the mountainous parts of the country, who, being always refractory, and never paying anything until much time has been spent in warfare, the result is often precarious, and the tribute consequently trivial." Thus, constantly harassed and pillaged, the hill Gonds took to marauding on their own account, and, by general report, went to work very thoroughly. Those of Blunt's followers who, overcome by the privations of a very severe journey, lagged behind, were cut off and seen no more. When at last he reached a haven in settled country, the Marátha governor congratulated him on escape from the mountains and jungles in which "so many of his people had been lost, and never more heard of. Even the Banjáras," he said, "who never ventured among these Gonds until the most solemn protestations of security were given, had in many instances been plundered." As soon, however, as the heavy hand of the Maráthas was removed from over them, they settled down again, and recovered their character. A striking example is to be found in the rapid pacification of a tract once bearing the ill-name of "Chor-Málini" (Málini of the robbers), regarding which Mr. (now Sir Charles) Elliott quotes the following remarks from a report of 1820: The capture of Ásír . . . and the perfect tranquillity that prevails in Malwa, have made an impression on these savage and intractable foresters which I hope will last .. till they become gradually susceptible of the habits of civilisation." Mr. Elliott adds: "The phrase, 'savage and intractable foresters,' seems to us now ludicrously inappropriate to the timid and docile creatures with whom we have to do. . . . At present nothing is so remarkable in them as their ready obedience to orders." Writing as far back as 1825, Sir William Sleeman said of men of the same class: "Such is the simplicity and honesty of character of the A tribe of carriers and traders. wildest of these Gonds that, when they have agreed to a jama (revenue assessment), they will pay it, even though they sell their children to do so, and will also pay it at the same time they agreed to. They are dishonest only in direct theft, and few of them will refuse to take another man's property when a fair occasion offers, but they will immediately acknowledge it." In the northern part of the province, to which these remarks refer, the British power had been established, by cession from the Maráthas, in 1818; but, in the Nágpúr territory and its dependencies, the Marátha dynasty survived until 1854, when it lapsed for want of heirs. In 1861 the component portions of the old country of Gondwana were reunited under a single administration, and styled the "Central Provinces." Since then they have been governed by a Chief Commissioner, who is in direct relations with the Government of India. At first the British officials found it a difficult and anxious task to restore order. But confidence was soon created, and by degrees they felt their way, not without mistakes and shortcomings, to adjusting the necessary burden of administration to the circumstances of an impoverished and disheartened people. Justice and security they gave, by the admission of all men; and, as they gained experience, they greatly lightened taxation. Had it been possible to stay their hands at this point, it may be that the people would have asked no more. But, fatalism and apathy notwithstanding, the children had to be taught; pestilence had to be combated; and-even if only for the sake of safeguarding the rainfall-the forests had to be preserved. Education has been pretty generally accepted, though not seldom as a necessary evil; and there are now at work some 2500 state colleges and schools, with 150,000 pupils, of whom perhaps 12,000 belong to the Gond race. Pure water, which is provided in all the principal towns by means of storage schemes, and which has already been found valuable in keeping cholera at arm's-length from the protected places, is on the whole welcome, though the superior claims of dirty tank water, which, being softer, is more serviceable in cookery, are still a common article of belief. In other respects, sanitary reform is still, as elsewhere in India, thoroughly uncongenial; and the utmost to be hoped for the present is that, with the help of discretion on the one side and good-nature on the other, the people may be coaxed out of providing nutriment for diseases which are dangers to all the world as well as to themselves. Forest conservation will always be another difficulty, particularly among the wilder tribes, who live in and by the forest; but they are a docile race, and readily respond when consideration is shown to them. Behind all these more or less tangible sources of irritation, there no doubt lurks in many minds the universal sentiment for the past, which is particularly vivid amongst Eastern races, softening its asperities, and dressing out its picturesque qualities in rich colours. It would be scarcely natural not to contrast the days when the hill-castles poured forth trains of caparisoned elephants and gaily-hued retainers, with the spectacle of the little plastered police-posts, tenanted by three or four blue-coated constables, which now take their place; or to force an interest in the prosaic doings of town-councils without a regretful glance backwards to the armed princes who sat in state before their palaces to give ear to the poorest of their people. Prosperity is, however, an excellent solvent for more vital grievances than these; and there is reason to hope that the country is generally tending towards a higher level of comfort than it has yet attained. Its material condition depends largely on the value of the. agricultural produce which it can export, and for many years back the extension of roads and railways has enabled it to pay for its imports by a steadily diminishing tale of its produce, thus leaving to the inhabitants an increasing margin for wants and even for luxuries. All branches of revenue show a steady upward tendency; and though the landrevenue assessments move with the discretion of the assessing officials as well as with the progress of the country, and do not therefore supply an infallible test, the excise and stamps fluctuate more or less automatically, and an increase in them may fairly be taken as indicating some power of indulging in superfluities, for there are as many who find their pleasure in the contests of the courts as in the consumption of stimulants. On the whole the general outlook is promising: the devotion and ability of the officials are questioned by none; a few decades of their work has accomplished more than all the previous centuries; and the points open to criticism are, perhaps, such as are inseparable from any attempt to put new wine into old bottles. BURMA PAST AND PRESENT BY MRS. ERNEST HART By the conquest of Upper and Lower Burma, a country four times as large as England was added to the British Empire. Burma is a land of great natural wealth. The forests abound in teak; rubber, mahogany, cutch, and other valuable products might also be cultivated. The plains give heavy crops of rice, and the famous mines yield rubies and other precious stones. Petroleum, amber, nitre, wood-oil, coal, and, it is believed, gold, are among the natural products of Burma, while the soil is so rich that it is averred that almost any tropical or sub-tropical plants can be profitably cultivated. It is, however, not only from the commercial point of view that Burma is so great an acquisition to the British Crown, for it is also a land of unique interest from the historical, archæological, ethnological, artistic, and ethical points of view. THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF BURMA A glance at the map will show that Burina occupies a remarkable geographical position. Bounded on three sides by India, China, and Siam, it has an unbroken coast-line extending for several hundred miles along the north-east of the Bay of Bengal. This coast is indented by the estuaries of the Irrawaddy, the Salwen, |