts, chiefly by the Leeds and Liverpool canal, that passes by the town. Public meetings are held in a new court house; petty sessions weekly; markets on Tuesday; fairs on 25 Jan., and 25, 26, 27 Aug. A branch of the Yorkshire District Banking Company is established here. (Allen and Bigland's Histories of Yorkshire.)

breadth, E. toW., 370 m. Area, about 200,000 sq. m. Pop. perhaps about 4,000,000.* (See foot of previous column.) Mountains. Birmah is enclosed E. and W. by two principal offsets from the Himalaya chain: in the N. and central parts of the country there are also many subordinate mountain ranges, running mostly parallel to the former, and like them decreasing gradually in height toward the S. From lat. 16° (Cape Negrais) to 23° N., the Anopectomoo, or Yoomadong mountains constitute the W. boundary. At the latter point of lat. this range is 200 m. in breadth, and from 2,000 to 5,000 ft. in height: in lat. 21° the elevation is considerably greater, but thenceforward it rapidly declines, and the breadth becomes so much less that, in 17° lat., it scarcely exceeds 20 m.; this chain terminates in a rocky promontory, bounding S.E. the Bay of Bengal. On the E. border a succession of ranges, inhabited by wild and half-subjected tribes, but little known to Europeans, stretch from the Gulph of Martaban to the Chinese frontier. ZingyetThowng, the highest point of the southernmost of these ranges, is no more than 3,000 ft. above the level of the sea; but between lat. 180 and 220 N., they rise much higher, and in the N. attain a very considerable elevation, the Phungan mountain in about 27° 15′ N. and 97° 15 E., being 12,474 ft. high, and covered with perpetual W. of the vale of Kubo, the Muring range now

snow.

BIR, or BEER (an. Birtha), a town of Asiatic Turkey, on the declivity of a steep hill, on the E. bank of the Euphrates, 75 m. N.E. Aleppo, and 38 m. W.S.W. Orfa; lat. 36 59 N., long. 38 7 15" E. Pop. 4,000? It is surrounded on the land side by a well-built wall. Within the town, on a steep rock, is the citadel or castle, now in a state of dilapidation. It has several mosques, a public bath, and a caravansera. The rocks on which the town is built consist of chalk; and the houses being also formed of this material, its whiteness, during sun-shine, power-bounds the Birmese and Munneepoor territories; and E.of fully affects the eyes, which are also injured by the dust these, four hill-ranges extend in parallel lines, for a long that is blown about. Bir is the point at which travellers distance S., enclosing three extensive valleys of the and caravans between Aleppo, on the one side, and Orfa, Khyendwen, Moo, and Irrawadi rivers. Ranges running Diarbekr, &c. on the other, usually cross the Euphrates, E. and W. are unfrequent, but there is one in 20 N. which they do in boats of a peculiar description. It is lat., about 50 m. S.E. of Ava; and a small range, the also the nearest point on the Euphrates to Iskenderoun, Galladzet hills, in about 18° 20′ N., bounding N. the great and has latterly acquired considerable celebrity from its plain of Pegu. being the point at which Colonel Chesney has proposed to begin and terminate the navigation of the Euphrates by steam. (See EUPHRATES.)

BIRKENHEAD, a sea-port town of England, co. Chester, hund. Wirrall, on the W. shore of the Mersey, directly opposite to and about 1,110 yards from Liverpool. Pop. in 1841, 8,223, but now (1845) probably twice as great. This extraordinary increase has taken place in consequence of the construction of wet and dry docks for the accommodation of the shipping frequenting the Mersey having been commenced in 1843. It is singular, indeed, that this should have been so long delayed; the advantages of Birkenhead in this respect, from its contiguity to Liverpool, and from the peculiar aptitude of the ground for docks, being striking and obvious. Exclusive of others of less magnitude, a creek, or arm of the sea, is to be formed into a floating dock of 150 acres; and the accommodatious of all sorts that will be provided for shipping and goods, will be on the largest, inost complete, and perfect scale. This signal improvement will be of vast importance to the trade of the great manufacturing districts, and consequently, to the empire generally.

