Their manufactures and products have attracted the trade of all nations. The natural fertility of the soil of the country has been greatly increased by the toil of the cultivators.
The mountains, which in most countries of the world appear to be barren, produce abundant harvests in this favoured land. The Burmese invasion was a cause of other troubles to the country. Many of the Chinese adopted the customs of the barbarians and became brigands. The roads were infested with thieves and murderers both of home and foreign origin who fearlessly plundered unwary travellers.
At the reports of these disasters, the governor of Canton raised a force for the deliverance of the country from so terrible a scourge. But on receipt of the news of his march, the Burmese returned home to dispose of their plunder and to seek for reinforcements.
Shortly after this, the Chinese gained a slight success near the river, but the victory was followed by a crushing defeat, their land force was cut to pieces and 100,000 men were taken prisoners to Ava whence they were apportioned to hard labour in the various provinces. The Chinese force must have been very considerable, as the bulk of the men fled. It is surprising that the Viceroy of a single province could have raised so large a host, but it is no longer a matter of wonder when we remember that the country has a higher birthrate than any other, and that perhaps the Chinese are the only nation where a system of absolute government is not an obstacle to the increase of the population.
The defeat of the Chinese was easy to repair; the Emperor assembled an army of 500,000 men who were to overrun the country of their foes. The King of Ava, too weak to oppose any resistance, mustered all the available troops from every province to the capital.
The inhabitants of the lands bordering on Chinese territory abandoned their possessions and the country became a desert, laid waste by its inhabitants who wished to deprive the enemy of all means of sustenance. In the beginning of 1769 we had no reliable information of the movements of the enemy who were unable to march on Ava owing to fatigue and scarcity, and we have only had news up to October of this year 1771.
CHAPTER XII.
ADVANTAGES THAT MIGHT ACCRUE FROM COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH SIAM AND THE NEIGHBOURING KINGDOMS.
There is no doubt that owing to the ill-luck experienced by the French in Siam at the end of the last century, no new trading stations have been formed in that country. The ministers have invariably turned deaf ears to the suggestions of the missionaries, and consider that their business consists more in the saving of souls than in dabbling with commerce and politics.
But if we bear in mind the advantages that Europeans of other nationalities have obtained, we must acknowledge that the French allowed themselves to be rebuffed by the initial obstacles, and that they took no notice of sources of wealth which did not present themselves on the spot.