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. The King of Siam had granted permission to the French to open a trading station; the French merchants were held in high estimation and were more favoured than those of other nations. Two cities had been ceded without reservation to Louis XIV. in return for the military help sent for the defence of the kingdom. The revolution that occurred during Faulcon's tenure of office obliged the French to leave a country to which they had been summoned as its defenders, and from that time onwards, but few French vessels entered the ports of Siam. Formerly the Council of Pondicherry had sent several ships to Siam in the course of each year and one vessel had always been bound for the port of Mergui alone. They were exempt from ordinary taxation and the French missionaries, who were respected for their rectitude, were the only foreign judges who were able to give a decision in cases between Europeans and Siamese. The English had been for more than a century in Siam without any trading station or representative. Some of them carried on certain profitable amount of trade. The Dutch had gained the commercial supremacy. Their factory was the finest and most beautiful building in the kingdom and they enjoyed many privileges of great value. The King of Siam, by a policy detrimental to his interests, but as a boon to his subjects, reserves the monopoly of foreign trade. Thus trade is not in a flourishing condition as the interested despot fixes the price of merchandise at his own sweet will.