OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 1. CHINA, FKOM A MEDICAL POINT OF VIEW. 2. ARMY SURGEONS, AND THEIR WORKS. 3. ARMY HYGIENE. 4. EXPERIENCES OF A REGIMENTAL SURGEON IN INDIA. 6. LESSONS IN HYGIENE AND SURGERY FROM THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 6. THE FRENCH AND BRITISH SOLDIER. 7. THE SOLDIER'S HANDBOOK OF SANITATION. 8. LIFE ON THE GOLD COAST. OUR TRIP TO BURMAE WITH NOTES ON THAT COUNTEY. BY SURGEON-GENERAL CHARLES ALEXANDER GORDON, M.D., C.B., Army Medical Department, Principal Medical Officer British Forces, Madras Presidency, OJfhcier de la Ligion D'Honneur, Honorary Physician to Her Majesty the Queen, etc., etc., etc. LONDON : BAILLI^RE, TINDALL, AND COX, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. Detucateti TO HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR F. P. HAINES, K.C.B., AND TO LADY HAINES: A SOUVENIR OF OUR MOST PLEASANT TRIP TO BURMAH. PBEEACE. In December, 1874, it became my privilege to accompany the Commander-in-chief of the Madras army to Burmah. I was glad of the opportunity thus afforded me of visiting what may in several respects be considered a " new " country, of com- paring the conditions of the people with those of India on the one hand, and of the far East on the other — the influence of both having left its impress upon the manners and arts of the several races who inhabit the valley of the Irawaddy. Throughout our visit I endeavoured to take note of such matters as presented themselves ; avoiding, however, to record in my Journal anything connected with the official objects of His Excellency's visit. The Diary which now follows is the result of observations thus made, corrected or confirmed in some instances by those of previous visitors to and writers regarding the country, and by views of persons on the spot well qualified to thus assist me. The " Notes " on various subjects which follow the Diary are for the most part abstracts of articles and reports placed at my disposal by officers con- nected with, or obtained from works by travellers through, Burmah and the adjoining countries. In these respects I am greatly indebted to Colonels Duncan and Baily, Major Lloyd, Deputy Surgeon-General Kendall, and Surgeon-Major Lamprey. For the Illustrations interspersed throughout the volume, I am indebted to several friends and others. Some are copies of vi PREFACE. originals taken by an unknown artist, and were come by in this way : General Millar, while travelling in the Madras Presidency, found in a transit carriage a book of drawings that had evidently been inadvertently left there. The book bore no name or other mark by which to trace its owner; attempts to do so failed ; and as the sketches included those of places along our route from Thyet Myo to Tonghoo, the book was given by its finder to Sir Frederick Haines, in whose possession it remains. I am authorised to state, however, that if by means of these remarks and. copies of the sketches in this volume, the artist and owner should be discovered, His Excellency will be glad to restore the drawing-book to him. Copies of the sketches have been taken by Mrs. Cockburn ; the maps by Lieutenant Cockburn, R.E., and a draughtsman in the office of the Quartermaster-General, Fort St. George. For other sketches I am indebted to Major Richardson, R.A. ; and I feel sure that such of my readers as are personally ac- quainted with Burmah will recognise their correctness and " happiness." Among other friends to whom I am indebted for illustrations are Surgeon-Major Lamprey, Major Lloyd } Deputy-Commissioner of Tonghoo, Lieutenant Perrott, and Dr. Robertson. Ashton and H. K. Gordon have also supplied some copies. The sketches by the Burmese artist deserve a paragraph to themselves. They were procured for me by Dr. Dwyer, who was for the time at Mandalay on duty. But, unfortunately, on them hangs a tale. It is well known that in the capital city of Native Burmah absolutism reigns under the benign rule of the present most religious monarch, the Poonghye King. Accordingly, by the mail succeeding that by which the draw- ings were received, Dr. Dwyer informs me that " my Burmese peeface. vii artist has been put into prison because he worked for me when he was wanted in the city." Let us hope that his incarceration has long since ended — that liberty has been restored to him. Lastly, some of the photographs are from the studios of Messrs. Jackson, Shepherd and Bourne ; and Nicholas and Company, from all of whom I have permission to reproduce them. A few were obtained from a foreign artist of a decidedly matter-of-fact turn of mind. To my request for permission to reproduce these, his reply was : " You may do mid dem vat you plaise, so long as you pay me de rupees." And the rupees were paid. CONTENTS. PAGE The Start . r Masulipatam — Gingeley • 1 Coconada — Black-headed Gull. — Calm — A Transport Ship . . 2 Vizagapatam — Eajah of Vizianagram — N. E. — Curiosities — Scenery — Pro- ducts — Bimlipatam ....... 3 Alguada Lighthouse — Fellow-passengers — A Flag Ship — Drifted Fisher- men ......... 6 Rangoon River — Arrival in Burmah — Rangoon and Cantonments . . 8 Shoay Dagon — History — Shrines — Great Bell — Smaller Bells — Tronc pour l'Eglise — Flower Girls — Cheroots — Poonghyes — Virgins of the Temple — Scenes of Fights — Graves — Military Position — A Good Deed . 10 Barracks — Aluminous Springs — Gibbons — The Mogul — Other Political Prisoners ......... 19 Markets — Edwards Street — Mendicant Priests — Fountains — China Street — The Strand — Sholay Pagoda — A Church — A Pagan Emblem . 21 The People — Supplies — Trees in Cantonments — Domestic Pests — Farmyard — Shan Village and Pony Mart — Monastery and Zoology of Buddhism — Zyat — Kemmendine — Railway . . . . .28 Jail — Lepers — Prison Population — Hydrophobia — Boat-building . . 40 Cleared Ground — White Pagoda — Monkey Point — Syriam — Mr. Bennett — American Baptist Mission — Coolie Task-work . . .43 Horticultural Gardens — Museum . . . . . .47 Beer — Isinglass ........ 49 Bassein Greek — Cheena-pakea . . . . . .50 Varying Scenery — Huts — Bitaong— Lawaddy — Pontanau — Smells — Fishing ......... 61 Yandoon — Donabew — Scenery — Arracan Yomah . . . .55 Henzadah — Mythology — Residents — Police — Cholera — Rice village — Laterite — A Madras Regiment — Night on the Irawaddy . . 59 Yea-Gheen — Mea-Noung — Markets — Rice in Bamboo Stem — Promis- cuous bathing ........ 66 Akouk-tong — Irawaddy compared with Rhine and Ganges — Prome Hills — Nam Yan — Prome — Tradition of — Products — Holy Hair Pagoda — Football — Prome in 1825 . . . . . .71 Physical Aspect — Detention . ...... 78 Thyet Myo — Its History ....... 80 Experimental Cultivation — Judy — Extemporised Wells — Tyragone . 81 CONTENTS. ix - PAGE Lac — Cattle Market — Bazaar — Cooking Places . ^ , .83 Something about Plants — Potatoes — Fibres . . . . .84 To the Petroleum Wells — Cutch Manufacture — The erring Poonghye . 88 Departure of Lady Haines — Shans — Across the Irawaddy — Marching Establishment — A Pooay . . . . . . .93 The March — Myola — Our Visitors — Their Manners — Beads — Khoung . 97 Beflections — To Thabalat — Our Halting-place — Platycerium . . 101 Bough Boad — Congea — Chins — Villages — Produce — Sericulture — Thalop- ben — Besult of Unorthodoxy — Karens ..... 104 Jemadar of Elephants — Preparations — Our Boad — Cotton — Mulberry — Stockade — Mengee Sekan — A Sensation ..... 108 Dawdling — Ingenious Ladder — Our Track — Dead Trees — The Yomah Bange — Kyat-Moung Creek — Mengee Sekan . . . .112 Magoo Creek — Chung-ma — Habitations — Pyagone — Change of Establish- ments ......... 115 Our Ponies — Menoo — Forest — Ben-bui-bin — Pleasant Surprise . .117 Burmese Biding — Theing Creek — Cutting Timber — Waste andDestr action — An Escape — Zee-bui-bin — New Head Man . . . .119 Our Boad — Villages — Water Supply — People — Oxen — Yada-shay — Vegeta- bles — Tree Orchid — Karenee Hills — Fire from Bamboo . . 122 Changed Aspect of Country — Erythrina — Vanda — Corypha — Shans and Bullocks — Tonghoo — Lac — Echites — Famine caused by Bats among Karens — History . . . . . . . .124 Experimental Garden ...... . 130 Bazaar — Open Stalls — "Woman Coins" — Intermarriages — A Famished Karen — Prison — Dispensary — Elephants — The Karen Question . 130 Homeward Bound — Tantabin — Shadoof — On Board — Off — Our Boats — Sitang-Noo — Toung-lay . . . . . . .135 Morning — Our Boatmen — Increasing Heat — Tidal Influence — Kyouk-tsin — Crews gambling — Night . . . . . .138 Fish — Snags — Showay Gheen — Pooay — Dancing Girl — The Town — Niel Ghau 141 The Biver Banks — Town of Sitang — Pagoda .... 146 Kadouk — The Tidal Wave — Shan Boats — Kyatzoo Creek — A Breed of Dogs —Visitors— The Flood— A Night Scene— Bafts . . . .149 The Skylark — Fields — Opposing Tides — Pegu Biver — Steam Launch — Letters — A Traveller — Tales of Jurisprudence . . . .153 Bangoon in Sight — Ships at Anchor — Men needlessly exposed — Arrive 157 A Forecast ......... 159 A Collection of Shells — Bemarks — Sanitation on the Wrong Scent . 159 An Episode ......... 160 An " Oil " Factory — Diamond cut Diamond — Saw Mills — Instinct or Intel- ligence 1 — Bice Mills — A Shipping Office — Beflections . . . 161 Burmese Scholars — Dr. Williams . . . . . .165 Embark .... ..... 166 Beturn to Madras ........ 166 NOTES. PAGE Outlines of the History of Burmah . . . . . .171 The People of Burmah . . . . . . .173 The Talains ........ 174 The Karens . . . . . .174 TheShans 177 The Chins . . . . ' . . . .178 The Miautze , . • • • . • .180 ThePanthays • . . . ,\ . . .180 The Modern Burmese . . . . . . .181 The Burmese Language . . . . . . .193 Note on Upper or Native Burmah . . . . . .194 Some General Remarks on British Burmah . . . . .195 The Trade of British Burmah . . . . . .200 The Financial Condition of British Burmah ..... 201 Note on the Tenure and Distribution of Land in Burmah . . . 202 Note on a proposed Trade Boute between Burmah and Western China, and on some Treaties with the King of Burmah . . . 204 Note on the Country between the Irawaddy and the Yang-tse-kiang . 212 On the State of the Medical Profession among the Burmese . . 228 Burmese Silversmiths ....... 232 On the Government of Upper Burmah ..... 232 On the King's Household . ■ . . . . . . 233 On certain " Legal Processes " in Upper Burmah .... 234 On the History of the First Burmese War, 1824 to 1826 . . 236 On the Second Burmese War, 1852 . . . . . .239 The Geology of the Thyet Myo District . . . . .240 Petroleum . . . . . 242 Guadama Buddha on Progressive Development .... 243 Nats ... . r "■ * . . . .247 A Short Sermon by Buddha ....... 248 Note on some Fish of Burmah . . . . . . 248 The Poisonous Snakes of Burmah ...... 249 A List of Shells found in Burmah . ..... 251 Some Principal Forest Trees of Burmah ..... 252 Principal Palms of Burmah ....... 255 Note on the Climate of Burmah — I. — Rangoon ........ 255 II.— Tonghoo . . . . . • . • . .256 III.— Thyet Myo . . . . . . . .257 Burmese Festivals — New Year's Day ........ 257 The Buffalo Fight . . . . . . .258 The Boat Races . . . . . . .259 The Doon Pooay ........ 261 Burmese Weights and Measures ...... 265 MADRAS to BIMLIPATAIYI. O F 8 ° Ea« t of ' Greenwich London; Bailliere, TindalL & Cox. OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. 23rd December. — The Start. Madras is astir. A crowd is on the pier. Officers in uniform, civilians in plain clothes, ladies paled by Indian climate, are tlhere ; so are natives of all classes, dressed in many coloured rfobes, coolies and boatmen destitute of unnecessary clothing ; amd there is a guard of honour from the 21st Fusiliers. His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief and Lady Haines drive uip; they alight; the guard present arms; there is much slhaking of hands and leave-taking; boats provided by the poort authorities are in readiness ; our party embarks ; the booats push off ; big guns of Fort St. George fire the customary saalute ; a fleet of catamarans, each decorated with flags, shoot alhead like so many outriders ; we reach the steamship Oriental ; we are on board ; we are off to Burmah — the " we " comprising Hlis Excellency Sir Frederick Haines, Lady Haines, Brigadier- Greneral Stewart, Brigadier-General Howlett, Major Kerr, and Siurgeon-General Gordon. 24tth. — Masulipatam. — Gingeley. We are off Masulipatam. The coast is low and uninviting. W/e can scarcely see the town — near which, until quite lately, am English regiment used to be stationed. For a time we amchor in the roads ; several boats come alongside, for and wiith cargo. Much of that brought from shore consists of setsamum seed (Sesamum indica), or gingely, as it is commonly cailled. We learn that much of this grain finds its way to Emgland, where it is made to yield a considerable proportion 1 k 2 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. of the oil used for the preservation of sardines, and the greater part of the very finest " Lucca " used at table. The fact is not generally remembered, that the hot uninviting place off' which we are, was in reality the earliest British settlement in India. Yet such was the case — our connection with Masulipatam dating from 1621. 25th. — Coconada. — Black-headed Gull. — Calm. — A Transport Ship. "A happy Christmas ! " Such is the salutation each gives the other as for the first time to-day we meet on deck. There is bitter irony in the expression; we know there is, and we smile as we return the compliment: "Thank you; the same to you — many happy returns." We are at anchor off Coconada ; boats are coming towards us with more cargo — others taking goods on shore. The sea all around is calm, the sky clear, clouds, such as they are, white and fleecy ; the water is alive with fry ; gulls and sea-terns pursue and dive after their prey, or satiated, rest gracefully on the unrippled surface. Among them is one which attracts attention by its extreme beauty. It is the black-headed gull, the Kroikocephalus ichthycetus — a rare bird in this part of the world, although common enough in northern and central Asia. It is at once distinguished from all others by its black head, black band across its otherwise white tail, its back and wings light-grey, its bill red at the base and yellow at the poiut. It seems to float in air, and draws from all on board expressions of admiration as we watch the grace of its movements. Everything indeed betokens perfect calm, only broken by the chatter of the boatmen, and occasionally by the wild note of the birds around us. Yet here periodical hurricanes inundate the coast far inland, sweep away buildings, and carry destruction of life and pro- perty in all directions. In 1865, for example, thirty thousand persons are said to have lost their lives in the cyclone of that year. We have anchored during flood-tide. By-and-by, the OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 3 "swing" of our vessel tells that the ebb has set in. An hour passes ; a , long line of foam behind it, a mass of brown dis- coloured water extending along the coast far as the eye can re;ach, indicates the advance of the waters of the Godavery ; thiey have reached us, they extend to seaward, and now we are in brown, muddy water, laden with material by which some future coast-line will in due time be formed. Near us lies a sailing ship — a Government transport. We go on board, and learn that she waits to embark a native regiment, the sixth, foir conveyance to Rangoon. She is in beautiful trim, clean and roomy : it is intended that she shall be towed across the bay ; and as we hear that this is to be the arrangement, the quiestion arises, Why not have steam transports instead of sailing ships ? Why, indeed ? 26 th. — Vizagapatam. — Rajah of Vizianagram. — N~ R . — Curiosities. — Scenery. — Products. — Bimlipatam. Madrassees love to contract the names of favourite places, as fond parents contract those of pet children : thus Vizagapa- taim, off which we now are, becomes w T ith them Vizag ; and a veiry pretty place it is. Its coast-line is rugged : ranges of hills on perform a " good action," and so count one mark towards Niirban, may be enabled to do so by the simple process of purchasing one of the birds, which can be done for a copper, amd then allowing it to regain its liberty. " Good actions " setem to be performed by the Burmese according to principles of strict economy. 2nd. — Barracks. — A luminous Springs. — Gibbons. — The Mogul. — Other Political Prisoners. The range of barracks, occupied by infantry of the line, are situated upon an elevated, clean, and open position ; they are buiilt altogether of teak wood, raised upon poles to a height of soime eight or ten feet from the ground, and have cost £4000 pen- hut for a hundred men, or at the rate of £44 per man. Alll the houses in Rangoon, and it is said in Burmah, are siimilarly raised; their chief material being also wood — on acccount, it is said, of the frequent earthquakes with which the couintry is visited. In consequence, however, of the diminish- ing quantity of wood in Burmah, the expenses of building maiterials have much increased of late, and promise to continue to do so until the forests recently taken under the charge of comservators are sufficiently matured to furnish supplies of tinnber. The hill upon which the barracks stand is being scairped and levelled. The strata thus exposed consist of 20 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. loosely-arranged sandstone, variously coloured, with occasional outcrops of aluminous shale, — the latter doubtless giviug to some neighbouring springs the medicinal qualities for vhieh they are famous among the natives of the adjoining town and neighbourhood. On the surface of the strata of bluish clay there is an efflorescence like hoar-frost ; it has a distinct taste of alum, and reminds us of similar beds near the western point of the Isle of Wight, — Alum Bay, which thus obtains its distinctive name. A reception in the afternoon furnishes an occasion for le moiide of Rangoon to assemble in grounds set apart fcr the purpose. The grounds in question are extensive, and artis- tically laid out; some of the trees inhabited by long-armed gibbons (Hylobates noolook), which are evidently kept as pets. Four of these creatures are playing along the Dof of the adjoining mansion when carriages begin to rattle past. Startled, they rush along the ridge, swing themselves down the corner to earth, — although how they manage to cling in their descent is not apparent, — then run sideways, erect, and with arms extended, to the nearest tree, up a pendent branch of which they climb with amazing agility ; and having gained the higher position, they sit and watch the proceedings of their descendants, the Homo sapiens, as by compliment the latter are now called — at times with questionable propriety. Returning homewards, we pass by the various resilences now and formerly occupied by state prisoners of note, — for Ran- goon has for some time been a very favourite place to which to 'send them. In one such place the old king of Delhi passed the •latter days of his life. There he died, and in a secluded part of the surrounding enclosure or compound he was buried. But if report speak true, his royal remains have not been permitted to rest all together. It may, indeed, be a libel against science and acquisitiveness, but inasmuch as the skull of Confucius has — something like Caesar's dust — been converted to a very ignoble purpose, so may we expect by-and-by to heir that the cranium of the Great Mogul has been utilised. In a decidedly im-royal looking palace, situated in the Sudder OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. Bazaair, the Begum of the deceased king resides. In a com- pound directly in front of the common jail is the Prince of Delhi., brother of the two whom Hodson shot in 1857. Perhaps the cireature who now survives was not worth shooting ; perhaps he was then too young. Even now he seems but a poor speci- men of royalty. As we drive past his residence, he lies upon his Chavjpoy in the open air ; he looks as if under the influence of spirits, or of opium, or both combined ; and we learn that in this way much of his time is passed. But the most dangerous among the selection of political prisoners is decidedly Ram Sing,, the chief of the Kookhies. Here, strictly watched by four sentries by day and night, he expiates his attempts to destroy the British Raj in India. It will be remembered that some what energetic measures were taken by a civil official, with the result of nipping in the bud what undoubtedly threatened to be a serious rising ; nor will the consequences to th e officer in question of the zeal displayed on that occasion be sp>eedily forgotten. 3rd — Markets. — Edwards Street. — Mendicant Priests. — Fou n- tains. — China Street. — The Strand.— -She-lay Pagoda. — A Church. — A Pagan Emblem. There are several extensive markets in Rangoon ; and at the present time the municipality are engaged in the erection of of a similar establishment — with the praiseworthy object, it is said, of thereby monopolising the whole of the revenue which is no w divided among several sets of proprietors. The most important of the existing markets is situated in what may well be called the back slums of the town, surrounded by hovels, sewers, and filth ; the wares, comestible and otherwise, of necessity saturated more or less completely with their foul emanations. In such a locality, a long series of sheds are appropriated each to the sale of a particular commodity. In one there are groceries, in another, vegetables : then come we to meat, variously distinguished as of first and second quality — the latter a mere euphonism for no particular quality to boast of; then poultry and eggs — the latter, for the most part, 22 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. with green, smooth shells, indicating the probable presence within of " little ducks " of creatures. The Burmese, however, seem very partial to this delicacy— their taste in this respect re- sembling that of the natives of China. The superintendent, an old soldier, sharp and intelligent, conducts us onwards through a perfect maze of stalls, the spaces between which are crowded with intending purchasers. We pass in succession along the parts devoted to the sale of grain, vegetables, cooking pots and other metal vessels, dolls, spices, marionettes, imitation guns — made, it is said, from rice, — and glass cylinders to enlarge the enormous apertures which the maidens of this land love to have in the lobes of their otherwise pretty ears. Continuing our journey, we pass stalls on which tobacco is displayed in a great variety of forms ; then comes fish of many kinds — fre&h: and salted, and as gnappee. The latter is in appearance simply disgusting, yet so highly valued as a condiment among the Burmese that its manufacture becomes an important item of revenue, as a somewhat similar delicacy, balachong, is among the Malays farther eastward. We are briefly informed that the two principal processes in preparing the gnappee consist in first pickling the fish in salt, and then burying it until decom- position is more or less advanced, according to the market to which it is to be sent — varying from one year to no less than four, — for as the wine manufacturers of Epernay give to their champagne particular flavours to meet the various tastes of their clients, so the dealers in gnappee are said to prepare their delicate commodity. The question was natural enough , Does not the use of such decayed stuff make people ill, and cause all sorts of diseases ? It is said to do neither. But the correctness of the statement is open to doubt : there are certain diseases prevalent among the Burmese that seem to owe their origin to such food. From fish stalls we pass on to compartments devoted to the sale of shoes ; then, jo those where habiliments of all kinds, for both sexes and all ages., are exposed temptingly, with a view to captivate intending purchasers. In the course of our visit my friend priced the several articles intended for household and family use, and OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 23 found it to vary from fifty to one hundred per cent, under what they were charged to him; for he, like everybody else here, has to a great extent to trust himself confidingly to the tender mercies of a Madras butler, whose special object in life is to secure as much money as he possibly can in the very shortest possible space of time. That a very thriving and lively business is being carried on in this market is very clear from the fact related to us, that £100 per day is the amount of profit yielded to its shareholders from rent and other charges whicli go to their credit. Leaving the market, we enter Edwards Street. This, like other streets, is named after a local celebrity. Mr. Edwards — an Audamese in feature, as he is said to be by birth — seems to have had a strange eventful history; to have made himself so useful in his generation to the British Government as to have been by it awarded a pension considerably larger in amount than falls to the lot of mere Britons whose best days have been passed in the service of their country. But let that pass. Mr. Edwards deserves to have a street named after him, and he has one. The chief articles exposed for sale in it con- sist of the ordinary Burmese boxes, now familiar to everybody, and other ornaments of native pattern and manufacture. A procession of poonghyes march along one side, followed by acolytes carrying boxes and trays wherein to receive from their flock the daily offering of rice and other articles of food whicli constitute their whole subsistence. The priests of Buddha — whose name Poon-ghye signifies Great Virtue — are forced, in accordance with their vows at the time of ordination, to live entirely upon the offerings voluntarily made to them. Nor, to judge from the liberality manifested on the present occasion, it is necessary for them to observe any particular degree of abstinence. There is no solicitation, however, no looking about on the part of the holy mendicants, no appeals in favour of temple or pagoda. "With downcast eyes and slow tread they move steadily along, neither looking to right or left, nor acknowledging so much as by a gesture the alms conferred upon them. At intervals along either side of 24 OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. the street stand jars or other vessels containing water for the thirsty traveller — each under a canopy or more or less orna- mental example of Burmese ecclesiastical architecture. Similar " fountains " are of frequent occurrence wherever Buddhism prevails, and are met with throughout China, westward by Thibet, and even along the slopes of the Himalayas to Simla. Unlike their more pretentious imitations of the west, the majority of which are embellished with statues, tablets, and so on, commemorating the great goodness of the donor or founder, those of Buddha land are simply fountains for the relief of the thirsty traveller. To each is attached a drinking vessel, — but that is all ; the donor thinks it sufficient to confer a benefit, not to blazon his own name and beneficence before the world. The Burmese, however, are evidently no more than half civilised. Nor is it by any means improbable that we shall meet with many traits, as we proceed, that further illustrate their extreme backwardness. OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. 25 China Street recalls bygone days in the Celestial Empire. As in the latter, so here in Rangoon, the houses in China Street are Tbuilt according to an uniform plan; none is higher than another ; for is it not ostensibly against public ethics here, as in the central Flowery Land, that any one man should raise his head above his neighbours ? — and so all the houses are of the same height. Each has the whole of its front open. The outer portion is devoted to merchandise in which the occupant deals. In the far interior is the family shrine, with its ancestral tablets, its flowers, joss sticks, and tapers, even as in Canton ; and moving about, attending to their business, are the several members of the androgenous family. We emerge upon the Strand. The vessel by which we arrived is at her moorings, but with steam up and all in readi- ness to proceed to Calcutta ; others are also preparing to proceed, for the tide is flowing and it is not to be lost. The jetty presents a busy scene. Coolies are actively engaged ; some carrying shingle, others bags, bales, and packages of "goods." But one little group presents no such industry. Three British sons of Neptune are lounging about — their respective kits thrown into one promiscuous heap, they smok- ing and waving their hands listlessly about. Among their kit we see several bottles, both round and square in shape, that look as if they contained spirits. The free-born Britons are no doubt preparing to embark on board a " new ship," and to celebrate the occasion by a grand carousal in the folcs'l. A visit to the Sholay pagoda is interesting in many ways. Inferior in size to the great Golden Dagon, it is the St. Paul's of Rangoon. Lighter and more graceful in shape and style, it bears somewhat the same relation to the larger edifice that the light and airy minarets of the mosque in the citadel of Cairo have to the massive columns of ancient Egyptian architecture. The basement of the monument is of considerable height, square in shape, each side forming a broad series of steps. The pagoda itself, which is highly gilded, tapers gracefully to a height of upwards of a hundred feet — its summit ornamented by the usual Burmese tee or umbrella. There is a complete 26 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. absence of figures or images of every kind. Worshippers, mi^e and female, kneel in attitude of devotion at intervals around the base — the latter in many instances having their childien with them ; priests move quietly among them, presenting etch in succession with a sprig of what looks like an artemisia ; at each angle is an altar ; upon one a bundle of flowers is deposited, upon another a bundle of sandal-wood chips burns — offered, no doubt, by the figure at the foot, which, devoutly kneeling, and with hands clasped before its face, mutters its praises to Guadama. From the pagoda to the church is but a step. This is Sunday, and evening service is proceeding. The temple is brightly lighted within. The centre passage, instead of mat or carpet, is strewn with rushes. Evergreens, flowers, tinsel scrolls abound. Crosses large and small, plain and ornamented, are profusely distributed throughout all parts of the building. The distribution of lights, however, is decidedly odd. Wherever OUR TriP TO BURMAH. 27 mmst required to enable one to read, there the glimmer is faint; whierever the congregation is not, there they flare in full illiumination. The performances are in keeping with the suirroundings, and savour terribly of leather and prunella. So>me — in fact, the greater number of doctrines enunciated by thee principal performer — carry with them violations of physi- ology to an extent hardly equalled by those taught by priests of Guadama. Nor are the modest, unpretending lights upon thee altars of Sholay pagoda to be compared with those that flaire upon the shrine of the Western poonghye. (Good old Dr. Mason* tells us something about the connec- tiom there is between the emblem that is so profusely distri- buted in the church just visited, and the country in which we no>w are. He points out that, between the years 125 and 100 B.c:., the Bactrian kingdom, which soon after the departure of Ahexander from India had declared its independence, fell into thee hands of the Tartar chieftain Kadaphes. About the same tirme the Tartars destroyed the city of Tagoung on the Irawaddy — tthat being the earliest city established by the Burmese. The sueccessor of Kadaphes had coins struck, upon which, among othier things, was a figure of his majesty seated upon the back of thee double-humped Bactrian camel, holding in his hand, over thee head of the animal, a large cross ; so that, as he reigned soime ninety or a hundred years before our era, the emblem wais of course antecedent thereto also. But its use dates still fuirther back. It is represented upon Egyptian monuments of a period more than a thousand years before our era ; it is tfound upon slabs excavated from the ruins of Nineveh ; and amiong the ancient Scythians was considered to represent victory. Among the ancient Persians, Carthaginians, Romans, aned Germans, it was used as an implement of punishment. In the temple of Serapis it is an emblem of the future life. It seems, moreover, to have had sundry meanings in ancient tirmes ; being variously represented as the phallus, as Venus, aned as emblematical of the four seasons. * " Burmah," page 38, edition of I860. 28 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 4th. — The People. — Supplies. — Trees in Cantonments. — Do- mestic Pests. — Farmyard. — Shan Village and Pony Mart. — Monastery and Zoology of Buddhism. — Zyat. — Kemmendine. — Raihuay. Everywhere throughout Rangoon abundance prevails. There is an air of plenty about the place that cannot fail to strike the newly-arrived visitor. The people, male and female, look in good condition, clean, well clothed, well fed, and certainly happy in circumstances, if their faces speak true. Of beggars, so far we have seen none, except a few as we ap- proached the pagodas ; cripples are usually kept in retirement, if they exist ; we learn, however, that" they really are very few in numbers, not only here, but throughout the country. Thus the physical condition of the people contrasts favourably with some more advanced nations. Whether it is to their particular philosophy, the abundance of supplies obtained from the land, or to the government under which they live, it must assuredly be said of these Buddhists, as of those in China and Japan, that outwardly at least, their appearance betokens happiness and comfort. Besides the markets, stalls occur throughout the town for the sale of articles of food ; the stalls are well supplied, and though as a rule well attended by purchasers, we wonder how the immense quantities of food we see can be consumed. But the Burmese is not only a large eater, but of very gregarious tastes. Let us note in their order the commodities that are displayed as we proceed ; their variety is itself indicative of the tastes of the people. Here, for example, is offered for sale the preparation of pawn leaf, betel nut,and lime — so dear not only to natives of India, but still more so, if that be possible, to a Burmese. Next to it is vermicelli, of native and Chinese manufacture ; then come in their order radishes, roselle, cucumbers, lemon grass, onions, flowers for ornament, for offerings at the pagodas, and for condiments with or without food. Here are strange, soft, unpleasant-looking eggs ; they have no calcareous shell, and are decidedly suspicious in appearance; they are, those of OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 29 tortoise and turtle found near and in the neighbouring rivers, and are said to be highly esteemed as a delicacy by the people. Now we find in close succession tomatoes, tamarinds, french beans, and lemons. Plantains there are in myriads — some au naturel, others fried, steeped in oil, and otherwise prepared; for they seem to constitute a principal ar^jele of food. Next we come to heaps of cocoanuts divested of the outer husks. Some of them have begun to sprout ; and we learn that the enlarged germen found in the interior of such, locally called " the flower," is by the natives esteemed as a particular delicacy. We taste the morsel. It is mawkish and insipid. As if to neutra- lise this, green and red chillies are spread upon an adjoining table; next to them oranges, pomelos, water-melons, ginger in various forms, preserved fruits and sweets- — the latter by no means bad, and quite free from the peculiar bazaar taste that distinguishes similar preparations in India. And there are yams, the edible arum, sweet potatoes, large jack fruits, — and finally potatoes, imported from Calcutta, for as yet the tuber is not successfully raised in British Burmah. Elsewhere we see shelves laden with fish of different kinds, obtained from the streams and estuaries in the neighbourhood. Their local names are peculiar, and therefore a few may be enumerated, — including, as they do, carp, hilsa, prawns, dog fish, cat fish, butter fish, mud fish, cock up, sable, and so on. Besides the quantities of poultry in the public market, we meet with jungle fowl in abundance exposed for sale, pigeons of various kinds — although they appear to be perhaps less plentiful than ordinary fowls and ducks. Crows also there are, evidently to be sold for purposes of food, and nice Burmese game fowls, handsome in form, yet "going" for the small sum of one rupee a pair. Beef and mutton, the former from cattle brought down country from Prome and Thyet Myo, the latter for the .most part imported, as sheep do not appear . to thrive in, the country. The use of pork seems to be limited to Chinamen ; but they consume large quantities of the meat, as they do in their native country. In their portion of the town coffee and tea shops, or rather stalls, exist, and restaurants where more 30 OUE TRIP TO EUEMAH. solid food may be obtained, precisely as exist in Shangha : or Tientsin. Finally, the great commodity of the country rice, and other grain, seems to be everywhere obtainable at shops and stalls. The cantonments occupy an extensive tract of land beyonc the town. They are -well cleared and somewhat tastefully laid out — the roads, wide and good, by which in various directions they are intersected, having on either side a row of trees of rich foliage, so as to give shade during midday heat. Ia places, marshes have evidently been converted into ornamental waters, the surface now covered with Hydrocharis and its allies, with the broad green leaves of the water-lily (Nymphea , and the sacred bean of the Egyptians, Hindoos, and Chinese — namely, the Nelumbium : the white and pink blossoms of th^ former floating upon and at the same time i 1 the water ; the tall shoots of the latter, with their curious seed-receptacles, like nozzles of so many watering-pots, waving at a height of a foot or more above it. In this country there is always a degree of danger in pottering much about stagnant water. We remember the fact as we hastily take a look at the sides of these ponds, and see in the ooze, or clinging to the sub- merged plants that keep the water clean, numbers of water snails, Lymnea and Ampultaria. Bulrushes and sedges give shelter to little grebes (Podiceps), that rapidly disappear among them as we approach ; and here and there the white Egyptian lily rises from among the general mass of rich green. Individual compounds were for the most part surrounded by hedges of bamboo — some neatly trimmed, others straggling and neglected. Among the native houses of bazaars are a few stray shrubs, evidently for purposes of ornament; among them the common Indian jait, or Eschynomene, the cassia, ciBsalpinia, and moringa, from the soft inner bark of the roots of which, in former days, on the coast of Guinea, we used to obtain a substitute for horse-radish. Besides these, we find an occasional plantain bush, laden with its clusters of fruit, a papaw (carica papaya) presenting its produce in all stages — bud, flower, fruit iust forming and mature; and there are OtJR TRIP TO BURMAH. 31 bushes of jujubes (the Zysiphus lotus), the fruit of which seemis as abundant here, and as generally indulged in by the people, as in the days of Herodotus it was by the Lotophagi, whose characteristic name was thus obtained. Here and there a shirub of Hibiscus occurs, the flowers of which present a different tint in the evening from what they do in the morn- ing. Its leaves are covered with a coating of fine dust, for it has the peculiar faculty of attracting it. The orange-coloured leaves of Poinsettia give variety to the generally sombre look of the avenues : an occasional tree of Poinsiana regia, or gold mohur tree, stands solitary on the plain, its flat top spread out like an umbrella, the broad long pods of last year hanging from the tips of some of its branches, and clusters of buds pronnising by-and-by the gorgeous display of yellow blossom whemce its popular Indian name is derived. In the enclosures connected with the houses of some of the residents, are a few trees of the Amherstia nobilis, imported from the province named like itself, after a former Governor- General of India. Some of them are in flower, profusely ornamented with long racemes of large, vermilion-coloured blossoms, which are used by the natives as offerings at the pagodas; the pendulous festoons of flowers and flame-coloured pods, as they emerge from the rich green foliage of the trees, producing an effect nothing less than gorgeous. The greater number of the trees that form the avenues are such as are commonly met with in Bengal and Madras ; these include mango, tamarind, bauhinia, palmyra and toddy palms (Borassus fiabelliformis and Phoenix sylvestris). Along the trunks of the two latter a strip of bamboo is roughly tied ; the branches from each joint being cut off short, thus form a frail ladder along which the toddy man climbs to collect the wine which is abundantly obtained from each. Various species of wild fig, including the peepul and banian, are met with. The Thespesia, or tulip tree, as it is locally but erroneously named, sprinkles its vicinity with its orange and yellow blossoms, and stretches its thickly-leaved branches half-way across the road, reminding us of avenues similarly sheltered at Cape Coast and 32 OUK TRIP TO BURMATT. at Galle. This tree is new to us ; it is the padouk, a species of dipterocarpus. It is not yet in flower, but the winged seed- vessels from last year, looking like exaggerated fruit of linden trees at home, indicate the peculiarity whence its name is derived. There is a Sterculia, not yet in flower ; but up among its higher branches we distinguish the peculiar red, kidney- shaped fruit ; some have opened spontaneously, and arranged in the interior of each half is a row of black seeds, which, when roasted, are relished by the natives ; Pongamia glabra, its green, flat, and somewhat oval pods still remaining from the last flowering season ; and there are silk-cotton trees (Bombax), their stems, as indeed those of several other kinds, presenting traces of white ants, in the form of thin layers of mud such as these insects leave behind upon the stems frequented by them. Acacias also of several species there are, especially sirissa and elata. And among the branches of all, birds congregate and chatter. As in India, the houses in Rangoon have their special fauna. Throughout the hours of daylight, at any rate at the present season, the domestic pests are certainly comparatively few, and far less annoying than they are in Hindostan. To begin with, flies are far less numerous than in that country ; in fact, so few in comparison as to be of no account. I recollect, how- ever, that the present is the cold season — at least, so it is said to be, — and therefore the development of life furnishes a very unsafe comparison with what it doubtless is during the hot and rainy months. Everywhere small red ants penetrate ; they run along in so many thin lines ; they get into cupboards, they invade sugar-jars; they get among one's clothes, and disport themselves all over one's bed, ready to nip and bite whenever they get an opportunity. Occasionally a huge stupid-looking tipula tumbles upon the table, or flops against a window — its long limbs to all appearance unequal to its support ; spiders, fat and lean, some with long legs, some with short, sneak or hop about in corners, in search of insect food ; an occasional hornet of threatening size sweeps past, or hovers alarmingly close to one's face ; a family of wasps have estab- OUE TRIP TO BURMAH. 33 lished themselves among the shingle directly over the door, and are on familiar terms with the members of the household — betweem them and whom a sort of armed neutrality seems to exist, meither actually interfering with the other. Along the rafters ilittle patches of mud adhere at intervals ; between them an inse»ct, half bee, half wasp in appearance, fixes itself, while with its portable auger it bores a deep hole in the wood. It is the carpenter bee, or Xitocarpus, engaged in making its nest; and each patch of mud we see forms the hermetical seal under which the creature, having deposited its young, has placed -within a captive grub, upon which the juvenile bee, during its own process of metamorphosis, will feed. Night closes im ; and now the world of pests, like that of fashion in England's great metropolis, begins to live. Lamps filled with kerosene oil are alight ; hosts of winged creatures invade the apartment, cover the table, tumble into the soup or upon the morsel about to be swallowed, get down one's back and into one's eye. On the walls the gecko (Hcemidactylus coctcei) runs nimbly along — the suckers with which by nature its feet are provided enabling it thus to pursue the small crickets and other insects upon which it feeds. We have heard much about the larger species known in the country as the Tuc too : we make inquiries regarding it, but learn, to our deep regret, that the creature is one of the hot weather visitors. Time passes ; the hou r for retiring approaches. Taking with me a light, I enter my bath-room. A brown thing sits in the washhand- basin, adherent to the side — one half of its body in the water, the other out — and as it turns to observe the intruder, its clear dark eye sparkles. In another instant a soitjlop is heard, the creature is gone, and that so quickly that, as with the arrow in its flight according to Longfellow, the eye could not follow it. I search, and after a time discover the same brown mass adherent to one of the panes of glass of the bath-room door — its clear eye turned towards me, as before, reflecting brightly the rays of light. It is the Chunam frog, a species of Hyla, harmless, yet sadly persecuted by natives under the impression that it is in some way connected with the spirit of 3 34 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. evil, which it certainly is not. Once within the thin gauze curtains that surround the bed, and the light extinguished, the well-known buzz, immediately followed by the equally familiar twinge, as if a fire-spark had fallen upon us, indicates that here, as in India, we have been attacked by mosquitoes, if indeed not by the still more penetrating and irritant sand-flies. No stillness reigns meantime without : beasts howl, dogs bark, cats quarrel, making night hideous with the combined noises. Above and around our bed we hear at intervals a low sharp chirp, and recognise it as uttered by bats, as these creatures pursue their otherwise silent flight in the apartment. In one respect, and one alone, we are decidedly better off than in India. There is one species of domestic pest, and it entomo- logical, that is unable to withstand teakwood soaked in earth oil ; and so we are free from one at least of the plagues of the East. It is morning, and now the feathered tribes are abroad. At the very door the well-known Indian crow awaits its offering of toast, looking the while quite as familiar, impertinent, and cunning, as its congener of Calcutta ; and behind it, less bold but not less cunning, is the small raven, awaiting also its donation of crumbs. The open spaces in cantonments are the haunts of many species of birds. Some sit and chatter in trees, while others pursue their flight in mid-air. The white heron (Ardea egretta) has selected a particular mass of trees and ground in their vicinity for its special haunt; and now thousands of them sit upon the branches stretching their limbs or pluming themselves, while others are slowly in flight towards their feeding-grounds. It is said that during the rainy season they frequent the place in even greater numbers than at present, and that they are then shot in vast quantities lor the sake of their feathers, to be sold as ornaments for ladies. Alas ! alas ! that civilization, like utter barbarism, sho>uld thus decree the murder of beautiful and graceful birds, and for a similar purpose — to furnish artificial ornament to the persion ! Amorg the trees two species of grackle, and at least two> of thrushes, chatter and play and warble ; on the open plain are OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 35 sparrrows, the Passer indicus (undistinguishable from the English bird), the king crow or Dicrurus, as in India, and the wagvtail, or at least one species of it — viz., the Budytes melano- cephhala. Kites and neophrons are taking their morning meal of grarbage, or circling on wing in search of some unsavoury morrael such as they love. Above yonder piece of water sweeps the tern, the cypsilus skims its surface, the halcyon, perched upoin an overhanging twig, waits to dart upon its finny prey ; alon^g the sandy border tringas of various species pursue thehr zig-zag course. Among the garden shrubs the bul-bul of the East, the pycnonotus, flits ' from branch to branch as it repeeats its short message to its mate. Beautiful here, as in Indiia, yet the bird does not appear to be domesticated, as in that i country. In other bushes — more especially those oiTagites, creerpers (certkia), and one species of Cinnyris or sun bird, are flittiing among the branches, or drinking in the nectar from the trumpet-shaped flowers. In yonder plantain bush, howeever, is a creature less interesting than these, yet in its shapoe graceful as it is agile. It is the passerita, a brown kind of wlhip-snake, which selects as its resort the ripening bunch of pllaintains. Its snout is elongated and tapering ; its move- mentts are extremely quick : it is, however, harmless in its natuire. Arround us is the poultry-yard kept by mine host. No soonter does he emerge from his house than he is beset by the usuall denizens of such an establishment, as they look for their offeriing of grain. Under baskets, carefully preserved, are broocds of more rare and valuable birds : in one a brood of pure Burmese game fowls ; in another, of bantams ; and in a third!, of veritable jungle fowl — the Oallws ferruginus of the counttry, the young having been hatched by a common fowl ; even already the markings of the chickens are distinctive, and so fair they are perfectly tame, coming to and upon the hand held s of war anchored in the river all the way between Ran- goom and this place — exposed as they were to constant danger frorm fire-rafts sent nightly down the stream by the Burmese. 