FOOTNOTES:

Padaung Ladies—Shan States.

A few days were spent at Möngpawn. The Sawbwa Hkun Ti is described as a man of strong character, "the moving spirit in the Limbin Confederacy." He was quite ready, however, to give up this coalition and to transfer his allegiance to the Queen-Empress. He advised the despatch of a party to Möngnai to hoist the British flag and to bring in the Limbin Prince. The rains were now well on, and marching had become very difficult. It was decided, therefore, not to take the whole force but to send the Assistant Superintendent with fifty rifles under Lieutenant Wallace to Möngnai. The Superintendent with the main body marched back to Fort Stedman.

Mr. Scott was detained for some days in Möngpawn waiting for rations. The time was well employed. Two of the minor chiefs, Naungmawn (a brother of Möngpawn) and Möngsit (Möngpawn's son-in-law, and half-brother of Mawknai), came and tendered their allegiance. Others offered their submission by messenger and promised to meet the Assistant Superintendent at Möngnai, which they said was the place of assemblage for the Shan States from ancient times. More than this, very friendly relations were established during this halt between the people and the troops. TheMyozas(headmen) from the neighbouring villages came round every evening for rifle-practice with the officers; and it is recorded that Möngpawn and his brother made very good shooting. The troops were paraded and manœuvred for their entertainment. Notwithstanding these courtesies, however, no promise to surrender the Limbin Prince could be obtained from these chiefs. "It must depend," they said, "on his own decision." They suggested that better terms should be offered to him. "This was an instance," says Mr. Hildebrand, "of the way in which the Shan chiefs cling together, and of the sanctity they attach to an oath." Although the Limbin's causeand the ideas on which it was based were hopelessly lost, they would not coerce him to surrender.

On the 2nd of May Mr. Scott's party began their march, and entered Möngnai on the 5th, having suffered from heavy and incessant rain all the way. After crossing the Mewettaung Range, they entered a level valley which extends to Kengtawng on the south-east and up northward as far as Laikha. The altitude of this valley is about 4,000 feet. It is the centre of the silk cultivation, the eggs and larvæ being imported periodically from the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Szechuen. When the party passed through the whole district had been ravaged by men from Laikha, and only a few almost empty villages survived. Twet Nga Lu from Kengtawng had also been at work, and on the last march of seventeen miles into Möngnai most of the villages were found in ruins. They had been burnt by his marauders two months before.

The description of Möngnai at this time is worth quoting (Mr. Hildebrand's Report, June 22, 1887, par. 97).

"From the north there is a long avenue-like approach to Möngnai. The walls of the ancient city still exist in a very dilapidated state. They are about 20 feet high and machicolated. The city was about 1,000 yards square, and there remain signs of extensive suburbs. Everything, however, has been destroyed. Of ten thousand houses only three hundred (mostly recently built) remain; out of one hundred and twenty monasteries only three are left standing. The Sawbwa himself lives in a bamboo house, instead of the former teak-woodhaw(palace). The interior of the city walls is all jungle-grown."

It is as well to put on record some description of the condition in which the British found the Shan States. A few years hence we shall be denounced as the ruthless destroyers of a country which we had found wealthy and prosperous.

The Sawbwa of Möngnai came in unpretentious fashion to see Mr. Scott the day after his arrival. His superiority in breeding and character to most of the chiefs was marked, He made no difficulty about accepting British supremacy, and proffered all his influence to induce the other chiefs to follow his example. The typical character of the Shans as a race of traders came out in his request that his submissionto British authority should be made known in Moulmein. In former times there was a good trade in timber with the Moulmein merchants. When they were informed of the establishment of peace this trade he anticipated would revive.

It remained to induce the Limbin Prince to submit and to accompany Mr. Scott to Fort Stedman. This was not a question of very high diplomacy, but it required some skill, tact, and patience to induce the Prince to make a voluntary surrender. It would have been very easy to have arrested and removed him by force. Such action, however, would have been distasteful to the Shan chiefs and might have rendered it more difficult to dispose of other pretenders still remaining in the Northern States. The Prince showed himself to be a poor creature, whose chief characteristic was an immeasurable conceit. He was, after all, only the illegitimate son of the Ein-she-min, or War Prince, who was the brother of King Mindon. But Burmans and Shans, like some other people, if a man is a prince, do not ask too curiously what sort of a prince he may be. When he left Möngnai, mounted on an elephant, with his gong beating, great numbers of people knelt down by the roadside as he passed, and similar respect was shown to him at other places. Notwithstanding his conceit, he did not put a very high price on his submission. This descendant of kings, who had left his refuge in British Burma to become the head of a great Shan Confederacy to be formed on the model of the German Empire, was glad to barter his lofty ambition for a stipend of £16 sterling a month and a house at Rangoon, or Moulmein, or elsewhere.

While the Prince was making arrangements for the journey, the Assistant Superintendent with Lieutenant Wallace, 27th Punjab Infantry, and Lieutenant Jackson, R.E., rode to Mawkmai, some twenty-five miles over rolling country covered with scrub-oak forest. They found Mawkmai situated in a fine valley 120 miles in extent, irrigated from the Nam Nyim River, and well cultivated; the main crop being paddy. The town was in good order, well built and prosperous. "The one town," records Mr. Scott, "in the Shan States that has not been destroyed inthe inter-State wars." The trade relations between Mawkmai and Moulmein are close; the Salween in the rainy season being navigable and affording good means of communication.

The British officers were received with courtesy and hospitality by the Sawbwa and his officials. The suzerainty of the Queen-Empress was accepted as a matter of course. The only anxiety of the chief was in respect of the duty likely to be imposed on exported timber, which had been severely taxed by King Thebaw.

