BURMA.*

A GOOD account of Burma should be an interesting book. The annexation is within. the recollection of everybody; the barbarity and the punishment of King Theebaw are fresh in

our memories, and most of us have personal associations with some of the young officers who risked their lives in the troublesome process of pacification, and whose courage and quiet acceptance of grave responsibilities are commemorated in one of Mr. Kipling's tales. The country itself has the charm of an ancient civilisation—such as it is—where the laws of Mann still prevailed at the time of our occupation, and where the oddest customs and superstitions survive to exercise the ingenuity of the expounder of folk-lore. There is also the interest which belongs to a signal administrative suc- cess. India has long been a just source of pride to those who appreciate the high qualities of the British Civil Service. Latterly we have almost exhausted the resources of eulogy upon the wonderful results which have attended the labours of Lord Cromer and his able assistants in Egypt. Burma has never excited equal admiration, yet the triumph of just and patient government has been as remarkable there as either in India or Egypt. When General White set to work in 1886 the state of Upper Burma is thus described :—

" Everything resembling patriotic sentiment in the Burmese had become united with the inherent strain of brutality and law- lessness running through the national character ; and this com- bination of innate forces found its expression in the bands of armed men infesting the jungles all over the new province. It was certainly not patriotism pure and simple, while it was equally certainly not merely dacoity in the true meaning of that word ; but it was armed resistance to British administration, and as such it had to bo put down with a heavy hand. Lurking in jungle recesses almost impenetrable for regular troops, these armed bands were seldom to be met in the open field, though bold and sudden in ambushes and surprise attacks on military and police posts. As a matter of course, they were entirely depen- dent on villagers for food and other contributions, their demands for which they enforced with such barbarities as burning and devastating villages, slaughtering headmen, crucifying or other- wise executing men suspected of giving information to the British, and inflicting disgusting tortures on other men and women."

It had taken ten years to pacify Lower Burma after the second Burmese War, and there were those who prophesied

that the upper province would prove even more troublesome. • Nevertheless, by the end of 1890 " no pretender, no rebel, no dacoit Bo having any considerable following was to be found throughout what had formerly been the kingdom of Ava." Except among some of the hill-tribes, district officers could safely dispense with escorts. In 1897 there were only five hundred and forty cases of crime with violence in a popula- tion of nearly ten millions. Crime had been reduced without unduly interfering with Burmese customs and prejudices.

. The old village community system was carefully preserved, and no attempt was made to force brand-new methods of government upon the people. Meantime everything was done

to develop the great natural resources of the country, to im- prove the irrigation, and to place the valuable forests under systematic and scientific management. The result is that Upper Burma is now as peaceable a country (despite inveterate cattle-lifting) as India, that its wealth and pros- perity are yearly increasing, and that—notwithstanding the

• Minna under British Buie-and Before. By John Nisbet. 2 vols. Nape and Illustrations, London ; A. Constable and Co. r22e.1

drawback of the Bay of Bengal, which cute it off from direct touch with Calcutta—it has become "one of the brightest jewels in the Imperial diadem of India." In no part have English officials encountered more obstinate and perplexing difficulties, never has the work been entrusted to men so young in years and experience, and nowhere have their efforts been crowned with greater or more enduring success.

These conclusions are perfectly obvious to any one who takes the trouble to read Mr. Nisbet's exhaustive volumes. It is not, perhaps, a task that may be commended to the general reader, who likes his facts agreeably peptonised for easy digestion. Mr. Nisbet is a recognised authority on his subject. Until lately one of the Conservators of the Forest Department of Burma, he enjoyed those opportuni- ties, which peculiarly belong to the wandering life of his office, of observing the people in every aspect of daily work and social custom. He has probably seen as much as any European can expect to see of Burmese life and character. If only he had the gift of imparting what he knows in an interesting manner his would be a fascinating book. As it is, we must recognise the labour and knowledge brought to bear upon so elaborate a work, and we must refer to it for every kind of minute detail of Burmese government, law, custom, superstition, trade, handicrafts, and so forth; but we cannot pretend to read it for pleasure. It is an encyclopiedia, a

thesaurus, a statistical( account,—anything but a book. Mr. Nisbet is so overflowing with facts and statistics that he never gives himself time to look round and take a calm survey of general results. What one wants is a broad outlook, wide generalisations, and, if possible, a touch of humour. But chapter after chapter rolls on, full of figures and irrefragable facts, and the mind grows confused under the weight of heterogeneous information. We do not

long for the globe-trotter's easy deductions from half-under- stood data ; we prefer Mr. Nisbet's heavy platoons to such light skirmishing ; but is there nothing between the two extremes Nevertheless, dull as the book must appear to all but special students of Burma, it is full of valuable ore, though