40 OUB TRIP TO BUEMAH. Keturning, we come upon a number of black sappers hard at work upon a roadway. Pick in hand they labour, although by no means energetically, as if paid by the piece. Their bodies are unencumbered with uniform. We learn that they are employed under Colonel Oliphant upon what is intended to be a direct railway between this port and Prome. In reply to inquiries, we are told that the line is expected to be complete and open in eighteen months from the present date. The King of Native Burmah, so we learn, is desirous to carry on the line from Prome to Bhamo. Thence, no doubt, in less than no time it will be carried to the frontier of Yunan ; commerce will find its way along it from regions as yet unsurveyed, and peace and riches will everywhere prevail. Such are the waking dreams indulged in by the more sanguine. Those of more matter-of-fact cast of thought see in the railway in progress a convenient and ready means of conveying British troops towards the frontier. ^th. — Jail. — Lepers. — Prison population. — Hydrophobia. — Boat-building. The jail at Rangoon, under the superintendence of Mr. Dodson, is noted for the efficiency of its management and discipline — the necessity for the latter having been rendered painfully apparent by the fact that the previous Governor was assassinated by the convicts within the establishment. There are at present 2153 convicts confined within its walls, including natives of Burmah, India, and foreign countries. Among them all ages are represented, from youth to old age : youth, in a child of only eight years of age, sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for the murder of a playmate ; old age, by a grizzly veteran, a professed thief, who in all probability will here wind up his ignoble career. Throughout the establish- ment the prisoners are employed, some in gangs in sheds or workshops, others in their cells. In one place a party works hard at a blacksmith's forge ; at another, a similar party is employed at cabinet work ; in a third, " plant " for the railway is being prepared ; and as we pass along we come in sue- OUE TRIP TO BUEMAH. 41 cesssion to others grinding corn, pressing oil, tailoring, basket- nuaking, shoemaking, at the manufacture of woollen coin, or coocoa-matting, and so on. In the polishing-room various arrticles of furniture are exposed for sale — some carved and otlherwise ornamented in a very elegant manner, albeit the wcork is done by convict hands. Near it is the department foir printing and binding — this portion of the establishment bejing under the immediate charge of a former member of the foiurth estate. Lastly, we reach a long room, the prisoners in wlhich are employed breaking stones. They are mostly white ; buit among them are some whose features and " wool " unmis- talkably indicate their African origin. Among others there arce French, Italians, and, alas ! British : the latter, for the mcost part, soldiers in process of expiating disgraceful crimes co)mmitted by them. The female convicts are few in number, anid occupy a separate portion of the prison; such as are mothers of young children being permitted to have the latter with thtem. They are employed in spinning cotton, and for the mcost part present in their faces a mild, inoffensive expres- sicon, enough to deceive Lavater, were he to be restored from thte grave to which he was sent by the murderous thrust of the Frcench soldier, and came to look at these Burmese convicts. Thie statues of Guadama do not bear a more mild and innocent expression than do these women. So it was in the female pemitentiary at Parkhurst ; so, no doubt, it is everywhere ; and ye j ,t it is said the crimes committed by them quite equal in atirocity those by the men : to exceed them would be impos- sible. Under a shed, separated from their fellow-prisoners, a group of men are employed at a novel kind of hard labour. They arte rubbing themselves, or each other; their skins shine as if polished, their faces look swollen and puffy. These men are leroers, and are thus applying the wood oil, a remedy which hats of late years obtained some reputation in this loathsome disease. The oil, the produce of several species of the Diptero- ca r ,rpus, is mixed with lime, and thus applied externally ; the lepers are forced to rub themselves or companions during a 42 OUK TKIP TO BURMAH. certain number of hours daily, the penalty for non-compliance being the lash — a decidedly active style of treatment. They also have to take the oil internally ; and as its consistence and taste very much resemble copaiba, it may well be conceived that the hard labour a leper prisoner undergoes is no joke. After all, it seems, few, if any, ever recover. The prison population throughout Burmah in 1873, the last year to which statistics have been prepared, amounted to 13,048, of which number only three per cent, were women. 0: the whole number, nine were under twelve years of age, and one hundred and forty-seven under sixteen ; the proportion of reconvictions, seventeen per cent. Of the crimes for which the native Burmese are sentenced to imprisonment, those ot violence — as murder, dacoity, and robbery — bear a large propor- tion, being far more prevalent than they are in India. It is said of the crime of murder in Burmah, that although of very common occurrence, it is seldom committed for purposes of mere gain ; that one-third only of all such crime is traceable to this cause — jealousy and personal animosity being the motives which most frequently lead to it. It is satisfactory to learn that among the people of the countiy a decrease has of late years occurred in crimes of violence, the predatory classes having already been considerably diminished in numbers under British rule. An unfortunate soldier of the 45th Regiment is seized with hydrophobia, one of the most frightful diseases that afflict humanity. Two months ago the poor fellow was bitten in the finger by a dog that rushed suddenly up to him while he was on sentry — some other men being bitten by the same animal on the same occasion. The wound has never healed ; now that the disease has shown itself, the injured member is amputated, but he gives up all hope of recovery, as indeed he well may. His companions who like himself were bitten are naturally in great alarm for themselves. Many similar occurrences are said to take place among the natives. Dogs swarm everywhere ; they belong to no one ; they prowl about in all directions ; lean, hungry, and cowardly in appearance, their very look is repul- OUR TRIP TO BURMAH, 43 sive ; nor is it to be wondered at that they often communicate this dire disease. An evening drive along the Strand is at all times interesting to a foreigner in search of the picturesque. But to us there are even more attractive objects to be looked for and at than the pale beauties and fashions whose temporary home is Rangoon. Between the roadway and side of the river is an extensive tract of mud, covered with boats under the process of being stretched, or lying as brought from their native forest. Huge logs of wood, chiefly of the hopea, hollowed out along their middle, are being stretched and opened up — the latter operation being performed by means of an effective though rude application of lever power. A series of forked pieces of wood are fixed by one of their ends to the side, by simply being hooked over it, the intervals between them very short, the boat well soaked beforehand, so as to make it the more pliable. The opposite ends of these " hooks M are firmly secured to the lever, being firmly tied to pegs fixed in the ground as little by little the sides are forced open, until at last the desired width and shape are obtained. Carpenters are busily employed hollowing out and making smooth the interior of some, finishing and ornamenting the exterior of others, securing the beams by which strength and shape are to be preserved, and otherwise finishing the vessels. For the finer description of work the adze is the implement used ; for the rougher, a coarser kind of the same instrument is that employed. It is fastened to the end of an unpolished haft by means of canework, precisely as we see in museums those employed in pre-historic times — the particular angle being given to it according to the work to be done. 6th. — Cleared Ground. — White Pagoda. — Monkey Point. — Syriam. — Mr. Bennet — American Baptist Mission. — Coolie Task-work. The space between the town and what during the last war was known as the White Pagoda has been lately reclaimed from its originally wild state. In some parts huts and even more pre- 44 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. tentious buildings have been erected — some the property of Occi- dentals, others of Burmese, Hindostanees, and Chinese. In other places there are establishments where boats of larger dimensions than those already seen are being made — their sides being built up by planks, themselves decked and fitted with means of accom- modation. Alongside the river bank are timber-yards and saw- mills, in all of which activity is apparent. The pagoda itself marks the position where, in 1852, our forces landed against severe opposition, and with heavy casualties ; the graves of some of the gallant men who fell on the occasion being still to be seen within the enclosure. At a little distance beyond, Monkey Point projects between the Poosundoung creek and the Pegu river, while that of Kangoon washes past along its third side. This point, at one time guarded by a battery, presents now nought save the ruins of the work. The position is one of consequence in reference to navigation of the principal channel from the sea, and no doubt will soon be once again provided with means of both offence and defence. A jetty has of late been erected here. The construction is of wood; steps lead down to the water ; boats and sampans are engaged in ferrying passengers to and from it ; rafts of timber lie fixed in the soft mud, awaiting the return of the tide, now at its lowest ebb ; and beyond, at no great distance, is Syriam, at one time a place of considerable importance, now consecrated by the his- tory of martyrdom. All around the point whereon we stand, malaria ought to prevail in force, if it does not do so ; and yet it is evident that certain improvements have been effected in its state. Still there are parts in which the original marsh continues ; many where there are pools covered with slime ; others more clear and deep, from which grow pistia, arums, and pontedera ; while some of the still more wholesome-like ponds are covered and ornamented with nelumbium, nymphceta, and hydrocharidce, — the more solid portions of the marsh green with scrub of acanthus. The history of Syriam is in a way interesting, yet sad. In tlhe early part of the seventeenth century the English had a settle- ment at this place, as well as at Prome and Ava ; the Dut(ch OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 45 hawing similar positions at Negrais and in Upper Burmah. The lattter, having had a misunderstanding with the King, threatened to invite the interference of the Chinese ; in consequence of whiich not only they themselves, but all other foreigners, weire expelled the country. In 1695, an attempt was made by Gowernor Higginson of Madras to obtain back the settlement at Syiriam, and the release of certain Englishmen who had been retrained as prisoners by the King of Burmah ; and it would aprpear that after a time his request for the settlement was comceded, although in a very ungracious way. In 1719 Pope Clement XI. sent a solemn embassy to China, the members of whiich obtained an interview with the Emperor ; but soon after- wairds, having fallen into disfavour, they returned to Rome. Of the priests who had formed this embassy, two were subse- quejntly sent to Burmah, of which Syriam was at the time the primcipal port. Here they found some Portuguese Christians, wit:h whom they remained, and for whom ostensibly they, after somie time, obtained permission to build a church. In 1728 Bemedict XIV. appointed a bishop to the place, and for a little, Roimanist churches increased and multiplied in the new see. IBetween 1743 and 1745 — in consequence, it is said, of dupli- city of the English agent at Syriam towards the Burmese, who weire then at war with the Talains of Pegu, the former atteacked and destroyed the factories, murdered the bishop and his priests, and forced all the foreign residents to withdraw. It would appear, however, that one at least of the holy men hadl fled in time to India, and thus escaped the general masssacre. Father Nerini did so ; and in due time, when disturb- ances had subsided, found his way back to Syriam, and erected a clhurch of brick and mortar — the occasion being the first on whiich such materials had been used for the purpose in the coumtry. We learn that a constant influx of priests continued, and! all seemed safe : but alas ! the French having in 1751 obtained a concession in Syriam, the usual result followed. They acted contrary to an engagement they had entered into witih Alompra, called the Great, king of Ava; their policy inclluded neither the principle of neutrality nor of masterly 46 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. inactivity when fighting and " glory " were in their vicinity ; and so the king, incensed at their conduct, simply massacred or imprisoned every foreigner connected with Syriam. Since that time the place does not appear to have been reoccuped by Occidentals. The establishment of the American Baptist Mission in Rangoon is under the management of Mr. Bennet, who has resided here since the year 1829, and still is hale and hearty. For many years after his arrival in the country the authority of the King was supreme at Rangoon, as at Mandalay. More than one revolution has taken place since then, and Governors have ruled over the seaport whose characters and ideas of justice differed quite as much as they are found to do in other countries. Under one, daily executions took place, attended by horrors such as are represented in the frescoes con- nected with the Golden Pagoda; another was liberal and merciful in his dealings with all men. Mr. Bennet had been associated with the late Mr. Judson, and had known both his wives, for Mr. Judson had been twice married, — the second Mrs. Judson taking as much interest in Mission work as him- self, and now her name being quite as much known and respected. Mr. Bennet has seen Rangoon undergo many changes : where now the houses and establishments of merchants stand, he remembers a stockade ; what is now Phayre Street formed in his early days an avenue of pagodas;; and where now is Phayre Square, a filthy swamp formed the receptacle for all sorts of abominations. A long avenue of pagodas extended along what is now Pagoda Road ; the river banks, now busy with traffic, were one continuous expanse of mud and slime. Within the establishment of the Mission the useful is more conspicuous than the ornamental or the doctrinal. In onie part of the building school-books and works on general literature are exposed for sale ; in another, printing-presses of the latest American patterns are being worked by native Burmese, Chinese, and Chins, — some of whom are as yet " unconverted," although excellent workmen notwithstanding. OUB TEIP TO BUEMAH. 47 Here printing in various types and languages is being per- formed : at one press English, at another Burmese, and at a third Karenee. In an adjoining compartment type is being founded, cleaned, and arranged; next to it a "department" where bookbinding is being done by native men and women : this, be it observed, is the first place that the latter have been met with employed in occupations of the West. Then follow store-ro'Oms containing books, printed papers, and stationery generally, — a stove in the middle of the room maintaining the contents dry, and otherwise protecting them from the effects of the rainy season. The day is pretty well advanced. It is three o'clock in the afternioo»n. We are returning from our wanderings. We come upon droves of coolies and labourers, — some dusty, others bathing in a tank, to all appearance specially provided for the purpose. Among them are Burmese, Madrassees and Hindo- stanees. They have finished their allotted task of work for the day ; for all are paid by the piece. They are now free for the remainder of the day, — either to idle, play, or take on additional work, with the certainty of additional pay, according to their own particular fancy. Truly the work of a coolie at Rangoon seems to be light as it is profitable. 7th. — Horticultural Gardens. — Museum. Rangoon boasts of two public gardens, both maintained at very considerable expense, for the improvement of horticulture in the province. That visited by me is under the superintend- ence of Mr. Hardinge, who kindly escorted me in my visit to it. A considerable number of indigenous timber and fruit trees are cultivated ; vegetables and fibre plants ; flowers of different kinds being plentifully distributed in plots and along borders. The Calophyllum presents both flowers and fruit, — the oil from the latter, known in India as Poonay oil, used not only for lamps, but also as a remedy of great repute popularly. Jones'ia, one of the Cassalpinia division of the Leguminosa, is not only ornamental, but is one of the trees held sacred by the Buddhists ; its common name derived from the Buddhist 48 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. emperor Asoca ; its sacred character derived from the assumed fact that Guadama Buddha was born under one. The Plumieria is readily distinguished by its smooth stem, — its flowers of amazing sweetness thrown out before the leaves ; nor need we wonder that both Hindoos and Buddhists are fond of offering its periwinkle-like blossoms at the shrines of their gods, and that they are extensively used as ornaments for the hair of their women. The Michelia Champac, with its sweet mag- nolia-like flower, is among the Hindoos held sacred to Yishnu, — that is, to the midday sun, the preserving power ; and is exten- sively used by the Buddhists for offerings before the shrines of Guadama. The Spathoidea, whose large orange flowers are eaten by the people, is also presented as offerings at shrines before which they worship. The Artabotrys is in flower; its peculiarly- scented green blossoms are known as "love in a mist," — as to why or wherefore it is impossible to say, except perhaps to fill up the botanical list of references to the nasty little god, — for have we not love-eye, love-lies-bleeding, love- apple, and love-tree ; Venus's bath, comb, fly-trap, and looking- glass ; maiden hair, and plum ; bachelors' buttons, and so on, all in the way of courtship and marriage ? So it were possible to go on in regard to a long list of trees, shrubs, and plants less imposing in appearance in the gardens. In the orchid house, and at his own residence, Mr. Hardinge is rearing some plants of the vanilla-yielding orchis ; or Vanilla aromatica. This is a parasitical plant, the long twisting stem of which, rising from the soil, adheres by suckers to trees and rocks. It has been of late believed to exist wild in some of the forests in this country ; and an attempt is being made to cultivate the plant for the sake of its highly-valued fruit. Whether this attempt will succeed or not, remains to be seen. There is also an extensive collection of foreign and indigenous orchids and ferns, for both of which Burmah is as yet comparatively new and unworked as a field. Within the principal garden there is a museum, containing by no means an indifferent collection of objects, natural and artificial. Among others, there are specimens of hatchets and OUE TKIP TO BUBMAH. 49 kinives of the Stone period. They were found at different pearts of the coast towards the Straits of Malacca ; but are in alll respects similar in appearance and character to those fcorniing the extensive collections in the museums of Brussels amd Zurich. Implements of various kinds used by the more umcivilized races in and ai'ound Burmah, textile fabrics, speci- mtens of wood timbers and fibres produced in the country, are collected and arranged, together with various other products of thie country. The natural history collection is tolerably good, considering the circumstances of Rangoon ; but the nature of thte climate is sadly trying to the work of the taxidermist. 8th. — Beer. — Isinglass. What ! beer manufactured in Rangoon ? Yes : and very go»od beer too, in so far as colour, flavour, and creaming quialities are concerned. The ingredients employed in the manufacture of the beverage are brought together from various sovurces : sugar from Penang — for malt does not seem to be decerned necessary ; hops from England, — it may be from some of those rich and beautiful fields along which the railway runs, in the vicinity of Canterbury and of Maidstone. Yeast once " sitarted," propagates itself rapidly on the spot ; and isinglass, whierewith to clarify the " brew," is manufactured from some kimds of fish, captured in the adjoining rivers and their estuary. It is said that since the brewery was established, now some years ago, the taste of the Burmese for beer has rapidly increased; also that the more gorgeous the design and label up desist from their attack until the arrival of reinforcements from Henzadah enabled them to renew their onslaught, which took place successfully on the 2nd of April, 1825. During this attack the famous Burmese general, Bundoolah, lost his life ; the event being, perhaps with reason, looked upon ;as the greatest loss the Burmese had sustained during the wax. On the second occasion in which our forces were actively engaged — namely, in 1852 — some skirmishing took place in thi;s very neighbourhood, some even closely bordering upon disaster. Not far from this town the Dacoit chief, Myat Toon, repelled our forces with very heavy loss in men and officers : in fact, Donabew is by no means a place of propitious omen. We land and take a rapid glance around. The town ex- tends at least a mile along and close to the river bank. Path- ways of brick and pulverised laterite rock stretch through and across, at right-angles to each other, their sides shaded by shrubs and trees such as are commonly met with in Burmah. The carefully whitewashed door of an occasional hut, as we proceed, is guarded by a carefully tended plant of the sacred Toolsee of the Hindoos — the Ocimum, or sweet Basil. At a little distance beyond the town stands the chief pagoda. Round it was erected the stockade just mentioned. Now, however, no further record of battle exists than a shot-hole still remaining in one of the smaller pagodas, and a graveyard sadly overgrown with weeds and otherwise neglected, as if the haunt of the Hamadryad and the Bungarus. At a little distance still farther from the town a series of booths are ranged around what seems to be a monastery. They are of bamboo, apparently new, and only meant to serve a tempo- rary purpose. In each of them a poonghye squats, amiable in countenance, and clean in person as well as clothing. Near thern are maidens — it may be virgins of the temples, like the original of the Amasoonas — ready to dispose of articles for a consideration to devotees, much after the manner of a fancy fair. These virgins are personally good-looking, and more- over not only becomingly but modestly dressed. Each wears OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 57 a dark-coloured cloth across the chest and under the arms, so as completely to conceal the bosom. All is quiet and orderly : the presence of foreigners appears to amuse the crowd, yet we meet with nothing but politeness from them. The ocCaisi«on. of the meeting would seem to be a religious festival. Pilgr%m,s to the shrine near which the fair is held seem for ithf a small split reed. The tom-toms speak for themselves. The middle p>artt of the top has upon it a patch of black stuff composed of rice and a*shes, without which the musicians assert it will not sound. The third iinstirument is a clapper of bamboo, devoid of musical notes, but capable o>f producing more tones than one, and not disagreeable. no dloubt, but grating to other ears ; whether gay or grave in character we could not tell. The assembly appears to be in a state of general beatitude ; the priests to quietly chuckle over their rich harvest. Whether the meeting be a fair, pilgrimage, or religious festival, the results are evidently alike to them — money, money, money ! At noon we resume our journey. The banks on either 58 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. side increase in height. Islands and banks of sand, deposited during the rainy season, occur in the river bed ; boats engaged in trade increase in numbers ; villages become larger and more numerous. Eafts of wood float by, smaller than those to be met with on the Ganges and the Rhine, but their dimensions no doubt determined by the capabilities of the stream. Basking in the sun on yonder ledge of mud lies a huge crocodile, its head towards and close to the water. In former days terrible stories were told regarding the doings of these creatures ; but of late years they seem to have become more civilized, and to have given up their taste for humanity. Dr. Mason tells us that formerly they used to carry off natives ; and that a single one would usurp dominion over a particular part of the river, where he would be the terror of every boat's crew that passed. His mode of attack, according to the learned missionary, was to glide silently up to the bows or stern of a boat, then sud- denly with a sweep of his tail strike into the water whoever was within reach : once the victim was in the water, the rest was easy enough. Such is the story still current in Burmah. As to its truth, or otherwise, that is quite another matter. On other shoals myriads of aquatic birds wander in search of food, or rest, or stand and plume their feathers. We leave them undisturbed, beautiful things that they are. What right has any so-called sportsman to scatter destruction among such as they, for no other purpose than to gratify a merely savage pleasure of killing ? Strange it is that up till now swallows seem to have abandoned the river ; we have looked in vain to see them skimming its surface or sweeping over it. As we proceed, the outline of a mountain range appears in the distance, south-westward. It is the extremity of the Arra- can Yomah, a spur of the far-off Himalayas ; and we know them to be inhabited by Looshais and other wild tribes off Eastern Bengal. The slanting rays of the declining sun render the outline more and more distinct as we advance. But our attention is drawn to the play of light and shade upon the face of the water around us. Tints of orange, green, violet,, and many intermediate shades, follow each other in fitful, rapid! OUB TEIP TO BUBMAH. 59 succession, and dance upon the broad, magnificent river ; equalling, were that possible, the wonderful hues presented by the Lake of Lucerne, as seen from the heights of, say, the Nieiii Sweitzerhaus on the evening of a September day. . 12tk. — Henzadah. — Mythology. — Residents. — Police. — Cholera. — Rice village. — Laterite. — A Madras Regiment. — Night on the Irawaddy. Henzadah, itself a place of inconsiderable importance, has its associations in connection with war and mythology. Here, on the 18th of March, 1825, the British force, having crossed the iriver at Sanawa, established its head-quarters preparatory to coming to the aid of the water column at the attack on Don«abew. It was from here it marched to what proved to be the greatest victory to our arms, the most signal defeat to the Burmese sustained during the war. In 1852 Henzadah was occupied by a small detachment of native Indian troops, under the command of Captain, now General Sir Arthur, Becker, who most gallantly repulsed an attack made upon them by the Burmese. The associations of the place with mythology naturally lea I us oai to a very extensive field of inquiry. It has been con- sidered that, classing the human race into three well-known divisions — namely, Turanian, Semitic, and Aryan — the chief deit%es of the first were the sun and earth ; of the sun the chosen embllems were the bull, the ram, and the phoenix ; of the earth, the sterpent and goose — perhaps because the goose was believed to have some occult connection with the mundane egg. The Semites worshipped chiefly the moon, represented by the cow, the dove, and the fish ; the Aryans, the elements, represented by the lion, eagle, and horse. Henzadah, then, is said to owe its name to the Hansa, otherwise Anser, the Brahminee duck, or more properly shieldrake — the Casarca rutila of ornitholo- gists — a bird which continued to be the emblem of the empire of the Talains of Pegu, as the peacock is still that of Ava. Figures of it made in brass are also used in this part of Burmah as weights ; and it is interesting to observe that in 60 OUK TKIP TO BURMAH. ancient Egypt similar figures of the same bird were used for the same purpose. It was in that country the emblem of Seb } the father of Osiris. It signified " son," and occurs often in the Pharaonic ovals, signifying " son of the sun." It appears also to have been worshipped ; for in a sepulchral tablet of the twenty-sixth dynasty, about 700 B.C., the bird is represented as standing in a small chapel, over which in hieroglyphic characters is the inscription translated "the goose greatly beloved"; on the lower part of the tablet the dedicator is re- presented as making an offering of fire and water to Ammon and the Goose. Among the Hindoos, ancient as well as modern, the bird enjoys a sacred character. According to their legend, two lovers, on account of some indiscretion on their part, were transformed into Brahminee ducks, — that is, the hansa, male and female : just as at the present day, according to another legend, young people and old, similarly circumstanced, often make — well, hansas of themselves. That of the Hindoos, however, relates that the original hansas were condemned tcece, the plantain, or Musa paradisiaca, so generally used elsewhere for its fibre, does not appear to be so employed in Bmrmah. The plant was esteemed by the old Greeks and Romaais, as well as in India. The genus itself is extensively distributed, and Manilla hemp manufactured from M. textilis. In Burmah, however, none of the indigenous species seem to be used for the sake of their fibre. Of Palmacece the Cocos nucifeira yields, among other products, the coir of commerce. Very few cocoanuts comparatively appear, however, to grow in Burmah — a great portion of the nuts one meets with in the 88 OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. markets being imported from the adjoining coasts. Of Panda- nacece, the genus so named yields a fibre of some importance — the particular species which does so being P. odoratissimus and speciosa. There are numerous other plants which yield fibres also ; of these a kind of mulberry or morns is so employed : Sterculia guttata and S. villosa — the latter called sadal in Assam. But until the native Burmese have greater difficulties than they at present experience in earning a com- fortable livelihood, the cultivation of fibre-yielding plants is not likely to become a branch of industry with them. In fact, go wherever we may in the jungle, we tread upon and pass by plants which only require to be collected and submitted to the necessary process to yield excellent fibres. But no ; the natives care not, nor do their necessities force them, to take the trouble to do so. 20th. — To the Petroleum Wells. — Cutch Manufacture. Arrangements made for a trip to the mineral oil wells, a small party of us start for them at an early hour. For some five miles and upwards we thread our way through dense jungle — the pathway so narrow that our advance is often im- peded by overhanging branches and twigs, those of the thorny acacia producing a far from agreeable effect as their prickles penetrate our clothes or come in contact with our faces. Rounded pebbles and bits of silicated wood (Shorea) strew the ground, rendering it difficult and somewhat unsafe for our ponies to proceed at a rapid pace. We arrive at a hill face ; we scramble up ; we now descend down deep into a water- course; we, or rather our little nimble steeds, pick their way between boulders and among smaller stones, until, coming to a point of the opposite bank where something like a track ap- pears, they turn to it, scramble up,and so on through brushwood and forest, until at last we reach the Mendoon road. It is true that the road alluded to consists for the present of a mere cleared line through the forest ; but no doubt, when finished, will form a valuable means of communication between the town whence it obtains its name and Thyet Myo. In its present OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 89 condition, however, the inscription seen by me very many years ago upon the side of the old military road through the Highlands of Scotland, seems to have a special significance in regard to the Mendoon line. The inscription in point is, or was, engraved upon a stone somewhere in that classic tract which separates the important village of Tomintoul from the hill of the Lecht. It appealed to the traveller in pathetic words, — "If you had seen this road before it was made, you'd hold up your hands and bless General Wade." It may be so — it may not ; we, however, who see the Mendoon road before it is made, wish heartily that it had been com- pleted ere our advent. There is a lane through the forest : that is all. Huge trunks of teak, scorched and hacked, lie across it at intervals ; so do gum and catechu trees. At some few points — very few — the surface is being worked with gravel into what is intended to form a groundwork for the highway, and half a dozen Hindostanee coolies squat listlessly as we pass, this being what they call doing their work. We naturally ask if these are all the workmen on this long line ? If not all, they are nearly all. The others have run away. Fever, want of water, and difficulty in obtaining supplies, were little matters not quite in accord with their ideas of the fitness of things, and so they withdrew. But bad as the road is, the Burmese make use of it. A string of native carts comes towards us ; they are in single line ; their wheels sink into and make deep rutsin thesoil. They are laden, some with cutch, some with cotton, others with Indian corn ; and as we pass their drivers bring their draught bullocks to a halt : for do we not belong to the conquering race ? and do not the Burmese acknowledge our supremacy even as, not so very long ago, our own brave British ancestors were forced to bow to their Norman invaders ? For eight long miles we travel through a district destitute of human inhabitants. By-and-by patches of cleared ground occur upon our left-hand side and upon our right ; these indicate where cultivation will ere long take place and crops flourish. Other patches appear, now in a great measure obliterated by returning forest and brushwood ; 90 OUK TEIP TO BUKMAH. on these cotton and roselle had for a couple of years in suc- cession nourished, but now the more than half wild plants of both struggle for existence with the original jungle. But they will not long continue the fight ; they must of necessity give "way, even as the red man disappears before the march of civilization — in other words, is extirpated by more powerful races. We reach the village of Padouk-ben — that is, the town of the dipterocarpus, or wood-oil tree. There is a hut at its entrance, provided by the Department of Public Works for the overseer in charge of the road. It is at present occu- pied by a sergeant, evidently of Hibernian origin, and who, although civil in his way, seems imperfectly acquainted with the line of demarcation, at all times somewhat indistinct, which separates so-called wit from unmitigated impertinence. Breakfast over, we proceed on foot, for the track before us is too precipitous and rough even for Burmah ponies. At a distance of about two miles from Padouk-ben we reach the choung, or ravine, in which the oil wells are situated. The odour of petroleum becomes perceptible as we scramble down along a zigzag path cut in the all but perpendicular bank. We reach the wells : there are five in all, besides a new one in course of excavation. The work has extended to a depth of sixty feet : first through an overlying stratum of red sandstone ; then into grey shale, in which it is expected to strike oil, for already the fragments of the latter rock, as they are brought up, smell strongly of it, and feel oily to the touch. One of those being worked has a depth of forty feet. The yield of oil is small; for the workmen, who are all Madrassees, tell us that during the cold season its flow is interrupted. We stoop over the mouth of the well, and see the production trickle from the sides and collect in a foul- looking mass at the bottom ; the smell is to us overpowering ; we are heated by the exertion of descent into the choung ; nor can we quite understand, in so far as our senses teach, that this is cold weather. We ask the workmen to show us the process by which the oil is raised. Over the mouth of the well there is a pulley between two strong supports; over the pulley a OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. 91 rope, after the manner of ordinary draw-wells. One of the men places himself in a cunningly-devised noose at the end of the rope, the noose so arranged as to afford him perfect support and safety ; two others lay hold of the further end, and " lower " gradually, precisely as sailors lower a bale of goods into a ship's hold. The man has reached the bottom; we watch him scoop with his hands the slimy matter into an earthen vessel ; it is quickly filled ; he gives the words " Draw up " ; the men " on grass," as the Cornish miners say, walk steadily down an inclined plane ; he who had descended has reached the surface; he steps nimbly from his noose; the earthen vessel he has brought up contains a greenish, slimy- looking fluid that smells horribly. We learn that it is only after long practice that these men can work in the wells, and that even then they cannot remain at the bottom more than a very few minutes, so overpowering are the fumes given off. According to them, their wages are sixteen rupees per month — that is, £1 12s. ; the three wells at present being worked yield together about seven-and-a-half viss per day, each viss being equal to about three pounds and a-half; and the price of the oil at the well's mouth is about four annas, equal to six- pence, per viss. The other wells are more or less similar to this one. At the bottom of the ravine in which they are situated is a succession of little pools of very nasty water — globules of oil floating upon its surface, itself filthy and offen- sive ; the precipitous banks on either side are densely covered with brushwood and forest; the hot atmosphere is tainted with the odour of oil, our scramble upwards difficult and fatiguing; and as we gain the Summit each of us expresses the hope never more to visit the oil wells of Padouk-ben. In a neighbouring ravine is a cutch or catechu manufactory. The approach to it from the village is comparatively easy, the descent gradual, the pathway tolerably good, leading us through a forest track of what seems to consist entirely of the catechu acacia. The establishment itself is of the very simplest kind. It is situated on the steep face of the descent. Close by runs a stream, but its water is brackish ; near it, however, is a well, 92 OUB TRIP TO BUEMAH. from which that of better quality is obtained. Here the work- men are all Burmese. Some are occupied with their clahs in cutting the red heart- wood of the acacia into pieces of suitable size for boiling. Quickly and deftly they do so — each chip as it flies off into the general heap being precisely similar in size and thickness to that which flew before it. Others of tae gang are boiling the chips in earthen vessels ; their fuel the pieces from which the catechu has been extracted, and the white portions, which are otherwise useless in the manufacture. The chips in these vessels are renewed from time to time, until the fluid contents attain a certain desired consistence ; after which the decoction is emptied into shallow dishes made of bamboo wicker-work, these placed in larger earthen pots filled with hot water, and so evaporation carried on until the cutch is capable of being finally prepared, after which it is made into bricks, each weighing about 17 lbs. : the product on the spot having a market value of about £2 14s. for 360 lbs. There appears to be no restriction upon the destruction of acacia trees for the manufacture of cutch ; yet probably the Forest Department may ere long discover that here is a proper sub- ject whereon to levy taxation, and may perhaps be grateful for the hint. At the entrance of Padouk-ben, and close to each other, are a very primitive restaurant, beer-shop and brewery, — the two latter in the same building. Under the shade of a spreading tree an elderly woman, clean in person and tidy in appearance, has her little establishment of hearth, brazier, and materials wherewith at the very shortest notice to provide customers with thin limp cakes ; nor does she have long to wait, after serving one, until a renewed demand upon her art is made. And her charges seem small as her delicacies are approved. The nectar prepared and sold in the adjoining cabaret bears in in Burmese the name of zyeh, or something as nearly approach- ing the word so spelt as it is possible to make it. It is black and thick, like the thickest and blackest porter ; and although the reverse of agreeable either in odour or appearance, is nevertheless declared by the road sergeant to be by no neans OUR TRIP TO BUEMAH. 