On the 11th of May the party returned to Möngnai. The attitude of the Sawbwa Kun Kyi was excellent. He assured Mr. Scott that he would be able to promise the submission of the Trans-Salween States, who all looked to him as their leader, and to Möngnai as their place of assemblage. He asked as a special favour to himself, and as a confirmation of his authority, that he might be allowed to fly the British flag over his residence. This request was granted. In the evening the British officers with a small guard of honour went to the Sawbwa'shaw, or palace, where a flagstaff had been prepared, and the Union Jack was run up by Mr. Scott, the bugles sounding a general salute and the troops presenting arms. A great number of people from Möngnai and the neighbouring villages were present. They saluted the flag in their customary attitude of respect, on their knees, and when the troops marched off the Sawbwa's band struck up. What march it played has not been recorded.

The Limbin Prince had now made his arrangements for the journey, and on the 13th the party started for Fort Stedman, which was reached on the 20th of May. The route lay over a road which had not been used for a year and which the contending parties had endeavoured to make impassable. Four sepoys and several camp-followers were spiked in the feet. But for this mishap the three weeks' march from Möngpawn round by Möngnai would have been accomplished without having a single man on the sick-list; and this although there had been much rain, especially on the return journey. After five days' rest the Limbin Prince was sent under escort to the plains, and passed into obscurity.

On the 22nd of June the Superintendent was able to report from Fort Stedman: "The Southern Shan States have now all given in their submission; caravans of cattle and pedlars move about from State to State with perfect freedom and confidence, a condition of things which has hardly existed since the accession of King Thebaw in 1879." (Mr. Hildebrand's Report, June 22, 1887, par. 147.)

FOOTNOTES:[34]"Yunnan," by Major H. R. Davies.[35]Ibid., p. 21.[36]Sir A. P. Phayre, "History of Burma," p. 13.[37]He was grinding wheat or paddy in a hand-mill.[38]General Sir Edward Stedman, G.C.B.[39]Sir Herbert White, K.C.I.E., late Lieut. Governor of Burma.

[34]"Yunnan," by Major H. R. Davies.

[35]Ibid., p. 21.

[36]Sir A. P. Phayre, "History of Burma," p. 13.

[37]He was grinding wheat or paddy in a hand-mill.

[38]General Sir Edward Stedman, G.C.B.

[39]Sir Herbert White, K.C.I.E., late Lieut. Governor of Burma.

The narrative in the last chapter took the history down to the end of June, 1887, when comparative peace had been established in the Southern States.

The Northern States up to this time had not come under the influence of the Superintendent at Fort Stedman. The Chief Commissioner had decided that no expedition should be sent into those States until after the rains of 1887, unless it became absolutely necessary for the support of the friendly Sawbwa of Hsipaw. The chief had been able, as has been explained (p. 147), with the alliance of San Ton Hon to hold his own and to defeat their opponents headed by Naw Möng and the Chaunggwa Prince. If he had stopped at that point much misery and destruction would have been saved. But Hkun Saing's vanity had been inflated by the reception he had received at Mandalay when ten years' revenue had been remitted to him and the States of Möngtung, Manglön, and Hsumhsai made over to him, and he cherished visions of further aggrandisement. San Ton Hon was very much of the same mind.

After defeating the Prince they turned their forces southward and made an attack on Hsenwi Alelet, where comparative peace had been maintained by the Pa-ôk-Chok at Möngyai. San Ton Hon led his troops down by the east while Hsipaw's men, under the Sawbwa's father-in-law, went by the west. Mr. Hildebrand had heard of their designs and sent them orders to desist. The allies persisted, however, alleging that they were acting under instructions from Mandalay. Möngyai was occupied. The Pa-ôk-Chok and Naw Möng, who was with him, escapedto Möngnawng and sent messengers to Fort Stedman praying for redress. They were ordered to remain quiet until the Superintendent should come to Hsenwi. San Ton Hon remained in Möngyai making arrangements for administering the district. He then left for the town of Hsenwi in obedience to a further order from Mr. Hildebrand. By the end of August, 1887, peace had been restored, that is to say, active fighting had ceased in the Northern States, and the contending parties awaited the coming of the Superintendent to settle their claims. Little harm would have resulted from the turbulence of Hsipaw and San Ton Hon if they had restrained their followers from ravaging the country. These bandits, San Ton Hon's Kachins at the head of them, had burnt and destroyed everything. Thus the autumn of 1887 saw the cessation of bloodshed in both the Northern and Southern States. All were beginning to look to the British representative at Fort Stedman as the final arbitrator of disputes, and trade began to revive.

Meanwhile the objects to be aimed at and the measures to be taken in the ensuing open season of 1887-8 were occupying the Chief Commissioner. Mr. Hildebrand was invited to Mandalay, and the subject was fully discussed and settled in consultation with him. The main lines of the policy to be followed in relation to the States were defined. The conditions upon which the chiefs were to hold their States under the British Government were determined and embodied in a patent, orsanad, to use the Indian term, for the greater chiefs, and in a letter of appointment for the lesser. By thesanadthe recipient was recognized as a feudatory chief and empowered to govern his territories in all matters whether criminal, civil, or revenue, and was authorized to nominate for the approval of the Government a fit person according to Shan usage to be his successor. These privileges were made subject to certain conditions, one of which was the payment of a tribute, settled for five years at the amount previously paid to the King, and liable to revision thereafter. The forests and royalties on all minerals and precious stones were reserved to the Government. Order was to be maintained by the chief, the rights andcustoms of the people were to be respected, and trade protected. All disputes arising between one State and another were to be referred to the Superintendent, at whose headquarters the chief was to maintain an agent or representative. The order of appointment given to the lesser men bound them to pay the revenue assessed by the Superintendent, and in all matters connected with the administration of their districts to conform to the instructions and orders issued by the Chief Commissioner or the Superintendent.

