I J^ Presented to the Cornell University Library by the Breezewood Foundation 1984 1=^ r^j The Cornell University Library original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924011929324 Cornell University Library DS 485.B81F37 1901 Burma / ,-^ 485 DATg DUE ^ '- FEBI^IUI I301 J^mf^:^«SOt risr^^=?9or CORNELL UNiV^EMTY LIBRARIES ITHACA, N. Y. 14853 U M24^0I^ """^ CAVLORD job.u M. Hchols Collecrion on Soucheast Asiai^ JOHN M OLiN LIBRARY' ' PRINTED INU.S.J BURMA 1, ROYAL THRONE. \_Fro7itispiece. BURMA BY MAX. AND BERTHA FERRARS SECOND EDITION LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON AND COMPANY LIMITED New York : E. P. BUTTON & 1901 CO. i .y London : Printed by William Clowes a' Sons, Limited, Duke Street, Stamford Street, S.E., and Great Windmill Street, W. — — . BURMAN QOLD-EMBROIDERED SCREEN 2. — (KALAGA). CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Burma a distinct type tions about --r^*Sq^-lv;-'*#=^»«f*^ — Previous isolation — Influence of — Sketch of history Burma ..... Buddhism . — Current misconcep- '' CHAPTER n. CHILDHOOD. CORNELL :es — Children's games — School teaching ^ UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CHAPTER T6i(win HI. ADOLESCENCE. rsal monastic novitiate — (Buddhist institutions — The Yahdn — — Ecclesiastical architecture — Decadence Zedi—Ancient — Inferior •Images — Scriptures — Temple accessories —-The Bo of BuddBrahmans PayadyAu — Religious worship — aung tree ..... ^Principles ecular GIFT OF Alexander B. Griswold life - 14 : London Printed by William Cloiaes df Sons, Limited, Duke Street, Stamford Street, S.E., and Great Windmill Street, W. — — . £V ^V^^^S^r ^^^E^S^r 2. ^ ^^BH^Hr — ^BHI99 ^^^^HHb^ "^WH^^h^^^^^tf ^W^^^^^^r ^^BK^KB^r BURMAN QOLD-EMBROIDERED SCREEN (KALAGA). CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Burma a distinct type tions about .... — Previous isolation — Influence of — Sketch of history Burma CHAPTER Buddhism — Current misconcep- n. CHILDHOOD. — Early influences — Children's games — School teaching Infancy CHAPTER Tot^win HI. ADOLESCENCE. — — — — (Buddhist institutions The Yahdn Universal monastic novitiate Kyaung Ecclesiastical architecture Decadence Zedi Ancient TheinihamSt remains (Pagdn) Images Scriptures Temple accessories ^The Bo tree Inferior Brahmans Payadyun Religious worship ^Principles of Buddreligious orders hism) Return to secular life Thami-ii fete — b — — — — — — . — — — — ..... — — H — — CONTENTS vl CHAPTER IV. MANHOOD AND OCCUPATION. Agriculture I'AGE — Home industry— Manners and Customs — Settlements — Climate CHAPTER . . 48 V. TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. — Palm — — and cane sugar growing Fruit and vegetable gardening Fishery The chase Pottery Brick and tiles Plaster-work Stone-cutting Cordage Silk weaving — Umbrellas Lacquer- work Foot-gear Metallurgy Implements Ornaments Coins Alchemy Forest and timber Carpentry Carving Painting and design Inscriptions and writing Literature Medicine Dealers TransportBoats and carts Travel Oil-pressing — — — — — — — — — — — — .....— — CHAPTER ALIEN Shan — — — — — — — — — . 83 VI. RACP:S. — Karen — Chin — Chimpaw— Chinese — Native of India — European CHAPTER 142 VII. POLITICAL. — — Chronic wars Brigandage Village system tion Royalty History — — — Native .... CHAPTER administration — British administra163 . VIII. PAGEANTS AND FROLICS. The drama — Music — Games — Festivals Nat worship CHAPTER Age and mortality — Funeral Observances —Tombs — Pilgrimages — The great shrines . 