one has to, dig for it. Like the gold of the country, Mr. Nisbet's precious metal does not occur in rich pockets or shining nuggets. Indeed, it resembles the native jade, which has a dull aspect and must be deeply cut to find good pieces : " The exterior of the block seems to give absolutely no indica- tion of the quality of the jade lying at its core." Careful working, however, will disclose very good material in the heart of Mr. Nisbet's block. For example, there is a thorough examination of the question of English and French extension and development, and of the debated value of the Yunnan route. Lord Curzon has not sanctioned a further extension of the Burma-Yunnan railway beyond Lashio to Kunl6n, and those who would grasp the full bearings of this decision should

study Mr. Nisbet's chapter on railways in Burma. His view is that, " apart from purely political and strategical con- siderations, the improvement of existing communications con- verging on important points on river or railway and the formation of branch lines of railway within Burma seem to afford much more promising commercial opportunities than the early construction of a costly railway into and across Yunnan." He doubts whether there is a sufficiently remunera- tive trade to be tapped :—

" These views." he adds, " on the commercial openings in Burma are my individual opinions based on a knowledge acquired by service there extending over nearly a quarter of a century, on personal acquaintance with almost every district in the province, and on recent tours made in the northern and the southern Shan States. But they coincide with the opinions held generally in official and commercial circles and with those re- flected by the local Press. Any abnormally expensive endeavour to tap the trade of south-western Yunnan by means of a railway will not be remunerative for the very simple reason that this lofty plateau produces nothing in the nature of a trade capable of great expansion. It is not asserted that it is in any way im- possible, as beyond engineering skill, to construct such a line to Yunnan and thence to the banks of the Yangtse ; but it is main- tained that it will be enormously expensive to build and to work, that it will not give adequate returns, and that in any case extensions and ramifications of the railway net throughout Burma are preferable so far as the purely commercial aspect of

affairs is concerned Considering the natural difficulties of the country, Hongkong is practically nearer to Yunnan than Rangoon."

Mr. Nisbet sees better possibilities in the development of the. West River trade from Hongkong than in the proposed Burma-Yunnan railway; but in any case he urges with justice that if such a railway is to be eventually carried through, the heavy cost should fall upon the Imperial Exchequer, and not be added to the burdens of India. On matters of trade his volumes are replete with important information. Of course, on the staple traffic in teak he is a prime authority; but on the coal and petroleum fields, silver, tin, lead, gold, and ruby mines, the rice, rubber, and cotton trade, he is fully informed, and has much to say that is worth reading. Burma is not, indeed, a treasure-land, though its petroleum, gold, and coal " offer a very fair field of enterprise, but nothing more " : its main wealth lies in its fertile plains, with their copious rains and damp climate, and in its vast forests of splendid timber. " At the same time there can be no doubt that the more liberal policy of the present Viceroy should attract capital towards Burma with regard to mining enterprises, as well as in respect of various other commercial openings—. such as branch railways, timber, rubber plantations, cotton, a Land Mortgage Bank, and many other schemes—offering fair prospects of reasonable profit, and capable of achieving great success under good, prudent management."

While the Burma trade is being developed, there is great danger of its passing into foreign hands. As usual the Germans are to the fore. " In many respects they have supplanted the old class of Scottish merchants, who were the great pioneers of eastern trade in former• days." In the rice trade particularly the Germans are taking the lead. They come out " better equipped for the work, and are more assiduous in their duties than the young lads who are sent out to join the English and the Scottish firms," and who are devoted to cricket, boating, riding, and sport. The German plays no cricket, "is generally bad at tennis, and only learns to ride after a fashion after his arrival," but " at once takes the interest of a prospective partner in his firm, and thinks much less of amusement and of outdoor exercises than of business." It is the old story : defective education and a highly developed love of manly exercises make a healthier man but a poor merchant. Mr. Nisbet notices the usual extraordinary in- difference, lack of enterprise, and inadaptability of the English merchant in Burma which is notorious throughout the East. " It is marvellous," he says, " how ignorant the great majority of the merchants and their assistants are about Burma and the Burmese in general. Very few of them ever travel throughout the country, and comparatively few of them would be able to make their way into the interior without an interpreter." They do not know Burmese, and though Hin- dustani goes a long way in Burma, they allow themselves to be outdone by their German rivals even in this language also,— the chief language of British India. The German plods steadily on, masters Hindustani, and often Burmese, and " obtains success, as he deserves to, because he works hard to achieve it." While we are disposed to grudge the German his disagreeable pre-eminence in every field, it is well to remember that he has won it by a course of patient, assiduous labour and self-denial which Englishmen would do well to imitate.

We have noticed chiefly the political and commercial aspects of Burma as treated in Mr. Nisbet's comprehensive work. The second volume is mainly occupied with Burmese religion, superstitions, national customs, festivals, art, litera- ture, and folk-lore, and well repays the process of excavation. Mr•. Nisbet knows the people intimately, and his chapters are a mine of curious information on their habits and ideas. He has produced a necessary and authoritative work of reference, which must have cost him years of almost German labour, and we are grateful, if not for• the form, at least for much valuable matter.