It was decided that each chief or ruler, whether known by the title of Sawbwa or some lesser designation, should be required to appear in person, to make a declaration of allegiance, and to subscribe to the terms of hissanad. Where there were rival claimants, weight was to be given to thefait accompli, and to considerations of expediency rather than to those of abstract right or justice. It was not held incumbent on the British Government to go behind existing facts or to inquire how the man in possession came by his power, provided he appeared to be a person capable of maintaining order.

Some matters of importance hitherto unsettled were decided by the Chief Commissioner at this time. The important State of Lawksawk had been left in temporary charge of a Burman Myoôk (videpage 154). There was a man named Hkun Nu who had been the (hereditary) Myoza of a small State called Tabet by the Burmans, Tamhpak by the Shans. He had been deposed about 1892 by the Burman Government because he could not raise the revenue demanded from the State. He lived in great poverty in Mandalay until the deposition of the King. His case coming to the Chief Commissioner's notice, a small allowance, enough to keep him alive, was made to him. Hkun Nu proved himself useful in giving information about the Shan country and in taking letters, not without some personal risk, to various potentates. He accompanied the expedition to the Shan States early in 1887, and was found by Mr. Hildebrand to be both intelligent and trustworthy and to be a person of some influence in the Shan country. On Mr. Hildebrand's recommendation, and with the goodwill of many of the notables of Lawksawk, and of someof the principal Sawbwas such as Möngnai and Möngpawn, he was appointed by the Chief Commissioner to be Sawbwa of Lawksawk, a territory of 4,048 square miles and paying a gross revenue of Rs. 27,297. Thus from being the dismissed magistrate of a petty district, earning a small wage as a guide and messenger, Hkun Nu became the ruler of a considerable and wealthy State by a sudden turn of the wheel of fortune. It may be recorded here that the State prospered under him. On his death in 1900 he was succeeded by his son, who was summoned to Rangoon in 1906, and presented to their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales. He received the decoration of K.S.M. on the 1st of January, 1907, and has done much in the way of road-making and otherwise to improve his country.

Another matter that came up was the Sawbwa of Möngnai's claim to the adjacent State of Kengtawng, which had been made over by the Burmese Government to Twet Nga Lu. Orders were now passed confirming the Sawbwa's title to administer Kengtawng as a State subordinate to him.

Many important questions remained, which could not be settled until the Superintendent was able to visit each State with a sufficient military escort to mark his authority and to render opposition improbable. Hsenwi was in a disturbed and distracted condition and had to be pacified and arrangements made for its administration. The method in which the group of smaller States on the western edge of the plateau known as the Myélat was to be administered had also to be considered and decided. The nearness of these States to Mandalay had resulted in diminishing their independence. Their position was in fact not much different from that of a purely Burman district. Then there were the Trans-Salween States, with which communication had not as yet been established. Five of the smallest of these had been claimed by the Siamese. Another very difficult matter was the attitude of the Karennis, whose relations with the British Government it was necessary to define. In the case of every State, big or little, the amount paid as revenue during the King's time had to be ascertained, the tribute payable to the BritishGovernment to be determined, and engagements to be taken for its regular payment.

In Mr. Hildebrand's expedition in the beginning of 1887 only one force had been employed. Experience showed that the area to be dealt with was too large for one column. While the force was in the south, fighting and disturbances were going on in the north. The appearance of two expeditions, one starting from Mandalay and visiting the north, the other from Fort Stedman, taking the Southern States and then moving up to combine with the first, would make a greater impression than a single force of much larger strength. Rumour would magnify the numbers of each, and if opposition were contemplated by any of the chiefs, he would not know where to direct his attack. For these reasons it was decided to employ two columns. The larger, under command of Major Swetenham, 27th P.I., was composed of:—

2guns 1-1 Eastern Division, R.A.50rifles—West Surrey Regiment.150rifles—27th P.I.25British}25Native} Mounted Infantry20lances—1st Bombay Lancers.

It assembled at Fort Stedman, and was called the Southern Shan Column.

The smaller column was commanded by Major Yates, 1-1 Eastern Division, R.A., and included the following troops:—

2guns 1-1 Eastern Division, R.A.50rifles—Royal Munster Fusiliers.100rifles—43 G.L.I. (Bombay Army).50rifles—Native} Mounted Infantry.25rifles—British}

This column was designated the Northern Shan Column. Its starting-point was Maymyo (Pyinulwin), forty miles from Mandalay.

To Mr. Hildebrand, as Superintendent of the Shan States, was given the chief political charge, and, within certainlimits laid down by the Chief Commissioner, the movements of the columns and the measures to be taken for the pacification of the country were left to his discretion. He was to accompany the Southern Column, and Mr. J. G. Scott was appointed to go with him as his Assistant. Lieutenant H. Daly was posted as civil officer with the Northern Column. In all political matters he was placed entirely under Mr. Hildebrand, and was told that he was to act, and only to act, under his instructions.

The relations of Mr. Hildebrand to the military officers in command of the columns were carefully defined. The primary object of the expeditions was to establish peace, decide disputes, and lay the foundations of orderly rule for the future. The need of warlike operations was not anticipated. The military officers commanding were instructed therefore to give to the civil officers every assistance in carrying out the wishes of Government that could be given with due regard to the safety and well-being of the troops. In the event of hostilities becoming necessary, then the civil officer was to stand aside while the soldiers became solely responsible for the planning and carrying out of the necessary operations. The maintenance of the strictest discipline was enjoined, and the most scrupulous exactitude in paying for labour and supplies. Troops and followers were made to understand that they were operating in a friendly country.

