"The natives have their own courts and ways of justice, subject to the control of the English; but the latter do not interfere with them so long as their sentences are not accompanied with cruelty. The British rule has been so humane, in comparison with the tyrannical methods of the kings of Burmah, that the people are quite content with the invaders, and have no desire to return to the old system. It is the custom of the Burmese to submit their disputes to an elder, whose decision is rarely opposed. We had a chance to look into a native court on our way back from the pagoda; the elder was sitting cross-legged on a stool, and his attendants were seated or squatted near him--two on each side. One of them was holding an umbrella--the symbol of dignity and power--and on the floor in front of the judge there were two large fans of palm-leaf. At certain parts of the ceremonials of a court these fans are taken up and waved, and, no matter how small the case may be, the judge displays an immense amount of dignity in giving his decision. "It is said that the Burmese judges are very corrupt, and the man who pays the highest price can have the kind of justice he wants. This is particularly the case in those parts of Burmah where the English are not in power, and the whole government is a system of bribery and corruption. The officers are rarely paid, and even if they are they get very small salaries; a gentleman who has lived here some years, says that a native official in Burmah cannot make an honest living unless he steals it." While Frank was busy with his description of the golden pagoda, and the sights connected with it, Fred devoted his attention to a short account of the British in Burmah, and how they came there. Here it is: "The British possessions in Burmah comprise about 100,000 square miles of territory, with 5,000,000 inhabitants; they include the former States of Tenasserim, Aracan, and Pegu, and these States are now the three provinces that constitute the Government of British Burmah. The first two have been occupied since 1824; Pegu was captured at that time, but afterward restored, and it remained in Burmese possession till the second war, in 1852. An American doctor, who was temporarily serving on an English gun-boat during the second war, says that the Burmese were very brave in many instances, but of course they were no match for the artillery and other warlike apparatus of the English. [Illustration: BURMESE RIVER SCENE.] "But it seems that not all the bravery was genuine, for when this doctor went through the fortifications of Rangoon, after its capture, he found that the Burmese general who commanded the place had chained his gunners to the cannon, so that they could not run away. And furthermore, when the battle was going on, the wives and children of the officers and soldiers were penned up in the trenches, and ordered to lose their heads if the defence was not successful.