The Burmese insurrection appears to be directed by men with
new ideas. They are burning down the villages and cities. Three attempts, all partially successful, have been made on Mandelay, and in the last one, on April 29th, four thousand houses were consumed. Scarcely a third of Mandelay is left, and thirty thousand Burmese are homeless. These cities of wood are not of much value, and Mandalay is not the right capital for a Burmah held by Englishmen ; but the misery caused by the fires breeds general discontent, and creates an idea that the English are incompetent. Theebau, his subjects will say, would have burnt the fire-raisers. It is evident the Burmese police are worthless, and we are glad to perceive that two thousand Sikh police, trained in Rangoon, have been trans- ferred to the capital ; but the resort to fire is a very puzzling symptom. The Burmese are not burning us out, but each other, and, so far as is visible, gain nothing by the burning, not even vengeance. It will be necessary, in all probability, to adopt a new capital on the river, and to insist that nothing but brick, stone, and mud should be used in its construction. The difficulty is, the Burmese dislike to lodge on the ground. They think a current of air under their houses healthy, and, in the present state of their sanitary ideas, are probably right.
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