Instructions were given to Mr. Hildebrand as to the route to be taken by each column, the matters demanding his attention, and the principles by which he was to be guided. Mr. Daly with the Northern Column was to move through Hsipaw to Northern Hsenwi, then to Tawngpeng, the chief of which State was still recalcitrant; and thence returning to Hsipaw, he was to march to Möngyai in Central Hsenwi.

Mr. Hildebrand with the Southern Column was to go to Möngpai, thence to Mawkmai, thence to Möngpan, and then to Möngnai, which was a convenient centre for the settlement of many matters. After a halt there, which it was anticipated might extend to several weeks, the column was to turn northward and march through theintervening States to Möngyai, which it was to reach about the same time as the Northern Column. The idea was to bring the two columns together in Hsenwi, where the contending parties of San Ton Hon, Naw Hpa, Naw Möng and Nga Aw the Pa-ôk-Chok, whom San Ton Hon and the Hsipaw Sawbwa had expelled from Möngyai, were expected to give trouble. At Möngyai, the settlement of the large State of Hsenwi—the most difficult, perhaps, of the duties entrusted to Mr. Hildebrand—would have to be taken in hand.

The Southern Column started on the 22nd of November, 1887, on its five months' march through the States. Before it moved, the chiefs of the Myélat and the Sawbwas and Myozas of States in the neighbourhood of Fort Stedman, were called in; the revenue to be paid by each was fixed, and the drafts of theirsanadsand letters of appointment given to them. There was no difficulty with any of them except Saw Ôn, the Sawbwa of Yawnghwè, who owed his position to the support afforded to him by the British Government. He objected to the payment of revenue, and feigned illness to avoid appearing before the Superintendent. He made it almost impossible to get coolies or bullocks, except directly through him and at most exorbitant rates. He exhibited, in fact, a fine example of a swollen head. But it may be that he partly believed in the truth of some absurd stories respecting the withdrawal of the British from Burma, which he was found afterwards to have spread abroad.

The first halt was made at Kaung-i, the residence of the Möngpai Sawbwa. The settlement of the chronic feud between him and Pobye, the Karenni chief, was the main business here. Pobye appeared, and the Superintendent heard both parties. After vainly endeavouring to bring them to an agreement, Mr. Hildebrand induced them to pledge themselves to abide by the Chief Commissioner's decision, and meanwhile to keep the peace. At a later date, they submitted their case at Rangoon to the Chief Commissioner, who settled the dispute....

At Möngpai every effort was made without success to induce Sawlapaw, the powerful chief of Eastern Karenni, to come in and arrange amodus vivendiwith the British authorities. He remained obstinately hostile, and had to be chastised later on.

A Jungle Camp in the Shan States.

At this halt, where several chiefs were assembled, the principle of succession ruling in the Shan States was discussed. It appeared that as a rule succession devolved on the eldest son of the chief wife: failing her male issue, on the eldest male issue of the next wife. Failing heirs in the direct line, the succession went to collaterals. This was shown to be the ancient custom not to be departed from except in the case of obvious unfitness of the heir for the duties of his position either from incapacity or from vice. In Loilong and Hsahtung some questions relating to minor chiefships were settled. It was found that on this south-western frontier of the Shan States the inhabitants were mostly Karens and kindred races split up into small tribes speaking different dialects, timid and shy people submitting to the tyranny of dacoits and outlaws who sought a refuge in their hills from the pursuit of the police and troops in the low country.

The column marched through the Mawkmai territory to Möngpan. No special matter had been marked for settlement in Mawkmai. But it was noted that the villagers in the south stood in great fear of Sawlapaw, and paid blackmail to him. Work in the forests of Southern and South-eastern Mawkmai had been stopped on account of the hostility of the Karenni chief. The adjacent country was practically deserted, and the complaints against Sawlapaw were loud. Mawkmai, however, at this time was the most wealthy and prosperous of the Shan States, and the Sawbwa seemed powerful enough to hold his own against any of his neighbours.

From Mawkmai the column went on to Möngpan. Here they met the Siamese Commissioners and Mr. Archer, His Majesty's Acting Vice-Consul at Chiengmai (Zimme), who had come to discuss the claim made by the Bangkok Government to some small States east of the Salween. Möngpan had been taken and burnt by the filibuster Twet Nga Lu, who had so far recognized British authority that after his expulsion from Kengtawng by Kun Kyi, the Möngnai Sawbwa, he came to Fort Stedman and laid his claim before the Superintendent. It was considered and rejected by theChief Commissioner. Thereupon he collected a regiment ofbravi, as numerous in the Shan States in 1887 as in Italy of the Middle Ages, and descending on Kengtawng burnt whatever had escaped former devastations. Compelled to retreat by the Sawbwa's men, he retired south on Möngpan, and captured it in December, 1887. Again driven out by the Möngnai troops, he fell back beyond the Salween, the Möngnai men following him. But as the pursuit led them into the territory of Möngtung and Möng Hang, which were claimed by the Siamese, they were ordered by the Superintendent to retire to the right bank of the Salween. Twet Nga Lu was left encamped close to Möngtung, where a small Siamese garrison was stationed, and he thus escaped for the time. He was proclaimed a rebel and dacoit and every chief in the Shan States was desired to treat him as an outlaw. This was the situation at Möngpan when the Southern Column met Mr. Archer and the Siamese Commissioners at that place.

The four States in dispute with Siam were Möngtung, Möng Hang, Möng Hta, and Möng Kyawt. They were claimed by the British Government as part of the undoubtedly Burman State Möngpan, but had been occupied secretly by the Siamese. A fifth, Möng Hsat, was also claimed by them, but no garrison had been placed in it. It was and always had been a dependency of Kengtung, with which the Siamese could not pretend to have any connection. The Siamese claim had its origin in the conduct of the local rulers (Phayas) of these little territories in the disturbed times following the overthrow of King Thebaw.