BIRMAH, or THE BIRMAN EMPIRE, an extensive country of India beyond the Ganges, formerly the most powerful state of that peninsula, and considerably larger than at present; extending between the lat. of 90 and 270 N., upwards of 1,000 m. in length, and nearly 600 m. in breadth. At present it comprises the territory between lat. 15° 45′ and 27° 22′ 30 N., and long. 920 43′ and 990 E.; having W. the British prov. of Aracan, Chittagong, and Cassay; N. Upper Assam and Tibet; E. the Chinese prov. of Yun-nan, Laos, the country of the indep. Shans, and that part of the prov. of Martaban belonging to the British (which, together with those of Tavoy, Mergui, Aracan, Assam, &c., was taken from the Birmese in the war of 1824-5), and S. the Indian Ocean: length, N. to S., 710 m. (Engl.), greatest

Plains, &c. That of Pegu is the principal, and It is a consists chiefly of the delta of the Irrawadi. perfect flat, of most fertile alluvial soil, annually overHlowed by its rivers, producing an abundance of rice, and constituting the granary of the empire. The valley of Húkong, in the N., is an extensive plain, 50 m. long, and varying from 15 to 45 m. in breadth; bounded on all sides by hills, and which probably, like that of Munneepoor, at one period formed the bed of an alpine lake. (Asiat. Journ.) Excepting these, there are few plains of any size; but numerous valleys, of the highest fertility and beauty, as Kubo, Bhamo, and those of the larger rivers: these are chiefly in the S. and central parts of the country; in the N. they are mostly rocky defiles, or narrow steppes.

Rivers. The principal are the Irrawadi (Eriwate), with its affluents, the Ningthee, Moo, and Lung-tchuen; and the Than-lweng, and Si-tang. The Irrawadi, an Asiatic river of the first class, rises in Tibet, and runs generally S. through the whole length of the Birman empire, falling, after a course of 600 m., into the sea, by a great number of mouths in the kingdom of Pegu. (See IRRAWADI.) The Than-lweng, or Sauluen, is also a river of the first class, and rises in Tibet, beyond the sources of the Irrawadi: it descends in a nearly uniform S. direction in almost all its course, bounding the Birman empire E., and falls into the sea between Martaban and Moulmein.

The Sitang rises from the Lake of Guanngrue, in lat. 20° 20′ N., runs S., and disgorges itself, after a course of about 200 m., by a large mouth, but nearly useless as an harbour, or for navigation, because blocked up by an island and many dangerous shoals, with no more than a fathom water during the efflux of the tides, and not This available for any vessels drawing 6 ft. water. river communicates by cross branches with both the Irrawadi and Than-lweng. The Ningthee rises in the Patkoi chain, on the borders of Assam; and running in a S. W. direction, constitutes for some distance the boundary between Birmah and the Munneepoor territory, and falls into the Irrawadi, opposite Yandabo, in 21° 40′ N. lat., under the name of the Khyen-dwen. It is navigable for the largest class of boats as far as Kingnao, in 23° 45′ N. lat.: almost all the streams which fall into it on the E. side are auriferous. The Aracan river for the greatest part of its course flows through the country of the half-subjected Khyens; and the Kuladyne, its chief tributary, is considered one of the boundaries between the Birmese territory and the British prov. of Chittagong.

Lakes are very numerous in the prov. of Pegu: in the distr. of Bassein as many as 127 have been enumerated. The largest lake, however, is that of Kandangyee, or the Great Royal Lake, 25 m. N. Ava, which is 30 m. long, 8 or 9 m. broad, and traversed by the Moo river, a tributary of the Irrawadi. There are other smaller lakes in its neighbourhood, but none of any importance.

Coast and Harbours. There are 240 m. of sea-coast from the mouth of the Than-lweng to Cape Negrais, with three good harbours: viz., those of Bassein, Rangoon, and Martaban: that of Rangoon is the best, but Some estimates if widely from this; but this is of the highest authority, being that of Mr. Crawfurd.

is infested by a worm, which destroys all wood except | is much prized. and one is always kept as part of the royal ebony and tamarind. establishment at Ava, where he is treated with great care and attention. There are no jackals, or foxes, but dogs are numerous. There are no asses, except a few at the capital, obtained from the Chinese caravan; and, consequently, there are no mules. Game is not so abundant as in Hindostan there is a small species of hare, but very inferior, and found only in the high lands. Snipes quails, pigeons, our common fowl in the wild state, three species of peafowl, with one species of pheasant, are found; parrots, and other birds of rich plumage, are plentiful: the gavial, in the Irrawadi, chameleon, many lizards and formidable serpents, as the cobra-de-capello, cobra ceras, &c.; tortoises, the mango fish, sable, and many others; scorpions, spiders, and centipedes, leeches, which abound in dangerous numbers in the marshes, mosquitoes, and a very voracious ant, destructive to house furniture, are among the animals. (Crawfurd, pp. 454–457.)

