bassein district · bassein district to the north lie henzada on the east and sandoway on the west...

Anglo-Burmese Library 2014. All rights reserved.

Bassein District

To the north lie Henzada on the east and Sandoway on the west of the Arakan hills, to the east Thoon-khwa and to the south and west the Bay of Bengal. From the mouth of the Khwa river in about 17° 34' N. and 94° 37' E. the coast line stretches for 110 miles, measured in a straight line, in a generally south-south-west direction to Cape Negrais, thence it inclines south by east for nine miles to Hmawdeng or Pagoda Point the southern extremity of the Arakan mountains. The first few miles consist of a gently shelving sandy beach backed by undulating ground covered with forest, below this rocky headlands alternate with stretches of narrow sandy beach the forest here and there coming down to the water's edge. Beyond Cape Negrais, where the hills enter the sea abruptly forming a bold and rugged escarpment, the coast is generally rocky. From Hmawdeng westwards the whole aspect and character as well as the direction of the coast line changes. The rocky shore with forest-clad hills behind it gives place to a flat and sandy beach with narrow grass-covered plains running along its margin soon passing into mangrove swamps intersected in every direction by tidal creeks. The eastern boundary is formed almost throughout its entire length by creeks. From the Pyengthaloo or eastern mouth of the Pyamalaw it runs northward along the course of that stream to the Zalai-htaw Oukpouk thence it is marked by the Zalai-htaw, the Thaigoon, the Tawbadaik, the Regoo, the Wawmee, the Khaya-gan, the Roon-ngoo, the Kawthaleng (as far as Danaw), the Bawzat-gale, the Mezalee, the Pouk-padan to its junction with the Taw- da-loo below Kyoon-tanee, thence by the Taw-da-loo as far as Natmaw Koola- tshiep from which by a line drawn to the southernmost point of the Ngabyema Lake, thence along the western bank of that lake to its northern end and then by a line drawn to the leng-khyoung near Myo-goon-rwa at the head of the Shakhaigyee lake. From this point it inclines north-west till it strikes the Daga river. From the Daga the boundary runs in a north-westerly direction for 26 miles to the Bassein river which it crosses in about 17° 3' 5" N, a few miles above Le-myet-hna, only eight or nine miles as the crow flies from the Daga. From the Bassein river westwards it follows the crest of the Mo-htee spur for 28 miles to its root in the Arakan mountains: there it turns south for 10 miles following the crest of the main range to near the source of the Khwa which it follows to the sea coast, 16 miles off due west but more than 36 miles measured along the bed of the river. The appearance of the district on the map is that of an irregular parallelogram extending northwards from the Bay of Bengal divided into two very unequal parts by the Arakan mountains. That to the west forming a narrow strip of mountainous country and that to the east a stretch of alluvial land traversed by three large rivers- branches of the Irrawaddy- which flow nearly parallel to one another from their parent source to the sea. Of this the northern and largest portion as far south as the latitude of Ngapootaw is well watered and


exceedingly fertile the southern, with cultivated plains scattered here and there and with large tracts of forest, gradually passes into low marshy ground cut into innumerable islands by the network of tidal creeks which unite the mouths of the Irrawaddy. The area contained within the limits given above is about 6,517 square miles. Rivers The principal rivers are the Pyamalaw — with its two mouths the Pyamalaw and the Pyengthaloo — the boundary of the district, the Rwe with the small Daye-bhyoo mouth and the Bassein with the Thekkay-thoung mouth. With the exception of the Bassein these names are those by which the mouths only are known. The Pyamalaw leaves the Kyoonpat at Shwe-loung and flows for some distance north-west and west before it turns south to the sea. The Rwe is formed by the junction a little to the south-east of Myoungmya of several inosculating creeks. All these streams appear to be almost entirely dependent upon the Irrawaddy and the tide for their water. The Bassein river though itself leaving the Irrawaddy some miles above Henzada and connected with that river by numerous creeks and smaller streams, of which the Daga is the most important, receives much of its water from the eastern slopes of the Arakan hills and is the only mouth used by large sea-going vessels, which ascend to Bassein the head-quarters of the district and one of the principal ports of the Province. The whole country south of the 17th degree, except to the west of the Arakan Romas and in their immediate neighbourhood on the east, consists of numerous islands formed by vast numbers of anastomosing tidal creeks some navigable by large boats and even by steamers, others only by canoes. Hills The only hills of any size are the Arakan mountains across which are several passes used by travellers, but they are all more or less difficult and impracticable except during the driest portion of the year. The most northern pass which is entirely in this district is the Bhawmee, the highest point of which is 270 feet only above the sea level, from the junction of the Tsa-loo and Bhawmee streams to the village of Thit-nan-koo on the Thien. Further south there are two passes by the Kyoung-tha and Tsheng-ma streams. The crest of the first is 381 and of the second 284 feet above the sea. By the Nga-root river a pass leads over the mountains to the Pien stream; the principal obstructions are the rocks and boulders the elevation of the hills being insignificant. Lastly from Rwotpa to Letpan in the extreme south, a little north of the latitude of Cape Negrais, a rarely used track crosses the hills at an elevation of 270 feet. Forests Nothing definite is known of the character and resources of the forests in this district beyond the fact that they comprise large tracts of mangrove forest and of evergreen forest,