The Mawkmai Sawbwa made a successful attack on Möngpan in the cold season of 1886-7. Earlier in the same year the Siamese had moved up a large force from Chiengmai, ostensibly to assist the British in maintaining order: more probably in the hope of picking up some fragments for themselves when the Burman Government went to pieces. Under these circumstances the local rulers, threatened with burning and robbery by Mawkmai, with invasion and slavery by Siam, sought the protection of the more powerful Siamese and drank the water of allegiance to Chiengmai. This was the only foundation for the claim made by the Bangkok Government. Their assertion thatthe States had been under Siam for a century had nothing to support it. The population was admittedly Shan. A report of the facts was drawn up and sent to the Chief Commissioner. Meanwhile amodus vivendiwas arranged by Mr. Hildebrand with the Siamese Commissioner on the basis of maintaining thestatus quo, preserving peace, and abstaining from working the forests in the States until the dispute was settled by the Governments of the two countries. It may be stated here that a decision in favour of the British claim was announced in 1888 and effect given to it. Four States were restored to Möngpan, and possession of the fifth, Möng Hsat, confirmed to Kengtung.

The State of Möngpan contains a broad area of good paddy land, and in former times exported large quantities of paddy. When Mr. Hildebrand visited it he found the lands devastated. With the one exception of Laikha it had suffered more than any other Shan State. The town had been repeatedly burnt by filibusters. The great bulk of the population had fled over the Salween and scattered through the smaller States, some even going as far as Chiengmai (Zimme) and Kengtung. Leaving Möngpan, the column reached Möngnai on the 7th of January, 1888, and halted there for some weeks. Möngnai had been the place of assemblage of the Cis-Salween chiefs in the King's time. All of them had been warned in advance to meet Mr. Hildebrand at Möngnai, and all except the Sawbwa of Laikha, the Myozas of Möng Kung and Kehsi Mansam, who had started too late, were present. The chiefs assembled at Möngnai were:—

The Möngnai Sawbwa.The Möngpawn Sawbwa.The Möngpan Sawbwa.The Mawkmai Sawbwa.The Wanyin Myoza.The Nawng Wawn Myoza.The Hsahtung Myoza.The Möngsit Myoza.The Möngnawng Myoza.The Hopong Myoza.The Keng Hkam Myoza.The Nam Hkok Myoza.

Naw Möng, son of Naw Hpa, who was claimant of Hsenwi, and Kun Aw, who was Pa-ôk-Chok of Möngyai in Hsenwi Alelet, and had been ejected by San Ton Hon and Hkun Sa, the exiled chief of Möngtung, were also present.

The question of tribute was one in which all took a keen interest, and it was fully discussed. The right of the British Government to demand tribute was not contested. But the manner of it, whether it should be in the form of annual presents or of money to be raised from the people by a house tax, was the subject of dispute. The exemption for ten years which had been given to the Sawbwa of Hsipaw caused much heartburning and led to demands for a similar indulgence.

Eventually, however, all agreed to pay tribute, the amount for the next five years being that which had been paid yearly in King Mindon's time.

The Trans-Salween States from various causes did not appear at Möngnai. But a dispute between Mawkmai and Möngnai regarding the right to a small Trans-Salween State of Möng Pu was settled satisfactorily in favour of Möngnai. Mawkmai's claim had no strong foundation, and after the facts had been set forth, the Sawbwa accepted them and yielded in a peaceable and graceful fashion. It was evident that already the authority of the British Government had been acknowledged by all, and that its decisions would be obeyed.

On the 20th of January Mr. Hildebrand held a Durbar, which all the chiefs, and a very great number of the smaller folk, attended. The draft patents and letters of appointment were given to the chiefs, along with suitable presents, and the advantages of the peace which would follow the establishment of British authority were pointed out to them by the Superintendent in a speech. A march past and a sham-fight by the troops gave them an opportunity of comparing British disciplined and trained troops with their own disorderly and ill-equipped followers. Sports followed the Durbar, affording amusement to all and giving a common ground on which all could unite. The wisdom and the excellent results of holding these meetings cannot be denied.

On the 22nd of January, 1888, the column left Möngnai and started on its way to Möngyai, where it will be recollected (p. 166) it was to meet with the Northern Column and Mr. Daly. The route to be taken on this march had been left by the Chief Commissioner to Mr. Hildebrand'sdiscretion. Is has been seen that the Laikha group of States were not represented at the Durbar. The Superintendent, therefore, instead of taking the route to the east through Möngnawng, which was reputed to be the shorter, took a western road leading through Laikha, Möng Kung, and Kehsi Mansam. It proved to be the easiest route that could have been followed, and showed the troops to as large a number of States as possible.

On the second march out the Sawbwa of Laikha and the Myoza of Möng Kung were met coming to meet the Superintendent. They turned and marched with the column. They said that difficulties in procuring supplies had delayed them, and the truth of this statement was proved by the appearance of the countryside when the next march brought the force into Laikha territory—a wide billowy plain not long ago closely cultivated and well peopled: now deserted and waste. "The face of the land," wrote the Superintendent, "was deserted and desolate as an American pampas or a Russian steppe. We marched along the main north road which had clearly been not long since a wide thoroughfare travelled over by many men and many cattle. Now it was narrowed to a mere path which encroaching bushes and rank grass threatened at no great distance of time altogether to obliterate. Marks of tigers were seen here and there on the clay trodden hard by the feet of many wayfarers now no more to be seen. The few householders who remained were gaunt with hunger, and had not energy enough left to pull up the bamboo spikes which had been placed in the ground during the fighting which was the primary cause of all this misery, emphasized by the famine which succeeded as a necessary result. The Hsen (local headman) spiked his foot coming out to meet the column."

