First published in 1922, this volume constitutes the first attempt yet made to trace the story of English intercourse with Burma from its origins in the 16^th century to the middle of the 18^th, framed by the period from the opening to the final years of the Syriam factory. Daniel G.E. Hall sought to fill a gap in the literature for students of British enterprise in the East, drawing out the progress of Burma from a commercially unviable backwater to arguably the richest province in resources of the British empire in India.