the dry or upper mixed forest being, it would seem, somewhat limited in area. These forests are resorted to yearly for considerable quantities of Pyeng-gado (Xylia dolahriformis), Sha (Acacia catechu), Toungpien (Artocarpus sp.), Thit-kha (Quercus semiserrata) and other woods for use at Bassein and at the large villages in the delta and along the Bassein river. Teak is not met with in any great abundance on any part of the hills. Climate Lying in the delta of the Irrawaddy with the surface of the country intersected by a vast number of creeks the muddy banks ofwhich are left exposed for the greater part of the 24 hours and with a heavy rain-fall during the monsoon, the climate is relaxing and favourable to animal and vegetable decomposition. Cholera and fever are reported to be endemic, whilst bowel-complaints, dropsy and rheumatism are common. Small-pox is much spread by inoculation. History Of the early history of the district but little is known. The Bassein river has been claimed as the Besynga of the Geographer Ptolemy but its right to this distinction has never been universally admitted, though the weight of evidence is in favour of this view. " In his sketch of the hydrography of India beyond the Ganges he observes learned and cautious officer Colonel Yule -" the Geographer (Ptolemy) says distinctly:- “ From the range of Moendrus flow down all the rivers beyond Ganges, until you come to the river Besynga.'” This remark seems infallibly to identify Mons Moeandrus with Yoma-doung, the great spinal range of Arakan, and the river Besynga with the Bassein branch of the Irrawaddy. In the old Talaing histories the "32 cities of Bassein" are mentioned under the date 625 A.D. as forming a portion of the kingdom of Pegu. Circa 1250 A.D. a princess named Oommadandee ascended the throne but a few years later Bassein was conquered by the Burmans. In 1272 the Chinese invaded Burma and the reigning king Narathee-ha-pade, subsequently nicknamed Taroop-pye-meng or " the king who ran away from the Tartars”, escaped southward to Bassein. Very few years later on, in 1289 A.D., Bassein, according to Talaing histories, again passed over to Pegu; this occurred probably when the Talaing kingdom increased in power owing to the gradual sinking of the Burman authority in the north. About 1383 A.D., when Razadhierit, the greatest monarch of the Talaing, ascended the throne, one Louk-bya, Governor of Myoungmya, prooposed to the Burmans to assist them in conquering Pegu and the acceptance of his offer led to long and almost incessant wars between the two kingdoms. In 1686 the Governor of Madras determined on establishing a settlement on Negrais, which was then considered as a portion of the Arakan dominions and despatched a sloop to make a survey of the island but she lost her passage and was obliged to return. The following year Captain Weldon, on his return from Mergui, landed on Negrais and hoisting the British flag took possession of the island in the name of the East India Company. No further steps were taken till 1753 when Mr. Hunter was sent in charge of an expedition which landed on the island and formed the first British settlement. The settlement did not


thrive and Mr. Hunter soon died and was succeeded by Mr. Burke. At this time the war between the kingdoms of Pegu and Burma, which ended in the complete subjugation of the former, was raging in all its fierceness. Both Peguans and Burmans sought the assistance of the British which was refused by Mr. Burke. In 1755 the English had a settlement at Bassein itself and Captain Baker who was then in charge of the factory wrote that the Talaing having quitted Bassein the Burmans had attacked and destroyed the place respecting however the East India Company’s factory and property. In his report to the Madras Government Mr, Burke strongly urged the advisability of our siding with the Burmans whose cause was flourishing and whose enemies the Talaing had succeeded in obtaining the assistance of our rivals the French who then had a settlement at Syriam below Rangoon. The King of Burma sent ambassadors to Negrais who were escorted from Bassein by Captain Baker. A mission was sent to the Burman King with the object of obtaining, amongst other advantages, a formal grant of Negrais and a grant of the land at Bassein occupied by the Company's factory as the whole country had now, in the opinion of the English officers, passed to the Burman monarchy. Unfortunately the British ships near Rangoon had been forced to assist the Talaing and the Burman King could not forgive this treachery as he considered it. The English authorities insisted on absolute neutrality and their local agents were in consequence suspected by both sovereigns. In 1757 Ensign Lister obtained what was considered as a cession in perpetuity of Negrais and of ground at Bassein. In 1759 the establishment was withdrawn from Negrais and a few persons only left to take charge of the Company's property there as well as to hold possession of the island and for the superintendance of these Captain Southey was sent from Madras. He landed on the 5th October 1759 and on the 7th, when all the Europeans were collected to meet the Burmese authorities, they were treacherously attacked and, with the exception of a midshipman, Captain Alves who escaped to his ship the Victoria, murdered. After the Europeans, 10 in number, had been despatched a general massacre took place. In 1760 a mission was sent to obtain redress but without effect, the Burman King absolutely forbidding our return to Negrais but granting a site for the factory at Bassein of which the English Government did not avail itself. From this time until the first Burmese war the English Government took no further steps for forming a settlement in this district. During that war a detachment under Major Sale attacked and occupied Bassein which was retained until the evacuation of Pegu, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Yandaboo. During the second Burmese war the town was again captured, after a feeble resistance, by a force under Commodore Lambert and since then has remained in possession of the British. On the annexation of Pegu the district, which in the Burmese times had been divided into 14 districts, eleven under Paineng or steersmen of royal war-boats and three under Myothoogyee who were hereditary office holders, was placed under a Deputy Commissioner. At this time the whole of the district was a prey to anarchy: the British troops were kept


