indon prince, who
had become apprehensive for his own safety, made him prisoner in February
1853, and was himself crowned king of Burma towards the end of the year.
The new monarch, known as King Mindon, showed himself sufficiently arrogant
in his dealings with the European powers, but was wise enough to keep free
from any approach towards hostility. The loss of Pegu was long a matter of
bitter regret, and he absolutely refused to acknowledge it by a formal
treaty. In the beginning of 1855 he sent a mission of compliment to Lord
Dalhousie, the governor-general; and in the summer of the same year Major
(afterwards Sir Arthur) Phayre, _de facto_ governor of the new province of
Pegu, was appointed envoy to the Burmese court. He was accompanied by
Captain (afterwards Sir Henry) Yule as secretary, and Mr Oldham as
geologist, and his mission added largely to our knowledge of the state of
the country; but in its main object of obtaining a treaty it was
unsuccessful. It was not till 1862 that the king at length yielded, and his
relations with Britain were placed on a definite diplomatic basis.

In that year the province of British Burma, the present Lower Burma, was
formed, with Sir Arthur Phayre as chief commissioner. In 1867 a treaty was
concluded at Mandalay providing for the free intercourse of trade and the
establishment of regular diplomatic relations. King Mindon died in 1878,
and was succeeded by his son King Thibaw. Early in 1879 he excited much
horror by executing a number of the members of the Burmese royal family,
and relations became much strained. The British resident was withdrawn in
October 1879. The government of the country rapidly became bad. Control
over many of the outlying districts was lost, and the elements of disorder
on the British frontier were a standing menace to the peace of the country.
The Burmese court, in contravention of the express terms of the treaty of
1869, created monopolies to the detriment of the trade of both England and
Burma; and while the Indian government was unrepresented at Mandalay,
representatives of Italy and France were welcomed, and two separate
embassies were sent to Europe for the purpose of contracting new and, if
possible, close alliances with sundry European powers. Matters were brought
to a crisis towards the close of 1885, when the Burmese government imposed
a fine of L230,000 on the Bombay-Burma Trading Corporation, and refused to
comply with a suggestion of the Indian