173 IX. . jno . APPENDICES. A. Chronology of Burma B. Structure of the Burmese language Method of transliteration C Notes on Burmese music, by Mr. P. A. Mariano D. Statistical Area Population Fiscal items Crime— Imports and exports E. Measures Time and calendar Length Capacity Weight Money . . . 201 . — — — M^P — ..... Examples Index — of music , • • — — — . . • 208 10 211 — ...— ... ->!, o,f; ^^ ; At'e'nd . . OF ILLUSTRATIONS LIST Full-page illustrations are denoted by thick type. Illustrations with * prefixed are by Bertha Ferrars (the late Mrs. LI. W. Lewis), by whom also all the plates were developed The remainder are by Max Ferrars, with the exception of No, 104. The subjects (1892-96). of illustrations marked % are in the Town Museum, Freiburg in Baden. Royal Throne Burman ... . gold - embroidered (kalagd) PAGE Ft'ontispiece Sunset on the coast Estuary of the Salween Landing-stage in the tidal region Ruins of city gate, Pag^n JAncient gate, with figures of /Aci. . . dya-min and keitinayd 9- (appliqiU work) Burman lay II. The 12. Baby's bath 13- *The rattan H- * Burman 15- Mudlarks 16. 'TIS. 19- 20. fall of . . . Racing toy boats GsLme of sUappyii 26. Children's cycle . ... race school . ... Yahdn on 7 42. 7 8 43. Buddhist Recluse Goyin praying for admission to the 8 44. 9 45. Ancient ihein at Pagdn Yahdn assembled for dedication of .10 46. Illuminated 10 i^y. Sun 10 48. by the kyaicngtagd Temple over the water Yethein 11 49. Forest 37. 38. , , . . . tion 16 16 17 18 18 19 20 20 20 .... thein Kambawd . — kyaimg 51. Kyaung 12 52. Y'ihL.z^ 13 53. Sadaw in his study 13 54. Yahdn installed as 21 22 22 23 kyaung. 12 21 22 sent 50. Village '5 15 19 the round for sun Thinga 9 •4 17 • 41. 4 .11 .... • 40. . ... • 39. . . . • 5 36. 6 The first step .... The wooden cradle {satmgbdn) Young children's toys Games in the water Toy carts Kite-flying (Pegu).' 3 3 6 . 28. 35. 4 Burma mother and infant 27. Village lay 34. Manda- of Peg-tops idyin-pauk) 32. Interior of village monastic school 23- Marbles {gdn-hnyin) 24. 33. 2 . {paM) cradle 21. 25. 2 . war out to . emblem . . Shinldung praying for acceptance (Burma) Shinldung renewing his prayer Goyin making obeisance Painting of Shinldung fHe Goyin receiving higher instruC' . national 31. 32. . . . picture of the i i ... 14 Thami-u arrayed for her fete Shinldung arrayed for his fete Shinldung pageant (Burma Proper) Shinldimg pageant (Pegu) Shinldung pageant (Pegu) Shinldung praying for acceptance 30. * . . . Ananda Paya, Pagdn. Burman General going Novices making the round for daily food V . . 29. screen 23 at the capital kyaung PSndyi 34 24 24 25 VIU 55- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IX PAGE 138. Stand for the drinking-water on 139- Bathing-place the 64 . . river-bank (Pagan) Fetching in fuel 141. Getting fire by the native method 142. The cooking-place 140. 143144. The family meal (old style) The family meal (new style) ... . Tea . {leppeyy^) 147. Belle at 189. Fruit-stall in July (Tenaserira) 87 65 190. Rod 87 66 66 191. 67 193. Swing net {yagwin) Wicker fish-trap {hmydn) Dabbing with fly Caging fish singly {saung-tS) Caging fish in company Fish weir and trap The Irawadi at Nyaung-u 192. 194. net {paittagAn) 69 69 70 70 198. Sluice of Marriage ceremony 151. The suitor's visit ideal and the real .... Tattooing {tSgwin) 153- The Challenge 152. "original " by boat by cart 155- Pleasure-party 156. Pleasure-party ... .... 