within the limits of the seaport towns and frontier stations and in the interior numerous bandit chiefs set up a pseudo-independent authority, in more than one case claiming to be officers of the Burman Court deputed to regain the country, and there can be no doubt that had they been successful they would have been rewarded by the King provided that they handed over their conquests and settled down into peaceable offices about the Court. A kind of civil war was now carried on; on the one side were those who were averse to us or who looked to plunder for profit, on the other were those who had in any way sided with the English. So far was animosity carried that villages on the banks of the Irrawaddy were destroyed because fuel had been supplied to the steamers. To clear the country of these gangs, to afford protection to the people and restore their confidence in us was now the great object of all civil officers and in this district as well as in Henzada and Tharrawaddy this was the more necessary as no one dared to accept even small appointments and the country was without local officials owning obedience to the British. In January 1853 Captain Fytche, the Deputy Commissioner, succeeded in dispersing a force which kept the whole country in the south and south-east in a state of terror, attacking it first on Negrais Island, whither it had gone to plunder the village of Haingyee, and following it up northwards into the Shweloung township, eventually destroying the three large villages in which it had made its head-quarters. No sooner was this effected than Captain Fytche with a party of seamen from the Zenobia and Nemesis, one or two guns, and his Kareng levies proceeded northward up the Daga river and encountering a party under three Burman leaders routed them with considerable loss and drove the remainder northward to join another chief, Meng-yee Moung Gnyoon the former Governor of Bassein, whom he attacked a few days later and utterly defeated, capturing his two sons. Two days after the engagement the Mengyee's dead body was found in the jungles. In the words of the official report: — "The Bassein district was cleared of the remnant of Burmese troops and of numerous marauders by the gallant exertions of Major A. Fytche. He received a brevet-majority as a reward for his services." The nucleus and heart of this force was a party of seamen of the steam frigate Zenobia under Commander Rennie of the Indian Navy. By the beginning of March 1853 the lower tracts were freed from the large marauding parties which hitherto had occupied them and nothing but straggling bands of robbers remained. The northern part of the district was still disturbed by a man named Nga Myat Htoon who held out in the south of Henzada and was finally defeated and his party broken up by Sir John Cheape operating from the north and Major Fytche and Captain Rennie from the south. In January 1854 fresh disturbances broke out. Two men named Shwe Too and Kyaw Zan Hla came down from Ava and issued a proclamation to the effect that they had been commissioned by the heir apparent to drive out the English and had been appointed the one Governor of Bassein and the other Commander-in-chief. They were aided and abetted by a Booddhist priest, a resident of the district, in whose monastery the plan of the out-break was settled. They gradually assembled a number of desperate characters from the borders of this district


and from Henzada and suddenly seized the three large adjoining towns of Dounggyee, Ngathaing-khyoung and Regyee and this success induced numbers to join them, amongst others NgaTha Oo formerly, Royal Steersman of Regyee, who had fled to Ava on our taking possession of the country but had returned some six months previously and was on parole. The upper part of the district, unprotected by any British troops, fell at once into the hands of the rebels who exercised no oppression of any kind except against those who had accepted office under the English. On the receipt of the information Major Fytche moved up the river with a small military force of Europeans and Madras Native Infantry and 400 of the inhabitants of the country and found the enemy advancing on Bassein on either bank of the river; some three hundred on the right bank and eleven hundred in two parties on the left. On the approach of the British force the Burmans on the right bank retreated to Ngathaing-khyoung but those on the left were attacked and driven into Pandaw which was evacuated on the arrival of the British in pursuit. During the night Shwe Too moved out from Ngathaing-khyoung and surrounded Pandaw but was kept off by the Burmese pickets till daybreak when the main body moved out against him. He had taken up a position at the head of the village and his force was drawn up in a plain with the flanks resting in groves of mango trees and low bushes tilled with skirmishers. After a sharp struggle the Burmese broke and fled and the British force moved on to Ngathaing-khyoung where it joined Major Baker's detachment and a force of Burmese who had been sent to attack another leader, a duty which it performed with success bringing him in captive. In the meanwhile a party under the Goung-gyoop of Le-myet-hna had attacked the rebels at Dounggyee but had been defeated with great loss and was pursued by the rebel chief. Major Fytche followed, conveying his men in carts, and came up with the Burmans the following day surprising them whilst eating and totally defeating them. The Chief escaped but was captured crossing the Bassein river. On the first news of the outbreak information had been despatched to Rangoon and assistance asked for ; a detachment was sent under Lieutenant Shuldham 26th M.N.I, which encountered and defeated a rebel party at Myoungmya the Chief being killed during the pursuit. The outbreak was thus speedily crushed by rapid and decisive action and Nga Kyaw Zan Hla, the priest, and most of the inferior leaders killed or captured. The difficulties encountered were not confined to inspiriting a down trodden people and getting them to resist their old oppressors, to out-manoeuvring leaders who knew every footpath and creek, and to obtaining information of their strength and movements from a timid population who were in greater fear of the marauders than of the constituted authority, but the very nature of the country greatly impeded any combined and successful movements, any surprises and sudden attacks. Only one who has traversed the delta of the Irrawaddy can adequately appreciate the difficulty of accomplishing this work.