93 bad — in fact, to be his general " drink," as gnappee formed the seasoning for his food. Zyeh to drink, gnappee to eat, and yet a mam to live and be in robust health in the midst of a Burmese forest., and in a climate such as this ! Here is something to wondy the simple process of burning ; and we learn that by-and-by cotton is to be sown in them, this part of the district being somewhat noted for the excellence of that staple produced in it. We meet some natives ; some with carts, for they seem to be travelling to market. The bullocks they use for draught are plump and well cared for, as were those we had seen on the banks of the Irawaddy ; others are mere foot-passengeis ; but as they pass our cavalcade, all stare and wonder at tie size of the horses we ride — so very different as they are from the small, yet wiry and hard-working ponies of tie country. Throughout our journey we see no wild quai- ruped. Birds are more abundant than they were yesterday ; they flit across our path, sing cheerily in the branchas overhead, or, uttering a scream of alarm, dart away as ve approach. The density of the jungle conceals many from view, whose notes, however, are familiar — among them tie Eudynemus orientalis, or coel; the woodpecker; and tie Buceros, or hornbill. The former is among the first to herald OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 103 the approach of daylight; its loud, clear note used to tell us, while on the march in India, that dawn was about to break : the bird itself of so shy a disposition that it is by no means easy for the sportsman or naturalist to get a shot at it ; yet how graceful its form, how soft its tints, when seen, or as it lies dead in the hand ! All the same, we wish it not dead. Let the pretty creature enjoy its life after its own way. Would that the habits of all featherless bipeds were half as interesting, half as harmless ? Our halting-place is Thabalat. We started at 7.25 a.m.; we arrive at 10.5, after a short and pleasant morning trip. The village is situated on an elevated position on the right bank of the Bhoolay rivulet — the same which passes Myola, and which we had to cross and recross several times 104 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. during our day's march. In 1854 a portion of the 8th Bengal Cavalry occupied this place, as our advanced position ; although if the jungle were then as dense as it now is, and unless the brave sepoys were mounted on undegenerated descendants of Bucephalus, it is difficult to see of what use they could have been in such a place. (General Howlett had also then been here.) That they were not so mounted is pretty clear, from the circumstance that nearly all their horses on that occasion died from climatorial causes. The stockade in which the Indian troops were located still remains, and is now held by a small police force. Here we have to arrange ourselves as best we may in an old deserted monastery, the floor of which, broken in many places, is so rotten and rickety in others that, like Agag, we have to walk delicately, keeping at the same time along the line of the rafters, to avoid, as far as possible, the risk of dropping clean through. The entire building is of wood ; its decorations characteristic. From the eaves and pinnacles outside fungi grow — among others, agarics, thick and broad. Here and there what seems a mass of dry leaves adheres to the decaying wood ; from each depends a curling festoon of green ribbon. The plant is altogether new to us. The Chief sug- gests it is a Drynaria. Closer examination shows that it is a Platicerium, named after the late Dr. Wallich, of Calcutta. Everywhere in this locality it abounds upon trees and decay- ing wood. 24w wagtail. Att intervals there are villages ; fewer in number, however, than i yesterday. At one, named Tondo, a group of Burmese, seateid under the shade of mango and tamarind trees, await the aipproach of our party ; they have heard that an English genejral is about to pass by, and are not unnaturally anxitous to satisfy their curiosity, now that the opportunity offert-s. All are in holiday costume ; their dress presents a pecuriiarly associated succession of gaudy colours — some in 6trip»es, some in checks — the general effect less " loud " than migmt be supposed. In the group are seated some men and 10G OUK TRIP TO BUEMAH. y women of the Chin or Khyen tribe ; this being the first occa- sion of our seeing any such. The face of one of the women is tattooed so as to be perfectly black, the natural colour being light brown ; the lips are red from pawn and betel nut ; thus she has a somewhat Christy-minstrel look. The dress of all differs from that of the ordinary Burmese. It consists, appa- rently for both sexes, of a poncho of home-made cloth, coarse in texture and bright in colour. As to the odd fashion of the women disfiguring themselves by blackening their pretty faces, it is said to be gradually dying out. Who knows but a somewhat similar fashion of " beautifying for ever," by means of acids, antimony, zinc, violet powder, and other etceteras, may after a time also fall into disuse, and ladies, like the " lilies of the field," trust alone to their natural attractions ! We notice that the villages near which we pass are without exception prosperous in their appearance ; neither mendicant nor cripple is to be seen. The staple produce is mountain rice, S in the cultivation of which irrigation is not employed ; and yet, to judge from the large stacks of straw we pass, its yield must be considerable. Other crops there are, including plan- tains, as before, maize, sweet potatoes, gourds of different kinds, and castor oil. Around most of the villages are hedges or palings, — the former of strychnos, the latter garnished with creeping wild cucumbers of all sorts, abroma, or wild liquorice, and phaseolus ; while nearly at every door a papaw tree (carica) presents at the same time its blossom and its fruit. In the whole district of Than-boo-la an industry is followed which is said not to extend nearer than it to Thyet Myo, — ^ namely, the rearing and preparation of silk. Perhaps the abundance of the fabric accounts for the circumstance of almost everybody we meet being dressed in materials com- posed of it. Its price in the raw state varies from Its. 15 to 20 per viss of 3*65 lbs. The thread is considerably thicker than that of Bengal, being reeled from double the number of cocoons as compared to that of India. In the latter country that from Burmah is said to be little sought after ; yet its value in the London market is quoted at ten to eleven shillings per OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 107 pound, — so that it really fetches scarcely so much in England as on the spot where it is manufactured. The species of " worm " by which it is produced is the Bombyx Arracanensis. The insect runs its cycle of existence in forty-seven to fifty days : namely, in the egg, eight to eleven ; in the larva state, thirty ; in the cocoon, eight ; as the perfect creature, one day. To the orthodox Buddhist the rearing of silk is repugnant, as, like the occupation of the fisherman, it involves the constant destruction of life. It is accordingly confined to the race of people called in the vernacular Ya-beins. The name of the place at which we halt for the day is decidedly difficult to get at. It is pronounced as Thalobin, Tharoop-peng, and Thalobet-peng. We reach it at 10.55 a.m. precisely, find it completely in the wilds, yet do the best we can to make ourselves comfortable in an adjoining monastery. It has evidently been but lately vacated by its proper occupant. He, it seems, had by his brother poonghyes been considered unorth odox, — to have, in fact, occupied himself more with the things of this present world than with those of Nirban. They ceased to have dealings with him ; he was placed in Burmese " Coventry," and returned to his home to re-enter the world to which he had shown undue affection ; and the consequence is, that we make ourselves quite at our ease in his former resi- dence. For the first time we are face to face with a real, live, un- mitigated Karen. We have heard much of the Karens, and are naturally interested in this the first specimen of the race. Powerful in frame, a broad grin on his grimy face, impudent in mariner, fearfully dirty in person, the impressions produced by his vicinity were in and to more senses than one decidedly unpleasant. He had never actually seen a missionary; had heard of such people. He believed in nats. When he desired anything, he ate pork and drank to the nats. He had heard of spirits, but did not know much about them. He liked strong strong drinks ; would like now to have some ; also some gun- powder. 108 OUR TBIP TO BURMAH. 25th. — Jemadar of Elephants. — Preparations. — Our road. — Cotton. — Mulberry. — Stockade. — Mengee Sekan. — A Sen- sation. Our horses are sent back, — the road before us for the next three or four days being described as so rough that we can only get along it on elephants or on foot. Our elephants are laden and started before we leave our ground ; for whei left to follow, their drivers trifle and talk and smoke on the way, much to our inconvenience, as we find our morning march decidedly conducive to good appetite. Besides this, confidence is lost in the honesty of the jemadar — that is, native super- intendent of the elephants. He is a Bengalee. Almost a.l the elephant drivers in this country are said to be from that province. It appears that he has been levying contributions along the line we have travelled, without any authority and without paying for them ; and so there are strong reasons for sending him and his belongings on ahead. A number of Burmese, armed with dahs, are sent at daylight on tefore us — a similar detachment for like purpose having been des- patched last evening — their object to clear a pathway through the forest, by which we may continue our journey; aho to clear a space to form our next halting-ground. We are ready to start, when the chief man of the village approaches to pay respects to the Chief. He brings an offering of plantains and of buffalo milk, which His Excellency accepts, — the latter being a welcome addition to early tea. It is 7.30 whei we get fairly off. Three of our party start on elephants,— the Chief and I riding the same animal. One determines to valk, and so away he trudges. The Chief's fat cook, too, never having ridden on an elephant, or probably on any other animal, girds up his portly loins, extemporises an alpenstock from a neighbouring bush, and so follows suit. But both pedestrians soon change their minds. They are glad to mount ; the cook, as somewhat awkwardly he scrambles up the sices of the huge animal, complaining that it has no handle by vdrich he may raise himself. Our way becomes rough and difficult. OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. 109 Now itt is a mere track ; a short halt is necessary to enable the darhmen to cut down sufficient bamboo and other branches to perrmit our animals to squeeze through the gap ; now we scramble up a steep ascent ; now down an equally precipitous descentt ; now wade along the remnant of what in the rainy season is a torrent ; now scramble over rocks ; now touch a quicksaand ; and wonder at the sagacity with which our massiv^e steeds withdraw in time from the treacherous spot. At rarre intervals the jungle is cleared for cultivation; and even haere, wild as the district is, cotton, mulberry, and cereal crops ; are being cultivated. The fibre of the former is said to be o:>f good colour, but coarse ; short, yet strong ; its demerit that itt adheres firmly to the seed. The difficulties must be great iindeed in conveying this or any other article of produce to mairket; for whether taken to the Irawaddy behind or the Sitangj before us, means of transport are met by many ob- staclesi. Formerly, much of the cotton grown hereabout and throughout Upper Burmah was conveyed to Western China, and thiere disposed of. Since the annexation of Pegu, however, it nearrly all finds its way to Rangoon. The mulberry we meet with iis tall and thin : it throws out a number of branches from mear its root, and attains a height of some eight or ten feet. It is said to bear no fruit, and to be readily propagated by cutttings — these having to be planted once every three years, as afteer that age the shrubs cease to produce good and succu- lent leeaves. The precise species to which it belongs seems as yet undeteermined,* and its crop to be subject to occasional failures, the sillkworms on such occasions being kept alive by leaves of the Brroressonitia papyri/era, or paper mulberry, although the qualify of the silk produced by insects so fed is comparatively worthlless. We arrive at a stockaded village. Its position is wild and solitarry, not more than five or six miles from our frontier ; and it is seaid that all so situated are similarly fortified, — of course for thee protection of the inhabitants against dacoits and other robberrs. Onwards from here our road is along the head of * Moms Indica (2). 110 OUR TRIP TO BTJRMAH. the Baho creek, and then through open jungle, of which bamboo forms the larger portion. The early part of our march is enlivened by the songs of many birds, while numerous individuals dart across our path in the more open places. Among them we, for the first time, see in its wild state the Paradise JSdiolus — its rich metallic blue colour glistening in the sun, its two peculiar paddle- shaped side tail-feathers hanging in air some ten or twelve inches behind it, as the creature floats rather than flies from tree to tree. Towards midday all becomes silent, nor is a bird or beast to be seen. It is clear that we are not yet in the region of ferns and orchids, for both of which the forests of Burmah are famous. Of the former only one genus has ap- peared ; it is a Lygodium, the dry stems of which, now dead, lie among the under brushwood, where some months ago it climbed and twisted fresh and green; of the latter only a few appear, and they out of flower. The peculiarity of the wild fig tree, already mentioned, has become more frequent as we advance. Teak trees, some yet alive, others dead, are now in many places surrounded, half-concealed and strangled in the embrace of this forest Thug. It is one o'clock when, as we emerge from the creek, along the windings of which our progress has at intervals been, we come upon a cleared space in what is otherwise dense fcrest ; the men who had been sent on before are busy cutting down brushwood; they have erected a hut of bamboo for our accommodation; we are informed that this is our halting- place — that this is Mengee Sekan, the Governor's resting- place. The construction of our shed, or hut, is ingenious and well- executed. It is thirty feet long, fifteen broad, and ten high. Its supports consist of stems of smaller trees fitted for the purpose, the sides and ends of split bamboos, flattened and secured in position by cross-pieces of the same reed, — these in turn kept in place by ropes also extemporised from it ; the roof consisting of its leaves and branches, together with reeds, any quantity of which grow in and near the watercourse or clwung OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. Ill close to which we are. The floor, raised at least a couple of fee t from the ground, is, like the sides, formed by split bamboos ranged side by side across rafters extemporised from the stem of this useful grass. It certainly looks somewhat rickety, but is made to support our camp bedsteads by means of " casters " cut from joints of bamboo. Fires are already crackling, fuel being abundant ; the Chiefs camp-table is arranged under the shade of huge specimens of teak, silk- cottoni and vateria trees, that here constitute verily a primeval forest ; a small tent is erected wherein some of the party bathe, water being brought in " lengths " of bamboo, two joints of which are run into one by the simple process of knocking through the middle partition by means of a stick ; supplies are similarly brought to the extemporised kitchen, situated be- tween two large buttresses of a vateria tree, — and as pieces six feet long rest against others, we see for the first time yards of water thus kept in reserve. We learn also that, for want of other vessels, the Burmese boil their water and cook their meals in a joint of bamboo. Nor is this by any means all. Among the supplies brought on from our last halting-ground are strings of eggs, like those of onions by Dutch boys and women in autumn at home : the long sausage- shaped case in which they are placed consisting of loose wicker-work of bamboo, the whole plaited as egg after egg is placed above the other, and undone from end to end as they are got out. But the most useful contrivance with bamboo is a bed for Mr. Burgess, which the dahmen quickly rig up. A couple of bamboo pieces, each the length of a man, are placed on the ground ; across these, and above them, shorter pieces arranged transversely are secured by ropes made by simply twisting narrow strips of the green reed. The litter thus formed is then raised by means of bamboo ropes from either corner, and thus slung from the rafters of the roof — an arrangement which suggests what might in urgent necessity be done, were a litter needed in case of accident. Night has closed in ; camp fires blaze among the dense forest that surrounds us ; pillars of flame shoot upwards among the 112 OUK TRIP TO BURMAH. brushwood and tall bamboos, throwing a lurid glare upon the stems and high-spreading branches of the larger forest trees. We are at dinner — our cattle also feeding off the green bamboos, which crackle as the elephants snap their stems by means of their prehensile trunks. There are signs of uneasiness among the animals ; the elephants trumpet, ponies belonging to our escort are restive at their pickets. The Burmese official in charge of our retinue approaches to make his report. He assumes an attitude about midway between sitting on the ground and kneeling, raises his hands before his face with palms together, as if in attitude of supplication, and thus begs to report that a tiger is in near vicinity to our camp, request- ing permission at the same time that he be allowed to light additional fires and fire off a certain number of shots. Both requests are, as a matter of course, acceded to ; more fires blaze around ; the forest resounds with the cracks of musketry ; in due time we retire to our shed and wonder if there be actual cause for the alarm, or if it be a small sensation extemporised for the benefit of His Excellency. On the latter supposition there is difficulty in accounting for the disturbance among our animals. 2Qth. — Dawdling. — Ingenious Ladder. — Our Track. — Bead, Trees. — The Yomah Range. — Kyat-Moung Creek. — Men- gee Sekan. We are astir at 4 a.m. It is still dark, but our camp-fires blaze and crackle anew by the addition of fresh fuel. Prepara- tions for the start somehow proceed slowly ; day breaks, the sunlight glistens on the upper foliage of the trees, yet for some reason or other our early breakfast is delayed, our retinue unprepared to move on. It is useless to stamp and rage. We know that in their own good time, and when it pleases them, but not one instant sooner, will our somewhat numerous be- longings move off. It merely irritates one to look on while they dawdle and trifle ; and so we move about our bivouac, more to be out of the way than anything else. It appears that this spot, or its immediate neighbourhood, is the ordinary OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 113 halting-place of wandering Karens and others who travel along; our route. Everywhere around the trees are of enormous dimensions, their stems six feet and upwards in diameter, their summits attaining a height of probably two hundred feet ; the lower herbage in their intervals consisting of bamboos and reeds and thorny shrubs. Upwards along the trunk of a huge silk-cotton tree there is a ladder composed of pieces of male bamboo, each eight or ten inches long, firmly secured in the woodi at intervals of a foot and a half from each other, thus extending from the base to where the first branches shoot wheel-like from the stem. The individual pegs which form the Ladder are made pointed — the tapering points so cut as to make it in some measure barbed. The Karen is said to insert one above the other as he climbs along the newly-made ladder, and thus to reach the store of wild honey at the top. The pegs are firmly fixed, having been driven in by means of a mallet, and once inserted remain in their places. At last our establishment is pleased to start. It is close on seven o'clock, and all this time have they trifled — why it is difficult to imagine, for there are few attractions at Mengee Sekan. Mr. Burgess takes leave, and begins his return journey, leaving our party to be further conducted by Karen guides. For some distance our road is the bed of the Baho creek, along which we yesterday travelled. If possible, the roughness of the track increases. The sides of the watercourse are more steep> and precipitous, the boulders larger and cast together in greater confusion ; the density of the forest is such that, as we wend our way slowly and with difficulty, we are glad to obtain an occasional glimpse of sunlight, which now in pencils pene- trates through the thick foliage. At intervals huge trees obstruct our progress — some lying direct across the creek, some thrown headlong down its sides ; dead clumps of bamboo are frequent, and now and then the dead, shivered trunk still standing seems to indicate the fearful effects of the whirlwinds and lightning storms which from time to time sweep over these forest wilds. We strike suddenly td our left, then up- wards along a steep ascent by a pathway lately widened for us. 8 114 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. Hitherto we have seen no hill or height beyond the banks on either side of us, so dense has been the forest. Now the path along which our elephants scramble equals in steepness that leading upwards by the side of Geissbach ; yet wonderful is the caution displayed by the sagacious creatures that carry us, as they make each step secure before they attempt to make a further advance, scrambling upwards on their wrists and knees, using their trunks to examine the stability of the step before them or press aside some branch that impedes their pro- gress. Thus we scramble up the western face of a spur of the Yomah mountain range. The summit gained, our progress for some two miles is along a ridge, at times so sharp and narrow that, were our elephants to become restless, it would be easy for them and us to roll down on either side some hundreds of feet, unless stopped in our course by some of the grand forest trees which rise from the sides of the abyss. The view is now extensive and magnificent. For many miles a rich thick forest stretches before and beneath us, on towards the Sitang — the foliage presenting one continuous mass of rich green, for here the trees cease to be deciduous. The track presents undu- lations varying in height, but none approaching that along which we travel. No opening seems to exist ; but far away, around us, everywhere, a seemingly interminable forest stretches to the horizon, and beyond. Our descent begins — equally pre- cipitous and more dangerous than our ascent had been, for now there is risk of our elephants slipping headlong down. Prudence tells us to alight ; and so on foot down, down, we bump and stagger and slide, supporting ourselves as best we may, laying hold of twigs and branches and tufts of grass to steady ourselves. We reach the base, and now again we enter a river bed. It is that of the Kyat-Moung creek : the current of the stream is eastward ; we have passed the water- shed between the Irawaddy and Sitang. For three miles we travel along the river bed, and as we proceed, get for the nrst time into the regions of ferns ; some stemless palms also grow along the banks, their tall green pinnated leaves at first sight hardly to be distinguished from them. Of the former at least OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 115 three species of Pteris and one of Lastrea seem to be abumdant, so far as we can observe them from our somewhat elevated position on the back of an elephant ; of the palms in like manner there seem to be Harina and Engissonia. Wild plantains grow from the sides of the deep ravine through which we travel ; an occasional trailing areca rises among the brushwood ; and, as before, the sun, although the time is mid- day, only occasionally shines upon us : everything is damp ; dewdrops fall upon us as we brush against the foliage ; ants, red in colour and vicious in propensities, drop from the foliage, and when they happen to come upon an exposed part of our person — as hands or nape — without more ado insert their pincers into our skin. We reach a clearing upon a level spot, and learn that this -is Mengee Sekan. The place has been prepared for us by our dahmen ; bamboos, grass, and stronger herbage cut down, a hut extemporised as before. Some time elapso,* dak tree,f honey berry,:}: jubube,§ and a species of croton. It only requires that the plant of anona should be one year old to become the site of lac, so that a plantation for rearinr it may be rapidly formed. The evolution of the insect is sail to take place once a year. At Major Lloyd's we also see s>me / indiarubber obtained from one of the most common of the creepers in the adjoining forest, and learn that the rnaiu- facture of this article is expected by-and-by to beome a valuable source of revenue. The creeper in question is the / Chavenissa, or Echites esculenta, the stems of which we had often seen as we traversed the dense forest tract, twising themselves around the trunks and branches of the largest trees, killing some, and separating large limbs of others. It appears, however, that besides this plant, another, somevhat similar, growing also on the Pegu Yomah range, yields a species of india-rubber — namely, the Anodendron paniculatum (JS". 0. / Apocyneai) ; also that the echites is so destructive to timber trees on which it grows, that an estimate for its destruction finds a place in the annual budget for the province. Notwith- standing this, an enterprising mercantile firm at Rangoon con- siders that the cultivation of this creeper might be introduced on an extensive plan as part of forest administration. Changing the subject, the talk turns upon the Karens ; not, indeed, from an ethnological point of view, but in regard to * Dalbregia latifolia. J Butea fundera. % Mellicoraca trijuga. § Zysiphus jujuba. KAREN WOMEN. OUR TRIP TO BURMA.H. 129 social matters. A strange form of plague has recently occurred in the valleys of the range of hills on which this people chiefly dwell ; and to make matters worse, it is stated that a similar visitation is of periodical occurrence. Myriads of rats have overrun the valleys of the Karenee hills, destroying every eatable thing, laying waste fields, thus reducing many of the people to abject want, and forcing others to quit the district. A cry of famine among the Karens is raised. The Karens flock to Tonghoo for aid. They are offered work at six annas per head daily — the sum being equivalent to ninepence sterling. They refuse. They have come for food, not for work. They decline to earn means whereby to live. They appeal for relief, but are indisposed to give anything in return. We hear queer stories about their goings on. It is hinted that in their starving condition they are great game for missionaries of various denominations, some of whom maintain an active com- petition in the way of contributions of rice and doctrine to the suppliants, who accordingly make a good thing of it, and are rendered quite independent of work. In this there is no intention to disparage the good effects, socially, of the conver- sions that have of late years taken place among these people. I only note things as they are at Tonghoo while I write. We are informed that crime among the converted Karens, and more particularly among those of the American mission, is much less than among those who are as yet in their wild state ; at the same time that immorality is more prevalent among the former than the latter — a result by no means satis- factory. Nor are converts, so far as can be ascertained, more productive in regard to industry than others. They have hitherto refused to learn handicrafts or professions ; and even those who have been sent to America with this view, have returned to Burmah little, if at all, improved. Such are the accounts we gather on the spot. The history of Tonghoo dates back to the time of Asoka, the eastern limit of whose empire reached to it — the original pagoda in the city having been erected during the reign of that Bud- dhist monarch. The history of the existing town, however, 9 130 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. dates no further back than the tenth century — a mere thing of yesterday — the name derived from its position near a spur of the Karenee hills : Toung, a mountain ; gnoo, a spur or projection. First impressions are anything but lively, notwithstanding tie hospitable reception we have met with. The place itself has a most forlorn look. To the eastward the Karenee jange of hills rises to a height of some four thousand feet, at a distance of probably thirty miles from cantonments. Winding around their sides of military limits is the river Sitang, by which we hope shortly to continue our further journey. 1st February. — Experimental Garden. Matters of duty are seldom interesting except to those immediately concerned, — very seldom indeed to them. Pass we them by, therefore. With the approach of sunset a visit to the experimental garden in cantonments — that from which the vegetables of yesterday came — affords us much interest. Everything hereabout seems experimental — barracks, cinchona, sanitarium, and now the garden. I wonder how many will succeed — how many fail. Major Heath has done a great deal to test the much-mooted question whether English vegetables can be cultivated here ; and now we are shown the very beds whence those that lately delighted us so much in the jungle had been taken. But what an odd. set of people in their tastes, as in other respects, soldiers are ! Here, among other prime crops^ are lettuces as good as could be got at heme ; yet not a bit of them will the men eat. So also with several others. And thus, after all the trouble and expense of cultivating them, they are wasted. Potatoes alone seem to be appreciated. These represent the murphy, the spud, of bygone days. An attempt is being made to rear them on the Karenee hills, but here success is doubtful. A dinner- party by the officers of the 67th closes the day. 2nd. — Bazaar. — Open Stalls. — " Woman Coins" — Intermar- riages. — A famished Karen. — Prison. — Dispensary. — Elephants. — The Karen Question. We visit the bazaar or principal market in the tewn. OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. 131 Here a strange medley of " native " and foreign articles are exposed for sale, — some of the former being by no means free from a certain " Brummagem " look, calculated to give rise to misgivings as to their real source. There are crowds of sellers, and still greater crowds of purchasers, or perhaps of mere lookers-on like ourselves. Many are followers of Mohammed, immigrants from India, but now settled in Burmah, — married, it is said, legally to Burmese women, and yet whose children, by the law to which they are subject, are not considered legitimate. As we move onwards we come upon stalls kept by money-changers and workers in the precious metals. The stalls are fully exposed, yet seemingly safe from all attempts on the part of the crowds / who squeeze by. We think of establishments in Bond Street, of guards, and safes in banks, and of precautions even in ticket offices at railway stations, in our own highly civilized free, and religious country, and contrast them with what is taking place here in the wilds of Burmah, among the heathen and the barbarian. Nor is the comparison altogether to the disadvantage of the heathen and barbarian. After all, are not the epithets applied to everybody by everybody else? Oddly enough, all the rupees we see exposed on the counters of the money-changers are those bearing the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The Burmese place comparatively little value upon coins that bear the effigy of a man. Accord- ing to their notion it is only " woman coins " that multiply ; a " man coin can never be productive." Talking of intermarriages between the Mohammedans and Burmese, we are naturally led on to the relations between the sexes in Burmah ; and here again we find something to compare rather favourably with conditions in our own very advanced fatherland and mother country. In Burmah, offences between the sexes have, it is said, a stigma attached to them beyond all others; yet they prevail, even as among our own dear civilized people. In Burmah disgrace attaches not only to those immediately concerned, but to their respective families. In the West the unlucky woman is tabooed, the lucky man 132 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. courted and made a hero of. But then, again, you see the Burmese are heathens. Here in the bazaar we come upon a " famished " Karen, — fearfully offensive to at least two senses. He has been " driven out " by the rats ; he is starving ; a good subject to be got hold of and written about ; a great sufferer by the famine. He is addressed in Burmese. Is he hungry ? Yes, very. Suiting the action to the word, he raises his upper garment, pats his full, projecting stomach, and assumes a look of deep despondency upon his fat, well-conditioned face. But what is that in the bag upon his shoulder ? Rice, given to him this morning in charity. The Burmese who have meantime collected laugh outright ; and so do we. The object of charity scowls horribly. No doubt there are real sufferers by the famine, but there are assuredly others who make a good thing out of it. So, however, there are in all countries, in all calamities. Upon the whole, we derive a good deal of instruction, as well as amusement, from our visit to the market of Tonghoo. A visit to the Prison and the Dispensary occupies the greater part of the afternoon. The Prison has comparatively few inmates ; but with one exception all are busy, — each getting through, as best he can, his allotted task. The exception is a poonghye, or priest, apparently mad. Squatting under the shade of a verandah, he sings and gesticulates as if enjoying the highest state of happiness on this side of Nirban. The Dispensary is one of many such establishments maintained throughout the province. It is maintained in part from public funds, in part by private. Let us hope that the classes for whom it and others are kept up appreciate them as they deserve to be. In 1873 there were fifteen civil dispensaries in British Burmah, exclusive of those attached to gaols and lock hospitals. These afforded medical relief to 48,815 persons., of whom 3000 were Europeans and Eurasians. It has been observed, however, that the Burmese manifest a disinclina- tion to submit themselves to Western systems of treatment, and that they have a still greater dislike to be treated by natives of India. It is said that a further attempt is to be OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. 133 made to train native Burmese as medical men. So far as endeavours with this view that have been already made justify a conclusion, no great success need be looked for; nevertheless, let the endeavour be made by all means. Here at Tonghoo, elephants, as at many other military stations, are employed to a considerable extent in connection with troops ; at this place being used partly for the transport of the light guns with which the artillery are armed, partly for the conveyance, in case of need, of ammunition, stores, and camp equipment. Although Burmah is one of the countries naturally inhabited by these animals, a great mortality has of late prevailed among those at this station — the precise cause supposed to exist in the nature of the position, or " lines," in which the animals were formerly picketted, for of late they have been abandoned for others more in accordance with their natural tastes and habits. Deep shade, dense forest, and swamp, are the places they love : their lines were situated upon an eminence, bare, dry, and fully exposed to wind and sun ; and so one after another took ill and died, — the loss of each costing not less than £200 to Government, as that sum at the least is now the price charged per head in the " keddahs," or places where captured ones are kept and " broken in." At intervals, over the face of the flat country immediately around Tonghoo, pillars of smoke rise from tracts of jungle : the season for burning undergrowth has begun. Here, as in India, grass and brushwood are thus consumed — partly that the spaces thus cleared may the better produce a fresh crop, partly that nutriment contained in the old crops may be returned to the soil, and thus fertilise it for the coming season. An entertainment on the most extensive scale compatible with local resources is given by the Deputy-Commissioner, whose hospitality has been great and continuous, not alone since our arrival, but from the time he met our party in the bush ; and so this day is brought to a close. Among the subjects of a public nature now being discussed, one seems likely to be the cause of " complication " with the King of Burmah. The difficulty has arisen in this way : as 134 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. marked out by Lord Dalhousie's treaty, the boundary lineafter crossing the Irawaddy was to run due east along a paralel of latitude,— ^about the 18th, — until it met the river Salveen. That line is the foundation of our present claim ; but mder somewhat peculiar circumstances the Burmese have begin to encroach upon it unfairly. It appears that the commissioners appointed to mark out the boundary carried on the line wivhout difficulty till they reached, at a point a little north of Tonjdioo, the line of hills which separate the Salween from a river (ailed the Poung Loung, on which Tonghoo is situated. Oi the further side of these hills they learned that the country was inhabited by independent tribes, the Karenees, or Karms — whose rat famine has recently introduced them, by-the-b/e, to public notice. The Karens objected to an arrangemeit by which their country should be cut in half to satisfy a treaty between Great Britain and Burmah, to neither of which powers did they owe any allegiance. It is needless to say that the boundary commissioners acknowledged the justice of this view, and communications were opened up with the Burmese Govern- ment, which ended in a joint recognition of the independence of the Karens. Our line was taken south of their terr.tory, the boundary of Burmah was carried north ; and a little block of country on the right bank of the Salween was thus bft to the undisturbed enjoyment of its own sovereign tribes. Now, the Government of India would have done nothing to interfere with the perpetuity of this arrangement, if the Burmese Government on its part had respected the compact. But from their northern neighbours the Karens have for some time been suffering encroachments ; and the Burmese, remonstrated with on the subject, have calmly advanced an altogether new view of the situation. They pretend now that the Karen comtry belongs to them, and that the boundary line between British and Native Burmah runs south of that territory. This is an aggressive movement which, trumpery as the substantive value of the interests at stake may be, it is manifestly impossible for the British Government to put up with. When the Burmese envoys were lately at Calcutta, although their visit to the OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 135 Viceroy was merely of a complimentary nature, some reference was made, at their desire, to the Karen boundary question. We believe they were prepared to accept a partial compromise of the difficulty so far that they would have agreed to a joint commission for the demarcation of a boundary; but they would give no promise that, pending its proceedings, the political status quo in the Karen country should be respected. With- out such pledge a joint commission would have been a farce ; and the negotiations, such as they were, fell to the ground. Within a few months from the time the above was written, the matter was brought to a satisfactory conclusion through the mission of Sir Douglas Forsyth to Mandalay — the King having agreed to withdraw all claim to the little bit of wild country under dispute. 3rd. — Homevjard Bound. — Tantabin. — Shadoof. — On Board. — Off. — Our Boats. — Sitang-noo. — Tung-lay. Hurrah ! we're homeward bound ! Did you ever feel what it is to " break the neck " of an arduous undertaking or journey? If so, you and I at this moment understand each other. If you have not, you are decidedly an object of pity and com- miseration ; you have yet to experience one of the very few pleasures in life. We are up before daylight. We meet at the general rendezvous. Everybody is there betimes. There are greetings, and chota kazree, or early tea ; elephants are loaded with our baggage ; we mount the small ponies lent for the occasion by officers of the station; we start : the guard present arms to " the Chief " ; the artillery fire the customary salute from their mountain guns ; we are off to Tantabin, whither our boats proceeded at an early hour yesterday afternoon. The road is straight and dusty. On either side of us are fields, now dry and bare, for their rice crops have been gathered in ; but their appearance indicates that during the rainy season they must have been swamps. Some are being prepared for new crops. Water for their irrigation is being raised by means of the shadoof — perhaps the most generally and extensively used of all appliances for the purpose, for it is met with in 136 OUE TEIP TO BTJEMAF. Egypt, India, China, and has often been seen in the fields on either side of the Irawaddy, as well as now in those that skirt the Sitang. We reach our destination. A "tremendous" breakfast, provided by Major and Mrs. Lloyd, ready prepared in a zyat, or travellers' resting-house, awaits "the Chief" and party, also " half the station," who so far have formed our escort, desirous thus to show their good feeling to His Excellency. At last we move towards our boats, now moored at some little distance down the river. We traverse on foot an intervening belt of soft sand, into which ladies sink more than ankle deep — for several accompany us even through it, determined, as they say, to see the last of us. There is much laughing and joking at the style of the boats provided for us, especially at the very symbolical figures in wood or clay which decorate the bow and stern of each. There is a hearty shaking of hands ; we are on board our several craft — for each has one to himself ; the light skiff is quickly loosened ; we turn down the stream ; we wave mutual adieux ; we are off. And now for our boats. The Chief has one of six tons ; each of us, one of three. Mine, Burmese-like, consists in the first place of the hollowed stem of a tree. The sides are partly of strong planks as a basis, partly of matting lined with calico, the whole similarly closed in, above, fore, and aft. The after part of the boat is raised so as to form a sleeping-place ; the well, or saloon, is about nine feet long by five in breadth at the bottom, increasing to eight or nine at the gunwale. I am unable to stand upright ; the craft is crank to such a degree, that as I move I feel as if about to be emptied out through the large port in the side,— for the matting is raised in order that the breeze may in some degree temper the heat of the weather, which already is great. And yet, by all accounts, these boats are safe enough. From the stern rises an elaborate and well-carved construction, which serves as a throne for the captain and quartermaster ; for our skipper unites both offices in his own person, as there he sits, tiller in one hand, and in the other a broad flat umbrella of palm leaves, which shelters him from the sun. His crew consists of six stoutly-built men, who OUE TKIP TO BUKMAH. 137 seem to take to their work pleasantly and with a will, exchang- ing with those of the other boats what seems to be "chaff" and jokes, as they make their first start. The banks of the river are at least thirty feet high ; they are covered from the top to the water's edge with dense rank grass — in this respect quite different from the banks of the , Ganges in its course through Bengal. We are unable from our boats to see the country on either side ; but it is evident that grass and reeds are being extensively burnt as we pro- ceed, for smoke and de'bris float into our boats. Far above us floats an adjutant crane, the first I have seen in Burmah — yet at too great a height to enable me to judge correctly whether it is in truth the bird so familiar to all who have visited Calcutta, or the smaller species which here in Burmah yield the marabout feathers so valuable in the eyes of ladies, namely, the ciconia nudifrons, destitute of the characteristic pouch of the adjutant, and met with abundantly in the province of Amherst. Traffic seems as if it had yet to be developed in this part of the Sitang ; or perhaps it is only diverted for a time from this the " natural channel " of communication between Upper and Lower Burmah. Throughout the day we meet or pass only a few canoes of small size engaged in fishing, and a fleet of larger dimensions, evidently laden with casks of bitter ale for the use of our troops at Tonghoo. Later in the afternoon we cross another fleet, conveying a battery of Artillery for the relief of the one which has now served its allotted time at that isolated station. Evening arrives ; night closes in. The air is still, the sur- face of the river unruffled — the foliage and grass along the banks unmoved ; myriads of wild duck stream towards and hover over their intended resort — crows return to their haunts, uttering their husky note as they pursue their flight — flying foxes (Pteropus) start on their nocturnal search for plantains and other fruits — the river tortoise floats duck-like upon the water, its long curved neck enabling it to turn its head this way and that, as if to wonder at the proceedings of 138 OUE TEIP TO BURMAH. our boatmen — in the eddies small fish leap in search of food, and swim about in shoals, apparently in mere enjoyment of their existence. And so we reach Toung-lay, our appointed halting- place for the night, yet not until night; has closed in, our only light the bright stars. The Chief's table is soon pre- pared ; the soft sand along the river bank is our carpet ; lighDs of Commissariat candles in Commissariat lanterns cheer us during dinner, while they attract what under other circum- stances would have constituted an extensive and varied col- lection of entomological specimens. The repast is sumptuous, as all have been under the management of our excellent pur- veyor; the events of the last few days furnish ample subject for conversation ; time passes quickly, and at a respectable hour for travellers to retire, we withdraw to our several boats. Mh. — Morning. — Our Boatmen. — Increasing Heat. — Tidal Infl uence. — Kyouk-tsin. — Crews gambling. — Night. At daybreak a dense fog, cold and chilly, floats in cloudlets over the Sitang, attracted by and carried downwards with the stream until dispelled by the morning sun. Our boats are early in motion, the crew plying their sweep-like oars. Among the reeds and shrubs by which the banks are covered, white stars of the yet open moonflower, or Calonyction, hang and nod here and there ; little brown martins, precisely like the Hirundo riparia of England, start from their retreats exca- vated in the cliffs of sand that now and then occur along the river banks; flock after flock of swallows rest upon the damp patches of mud left bare by the stream ; we look again, to satisfy ourselves that they really are swallows. There is no doubt about it; at the distance they are careful to keep from us, they seem like the familiar summer visitant in England, and are, perhaps, the Cypsilis ajfifinis. Sand-pipers {Tringa) run along the sides of the stream ; the all but ubiquitous wag- tail (Motacilla) now darts on wing in its short jerky flight, now alights, and for a little pursues its way on foot, now running, now halting as if to consider, now running on again, jerking its long graceful tail, and thus keeping time, as it were, OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. 139 while it makes its morning meal on insects. A river tern swims in air above and close to the surface of the stream ; the speckled kingfisher dashes into the flood close beside our boats, then flutters with its prize to the nearest branch, on which it perches while it disposes of the tiny fish ; the bright azure and red of another species glitter in the sun, as, similarly employed, it dives, rises, and flies towards a branch overhanging and almost touching the water. Yonder, a plover darts away alarmed, uttering its wild scream as it rises ; and now, through the dense herbage along the banks we see a round furrow, the ground well beaten — and we know that by that track wild animals of various kinds approach the stream to drink. Down the stream merrily pull our Burmese boatmen. Care seems a thing unknown to them; life to consist of but the laugh, the joke, the cheroot. Now they race against each other — now chaff their brother boatmen. Their craft comes bump against a shoal or sandbank. They leap into the stream, where, waist deep, they push and tug and laugh until she floats again j then, scrambling on board, grasp with energy their oars and pull to regain the place they have for the time being lost. They certainly are a merry, plucky sort of men, whatever may be their faults as members of their race. The aspect of the banks becomes changed. They are high, alluvial, and bare; and slips occur, as in those of the Ganges. Now again we reach a gentle slope that has evidently been cultivated, for it is variegated green and white, with leaf and flower of phaseolus, a haricot, of which the Burmese are very fond ; next we are off a village ; then pass a plantain garden of large extent, each plant laden with huge clusters of the fruit ; and so on. We approach the last jutting point of the Yomah range, with which we have of late been somewhat familiar. The sides of numerous ridges, and valleys between, are green with dense forest, through which to travel once is grand ; albeit the enchantment is now considerably enhanced by our increasing distance from it. Day advances — the heat increases ; one after another a garment is dispensed with, nor is there need to study appearances : for am I not alone ? And so my costume becomes of the airiest and 140 OUR TRIP TO BUBMAH. lightest description. And now, the ooze along the water's edge indicates the effect of alternate rise and fall ; the force of the current slackens ; we are within tidal influence ; the boatmen row hard, yet progress is impeded. Evening, then night, closes in ; jungle fires blaze and crackle, sending up pillars of thick smoke towards the sky; the stars shine brightly ; we reach Kyouk-tsin, and as our boats approach the bank — for this is to be our halting-place for the night — they strike heavily A game played by the Burmans, and at which they gamble very greatly. A line of a peculiar kind of seed, stuck up on end, is formed, and they spin rings at them very cleverly. I have tried to indicate the path of the rings, which spin like a biassed ball, in a somewhat parabolic curve — some- times knocking over nearly all the line, sending the seeds flying to some little distance. against a large timber raft that has been already moored. As before, it takes no long time to prepare our table ; and with hearty appetites we sit down to a well-cooked and otherwise excellent dinner. For wine-coolers we have the loose sand, in which our chairs keep sinking as we sit; radiation soon cools the surface, we bury the wine-bottles shoulder deep, and little time is needed to give us a cool and refreshing draught. OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 141 We move to retire early. The crews of our several boats seem wonderfully still ; at a little distance there is a blazing fire, around it a group of natives, their heads and hands in constant motion, their voices scarcely heard. They are gam- bling at cards ; their stakes are heavy for their means ; rupees are played for, lost, won ; more rupees are produced, to share a similar fate ; yet there is no disturbance over losses, no loud talking, no accusations of foul play : every proceeding is con- ducted with as much respect for order as if the gamblers were Christians of court and fashion, their rendezvous the Conver- sation House at Baden Baden — of course before it was closed for its original purpose. Returning to our boats, I stand and wonder at the absolute stillness of the night, the clear beauties of the heavens, the twinkling stars, as they flash their rays of many different colours and degrees of brightness ; the milky way, dividing the firmament as if by a broad, irregular belt of phosphorescent light : I note the north star, now low in the horizon and faintly visible, the southern cross well above it, clear and distinct. 