Minerals. The N. provinces are the richest in valuable minerals. Besides fine marble, which might be advantageously imported into England, as dead weight, serpentine, and nephrite, and amber mines are worked by the Chinese. Amber is found in immense quantities in the valley of Hukong; gold to the value of 100,000., and silver to that of 120,000l. per annum; all the varieties of the sapphire, with spinelle rubies, are found in great abundance at about five days' journey E.S.E. from the capital, and are an important article of export; topazes, a few emeralds and diamonds, though of an inferior quality; iron, copper, tin, lead, antimony, arsenic, vitriol, sulphur, nitre, &c., are found. Petroleum is obtained in large quantities on the Irrawadi, above Prome. The wells, about 2 m. from the river, produce each a daily average of 150 gallons, which sells on the spot for about 1s. 8d. per cwt. The gross annual produce is about 80,000,000 lbs., and might be greatly increased. used for lights, paying boats, &c.; and is said to have the valuable property of securing wood from the attacks of insects. Coal is said to have been met with in various spots. A monopoly exists of gold, silver, and precious stones. (Crawfurd's Journ. pp. 441, 442.; Pemberton, pp. 13. 133-142.; Malcom's Travels, i. 169.)

It is

People. Several distinct tribes inhabit the Birman territories; viz., 1. the Mranma (Birmans), between 190 and 24° N. lat.; 2. Talain (Peguans), between the ThanIweng river and the Galladzet and Anopectomoo hills; 3. Shans, with more affinity to the Siamese than other races, and spreading over the E. and N. provinces; 4. Cassayers, chiefly in the capital; 5. Khyens, a rude The Climate is generally healthy, especially in the people scattered among the other population, but living hilly tracts; but even in the plain of Rangoon, &c., it in the mildest parts of the country; 6. the Yo, probably a is infinitely more so than in Aracan or the valley of the Chinese tribe who have adopted Birmese customs, reBrahmaputra, a fact proved by the Peguans being siding between the latter and the Irrawadi; 7. Karyamongst the most active, healthy, and vigorous inhabit- ens, inhabiting an extensive hilly tract between the ants of the empire. The extremes of heat and cold are Than-Iweng and Sitang, good cultivators, but unsubseldom experienced, except before the periodical rains.jected, and bearing great enmity to the Birmese: the In Pegu, as high as Prome, there are but two seasons Zabaings, Taong-su, &c.; the Khamti, Singphos, and in the year, the rainy and the dry; the former lasting other Tibetan or Tartar tribes in the N. Mr. Crawfurd from the end of April to the end of Oct.; and the cold estimates the Karaens and Khyens in Bassein prov. at season immediately succeeding, the rains are heavier in 46,600, and the whole of the wild tribes at 850,000. Most this than in any other part of India. In Birmah Proper, of these nations, though differing in language, manners, or from Prome to lat. 260 or 27° N., there are three &c., are of the physical type common to all those situated seasons, a cold, lasting from Nov. to Feb.; a hot, from between India and China. They differ from the natives March to June; and rain falling during the remaining of both these regions in certain particulars, and are said months. Heavy mists occur in Nov. and Dec., but no by Crawfurd to resemble more the Malays. The Birmese snow falls; and only a little hail in April or the beginning are short and stout, but well proportioned; with coarse of May. Farthquakes are not unfrequent, and in Pegu, lank black hair, and an olive complexion : the women are violent rains, with thunder and lightning, &c., often fairer than the men, who have more beard generally than usher in and conclude the wet season. The transitions of the Siamese; the physiognomy of both sexes is open, the seasons are extremely sudden; the greatest heats are cheerful, and not unpleasing, and very few of them are in March and April: the trees shed their leaves in May, in any way deformed. They are robust, active, inbut only to be immediately clothed with new ones. Inquisitive, not deficient in courage, and form a total conJune, July, and August, the inundations from the moun- trast to their neighbours of Bengal in habits and dispotains raise the river at Ava to 32 ft. above its lowest level sition. They are said to be lively, and impatient; much (Feb.); but all the waters are drained off again by addicted to theft and lying, deceitful, servile, and proud; Oct. (Sangermano's Descr. pp. 164, 165.; Pemberton's but at the same time courteous, benevolent, and reli(Capt.) Report, &c. pp. 154, 155.; Dictionnaire Géog.gious-though it be difficult to imagine religion linked Univer. ii. 127.) with thieving and lying. The foreigners settled here consist of about 16,000 Siamese slaves; 1,000 Anamese, descendants of some who were formerly in a state of slavery; about 3,000 Chinese, chiefly from Yunnan, settled in the towns or working the mines; many Hindoos from Bengal; Mohammedans, and a few Europeans. Though fond of repose, when an inducement to exertion offers, the Birmese exhibit not only great strength, but courage and perseverance, and often accomplish what we should think scarcely possible. But the mildness of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the badness of the government, render these valuable qualities of little avail. In countries like Birmah, the customary standard of competence is easily attained. The poorest classes obtain the necessaries which they require with comparatively little labour; and those who should go further, and attempt to make a display, or to improve their lands and houses, would expose themselves to extortion, and perhaps to personal danger. Sloth is, in conse quence, the solace of the poor, and the principal enjoy. ment of the rich. (Crawfurd, pp. 371, 372. 465–470. &c. ; Malcom, i. 220. &c.)