The country is a network of creeks which though they afford a ready means of access to any given point yet present serious impediments as soon as a force lands and commences to march. From this time forward no serious endeavour was made to drive out the English and though there have been several disturbances they were speedily suppressed. In January 1857 there was an outbreak amongst the Kareng but judicious measures were immediately taken by the Deputy Commissioner and within a week they were twice routed and utterly dispersed by the Bassein Talaing Corps raised some time previously by that officer. No time had been given for the disease to spread and the district immediately resumed its usual quiet. This outbreak was an offshoot from the Kareng rebellion then going on in the hills of the Shwe-gyeng district, one of the leaders of which was connected with Bassein and his emissaries worked upon the feelings of the Kareng who had settled here and who were induced to rise in order to afford aid to one who, they were led to believe, was destined to be ruler of Pegu.

Administration On the annexation of Pegu the Bassein district was formed out of what had been the Bassein Governorship during the Burmese time, but there was added to it a strip of country, up till that time a portion of Sandoway, extending along the seacoast west of the Arakan mountains as far north as the Kyientalee stream which falls into the Bay of Bengal in about 18° N., divided into two townships. In 1864 it was found that the northern of these two could better be supervised from Sandoway and westward of the mountains the boundary was brought south to the Khwa where it has since remained. To the west of the Arakan Romas the district remained for several years unaltered but in 1875 the Shweloung and Pantanaw townships in the extreme east were taken from it and in 1876 further slight changes were made in its limits. In the first year of the British occupation a Deputy Commissioner was placed in charge with one Assistant and eleven Goung-gyoop who replaced the Paineng and Myothoogyee of the Burmese time but with considerably less authority and with two peons each by way of Police for the whole district. Up to the middle of 1853 the country was in a very disturbed state and the civil officers, aided only by the few troops that could occasionally be spared from the weak garrison in Bassein and by seamen from the Zenobia and the Nemesis, were continually engaged in hunting down and dispersing large gangs of armed marauders. The necessity for strengthening the civil administration was soon felt; the Deputy Com -missioner was empowered to punish with death all persons convicted of participation in open and armed insurrection (an authority subsequently withdrawn when quiet was restored) and a Police force was raised of a total strength of 546 men (with two European Non-commissioned Officers), the large majority of whom were recruited from those who had been employed in a somewhat similar capacity under the Burmese rule and had in many cases acted with the gangs only just dispersed and were thus turned to good use and given an occupation suited to their habits, whilst the discipline enforced eventually


rendered them of great service. Amongst others who volunteered and were accepted was a man who had acted as a petty chief under the rebel Myat Htoon up to the final dispersion of his band, who brought eighty men with him. In 1857 an outbreak took place amongst the Kareng led by a man who, though a Kareng, spoke a different dialect from those settled in the district, and who was connected with the leader of the Kareng rebellion then going on in the hill country of the Shwe-gyeng district. They occupied Myoungmya but escaped on the approach of the Deputy Commissioner and were followed in the direction of Labwotkoola and overtaken and dispersed. They assembled again in Wakamay where they were attacked and finally defeated, 40 of their number being taken prisoners; the leader escaped but was captured somewhat later. With occasional changes in the civil establishments the administration remained the same until 1861, when the Police Battalion was disbanded and a regular Police force for the whole Province under an Inspector-General and District Superintendents was organized. The main evil with which this force has had to contend has been dacoity, confined mainly, especially of late years, to the Shweloung township, now a portion of Thoon-khwa. In 1868 there was a serious disturbance in the town of Bassein which was immediately suppressed. Nga Kyaw Tha, a native of Upper Burma who had been residing for some four years in Bassein, combined with a new arrival, a soothsayer named Nga Shwe Wa, and with a petty local official, succeeded in enlisting secretly some fifteen or twenty men (persuading them that he was of royal descent) and by forged documents induced them to believe that he had been appointed Prince of Bassein by the King of Upper Burma. On the night of the 27th April he collected his fifteen followers and about a hundred up-country men who had come down for the season to work in the rice-mills and who up to this moment seem to have known nothing of the plot. The whole party went before daylight in the morning to the Pagoda within the fort and, after worshipping, suddenly rushed on the Treasury guard. The Deputy Commissioner speedily arrived on the spot with about fifteen policemen and on their firing, the robbers broke and escaped in all directions, having been in possession of the treasury for about twenty minutes only and without even opening the doors. Nearly the whole of the attacking party was captured that day including the leaders except Nga Kyaw Tha who was seized in Rangoon in June following. Very soon after the occupation of Pegu it was deemed advisable to remove the head-quarters of the district southward from Bassein to "a position unrivalled as a port in the Bay of Bengal " near the mouth of the river on the right bank, which was named “Dalhousie” after the Governor-General to whom was due the annexation of Pegu. The site thus selected had "for many years attracted the attention of naval officers as supplying all that is required for a harbour of refuge. From its natural position it was admirably adapted as a port of call; and placed at the natural outlet of a vast tract of fertile country it was hoped that it would become a mart of importance." In 1855 all preliminary arrangements had been completed, the main roads of the city had