The description of the town of Laikha is not less melancholy. It has been on the decline for years. "Civil wars and local disturbances have ruined it slowly but surely." It was one of the finest and wealthiest places in the State, and there were many splendid monasteries and elaborate pagodas. These were found deserted and falling to pieces, the shrines left to moulder away without a single pious offering, the jungle coming up to their very thresholds and creepers tearing the bricks asunder.

Leaving Laikha on the 30th of January, three marches brought the column to Möngkung, a State blessed with very fertile soil and good streams. But here also local dissension and Burman interference had brought ruin. On the death of the chief (designatedMyoza), one Hkun Saing was able by bribery or intrigue to procure an order from Mandalay giving him the succession. The people, however, clung to the rightful heir, the son of the deceased Myoza, a boy of ten or twelve. Hkun Sang persuaded the neighbouring State of Möngnawng to take his part. Kehsi Mansam took the boy's side. Nearly every village in both States was burnt, and the able-bodied men were too absorbed in the fight to till the soil. Ruin and famine followed in the track of the fighting, which did not cease until our troops arrived on the Shan plateau. The only villages to which any prosperity remained were those in the hills inhabited by tribes of a Karen origin who held aloof from Shan politics. At Möngkung the minor chief of Möngsang and Mönghsu came to see the Superintendent. Here also news came that Mr. Daly with the Northern Column had reached Hsenwi and had received from San Ton Hon a promise that he would come to Möngyai. This hopeful information regarding San Ton Hon enabled the Superintendent to issue a proclamation in Shan to the monks, headmen, and elders of Hsenwi, assuring them that a settlement of their affairs would certainly be made and ordering them to attend at Möngyai.

From Möngkung to Kehsi Mansam was four marches through a country marked by the ravages of war. Nevertheless the Myoza, "an undersized, insignificant-looking creature, addicted to the use of opium," was not too depressed to come out fifteen miles to meet the column, which he played into the town with a band of local musicians and dancers leading the way.

Matters relating to some minor States were discussed at Kehsi Mansam, and the peaceful settlement of Hsenwi seemed not distant. But it was sanguine to expect that people who had been engaged in petty wars for years would take suddenly to the ways of peace. The lion does not all at once lie down with the lamb, nor it might be said more appropriately does the jackal make peace with the wild dog.Two days after the arrival of the column at Kehsi Mansam it was reported that an attack had been made on Möngyai and San Ton Hon's deputy driven out. The men who headed this adventure were nephews of the Pa-ôk-Chok and gave out that they were acting for that personage with the Superintendent's approval. As the Pa-ôk-Chok and Naw Möng had accompanied the force ever since it marched from Möngnai, it was feared that this story might seem probable to San Ton Hon and might prevent him from coming to Möngyai. Letters, therefore, were sent to reassure him and to explain that the expulsion of his man from Möngyai would not influence the decision of the Superintendent.

From Kehsi Mansam, passing through the Alelet or Central Division of Hsenwi, the column reached Möngyai on the 15th of February, 1888. Mr. Daly, with the Northern Column, joined Mr. Hildebrand on the 1st of March. Kun San Ton Hon came with him. Meanwhile all the headmen of various denominations, uncouth to English ears, Myozas, Heins, Seins, Ta Möngs, and Kin Möngs, had collected in obedience to the Superintendent's summons, and were busy no doubt in discussing the situation and the best methods of settlement and comparing the present condition of the State broken up into petty divisions, none of them powerful enough for self-defence, with the comparative order which had prevailed when it was under its hereditary Sawbwas, who could show an unbroken succession for two hundred years.

On the 1st of March, when San Ton Hon arrived with Mr. Daly, all the Hsenwi claimants were assembled at Möngyai. Naw Möng—representing his father, Naw Hpa, who was a refugee with the Kachins in the north; Sang Aw, the Pa-ôk-Chok, who claimed the Central Division; and San Ton Hon, who claimed the whole State. Naw Hpa was pronounced on all sides to be too old and infirm to rule. Naw Möng claimed as his heir and representative the whole of Hsenwi, excepting some of the southern subdivisions, which had been given independence in the King's time. His attitude was most reasonable. He confessed his obligations to the British Government. Unless they had occupied Mandalay and removed Thebaw, he and his sister wouldhave been lying still in hopeless imprisonment. He was ready to bow to the Superintendent's decision, whatever it might be. The Pa-ôk-Chok was even more accommodating. He was an old worn man whose only title to be considered in the matter was that he had preserved the peace in the Central Division at a critical time. He would be quite content if he were permitted to administer Möngyai. San Ton Hon, who had no rightful title to any part of Hsenwi, not unnaturally laid claim to all the country that was or had been known by that name. On reflection, however, he adopted an attitude of greater humility and declared his willingness to abide by the decision of the Superintendent.

The points to which the Superintendent's inquiry should be directed had been laid down by the Chief Commissioner in the instructions given him. Amongst other points, such as the history of the several claimants, their sources of influence and their ability and power to govern, the Chief Commissioner had laid stress on the real wishes of the people of Hsenwi as a whole or of such parts of it as should be separately considered. "You should then," he wrote, "pending a full reference to the Chief Commissioner, make such arrangements for the administration of Theinni [Hsenwi] as you deem most fitting, bearing in mind that the great object to be attained is peace in the country. You must not be guided either in your provisional arrangements or in your recommendations solely by considerations of abstract right or abstract justice. You must give great weight to considerations of expediency and keep prominently before your mind that Theinni [Hsenwi] must have strong permanent Government in order to ensure peace and prosperity; and that the chief or chiefs must be both friendly to the British Government and ready and able to give proof of friendship by prompt and powerful action should such be necessary." The question whether the policy should be to unite the country into one large State, or to recognize the divisions into which it had been broken up, was left to Mr. Hildebrand's discretion, but an inclination in favour of the large State was indicated.

