After what has been said about the Burmese ministers of the Crown, it will be no matter of surprise that the honest attempt of the British Government to utilise the local knowledge and experience of the Hloot Daw or supreme council of the king, as the medium of government, should entirely break down. As might have been expected, those worthies were found to be worse than useless at such a crisis. The kind of government they had been accustomed to administer was just the kind that was not wanted. They were therefore pensioned off, the pension acting in a twofold manner, as a substantial compensation for loss of office, and as a guarantee of their loyalty; they had something to lose. During the first year or two of the British occupation there was need for very special vigilance to prevent the carrying out of plots of insurrection, especially in Mandalay. It was of course childish to think they could dislodge the British power, but many of the people were slow to believe this, and foolish enough to listen to boasting proposals of this kind. However, such a good watch was kept, and the officials kept themselves so well informed, that all such attempts were nipped in the bud. Some idea of the magnitude of the work of pacification may be gathered from a paper published by the Chief Commissioner of Burma in 1889, from which it appears that no less than 363 dacoit _bohs_ or leaders were either killed, or surrendered, or were taken prisoners between April 1887 and August 1889. The British Government, whilst very stern in pursuing, arresting and punishing these notorious outlaws, made every concession towards mercy where it was possible. When a gang of dacoits was broken up, and the _boh_ killed or taken, the men composing it were usually allowed to settle down in their villages, giving some sort of guarantee for their future good behaviour. As soon as it became safe to show any considerable leniency, the cases of all who had been sentenced to terms of penal servitude for participating in dacoity were carefully gone through by an experienced and able judicial commissioner, for the purpose of remitting the punishment wherever it could safely be done, particularly in cases where men had been led, during a time of anarchy and political excitement, to take part in crimes and acts of violence, from which, under ordinary circumstances, they would have abstained. The result was that 899 prisoners were set at liberty at once, and 450 more were promised their release in the following December if their conduct in jail continued good. Only the worst and most desperate offenders were kept in jail.