been traced out, a strand road had been made, the site of public buildings determined on and a pier was in course of construction. The crest of a rock was levelled to admit of the erection of a battery which should command the passage of the river, and the blocks and allotments in the town were marked out. Beyond a few fishermen's huts the site had been found entirely vacant. In 1856-57, however, the whole site was submerged by a sudden rise of the sea consequent of a cyclone. Almost every building was swept away and several lives were lost but the idea was not abandoned and the Courts and the Gaol were transferred hither from Bassein; but the same year they were retransferred to Bassein where they have ever since remained and "Dalhousie" has sunk into its former state of waste and jungle. No attempt has since been made to build the city for it was found by practical experience that Bassein was by far the better site. The district is now divided into eight townships. Adjoining the Henzada district is Le-myet-hna, divided into eight Revenue circles, with the head-quarters at the town of the same name on the Bassein or Nga-won river. To the south-east of this is Kegyee with the head-quarters at Regyee Pandaw, containing twelve Revenue circles. Still further to the south Tsam-bay-roon, with the head-quarters at Kyoon-pyaw on the Daga river, containing eight Revenue circles. These three townships form the Nga-thaing-khyoung sub-division, under an Assistant Commissioner whose head-quarters are at the town of the same name. South of Le-myet-hna and extending across the hills to the seacoast is the Thaboung township, with the head-quarters at a town of the same name on the Bassein, divided into fourteen Revenue circles. And below this Bassein, the head-quarter township, with eight Revenue circles, and including the town of Bassein. Extending southward to the coast and including- the lower portion of the tract west of the Arakan Romas is Ngapoo- taw, divided into eleven Revenue circles, with the head-quarters at Ngapootaw on the Bassein river on an island of the same name. Immediately south of Tsam-hay-roon and east of Bassein is Thee-kweng- with the head quarters at Kan-gyee-doung, containing ten Revenue circles. To the south of Thee-kweng the country, which is generally flat and highly intersected with creeks, but with a low range of rising ground running through it on the west, forms the Myoungmya township, with nine Revenue circles and the head-quarters at Myoungmya. To the eastward is the Thoon-khwa district. The actual administrative staff consists of a Deputy Commissioner with two Assistant Commissioners, one stationed in Bassein and one in Ngathaing- khyoung, eight Extra Assistant Commissioners, a Superintendent of Police, a Civil Surgeon, a Collector of Customs, a Master- Attendant, and a Deputy Inspector of Schools. Ever since the occupation of Pegu this district has enjoyed considerable educational advantages. Almost immediately after the annexation the American Baptist Missionaries, who had for many years devoted much attention to the education of the Kareng in Tenasserim and who found large numbers of this race here, established village schools and


at Bassein a Normal School to which both boys and girls were admitted, and in 1858-59 they started a school for Burmese and put up a printing- press at Myoungmya to supply their Kareng converts with books. In 1860 a Kareng Normal and Industrial Institute was opened, also by the Baptist Missionaries, to which both boys and girls were admitted: in 1875-76 the average daily attendance was 160. Of late years a handsome new building has been added for the accommodation of the increasing numbers. In 1861 the Roman Catholic Mission established St. Peter's Institution in two departments, English and Vernacular, which have since been amalgamated and, with a few special exceptions, English is taught throughout the School. In 1875-76 the average daily attendance was 75; of the pupils about one-half were Kareng, 16 Burmese, and the rest Eurasians, Chinese, etc. In 1868 a Pwo Kareng Normal School was opened by the Baptist Missionaries and in 1875-76 the daily average attendance was 46. All these receive grants-in-aid from the State. In 1874 the Government established a Middle Class School and, with a view of attracting pupils from the interior, a boarding establishment was subsequently attached to it. The number of pupils on the rolls on the 31st March 1876 was 144 of whom 99 were Burmese, one Kareng and the rest principally Natives of India. The average daily attendance in 1875-76 was 117. In 1873 the Government established a Cess School at Nga-thaing-khyoung-, that is a school the cost of which is defrayed from the Education portion of the five percent Cess levied on the land and fishery revenue, which is for both boys and girls. At the Examination in 1876, when the school was favourably reported on, 20 boys and 15 girls attended. The monthly fees are eight annas for boys and four annas for girls. The cost to the Government in 1876 for the education of each pupil was Rs. 47-12-0. Here as in every part of Burma primary education is in the hands of the Booddhist monks and of a few laymen who start a school to gain a livelihood and teach both boys and girls. The schools, monastic and lay, of those masters who will allow it, are examined yearly, and prizes given. In 1875-76 133 schools had successful pupils: of these schools 34 were lay and 99 monastic. The Gaol of this district was at first a mat building; in 1858 a wall round it was commenced which was not completed until 1861. in 1868-64 a new ward and a new hospital were constructed and during the following year a new Gaol was commenced. It was in this year that an Inspector-General was first appointed and a commencement made in a more effective and more regular system of prison management. The new Gaol, which cost Rs. 172,600, was not completed until 1868, up to which period the buildings used were temporary structures raised on piles with wooden floors. Four wards radiate from the main guard in the centre, the necessary offices being between them, and the whole is surrounded with a high wall. The buildings are brickwork structures with iron roofs and earthwork floors, the prisoners sleeping on benches two feet off the ground.