Vegetable Products.-Sixteen thousand different species of plants, natives of the Birmese dominions, were collected by Dr. Wallich when he visited the empire in 1826: amongst them were the teak, saul, 7 kinds of oak, 2 kinds of walnut, 3 species of willow, a rose; the almost unique Amherstia nobilis, near Martaban, a magnificent species of Leguminosa, 20 ft. high, handfuls of whose fine deep scarlet flowers are offered by the natives before the images of Boodh; the Hibiscus Lindlei; many new genera of Orchideæ, Scitamineæ, Liliaceæ, &c. &c. (See Wallich's Plante Rariores, &c.) The teak-tree abounds in forests along the hills skirting the Irrawadi, and in the N. provinces, both on hills and in valleys; in lat. 23° 30′ it approaches closely to the banks of the river, though it does not grow in Pegu within the influence of the tide. The most convenient and accessible forest in the country is that of Sarawadi, which furnishes nearly the whole of what is exported to foreign countries. The teak of Ava is said to be less durable than that of the coast of Malabar, but it has been ascertained by experiment to be stronger than the last, and therefore fitter for machinery, gun carriages, &c. In the vale of Kubo the saul and varnishtree are most plentiful; bamboo grows to the circumference of 24 in. in the jungles, which contain whatever other underwoods are prevalent in India. The mimosa catechu, sugar-cane, indigo, and cotton-plant, are common; and the tea-plant, of a genuine character, besides inferior sorts, flourishes on the heights of the N. and central provinces. Every month produces some fresh fruit; the banana, cocoa, palm, pine-apple, guava jambo, mango, &c., are abundant, but citrons, pomegranates, and oranges, are the only fruit shared in common with Europe. Pulse of all kinds, wheat, maize, millet, rice, &c., and many pot-herbs, are usual articles of culture. Firs, &c., are rare, but junipers, rhododendron, and other European plants, grow on the upper region of Mount Phuyen and other considerable heights in the N.

Animals. Elephants of three different varieties, the single-horned rhinoceros, wild boar, tiger, leopard, &c., inhabit the jungles; buffaloes, porcupines, civet and wild cats, and great numbers of apes, deer, and antelopes, are found. Occasionally a white elephant is met with, which

Occupations. Agriculture. Excepting near the towns, most of the land is waste and unappropriated, unless occasionally by wandering tribes, who raise crops with little labour on the virgin soil. The cultivated lands are assigned, with their inhabitants, by the sovereign, in large districts, to his various favourites, who are not unaptly entitled their “eaters," and who grind down the cultivators by the most oppressive exactions. The farms generally consist of only a few acres each; and agriculture, except, perhaps, among the Karyens, is in its rudest and most imperfect state. Rice is the chief article of produce, and forms the main food of the people: it is mostly grown in the S., where, although the plough is seldom used, and the soil only trodden by cattle, a single crop is said to yield 50 or 60 fold. In the N. provinces a plough, similar to that of India, is used, and the soil is afterwards pulverised by means of a wooden cylinder, and a rough harrow dragged over it: 2 or 3 crops a year are here obtained, but they are not so productive as the single crop of the lower provinces. Pulse of various kinds, Indian millet, and maize, are grown in the N. prov., the latter yield