5th. —Fish — Snags — Shoay Gheen — Poay — Dancing Girl — The Town — Niel Ghau. An early start, while yet the morning fog hangs dense and chill upon the river; but the current now runs strongly with us, the tide ebbs, our boatmen are anxious to take advantage of it and push on. We pass a large fishing establishment. The nets have been lately drawn; the bank is strewn with fish, large and small, soon to be exposed to decomposition as part of the process towards conversion into gnappee. The river teems with life. Here a splash, there a ripple ; then, as it were, a head projects above the surface. I endeavour by means of glasses to detect the nature of the creature to which it belongs, but fail ; it may be a fish, it may be a reptile. The boatmen watch me, and are interested by the binoculars. By signs I am asked to allow them to look through them ; each of the crew in turns makes an attempt to use them — with what 142 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. success I fail to learn ; and they are returned to me wit] a smile and good-humoured nod. There are snags in plenty in the Sitang, firmly fixed in its muddy bottom, their projecting ends down the stream. Tfere are also logs across, stranded for the season, in some of he more shallow places; single trunks, entire trees, further obstnct the bed ; but here traffic seems no more abundant than it ras nearer the frontier of Native Burmah. But what has row come over our boatmen ? They joke and laugh even m»re than before. They have all the fun to themselves; fo I know not their language, although it is to the ear soft aid mellifluous. They pull with diminished energy, sometines permitting the boat to glide unpropelled' along the stream. Ve were due to arrive at Shoay Gheen by noon ; midday is p;st, hour after hour follows, nor is it until close upon five o'clck that we approach that place. There is a crowd upon he landing-place ; Burmese banners are flying ; the sound of native music is more and more audible as we approach ; a line of red coats indicates that the small number of blades who form the garrison of the place are drawn up as a guard of honour to His Excellency. Light now dawns upon us. Tie knowing rascals of boatmen had evidently concocted tbir plans ; they had made up their minds to stop at Shoay Ghen till to-morrow, and in the meantime to make a night of it. But they didn't. Extending from the landing-place, a covered way has ben erected for the Commander-in-Chief. The ground is coveEd by mats, rugs, and pieces of carpet ; all Shoay Gheen seems to be assembled — the crowd well-dressed, the demeanour of iie people quiet and respectful. At one side a shed has ben erected; it is open all round, and under its shade a poayis being performed, as a mark of greater honour to "the Chief," thus giving to his reception a new and certainly somewlat peculiar character. The orchestra (see opposite) includes some n- struments not yet familiar among the motley variety to be sen in the bands of British regiments. There are two circuar instruments like exaggerated big drums, but without the enls. 144 OUE TRIP TO BURMAH. In each sits a performer; around the circumference of the / interior of one a series of tom-toms, graduated in size and tone, are secured; within the other, similarly arranged, a set of cymbals ; and on these the players beat time with a padded stick, while each continues to smoke his inevitable cheroot. Trumpets, long and of very brassy tone indeed ; castanets of bamboo, at least a yard in length, complete the baid; to the music of which a young Burmese girl undergoes a series of contortions indescribable in themselves, but most offensive to look at, as they are indelicate in their lature. In one respect they are peculiar. The girl possesses the / power of moving single portions of particular muscles at the same time that all other parts of them remain in a s:ate of complete rest. In this way she stands, otherwise quite still, while bit by bit the muscles of her chest and other pirts of the body are successively put in movement ; thus also, with arm slightly raised, it is easy to follow upwards the contrac- tions as they successively run along forearm and arm to the shoulder. A short visit on shore enables us to gain a geneial im- pression of the place. The town, rather pretty as a whole, has been regularly laid out, and is divided by broad avenues which cross each other at right-angles. At no great distance behind, two conical hills, each rising to a height of three hundred feet and upwards, form a background ; and in the town several freshly gilded and otherwise decorated ptgodas and pagoda poles, together with well-kept poonghye louses or monasteries, show that here Buddhism is in full vitality. On an elevation to our left, approached by a road in excellent repair, stands a pagoda, the neglected look of which indicates that for some reason or another it is excluded from tha care bestowed upon the others ; beside it is a long, low, unseemly building now used as a magazine for the use of the sepoys who form the garrison ; near it is a guard-room, — the whole sur- rounded by a wall now out of repair and dilapidated, and a ditch half filled up, the remains of a stockade in former days thrown up by the Burmese against our forces: for be it remem- OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. 145 bered that in 1825 a detachment marched from Pegu to this place, in order to check incursions being made from the stockade whose ruins we now see, thus harassing the rear of our army. No resistance being offered, however, the position was occu- pied on the 23rd of December. As we reach the old pagoda the Chief receives a petition. It is to the effect that the shrine be given back to the town. It is in contemplation to rearrange the limits of cantonments, and His Excellency much gratifies the deputation by whom the petition is presented, by assuring them that their request shall have his best attention. Here also for a time stood barracks for British troops — the last who occupied them being men of the 84th regiment. The barracks have been removed ; but on the slope monuments and mounds within a walled enclosure indicate the final resting-place of no small number of our countrymen. Yonder, upon the same ridge, are the barracks occupied by the sepoys. The men have served their period of three years at the station; they are about to return to their proper country, and their appearance bespeaks the necessity for the measure. Shoay Gheen is in one respect a point of great importance. Between it and Esmok in Yunan a trade route extends, full of S obstacles no doubt, yet made use of by the native traders. The district, of which the town is the provincial capital, is believed to be the chief habitat of one of the most to be dreaded of all f poisonous snakes — the hamadryad, or ophiophagos elops. For- tunate it is that its propensities are cannibalistic, otherwise its numbers would render the district uninhabitable. As it is, terrible stories are told of its ferocity and deadliness ; and if but a tithe of them be correct, the keepers of the specimen in the reptile-house at the " Zoo " had better have a care of them- selves. Returning to the boats, we dine. The Chief has resolved to push on all night. The plans of the boatmen have so far been circumvented; they have been prevented from landing by policemen placed over each boat. Evening has not yet closed in, but the crowd has left the landing-place, and already men are busy demolishing the bamboo covered way through io 146 OUE TRIP TO BUEMAH. which, about an houi ago, we passed. A strange and un- expected visitor makes his way towards us, wading through the shallow water, in a distant part of which men, women and children are performing their evening ablutions. It is a Niel ghau (Portax picta), tame as it is possible for any creature to be. It comes towards us slowly through the water, yet with perfect confidence — the head outstretched, and smelling the air as it advances. It comes close ; it smells the hand, permits itself to be stroked, but refuses to eat the bread arid biscuit offered. We wonder does it belong to Burmese ? The rarity of pets of any kind with them has been already noticed. Figures of birds are sometimes seen in their houses, apparently as ornaments; yet a live creature of any kind as a pet is among them of the greatest rarity. Qth. — The River Banks. — Town of Sitang. — Pagoda. Progress during the night has been slow — so very slow that it is a question whether, after all, we might not just as well have remained all night where we were. It has been a case of diamond cut diamond ; nor are we apparently any the better of our encounter. We come to a part of the river where the water is so very shallow that we fairly stick. The boatmen spring out; they push, and heave, and strain; the boat is lifted across the ledge ; we are in deep water, and for the first time since we started from Tantabin, the sail is set. Smoothly we glide along under "canvas," and as we follow each bend of the river the mat shade is let down first on one side, then the other, to keep out the sun's glare : suddenly the boat leans over ; water- vessels, books, dressing materials, boxes, everything movable, is displaced. We wonder if we are going to capsize. The sail is down ; oars are out ; we are being rowed along. The banks on either side increase in height. Above and beyond the tall grass which covers their tops we see watch-places and arrangements for cleaning rice, similar to those we observed from the Irawaddy. Now comes a shelving bank. On it is a village. Fishing nets and poles fixed in the liver indicate the nature of its standard commodity. Trees OUE TRIP TO BURMAH. 147 occur at intervals in what no doubt are cultivated fields. For the most part their foliage is rich and green ; elsewhere masses of flower, orange, red, and glorious in brilliancy, indicate the presence of the Erythrina, dry and sapless at the date of our upward journey, but now bursting into flower. A ridge of low hills appears before us. We reach, glide past, and leave them on our left. For some time the base of each succeeding mound is separated from the river by a belt of boulders ; the sides and tops are covered by undergrowth ; at intervals a tree, rich in foliage, the early shoots of spring readily dis- tinguishable by their tender freshness ; while from all tangled masses of the pink Congea and other creepers dangle in festoons . Upon a jutting point the ruins of what was once a pagoda of large size stand prominent ; between it and the cliff are six smaller pagodas, all well kept and pure white. We wonder what has been the history of all : we cannot tell. On our right the village of Thayetamin, evidently of considerable importance, extends along the river bank, and behind it a row of coral tree blossom borders it like a frame. In the river, now of imposing breadth, to our right is a large island, green with plantain bushes, for which its rich alluvial soil is particularly well suited. At its extreme point is a cormorant, motionless and still, watching the approach of stray fish of smaller size whereon to make its meal. The morning breeze has died away ; the surface of the water is smooth as glass ; while egrets (Ardea nivea) sit listlessly upon overhanging branches ; the midday sun pours upon us its floods of light and heat. We pass the ridge of hills on our left. The broad river becomes still broader ; its banks are flat, and forest stretches away in the distance on either side ; there is scarcely a boat to be seen except those oc- cupied by our party ; and ahead of us greater and greatergrows the expanse of water. We still go on and on. Before us and on our left rising ground again appears. As we approach, the " tee " of a pagoda is seen through the intervals among a mass of trees ; it is in shape precisely similar to the tiara of the " holy " Father, and it leans to one side as if it had served its day and was about to fall. The mass of the structure of which 148 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. it was once the crown and ornament is now in sight: it is broad, and consists of a series of steps along its tapering sides, like those of Cheops' pyramid in miniature. A creek stretches away to our left ; there is a straggling native village along its bank : this represents the once important town of Si tang. Afternoon is well advanced, and we stop to dine, in order that our crews may push on all night, if they will but do so. We visit the remains of what in former days was a place of note. Houses and streets are arranged in regular order. The streets are wide, and, boulevard-like, sheltered on either side by a row of trees, including cocoa, tamarind, guava, mango, csesalpinea, guatteria, and various species of wild fig ; the houses are of the ordinary kind to be seen in Burmah, and in the streets flocks of chickens and fowls, the latter of particularly large size, are everywhere met with. The hill upon which stands the pagoda consists of mottled laterite. Several of the smaller pagodas around the principal have recently been repaired : materials are collected for the restoration of the larger edifice. Within the main enclosure -js are two principal shrines. The figures in both are not only carved in a superior manner as compared to those we have heretofore seen, but are at the same time maintained in better repair ; the gold with which they are covered is fresh and well burnished, while one of the Guadamas, of large size, consists of pure white marble. Facing the pagoda, its back to the entrance ^ of the enclosure, is a large figure of a ndt; and over it a temple, built for its protection against the elements. Hideous and monstrous of countenance, the back hair of the figure is repre- sented as arranged in " coils," according to the latest fashion of the West ; yet probably the figure is that of a man, for the Burmese wear long hair, of great luxuriance and beauty. Upon y^the flags and lower steps of the pagoda several fragmentis of red sandstone lie as if neglected. Upon them are tolerably distinct traces of carving and inscriptions, the significance of which may, it is hoped, be ascertained by future visitors; for although in Burmah there seem to be comparatively few archaeological objects of interest, these have every appearance OUR TEIP TO BURMA'S. 149 of antiquity. Behind the figure of the ndt, arranged in a semicircle, men, women, and young people kneel in attitudes of devotion. Children go round distributing to each sprigs of jasmine and of the Jonesia, a magnificent tree of which grows in the immediate vicinity, and within the precincts of the pagoda. At a little distance, sauntering along on his evening promenade, is a poonghye, followed by a neophyte carrying in one hand a fan of palmyra leaf, in the other a seat, whereon the holy man may take his rest if weary with exertion. This position was taken advantage of by the Burmese as one of defence in the first war. On the 7th of January, 1826, a detachment of our troops attacked it, but were repulsed with severe loss, including; their commander. On the eleventh of the same month the attack was renewed, and after a severe struggle taken, with an estimated loss by the enemy of six hundred out of four thousand defenders. On the thirteenth, the works that had been thrown up were completely destroyed. After the peace of 1852, succeeding the second Burmese war, a detachment of British troops occupied Sitang for a time. 7th. — Kadouk. — The Tidal Wave. — Shan Boats. — Kyatzoo Greek. — A Breed of Dogs. — Visitors. — The Flood. — A Night Scene. — Rafts. All the night we travel, our crews now rowing, now sail- ing with the wind whenever the breeze is favourable ; one of the men, more accomplished than his fellows, whistling, sailor-like, for the wished-for zephyrs — for it is tiring work, this continuous rowing. By daylight we have reached Kadouk, where for a short time the boats are secured, although for a little we are unable to comprehend the why and the where- fore of the proceeding. But the crews understand their own business — a circumstance from which a great moral lesson may be drawn. In a little time they start ; they keep close to the right bank : a rushing sound peculiar to water is heard ; the tidal wave of the Sitang is upon us ; we are being jolted now up, now down, upon the " bore " ; yet we are only upon its utmost limits, for at a point just ahead of us the flood rushes 150 OUB TEIP TO BUEMAH. like a stream towards the opposite side, there to expend its remaining force. And now we join, and are joined by, other boats. The nature of the cargo of at least one, marked in Chinese characters, seems to indicate whence it came ; this river at certain seasons forming the direct line of communication between the Shan States and Rangoon. In the dry months, however, the deficiency of water in the Sitang renders this communication difficult ; and as the creek by which we hope to reach the Pegu river is only navigable on three days of each spring-tide, during the same period the Shan trader at Tonghoo, although only distant 168 miles from a seaport, finds himself to all intents and purposes more distant as regards time than the Chinese trader at Bhamo, 700 miles inland, but between which and the sea communication is at all times open and easy. This is about to be remedied. A canal to connect the Sitang with the Pegu river is now being constructed. What is of even greater importance, however, is a railway between Rangoon and Tonghoo; and it is stated that the Government intend to have the preliminary surveys made as soon as officers can be spared. Further, if report speak true, an enterprising firm of shipbuilders in England has undertaken the construction of steam vessels to navigate the Sitang — their draught of water to be not more than nine inches when loaded, after the plan of those lately got ready for traffic upon the shallow streams of South America. By nine o'clock we have entered the Kyatzoo creek. Nume- rous rafts of timber are secured along the bank ; our small fleet is unobstructed, orders having previously been given to keep clear a passage for the Chief ; and now a canoe, paddled by native policemen, shoots ahead to ensure the execution of orders, for time is precious ; we are already late ; a little delay, and the spring tides are over, the channel of the creek left completely dry. As it is, we are aground by the ebb ; for some hours we have to wait for the returning tide ; and we wonder if it will really have sufficient power to carry us beyond the trap in which it is just possible we may be " caught." The OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. 151 heat is intense, notwithstanding that we are in but the second month of the year. Our position, however, is under the lee of a mud bank ; breeze there is none, and the reflected rays of the sun strike direct upon us. Welcome at all times as have been the budget of English and Indian newspapers circulated by the Chief, never have they been more so than now ; they serve to while away an interval that otherwise would be " slow " indeed. In the slimy ooze in which our boats are fixed, several of those peculiar creatures known in Bengal as the frog fish, disport themselves in their own ungraceful and unattractive way. Scientifically the creature is known as the Periopthalamus ; its pectoral fins serve to it the purpose of limbs ; its tail, like that of the kangaroo, is also made an organ of progression ; and thus by means of fins and tail it crawls or leaps in the soft mud after the small crustaceans and insects upon which it lives. Its capture is by no means easy. Several boatmen give chase ; they are up to their knees, and beyond them, in the soft slime : at last, a couple of the ugly little frog fish reward their pursuit. The village of Kyatzoo, at the mouth of this creek, is famous on account of a kind of hound named after itself. The origin of the particular dog is referred to the shipwreck in the lower part of the Sitang of an English ship, on board of which were several greyhounds ; and some having succeeded in swimming ashore, the result of their breed with the indigenous pariah has been the variety in question. The "Kyatzoo hound" is evi- dently a favourite in Burmah. It is strong in frame, with much of the greyhound form of body, and is said to be highly prized for the chase. If report be true, however, the Burmese sports- men follow the chase in a somewhat original way. It is said — and there seems no reason to disbelieve the story — that mounted upon bullocks they hunt the game ; sometimes they are thrown forward upon the neck of the animal, but when they are, they lay hold of the horns, and thus continue the chase. I tell the tale as 'twas told to me. Whether it belongs to the category usually referred to travellers, I cannot say ; but this I do know : that in China it is by no means uncommon to see men mounted upon 152 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. bullocks ; and there is no good reason why the Burmese should not follow their example. While secured to the bank, three white men on ponies approach along the Pegu side of the creek. They hail us ; we answer : they cross by a ford ; we recognise them as gentlemen from Kangoon. They have come to inspect the works in pro- gress for the canal between the rivers of Sitang and Pegu. The latest news is asked of them. How about the affaire Arnim ? the recent meeting of Scindia and Holkar ? the relations be- tween Russia and England ? between France and Germany ? Replies are vague and indefinite ; for do not all such matters refer to places out of Burmah ? Sufficient for us to learn that the canal, although only yet in progress of being made, already affects the value of property ; for this very day a native agri- culturist has applied for a grant of some eight hundred acres of land alongside its banks. He sees that great development of trade will no doubt follow its completion. It is six o'clock ; and now the flood-tide comes : not, indeed with the rush we expected, and which is familiar to all who have seen the tidal wave rush upwards in the Hooghly. For a time the current in the creek has ceased ; it is " dead water." There is a change ; reeds and debris float backwards ; then the current increases ; the low-lying mud banks are covered ; littoral birds suddenly start away from their feeding haunts along the sides as the water deepens : the flood has fairly set in ; our boats are being carried rapidly along by it ; daylight fades, and now night closes in. A strange, and in its way unique, scene unfolds itself. Far as the windings of the creek enable us to see, torches burn, and flare their lurid light sometimes in one continuous line, sometimes in two ; and in the distance the sky is red with glare of flame. First on one side, now on the other, we pass what for a time seem an interminable succession of rafts of timber. We are able to examine each in turn. It consists of five principal divisions ; each division of eight huge logs of timber, the whole so secured to each other by means of bamboo and rattan cordage, that the whole five at their uniting joints bend • OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 153 according to the curves of the creek precisely as do the carriages of a railway train. Upon each raft the floaters have their hut; but as we pass, all stand, torch in hand, to Timbex Ttoft on liie SittBxig, In the sketch an endeavour is made to show the flexibility of the rafts and the way in which they are made, consisting of five sets of logs, the raftsmen having on them their fragile house. light us on our way, all ready with jokes and laughter; and our men return both with additions. 8th. — The Skylark. — Fields.— Opposing Tides. — Pegu River. — Steam Launch. — Letters. — A Traveller. — Tales of Juris- prudence. For long hours of the dark night our progress consists of successive bumps and rubs against the rafts, which more and more completely fill up the narrowing creek. Sleep is impossible ; to read newspapers all night through equally so. With the falling tide, once more our boats are secured along the bank. As daylight breaks upon us it reveals on either side a long expanse of reed-covered plain, treeless except for one solitary specimen at a considerable distance inland. The sun rises, and birds already familiar start away for the day, with its attendant pleasures and risks to them. An unexpected, but 154 OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. ever-loved note is heard ; I crawl — literally crawl — on all fours from under the low mat cover of my boat ; I look upwards ; and there, fluttering in the clear blue sky overhead, is a little " palpitating mass of living song," a veritable lark — its note less full and melodious, it is true, than its English representative, yet in many respects like our home favourite. Suddenly its music ceases. Like a ball it shoots downwards to earth ; it is lost in the herbage ; upwards soars another, and so on. There is a plash in the thick muddy water close to my boat. The cook has allowed his stock of ducks and a goose to have one small treat while yet they live : he has dropped them into the creek, where in delight they flutter, and flap their wings, and dive and rise again, keeping near us all the time. Their bath finished, they land and dress their plumage ; and this com- pleted, the poor stupid things waddle towards the place where the cook's boat is moored. The tide turns, slowly and gently ; the current is against us, for it comes from the river of Pegu. The boatmen use poles to propel the boats along the narrow channel ; a rope is thrown ashore ; some leap after it ; they yoke themselves, and thus we are drawn along. The banks become lower and lower still ; the country on either side opens up ; far as the eye can reach the land is under cultivation. Here and there rice is being cleaned, — basket after basket carried by men upwards to the top of what seem like scaffolds made of bamboo, whence the grain is allowed to fall to the ground, the husks and impurities being carried away by the breeze as it does so. Elsewhere huge stacks of straw are being added to ; and carts, of unwieldy shape, high in front and behind, employed in the conveyance of " farm produce." These carts are of decidedly f awkward shape and inconvenient weight, even when unloaded. The " stern," raised something like that of a native boat, is ornamented with figures of the peacock carved in wood, — the " bows " with what looks like a ddh of gigantic size, also of wood : and as the conveyances are being drawn along the rough tracks which here represent roads, these ornaments shake as if with each jolt they were about to be jerked from OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. 155 their places. The carts are drawn by water buffaloes in pairs. The animals, ugly and stolid, seem here to do their work well enough, — the climate is sufficiently damp for them ; were it dry as well as hot, they would be useless for purposes of draught. Isolated huts and villages are more and more numerous ; adults and children rush to the banks, and stare at us as our boats glide by. We pass a field covered with flax, its blue flowers in tufts bright and fresh. The crop is one of several that are being cultivated here as an experiment upon a farm maintained for the purpose, in the praiseworthy endeavour to develop the agricultural resources of the province. There is an Englishman on the bank ; near him a theodolite, and in the distance a line of flags, indicating that he is engaged in surveying operations. In the distance, the tapering summits of pagodas rise above the groves by which the edifices are surrounded. We know that the one upon our right indicates the site of the once important city of Pegu, capital of the Talain kingdom. We would gladly stop to pay the place a visit ; but time does not admit of delay, and so we push on. Disturbing elements derange the action of the tides in a most peculiar manner, among the streams that intersect the immense delta through which our course now lies. Thus far the current has been against us. Suddenly we feel that we are being floated along by a powerful stream ; our men scramble quickly on board ; our boats rush onwards at the rate of at least six miles an hour. We reach a creek larger in size than that through which our course has lain ; their united waters form the Pegu river; and now we are safe, — our way to Rangoon is clear. Moored to the bank is a steam launch. It has been sent so far to meet the Chief. Major Kerr brings letters and papers for us. We are left by His Excellency ; and now our remaining party resumes the journey. Green crops cover the level fields on either side of us ; and among them windmills, to frighten away birds, — the windmills con- sisting, not of four phlanges, as those familiar to us at home, but of only two ; their ends, however, are more bevelled than with 156 OUB TRIP TO BURMAH. us, and slightly curved ; the wheel revolves slowly, but then the breeze is of very moderate power. We seem as if we were in the Sunderbunds : nullahs communicate with the larger channel, the sides of all covered with dense brushwood, probably mangrove, intermixed with thorny palms and jungle. The tide sinks, exposing slimy mud several feet in depth. The boatmen pull slowly and irregularly, as they linger in a bend of the river. Our Madrassee servants shout, " The water comes." The tidal wave is seen approaching. It breaks its force against the bank to our right, and clear of us ; the stream sets violently against us; our crews secure the boats to shore, literally to " wait for the turn of the tide." We meet a fellow-traveller, Dr. Lethbridge, who, as Sanitary Commissioner of Burmah, has been on his rounds. We place our chairs in front of some Burmese huts immediately upon the river bank ; and as we enter into conversation are sur- rounded by men, women, children, and dogs, — the latter by far the most objectionable, for they are lean, mangy, and hungry ; they have hordes of young ; and as we try to drive them away the animals snarl and yelp at us. We like them not. Hydrophobia is of fearfully common occurrence in Burmah. We have heard of several sad cases of the disease during our short stay in the country. And now I learn the explanation of the phenomenon that had so puzzled us in the early part of the day. The first rush of the tide upwards along the Pegu river carries its force only a little way into the Kyatzoo creek, and there being met by the rush from the Sitang, it is overcome by the latter, and carried bodily backwards. We " lump " our dinners. Not that any such proceeding is at all necessary, for our purveyor has, as usual, provided amply for all. Conversation is exceedingly general. It includes some comparison between discovered crime in Eng- land and in Burmah; an account in the Times just received of a visit to the prison of Mazas in Paris ; and of the story in the Pall Mall, by Mr. Reid, of " a Hero and a Martyr." Then we turn to some curious cases in jurisprudence, — one of which, as having occurred in his own experience, Dr. Lethbridge OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 157 relates :— A man named Reid had been convicted of the murder of a woman with whom he cohabited. He had been a " volunteer." When the murder was discovered, the body of the woman was found in his bed, the back of the skull shattered as if by gun-shot, the musket beside the body, the man himself with a severe wound through the shoulder. Reid was sentenced to penal servitude for life. During the early part of his imprisonment he came under the professional care of Dr. Lethbridge, who from the unhealed wound in his shoulder extracted a fragment of an occipital bone — the speci- men being left by him in the gaol at Lahore. The version given by the man himself was that, having been indulging deeply in drink, he went to bed, the woman with her head upon his shoulder ; that some time afterwards, roused by the sound of a shot, he found her dead, himself severely wounded. At any rate, the case has in it several very peculiar and rather difficult points. When last heard of, Reid was in prison at Hazarabagh. Suddenly, as in the morning, the tide begins to flow ; dinner and talk are quickly concluded ; our boats are off, notwithstanding that night is before us. 9th. — Rangoon in sight. — Ships at Anchor. — Men needlessly exposed. — Arrive. Daylight finds us stationary, but now at anchor, with a large expanse of water everywhere around. The sun rises; the gilded surface of the Shoay Dagon glitters in the distance, and we hail the sight with pleasure. We had expected to reach our destination by this time, but we have yet a conside- rable journey before us. Our crews by no means hurry them- selves; to them time seems to have no particular value ; and yet they are paid for the trip, not by the day. At last we reach the point where meet the Poosundoung creek, Rangoon and Pegu rivers — the expanse of their united waters being equal to that of the Ganges in flood. On our left the Syriam pagoda forms as distinct a landmark as when we first came up the river beyond it ; before us, factories and houses at Rangoon and its suburb, Dallah, everywhere appear. A crowd of ship- 158 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. ping lies at anchor ; the vessels carry flags of many nations ; among them is an Italian man-of-war and a Chinese junk. In the rigging of some, white men are at work, their heads pro- tected by no other covering than an ordinary small cap ; at the landing-places boats are arriving, leaving, or " waiting for the captain." In several instances of the latter, a young lad sits listlessly in the stern-sheets : no awning protects him from the powerful sun ; nor can I avoid thinking that, as he sits and waits, he furnishes an example of how it is that so many of his class sicken and die in foreign parts, victims to absolute neglect on the part of captains under whom they serve. As we turn round " Monkey Point/' the tide, which so far has been in our favour, becomes against us ; the force of the ebbing current is great, and so are now the exertions of our crews. Slowly they make head against it. Barges, boats, lighters, native craft of all kinds, obstruct the way ; sampans, like those to be seen at Hong Kong and Canton, ply for hire ; some of the several craft ,are " manned " by Hindostanees, whose constant gabble and miserably unmanly way of working contrasts strikingly with the silent purpose-like method of the Burmese. We reach the - wharf named after the commander of the forces in the second Burmese war. It is the same at which we landed on first arrival ; but now its only tenants are a few " peons," a white sergeant, and some Commissariat carts ; outside, some wretch- edly-horsed conveyances stand for hire. Our baggage is , brought on shore ; we present our several crews with what we consider a very handsome present; as each holds out his hand he looks at the sum, then in the face of the giver ; there is no expression upon his own countenance to indicate gratitude or other sentiment ; in silence he turn3 to his boat, and thus we part. I telegraph to my " belongings " that we have arrived in safety. Inclination dictates another expression; but what cares the reader for either me or my " belongings " ? what, indeed, for any body or thing, except in so far as they contri- bute to his or her individual convenience or enjoyment ? Is not such the result of our advanced philosophy ? Is it not a OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 159 great thing that we should civilize the world according to our excellent model ? And so, having telegraphed to my "belong- ings," I drive to the house of my friend Mr. Wilkinson, where I receive a hearty welcome from Mrs. Wilkinson and himself. In the afternoon I meet the Chief. After starting in the steam-launch he had a somewhat eventful passage ; the " bore " caught the little vessel in mid-stream ; wave after wave broke over the bows, swamping the cabin and thoroughly drenching himself and aide-de-camp. 10th. — A Forecast. Desultory talk on the subject of Burmah generally, and of its people. In the course of it, the natural question arises, " What will take place when the King, who is already an old man, dies ? Will the partisans of each of his three sons — two of the three being now ' political prisoners ' — bring about a war among themselves? Will they unite for a time, and direct their combined forces against us ? Will Government place the legitimate heir upon the throne, and carry on administration by means of a Commission ? " The latter appears to be gene- rally looked for ; and " great things " are expected from the change, whenever it takes place. It is confidently believed that Burmah will then be one of the best of existing fields for British energy and capital ; communication will be rapidly opened up ; the great resources, mineral and other, of this and the neighbouring territory of China " developed " ; Rangoon continuing to be, as at present, the principal seaport. 11th. — A Collection of Shells. — Remarks. — Sanitation on the Wrong Scent. Surgeon-Major Hungerford presented me with a considerable collection of land and fresh-water shells of Burmah — the more valuable because the field it represents is as yet comparatively new. Unfortunately for the interests of science, direct en- couragement is wanting for medical officers of the army to cultivate such studies ; nor is scope afforded for the pursuit. It is to be hoped that such will not much longer be the case ; for 160 OUR TRIP TO BTJRMAH. at present some members of the Department, whose labours in science have earned for them the proud distinction of Fellow- ship of the Royal Society, unable to find in the position of army surgeon sufficient scope for their tastes and talents, have thus been forced to seek elsewhere a congenial field. An instance in point is that of my friend Leith Adams. An incident has just been mentioned, the tendency of which is to show that, in Rangoon at least, some among the would-be sanitary reformers have by their "learning" been rendered clean mad. Among the ornamental trees which give shade to the public roads is the Sterculia, the odour of its flowers being sufficiently indicated in its generic name. January and February are the months in which it blossoms ; and then the air becomes redolent with its peculiar odour. Great is said to have been the consternation when, a month ago, the trees of this nature that abundantly grow in cantonments burst into flower. The entire machinery connected with the science of scavenging was called into play; a nuisance of some kind, beyond all doubt, existed somewhere ; careful search was made for it ; houses, gardens, secret and public places were searched, and all to no purpose ; at last the subject was referred to a competent authority, who put the " sanitarians " literally upon the right scent, the source of which was in equally literal sense " up a tree," and from the flowers of the sterculia. For a time, however, this only made matters worse. The source had been discovered ; therefore, according to all rules, it must be re- moved. The edict went forth to cut down the offending trees ; nor was it without some difficulty that correct knowledge was the means of saving them. 12th. — An Episode. I have experienced all the annoyances and inconveniences arising from the true type of Indian hack carriage or gharry drivers. I had arranged a voyage of discovery through the purlieus of Rangoon ; but the driver first engaged failed to make his appearance, and his substitute seemed profoundly ignorant of localities. Instructions in his own vernacular, given through OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. 161 an interpreter, resulted, as the event proved, in his taking the very opposite direction to that intended ; thus, after a couple of hours spent in vain endeavours to find the places I desired to see, I had to return, hot, flurried, and generally " put out." But in the East it does no manner of good to give way to one's wrath. I question if it does so anywhere ; certainly not in a country where the thermometer indicates a temperature of 90° F., and upwards. And so let the disappointment I have sustained find its place among the " incidents of travel." In the course of the day I have occasion to make a few purchases ; among them, one in the shop of a druggist. The price I pay is at the least sixteen hundred per cent, beyond what the article would have cost in England ; but then this may be the way taken in Rangoon of developing its resources. Fortunately my wants are few, and easily supplied. Evening approaches. A long drive up and down, then down and up, "the Ladies' Mile," then to a Badminton party whereat society did congre- gate, fills up the time till dark. The heat is decidedly oppres- sive; the game, by those who play it, lively in proportion; frequent pauses, filled up by remarks on last night's dinner- party and to-morrow's wedding; ices and liquid Badminton being most liberally distributed, as they are highly appre- ciated. 13th. — An " Oil " Factory. — Diamond cut Diamond. — Saw Mills. — Instinct or Intelligence? — Rice Mills. — A Ship- ping Office. — Reflections. A visit to some of the manufactories and mills at Rangoon is an agreeable and profitable way of passing a morning. Having seen the " oil " as it oozed from its native rock, we now see the process by which it is prepared for the market. There is only one manufactory of the commodity in this place ; and its pro- prietor very civilly comes with us over the establishment, explaining each process as we pass along. First we see that by which railway sleepers and other timbers are saturated, so as to be proof against the attacks of white ants; next the processes by which the lubricating or " Rangoon " oil is pre- 11 162 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. pared ; kerosene for burning, and paraffin for candles, are sepa- rated. One room is set apart for the manufacture of small tapers of various colours, the consumption of such being already very great. They are purchased on the spot in large quantities by the native Buddhists, who burn them at the shrines before which they offer their devotions. There is no saying but their sale may rapidly extend westward, for very similar, if not indeed identical, purposes. From the East comes the light, and why not paraffin candles ? In Burmah, as elsewhere, it would appear that in matters of trade the principle of diamond cut diamond is not always for- gotten, even by the gentle monarch who rules over the country and monopolises its commerce. Some time ago, it is said, the Messrs. G had an agreement with his Majesty for all the oil obtainable in Native Burmah ; the fact coming to the know- ledge of the King that large profits were being made by the sale of the commodity in its refined condition, and of its several products, he suddenly broke his contract, refusing to renew the supply except at a much increased rate. In the meantime the Messrs. G have a large supply of the crude substance on hand ; several thousand viss, each viss equal to 3£ lbs., of the oil sent down by the King, are said to be on the rivers Sitang and Irawaddy, all of which the firm refuse to purchase ; and as they are the only dealers in the substance, it follows that the King must be the loser to a considerable extent by the trans- action. The saw mills are in their way quite as interesting as the oil works. Everything seems to be done in them by means of steam, except the mere conveyance of the wood to and from the machinery ; elephants being largely used in both those processes. The sagacity and docility of these animals are such that, as we stand and observe their actions, we naturally ask each other which is evidence of instinct, which of reason. The explanation given by the late Rev. Dr. Guthrie, of Edinburgh, to a somewhat pretentious student, comes to mind as we look at and watch the huge creatures steadily pursuing their work ; and we appreciate the full meaning of the reply — " Instinct, my OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. 