There is accommodation, at 36 superficial feet per head, for 405 males and 16 females. In 1855 the average number in confinement was 317 of all classes. The daily average number of prisoners confined in 1876 was : — Males Females Total Convicted prisoners 343 3 346 Under Trial prisoners 5 1 6 Excise prisoners, Debtors, Revenue Defaulters, 17 - 17 On the 5th July 1876 a small Lock-up was opened at Nga-thaing-khyoung in which prisoners who are sentenced in that sub-division to one month's imprisonment and under, work out their sentences. The average number of prisoners of all classes confined was 16. The Police force numbered, in 1876, 355 men (of whom 37 were boat-men and river police and 72 employed in the town of Bassein) under a Superintendent and 36 subordinate officers (of whom 11 were employed in Bassein town). The strength gives one policeman to every twenty three square miles and to every 898 of the population. In the town of Bassein there is a charitable dispensary and two hospitals one for Europeans and the other for natives, all three being under the Civil Surgeon. A new Hospital, which is to cost about Rs. 8,000— of which Rs. 4,000 are provided from the Dispensary Fund, Rs. 2,000 by the Municipality, Rs. 1,500 from the Port Fund, and the remainder collected from private individuals — is now being' built. It is to be of teak with a shingled roof, and is to contain two large roomy wards, each to hold 10 beds and each having a bath-room. In the centre will be a dispensary, an operation-room and an office. A fine portico will provide a waiting-room for out-patients. In 1876 the total number who received aid that year was 3,461, of whom 264, including 10 Europeans, were in-patients. Most of the Europeans are sailors whose cases it is difficult to manage on board ship. The postal communications are : — (1.) A four-weekly service by the steamers of the British India Steam Navigation Company between Chittagong and Penang, and vice versa, the steamers calling at Akyab, Kyouk-hpyoo, Sandoway (during- the N. E. monsoon), Bassein, Rangoon, Maulmain, Tavoy River, Mergui and Malewon in British, and Renoung, Kopah, and Junk Ceylon in foreign, territory.

(2.) A service twice a week by the steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company between Rangoon and Bassein and vice versa, calling at Maoobeng, Shwe-loung, Myoungmya and, when practicable, at Pantanaw. (3.) A service, maintained out of the District Dak portion of the Five Per Cent Cess Fund, three times a month between Bassein and Ngathaing- khyoung and vice versa, via the Daga river ; three times a month between Bassein and Ngathaiug-khyoung and vice versa, via the Ngawou or Bassein river and three times a month by land from Ngathaing-khyoung to Lemyethna and Henzada, and vice versa.


Geology Along the coast, especially between Cape Negrais and Hmawdeng occur beds of blown sand, somewhat more earthy than sandy which from their reddish colour when viewed from a distance are named Kannee or "red bank." A deposit of a somewhat similar origin only coarser and distinctly accumulated under water is met with along the course of some of the less sheltered tidal creeks; it is a calcareous sand composed of comminuted shells and corals of living species consolidated into a more or less calcareous sandstone or ragstone and displaying the same local variations as are seen in the deposits now forming along the Indian shores. When this littoral concrete does not form on the banks of the tidal streams its place is taken by the foetid mud or sand and mud of the mangrove swamps. East of Ngapootaw on the Bassein river a considerable area is covered with sandy deposits, as is also a tract of country stretching northward from Bassein. Mr. Blanford of the Geological Survey of India wrote an in depth report of this area which you can read here…. Soapstone which is used by the Burmese for writing on parabaik or blackened fibre-paper is largely imported from Upper Burma, but occurs at a variety of spots in the Arakan range, chiefly, though not exclusively, on its eastern side. Among the altered rock towards Cape Negrais it is found in the form of veins, among altered shale along the shore, and a few miles east of Kweng-boo, thirty miles north of Cape Negrais among sandstones, which are indurated and disturbed; but at neither of these spots are any intruded rocks visible. At Kweng-boo, the steatite occurs in veins traversing sandstone lenticularly intermixed with the peculiar fibrous quartz, but not averaging an inch in thickness. In these veins the steatite is a little in excess of the fibrous quartz but the two minerals are very intimately united, the lenticular masses of the former being often enveloped with a layer of the latter, and portions are sometimes seen presenting almost the appearance of a conglomerate of steatite kernels, some no larger than hemp-seeds, enveloped in a paste of fibrous quartz. These steatite kernels have, however, nothing to do with a mechanical origin, but are bounded by lustrous burnished surfaces, much resembling the silken sides produced in shales by pressure, but in this case of quite another character, and the result of the peculiar chemical composition and mode of origin of the mineral — the smaller and purer portions of which being those with most lustrous surface. Most of the lime used in the district is procured near Thamandewa and Kyouk-thaing-baw on the Bassein river a few miles below Ngapootaw on which Mr. Blanford, of the Geological Survey of India, remarked : — “This is by far the most important locality in the province, and perhaps in the whole of Pegu. At Kyouk-theingbaw (Kyouk-thaing-baw) several very large masses of limestone crop out from the alluvium on the river bank. The quantity here, though considerable, would, however, soon be exhausted if there were a large demand for lime. South of the village, Thamandewa, a tidal creek stretches for some miles into the country, and on the south of this creek the outcrop of a bed at least thirty or forty feet thick stretches across the country in a direction nearly south 20° west, for a distance of about a mile, re-appearing at intervals for about a mile further, the most southerly point where it is seen being near the bank of the river bed not far from the village of Toung-gale. The quantity is