panded by heat so as to admit two rowers abreast; the gunwale is raised a foot above the side, and elaborately carved and gilded, as well as the prow, which is much raised: each boat holds from 20 to 100 men, and in velocity they very far transcend our swiftest men-of-war boats. The common trading boats are mere canoes, decked with split bamboo, and partly covered in with mats, with one bamboo for a mast and another for a yard. Houses, Temples, &c. - The ordinary houses consist wholly of bamboos and matting, badly thatched with leaves or grass, very soon built or removed, and in the lower situations raised 3 or 4 ft. from the ground on wooden posts; those of the priests are of a superior kind, and somewhat similar to those of the Chinese, or those of the Shans in the N. provinces, having a long roof rounded at the ends, matting walls, and being divided into several compartments. The ordinary beds of the people consist of merely a small mat laid on the ground. The temples are of different styles in different provinces ; at Pugan, in Birmal Proper, they are heavy, broad, and surmounted by a small spire; in Pegu, pyramidal, and adorned with many figures of griffins, sphinxes, crocodiles, &c. They are all much gilt and decorated, and often contain very solid masonry: many are, however, in ruins, since most of them are built and endowed by wealthy individuals, and it is deemed more meritorious to build a new, than to repair an old one.

ing (but such statements are almost always exaggerated) | pose: they consist of the trunk of a long teak-tree, ex100 fold. Good wheat is grown in the neighbourhood of the capital, but it is little used for bread; and we have been assured by Mr. Crawfurd, that all the wheat produced in the empire would not feed 50 families! Sesamum is universally cultivated for its oil and oil-cake, which is given to the cattle. Cotton (gossypium herbaceum, Wallich) of a firm and silky texture, but of short staple, is grown in every part of the empire and of its dependences, but principally in the upper provinces. Indigo is also generally grown, and is naturally of good quality; but the culture and manufacture of the plant are both so very rude, as to render the produce wholly unfit for exportation. The potato and pot-herbs of Europe are quite unknown; but yams, and a species of sweet potato, are, as well as tobacco, very general articles of culture in the N. There are no melons, cucumbers, or egg-plants; but the banana, tamarind, &c., are extensively grown; and in some tracts the number of fruittrees forms the basis of taxation. The sugar-cane is cultivated, and the stalk eaten when ripe, the manufacture of sugar, except a very coarse sort, being unknown. An inferior kind of tea, with a large leaf, is grown on the hills, and eaten by the natives with garlic and onions, which are also produced there. Capsicum, next to salt, forms the chief condiment; from the highest to the lowest, all season their rice with this plant, and its consumption is "incredibly great:" betel-nut is raised for home consumption; and the piper betel is cultivated largely, and of excellent quality. In addition to rice, pumpkins and pulse, gnapee and oil, compose the main food of the peasantry. Animal food being prohibited by the Buddhistical religion, is not generally eaten, excepting poultry or fish which have died a natural death, lizards, serpents, iguanas, &c., by the lower classes; or game, &c., by some individuals privately. Many of the hill tribes do not, however, regard the injunction, and kill bullocks and other cattle for food, or to sacrifice to their deities: many others also, by one means or other, evade the law of not spilling the blood of animals, or openly break it. The common beverage of the people is water; but spirits, though prohibited, are imported or distilled from rice, and toddy is made from the juice of the palmyra, date, or cocoa-tree. Cows, buffaloes, goats, and a very few sheep, are kept; but neither for their flesh or milk. Oxen are used only for draught, and prevail chiefly in the upper country, the buffalo being more common in the lower. The Birman horse is not more than 13 hands high, but strong, active, esteemed in the country, and used only for the saddle. The elephant is domesticated and used for carriage; the camel is altogether unknown. Hogs are plentiful, but commonly used only as scavengers.

