he Burmese dominions on every side. He was
succeeded by his son, a youth of eighteen, called Singumin (Chenguza of
Symes), who proved himself a bloodthirsty despot, and was put to death by
his uncle, Bodawpaya or Mentaragyi, in 1781, who ascended the vacant
throne. In 1783 the new king effected the conquest of Arakan. In the same
year he removed his residence from Ava, which, with brief interruptions,
had been the capital for four centuries, to the new city of Amarapura, "the
City of the Immortals."

The Siamese who had revolted in 1771 were never afterwards subdued by the
Burmans; but the latter retained their dominion over the sea-coast as far
as Mergui. In the year 1785 they attacked the island of Junkseylon with a
fleet of boats and an army, but were ultimately driven back with loss; and
a second attempt by the Burman monarch, who in 1786 invaded Siam with an
army of 30,000 men, was attended with no better success. In 1793 peace was
concluded between these two powers, the Siamese yielding to the Burmans the
entire possession of the coast of Tenasserim on the Indian Ocean, and the
two important seaports of Mergui and Tavoy.

In 1795 the Burmese were involved in a dispute with the British in India,
in consequence of their troops, to the amount of 5000 men, entering the
district of Chittagong in pursuit of three robbers who had fled from
justice across the frontier. Explanations being made and terms of
accommodation offered by General Erskine, the commanding officer, the
Burmese commander retired from the British territories, when the fugitives
were restored, and all differences for the time amicably arranged.

But it was evident that the gradual extension of the British and Burmese
territories would in time bring the two powers into close contact along a
more extended line of frontier, and in all probability lead to a war
between them. It happened, accordingly, that the Burmese, carrying their
arms into Assam and Manipur, penetrated to the British border near Sylhet,
on the north-east frontier of Bengal, beyond which were the possessions of
the chiefs of Cachar, under the protection of the British government. The
Burmese leaders, arrested in their career of conquest, were impatient to
measure their strength with their new neighbours. It appears from the
evidence of Europeans who resided in Ava, that they were entirely
unacquainted with the discipline and resources of the Europeans. They
imagined that, like other nati