163 good sir, is but another expression for your ignorance and mine." Let us see what our countryman, who is manager of the mill, thinks about it. "Do you think," we ask him, " that the elephants understand really the work they have to do ? " The reply needs no hesitation. " Understand it ? — aye, that they do ; a heap better than the men on their heeds." The men on their heeds (otherwise heads) are their guides or drivers, as the case may be — their nationality Bengal and Aryan. Here there is one of several large mills to which the rafts that encumbered the Kyatzoo creek, through which we lately passed, were being transported. Continuing our excursion, we visit one of the largest " paddy " or rice mills in the settlement. It is situated upon the bank of the Poosundoung creek. Numerous boats from up country, laden with cargoes of the grain, are being discharged as they lie moored alongside ; hundreds of Indian coolies are employed carrying basket-loads upon their heads, from boats into the mill — entering the latter by a turn- stile at which a register is kept. They work " with a will " such as they seldom show in their own country : the difference is readily explained ; they are here paid only by the work they do. We are permitted to see the process through which the original rice, or " paddy," is cleaned, so far as to prepare it for the market — in other words, to convert it into what is called "ship rice," consisting of three-fourths clean to one- fourth uncleaned. This, so far as we have seen, is the only establishment where native Burmese are employed ; several of them, including men, women, and children, are at work, although only in the unlaborious occupation of sewing up the gunny bags in which the ship rice was being measured for exportation. A stream, literally a stream, of the outer husk from the grain pours from the machinery into the creek, much of it floating away into the main river, yet a considerable quantity collecting and forming a bank at the side. Unless means be soon taken to otherwise dispose of this refuse sub- stance, it is clear that the channel of both creek and river will be considerably interfered with. It is said that a short time ago the captain of a ship in these roads was fined several 164 OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. thousands of rupees, because he had thrown into the river ballast to the extent of a fractional part of a cubic inch in bulk ; yet here twelve considerable streams of paddy husk, from at least that number of mills, continually flow into the creek, and no further notice is taken of it. A visit to the shipping office reveals a characteristic of Rangoon life. A portion of the office allotted to the purpose is crowded by Indians, garrulous, half naked, their persons and what little clothing they wear dirty and most abominably offensive, each clamorous and eager for his passage ticket back to his native country. They have been in Rangoon, some four years, some three, some two, some one, and some only during the rice season just over. They come and go, apparently ac- cording to individual caprice. It is said that some of them, after one season in Rangoon, return to India taking with them sums varying from three to four hundred rupees. While in Burrnah they are well housed and otherwise cared for. I have seen the ranges of huts in which they are accommodated : they are in all respects equal to those for native troops. I have also seen numbers of the coolie immigrants at work both in private and in public labour, and of all the physical con- dition was most excellent. It seems pretty clear that Rangoon has been, and for some years promises to be, an excellent and profitable field for men of enterprise, including Indians and Burmese. But they must both beware. What the frugal, plodding German who leaves his fatherland is becoming in matters of business, not only in English colonies, but in our mother-country, the Chinaman threatens to be to the Burmese. As he has ousted the native Malay traders in the Straits ; as he has forced his way against many difficulties in Australia, California, and elsewhere ; so he threatens before long to take completely the upper hand in Rangoon. Already the part of the town occupied by men of the central Flowery Land looks more prosperous than those where dwell the Burmese. Houses are of a better description, the "air" of busi- ness more apparent, and even the joss-houses better cared for than the pagodas, although the latter are also very well looked OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. 165 after. For the time being there is a check to trade in regard to one commodity. The Indian famine has had the effect 01 deranging the rice market. Cultivators demand the prices they obtained last year during the existence of that famine ; merchants decline ; owners of grain hold back. In the mean- time many ships wait for cargoes, merchants by whom they are chartered paying heavy rates of demurrage, and being in some instances unable to meet their contracts. It is said that a few made considerable sums by speculations in grain during the famine; but that those who did, have sustained losses in regard to other speculations quite equal to their gains in rice. 14 wno moved the capital first to Motshobo, then back to Ava. He died in 1776, the chief event of his reign having been an invasion by the Chinese, who, it would seem, had at least on two previous occasions overrun the country — namely, between A.D. 1233 and 1277, and in 1305. Tsen-byo-yen was ' succeeded by his son Tsen-goo-men, who, after a reign of five years, fell a victim to the intrigues of his uncle, who raised to the throne a grandson of Alompra, called Moung Moung, but only as a stepping-stone to his own succession — he having in 1781 assumed power under the name of Mentara-gyee. He removed the capital to Amarapoora, conquered Arracan, reigned ^thirty years, and was in 1819 succeeded by his grandson Phya- gyee-dau, who in 1822 removed the capital back to Ava. During his reign the first Anglo-Burmese war took place, ending by the loss to him of the provinces of Tenasserim and Arracan. He was dethroned in 1837, and succeeded by his brother Thara- waddi, who becoming insane, was in 1845 placed under restraint, his eldest son, the Prince of Pagan, succeeding to the throne. During the reign of the latter the second Burmese war occurred, resulting in the annexation of the province of Pegu. In 1853 the Prince of Pagan was deposed — another son of Tharawaddi, the Prince of Mengdoon, the present King, being declared king. / In 1857 he removed his capital to Mandalay, where it still continues. In 1866 a rebellion broke out, headed by two of the King's sons, the Princes of Mengon and of Mengondyne., NOTES. 173 their purpose being to dethrone their father. The attempt failed, and both princes are now political prisoners in Bengal. THE PEOPLE OF BURMAH. Burmah is inhabited by at least three distinct races of people, differing from each other in language, manners, and customs. Of these the Burmese properly so called occupy the province of Ava ; the Peguans, or Talains, the province of Pegu ; and the Arracanese the province from which they take their name. Besides these, certain tribes are domiciled in the country, although apparently not belonging to it. The Khyens, or Chins, occupy the hills which separate Arracan from Burmah, their manner of dress, habits, and language being peculiar to themselves ; then there are the Karens, white and red ; besides others of little ethnological importance. The Burmese, or Myamma as they term themselves, belong to the Turanian group, which includes the people of Thibet, y Nepaul, and Siam — although their civilization is for the most part Indian. According to their own tradition they are descended from an ancient Indian tribe of the Solar race, who ^ were driven from the district of Ajodyah, or Fyzabad, in Oude, / by immigrants, doubtless Aryan, into that country. The date of these events is uncertain. It is, however, somewhat vaguely referred to the seventh or eighth century before our era ; that is, before the period of Asoka. The fugitives fled eastward ; they crossed the Naga range of hills ; they reached the valley of the Irawaddy, and there established the city of Tagoung, or Old Pagan, their Scythian origin being, it is said, still trace- X able in the features of their descendants. At the early period alluded to, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, called Pyoos or Thicks, would seem to have been so peaceably dis- > posed towards their invaders, themselves fugitives, as to have permitted them at once to effect a settlement and establish a monarchy. Probably also about the same time a further immi- gration took place from Yunan, downwards along the course 174 OUE TRIP TO BURMAH* of the Irawaddy ; at any rate, such an influx occurred in the sixth century B.C., by one of those swarms of Takshuk, or Serpent race, who about this time departing from their common home in Central Asia, spread themselves in all directions, from China to Scandinavia. The people fled before the Tartar hordes; the city of Tagoung was abandoned; the monarch fled to Male, a place the remains of which are still to be seen at a distance of some seventy miles from the present capital. After a time, the disorders caused by the Tartar invasion sub- 1 sided. The members of the exiled court retraced their steps, and in the vicinity of their former capital erected a city known as Old Pagan ; subsequently they reoccupied the abandoned city of Tagoung, and at the present day traces of both those ancient capitals are found in a track of jungle interspersed with mounds which lies between the modern capitals of Bhamo and Mandalay. From this date the history of the people merges in that of the rulers of the country. The Talains. — The Talains or Mon occupy the pro- vince of Pegu, of which they were so early settlers as to be regarded as aborigines. They speak a language quite distinct from the Indo-Chinese tongues of the adjoining tribes, but somewhat resembling the Munda or Ho language of some por- tions of Eastern Bengal ; and are believed to be more allied to Thibetian Burman than Dra vidian. The original source whence they sprang still remains an undecided question — whether from the north or from the south. In former years this people formed a very powerful nation, extending their conquests northward to Ava; to Siam on the one side, and towards India on the other; more recently, however, they fell before the power of Ava, having in 1753 been subdued by Alompra; and by persecution, murders, and dissensions, have now almost completely lost their former importance. The Karens. — The tribe or tribes enumerated under the generic term Karens have been referred to the aboriginal in- habitants of Burmah, their very name supposed to be identical with Khyen, which, in the language of that country, signifies aboriginal. On the one hand, they are considered to bear an NOTES. 175 affinity in feature and language to the Singphos, of Assam ; on the other, to the Chinese proper. Their Indo-Chinese origin is further indicated by their tradition, according to which the region whence they sprang lay beyond the great river of running sand far to the north of Tonghoo — in other words, beyond the Thibetian desert, whence they are believed to have descended into Burmah at an early period in the Christian era, coming from Central Asia, probably as tribal migrations, along the valleys of the rivers Salween and Meinam to that of the Irawaddy, as did also the Mons or Talains and the Burmese proper, but, unlike the two latter, confining themselves, until a comparatively recent date, to the mountain ranges. They are divided into three principal classes— namely, the white, the red, and the black ; not, as might be supposed, on account of the colour of their respective skins, but from that of their particular dress. Beside the Karens proper there are several tribes included under this denomination, all of whom are said to speak different dialogues of the same language. Of these the Sgans extend from Mergui to Prome and Tonghoo ; those who extend beyond the southern boundary of the latter calling themselves Man-ne-pgha ; those who cross the Mitonam creek, Paki ; the Pwos are found scattered in the same region as the Sgans, to a short distance above Sitang. Besides these there are the Bghais, the Mop-gha, the Toungthus, who call themselves Pa-aw, and a tribe called Tari, who shave the head, leaving a tuft of hair on each temple* of whom we met with several individuals. The modern Karens are an agricultural people. They have a patriarchal constitution of government ; they reckon them- selves by families, not by villages or tribes ; and every family occupies the same house. They are said to be extremely superstitious, believing in vampires and goblins, as also in tahmus and takhas — the two latter being the spirits of ex- tremely wicked men ; they further believe in spirits of the elements, and endeavour to conciliate all by sacrifices. One of their superstitions is so like what is to be met with among * " Ethnology of Bengal," p. 118. 176 OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. some Western nations, and especially in the Highlands of Scotland, that I am induced to refer to it. They believe that by means of an image of a person upon whom they desire to inflict an injury they c'an carry out their evil designs. It is said of them that they model the figure of the person they desire to injure from the earth of his footsteps ; and, having done so, stick the figure over with cotton seeds — the supposed result being that the person is struck with dumbness. With all this, traces of Christianity exist in their religion, derived pro- bably from that taught the Chinese in the adjoining provinces by the Jesuit missionaries. According to the "Cyclopsedia of Missions " this interesting people are widely scattered over the Burmese Empire, but are entirely distinct from the Burmans, by whom they are regarded as inferiors and slaves. They have adopted many of the customs and modes of life of the Burmans ; they are generally industrious, and with the exception of intemperance, are but little addicted to the vices of barbarian tribes. Their condition is a degraded one, being everywhere oppressed by their Burmese masters, and compelled to perform every kind of servile labour. Hence they lead a wandering life, and dwell in temporary villages, planted in remote places, in order to escape the exactions of their oppressors. With few exceptions they reject Buddhism, and present the extraordinary phenomenon of a people without any form of religion, or es- tablished priesthood, but believing in the existence of God, and in a state of future retribution, and cherishing a set of re- ligious traditions resembling the truth of revelation which they transmit from age to age in the poetic legends of their race. Blending with their traditions are some singular prophecies asserting their future elevation as a race, and that white strangers from across the sea would come to bring them " the word of God." It was on this account that when the mis- sionaries became first acquainted with them, they evinced uncommon interest in the truths of the Gospel, and regarded them as the fulfilment of the predictions which had been delivered to them by the " Elders " of a former age. These traditions of their race, acting on a people long crushed by NOTES. 177 oppression, but possessed of unusual moral sensibility, un- questionably gave the missionaries great advantages in their early labours among the Karens. In 1832, within three years after the American missionaries, Broadman and Mason, began their labours among these people, the latter thus wrote of them : "I no longer date from a heathen land. Heathenism has fled these banks. I am seated in the midst of a Christian village, surrounded by a people that love as Christians, con- verse as Christians, act like Christians, and, in my eye, look like Christians." The Shans. — The Shan, called also Tai or Thai race, are more Chinese than Burmese in ethnological character. They at one period formed a great nation ; their kingdom, under the name of Pong, extending from Tipperah on the west to Siam and Yunan. This kingdom of Pong was broken up by Alompra about the middle of the eighteenth century, when the people migrated in different directions — some westward towards Assam, some eastward towards China. Some of those who are settled beyond the valley of the Salween, towards the northern portion of Cambodia, remain nominally at least subject to Burmah, but as their several hereditary chiefs or Tswabas are independent of each other, feuds among themselves are of constant occurrence. Beyond the Cambodia Shan States also occur, which are subject to China ; and towards the western frontiers of Assam there are others which are more or less independent. To the west of Yunan are what are called the Eight Shan States. These formerly belonged to Burmah, but in 1769 threw off their subjection to that country ; more recently they joined the Chinese against the Mohammedan rebels, and are said to have solicited to be again united to Burmah, to the army of which, in 1824-6, they sent a contingent of 15,000 of their tribes to fight against the British. Many of the Shan women are possessed of great personal attractions. Of three female commanders who accompanied that contingent two were killed in action by our forces, and of these one is described as "a lovely girl, about seventeen years of age." The Shan States within Yunan are principally in the 12 178 OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. Hotha and Latha valleys — their towns under their several hereditary chiefs. These originally belonged to the Burmese Empire, but in 1769 were lost to it. Many of the disaffected followers of the different chiefs of villages joined the insur- gents on the breaking out of the Pansee rebellion, and some continued in their service until the final collapse. Others, however, had early thrown off allegiance to the Mohammedans, and joined the Chinese. The Chins. — The tribe or tribes included under the name of Chins, Khyens, Ka-khyens, or Kayns, are for the most part restricted in Burmah to the Yomah range of hills. The source whence they originally sprung is not known with any degree of certainty ; but certain affinities have been observed to exist between them and the wild tribes of India on the one hand, as the Nagas (serpent worshippers) and Kookies, and with the Karens on the other, — the affinity of their name with the latter being apparent. Another division of the Chins is believed to be identical with the Singphos of Northern Assam, and to occupy the tract of country which stretches from that province along the north of Burmah, and to Western China, extending south- ward along the mountain ranges. This division are extremely lawless in their habits — levying, it is said, black mail, not only upon travellers, but upon the Burmese to within six miles of Bhamo, and along the valley of the river Taeping. They manufacture their own matchlocks, and have by their military prowess succeeded in ousting the more peaceful inhabitants in some places from their original possessions. According to their own traditions, they at one time lived under a monarchical government in the plains of Pegu and Ava ; but having been driven thence by invaders, they retreated to the mountain ranges, where they live under a confederacy of various chiefs. The tribe is distinguished from others in the neighbourhood by the strange custom practised by the women of tattooing their faces of a completely black colour; which, together with lips reddened by betel, which they masticate to a large extent, contrasts very disagreeably with the natural brown colour of the skin. The origin of this strange custom seems NOTES. 179 to be oppression of the clan by the Burmese, by whom they were in the first instance driven from their country, and the frequency with which the Chin women were abducted by them. Naturally, the latter are said to be very handsome in feature : yet, strange to say, consented thus to disfigure them- selves in order to diminish their personal attractions in the eyes of their admirers. Of late years, however, person as well as property is becoming safer than it has been, abductions are less frequent, and as a result, disfigurement of the face by the women is falling gradually into disuse. It is said that, besides the Chins, the Nagas of Upper Assam practise the same strange custom. Their women are said to disfigure themselves to even a greater extent than the Chins. They only permit matrimony to those who have by tattooing completely effaced the natural character of their faces, and made themselves as ugly as possible. Among them, however, the origin of the custom is not very clear. Their high priest, or Passin, resides in the hills near a river. By hi& descendants in both the male and female lines the office of prophet, soothsayer, or priest is continued. The Passins officiate at marriages, funerals, and as exorcists in sickness. The Khyens are tree- worshippers ; their sacrifices consist of pigs and fowls. They also worship the spirit of the storm, and to some extent believe in transmigration. They hold a feast on the occasion of a death, and, like the Chinese, inter their dead upon mountains or high places. They, for a time, guard their graves, to prevent them from being disturbed by evil spirits. Divorce is easy and cheap : it costs a bullock. This people are more favourable to the Panthays or Moham- medan rebels in "Western Yunan than to the Chinese; yet, whenever possible, levy black mail on either when passing through their particular districts. Their commercial state is very simple. In some parts they grow a little cotton; in others they depend for it upon the Bhamo market. They make very excellent fabrics of cotton ; some of which, shown to us, were of superior quality and with well-harmonised colours. Among themselves the value of labour is said to be nearly nominal. 180 OUE TRIP TO BUEMAH. The Miautze. — The people so called are considered to be allied on the one hand to the Shans and Karens, and on the other to the Mishmis of north-eastern Bengal and its frontiers. They occupy a large extent of territory, stretching eastward from Assam, by the sources of the Brahmapootra, along the north of Burmah, to Yunan — of which province they are believed by some writers to have been the aborigines. They also extend across the Upper Yang-tse into the province of Sechuan, and are everywhere distinguished by speaking a particular lan- guage. They are of sturdy make, their complexion fair for Asiatics, varying in feature, but in general exhibiting a rather softened phase of the Mongolian type, although sometimes with regular, almost Aryan features. Captain Blackiston met some of these Miautze in the Upper Yang-tse. He describes their features as very much removed from the Chinese slanting- eyed type : the face longer, the nose nearly straight, and more prominent, the skin darker, and their persons larger and more robust. They call themselves " Huh-i," or " I-jin," — that is, black barbarians ; while the Chinese call the English " white barbarians." Colonel Datton gives some illustrations of the Miautze in his " Ethnology of Bengal." The Panthays. — The people so called belong more to Yunan than to Burmah. They are Chinese Mohammedans who have of late risen and proclaimed their independence over the greater part of the former province. According to legenls existing among themselves, they belong to the Lerroo race, and originally came from Central Asia, whither, about 1000 years ago, they had emigrated as a war contingent to assist some remote emperor in repelling a Chinese invasion : bv.t, finding return to their own country impossible, they inter- married among the people, and have now spread throughout China, maintaining to some degree their own religion and nafoonality. Conservative, however, as Mohammedanism is, it has to a certain extent given way before the still greater conservatism of Confucianism. Thus, in Tien-tsin, in the iar north of this vast empire, although Mohammedan inhabitar.ts are easily recognised by their distinctive costume, and those NOTES. 181 of them who are in trade by their particular signs, still in their temples the tablets erected to the manes of their ances- tors indicate that their " forms " at least have accommodated themselves to the circumstances under which they existed. The leader of the late " Panthay Rebellion " was a Hadji, by name Yussuf Ma. His head-quarters were at Tali-foo, in the west, and on the high road between Burmah and Yunan, and and at Ching-tu, the capital of Sechuan. That the rebellion has been suppressed by the Chinese augurs a great and rapid increase of military prowess in the latter. Major Sladen gives a translation of a Chinese document purporting to contain an account of the origin and establish- ment of Mohammedanism in China. The substance of this document is that the queen of the emperor Lan-wan adopted a child and called him Anl-lau-shan. He having in time grown into a handsome man, she became enamoured with him. He became her paramour. He attained fame and influence; but it became necessary that the queen should get rid of him, and at the same time conceal all signs of illicit intercourse. He was accused of an attempt to dethrone the emperor, con- victed, and banished. He became a leader of rebellion. He successfully encountered the imperial troops, approached to and threatened the capital. The emperor Lan-wan sent a mission to Soeyoogwet and implored foreign aid. A force of 3000 men, under three learned teachers, arrived to his assist- ance. By their aid Anl-lau-shan was defeated and captured, and so the rebellion ended. On the contingent endeavouring to re-enter their own country they were refused admittance, on the ground that, having been in contact with pork-eating infidels, they could not be received. They therefore returned to China, and became permanent sojourners in that country. They are the original stock from which Mohammedanism ^as sprung up in China in various communities and under several denominations. The Modern Burmese. — The modern Burmese are physi- cally strong and active. There is little hereditary disease among them. They are in a great measure free from ailments 182 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. the result of vice, which degenerate nations. They are as a people prolific, — the ordinary proportion of children as compared to adults being observed among them ; they are of average longevity ; and yet from a variety of causes the population is very small as compared to territory. The struggle for existence which among dense populations is so severely felt seems to be unknown to the Burman. His wants are few, and easily supplied ; pauperism is unknown beyond the precincts of temples and cemeteries, to which places the poor resort for charity ; work is readily obtainable ; the proceeds of one day's labour is sufficient to supply the wants of several days; thus not only the amount of labour to be performed, but its nature, rests with the worker himself. His food is simple, but gregarious. Let us take that of an ordinary family of the cultivating class. It consists of rice, gna-pie or salt, vegetables, sesamum, oil, chillies, onions, and turmeric. To these there are occasional additions, sometimes in the shape of fish, fresh or dried, fowls and eggs from their own poultry yard, meat, game, besides various articles which do not find a place in the bill of fare of the generality of "agricultural labourers," — not even excluding, it is said, snakes, lizards, and other equally objectionable creatures. In fact, he is in regard to food most catholic in his tastes. Everything that lives and moves is by him considered wholesome; and herbs which to others are most unsavoury find ready place in the cooking-pot of a Burman. But withal, some of his cakes and confectionery are by no means unpleasant ; on the contrary, they are decidedly good in flavour, and apparently prepared with great care. The dress, except in material, is alike for all ranks. There is scarcely a Burman, however, of any age or either sex, who has not at least one dress of native manufacture, and which may range in price from one to ten pounds sterling. In proportion to their wealth they spend freely in the acquisition of new and good clothes. The costume of a Burman consists of a waist cloth (pootsho), generally of gay colours, fifteen feet long and three feet four inches broad. It is tucked round the NOTES. 183 waist; one end depends in front, and can be worn either hanging down to the knees or girded up so as to leave bare the thighs. The upper garments consist of a jacket (engye) and a turban (goung boung), the latter generally a silken handkerchief of some bright colour, and of English manufac- ture. A woman's dress (htamien) consists of a single sheet of cotton or silk, three cubits long by three and a half broad. This garment is wound round the body, tight under the arms, so as completely to conceal the bust, and secured at the waist in such a manner that, in walking, the inner side of the leg and thigh of one side are partly seen. This article of dress, a jacket, and a handkerchief thrown across the shoulders, com- plete the dress. During the cold months of the year a large thick sheet (tsoung), generally of cotton home-manufactured material, is carried as a wrap by men and women alike. Sometimes the material of which it consists is woollen ; and the more well-to-do make use of good English broadcloth for this purpose. Apropos to the present style of dress among Burmese women, it is said to be comparatively recent in origin, having been introduced by a " certain monarch," the better to show the attractions of the wearer. It is further said that the practice of tattooing the lower extremities of the men was at the same time introduced, with a view to diminish the attractions of the male sex. All houses inhabited by Burmese, however elevated their position may be, are erected upon poles, and so raised to a greater or lesser extent from the ground according to condi- tions and circumstances; and perhaps it is to this arrange- ment in a considerable degree that the natives of the country- owe their appearance of health. The usual materials em- ployed in the erection of the building consist of bamboo and grass : the walls and floors being made of the former, the roof thatched with the latter. The beams and rafters consist, it is true, of stronger timber — it being considered lucky to have one or more of the supports formed by the trunk of a tree the base of which remains rooted in the ground, the upper part being cut at the required height. Houses of the ordinary classes 184 OUE TRIP TO BUEMAH. are thatched with leaves of the wild sugar-cane (Saccharum spontaneum) and of the Imperata cylindrica. In the maritime provinces the nipa is cultivated for this purpose ; elsewhere palm leaves and rattan (calamus) are used ; and in some villages along the course of the Irawaddy, split bamboos and split rattans serve the purpose. An ordinary bamboo house for a family of five persons can be built of five hundred bamboos ; the price of bamboos ranging from R. 1-4 to Rs. 2 per hundred. Every Burman is capable of running up a house for himself in a few days; but in practice, villages assist each other in this, as in many other ways. The majority of Burmese men undergo the process of tattoo- ing when very young ; the whole of their lower limbs from hips to knees being covered with various devices. The opera- tion is performed by professed tattooers, who employ for the purpose needles sufficiently weighted to make them penetrate the skin and draw blood as they fall upon the part that is being ornamented. Two kinds of colour are used : the one blue — prepared, it is said, from oil of a fish known locally under the name of Merga ; the other ochre. The process sometimes takes years to complete, it being considered that the more extensively it covers the lower part of the body and limbs, the more manly its subject looks. It is even said that some per- sons are physically incapable of undergoing the whole process ; that fever and affections of the kidneys result from it. It is further asserted that the custom of tattooing is falling into disuse. According to accounts received, hereditary slaves, in addition to the ordinary tattooing upon the lower limbs, have the operation inflicted upon their necks and wrists. It is related that the practice of tattooing owes its origin to a desire on the part of the men to be thus marked in order that when bathing they should be readily distinguished from women. According to another account, it was introduced, as already observed, in order to render the men less attrac- tive to the opposite sex, and thus check to some extent the prevalent infidelity of the former to their matrimoral obligations. At the same time, it is said the present stjle FUNERAL PYRE OF POONGHYE AT THYET MYO. NOTES. 185 of dress of women was introduced also by royal edict, the object being that thus they might the better exhibit "their attractions." The marriage ties are of the loosest possible description, — partnership being maintained only so long as matters are perfectly agreeable to both parties, precisely as, according to the most advanced advocates of woman's rights, they would have them in the "great republic" and elsewhere. In Burmah there is a charming simplicity in the manner of obtaining a divorce, which is commended to the notice of people of advanced opinions in the West. It is this. A Burmese husband and wife severally make up their minds to part company. Each lights a candle, then both sit down to watch the gradual consumption of the tapers, with the understanding that he or she whose light first goes out has the privilege of quitting the house, taking away whatever property originally belonged to him or her. Woman also enjoys her "rights " in another way. Whatever earnings she can make belong to herself; at the same time, it may be observed that the fair sexes of Burmah are not yet sufficiently " civilized" to contract debts on their own account. With regard to funeral rites, the advance in the West pro- mises to bring matters back to what they are among the Burmese. Among the latter, interment and cremation are both followed, and often the two combined — the body being firsit burnt, then the ashes buried ; so that in these respects their usages are surely suited to all tastes. As a people, they are described as thoughtless about the future; without the desire to accumulate fortunes ; without " family," in the sense understood among Occidentals. Their wants are few, and readily supplied ; population is scarce, " the struggle for ex- istence " scarcely felt. Wealth is of little value, for the social conditions of the people render it a matter of difficulty to use riches ; when, however, by a kind of accident wealth is accu- mulated by a Burman, the highest object of its possessor is to build a "kyoung," or monastery, in hopes, that the "good act" may help him on at least a step towards Nirban. In course 186 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. of time the rich man dies. The kyoung becomes old ; it falls out of repair, and at last becomes a mere mass of decay. Such places are never repaired ; there is no merit in repairing or adding to the work of another man, and so their number goes on increasing. Their musical instruments are of several kinds. According to Father Sangermanno, the one most used is the drum, gene- rally made of a piece of bamboo or very thick cane covered with skin. Another instrument is in the shape of a wheel, with a number of bits of brass or copper hung loosely on the inside. There is also a kind of oboe ; and these three include the instruments that are generally played in public. Of others, used only in private, one is named the crocodile, from its resemblance to that animal — being a kind of lute; another, called pattala, is shaped like a little boat, made of pieces of hard bamboo fastened together, and these being struck by two little sticks produce the sound, which, echoing in the boat, is not unpleasant. A similar instrument is known to the negroes on the coast of Guinea, and in the American colonies. Every Burman carries his dah. This implement or weapon serves a variety of purposes — from that of a knife and sword to those of an axe. It is used alike for felling wood, carving or cutting up fish, or driving a post ; and is at all times a dangerous weapon of offence as well as of defence. Heavy- backed and sharp-edged, the Burman carries it over his shoulder as he walks along. He is impressionable and irascible in temper; his passions are easily roused; and one or two cuts inflicted during a fit of rage are sufficient to destroy the life of whoever at the time falls under the violence of his temper. , Each particular class in Burmah seem to have their distinctive form of dah ; of each form there are many varieties, and it is said the weapons are often handed down as heirlooms in a family. The character of the modern Burman is thus described* "He displays much spasmodic energy and general laziness; * By Colonel Brown, Deputy Commissioner. NOTES. 187 much love of feasts and shows ; much disregard of human life, and much tenderness for the lives of inferior members of the animal kingdom ; much arrogance and inconsiderateness when placed in high position; and last, though not least, much general truthfulness — and, among unsophisticated villagers, the very unoriental trait of being quite unable to tell a specious falsehood. His occupations are cultivation on a small scale, and petty trading. Actual poverty is almost unknown, but riches are never accumulated. If any individual does, by a stroke of crood luck, or a most unusual exertion of thrift, amass a few oGa£ \>ovuj. thousands of rupees, he is sure to spend the greater portion of it in the erection of a pagoda, or kyoung, or some similar work of religious merit." After all, this summary of character, given by an officer well acquainted with the people, compares by no means unfavourably with some of the most advanced nations of the West. The Burmese are partial to amusements and games of various kinds. Among the different pastimes in which they love to indulge are cock-fighting, buffalo-fighting, wrestling and boat- 188 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. racing. They, like the Chinese, are great gamblers : dice amd cards being their favourite games. Of out- door exercises ithe favourite is football ; the ball made of light wicker-wo>rk, the players keeping it up by using knee, foot, shoulder — any part, in fact, except the hand. They indulge at times ini a game not unlike that of draughts ; are fond of music, some; of the airs they love being very sweet, though plaintive; the variety of their instruments great. They are also very fond of dancing. By nature they are an emotional people, quick and sensitive ; hence crimes of violence are of frequent occurrence among them. They are prone to insanity — domestic troubles, women, and money being the most frequent causes of the malady ; and as in their sane condition they are violent and impulsive, so, when attacked by mental derangement, the disease is for the most part attended by violence. According to the Burmese calendar, the year commences on the 18th of April, and consists of three hundred and sixty- five days. They use a week of seven days, each of the days bearing the name of a planet. Besides the solar year they have also the lunar, to which they add an intercalary lunar month every three years, in order to make them both coincide. In reckoning time they divide the moon into two parts — namely, the light and the dark moon ; the first containing the days she is on the increase, the latter when she is on the wane. The people are extremely superstitious. Friday is with them, as among several western nations, a most unlucky day. On it they will enter upon no business, nor will they begin any undertaking without consulting their oracle. They divide all living beings into three kinds — viz., Chama, or generating beings ; Rupa, beings that are material but do not generate; and, thirdly, Arupa, immaterial beings or spirits. Each of these are subdivided very minutely. They believe that in death, whether of man or animal, the soul perishes with the body, and that after dissolution, out of the same materials another being arises, which, according to the good or bad actions in the former life, becomes an animal, man, or one of those NOTES. 189 ill-defined spiritual beings which bear the names of nats and rupas. The state of Nirban would appear to signify among them, not so much a state of absorption into divinity, or annihilation, as has been described, as that indicated by the expression " where they cease from troubling " — that is, where the deceased Burman is exempt from all the miseries of humanity. As a man who is sick recovers health, so is Nirban to present existence, where he is no longer subject to weari- ness, old age, disease, and death. They entertain some views in regard to the history of our earth, which on the one hand approach to that of the plurality of worlds, and on the other to the cometic theory. According to their ideas, one world succeeds another ; although what was the first, or what will be the last, they do not pretend to indicate : these worlds, they say, never had a beginning, never will have an end ; their suc- cessive destructions and reproductions resemble a great wheel, in which we can point out neither beginning nor end. Accord- ing to their traditions, the duration of life of man was at first infinitely long. After the first inhabitants, the duration of existence gradually decreased in succeeding generations as they became less and less virtuous, until, in the state of their greatest wickedness, the duration of life was ten years only. The children of these, dedicating themselves more to the practice of virtue, became worthy of living twenty years ; and so the duration of life went on increasing in succeeding generations until it attained ten thousand years, and finally the infinite period originally enjoyed. This cycle of decrement and increase in the duration of longevity must take place sixty-four times after the creation of a world before it is destroyed. In the present eleven such cycles have taken place ; and at the period through which we are now passing a life of eighty years is considered rather a long one — indicating, doubt- less, that we are now in the stage of progressive decrease by reason of prevailing vice and luxury. With regard to the sun, the Burmese consider that luminary to be the palace of a nat — to be composed of gold without and crystal within ; and because these two substances are by 190 OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. ^ nature hot, the rays of the sun produce heat. The moon in like manner is the palace of a nat. It is composed of silver without, of carbuncle within; and their nature being cold, so also are the rays of the moon. They divide the year / into three seasons — namely, the hot, the rainy, and the cold. They believe in the existence of at least four places of punish- ^ ment for spirits of the dead — namely, that in which they are made to occupy the bodies of animals ; that in which they occupy foul places, and are fed upon foul matters ; woods, mountains, and desert wastes, where they inhabit bodies emaciated as corpses, their eyes projecting like those of crabs, their mouths on the top of their heads, and so small that hunger is never satisfied. The Burmese not only conceive that the length of men's lives is extended by virtue and shortened ^,by vice, but also that moral excellence, especially in their princes, is followed by much physical advantage, by a favour- able change in the seasons and productions of the earth, and by great abundance. They believe in the unity of the human ./race. All mankind, say they, being the offspring of the same stock, the first inhabitants of the world, after having greatly multiplied by marriage, were forced to emigrate into various parts of the earth ; and as in these the climate, air, water, natural productions, and temperature are extremely different, such circumstances could not have failed to produce an effect upon the manners, religion, and appearance of those who were under their influence. So also, according to a person's lot of good or evil deeds, he is born a Burman, a Siamese, or a European. With regard to medicine, the Burmese physicians divile yS" diseases into ninety-six genera, of which several are divided into many species. One of their most esteemed remedies is mummy; they are acquainted with the use of mercury, but the greater number of their remedies are taken from tie vegetable kingdom, and include most of the aromatics. One of the customs relating to the physicians might have its inconveniences if practised among western nations : if a young woman is dangerously ill, and she recover under medical NOTES. 191 treatment, she becomes, under engagement with her parents, the property of the medical man; if she dies, he pays her value to her parents. In surgery the skill of the Burmese is confined to dressing wounds, setting bones, and inoculation for small-pox. A wide-spread system of indigenous education exists among the people — every monastery being a school, every priest a teacher ; nevertheless, although a certain degree of education is said to be possessed by every Burman, the kind of that provided by these means is found to be deterio- rating rather than improving in its nature. An attempt is being made by Government to bring these monastic schools under supervision; and in 1873 no fewer than 833 of them had been so placed with every prospect of good results. Alto- gether, there were in that year throughout British Burmah 21 Government schools, 24 missionary, and 936 others; the total number of pupils being 26,618. Unfortunately, how- ever, considerable difficulties interfere with the progress of education — their nature being such that of the fourteen Government schools in towns, two had to be closed in 1873, and changes effected in the status of all others, with the exception of only four. Among the causes of difficulty we find enumerated the youth of the majority of teachers, and their comparative want of knowledge of Pali, the sacred language of the country, and of English; also the fact that those provided for such schools were strangers to the mass of the people. Another difficulty arose from the cir- cumstance that the Burmese people, having from time imme- morial been accustomed to receive gratuitous education from their own native priests, or poonghyes, they were reluctant to pay for instruction which, as they expressed it, " leads to no palpable advancement for their children ; " and a further difficulty existed in the fact that in several instances the masters appointed were European or Eurasian, imperfectly acquainted with the vernacular tongue of the Burmese, and otherwise ill qualified for charge of native schools. Un- fortunately, the tenets of Buddhism prohibit the admission 192 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. of girls into monastic schools ; and as until very lately there were none other in the country, the result has been that the women of Burmah remained in a state of absolute ignorance. But a great movement has recently been instituted by Govern- ment to bring about a better state of things ; and the move- ment has been seconded by missionary and other bodies. The year 1873 is the latest date to which, while preparing these notes, I have obtained definite information on this subject ; but during it the number of native Burmese girls attending registered schools numbered 1381. Of these, the greater number were under foreign teachers ; some of them were being instructed by a Burmese mistress ; the experiment, however, was declared "not very satisfactory, although the attendance has been large." Apropos to women, a result of Buddhism in Burmah and Siam has been to give to the sex, notwithstanding the state of ignorance in which its members have been kept, almost complete equality with the men. Women circulate NOTES. 