inexhaustible, the quality good, and the access easy, Thamandewa creek being navigable for Burmese boats of the largest size, and probably at high tide for sea-going vessels" Population. The inhabitants of the Bassein district as it then existed, according to the census of 1872, were: — Burmese, Kareng, Talaing, Shan, Arakanese, Khyeng Hindoos (including those of mixed parentage), Mahomedans,Chinese . . . , . . Other races, Europeans, Indo-Europeans, Malays, etc. In 1875, the Shwe-loung and Pantanaw townships were taken from Bassein, In former years the Talaing mustered strongly but the Burmese conquest by Aloungbhoora and still more the measures adopted by the Burmese when they returned to the delta of the Irrawaddy on the evacuation of Pegu by the British after the first Burmese war drove many into exile and more than decimated the number of those who could not or did not escape from the anger of their rulers whom they had irritated by siding with the English. The Kareng in this district differ from their brethren in the hills in Tenasserim from having adopted the Burmese custom of cultivation but still retain their dress, language, customs and religion except where converted to Christianity, yet many are, at least nominally, Booddhists. The Shan are settlers from the north, whilst many of the Mahomedans and most of the Hindoos are sojourners who come to make money to be spent in their own country. The Khyeng live mostly in the hills to the north-west, the tribe or race stretching far away north and west into Upper Burma and Arakan. Here, as everywhere else in the Province except in Mergui, the males exceed the females The Madrassees, Chittagonians and others from India bring no women with them but, like the Chinese, take to themselves wives from the women of the country whom they can and do leave behind if they return, whilst large numbers of Burmans come down from Upper Burma for the season only, to work in the rice mills in Bassein and even those who come to settle in the rural tracts do not, to any considerable extent, bring women with them. The principal occupation of the inhabitants is agriculture and fishing, the large plains affording occupation to the one class and the seacoast and numerous ponds, rivers and tidal creeks in the south to the other. Towns The number of towns and villages in 1876 was 1,455. The most important are : —

Bassein in about 16° 14' N. and 94° 46' E. on the banks of the Nga-woon river some 75 miles from the sea ; the head-quarter station. The three largest quarters of the town are on the left bank of the river surrounding the fort built since the annexation of Pegu and enclosing the conspicuous Shwe-moo-htaw Pagoda, the Athaygyee quarter to the south, the Talaing-khyoung" quarter to the north and the Myothit to the east. The small Theng-bhaw-gyeng suburb is on the right bank.

Within the walls of the fort are the principal public buildings — the Courts, Treasury and Police Office. The population has rapidly increased since its occupation by the British and in


1876 numbered 22,417 souls. The principal trade is in rice, grown in the district and imported from higher up the valley of the Irrawaddy, and husked for export in the mills erected by European merchants. This trade gives employment to a large number of men from Upper Burma who come down for work, leaving their families behind them, and return at the end of the season. Small quantities of timber, cotton, tobacco and oil-seed also are exported. The principal imports are piece-goods, cotton stuffs and crockery. Chinese junks bring small consignments of tea and silk but mainly for the use of the Chinese community. Native craft from the coast of Madras bring cocoanuts and other articles used chiefly by the natives of that country who are employed largely in loading and unloading ships.

Lemyet-hna on the bank of the Bassein.

Myoung-mya in 16° 35' N. and 95° E. on the river of the same name partly on one bank and partly on the other.

Ngapootaw in 16° 32' N. and 94° 46' E. on the island of the same name in the Bassein river, built on the side of a low range of hills and reaching down to the water’s edge.

Regyee Pandaw in 17° 19' 30" N. and 15° 10' E. on the creek of the same name, which flows between the Bassein and Daga rivers, and is composed of the once separate towns or villages of Regyee and Pandaw: it is a place of some importance in the rice trade. It was here that the Talaing army in its retreat before Aloungbhoora made its last stand before its complete and final defeat.

Nga-Thaing-khyoung in 17° 22' 30" N. and 95° 8' 30" E. on the Bassein river northern entrance of the Regyee creek the inhabitants do a considerable trade in rice which is sent to Bassein. For some years a detachment of Native Infantry from Bassein garrisoned the town, a duty now performed by the Police.

Kyoonpyaw in 17° 17' N. and 95° 16' E. on the Daga river at the southern entrance of the Regyee creek, the population employed in agriculture, in fishing and in trading.