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Commerce, &c. In the lower provinces the traffic is almost wholly by water conveyance; in other parts goods and passengers travel by carts or waggons drawn by oxen, or on the backs of these animals: the upper districts send to the lower petroleum, nitre, paper, lacquered wares, silks and cottons, cutlery and metal wares, palm-sugar, onions, tamarinds, &c., and receive from Rangoon, Tongho, and Bassein, which are the chief trading places, rice, salt, pickled and dried fish, and foreign commodities. The Shans export cottons, silks, ivory, bees' wax, stick-lac, varnish, lacquered wares, swords, and metals, to Ava, and take back salt, dried fish, &c. The red Karyens traffic in slaves with the Siamese, which may, it is said, be put an end to by the British authorities, our possessions in Martaban intervening between the two territories. The principal foreign trade is with China, and its chief seat the town of Bhamo, whither the Chinese caravans come and meet the Birmese and Mohammedan merchants; and from Dec. to April this town "presents a most animated scene of active industry, and a greater variety of tribes than is, perhaps, found at any other fair in Asia." The principal articles of import from China are silk (to the amount of about 27,000 bundles, worth 81,000l. a year), copper, carpets, fur jackets, orpiment, quicksilver, vermilion, verdigris, drugs, tea, fresh and dried fruits, dogs, birds, &c. The tea, of a coarse quality, is sold at about 6d. per lb. The exports to China are chiefly raw cotton, averaging (14,000,000 lbs., and worth 228,000l. a year); feathers, ivory, wax, edible birds' nests from the Mergui archipelago, rhinoceros' and deer's horns, sapphires, and some British manufactures; chiefly broad cloths and carpets. The total value of the trade with China is variously estimated at from 400,000l. to 700,000Z., of which, as already seen, silk and cotton amount, in ordinary years, to about 309,000. The principal foreign trade of the Birmese by sea is carried on from Rangoon, with Calcutta, Chittagong, Dacca, &c. By far the most important article of export in this way is teak timber, of which about 7,500 full-grown trees used to be annually shipped, principally for Calcutta. Among the secondary articles of export are cotton, of a superior quality, formerly used in the manufacture of the fine lac, ivory, glue, &c. The imports by sea are British cotton goods, which have nearly superseded those of India, areca and cocoa-nuts, tobacco, iron (wrought and unwrought), copper, lead, quicksilver, borax, nitre, gunpowder, fire-arms, opium, sugar, arrack, rum, En. glish glass and earthenware, steel, &c. (For further information as to the trade of the Birmese, see Crawfurd's Journal, ii. 189–199.; Malcolm, i. 265.; and the art. RANGOON in this work.)

Arts and Manufactures are in the most backward state. Ploughing, cleaning cotton, spinning, weaving, and dyeing, are operations mostly performed by women or captive Cassays the loom used is like that of Bengal. Silk and cotton goods are woven, the former chiefly in the capital and the large towns in its vicinity, but are very inferior to those of India and China. The Khyens, however, though considerably less civilised than the Birmese, surpass them greatly in the manufacture of silk, and produce some superior crimson scarfs, embroidered with gold, and narrow shawls. The Khyen looms can only make fabrics 1 cubit, while those of the Birmese produce some 2 cubits in width. Printing on cotton, &c., is unknown; but dyeing with indigo, turmeric, &c., is practised; and the colours of the Birmese fabrics are much admired for their brilliancy: alum is the only mordaunt used. No fine linen is manufactured; and British goods of all qualities are commonly imported, and sold cheaper than any produced by the natives. Some coarse earthen-muslins of Dacca; with gold and silver, catechu, stickware is made; the large Pegu jars are well known, and somewhat celebrated, but seem no longer to be manufactured: all the porcelain used is imported from China. The Birmese cast bells, and execute filagree, &c. in gold and silver respectably; but otherwise they do not work well in metals. Some rude cutlery and matchlocks are made at Ava, &c.; but their swords are chiefly bought from the Shans, and old muskets from the English: the latter fetch from 37s. to 50s. each, while new Birmese muskets are only considered worth 25s. Lacquered ware for trays, betel boxes, &c., is amongst their best manufactures. Their gunpowder is very bad. Their paper is of three sorts, one of which is made of bamboo fibres, covered over with a mixture of charcoal and rice-water, and written on with a piece of steatite, as we do on a slate. Nearly all their manufactures are domestic. Excepting carpenters, smiths, masons, carvers, and gilders, who work for the palace, temples, and priests, there are but few public artisans, and these reside only in the larger cities. The Birmese war-boats are very well built, and adapted for their pur

Gnapee is made of prawns, shrimps, or any cheap fish, pounded into a consistent mass, and frequently allowed to become partially putri. It is known in commerce by the name of Balachong. (Mal cont, i. 266.)

Measures, Weights, &c.-The chief measure of capacity for rice is the basket = 584 lbs. avoird. ; — of lengik, the finger-breadth, hand-breadth, span, cubit (2 spans, or 19.1 Eng. inches), bamboo = 28 cubits (14 yds.), taing 7,000 cubits (2 m. 1 furl., nearly);-the chief weights, the tical (nearly oz. avoird.), viss = 100 ticals, or 3 catties (3 lb. 2 oz.).

Money.There is no coined money, excepting some of very base quality, and of lead, struck at Amarapúra and Rangoon; gold and silver ingots, of a tical weight, and various degrees of purity, form the rest of the currency. Gold is valued at about 17 times the worth of silver, a tical of which latter, nearly pure, is worth 2s. 8d. (Trant.)

Revenue and Taxation. One tenth part of the products of the cultivator, which is often taken in kind,