It was decided to hold a conference of all the persons interested in this matter and to ascertain, so far as might be possible, the views and wishes of the people. A large(Mandator) temporary hall was constructed by the Pa-ôk-Chok for the assemblage. On the date fixed, the 3rd of March, 1888, "about fifty headmen of circles, many superiors of monasteries, monks, sidesmen, almoners, and village elders were assembled, while outside gathered great numbers of the common people from all parts of the country. There were also present beside the claimants, representatives of all the chief Southern States and of Hsipaw." In fact, it was an assemblage of all the estates of the realm in the Shan country—the Lords Temporal, the Lords Spiritual, and the Commons. They had come together to assist in deciding by whom and how the Hsenwi territory should be governed. And they had come at the call of a Government which had taken a visible form in the Shan country only a year before, which only two years previously had displaced the King of Burma to whom the Shans had been subject for centuries, and which was still fighting in Burma proper against the adherents of the King. It was certainly an achievement not easily matched in the history of conquests or annexations, and showed the confidence in our power and our justice which a very short experience had been able to create.

It was not a mere show; the people had not assembled themselves to register a foregone decision. The Superintendent was making an honest attempt to ascertain the wishes of all classes. The machinery was rude. But it was quite as likely to succeed in its object as the elaborate devices of advanced democracies which give free play to the arts of false-tongued demagogues and afford them every opportunity of bamboozling electors, most of whom are more ignorant of the issues than the Shans who assembled at Möngyai.

The method adopted for taking the votes was to call upon each head of a circle to record his opinion, and then to take the opinion of the assembly. The first question put was whether Hsenwi should be reunited or whether it should remain divided, and if divided, into how many parts. The opinion against reunion into one State was manifested unmistakably. On the second point there was much discussion, but the result showed a balance, and a large balance, of opinion in favour of two States, North and South.The great majority, when the question of the rulers to be appointed was put, gave the North to San Ton Hon, and the South to Naw Möng. The Pa-ôk-Chok did not press his claim. "On the whole," the report says, "considerable intelligence and a shrewd appreciation of the novel idea of an open election were displayed, and a member of the outside crowd created some amusement by his vigorous championing of San Ton Hon. This unexpected interlude had a very good effect in putting most of the headmen at their ease and in persuading the entire assemblage that the election was a perfectly open matter, and that any one present might give his opinion and his reasons for holding it." The Shans were evidently a primitive people in election matters at least, and had to learn the art of breaking up meetings and silencing opponents.

After electing the Sawbwas of Northern and Southern Hsenwi, the boundary to be fixed between the two divisions was discussed and settled with the acquiescence of San Ton Hon and Naw Möng, but against the views of some of the latter's people, who thought that Southern Hsenwi was shorn of some territory which ought to belong to it.

Further disagreement between the Naw Möng and his people followed when on the second day of the Durbar the amount of revenue to be paid by the two divisions respectively came to be considered. The Naw Möng offered spontaneously to pay the sum formerly paid to the King by the Alelet Division, without making any deduction on account of the circles which the boundary now adopted had given to the Northern territory. This easy attitude of their newly appointed chief caused acute discontent, which afterwards manifested itself. San Ton Hon was a man of different stamp. The Naw Möng had offered a revenue of Rs. 15,000. San Ton Hon made a stand against paying more than Rs. 500. He agreed, after much talking, to pay Rs. 2,000. The Northern Division of Hsenwi was no doubt much poorer at the time than the South. Still the amount was considerably less than the State ought to have paid. The Superintendent, however, thought it wiser to accept it than to risk a rupture with San Ton Hon.

The unequal treatment was impolitic as well as unfair and bred trouble in Southern Hsenwi. A month after the column left Möngyai a rising against Naw Möng was organized by the discontented party, and he had to make his escape by flight. Mr. Daly, who was at Hsipaw, rode out at once with a small party and summoned all the heads of circles to Möngyai. An inquiry was held, the leaders of the revolt were arrested and tried by the Sawbwa of South Hsenwi, and were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. New headmen were appointed in place of those condemned. Mr. Daly returned to Hsipaw, and the Naw Möng had no further trouble to contend with. The settlement of Hsenwi made at the Möngyai Durbar has stood the test of time and is a monument to the officers concerned in bringing it about.

Leaving Möngyai on the 7th of March, the column marched to Lashio by easy stages.

Nothing has been said hitherto as to the Northern Shan Column which accompanied Mr. Daly. Mr. Daly had preceded the force to Hsipaw and made arrangements for its progress. He had despatched letters to the Northern chiefs announcing his coming, and reassuring them as to the nature of the movement.

The route laid down for the Northern Shan Column by the Chief Commissioner was from Hsipaw to the northern part of Hsenwi; thence westward to Namhsan, the chief town in Tawngpeng; then back to Hsipaw and from Hsipaw on to Möngyai to meet the Southern Column. No independent powers were given to Mr. Daly, who was to place himself in all political matters under Mr. Hildebrand's orders. He was to act as the precursor of the Superintendent, summoning the chiefs and headmen and explaining to them the objects of Mr. Hildebrand's coming. He was also to collect information as to the state of affairs and the position of the various factions in Hsenwi. He was given authority, however, to insist on the cessation of fighting, and empowered, if the necessity should arise, to use force in maintaining peace. He was empowered also to take action in Tawngpeng for securing the submission of the Sawbwa, and to require him to pay tribute for the past year of such sum as he (Mr. Daly) might judgereasonable, explaining that this payment was exacted because the Sawbwa had harboured disaffected persons.