Agriculture Nature has provided the district with lines of communication by which the produce can readily be transported to the most favourable market : intersected by a net-work of creeks, easily navigable for some months after the rains till the hot weather sets in, the country requires but few roads : in the dry season a cart track leads from village to village ; in the rains a boat can pass almost anywhere. Whilst, however, these creeks afford excellent means of communication and fertilise the country they are not without their inconveniences. Annually on the rise of the Irrawaddy large areas of country are flooded and the crops too often destroyed. To remedy this and afford protection to tracts of valuable rice land small embankments were erected by the inhabitants, but these were too weak and too much localized to be of any great or permanent benefit. Since 1865 large embankments have been and are still being made by the State along the banks of the Irrawaddy in the Henzada district to confine that river to its natural channel whilst a similar line is being carried along the left bank of the Bassein from its northern mouth and is complete as far as Ngathaing-khyoung. Manufactures The principal manufactures of the district are Salt, Ngapee and Pottery; the first two mainly


on the seacoast in the Nga-pootaw and Myoung-mya townships and the last in the Bassein, Myoung-mya and Regyee townships. Within a distance of eight or ten miles of the seacoast and in the alluvial delta several plains occur the soil of which is more or less saline and where these are in the vicinity of creeks salt is prepared. The salt is made by solar evaporation and boiling. About the month of January a salt tract measuring about 5,000 square yards is dammed in and divided into eight or more beds, carefully constructed drains running between them. These beds are then ploughed up to a depth of from 12 to 18 inches, all lumps broken up and the top soil reduced to powder, a work which takes about 25 days. By this time the water in the neighbouring creeks has, owing to the cessation of the rains and the gradual running off of the fresh water, become brackish and is pumped into the salt-beds by means of a wheel worked by buffaloes. This is left for some days until, partly by subsidence partly by evaporation, the beds are dry and a thin layer of salt is left on the surface. More water is then pumped in; not into all the beds simultaneously but passed from one to the other in regular order till all are filled ; the water in the last having thus passed through all the preceding ones. In the meanwhile tanks have been dug, generally about 40' x 60' x 5' deep, and the water after remaining 24 hours on the salt-beds is turned into them. The same process is repeated until these tanks are full or the workers think that they have a sufficient quantity for their purpose. From the tanks the water is carried to the boiling place and poured into pots underneath which a fire is kept continually burning. As soon as all the water in a pot has evaporated it is cleared of the salt and re-filled from the tanks the salt being thrown into a general heap and exposed to the sun on shelving boards to allow the bittern to drain off, a process which is complete in from two to four days. The pots are all of a uniform size and contain about 4 gallons of brine each and at each evaporation yield about 7lbs. of salt. Each pot is replenished twice in 24 hours and as the boiling continues for some four months (the fire being put out and the pots examined and cracked ones replaced three times in that period) the average produce of one pot during the season is about 1,350 lbs. The boiling places as a rule contain from 100 to 230 pots each, but some are smaller. The salt is sold on the spot for the preparation on the coast of salt-fish and ngapee. Several kinds of ngapee are made of which "Dharaeng" is the most important. It is manufactured on the seacoast on the spot where the fish are caught and consists of a mixture of all kinds of fish and prawns which, as they are caught in the traps, are thrown en masse on to a raised platform made of bamboos and left there for about eight hours until all the water has drained off. By this time decomposition has generally set in. The mass is then sprinkled thickly with salt and the whole thoroughly crushed and mixed together by hand. It is then ready for the market and if not sold at once is stored in large wicker baskets and more salt occasionllay added as putridity advances. About 4,700 lbs. of salt are required for 100 baskets of ngapee.


Large pots and other kinds of heavy glazed pottery are manufactured principally in the Myoung-mya township at a village near the town of Bassein called Thit-gnyo-goon. The earth used is a kind of red clay with a slight admixture of sand in it which is collected and brought to the site before the season’s work commences. The clay is dried and pounded in wooden mortars and mixed with water till it has attained the necessary consistency. A lump is taken up by hand and moulded into the form of a cylinder which is set upon the centre of a wooden wheel revolving horizontally and the clay is fashioned by the hand by one man or woman as the wheel is worked by another. Two persons can turn out from 15 to 20 large or 40 to 60 small pots in a day. When turned the pots are left for a day to dry and the glaze is then applied and the pots at once put into the kiln where they are burned for three days. The glaze is made from the slag obtained in smelting silver ore and is brought from Upper Burma, it is pounded in a mortar, sifted, mixed with thick rice water and applied with a brush. In one season, that is from January to April, two men can turn out about 1,000 pots of sizes which are generally sold to traders on the spot for from Rs. 120 to Rs. 130. The ordinary water and cooking-pots — unglazed — are somewhat differently made. The clay is thoroughly mixed with fine sand and water in a pit and is then placed on hides and kneaded by being trampled with naked feet. The pot is not at once formed on the wheel as in the case of the glazed jars but as soon as a globe has been formed by turning it is enlarged by hammering with a flat piece of wood with a rough surface. It is, when in this stage, exceedingly moist and is dried in a shed for three days and again beaten out. The salt pots are made in the same way but are much thicker. About 100 small or 20 large pots of this description can be made in one day by two men.

bassein district · bassein district to the north lie henzada on the east and sandoway on the west...

Documents