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That there is much crime is undeniable; but they are not monsters of iniquity, neither, on the other hand, are they angels of heaven. We must ever, in our judgment of uncivilised or semi-civilised races, be careful and lenient to a degree. They have not always the same advantages, and they are kept back by their rulers, ever ignorant and bigoted. Example, experience, and interest cause a nation to progress, not violence nor fanaticism. Witness the Turkish nation, formerly wild and brutish, now to be considered in every way as a civilised and generous nation. And this was brought about by the force of example and the energy of the ruler. We shall, in the history of Burmah, meet with a somewhat similar case in Alompra.[49]

Let us now turn to the revenues accruing to the government, and first of the earth-oil.

The petroleum wells, once already described, are of immense value to the government as a source of revenue. The annual produce of the wells is, according to Crawfurd,[50] twenty-two millions of viss, each of 3⁶⁵⁄₁₀₀ pounds avoirdupois. The wells altogether occupy a space of about six square miles. Cox, who visited them early in 1797, says, that at the place where he stayed to examine the wells, there were about one hundred and eighty of them, and at the distance of four or five miles there were, he was told, three hundred and forty more.[51] I cannot do better than subjoin some few of Crawfurd’s excellent remarks, in connection with his visit. He was put in possession of more correct data on which to found his calculation than his intelligent predecessor Captain Cox, and his observations are consequently of more authority.