The Northern Column left Hsipaw on the 29th of December, 1887, and crossed into Tawngpeng territory. All the villages were deserted, and on the 30th of December the advance- and rear-guards were simultaneously fired into. Two mules were killed and a driver wounded. A few volleys into the bush dispersed the attacking party. The town of Namhsam was reached on the 31st. All the inhabitants had disappeared. Mr. Daly remained eight days, in the hope of inducing the Sawbwa to come in, but without success. He was able, however, to restore confidence. The townspeople returned to their houses, and on the march of the column to Hsenwi the villagers on the road watched the troops without concern. The attack on the column was afterwards explained. There was an old standing feud between Tawngpeng and Hsipaw, dating from a treacherous massacre of Tawngpeng officials by the grandfather of Hkun Saing, the Sawbwa of Hsipaw. Mr. Daly had been several weeks in Hsipaw, and a number of Hsipaw bullock-drivers were with the column. This aroused the suspicions of the Tawngpeng officials, and orders were given to oppose any armed men from Hsipaw. However this may have been, the misunderstanding was only for a time.

Mr. Daly then went on to the town of Hsenwi, or rather to the site of the town, for the town had been destroyed, to meet San Ton Hon, who after some hesitation came in to see him and arranged to attend the Conference at Möngyai. The Northern Column then marched east to the Kunlon Ferry on the Salween, to Mansi, where San Ton Hon joined Mr. Daly and accompanied him to Möngyai. Except that the submission of the Tawngpeng Sawbwa had not been obtained owing to his timidity or hostility, the task appointed to the Northern Column had been executed with complete success.

But to go back. After the Durbar was over at Möngyai, the Southern Column, according to its wont, gave a display for the popular delight. On the first day there was a sham-fight, which was viewed with much interest by chiefs and followers; and on the second, garrison sports, which itis related "proved a great attraction and tended in no small degree to bring the troops and the people together and to produce good feeling on both sides."

All hope of meeting any of the great Trans-Salween chiefs was now past. Various causes had prevented them from coming in, amongst others a raid made across their track to Möngnai by the irrepressible Twet Nga Lu, and some mischievous lies spread by Saw Ôn of Yawnghwè regarding the withdrawal of the British forces. Trans-Salween affairs had therefore to be laid aside for a more convenient season. But much useful information was gathered and recorded by the Superintendent and Mr. Scott.

From Lashio the column moved to Panglon, a village on the eastern borders of Tawngpeng territory, to which place the chief had been summoned to meet the Superintendent and make his submission. He did not obey the summons, but sent excuses for his absence alleging age and infirmities, and saying that he wished his son to be accepted as Sawbwa in his room. Two days afterwards this son, entitled the Naw Möng, accompanied by most of the chief officials, came in, and with humble apologies for the attack made on the Northern Column, tendered his allegiance to the British Government. As it appeared that the old Sawbwa was nearly eighty years of age, it was decided to accept the Naw Möng, Hkun Kyan, as chief, and to draw out thesanad, or patent, in his name. This was done, and the amount of revenue to be paid by Tawngpeng was determined. It may be recorded here that Hkun Kyan administered the State for seven years until 1895, when he resigned on account of ill-health. A cousin succeeded him but proved incompetent, and in 1904 a Government officer was put in charge of Tawngpeng. At present, the Sawbwa is administering the State satisfactorily.

Having settled this matter, the column marched into Hsipaw. It is worth noting that Hkun Saing, the chief of Hsipaw, had obtained greater favour from the British Government than any other of the Shan chiefs. The more prominent of them bitterly resented the concessions made to Hkun Saing, namely: the remission of his revenue for ten years and the conferment on him of the three States of Möngtung, Mönglong, and Hsumhsai, to which he hadno right. His services to the British Government consisted in this, that he came down to meet the Chief Commissioner at Mandalay and was the first to make his submission to the Queen-Empress. It might have been expected, therefore, that he would have made some show of providing shelter and supplies for the troops. He did nothing. The extraordinary favours which he had received led him to think that he must be necessary to the Government, and he made no effort to prove his gratitude. The gift of Möngtung to Hkun Saing was resented by the inhabitants of that State, who claimed independence and wished to be ruled by their hereditary chief, who had been dismissed by the Sawbwa of Hsipaw. Similar were the feelings of the people of Mönglong, whose hereditary ruler, Nga Maung, gave great trouble to our administration. Mr. Hildebrand worked hard to arrive at some settlement by which peace might be assured. He was unsuccessful, and Möngtung as well as Mönglong was torn by dissension for some years. At length in 1893, owing to this and other administrative failures, a British officer was appointed to advise and guide the Sawbwa Hkun Saing, and by this means peace and order were restored.

On the 9th of April, after a tour of four months and nineteen days, the Southern Shan Column, under Colonel Swetenham, accompanied by Mr. Hildebrand and Mr. Scott, marched into Mandalay. The expedition had done its work well. Every chief, big and little, in the Cis-Salween States had been met and his formal recognition of British supremacy obtained. Long-existing feuds had been set at rest, and claims the subject of prolonged fighting peaceably adjudicated. The revenue payable by each State had been ascertained, and with one or two exceptions definitely fixed. The Southern Column had marched upwards of seven hundred miles, and had passed through the territory of every important chief. The few minor States untraversed by it had been visited either by Captain Jackson, R.E., of the Government of India Survey, or by Lieutenant Stanton, D.S.O., of the Intelligence Department, accompanied in each case by small parties of troops; and by their labours a map had been constructed on which the position of every important place in the Cis-Salween States was scientifically fixed. Moreover, a mass of information regarding the Shan country, its main features and products, and the character and politics of the people, was collected, invaluable to those engaged in administering this wide country.

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