193 freely in the streets, and hold almost exclusive possession of the bazaars. They are active and industrious ; they are every- where man's companions, not slaves; and by their exertions they contribute their full share towards the maintenance of the family. It is a matter of interest to note that, with all this condition of . independence on their part, " marital rights are fully acknowledged by a respectful behaviour towards their lords." Unfortunately, however, this picture has another side. Although polygamy is condemned, divorce is made so easy that, according to Bishop Bigandet, it has attained a "damnable laxity." To quote from Dr. Williams, woman in Burmah " has remarkably just and fair rights ; and in this her position is more independent and better protected than in most other countries. She has full rights of property and of justice, and can either plead her own cause in person, or employ an advocate, as she chooses. But the early commerce of the sexes destroys everything like the fondness of love ; and to Burmese women the tender passion as known among us may be said to be a thing unknown." THE BURMESE LANGUAGE. Although the Burmese approach the Chinese in physical appearance, and China has ever exerted a great political influence over their country, yet it is said to have left but a very slight impression on the literature and language of the people, — both of which have sprung from Hindoo schools of philosophy. The language of the Burmese is an offshoot of Pali, intermixed with Tartar and some Chinese. That of the Shans, towards the borders of China, is similarly derived — the customs and language of the early Chinese conquerors, like those of the Normans in England, having long ago been submerged in or obliterated by the original inhabitants of the soil. These notes being intended merely to contain a summary of views held on the subject, rather than a dissertation on 13 194 OUR TRIP TO BTJRMAH. philology, it is deemed sufficient to observe that Pali itself was a dialect of the Sanscrit, and was spoken from the Ganges to the Indus when Alexander invaded India, but is now only- preserved as a dead language in the sacred books of the Buddhists. Pali is traceable through Cashmere, Beloochistan, and Affghanistan — ancient Bactrian coins, bearing inscriptions in that language, being met with in the cabinets of numis- matologists. The Zend and Pehlvi, the ancient languages of Persia and Media, are cognate with Pali and Sanscrit; the Medes (MvSoi), descendants of the biblical Madai, the son of Japheth, being, according to Herodotus, called Arivi or Arians, — that is, the races dwelling at the sources of the Oxus and Araxes, between the head waters of the Tigris and Indus, having the Caspian Sea to the north, the Hindoo Koosh on the south-east. To this wide land the late Dr. Mason has traced the present Burmese language through the Pali back four thousand years ; but adds significantly that, " although well marked up to this point, we can proceed no further." NOTE ON UPPER OB NATIVE BURMA H. The population of Upper or Native Burmah, including the Cis-Salween Shan States, was in 1865 estimated at 4,000,000 persons, of whom not more than 1,000,000 were pure Burmese. Since that date, however, what with emigration into British Burmah and other causes, there seems reason to believe that the population in 1875 does not exceed 3,000,000 persons. A rapid increase has up to a certain point taken place in the value of our trade with the territories governed by the King. Thus, the value of imports into British Burmah from thein in 1862-3 was returned at £430,000. In 1865-6 it had increased to £720,000; to £2,523,165 in 1872-3; and to £2,589,824 in 1873-4. The returns of the latter period, however, show a decrease in the value of exports from British to Native Burmah to the extent of £132,990 ; the articles in which this decrease has taken place being cotton goods, rice, salt, PART OP BRITISH BURMAH. 94° long.E.of Greenwich, 97' Stanfirds GuyrafJiiaU Esiatiithrrtmt . Loudon ; Baillrere, TindaJJ & Cox. NOTES. 195 and silk. This decrease in cotton is attributed to the fact that the trade in this commodity has been in a measure diverted to Western China from Bhamo. For the benefit of those who take an interest in such matters, I notice that the principal products of Upper Burmah are sesamum, cotton, jaggery (coarse sugar), petroleum, cutch, timber, rubies, stick lac, grain, wheat, silk, lacquered ware, pickled tea ; that among the mineral resources are coal, copper, iron (as both haematite and magnetic ore), limestone, lead, silver, gold, precious stones, besides bismuth, sulphur, marble, serpentine, amber, and salt. Mercury is also said to exist ; as also arsenic and zinc ; and under the generic term of sundries we find included straw hats, felt rugs, strike lights, paper, drugs, hams, honey, pipes, jackets and other clothing, etc. With the prospects opened up by the railway now in progress, and that proposed to Tonghoo, we may look forward to a rapid increase in value of trade throughout Upper and Lower Burmah. SOME GENERAL REMARKS ON BRITISH BURMAH. The estimated area of British Burmah is 88,364 square miles, the population 2,747,148 souls, or 31 per square mile; that of India being 200, of China 250, to the same area. Much of the country is mountainous, much more impenetrable jungle, con- taining not even one person per square mile. The land brought under cultivation amounts to 1,500,000 acres, or 2343 square miles out of 90,000. The rest of the country consists of un- irrigated, unprepared land, without sensible value, — of forests, deserts, and water. The frontier line between British posses- sions and Burmah Proper extends about 1000 miles. The number of police is 6061 — that is, in the proportion of one to every 453 persons of the population, or to nearly thirteen square miles. According to sexes, the population consists of 1,435,518 males and 1,311,630 females— that is, 123,888 males more than females. The increase during the year 1872 amounted to 196 OUE TRIP TO BUKMAH. 184,825 souls; of which number perhaps 80,000 were from natural causes, the remainder being from immigration, etc. The actual increase according to sex was 114,588 males against 70,237 females. In 1826 Arracan and Tenasserim came into our possession. In that year Arracan, with an area of 18,630 square miles, had a population of only 100,000, or a ratio of nearly 5£ persons per square mile. In 1835 this had risen to 211,536, of whom not more than 6000 were foreigners. In 1845 the population was 309,608, and in 1855 had reached 366,310, — being an in- crease of 50 per cent, for the first decade, and 15 for the second. In the 29 years from its first acquisition till 1852 the increase of the population equalled 250 per cent., or an average of 50 per cent, on each decade. Turning to Tenas- serim, we find that three years after annexation — namely, in 1829 — the population of the province was estimated at little over 70,000 persons, the area 28,000 square miles ; giving a ratio of 2 J persons per square mile. In 1835 it had risen to 84,917, or 21 per cent, in six years; in 1845 to 127,455, or 50 per cent, in the decade ; in 1855 to 213,692, equal to 7 per square mile or 69 per cent, in the decade : in other words, the population of this portion of Burmah had increased by 26 per cent, in 26 years. The actual increase in the home population of England and Wales, after the loss from emigration, has been about 12 per cent, in each decade of the last 50 years. In 1852 Pegu came into our possession, with an estimated popu- lation of 588,000, and an area of 33,400 square miles, or a ratio of 15 persons to the square mile. In 1855 the population of Pegu Proper was 631,640, or nearly 19 persons to the square mile. With regard to this province, however, a remarkable circum- stance is noticed. In 1826 the ratio of its population to area was estimated at 23 per square mile. Taking the gross in- crease in Tenasserim and Arracan during the next 29 years at 885,000 persons, and allowing the natural increase during the period to have been 75 per cent, on the original population, we may deduct 127,500 on this account, and so leave 257,500 as the number who emigrated from Pegu and other native NOTES. 197 states into British territory. If, therefore, we compare Pegu and Martaban in 1826 with Pegu and Martaban in 1855 — that is, three years after they came into our possession — the popu- lation is found to be nearly 50,000 less at the latter period than in the former. In 1865 the population of Pegu had increased to 1,350,989 persons, or in the proportion of 113 per cent., and from 19 to 40 per square mile. Allowing the natural increase for the decade to be 25 per cent., 157,910 may be deducted on this account, and 20,000 (the number of foreigners) from 719,349, the total gross increase — thus leaving the immi- gration during the ten years from 1855 to 1865 at the estimated number of 561,439 persons. In the Prome district, the increase in the same period has equalled 156 per cent, on the population, Tonghoo 115 per cent, Mya-noung 81 percent., Bassein 113 per cent., Tenasserim 68 per cent., and Kangoon 70 per cent. While Arracan, under British rule, had to compete with Pegu, under native rule, its population increased at the rate of 50 per cent, in each decade ; but after Pegu came under British rule, its rate of increase in similar periods was only 13 per cent. Apropos to this subject, the following remarks, extracted from a Madras newspaper,* very fairly represent the conditions in regard to increase of population in British Burmah : — " On the 15th August, 1872, the province of British Burmah possessed a population of 2,747,148 souls, on an area of 88,556 square miles. The total area within the nominal administra- tion of the Chief Commissioner is estimated at 93,664 ; but of this 5000 square miles in the hill tract of Northern Arracan are not included in the census returns, as there is no established administration in this tract, and any enumeration of its in- habitants is at present impracticable. The previous estimate of the population for the year 1871 had been 2,562,323 ; but as this was the result of the usual population returns, the census total must not be taken as indicating exclusively the increase during the first eight months of 1872, but partly that increase and partly a more complete counting. The population returns for 1870 gave 2,491,736, which shows an increase of 70,587 in Athenceum. 198 OUR TRIP TO BUEMAH. 1871, or 2 - 83 per cent. The returns for the previous ten years were as under : — Year. Population. Increase on previous years. Percentage of Increase. 1862 2,020,634 1863 2,092,041 71,407 353 1864 2,196,180 104,139 4-97 1865 2,273,049 76,869 350 1866 2,330,453 57,404 2-52 1867 2,392,312 61,859 265 1868 2,395,985 3,673 015 1869 2,463,484 67,499 281 1870 2,491,736 28,252 114 1871 2,562,323 70,587 2-83 1872 Census . 2,747,148 184,825 7 21 These figures show an increase of 726,514, or within a fraction of 36 per cent, on the population during ten years. In accepting this large increase, it will be noted that the census returns give an increase over the previous year's population returns of 184,825, or 7*21 per cent. ; also that the average increase from year to year during the previous nine years was only 2*68 per cent. The difference is obviously due to the closer counting ; and there is no reason to suppose that there was in reality any exceptional increase in the year 1872. Assuming, therefore, that the unusual increase shown was due to the accuracy of the enumeration, and that the population actually increased only to the average extent of 2*68 per cent. } the increase for the year would be 68,670, which, added to the returns of the previous year, gives an increase in ten years of 539,772, or 2671 per cent, on the population of 1862. This leaves 186,742 to represent the residuum — the uncounted portion in previous years — of which a proportion also must be taken as increase since 1862. Calculating this in the same way, the increase of the uncounted portion would be 24,143, or 1*15 on the population of 1862, — so that the increase of NOTES. 199 population on the returns for 1862 is 560,825, or 26 8 per cent. The actual increase is therefore somewhere between the maxi- mum rate of 36 per cent, in ten years, taken on the bare figures, and the minimum rate of 26 '8 per cent, calculated on the assumption of a large yearly residuum, formerly uncounted. According to the former rate, the population would double itself in 22£ years ; according to the latter in 29^ years. It is probable that the true rate is somewhere between these two, and is such that the population would double itself in about 25 years ; that is to say, that the population of British Burmah has during the last ten years increased at the maximum rate natural to countries most favourably circumstanced." If we inquire into the causes of the former paucity of popula- tion in Burmah — a paucity which even yet is not made up — we find that it was attributable to the long continuance of intes- tine wars between the different provinces of that kingdom, and also, in no slight degree, to the bloodthirsty disposition of some of the monarchs who reigned over them during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — their recklessness of human life being on a par with what we read of the kings of Ashantee and Dahomey. Some of the more recent Burmese kings, also, not- withstanding their professed regard as Buddhists for life, have been notorious as tyrants and murderers. In a late reign as many as 6000 executions are said to have taken place by the king's order within the space of two years — a chief luxury which he is said carefully to have reserved to himself, being that of spearing with his own hand those whom vindictiveness or caprice on his part induced him to doom to death. The seventeenth century seems really to have been the period during which the evils fell upon the Burmese which, up to a very late date, and even still, render their country so thinly peopled. What between wars, murders, and general tyranny, the manhood of the country, if not wholly destroyed, was thinned by flight and emigration. Even so lately as the few years immediately following the first Burmese war, the de- struction process was at work among the natives of Lower Burmah ; nor is England by any means clear from being indi- 200 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. rectly the cause. The Talains having taken part with the British against the Burmese proper, no sooner had our troops embarked than the latter devastated the country, slaying great numbers of the inhabitants. NOTE ON THE TRADE OF BRITISH BURMAH. According to Custom House returns for 1873-4, the following articles were the principal commodities exported from British Burmah, — namely, cotton (raw), cutch, hides, horns, ivory, jade stones, petroleum, rice and paddy, precious stones, stick lac, timber, and tobacco ; the total value of these, and others not enumerated in the list, Rs. 59,099,533. In the same year the following articles were imported — namely, betel nut, cotton (manufactured), crockeryware, cutlery, gunny bags, hardware, silk goods, woollen, silk (raw), spirits, wines, beer, sugar, tobacco, and other articles not enumerated above ; their total value Rs. 42,885,352 : the increase as compared with the previous year being, as regards exports, Rs. 8,362,643 ; on the imports, Rs. 5,776,934 : thus showing the rapidity with which business is being developed. In regard to treasure, also, a similar increase is observable. In 1873-4 there was exported of treasure the value of Rs. 9,895,762, being an increase of Rs. 7,384,162 over the previous year; there was imported Rs. 35,918,095, equal to an increase of Rs. 19,318,242. A large increase in the rice trade took place, owing in a great measure to the famine in Bengal ; the exports of this article to India alone being 196,434 tons as against 20,080 tons to the same ports the previous year, — the fact showing the immense capa- bilities of Burmah in this respect, — although it has been found that the absence of ready means of communication between the cultivated lands and large rivers has been a great draw- back. A remarkable decrease has been observed in regard to trade in cotton and in cutch, — much of the former being, it is believed, withdrawn via Native Burmah into China ; but in regard to the latter no explanation being given. A great NOTES. 201 increase has taken place in the value of exports to Upper Bur- mah — namely, from Rs. 1,401,610 in 1869-70, to Rs. 4,810,993 in 1873-4: this also notwithstanding that obstructions are in various ways raised by native subordinate officials. NOTE ON THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF BRITISH BURMAH. The gross receipts from all sources were £1,669,385 in 1873-4, and £1,545,770 in 1872-3, the increase being £123,615. The incidence of taxation was lis. lOd. per head of the popu- lation. The expenditure upon public services was £755,622, the estimated balance as a contribution by the province to the Imperial (Indian) revenue being for the year £471,836 over all expenses incurred. It is added that during the last eleven years the annual contribution by Burmah in like manner has amounted to £506,600. The rapid rate at which the financial prosperity of the country has increased under British rule is remarkable. A few particulars will illustrate this rapid increase. In 1826 the revenue of Arracan was £23,225. In 1835 it had risen to £52,832 ; in 1845 to £68,455, and in 1855 to £127,729. The area of assessed cultivation, com- mencing in 1830 with 66,227 acres, advanced in 1835 to 133,952; in 1845 to 233,769; and in 1855 to 353,885; while the value of the entire trade in the same year was £1,876,998. In Tenasserim the first year's revenue in 1825-6 was £2676 ; in 1835-6 it had risen to £33,953 ; in 1845-6 to £52,525 ; and in 1855-6 to £83,300; while the total trade amounted to £836,305. Prior to 1843 returns do not seem to be available in regard to land under cultivation in Tenasserim. In that year, however, 100,657 acres were assessed ; in 1845 this amount had increased to 119,869; and in 1855-6 to 181,681 acres. Within the same period Moulmein, in the Tenasserim provinces, from a fishing village became a city of 60,000 inhabitants ; and Akyab, in Arracan, sprang into existence and 202 OUK TRIP TO BURMAH. reached a population of 20,000. In the Pegu division, in the decade 1855-6 to 1865-6, the area of assessed cultivation increased from 539,808 to 991,102 acres, or 83 per cent. ; customs from £56,281 to £151,088; the total revenue from £297,753 to £646,462: while the entire trade rose from £2,143,100 to £7,300,224. Tenasserim in the same decade similarly advanced. Its assessed area rose from 181,681 to 273,289 acres; customs from £7796 to £13,517; the total revenue from £106,609 to £193,566 : the entire trade from £836,305 to £1,712,307. Arracan, on the other hand, shows the effect of having a British instead of a native administra- tion to contend with as a neighbour. In the decade from 1855 to 1865 there was in this division a marked falling off. Assessed lands had increased from 353,885 acres to 377,012 ; revenue from £127,429 to £190,032 : while trade had fallen from £1,876,998 to £1,395,580. As a contrast to this increase of prosperity under British rule, what do we find to be the conditions in the dominions under the King of Burmah, including the Shan States ? Everywhere signs of decay ; a discontented people, abandoning the territory ; a decreasing revenue ; the area of cultivation lessening yearly ; rebellious outbreaks ; threatened famines, — the contrast familiarly drawn between British and native dominions, that whereas with the former villages become towns, with the latter towns become villages. NOTE ON THE TENUKE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LAND IN BURMAH. In ancient times the laws of Menu represent the Burmese as conferring a share of the produce of the land on their elected king or president, — the tithes so paid being, it was said, from the free gifts of the people. At a subsequent period the pro- portion to be paid as a royalty in this manner was fixed at one-tenth. The right of private ownership was admitted as obligatory, but only in respect to the Burmese race ; not by NOTES. 203 the neighbouring peoples. At the present time property in land is distributed in comparatively small estates ; those in British Burmah varying in size from eight to fifteen acres — some under rice cultivation being less than eight. The landed estates appear to have been occupied allodially from the earliest times, subject to the royal tithe, and the succession to have been according to the law of heritage. In consequence of the paucity of population, sometimes a family estate remains undivided for several generations, although parts may be tilled by different members of the family. As a rule it is considered that land cannot be alienated from the family it belongs to ; and this is further supported by a religious objection to such alienation. Sometimes land is mortgaged with the under- standing that it is not to be redeemed, and yet redemption is subsequently claimed by the descendants of the original mort- gagor. Rent for the use of land, payable to a private pro- prietor, is comparatively rare in Burmah, although known in a few places where grain-producing land is scarce. The rent is usually paid in kind, and seldom exceeds one-tenth of the gross produce. In Burmah the land is superabundant, and when it has a saleable value, that value consists, not of the soil, but of the labour, skill, and capital which have been invested in its im- provement. In the technical sense, signifying the difference in productive power between one kind of land and another, rent has no existence ; for the best land is still abundant, and awaits only the investment of capital. With regard to the Burmese theory of the first distribution of land between cultivator and sovereign, it is, as already ob- served, obviously of Hindoo origin. It is equally plain that it is both factitious and mythological. In the primitive condition in which land was first cultivated, there was no one who had the inclination to give, or who had the power to exact; nor were the first rude cultivators of the soil likely to agree among themselves in anything — and, above all, to agree to tax them- selves. In the progress of society, one man by talents, fortune, and even the necessity for a ruler, attained a superiority over 204 OUK TKIP TO BUEMAH. the little community of which he was a member, and naturally proceeded to exact a revenue from the only object that could yield it — the produce of the soil ; and he fixed its amount at a tithe of the gross produce, probably for no better reason than that the number 10 was at the time the limit of the numerals of his language. This short abstract, it is right to observe, is taken from a paper by Sir A. Phayre, in the sixth volume of the Transac- tions of the Ethnological Society. NOTE ON A PKOPOSED TRADE ROUTE BETWEEN BURMAH AND WESTERN CHINA, AND ON SOME TREATIES WITH THE KING OF BURMAH. y In 1831 Captain Sprye advocated the establishment of a trade route between our then Burmese provinces and Western China. This proposition, often since repeated, has hitherto been only partially maintained. Meanwhile the French have prepared the way for tapping the trade of that part of China via the Sankoi river, by which an expedition not long ago ascended to Talifoo, the trade entrepot of Yunan ; so that it is not improbable that the trade which with proper facilities of communication we might obtain may become diverted and monopolised by another nation. In 1860 the question, after having been for some time in abeyance, was again opened, and memorials on the subject submitted to Government by commercial bodies in England. It was suggested that the King of Burmah should be invited to construct a highway for trade from his capital to the frontiers of China ; and the attention of the then Chief Commissioner was at the same time directed to the matter. In 1862 Sir Arthur Phayre represented to the Indian Govern- / ment the advantage of his being allowed to proceed to Man- dalay to make arrangements with the Burmese Government, by treaty or otherwise, on the following points : — 1. The route for caravans from Ava vid Bhamo to the NOTES. 205 Chinese province of Yunan to be re-opened by means of a joint British and Burmese mission to the frontier. 2. British merchants to be allowed to go by that route, or to send their agents, and to be allowed to place agents at Bhamo. 3. Chinese labourers and traders from Yunan to be allowed to pass into British territory without hindrance. In return for these concessions, if they could be obtained, it was proposed that the following very liberal terms should be offered to the Burmese Government : — 1. The custom-house duties on the British side of the Anglo- Burman frontier line were to be abolished altogether. Those duties then yielded to the Indian Government an annual revenue of £60,000, which was steadily increasing. 2. The sea-board customs duty on goods imported into Rangoon for export to Burman territory to be abolished, and a merely nominal transit duty of 1 per cent, ad, valorem only to be imposed on such goods. As matters then stood, not a bale of goods was permitted to pass from China downwards through Burmah without paying full customs' duty ; nor were the arrangements soon afterwards determined upon long adhered to. That provision of the Treaty which allowed the subjects of one power to trade freely in the country of the other was effectually evaded on the Burman side by that extraordinary national policy which constitutes the King the only licensed wholesale trader in his dominions. Any article which appeared likely to yield a profit was declared a royal monopoly — i.e., the owners were allowed to sell to no one but the King himself, who took it at his own price and then resold it to an exporter. He is said to have evaded the fulfilment of any portion of that Treaty which did not accord with his own exclusive policy. The Indian Govern- ment on its part put up with the most flagrant violations of the Treaty from a fear of being dragged into a war which might lead to further annexation. In this way matters were allowed to go on until in 1866 a serious revolution occurred at Man- dalay. Some of the King's sons, who had been tyrannized over by their uncle, the Crown Prince, rose in rebellion. The Crown 206 OUR TRIP TO BTJRMAH. Prince was killed, and but for the countenance and support which the Indian Government gave to the King at this con- juncture, there cannot be the least doubt that he would have lost his life and his throne. In 1863 Dr. Williams proceeded to Bhamo. He advocated the establishment of a trade route from that city direct to Yunan — the Irawaddy to be made use of as a channel of com- munication between the former and Rangoon. For some reason or other, however, the views expressed by him have hitherto not obtained that degree of consideration of which unquestion- ably they are deserving. In 1866 Sir Arthur Phayre proceeded to Mandalay. The King, however, distinctly refused to alter his policy on that point in which his infringement of the Treaty had been most notorious — i.e., in the matter of monopolies. He had by the Treaty promised to allow free intercourse between buyers and sellers in his dominions. He had broken that promise ; and he meant, he said, to continue to do so. This was too much even for the long-suffering Indian Government ; and on the 31st of January, 1867, Lord Lawrence despatched a strong letter to the Royal monopolist. In this letter the Viceroy stated that — " The refusal of the Burmese Government to admit the just and reasonable requests of the British Envoy has caused the Government of India surprise and disappointment. . . . His Majesty quite recently had keen experience not only of the peril by which his Crown is beset from domestic sedition, but also of the value of the British Government's friendship. His Majesty will do well to consider whether it is prudent to continue in a course by which that peril is increased, and that friendship sensibly weakened. It now .remains for the Governor-General to inform His Majesty that, in consequence of the Burmese Government's refusal to carry out the terms to which it was pledged by Article 8 of the Treaty of 1862, the Government of India intends to re-impose, from the month of June next, the customs duties at the frontier leviable on goods exported into Burmah, which were conditionally abolished in 1863. Also, the Governor- General takes this opportunity of BAMO TO YUNNAN . Xondon; BaiHiere, TuidalL, & Cox.. NOTES. 207 reminding: the King: of Burmah that under Article 7 of the above Treaty, traders from British territory have the right of purchasing whatever they may require, and that, therefore, they have an inalienable title to export such purchases from Burmah, subject only to payment of customs duty." The same year — that is, in 1867 — a treaty on the basis of these propositions was formed between the Government of the King and that of India. This Treaty provided inter alia that the sub- jects of each Power should have perfect liberty to travel, trade, settle down, and purchase whatever they might require in the country of the other, and that free passage should be allowed to any one desirous of passing through the territory of one Power to that of the other ; that goods imported into Rangoon for export to Upper Burmah should be charged only a transit duty of 1 per cent, ad valorem ; and that such goods, if de- clared for export through Upper Burmah to other territories — i.e., to China — should not be charged customs dues in Upper Burmah. In the same way goods passing through Upper Burmah from China to Rangoon were to pay the Burmese Government only a transit duty of 1 per cent ad valorem. The British frontier duties were to be abolished — the King of Burmah promising that if he could do so he would abolish the customs dues levied on his side of the frontier within a period of four years. By the sacrifice of our frontier customs dues of £60,000 per annum, and the still larger sum realized by the sea-board customs dues on foreign goods imported into Upper Burmah, we had, it was imagined, secured full liberty of trade not only with Upper Burmah, but through Upper Burmah with China. As far as words went, the King of Upper Burmah had granted us permission to trade through his dominion with Western China. In reality, nothing was further from the intentions of that royal trader and his partners, the guild of Yunan merchants residing in Mandalay and Bhamo, than that we should ever reap advantage from the Treaty stipulations, pr break in upon the monopoly of the China trade which they had always held. The practical results of this Treaty have been these : — European manufacturers have benefited to some 208 OUR TRIP TO BTJRMAII. slight extent by the increased consumption of their goods in Upper Burmah consequent on the abolition of our frontier duties; but the Indian revenue has suffered heavily. The benefits reaped by the King of Burmah, on the other hand, have been great. He and his subjects get the necessaries of life — suc h as rice, salt, and fish, for which they were dependent on British Burmah — free of all duty on the British side. They get the European and other foreign goods which they require on payment of a merely nominal duty to the Indian Government. Such goods are actually cheaper in Upper than they are in British Burmah. Such goods, however, as are intended to pass into China are charged, not only with full duty when entering Upper Burmah, but again when leaving it; and in the same way goods from China intended for use in Lower Burmah, or for export, are similarly charged. The intention to re-impose the frontier duties was dis- approved by the Secretary of State for India; but before his orders were received the letter and the threat had the desired effect. The King at once submitted, and declared his willing- ness to enter into the Treaty proposed by Sir A. Phayre, to reduce his duties, and to abolish his monopolies. A second treaty, accordingly, subsidiary to that of 1862, was concluded in 1867. By this the King abolished all monopolies except three, and agreed to levy only a uniform customs' duty of 5 per cent, ad valorem. Since then the King has not ventured openly to revert to the old system of monopolies; but a despotic Government like that of Mandalay possesses numerous re- sources, of which it well knows how to avail itself, for evading the performance of a promise which it does not wish to fulfil. The owners of produce can be quietly intimidated so that they dare not sell their own property to any one save their own Government; or, even where produce is sold to a British subject, there are a thousand and one ways by which the Burmese Government can prevent his deriving any benefit from his bargain. The King does, in fact, manage, in spite of his treaty concessions to us, to maintain his position as the chief and only wholesale trader in his dominions. That such a system NOTES. 209 has not completely strangled the trade of Upper Burmah is due only to the immense natural resources of the country. One result of the Burman King's passion for keeping all the commerce of the country in his own hands is his jealous con- servation of the most valuable of all his monopolies — i.e., the trade with Yunan. The ruling idea in the King's mind is to remain ever on the watch for a favourable opportunity to recover his lost province of Pegu. His second and hardly less prominent idea has hitherto been, cost what it may, to frustrate any attempt made by outsiders to interfere with his China trade. In this he is cordially seconded by his partners, the guild of Yunan merchants ; who, as shortsighted as their patron, cannot see that in opening out the trade to the world the lion's share of the profits would still be theirs, and that such share would far exceed their present petty gains. In furtherance of his first idea, the King has been actively endeavouring of late years to negotiate Treaties with France, Italy, and such other powers as could be induced to listen to his overtures. His impression is that the conclusion of such treaties will give him a title to call upon those powers for assistance in any difference between himself and the British Government. To carry out his second idea, the King has spared no effort to prevent any of the provisions of the Treaty regarding goods being carried duty free from China to British Burmah, and vice versa, from being fulfilled; and in this he has been entirely successful. In like manner he has known how to prevent, without appearing openly to do so, any British official mission from penetrating safely through his dominions into China. The Indian Government took advantage of the conclusion of the Treaty of 1867 to press upon the King the advantage of the long-talked-of exploring expedition to Yunan being allowed to start. The King at once gave the required per* mission, and even professed to be anxious that the expedition should be successful. Major Sladen's expedition accordingly started, apparently with the good wishes and under the patronage of the King. But all the hindrances and delays 14 210 OUK TEIP TO BXJBMAH. which caused this party to take three and a half months in getting over the fifty miles of by no means difficult country between the Irawaddy and the frontiers of China are unhesi- tatingly ascribed, on very sufficient grounds, by Major Sladen to Burmese intrigue and treachery. Orders, it is said, were given that the whole party should be destroyed rather than that they should ever have a chance of reaching China in safety. That the party was not destroyed was due solely to their having a guard of fifty men* From one of the Indian papers f I venture also to quote an article, written at the time when, in 1875, it was by the Government of India considered necessary to despatch an envoy to Mandalay with the object of bringing the King to book : partly in reference to his action regarding the Karenee boundary, partly for the honourable reception given by him to the Chinese general Lee See Tai, whose complicity in the murder of Mr. Margery is all but conclusively proved. The article in question thus proceeds : — Now that diplo- matic complications in Burmah are so threatening, it is not without interest to call to mind the fact, not very generally known, that the present King of Burmah, who occupied the chrone at the conclusion of the last war, never signed any treaty of peace, nor executed any agreement transferring the quondam Burmese province of Pegu to the possession of the British. While the war was in progress, the Mendoon prince displayed great anxiety for a cessation of hostilities, and on his accession to the throne he at once despatched a delegate to the British camp at Meaday to sue for and settle the terms of peace. At the commencement of the negotiations which followed, the Burmese envoy agreed to sign a treaty drawn up in accordance with the Governor-General's proclamation, which declared Pegu to be henceforward British territory; but with a fair Aihow of reason he objected to our frontier being extended so far north as Meaday — that fort lying beyond the anciently recognised limits of Pegu. The Indian Government, in proof * From the letter of the Times correspondent, t The Times of India. NOTES. 211 of its anxiety for a renewal of friendly relations between the two States, yielded the point, and agreed to adhere to the terms of the Proclamation, by which the frontier should be fixed immediately north of Prome. As soon as this concession was granted, however, the Burmese envoy, in the hope of extorting still further concessions from the compliant victors, withdrew from his first engagement, and refused to sign any treaty which contained the surrender of territory. But the Burman overshot his mark. The British authorities had now become tolerably familiar with the resources of Burmese diplo- macy. The negotiations were at once broken off, and the envoy ordered to quit the British camp without delay. This refusal to sign the treaty he had acquiesced in cost the Burmese monarch dear. It lost him a valuable strip of country forty miles in breadth ; for without further parley the frontier line was extended to the position originally designed, six miles north of Meaday, and the erection of the pillars which should mark the boundary line between British Independent Burmah was carried out without co-operation from Amarapoora. At a later period, when negotiations were again opened with a view to settle some definite terms of peace, the King still persistently refused to make formal cession of any part of his dominions — employing the remarkable argument that as in no respect was he responsible for the acts of the previous monarch and his governors, we were guilty of great injustice in ap- propriating any part of the territory which now belonged to him. His father, Thrarawaddy, entertained the same highly original views regarding the provision of the Yandabo Treaty, which was concluded by his immediate predecessor Mentaraggi; while Mentaraggi himself, in a communication sent to Sir Archibald Campbell shortly before the storming of Melloon, represented that " it was contrary to his religious principles and the constitution of the Empire to make any cession of territory, as he was bound to preserve its integrity," — a regular Burmese Non Possumus. Though King Mounglon refused to sign away the province of Pegu, he did not fail to recognise that the English were already in possession, and that 212 OUE TETP TO BUEMAH. it would be unsafe to attempt any interference with that possession. In a notification sent to the British authorities, he announced that " orders had been issued to the governors of districts not to allow the Burmese troops to attack the terri- tories of Meaday and Tonghoo, in which the British Govern- ment had placed its garrisons." Burmese kings submit to accomplished facts, but they do not sanction them. From these extracts, some idea may readily be formed in regard to the amount of confidence to be placed in promises made by the present King of Burmah. NOTE ON THE COUNTRY BETWEEN THE IRAWADDY AND THE YANG-TSE-KIANG. Recent events have drawn public attention to the physical as well as political conditions of that extensive and little- known territory which lies between the Irawaddy in Upper Burmah, and the Yang-tse-Kiang in that portion of its higher course where it first becomes navigable for vessels of consider- able size. Unfortunately, sources of information are few and for the most part imperfect. In the seventeenth century the territory in question was carefully explored by Jesuit mis- sionaries, and maps prepared by them supply the chief data to which we can now refer. Subsequent attempts to traverse Yunan have failed, however, even when made by successors of those zealous propagandists, in consequence of the deter- mined opposition by Chinese and other authorities against the presence of foreigners ; missions up the Yang-tse and from Burmah have been turned back, so that now we really know very little, if anything, of the vast district between Momein, on the western border of Yunan, and I Chang on the Yang-tse. As Captain Blackiston observes, we know nothing of that interval, but from its general geographical features may fairly put it down as a mountainous region ; while of that part of the Yang-tse where a route from India would strike, we are in ignorance as to its capabilities for navigation, and are led NOTES. 213 to infer from native report that it would be unsuited, at any rate for steam vessels, much above Ping Shan. Between Lower or British and Upper or Native Burmah the chief communication takes place by the Irawaddy and Sitang ; the valleys though which they respectively flow being the principal sources of agricultural produce for the wants of the people and for exportation. The Irawaddy is navigable by ordinary river steamers drawing four feet of water as far as Bhamo, and perhaps for some distance farther. At this point the river has a breadth of nine hundred to a thousand yards, even during the dry season. The Sitang, although navigable by steamers during the season of flood, remains throughout the dry season useless as a channel of communi- cation, except by small boats. An excellent road, however, extends along the right bank of the river from Tonghoo to Bhamo, and no difficulties occur along this route of a nature to impede traffic. But beyond Bhamo difficulties begin; they increase with the distance upwards, and in Yunan are enhanced by reason of their precise nature and extent not being well known. Yunan — the Karain of Marco Polo, Karajan of the Mongols — adjoins Thibet on the north, Burmah on the south, and is itself the most western of the eighteen provinces of China Proper. It is described as being 540 miles in length, 330 in breadth ; as having an area of 107,969 square miles, and a population of about 9,000,000 of persons. The general character of the province is that it is mountainous yet fer- tile, well watered by lakes and rivers, and rich in resources, as indicated by the circumstance that it contains twenty-one cities of the first class, and fifty-five of the second and third. Its mountain ranges are said to be of great height. In latitude 26° N. and 103° E. longitude the central ridge attains an altitude of 15,000 feet, and is covered with perpetual snow. The annual range of temperature seems to partake only in some degree of the " extreme " character of the general climate of China. At Momein the thermometer ranges from 53° to 70° Fah. ; and throughout the province the winter cold is so 214 OUR TRIP TO BUEMAH. great that, as in the north of China, meat and fish are pre- served by being permitted to freeze. The rainfall throughout the year is said to vary from 70 to 90 inches. The land is fertile as regards rice and wheat ; the country well stocked with domestic animals, quadrupeds and birds, such as are com- monly used for food. Fruit is also said to be abundant. There would appear to be some doubt as to whether the province does or does not contain salt springs : according to some authors they exist abundantly, their produce not only suffi- cient for the wants of the people, but also valuable as a commodity of export. According to others they are nowhere to be met with. The inhabitants of the province consist for the most part of Shans, Khyens or Chins, and Karens — the name of the district, according to the Venetian traveller, being perhaps derived from the latter. It is said that the people of the western parts are more nearly allied to the Chins of Burmah ; that they are fair and very handsome ; that towards the north they more resemble the Chinese. Major Sladen, who obtained native histories of the towns of Momein, Yunan, and Tali, observes that the latter formed at no remote period a separate kingdom, peopled by a race now extinct, whose language or customs bore no affinity to any of the Chinese races now occu- pying Yunan. If this view be correct, a wide field is opened up for the ethnologist. The present inhabitants ride in ordi- nary Chinese saddles ; their stirrups are of the ordinary length, but their saddles are so constructed as to rise to a foot at least above the ponies' backs. In Yunan, as in the more northern parts of Burmah, markets are held, more especially during the winter season. Among the articles at these exposed for sale are English stuffs, silks and cotton, all of which are used as clothing by the Yunanese, and in addition, dark blue cloth of Russian manufacture, which is obtained " from inland." They also make use of thick jackets of silk or cotton, hats of straw or waterproof material, the brims of very great breadth, oiled paper overcoats, and silk or water- proof boots, thick slippers and leggings, like the Chinese in the NOTES. 215 far north, padded coverlets, and cloth of home manufacture, of a quality stronger and thicker than that obtained from Russia. Their houses consist for the most part of unbaked brick and mortar, and are said to be commodious. Household arrange- ments are in good taste ; the apartments of the rich ornamented with carvings representing landscapes, with trees, bridges, and running water. Temples and pagodas are plentiful, the former capable of affording a great amount of accommodation. Along the most frequented route from Upper Burmah — namely, that by the Taeping valley — accommodation may be obtained in monasteries and other religious buildings, as also in native houses. At Sanda many buildings have been destroyed during the Panthay rebellion. At Mungla there are numerous temples, and upwards of 1200 houses, the greater number of the latter built of brick and mortar. The people of Yunan live upon meat of different kinds, and upon the fruits of the earth. The country is rich in grain, particularly rice and wheat. They have cattle, sheep, and pigs in abundance, also poultry of all kinds. Like the Chinese generally, they manufacture excellent hams. Nor are they with- out their strong drinks. They prepare, and use extensively, a kind of beer called " sheroo," and a spirit said to resemble whisky somewhat in flavour — no doubt a kind of " shamshoo," the use of which is general throughout China. This province is said to be the only one of the empire in which elephants exist in a wild state. Horses are abundantly reared through- out the country. The whole of Yunan is rich in minerals : the most im- portant include gold, copper, and tin. It produces rubies and other precious stones ; also the precious serpentine, yu or jade, so much valued throughout China ; also amber and pearls. In the extreme south copper and zinc are found. Stone celts are plentiful at Manwein. They are venerated by the Chinese, as they are also by the Burmese ; the belief being that they are thunderbolts fallen from the sky. They are carried by the soldiers as charms. Those of copper or bronze are found at Manwein and Hotha, in the Shan States. They are de- 216 OUE TRIP TO BUEMAH. scribed as being of peculiar shape, provided with sockets, and so easily adjusted to handles. These are also preserved and worn as charms. According to Dr. Williams, this part of the province pro- duces " certainly the best tea in the Chinese empire," its quality so excellent that it is sent to Pekin for the Emperor's use. According to Captain Blackiston and Colonel Sarel, this is " an error which originated in the mistake of a name." There appears, however, to be no question as to the abundance of tea in the north of the province towards Sechuen, where it is prepared, not exactly in the form of bricks, but of compressed balls or masses. In the western districts, however, bordering upon Burmah, tea is not cultivated. The middle and northern parts are particularly rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper, iron, mercury, arsenic, and lead. Coal exists abun- dantly between Momein and Tali ; it is also assumed to exist in other parts of the province. Very little silk appears to be produced in Yunan, although in the adjoining province of Sechuen it is plentifully cultivated. Formerly a considerable trade in this commodity took place through Yunan with Burmah ; but since the Panthay rebellion, it is said to have been all but abandoned. Perhaps, however, it is yet possible to revive it. Linen and medicinal plants are abundantly cultivated and found, but it is doubtful if opium is grown within the province. It is brought to Burmah in considerable quantities by Shans and Khyens, but is perhaps merely passed through Yunan from districts more in the interior of China. Musk is procured in the more hilly parts of the country, and honey is plentiful throughout the province. Like the Chinese generally, the Yunanese are fond of gar- dening, of dwarfing and stunting trees, both ornamental and fruit-bearing. One of their most favourite ornamental plants is said to be the hollyhock (Althea rosea). Major Sladen relates that presents of bullocks, sheep, fruit, and confectionery were brought to him at Momein ; also that the garden of Ta- sa-kon, the governor, contained peach, orange, plum, and apple trees. In the public market of that town he observed rice NOTES. 