I opposed the idea of a general jail delivery. When it became possible, the cases were examined under my orders by an experienced officer and the sentences were revised. It was not a task that could be done without labour, care, and knowledge. It was necessary to consider the condition of the district to which each man belonged. If that district was still disturbed, and especially if the gang of which he had been a member was still holding together, it would have been foolish weakness to send him back again. As a dog returns to his vomit, so does a dacoit to his gang, if he can find it. The magistrate is bound to think of the people who may suffer, rather than of the criminal who had preyed upon them. In Burma at least we had not outgrown this primitive morality. No one who had had my experience of the difficulty of catching these very interesting gentlemen would have cared to let them loose again. THE FIRST DURBAR IN THE SHAN STATES. About this time I was able to carry out an intention I had formed of visiting Fort Stedman and meeting all the Shan chiefs and notables. The distance from the nearest point in the plains to Fort Stedman was seventy miles, of which fifty-six were through the hills. The road was under construction, but in that state which made it worse travelling than the bullock-path it was meant to supersede. The journey would take altogether about fourteen days, and it was not easy for me to get away from other business for so long a time. Nor was it possible always to summon the chiefs away from their headquarters. The ride up through the hills was very beautiful, and the view from the range commanding the great lake of Inle was one of the finest I had seen in Burma. Fort Stedman lies on the further or eastern shore of the lake, and after a long and hot ride we had to wait for a considerable time for the State boat of the Yawnghwè Sawbwa who was bringing Mr. Hildebrand across. At the landing-place I found a guard of honour of the Shan levy under Captain Tonnochy, the Commandant, and at the village bazaar higher up all the chiefs had assembled to meet me. On the next day I held an informal reception of all the Sawbwas and other potentates. A large hall, mostly of bamboo, had been constructed on the parade-ground, and in this, on the 19th of March, I received the chiefs. All the chiefs, with the exception of a few, were present. Many of them met me for the first time, and I learnt that to most of them also it was the first occasion of their meeting with their fellow-chiefs. They were presented to me in turn, and the Sawbwas of Möngnai and Yawnghwè, who it was considered had rendered services of some value to the British Government, received the medal and gold chain of honour given by the Viceroy for local services in Burma.