157- Domestic flower-stand (Nyaungye-6) 158. Wayside water-stand 199. . lagoon fishery Shore net {in) Pounding ngapl 92 71 202. Setting nets for deer 71 203. 72 204. Katndbi dog Hill-man {Kardn) with crossbow 72 205. Trap . .... for tiger 208. Measuring the panther 74 209. *The hamadryad 75 210. Pottery 75 211. Lathe pottery 75 212. Fancy pottery (Shan) 76 213. KiJn for patted wares .... .... 76 214. Pottery 77 215. tidal region 78 78 78 217. Plasterer's scaffold 79 79 80 80 80 220. Hill-people twisting rope ... Children at the river-side 160. Chinldn game {appliqud work) . 161. Children's boat-tubs at flood-time . 92 . 206. Forest stream 159- 91 . 73 . 91 ... . 73 74 in the city 89 90 90 90 . 200. Sea-fishermen's huts 201. . . 197. 196. . . 68 The 86 188. Collecting jack-fruit belle 150. 85 86 65 her toiht 149. the cane-juice. rollers for cane-mill 195. Village An Turning 68 68 148. 154. Boiling 187. 64 .67 145. Betel {kim) 146. . down 186. 207. Bringing in roe-deer {dyi) 93 93 94 94 94 95 95 . —patting the ware into shape 96 96 ' 162. Carving of chinldn player 163. The Pibya 164. Forest zaydt and water-stand a visitor shrine . 165. Receiving 166. Village chevaux-de-frise 167. 168. Approach to the village Village causeway in the . . ... . 169. Village river-front 171. Riding buffaloes in flood-time The village dogs 172. *The 170. .... taitkte 173- Village scene in the dry season 181. South-west monsoon clouds The floods in the lowland forest Village environs in the floods Village scene in the high flood Scene in the plains at flood-time The Irawadi at Prome Fire in the temple precincts Brick-makers 182. Oil-mill 174. 175- 176. 177178. 179. 180. . . . 183. Pe and 184. Cleaning rice wholesale Cane-crushing mill 185. tan palms , . . 77 .... shop Limestone rocks 216. Limekiln 218. Sculpturing 219. 221. 222. 99 99 on zedi marble images 224. 100 . Rope- walk lOI Umbrella makers Lacquer-ware manufacture lOI 102 102 . . 103 Etched design on lacquer {Hngeppyitiatmg) 103 . 82 Lacquer-ware dealer 226. Sandal-makers 227. Brass-image founders 82 228. 83 229. 83 82 100 . 223. Scoring rings on lacquer-ware 81 81 97 97 225. . 104 104 104 105 230. Burman horse-furniture Burman blacksmith (old style) Burman blacksmith (new style) 84 231. Swordsmith 106 84 232. 85 233. Canopy of great zedi Mountain cascade (it) 105 106 107 107 . . . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE 234. Washing 236. *Silver plate Town silversmith Arak^n Kings, half the size of the originals 239. Gold-beaters . . 240. Alchemists *Gold jewellery 242. Defile below the great rapid of the Salween 243. Teak-tree out of leaf (March) 241. . . . , . 244. Mixed hill-crop of rice, sesamum and teak, in September 245. Flue of factory disused ten years 246. Scene on the Salween river. 247. The the rapid of great . 09 278, 10 279. Preparing Tawthalin offerings 283. Burman I I 284. Bazir scene, Pegu 285. Pedlars. Toy and 287. Country sale-depot 13 290. 13 291. 256. Neaped log's on the Salween river 257. Felling the tree . 261. .... .... Launching neaped Timber .... 262 Rope-station on the Salween {kyo 258. 259. Dragging the log Pushing the logs off 14 logs salver's hut 263. Binding the logs into rafts 264. Timber-raft 265. Sawing up the logs . 266. Sorting logs at the sea-port. 267. 268. 269. 270. 271. 272. 273. Burman carpenters Burman tiu'ner Burman wood-carver . ... Carved scene from zdt Burman painter at work. Mural decoration in an ancient * Carved elephant-tusk 274. Palm-leaf 275. Copyist at 296. 