217 sweetmeats, cakes, jaggery or palm-sugar, sugar-can dy, walnut s: besides bullocks, sheep, and pigs. In the neighbourhood were fields of celery and of potatoes — the latter esculent appearing to be indigenous. Brambles and raspberries grew abundantly. Major Sladen describes the district as consisting of an elevated expanse of table-land, diversified by lofty hills and rich valleys, with the climate and products of temperate regions. In the way of drinks, he was entertained with sweet toddy, wine, shamshoo, and "hot grog," — no doubt from the latter spirit. Mention is also made of home-brewed beer having been obtained at various places. Among the miscellaneous products of Yunan are enumerated, besides those already mentioned, felt rugs, strike lights, paper, rhubarb and other medicinal drugs, pipes, jackets, native cloths and other stuffs. The soldiers are said to wear armour of boiled leather, overlaid with iron plates. They use the cross-bow, but are now supplied to a considerable extent with muskets. They are also reported to be by no means ill supplied with cannon. The nature of the conveyances made use of between Upper Burmah and Yunan is adapted to the narrow and precipitous paths along which traffic has to pass. According to Major Sladen, the Taeping river being navigable by native boats to a short distance above its confluence with the Irawaddy, a part of his baggage was thus transported. In ascending the Kakhyen hills, and in the further advance to Yunan, the whole of the transport has to be performed by animals and men. The Yunan traders pack their bales of goods in paper ; then wrap each bale in oiled paper, such as is commonly used throughout China for the purpose ; they then place the bales in baskets lined with bamboo leaves — each wekrhino; not more than 80 lbs. : a pair is placed upon each pack-animal, and the load covered by a coarse carpet. Dr. Williams enumerates the animals made use of in this way between Bhamo and Tali. They include pack-horses, pack-bullocks, mules, and donkeys. Men are also employed, who carry their loads upon their shoulders ; and, it is added, " by these means merchandise has been conveyed from time immemorial." 218 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. It has been proposed to establish a direct line of communi- cation between India and the Yang-tse, along a line extending / from Sudya, on the Brahmapootra, to the nearest point on the westernmost branch of the great river of China. No doubt such a line would be of great importance in a commercial point of view, as well as in other respects ; but for the present little of a reliable nature seems to be known in regard to Hhe districts through which it would pass, and the difficulties ] or facilities by which its formation would be attended. There are three principal routes from Burmah to Yunan, regarding each of which the following brief particulars ^have been collected, viz. : — 1. That vid Shoay-gheen to Esmok, by the valley of the Sal- ween to near Kiang-hung-hye, and thence across the Cambodia. This route is described as filled with well-known obstacles in the way of mountain ranges, made worse by the Karen tribes inhabiting them. The first ascent, from the Pegu frontier up the Shan mountains, is at least 3500 feet above the plains. The passes are few, tedious, and difficult — even for the pack- animals, which are the only means of transport. Once having gained the plateau, however, it extends with a succession ot undulations, at an average altitude of 3000 feet, to the valley of the Salween. This valley has to be descended, and the river crossed, — a matter of considerable difficulty ; for the stream, although smaller than the Cambodia, is larger than either the Taeping or Shewlee affluents of the Irawaddy ; its current is rapid, its bed rocky — rendering, it is said, the use of anything larger than native boats impracticable. The passage of the river accomplished, an ascent has to be made on the eastern side of the valley, and then a journey performed through a little-known series of mountain ranges and highlands to the banks of the Cambodia. This river is full of rapids, more especially in that part of its course which lies between 20° 30' and 22° N. ; its bed, moreover, so rocky as to be only navigable by small boats. At some places, however, it is spanned by iron suspension bridges, one of which, at least, is described as being sixty yards in length. The Hak You, also, which flows NOTES. 219 from Lake Joli into the Cambodia, is similarly spanned. As to the district which lies between the latter stream and Esmok , all we can learn regarding it is that " the region is unknown." 2. The direct route from Ava has been used from time immemorial. According to Dr. Williams, the Irawaddy con- ducts you to within twenty miles of the passes into the Shan plateau. These hills are entered from Theinne' by paths leading to a height of 5000 feet above the river flats. The paths, however, are few in number, difficult, and precipitous. The summit once gained, there is an almost uninterrupted plain to the capital city of Yunan. There are also other routes from Ava to this province — namely, that to Tali, or through Maing-noo. 3. From Bhamo. The accounts published by Major Sladen and Dr. Williams supply the chief information regarding this route — or routes, for there are three. Major Sladen records that the first part of the ordinary route, proceeding from Bhamo, lies in a north-easterly direction across the Kakhyen hills, an irregular range some fifty to seventy miles in depth, presenting three principal valleys through which the rivers Moolay, Taeping, and Shewlee have their course. Of these the two latter only concern us in connection with this route. The Taeping is one of the most important affluents of the Irawaddy. It flows direct from the province of Yunan, and joins the great stream at Bhamo. In some parts of its course through the mountains, the depth of the stream is twelve feet — the rocks on either side not more than eight apart ; in others it is broad and plain; in others, interrupted by numerous islands, its sides a succession of shoals. In the freshes, it rises fifteen feet or more. The town of Momein stands upon the eastern bank of the Taeping; the stream at this point, 135 miles from the Irawaddy, being twenty yards in breadth during the rainy season. It is spanned by an iron suspension bridge at a distance of twenty-five miles below Manwine. At this part of its course it is navigable for canoes. The Shewlee, an important affluent of the Irawaddy, comes from the hills of Yunan, prior to emerging from which it has a breadth of forty 220 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. yards. It is spanned by an iron bridge, and is capable of being so by a wooden construction, should occasion require. Within the hills, the river consists for the most part of a series of rapids, falls, and rocky torrents, through impassable ravines ; and even after entering the plains is unsuited for purposes of transport, except for a distance of three days' journey from its mouth, and then only during the rainy season. This river is, moreover, subject to sudden floods, causing an increase in its depth to the extent of twelve feet and upwards. In the plains, and during the dry season, it becomes little more than a shallow stream, spreading over a sandy bed, and interrupted by many shoals. With these particulars, we shall be the better able to follow the subsequent progress of Major Sladen and his party. Be- tween the Irawaddy and the Kakhyen hills, the country is described as low and undulating, covered with high grass and low jungle, with occasional patches on which rice is cultivated. This part of the route is subject to inundation during the x rainy season. It further bears signs of having in former times been extensively cultivated and intersected by numerous canals for irrigation purposes. To the north-west, the hills open out into well-defined ranges with well-cultivated valleys — the whole comprising the northern Shan States. Still further in the same direction the hills merge into the great central range of Yunan, which attains a height of 15,000 feet, and forms the principal watershed between the Irawaddy and Cambodia. Major Sladen despatched part of his baggage by boat to a village some three days' journey up the river, whence it was to be conveyed onwards by mules. Having done so, his party started from Bhamo by land for the village of Fah Mylon. The first part of this march was through dense jungle inter- sected by branch roads, and crossed by a broad, unfordable river. This they passed by means of country boats, and thence continued their journey to Sekaw, the elevation of which is marked on their chart as being 632 feet. From Sekaw their baggage was altogether conveyed by mules. The route now lay in a northerly direction, through rice and grass fields for a NOTES. 221 distance of three miles, to the village of See-het — when, turning sharp to the right, the ascent began, a pathway leading upwards along a steep spur of the Kakhyen hills to the village or town of Ponlyne, the elevation of which is noted as 2314 feet. From Ponlyne the route lay along the valley of the Taeping river, bounded on either side by a succession of high hills. In this course, the first part of the journey was down a descent to the bed of the Nambouk stream, a distance of three miles — the path steep and difficult ; the next four miles along a succession of ridges, the Taeping river in sight almost the whole way, the road at times along its bed, at others 2000 feet above it. At this point the Taeping is described as a roaring torrent, or succession of rapids ; its bed strewn with immense boulders of granite, while others hang over its narrow channel. In this part of their journey it was necessary for the party to encamp during a night, and then to continue their march the following day to Ponsee, the altitude of which is marked as 3280 feet. In the vicinity of this place silver mines are said to exist. From Ponsee there is a gradual descent for four miles, among moun- tain spurs, and then the valley of the Taeping is entered. Here the minor undulations are reached which merge into the valley of Sanda, having a breadth of four miles, and being bounded on either side by hills ranging from 3000 to 7000 feet in height. This valley is richly cultivated, and presents an endless succession of villages. The Taeping, no longer a moun- tain torrent, is here a broad and placid stream, its banks ornamented by clusters of bamboo. And now Manwyne is reached, the capital of one of the three northern Shan States, as Sanda and Moungtee are of the other two. Manwyne has an elevation of 4460 feet ; it is within the province of Yunan, and everything connected with it — houses, people, dress — indicate that China has been entered. From here to Sanda the road lies along a deep valley, skirted on either side by hills 3000 feet in height ; the whole area teeming with human life ; every acre highly cultivated. Half way between Man- wyne and Sanda is the large Chinese town of Karahoka, containing a market, numerous shops — including those of 222 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. bakers, butchers, and druggists — as well as many drinking establishments. From Karahoka the road lies northerly, to the foot of one of the mountain spurs which jut into the valley ; when Sanda is reached, having an elevation of 2000 feet, its houses numbering about 800, — but at the time of Major Sladen's visit the greater number in ruins, as one of the effects of the Panthay rebellion. Leaving Sanda, the road leads through rice-fields for two miles, then across a spur, and then resumes a north-easterly mid- valley course in the direc- tion of Mynela or Moungla. The Taeping has now to be crossed at the ford of Nammon, the spot during the dry season being a vast expanse of sand and shingle — yet it is there where the Taeping and Takaw rivers apparently unite. The Takaw descends to this place through the valley of Momein. In some parts of its course it is a violent mountain torrent, in others a placid stream. In its course it is spanned by several bridges, some of which are of iron, others of stone. The town of Mynela, 2700 feet above sea-level, is situated at the point where the two valleys of the Taeping proper and of the Takaw unite, and is itself backed by hills like an amphitheatre. It contains some 1200 substantial houses, the material of which the greater number are built being sun-dried bricks and mortar ; its temples are numerous, the rich style of their gilding and ornamentation indicating the wealth of the place. Leaving Mynela, the line of march for two miles brings you to the right bank of the Takaw, at a point where that river rushes as a torrent through a deep gorge. No road is here prac- ticable, through the rent in the mountain range. The western hills have therefore to be ascended, and thus the journey prosecuted until a descent can be made into the Sanda valley. Above the valley of the Takaw, however, at the point now reached, the former stronghold of Lee See Tai at Manphoo is situated. From it that once powerful chief, robber, and general was in the habit of making incursions and levying taxes on all around, like an old Rhine Baron; the result being that trade along this route between China and Burmah was destroyed. During the Panthay rebellion it was captured, NOTES. 223 with heavy loss to both sides, by the Mohammedan chief Ta- sa-khan; but since that rebellion was extinguished by the destruction of (Sultan Sulieman and nearly all his nation, at Talifoo, in 1872, it has been reoccupied by the Chinese. From Manphoo the road leads downward again to the bed of the Takaw, in the Nantin valley — the point at which that valley is re-entered having a breadth of only three miles, the cliffs on either side terraced as if by geological action during the lacus- trine period. Here the Takaw is spanned by an iron suspension bridge, eighty feet in length, and having a footway six feet broad. A little farther on, we reach the town of Nantin, at an altitude of 3600 feet. On leaving Nantin, the country for some distance is described as being an uneven expanse of table- land, of volcanic origin, and presenting some hot wells on its western side, the ascent to which takes place half-way between Nantin and Momein. The march between these two places is said to be twenty-three miles in length, much of it along dusty mountain roads and by muddy ravines. The approach to Momein is downwards along the eastern side of grassy undulations. The town itself has an altitude of 7000 feet above sea level, and is strongly fortified. It is situated ■in a hollow, surrounded by hills and grassy slopes — the latter affording space for an extensive encampment. Portions of the •environs are said to be extensively cultivated, others to be covered with remains of former towns. On the outskirts of the town there is a spacious temple with extensive courtyards, where accommodation is said to be procurable for a large number of people. At a little distance there is a magnificent waterfall. The Takaw in one full mass falls perpendicularly over a ledge 100 feet in height, after which it rushes along in a series of rapids until it reaches the Nantin valley, where it is spanned by a characteristic Chinese double-arched stone bridge. Major Sladen in his return journey followed a different route from Manwyne to that by which .he had reached that town. Leaving Manwyne, several hours were spent by him in dubious efforts to cross the Taeping river. On the right side 224 OUE TBJP TO BUEMAH. of that stream, and a little below Manwyne, he found an extensive morass covered with rice cultivation — the morass formed by continuous inundations of the river, and rendering this part of the journey very difficult. Having traversed this morass, the road led up an abrupt lateral spur, 1000 feet high or more, abounding in boulders and in outcroppings of pure white marble. This route was continued until an altitude of 3200 feet was attained ; and there the party halted for the night. Major Sladen next descended into the Hotha valley — the breadth of which did not exceed three or four miles. The descent was extremely rugged and precipitous. In the valley the party found accommodation in a monastery. A substantial roadway leads over grassy plains, past carved stone fountains and Buddhist shrines ; across neat stone bridges, over sparkling rivulets, through orchards of trees and groves of walnut, past solitary firs and clumps of bamboo, gardens and paddy fields on either side, and so on to Hotha ; the whole district being occupied by the Mynetha Shans. The valley along which the greater part of this route lies is 1800 feet above that of Sanda. It has all the products of a temperate climate — including pears, apples, chestnuts, and peaches. The hedgerows abound in brambles and roses ; here and there a solitary fir tree occurs : the hill-sides are covered with chestnuts and bauhinia. The population is purely agricultural. The land other than that under cultivation is retained for grazing purposes. The district is well watered ; roads are good of their kind, but only adapted for bullocks or mules. There are numerous bridges across the streams, and at each bridge a traveller's rest house. From this point Major Sladen continued his journey along the direct central or embassy route, which from time imme- morial had been the grand highway between China and Burmah. The distance by this route between Bhamo and Momein is shortened in duration by a couple of days as compared with the northern route via Ponlyne, and five days as compared with that known as the southern or Sawuddy route. Major Sladen believes that the direct road from Hotha to Nantin is free from important difficulty. The ascent from NOTES. the valley is very gradual. Another road leads from old Hotha into the Sanda valley in the direction of Mynela, through a gorge of less elevation than that between Manwyne and Hotha. From this point Major Sladen despatched a native surveyor to Mynewun, a place 3030 feet above sea-level — the object being, if possible, to explore the route thence to Sawuddy. On crossing the eastern hill range, between the Hotha valley and the Shan States of Manwyne, a valley similar to that of Hotha was met with, drained by an affluent ^f the Shewlee and bounded by a mountain range. The road throughout this district is a broad, well-beaten track. It crosses an undulating country with gradual ascents and descents ; it is smooth and straight in almost every part, is in constant use, and is without difficulties of any kind. Major Sladen, continuing his journey along the old embassy road, having left Hotha, found his route to lie in a south- westerly direction along the right bank of the Namsa tribu- tary of the Taeping river, then across the latter by a wooden bridge opposite to the town of Latha. The road thence ascended gradually through a gorge in a lateral valley, and thence over spurs and through valleys to Nambouk in the Kakhyen hills. From Nambouk to Ashan the mountain pathway was bad, and overgrown from disuse. From the latter place the direct embassy road passes, via Nambouk, to Hoton ; but Major Sladen had to traverse this portion of his journey by a somewhat circuitous road. According to the line taken by him, the road from Ashan descends 1000 feet to the bed of the Nam Khon, a tributary of the Taeping, then ascends 800 feet to the village of Lassee, whence it dips to Manwye; thence to the Myneka stream, stopping at Lyalon, as the town of Maneka is called. From here the road ascends to Muthin, which has an elevation of 5000 feet; and now the descent begins to the valley of the Irawaddy. Hoton is the first village of consequence on the downward route. It is only two miles from Muthin, but the descent to that place amounts to 2000 feet. The dry weather direct route leads from Hoton via Momak to Bhamo ; but the 15 226 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. plain along which it passes is more or less flooded during the rainy season. Descending into the plains from Hoton, the road leads through the village of Montai down for twelve miles, with a descent of 4000 feet, to the left bank of the Nan-tha-bet river, an affluent of the Taeping. The former was crossed by- means of an extemporised raft; and from it the road was easy to the latter, which had also to be crossed by a raft ; and so on, by Namphoung to Sita-gna, whence, by means of rafts and boats, the party speedily and without difficulty reached Bhamo. Unfortunately our information is meagre in the extreme regarding the territory which lies between Momein and the Yang-tse-Kiang. It is true that important particulars have been obtained as a result of the French expedition along the Sankoi, but for the present the report of that expedition is not available for public use ; and for the time being Captain Blackiston and Colonel Sarel are our chief authorities in all that concerns the upper portion of that river. Below I Chang the navigation is not particularly difficult; nor does there appear to be any reason why steamers of large size should not ascend to that point — although no doubt river steamers would be most suitable for such a purpose. The current is moderate at low water, and far from strong at others. This place, called also Y-lin, is by river 363 miles from Hankow, 950 geographical, or 1100 statute, miles from Shanghai. It is considered to mark the boundary between the upper and lower portions of the river, as also that of the physical characters of the country through which it flows. For a distance of eighty miles between I Chang and Quai- Chow the Yang-tse cuts through a very mountainous country with deep • gorges, the rocks consisting for the most part of conglomerate and sandstone. Rapids begin fifteen miles above I Chang — the river bed being, moreover, full of boulders, points, and islands. Above Kwei coal mines in the rocky banks are worked. For twenty miles below the village of Kwan-du- Kow the river rushes through a deep and narrow gorge, the sides of which consist of grey limestone rock. The next fifty miles to Wan are much of the same character, except that the NOTES. 227 rocks consist of sandstone and lime, with an occasional appear- ance of coal. Here the mountains recede from the immediate banks, the country becomes more open, and there are shingle flats which are worked for gold. Above Sii Chow the country rises rapidly; high mountain ranges become visible to the west- ward — that is, towards Yunan. Between that place and Ping- Shan, the furthermost point to which exploration has reached, the river passes through a rocky gorge, from which also coal is obtained. The average fall of the river above I Chang is calculated at fourteen inches per mile; below that place ten and a half. Its velocity varies in different parts and at different periods of the year — the general rate varying from six to ten miles per hour. The extent of annual rise is small as compared to many rivers, ranging only from twelve to fifteen feet. The rapids above I Chang would certainly impede anything except high-power light-draught steamers, with double engines and disconnected paddle-wheels, specially constructed for the purpose ; and it is doubtful if anything except native boats could be made use of for navigation. Along either bank of the river in the upper part of its course numerous villages and towns occur — the houses of all of the ordinary Chinese type, their style becoming less and less " finished " as the journey upwards is pursued. The larger towns are enclosed by walls ; their temples numerous, but apparently ill suited for purposes of accommodation. Domestic animals, such as are used for draught and for food, are plenti- ful. Besides these, flocks of wild duck, geese, and teal were seen ; sandpipers, snipes, pheasants, and doves were also met with. On both sides of the river at Quai-Chow peas, beans, millet, barley, and bearded wheat were found, as also melons and other garden vegetables, peaches, and apricots. The opium poppy is here cultivated, the crop being succeeded by one of sugar-cane. As the party continued their journey upwards similar crops occurred, and in addition "dhal " (Cajanus), such as is met with in India, tobacco, Indian corn, orange trees, castor- oil trees, safflower, and the grass cloth nettle (Boehmeria). 228 QUE TEIP TO BTJRMAH. Large fields of rice are passed throughout the journey, and that Chinese characteristic noticed, of large flocks of ducks being driven into them as a feeding-ground. No doubt these birds are extensively smoked and preserved here in the manner familiar to those who have visited Canton or Hong Kong. Throughout the journey the climate is purely that of China. The difference between winter cold and summer heat is great ; the temperature of the hot and rainy season high, the effects oppressive and trying to health. The extensive tract of territory which lies between the Irawaddy and the Yang-tse is inhabited by a considerable variety of races of people, although all more or less closely allied to the Indo-Chinese division. Proceeding from the sea- coast towards the north-eastern limit of Burmah, we meet with the Talains or native inhabitants of Pegu, and next to them the Burmese proper ; while the authors from whom we quote met, during their passage up the Yang-tse, with a population purely Chinese, interspersed with an occasional member of the subordinate groups alluded to more at length in the remarks already made on the people of Burmah. ON THE STATE OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION AMONG THE BURMESE. Among the Burmese the surgeon, even in the oldest and lowest acceptation of the word, does not exist ; and there is not the faintest knowledge of anatomy amongst those whom for the present we shall call Hakims, as embracing all those who in any way practise the healing art. They use no knife nor instrument of any kind ; all congenital and acquired deformi- ties are left to nature, and even abscesses are never opened. Amputation is never performed unless as a punishment, and then only when the member has been the active agent in the commission of an offence. Hammer and chisel, and boiling oil are then called into requisition — a mode of operation practised pretty generally in Europe antecedent to the time NOTES. 229 of Ambrose Pare. Some surgical literature was brought into the country from Benares many centuries ago, but the books must have been destroyed during some of the many wars that devastated the country in times past. The physicians admit of being divided as follows : viz., first, the Beindan Saya ; second, the Dat Saya; and third, the Pazoga Saya. The Beindan Saya (from beingdan, medicine, and saya, a teacher) are the most numerous class, and rely entirely on the exhibition •of medicines either of the vegetable or mineral kingdoms. Of this class are the Thomathau or Royal Doctors (thaw being a terminal affix appertaining to royalty, and thoma, & worker or actor). These are about forty or fifty in number, and are dependent on the bounty of the King. As to the Beindan Saya, it would be altogether impossible to fix their numbers ; but there is reason to believe that they are proportionately numerous to the population among whom they live. They are by no means jealous of each other, as it is not unusual for a patient to be visited by seven different doctors in the course of as many days. The number of diseases is arbitrarily said not to exceed ninety-six ; but the doctors give themselves little trouble with nomenclature or diagnosis, and all their information is derived from the pulse, in connection with the date of the patient's birth and the time of the commencement of the disease. The tongue may sometimes be examined, but the state of the different secreting organs is never taken into consideration. The Dat Saya (from dot, an element, and saya, a teacher) have recourse to the regulation of the "elements" consumed by their patients, by which the elements comprising their bodies may regain their natural equilibrium ; and they attribute disease to a disturbance of the equilibrium which should exist between the elements in a state of health. The Dat Saya are not nearly so numerous as the Beindan Saya, and are more frequently called in to prescribe in the advanced stages of disease, when patients are too weak to bear the effect of drugs, or when the Beindan Saya give up all hopes of the patients. They are also some- times called in at the earlier stages, according to the nature 230 OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. of the disease or the faith of the patient in their powers of treatment. The Pazoga Saya, or witch-doctors, have recourse to animal / substances, to charms, and to incantations. The remedies used / are very arbitrary and violent, and they are on this account popularly called Sehgzan (seh, a form of medicine, and gzan > harsh or rough). They are only called in in extreme cases of mental and nervous disease, which latter are ascribed to witchcraft, — the patient being reported as possessed of an evil nat or spirit. There are also specialists, who treat certain diseases ; and others who pretend to set bones, but who must ^ynot for this reason be- confounded with surgeons. There are also snake doctors. ^There are accoucheurs, principally women. These women are dangerously ignorant, and do not possess the slightest idea of obstetric practice. And lastly, there are the Aneiktee (from neiktee, to press, or shampoo as it is called in ' India). This pressing or shampooing is quite an institution in Burmah, and deserves a word of notice, as it is practised here much more scientifically than in India — the different nerves, tendons, and internal viscera being stimulated into functional activity. It is the first curative process ever had recourse to, and in addition to other methods is continued almost without cessation to the termination of the disease. ' The fees paid vary according to the reputation of the doctor or the wealth of the patient. Some — and they are the majority — are paid in money ; others again are paid in kind ; and in the villages, where paddy is the staple commodity and money is of little value, not only the fees of the doctor, but almost every payable transaction, are liquidated either in paddy or its equivalent in kind. The more respectable among the city doctors receive from two to five rupees per visit, while the great majority are content with from eight annas to a rupee. Others again are paid on the result system, and in these instances the promises are generally large. And when treat- ment proves successful, not only money but articles of jewellery and other ornaments are given as presents to the doctor* * From a report on the subject by Dr. Cullamore. NOTES. 231 Sickness or disease is attributed first to km, or fate ; tseit, mind ; udu, seasons ; and aharo, food ; and secondly, to the preponderance or diminution or destruction of one or more elements, or to the collision of two or more elements — in short, to any disturbance of that natural or normal equilibrium of the elements which constitutes a state of health. Thus, if sickness is diagnosed to be attributable to kam, or fate, medicine is withheld for a short time, on the supposition that the ailment will effect its own cure, on the theory of the vis medicatrix naturae. If attributable to the mind, or to seasons, or to food, — drugs or diet, according to whether the practi- tioner is a Beindan or Dat Saya, are immediately prescribed. Great importance is attached to the day of the patient's birth, his age, and the time he falls sick ; from a belief that these influences combine to change the equilibrium of the elements of the body — no attention whatever being paid to the habits or temperament of the patient. So it generally happens that should two members of a family of the same age fall sick of the same complaint, two entirely different methods of treatment would be adopted if they happened to fall ill on different days. The first questions asked a patient are his age and the day 01 his birth, and with these data the physician makes an elabo- rate calculation to determine which of the elements have diminished or increased or become destroyed. The time of the commencement of the patient's ailment is next taken into consideration ; and a second calculation is made to determine what particular member of the irregular element is the disturbing cause. The treatment, then, consists first, in counteracting the morbid influence of the disturbing cause; second, in directing attention to the sickness itself under which he may be labouring. For instance, if by calculation it is determined that the disturbing element in a case, say of ophthalmia, is apa or water, and that the constituent of the disturbing element is mucus, the patient will have a collyrium or ointment given him, to act on the symptoms exhibited; but at the same time he will be directed to swallow a certain drug, or to rub it on his tongue or palate, to counteract the 232 OUR TRIP TO BUEMAH. morbid action of the mucus. Few prescriptions are given, either separate or in combination. BURMESE SILVERSMITHS. The art of working in silver remains in a rude state in Burmah ; nor can we do more than speculate as to its early history — whether introduced from India on the west, China on the east, or indigenous in the country itself. The latter opinion to some degree at least obtains support, from the cir- cumstance that in style and pattern vessels and ornaments are distinct, although among them there are undoubtedly many, their number rapidly increasing, that are obviously borrowed from the west. As in Africa, India, and some other countries, the art of manufacturing silver is hereditary among certain families in Burmah. The most common examples of this art to be met with consist of bowls and other vessels, earrings and necklets — the latter very various in pattern. The attempts at repre- senting human figures in their ornamentation are for the most part mere failures in regard to proportion and expression ; yet to a certain extent the very grotesqueness of the figures con- stitutes the chief value of objects of the local art. The Burmese silversmith works in a sitting posture on the ground; his bench of the simplest form. His crucible, anvil, and hammers are of the most portable description. His bellows consist of two upright cylinders of bamboo — in each a piston so arranged as to be worked alternately, and thus keep up a continuous blast through the fire of charcoal in which the metal is being fused* NOTE ON GOVERNMENT OF UPPER BURMAH. The King of Mandalay and Upper Burmah is an absolute despot, master of the life and property of his subjects, holding * From information kindly communicated by Surgeon Major Lamprey. NOTES. 233 himself above all law — absolute. The several provinces of his kingdom are nominally administered by governors, who in their turn report to the ministers who daily sit in council in the King's palace and nominally advise His Majesty. The members of this council keep an account of all taxes, customs, and other revenue resources, write and sign all contracts made between the King and foreigners, and introduce new-comers to the King's presence. Nominally, also, the King is further assisted by the Supreme Court, which is composed of four ministers, under whom in turn are certain ministers of the second rank, and writers. The prime minister is an old servant of the King. During the rebellion at Mandalay, in 1866, he was very severely wounded by the followers of the Meingoon princes, leaders of the outbreak, and who are now state prisoners in Bengal. The second minister also fought against and was wounded on the same occasion by the King's rebel sons. The third has the reputation of being deeply read in law, and an able speaker. The fourth, the Kin ivorn Minguie, well known in England and Europe, having visited them in 1872 and again in 1874, enjoys the character, rare now-a-days, of being honest and well-meaning, and has been selected to proceed to Calcutta, to salute His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on the part of His Majesty. NOTE ON THE KING'S HOUSEHOLD. The palace of the King is guarded by a body of so-called soldiers, commanded by two officers. It is true His Majesty never quits his palace — knowing that, were he to do so, he would in all probability never re-enter it ; but attended by his body-guard he takes his outdoor exercise within its sacred precincts. The King has one wedded wife, and she his own ^ sister. He has, or had, three other " principal wives," by one only of whom has he any family — namely, Allay Nandau. She has had two sons, both of whom died several years ago, 234 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. and three daughters all living — aged nineteen, seventeen, and thirteen respectively. But besides the wedded wife and principal wives, the King has an establishment to which neither name seems applicable. The number of ladies in the latter category- does not appear. They belong to the several chief races of people occupying the country — except the Karen, who do not appear to thus add to the harem ; and among the whole number there are somewhere about eighty children of all sorts. The King has hitherto been asked, but in vain, to name a successor. The results from such a course, if persisted in, may not be far to seek. NOTE ON CERTAIN « LEGAL PROCESSES " IN UPPER BURMAH. The native Burmese are said to think highly of the " laws " under which they live, which are satisfactory to themselves, no doubt, considering the very peculiar " processes " by which they are administered. In civil suits, the suitor is expected to acquiesce in the decree of the court, and in token of doing so to eat pickled tea. So also with the defendant : and in the event of refusal, one or both are subjected to some of the following " processes." If either party is dissatisfied with a judgment based on the usual sworn information, both are taken to the temple, and there the points at issue between them, with very awful impre- cations, are put in writing and signed. Some one " ordeal " is determined upon. If that by fire is selected, two wax tapers of equal size are taken, and one assigned by lot to each of the parties in the suit. The candles are lit near the sacred image of Guadama, and the party adjudged the loser whose taper first burns out. If the ordeal by immersion is resolved on, both parties are cast into deep water, their heads from time to time pressed under by means of poles, and judgment given in favour of him who remains longest under water. The third ordeal is by molten lead. The parties concerned NOTES. 235 wrap feathers round the forefingers of their right hands, and plunge them into the molten metal. When the feathers begin to be consumed the fingers are withdrawn, and the guilty or perjured party's is then found to be seared, while that of the innocent or injured individual remains intact. Should, how- ever, both remain unaffected, as is said sometimes to happen (doubtless on account of the thickness of the layer of feathers), judgment is deferred for a week ; at the expiration of which the tips of the immersed fingers are punctured — with the result that the finger of the innocent person merely bleeds, while from that of the guilty trickles blood and serum. The first of these ordeals is used in civil cases whose value does not exceed four thousand rupees ; the second in cases of higher value ; the third when the defendant is accused of high treason or other very grave offence. In the ordeal by diving, it sometimes happens, as indeed might be expected, that one of the parties never returns to the surface alive. In such a case he has presumably met the death he invoked as a punishment, and the survivor gains his action. A less cruel but equally critical ordeal is to summon the dis- contented suitors to the presence of the King. His Majesty is the fountain of justice, and it is considered — whether by legal fiction or not is of little consequence — that in the royal S presence the litigants speak " nothing but the truth." The present King is said to be deeply versed in law, and thus to put some crucial questions which elicit the truth, even after the ordinary tribunals have failed to do so. The punishments awarded for certain offences are arbitrary and of hideotis severity. This is especially the case in regard to all such as affect the majesty of the King.* * According to Mr. Pilcher. 236 OUB TEIP TO BUEMAH. THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST BURMESE WAR. (1824 to 1826.) So much has of late years been said — and in some respects deservedly said — with regard to the extent and completeness of arrangements for our troops in India in time of war, that we are apt to believe such has always been the case. The available materials do not enable us to extend our remarks on this subject beyond the time of the first Rangoon war — between 1824 and 1826 ; but the particulars in regard to it to which we have had access will tend to impress the reader with the idea that then, at any rate, the manner in which the expe- dition was fitted out, and arrangements made for the ordinary requirements of the troops, were such as to reflect small credit upon those concerned. The extent and severity of the sickness which during these two years prevailed among our troops in Ava are matters of history. Among the causes which contributed to their production, Dr. Burke* enumerated "the want of fresh and wholesome provisions, the want of watch-cloaks, very severe duty, particularly night duty, and the very heavy rains which continued to pour down for five or six months without inter- mission." "During the war in Rangoon in 1826, the 38th Regiment became very unhealthy — fever, dysentery, and what was called ' beri beri,' prevailing to a great extent." The fever was followed by a state of exhaustion, debility, swelling of the legs, etc., and was rapidly followed by dysentery, spongi- ness, dropsy of the chest, abdomen, and legs, hospital gangrene, and increased debility. By some medical officers this con- dition was recorded as " beri beri " ; others, however, detected it to be scurvy, notwithstanding that " fresh beef, bread, tea 5 sugar, milk, beer in large quantities, yams, pumpkins, lime juice, spruce, and pickles were all issued to the sick without benefit ; " nor did the surgeon fail to notice that the other * At the time Inspector-General in India. NOTES. 237 circumstances mentioned had even greater influence in pro- ducing this habit of body than had the single one of want of fresh meat. Nor were those just enumerated all the un- favourable circumstances under which the troops were placed. The men had " to carry their own packs, and sixty rounds of ammunition ; and in addition to such a load, three days' provisions, and a country blanket." The troops left at Kangoon suffered greatly from want of fresh meat. The heavy rains, which for a time ceased after the second week of October, re- commenced in November. Ships despatched in July could not bring back supplies in less time than four months ; and those brought by private adventurers were in small quantities and at exorbitant prices — only sufficient to "furnish an ephemeral repast for a few of the half-famished officers." Bread had been from the month of August supplied to the hospitals ; but the food of the soldier consisted of rice, salted beef, and pork, "with vitiated juices," biscuit swarming with " animalculse " or mouldy. Medicines and medical comforts were scarce. Milk was not procurable; yet milk diet would have saved many valuable lives. We need not wonder, at the present day, that on an occasion referred to, the cry was raised among them that the Indian Government had sent an army to that country at an unseasonable period of the year, and so ill equipped as is implied in the above short statement, but that the transport provided was insufficient, and the supplies inadequate. The cry reached England. It was there taken up by the public ; and in deference to the popular voice an inquiry was instituted into the nature of the arrangements made for the expedition. It is probable that of the greater number of the deficiencies and shortcomings that were dis- covered we shall hear no more. A few, however, were enumerated in the official records of the time ; and we learn that among them was a deficiency, not only of water con- veyance, but also of land transport for the sick. With regard to the latter, it is recorded that the 38th Regiment landed with bearers for four doolies ; but that no doolies were provided, although the surgeon had indented several times during the 238 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. passage for them. The regiment was 1000 strong at starting, and at this time no more than these four doolies were autho- rised for their use. We are, moreover, assured that, although they did not march from Eangoon to Ava for nine full months subsequent to the date of landing at the former place, and ample time was thus allowed for all deficiencies to be made up, yet, when they did proceed, the regiment had not more than one-third its proportion of doolies for even the reduced number of men who thence went on. Of the arrangements that had to be made under such circumstances we have a deplorable account. The worst cases were put into doolies, with their arms, pack, haver- sack, blanket, sixty rounds of ball ammunition, and one day's provisions. The arms, packs, etc., of six or seven of the slightest eases were put into one doolie, for the Com- missariat could give them no assistance with hackeries ; and thus released of their encumbrance, another proportion of the men marched in rear of their corps. The still slighter cases were obliged to carry their arms, pack, ammunition, etc., and had no other indulgence than remaining in rear. No carriage was provided for hospital purposes from Rangoon to Prome, either for medicine, instruments, wine, tea, sugar, brandy, sago, or hospital clothing. Two buffaloes had been given to each hospital to provide milk for the sick, and these were taken to carry loads. They soon died through hard work; and then, "by the express authority of the general commanding the forces, every surgeon was obliged by the commissariat to pay twenty rupees for each bullock out of his own pocket." The followers were obliged to carry, in addition to their own clothes, a proportion of medicines or hospital comforts, although with much difficulty. On the road from Prome to Ava they were a little better off, as each corps had two hackeries and a few more doolies: <' but far, very far, from their complement, or what they required." Of the circumstances of that portion of the force, including the 47th Regiment, which proceeded to Arracan, we are informed NOTES. 239 that the constructions erected for the accommodation of the troops were not sufficiently raised from the surface of the earth ; that the hospital for them was a native building, and the ground underneath was not properly attended to; that under it were mire and filth of every description, and it was the constant resort of pariah dogs and country ponies, to the great annoyance of the patients ; whereas, had the ground underneath been properly cleaned and drained, recoveries might have been more rapid and sudden deaths less frequent ; for it would appear that in some individuals reduced by disease, death was induced by the direct influence of an impure and noxious atmosphere. It would seem that the medical officers, while they were the only ones with the force who were really aware of the extent of the evils caused by neglected arrangements, were, unfortunately, utterly helpless to remedy the conditions which they could only deplore and " report." If such were the conditions in 1826, what must those Of our early wars in India have been ? * During the part of 1824 that the troops were in Burmah, 3£ per cent, of them were killed in action, while 45 per cent perished by disease. In the following year the mortality had decreased one-half ; but the total loss during the war amounted to 72£ per cent, of the troops employed. NOTE ON THE SECOND BURMESE WAR. (1852.) Military operations at Rangoon began on the 12th of April. A severe action took place, in which the casualties were numerous. But before midday the power of the sun had already become so great as to have made severe havoc among the numbers of the small army. That night the force bivouacked * From an article by the author in the Medical Press and Circular, Nov. 6th, 1872. 240 OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. on the open plain, between the White House picket and Shoay Dagon, but without tents of any description for officers or men. On the following day the Burmese troops were driven from their position at the great pagoda ; but with considerable loss on our side. All the succeeding night our troops had again to bivouac ; but next day they took possession of poonghye houses, or monasteries, in which they had good and comfortable ac- commodation. Our force at this time employed in Burmah consisted of 2727 British and 3040 Indian troops ; total, 5767 of all arms . In addition to these there were six vessels of the Royal navy employed, with a combined crew of 808 men ; six of the Indian navy, 952 ; seven Bengal Government steamers and one gun-boat, 510; making up the combined force to 8037 men. Shortly after effecting the capture of the great pagoda at Rangoon, the British troops were attacked by cholera. Lying about in various directions, the soldiers came upon wounded Burmese, to whom they paid every attention. As soon as circumstances permitted, modern barracks were erected at Rangoon and Martaban, the latter place having been captured early in the war. Throughout this expedition, however, the health of the troops did not suffer to any unusual extent, except from cholera, dysentery, and fever; their food and clothing were ample, and the care bestowed upon them by responsible departments rewarded in the relatively high standard of health enjoyed as compared with the first expedi- tion. It is a suggestive circumstance that the services of the medical officers are unrecorded in the official despatches. GEOLOGY OF THYET MYO DISTRICT. (Abridged from Official Report of 1873.) This district is bounded on the west by the Arracan, on the east by the Pegu hills. The rocks comprising the former ar$ the older, while those of the intervening space are of a mm t NOTES. 241 more recent age than either.* Those of the Arracan range consist of argillaceous and siliceous beds of very varied mineral character. The typical schistose beds are of very local de- velopment, mainly confined to the vicinity of serpentine, and to the argillaceous portion of the group constituting the main axis of the range. The subschistose are soft, traversed by thin seams of quartz, and apparently non-fossiliferous. East of the main range a group of siliceous beds come in, traversed by small veins of calcite. Some of the beds are of coarse siliceous grits, covered by ferruginous glaze. Near Kon-dienza beds of sandstone and shale, bluish or grey, occur — the coarser kinds white speckled, the group containing a little limestone. A single specimen ©f Halobia, found near to this place, perhaps indicates the Jurassic as the age to which these belong. To the westward is a belt of shales, sandstones, and limestones of the eocene period and of the nummulite group — their thickness extending to 4000 feet. A few fish- scales and some nummu- lites have been found in these shales. They are overlaid by sandstones, arenaceous shales containing some ill-preserved fossils, and by limestones containing nummulites, corals, pectens and other shells. Within this group the " Thyet Myo coal " is situated — a carbonaceous matter like that of the salt range in India, and forming a subordinate bed in the shale, underlying the nummulite limestone. Beneath this series arenaceous and shaly beds occur, profusely charged with num- mulites. A few unimportant salt springs rise in this range. Proceeding eastward, a group of rocks of the miocene and later period occurs. Limestone is rare in it, but otherwise its constituents are diverse, including fossiliferous sandstones, blue shales devoid of fossils, clay beds containing foraminiferae, univalve and bivalve shells, and supposed crustaceans. In some spots near Thyet Myo the sandstones contain imperfectly preserved fossils : among which, close to what is called " Lime Hill," a supposed orbolite, or foraminifer, is found. Through this group several salt springs, a hot spring, an intermitting * See Records of Geological Survey : No. 4 for 1869, No. 1 for 1870, and No. 2 for 1871. 16 242 OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. discharge of hydrogen gas, or " spirit fire," and the petroleum wells of the district take their rise. Hydrogen gas is a common accompaniment of brine springs in this province, giving rise to the furious ebullition often seen in them and readily ignited by the application of a light at the point of discharge. Above this group come a small number of beds, containing fragments of fossil wood,* supposed to be of the Shorea robusta. These beds consist of an upper sand, gravelly and conglomeratic, con- taining hydrated peroxide of iron, and lower beds of silty clay, coarse sand, and small pebbles, both much denuded — the upper containing much silicified wood i/n situ at places associated with bones of mammalia, reptiles, and teeth of cartilaginous fishes, some being imperfectly fossilised and brittle. With the exception of serpentine, no volcanic rocks occur in the district. An extensive deposit of iron ore exists in the dis- trict around Thyet Myo. It is found in the same stratum of sand in which the fossilised wood is met with. It occurs in various forms — as a thin band, and as concretions of various ' shapes and sizes. Under the Burmese rule this ore was extensively smelted ; and, of late, smelting operations, which for a time had been suspended, have recommenced. PETROLEUM. At two or three places on the west bank of the Irawaddy, within the province of Pegu, this mineral product is found. The oil is obtained from wells sunk through soft miocene sands and shales ; but, according to Dr. Oldham, its source lies deeper, probably associated with carboniferous beds in the nummulitic limestone ; " by the exposure of which beds to a process of subterranean distillation, at a considerable depth, the mineral oil has been produced." The "oil" is found in some places cropping out of the soil in the beds of streams ; and wherever thus found wells are sunk, but to no great depth, for it. That found at places near to each other varies in character * See Records of Geological Survey, No. 4 for 1869. NOTES. 243 — being at one thick, viscid, abounding in paraffin and wax ; at another a pure lubricating fluid. A manufactory for the preparation of burning oil and of candles from the paraffin has for some time back existed at Rangoon, and has, it is believed, been fairly successful. Considerable quantities of the burning oil are exported to Calcutta and the Straits, and the candles are used locally. The Rangoon kerosene does not, however, com- pete in the Straits market on even terms with the American oils, as it is weighted with a heavy export duty. Endeavours have been made to have this impost removed, and there are some prospects of their being successful. GUADAMA BUDDHA ON PROGRESSIVE DEVELOP- MENT. We have of late years heard and read much about Progressive Development and the doctrine of Evolution, as if both were something new and for the first time discovered — if indeed there is any discovery to make regarding them by physicists of the present generation. But there is nothing new under the sun. The physicists are- plagiarists. They borrow without acknow- ledgment, and at the same time enunciate a poor travestie of a theory given to the world by Guadama, the Buddha of the Burmese, four-and-twenty centuries ago. Let us, see, then, what was the original theory of that ancient sage, taking Dr. Mason as our guide, and condensing, as far as possible, his article on the subject* Before this mundane world came into existence, there were no Brahmas, no devas, no men, no beasts, no earth, no trees, no grass : all was emptiness. First came the cold and hot seasons. They came simultaneously, and were succeeded by a wind blowing unceasingly. The air increased. It became 9,200,000 miles in thickness. Then water appeared, and ac- cumulated to the depth of 4,800,000 miles. It covered the air From the water a vapour arose, and afterwards fell in rain — * From his work on Burmah, ] 860. 244 OUK TEIP TO BUEMAH. which the dry season dried up. Earth appeared and increased, until it attained a depth of 2,400,000 miles. It produced minerals and precious stones. On the golden ore the first form of vegetation appeared as green slime — that is, as Diatomacece. This was quickly followed by grasses and other plants. The four elements produced living beings. Earth produced worms and maggots, air insects, fire produced fire^flies, and water aquatic insects. All these had life, but neither understanding nor spirit. For a period of time, represented according to different authorities by 25 to 140 ciphers, they continued to be born and to die. At the end of that time they increased slightly in intelligence. Another equally long period, and animals with bones first appeared. Still they were small — the largest not larger than the weevil that eats the areca nut ; and they were destitute of blood. These continued to be born and to die during a thousand periods equal to each of the former. At the end of that time earth produced a feminine form, a woman. She lived upon flowers [a very pretty idea]. She took earth and mucous slime [no doubt protoplasm], or Diato- macese, algse of the simplest organization ; and from them made a male and female form of the various races of animals. She inserted in their hearts a disposition for existence. She gave them all names. [Her own name still continues. She was, and doubtless is, Dame Nature.] 100,000 species of land ani- mals and 70,000 species of fish were created. They increased, and became exceedingly numerous. In consequence of the land animals devouring the herbage, the earth was almost denuded of vegetation. The woman sought with difficulty the odour of flowers whereon to exist. She said it would be a good thing were the living things to die and afterwards to come to life again. Thus she thought during 8000 kalpas. When they had elapsed, fire produced man. He wandered about. He met woman [no very uncommon thing even in the present day]. He drew near. The woman said, " These forms created from the elements : canst thou devise a way by which they may die repeatedly, and .repeatedly live, and that they may not live continuously ? " He considered the subject during 84,000 NOTES. •245 kalpas. At the end of that time he said to the woman, " If from the three sexual natures, and from the elements, a male, a female, and a neuter be created, men generation after genera- tion will increase in wisdom, and be able to put an end to the beasts." The woman remained silent. She pondered. She brought to her the four embryo elements, and as much of the " element of glory " [whatever that may be] as a mustard seed. She took the elements; with them clay and brittle wort — that is, Diatomacece ; she made three human forms — namely, a neuter, a female, and a male. She inserted a disposition or nature for spirit, which produced grubs or caterpillars in the abdomen. [The modern microscopist will have no difficulty in recognising what these may be considered now to signify.] In ten (lunar) months these produced human beings, male, female, and neuter — [the latter no doubt representing, in at least one respect, a tolerably numerous and very clamorous class, known at the present day not as men, not as women, but as they are pleased to designate themselves, persons.] The human beings became sick. Their creator decided that the seasons coming together was the cause. The seasons were separated. This afforded relief. But the human beings were lean. The rice plant was therefore created for them. They had nothing whereby to distinguish days and months. The creator therefore made an elephant, which, with other very unusual characters, had a length equal to 490,000 miles. It fed on air. Upon its back Mount Meru was placed, and itself put into the midst of the ocean. Then the creator made the twelve signs of the zodiac, the moon, and twenty-seven lunar mansions. The sun was next created, and made to revolve round Mount Meru. The human beings grew. They had three children. The woman loved the male, but had no regard for the neuter. [The circumstance is by no means remarkable.] The neuter became envious, and killed the man. [There are persons now who would get rid of the inferior creature — at least, so they say.] The woman was unhappy. She laid the body in a secluded spot, and daily brought it food until it was completely consumed. The woman and the neuter died. The children of the woman treated their mother as she 246 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. had done the male, her husband. They neglected the neuter. [It had, perhaps, nearly as few attractions, personal and other- wise, as its modern representatives.] The three children had thirteen children of their own. The neuter was not continued. [That is, not in the ordinary way. The representative now existing is exogenous — it increases from without.] The children, when they observed various animals, uttered exclamations. Thus the language of men originated. The children became sick. The creator set planets to watch over them. All men lived in peace with each other ; but they began to kill animals of the land and of the water, to support life. The creators looked on. They saw that, in consequence of killing animals, men at death were conceived in the bodies of brutes. By means of the four elements they attached intellectual truths to various fruit trees. Those who ate the fruit produced children with virtuous affections. From this time divisions arose : some men had evil hearts, some had good ones ; the former were most numerous. At death they went to hell — which was created by unmeritorious works. At this time there was an orphan, a good man ; but no one would show him hospitality. [Wonder- ful it is how history repeats itself!] So he took up his abode under a hopea tree ; a few others obtained sufficient merit to become devas of trees, but the great mass of mankind went to hell. The creators said, " Let us destroy the world by the ele- ment of fire ; after these people have died, the next who shall come will increase in wisdom and virtue." A hundred thousand kalpas were destroyed by fire. The orphan was again born on earth. He kept himself from taking life, from theft, adultery, falsehood, and drinking intoxicating liquors. At his death he went to the Brahma heavens. After 10,000 more kalpas he was again born, and spoke at birth. He became a Pratyeka — Buddha. After one such had appeared, they rapidly increased in numbers, through hundreds of thousands of kalpas. At the end of many similar episodes the last Buddha was born, under a bo-tree — that is, the peepul, or Ficus religiosa. The Suvarna kalpa, or golden age, began. Buddha is no longer subject to mundane birth. I NOTES, 247 In this very wonderful legend it is easy to trace the first germ of speculations which have from time to time occupied students and divided schools ; nor can we avoid being struck alike by the similarities and by the opposing differences be- tween the cosmogony of the Buddhists and that of our own sacred writings. NATS. Bishop Bigandet and Major Phayre are the two authors to whom the non- Buddhist world is indebted for what is known in regard to Naths or Nats of the Burmese. The indigenous population of Burmah believe in the existence of the creature to which they give the name of nat, and which seems to com- bine the characters of fairy, elf, and brownie of Western folk- lore, or that other order of spiritual beings the belief in which came in with Christianity, and with a new name derived from angelus of the Latins. Nats are, moreover, identical with the devas of ancient Sanscrit and Pali writings ; from which also it is easy to trace the derivation of the words representing evil and devil. The belief in the agency of nats, sprites, or angels between heaven and earth, is coeval with the first appearance of man on this globe. In the system of Buddha, as in others, some are agents of good, others of evil. In cases of severe illness, it is customary to assign the disease to the influence of wicked nats, whom it is necessary to exorcise. Every hill, river, forest, and place is presided over by its particular nat ; and scarcely an action is performed in the daily life of a Burman that is not more or less intimately associated with nats. The bilou is merely a spirit of evil — a monster with human face, red eyes, its body so ethereal as to project no shadow, its food consisting of human flesh. 248 OUK TEIP TO BUEMAH. A SHORT SERMON BY BUDDHA * According to the legends of Buddha, the sage delivered the following sermon to a nat. I now recommend it to non- believers in nats, and to others. " Shun the company of the foolish. Be always with the wise. Proffer homage to those who are deserving of it. Remain in a place becoming your condition. Have always with you the influence of former good works. Steadily maintain a perfect behaviour. Be delighted to see and hear much, in order to increase knowledge. Study all that is not sinful. Apply yourself to acquire knowledge. Let conversation be regulated by religious principles. Let every one minister to the wants of his father and mother. Let him provide all necessaries for his wife and children. Observe the precepts of the Law. Assist relatives and friends. Perform no act under the evil influence of temptation. Bestow alms. Perform no action except such as are exempt from sin. Be diligent in such. Abstain from intoxicating drinks. Bear respect to all men. Be humble. Be easily satisfied and con- tent. Gratefully acknowledge favours. Listen to the preaching of the Law in its proper time. Be patient. Delight in good conversation. Visit the religious from time to time. Converse on religious subjects. Cultivate the virtue of self-denial. Practise works of virtue. In afflictions be firm, without dis- quietude, without fear, and with perfect composure. Keep the eyes fixed on Nirban (that is, Eternity)." NOTE ON SOME FISH OF BURMAH. For several of the following particulars I am indebted to to the able work of the late Dr. Mason : — Perca — Perch. Found on the coast and inland. Coins — Vacti. Bektie of India (?) Cock- up of Rangoon and of Americans. * From the "Legend or Life of Guadama," by Bishop Bigandet : Rangoon, 1866 ; pp. 115, 116. NOTES. 249 Johnius Coitor, etc.— Indian Whiting. Bola machee of Calcutta (?) M ugilr— Mullet. Polynemus — Mango-fish. King-fish. Ophiocephalus — Snake-head. Remarkable for their power of living out of water, and of progressing on land. Matecembalus— Ophidian. In the Sitang, at Tonghoo. Stromateus — Pomphret. Black and white. On the coast. Perophthalmus — Frog-fish. Hops about in the ooze of tide mark. Cyprinus — Carp. Ruhee machee of Bengal (?) Laher — Hog-fish of the Karens. Barbus — Barbel. Sacred among the Buddhists. A bramus — Bream. Systomus — Systomus. From Tavoy to Tonghoo. Cobitus — Loach. In southern mountain streams. Saurus Ophiodon. (Cuvier.) Bombay Ducks. Bumalo of Calcutta. Extends from Canton to Bombay. Clupea — Herring, sprat, etc. On coasts. Alosah Palasah — Rangoon shad. Estuaries of Sal ween and Irawaddy. The hilsa of India. Notopterus — Karen leaf-fish. Sitang at Tonghoo. Belone Cancila — Gar-fish. Karen bird-fish. Sitang. Silurus Pametodince — Cat-fish. Butter-fish. Many species, mailed and unmailed. Anguilla — Eel. THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF BURMA H. The following list is believed to include the whole of the poisonous land-snakes of Burmah, viz. : — 1. Naja tripudians, the Cobra : different species. 2. Ophiophagus elops, or Hamadryad. 3 & 4. Bungarus ceruleus and fasciatus. 5. Callophis. 6. Daboia, or Russels viper. 7. Echis Carinata. 8. Platurus Fischeri. 250 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. Besides the above there are the following venomous water- snakes, viz. : — 1. Hydrus or Hydrophis 2. Laticanda. Major Richardson writes : — <; I have often, when out shooting, seen a man catch a large snake by the tail and whirl it round and round until the snake stretches itself out straight, when he slips the disengaged hand along its body and catches it round the neck, letting it run away, and continuing the performance until at last the snake refuses to move at all. One I saw thus treated was over twelve feet in length — a large python." NOTES. 251 A LIST OF SHELLS FOUND IN BURMAH. {Furnished by Surgeon-Major Hungerford, iWi Regiment.) 1. Rhiostoma Haughtoni. 2. Raphaulus chrysalis. 3. „ pachy syphon. 4. Pellicaria gravida. 5. Clausilia ovata. 6. „ vulvus. 7. „ Philipiania. 8. „ Gouldiana. 9. Streptaxis Burmanicus. 10. „ solidulus. 11. Helicina(?) 12. Sophina farabalis. 13. „ (?) 14. „ Calias. 15. „ var. Schirlastelis. 16. „ discoidalis. 17. „ (var.) 18. Sisara pylaica. 19. „ Attaranensis. 20. „ infundius. 21. „ Tirkilli. 22. Helix (plectopylus) bra- chyplida. 23. „ (Achatina). 24. „ Gordonise. 25. „ Attyia. 26. Helix (plectopylis). 27. Bulimus(?) 28. Vitrina forjBstana. 29. Piipina artata. 30. „ (?) 31. Striptaxis Hanleyanus 32. Helicina Andamanica. 33. Alycans umbonalis. 34. „ Vulcani. 35. Bulimus coenopictus. 36. „ Scrobiculatus. 37. „ gi-acilis. 38. Helix gratulata. 39. Succinea semiserica. 40. Helix aurea (?) 41. „ Consepta (?) 42. Cyclophorus foliaceus. 43. Vitrina (?) 44. Cyclophorus fulguratus. 45. „ (var.) 46. „ (Haughtoni ?) 47. Hypsilostoma tubiferum. 48. Helix molecula. 49. Pupa(?) 50. Helix (?) 252 OUE TRIP TO BURMAH. SOME PRINCIPAL FOREST TREES OF BURMAH* 1. Tectonia Grandis. — N. 0. Verbenacea?. Teak, the staple wood of the country, impervious to white ants ; used in build- ings and in furniture ; its forests monopolized by Government; extensively exported for shipbuilding and other purposes. 2. Dipterocarpus, Icevis, turbinatus, and grandiflora. — N. 0. Dipteracese. The wood-oil tree, called also red wood of the Tenasserim provinces. Very common, and much used in house building ; furnishes good charcoal ; torches are made from it. 3. Acacia Catechu. — N. 0. Mimosete. Clutch tree. Abun- dant near Tonghoo; extensively used in the manufacture of catechu, to be eaten with betel nut (i.e. areca nut) ; used also for making doorposts, handles, etc. The Acacia also produces gum-arabic. A. odoratissima pro- duces a very hard wood ; the trees are large ; the timber used by the Burmese for making cart-wheels. 4. Juga Xilocarpa. — N. O. Ebenacese. Iron- wood; very heavy. More durable than teak ; difficult to work. The heart of the tree is black. It is used for making wooden bells for cattle, and small canoes. 5. Odina Wodier. — N. 0. Anacardiacese. Burmese name Nabai. The wood used for sheaths of swords and oil presses. 6. Terminalia. — N. 0. Combretacese. Several species of this tree occur. The wood of all is said to be used in house building. The bark of one species yields a black dye, used in colouring fishing-nets by the natives. 7. Blackwellia tomentosa. — N. 0. Homaliacese. Monkeys' slipping tree, so-called from its smooth stem. Yields a timber that is not very durable. 8. Vitex leucoxylon, arborea, etc. — N. 0. Verbenacese. Wood used for cart-wheels ; also for making wooden bells. When old it is chocolate-coloured ; hard and durable. * The list is taken chiefly from official Administration Reports of Burmah, and from Dr. Mason's work. NOTES. 253 9. Tamarindus indica. — N. 0. Liguminosce. Wood little used. Trees often grown near huts for shade. 10. Diospyros. — N. 0. Ebenacese. Shan black dye is said to be prepared from the fruit of a species of this plant. The fruit known in Burmah as Chinese dates, in Hong Kong and America as Persimmon, is the product of D. Kaki, which grows abundantly in China and Japan. 11. Hopea odorata. — N. 0. Symplocaceae. Dark and heavy ; used for making boats. The best canoes are made of it. H. Suava. Light-coloured ; heavy ; used extensively in boat building. These, together with shorea and dipterocarpus, are used for the manufacture of dammer. 12. Artocarpus.— N. 0. Artocarpese. Jack. Wood used in making boats by the Burmese. 13. Podocarpus Neriifolia. — N. 0. Taxacese. A white, light, close-grained wood. 14. Conocarpus aeuminatus. — N. 0. Proteacese. Wood hard and heavy ; used for making pestles and mortars. 15. Pongamia glabra. — N. 0. Fabacese. Used for ploughs and harrows. A black, heavy wood. 1G. Albizzia Lebbelc. — N. 0. Fabacese. Black and heavy used for making cart-wheels and oil presses. 17. Pterocarpus Dalbergioides. — N. 0. Fabacese. Red and; heavy ; used for cart-wheels. Called the Padouk tree. The P. indicus said to yield wine. The P. marsupium is the peetsal of Bengal. The wood of P. Dalbergioides is not unlike mahogany. 18. Shorea robusta. — N. 0. Dipteracese. Wood white and heavy ; used for house building. The sal tree of India. Gua- dama is said to have died in a grove of sal, and to have been born under one of them. Other accounts state that he was born under a Jonesia. The petrified wood met with in Upper Burmah is stated to be of this species. 19. Bombax Malabaricum and Ceterophylla. — N. 0. Stercu- lacese. Light white wood, easily destructible ; easily worked ; used for temporary boxes and coffins. The " cotton " of some species is made into pillows and mattresses. It has even been made into cloth. 254 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. 20. Nauclea Cordifolia. — N. 0. Cinchonaceae. Yellow and light ; used for flooring and rafters. The nauclea is said to be one of the few shade-yielding trees that grow on Mount Meru ; the others, eugenia, banian, and peepul. Another species of nauclea, black and heavy, is- used for cart-wheels, and pestles. 21. Chickrassia tabularis. — N. 0. Cedrelacese. Yellow and heavy ; used for cart-axles. Commonly called Chittagong wood. 22. Vitex (?) — N. 0. Verbenaceae. Yellow, heavy, lasting ; used for house posts and tool-handles. Commonly called chaste tree. 23. Sapindus rubiginosis. — N. O. Sapindacese. White and heavy ; used for doorposts. Grain mottled. Called also Soap-nut tree. 24. Euphorbia Sp. (?) — N. 0. Euphorbiacese. Native Bur- mese name oplesiac. White and light ; used for mixing with tobacco root * to smoke. 25. Schleichera trijuga. — N. 0. Sapindacese. White and heavy ; used for anchors, pestles and mortars. Native Bur- mese name gye. 26. Balbergia (?) — N. 0. Fabacese. Heavy, with red heart ; used for plough and cart-poles. D. Sissoo is the sissoo tree of India. The Burmese use a species for chisel-handles. One species is used for making bows — called Moulmein lancewood. The D. latifolia is very common about Tonghoo, where the Karens use it for spear-handles. 27. Careya arborea. — N. G. Barringtonise. White and light ; Burmese name, Ban-bive. 28. Spathodea stipulata. — N. 0. Bignonacese. White and heavy ; used for posts. The flowers sold in Moulmein, where they are used for food, and as a remedy for psora. 20. Berrya mollis. — N. O. Liliaceae. Reddish and heavy; used chiefly for cart-axles, poles of carts, and ploughs. B. Ammonilla is the Trincomalee wood. * So stated in the official report. NOTES. 255 The Palms of Burmah. The following list includes the principal palms found in Burmah, viz. : — 1. Zalucca edulis. 2. Calamus arborescens. 3. „ nugisetus. 4. Engissonia ; a stemless palm, with simple pinnate leaves. 5. Corypha elata. 6. Borassus (?) 7. Phoenix acaulis. 8. „ sylvestris. 9. „ paludosis (on sides of Pegu River). 10. Areca triandra ; in dense clumps in Tonghoo forests. 11. „ Malaya na. 12. Harina caryotides; a small palm with much of the general aspect of a fern ; abundant in the denser part of the forest between Thyet Myo and Tonghoo. NOTES ON THE CLIMATE OF BURMAH. I. — Rangoon. The year is divided into two seasons — namely, a wet and a dry. The former lasts from the end of April, or beginning of May, to the early part of October ; the latter occupies the interval, and includes both cool and hot months. What is peculiarly known as the hot months, includes the period from the middle of February till the commencement of the rains ; but the tem- perature is generally moderated by a cool breeze from seaward, which sets in about sunset. During the rainy season there is almost complete saturation of the atmosphere, the vegetation being also luxuriant. Rain falls on 145 to 158 days during the monsoon months, the annual quantity varying from 89 to 145 inches. During the months of December, January, and February, the temperature at midday, in the shade, often is 256 OUE TRIP TO BUEMAH. 90° Fah., although the nights and mornings are cool. Heavy dews and fogs often prevail at this time. During the hot months the effects of the sun are very powerful. The tem- perature often rises above 100° Fall, in the shade during the day, sinking at night to 76° Fah. j the highest temperature of all occurring in April, when it sometimes attains 105° Fah. The minimum is generally found during December and January, in which the lowest point marHfed during five years was 50° Fah. The maximum difference between the hottest and coldest months rarely exceeds 15° Fah., and the mean daily range of the thermometer is seldom over 30° Fah. The prevailing winds are almost uniformly from the south-west from April to November ; from the nortli-east, with slight variations, during the remainder of the year. II. — TONGHOO. The seasons are described as very similar to those at Rangoon, the wet and dry lasting during the same periods. The rainy season continues from May to October. The atmosphere is then said to be warm, moist, and oppressive, although the thermometer indicates a comparatively low temperature. The rainfall is stated to be about 75 inches ; the number of rainy days during the season, 133. The north-east monsoon gene- rally blows regularly from December to the end of February. The temperature then, although still warm during the day, is cool during the night and in the early morning. Damp fogs often prevail in the morning. From Marcli till May the heat is great, but without hot winds or sultry nights. The night temperature is then about 77° ; that during the day, and in the shade, sometimes 105°, and even 108° Fah. On an average, however, the mean daily range of the thermometer is 16° Fah. The highest temperature is generally recorded in April ; the lowest in December and January, when it is often as low as 52° Fah. in the early morning. The prevailing winds are north-east from December to April; south-west during the intervening months. A BURMESE WOMAf- IN HOLIDAY DRESS. ♦ ■ NOTES. 257 III. — Thyet Myo. The seasons are stated to be the same as at Rangoon and Tonghoo — the only difference being that the cold is greater during the cold season, the rainfall less, the average quantity that falls being 40 inches, the average number of rainy days 95. During December, January, and February, the tempera- ture at night and in the early morning sometimes falls to 45° Fah. During the hot season, which is usually short, lasting only from the middle of March to May, the thermometer at times marks 107° Fah., although even then the night tempera- ture is moderate. The greatest monthly range of temperature during the cold months is stated to be at times as great as 40° Fah. BURMESE FESTIVALS. New Year's Day. On Burmese New Year's Day the Burmese of all ages and sexes suspend in a great measure their ordinary pursuits, and yield themselves up to the amusements which the return of the season usually suggests. Old men and women are but children of a larger growth, and must have their holidays and recrea- tions, paint a green spot on the fading leaf, and call up the buoyant spirits which the staid and sober habits inflicted by the cares of mature years too often and too much depress. Public festivities at least exhibit an unequivocal sign of public happiness ; and in this point of view it is pleasing to see the Burmese spontaneously relinquish the monotony of " life's dull cares," to assume the spirit and animation of rejoicing. For days previous to the New Year, the Burmese men and women are employed in making syringes from the bamboo, and collecting large pots to contain water at the doors of their houses. Young men and women and children secure to them- selves these weapons; and in conformity with immemorial practice, none among the Burmese on this day escape the usual liqiifd salutations : " the compliments of the season" are 17 258 OUR TEIP TO BUEMAH. mutually poured forth among friends in copious abundance ; and if the silk putsos of the men and the silk tamiengs of the women can be found with " a dry thread in them" it will be because their owners were careful to substitute for them the plainer material of cotton. This festival lasts four days. The Buffalo Fight. This festival occurs on the full moon in October annually, at Tavoy and Mergui — the people at Bangoon not being at all interested in it. In fact, the people at Mergui are all but indifferent to this cruel sport, the Tavoyers alone retaining it in all its pristine force. It is held on a large and open plain adjoining the town. On the plain is erected a number of booths on bamboo platforms, in the form of a square. For weeks before the festival takes place, it engages the whole time and thoughts of the people of Tavoy, and the town at nights is all animation and life instead of being devoted to rest. Every preparation is made ; and after all it is a stupid affair. Each village and each district of the town selects its animal, which is kept highly fed and trained to fight. A guard of those interested in its feats is kept con- stantly round it day and night, sounding gongs, to break it in and remove its fears for noise, as well as to prevent any rival village from conveying to it any description of food that may deteriorate its courage and condition on the day of fighting. Bets to a large amount are laid on it, the riders are selected from the most active and experienced of the villagers, and songs are composed in honour of its expected exploits. On the day of the fight, the animals are all brought to the neighbourhood of the arena ; and when a match is called for, the two huge beasts are conducted into it at opposite ends, surrounded by a sacred cord, under a cloth canopy, accompanied by a large band of backers, singing and dancing, and having a number of small flags, which they set in the ground in front of the animal, — this being intended as a charm. Each animal has a man on his back holding a rope passed lightly through its nostrils, and two others, one on each side of its head. They are brought up to NOTES. 259 face each other in the centre of the arena, and commence to butt and gore each other till one turns tail and runs away. Often the}' - will not fight, but get their heads locked, and remain in that position, notwithstanding all the encouragement and blows of their leaders, till the patience of the spectators is exhausted. Frequently one turns tail at once, and then gets hooted off. A real downright fight seldom occurs. When it does, it is certainly a very brutal sight, as the animals gore each other most horribly — the horn of one perhaps thrust into the eye of the other. It is a dangerous amusement to the riders and followers, and sometimes to the spectators, when an animal gets furious from pain and rushes in among them. Accidents attended with loss of life are frequent. By far the most interest- ing sight is that of the assembled multitude, all dressed in their best, and watching the fights with breathless interest, giving a simultaneous shout, or rather a kind of grunt, as one beast by the turn of its horn inflicts a wound on the other. The animal will not generally fight after once being defeated; and when it is certain he will not fight again, the music strikes up, and the winning party rush into the centre of the square, dancing and yelling ten times fiercer than before the fight began ; some, to show the exuberance of their joy, throwing themselves into muddy pools, which are numerous about the place. The winning buffalo is led round the square, the people shouting with the greatest vehemence; the losing party going home quietly, dejected and discomfited. In the evening, the young men and women of the different victorious districts go in procession round the town, dancing and singing in the streets, the buffalo being with them. These fights also occurred at Martaban whilst it was under Burmese rule, for the gratification of the Tavoy people who congregated there. The Boat Races. The Thlay Peyin Poay, or Boat Race festival of the Burmese, commences on the full moon in October ; and to a stranger it is not only an interesting and beautiful sight, but certainly 200 OUR TRIP TO BURMAH. original. Every wharf, and the banks of the river to the very- water's edge, are occupied by one dense gay throng — men, women, and children, shining in the radiance of silks; among whom nothing is heard but the jingling of money : every man, woman, and child, betting with his or her neighbour ; clan with clan, or group with group. It is altogether a pleasing, pictu- resque, and at the same time a grotesque sight. The river's edge up to the wharf is one mass of umbrellas, while boats either float quietly on the water or ply along with all the strength of from 35 to 45 men. Here are groups of faces peeping out of windows or doors — some of them no mean beauties on the whole; ladies and gentlemen of the different stations where this festival is kept up are to be seen as spectators. NOTES. 2G1 The boats are long canoes from 30 to 40 feet long, with two planks on the sides to elevate them above the water's edge, and to admit of the weight of a great number of rowers : they are gaily painted, and have each some distinguishing mark ; they are, however, lightly constructed, and lie very low on the water with their full complement of men — who, with their hair knotted above their heads, their bare bodies, and their oars of a little more than three feet in length, as they dash along, bend- ing their bodies to each stroke, shouting, shrieking, and yelling, afford one the nearest idea that can be formed of the South Sea Islanders. Yonder dark boat anchored in mid-stream, with the small insignia of Great Britain at her masthead, and the bamboo athwart her bows, is the Umpire's boat, or winning- post ; and that bamboo has at each end a few palm-leaves, the emblem of success. The racing-course is from Moung-gnan to this boat, which lies in front of the Main Wharf ; and the whole space between occupies a line of somewhere about two miles. At high water, two canoes, whose strength is equal, are started from Moung-gnan, then another pair, and so on until all the boats which have entered have run the course. The rate of velocity of these boats is between eight and ten miles an hour The Burmese really paddle well, steadily, and together. On the whole, the affair is very brilliant. As each party win, some of them immediately start on their feet, and with violent gesticulations and considerable excitement shout their anathemas on the other ; the opposition, in vexation and shame, return the compliment with interest, or skulk away from the arena. The Doon Poay. The Doon Poay, or Poonghye Byan, is one of the most inter- esting of the Burmese religious and national festivals. It is that of performing the funeral rites of their priests, who after death are embalmed and preserved during the year. It is not with the Burmese customary " to clothe themselves in weeds " when their priests pay the last debt of nature; and if they turn such an event to the "getting up" of a public exhibition, 262 OUE TEIP TO BUEMAH. in which they can combine a testimony of respect 'for the priesthood with the gratification of their propensity to indulge in feelings unallied to those of a serious character, they perhaps are excusable on the ground of not having yet had their minds imbued with a sterner and more self-restraining faith. In the instance of the preparation for the funeral rites no means are spared to have, according to their notions, a magnificent display. The body of the priest is covered with gold leaf, and laid on a richly ornamented coffin. Wooden tubes, of various lengths from about six to ten feet, which for the want of a more appropriate term may be called rockets, strongly bound with rattans, and filled with the common ingredients of gunpowder, are fastened to the axles of low carriages on four wheels. Surmounting these are placed figures of men and animals of the most grotesque description, formed of light materials, some of them of enormous size ; and in the formation of the whole the study and design of the devisers seem to be deviate from nature rather than to imitate it. Every village or district has its body of young men and women formed into separate bands ; and at the head of each band is a Burman chosen for the brilliance of his wit, or any other attribute he may possess, which entitles him generally to be acknowledged as the "cock of the walk." The bands dress themselves in uniforms, and by dint of practice for a month or two before the ceremony takes place, acquire great skill in attitudinising and accompanying the different figures they execute with songs appropriate to the occasion. When the time is near for the conclusion of the ceremony, they pass in procession through the town, and visit the house of the head official and those of the Europeans who are dis- posed to receive them, preceded by a party of richly dressed women singing and dancing, and responded to by a larger company of men who follow, wearing some badge or dress to dis- tinguish one band from the other. On they go, white elephants, giants, horses, rams, buffaloes, dragons, and the likenesses of nothing in heaven above or on the earth beneath, innumerable. The songs composed for the occasion are highly in praise of NOTES. 263 themselves and their villages, and replete with good wishes for the authorities and others whom they visit. The processions last for several hours ; when the whole move off to prepare for the next day. On the succeeding morning, the streets of the town are filled with men, women, and children in their holiday dress, moving towards the Burmese burial-ground. Tents formed of handkerchiefs placed on bamboo sticks upright, temporary sheds covered with leaves, thousands of umbrellas, the varied and brilliant colours of the Burman dresses, with a white tent occupied by several ladies and gentlemen of the community ) pitched in the centre of an animated and easily pleased mass of people, with the sun shining on the glittering golden orna- ments worn by the Burmese, form, assisted by the picturesque nature of the country, as pretty and gay a sight as any would wish to see. If we were to compute the number of spectators at these scenes at 12,000, we should not probably be far from the truth. The body of the priest is in an ornamented car, and placed under a shed decorated with a spire and situated at a distance of about four to five hundred feet. Each village has a wooden gun about fifteen feet in length, and diameter of bore about nine inches : this gun is stuffed to the muzzle with explosive materials, and is mounted on a car, which runs on four wheels ; on the top of the gun a figure is placed, sometimes an effigy of an archer, sometimes a crab, sometimes a "beloo" (geni), — or any fanciful device, according to the taste of the villagers. These rockets are now fired in rotation, being placed opposite the car in which the body of the poonghye lies — causing vast clouds of smoke, hissing louder than a hundred steam-engines, and careering across the plain as chance, (for they are not guided,) conducts their rapid movements. When the material is all exhausted, the machine gradually stops, and the men to whom it belongs rush up, dance and sing around it. The object to be gained is to strike the car in which the body of the priest lies, and to ignite the combustibles which the car contains, blowing up the body with it. On such an event happening, great is the joy of the chosen band, and great will 264 OUR TEIP TO BURMAH. be the luck, for the ensuing year, of the village from whence the gun has been brought. Shortly after, the festival is brought to a close by the few remaining rockets being let off, and the car set on fire by order of the poonghyes. Several deaths and severe injuries to persons from the rockets — which, after they are once ignited, are not in any way controlled — result; co^Jequently the least inequality of the ground may turn the car (which runs on four wheels and on which the rocket is fixed horizontally) off at an angle, and before the lookers-on know where they are, the machine rushes down on them with the velocity of a steam-engine, overturning every obstacle, and only stopping when the materials with which it is charged are burnt out. At Rangoon and Moulmein during the day the town pre- sents quite a deserted appearance. The gharriwallahs reap a plentiful harvest, asking as much as from six to ten rupees, and refusing to let their gharries out unless remunerated at these exorbitant rates. This interesting and imposing ceremony, which has annually been performed in all its grandeur and magnificence, standing aione without a rival or resemblance in any other portion of the globe, has in a great measure been discountenanced by the authorities, who either doubt their power and capability of preserving the peace of the town during its continuance, or are repugnant to its being performed on the Sabbath day — a day which is unfortunately chosen for it, and which thus forms a pretext for discouraging and attempting to put an end to this, national amusement and religious ceremony. NOTES. 265 BURMESE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Burmese Commercial Measure of Capacity. 2 Lamyoo = 1 Lamyet = 1 Gill. 2 Lamyet = 1 Lamay = | Pint. 2 Lamay = 1 Zalay = 1 Pint. 2 Zalay = 1 Hkwet = 1 Quart. 2 Hkwet = 1 Byee = \ Gallon. 2 Byee = 1 Zayoot = 1 Gallon. 2 Zayoot = 1 Seit = 1 Peck. 2 Seit = 1 Hkwai = \ Bushel. Cubic in. 2 Hkwai = 1 Basket = 1 Bushel, or 22181 92. N.B. — The English Bushel is = to a Burmese Basket. Burmese Commercial Measure of Weight. 2 Small Yooway =r 1 Large Yooway. 4 Large Yooway = 1 Pai. 2 Pai =1 Moo. 2 Moo = 1 Mat. 4 Mat = 1 Tical. 100 Ticals = 1 Viss. Rs. 141-15-1^, exactly, in silver = 1 Viss. Rs. 38-14-2f, „ „ =1 lb. Avoir. N.B. — The Burmese measure their liquids by weight. Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. IH6nTYC0fTn? LIBRARY