15 297. Boat-builder's yard (Pegu) 134 16 298. Lamig-go poling against a rapid 134 16 299. . 134 16 300. . 135 17 301. Peingaw sailing up-stream Laimgzdt paling up-stream Laungzdt loading 17 302. Shipping-port on the Irawadi 303. Burman sea-going craft 304- Bullock-cart, 18 133 133 '35 136 (kattii) 136 Pegu 305- Burman 306. Buffalo-cart 307- Tyreing the wheel 136 cartwrights 137 137 38 Burma Proper Burma Proper 310. Burman 3II. Wayside rest-house 312. Country bridge 313- Royal bridge 138 138 ponies . 139 yzayat) ... . 314- Travelling with elephants tliein .... work 132 132 Town 316. (Nyaung-u) Carved figure of An.mda 317- Ferry station 318. Shan camp in the lowlands Shan bullock canuun Shan village on the Salween 319- environs in the .... 139 140 140 140 315. MS 131 132 309- Bullock-carts, . 131 . 308. Pleasure-cart, daii) 130 Laungzat sailing up-stream. Rough-hewing the bo. it-hull. Opening out the boat-hull the shoals . 129 130 . Pareikaya dealer BazAr scene, Burma Proper. Cloth bazAr 293. Night bazdr 129 130 . 292. [aung] 260. . . Laung-g6 poling up-stream 15 . . flower stalls at the shrine. Rolling cheroots 295. 255. Girdling the tree 128 . 286. 14 Forest stream in the pine region 128 . . 128 . . 12 Evergreen-forest brook 254. carrier 12 25 of river 127 127 282. 294. Upper waters 126 I I 14 253. 126 280. Mangrove jungle 252. Riparian forest Horoscope on palm-leaf Kothena-ySu 281. Children's bazdr 250. r. 125 10 last rapids of the . 125 . Burman apothecary Shampooing {a-hnSik) 10 Salween {hatji) below the Salween sinners 277. 12 248. Vortex of the great rapid 249. Defile account of the pains inflicted on 09 238. Silver coins of the The on type-metal. cut lord of Hell receives his steward's 08 08 235. Village silversmith 237. Burman 08 for gold dry zone 141 '41 141 142 . \\.x . 142 — . . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XI PAGE 325. Shan carrier caravan Shan shinldiiiig fHe Shan blacksmiths Shan image of the Buddha Shans preparing their rice-fields mustering his villagers 37I. Burman outpost stockade 372. Village elders in conclave 326. Kyaington Shans 373. 321. 322. 323. 324. 329. 330. 331. 332. 333. 33 ;. 335. 336. 357. 338. 339. 340. 341. 342. 344. 345. 370. . European type of house Harbour scene i5i 162 Headman Burman official . 164 receiving applicants . . . Burman judge proceeding 376. Judge presiding 377- .379- The city gate {pya-6) The palace gardens *Royal maid of honour (apyodaw) 380. Palace front and spire 378. to Court 165 166 Court 166 167 . 168 Royal insignia 383. Ancient capital, Sagding 384. JCarved figure of nat 385. Temples raised by a modern king 382. (the K^thodaw) 386. * Figures ai 387. 389393391- 170 •71 Byammd (embroidery). 171 The city moat The Burmese drama {zappwe) and band The characters in the play The Burman ballet {hayt-pwe) The Burman ballet {han-pwe) 172 .... . . 392- "Marionette varieties. side 167 168 381. * Burman Princess . Kardn spring-spear (dyan) Kardn hunters bringing in wild pig Karens threshing corn on the hill- 164 165 375. in 163 163 374. Official passing the street . Kardn foot-bridge Kar^n ferry-rafts on the Salween Shan method of threshing Kardn village Kar^n mother and babe. Karens bringing elephants to market Karens going out to work Shan village environs Karris sowing their crop Karen crop-watcher's hut Karens cutting their crop Kardn woman cooking Shan camp in the frontier hills Kardn liquor-still Kardn hiding coin in a growing bamboo 343. 369- . 327. Shan-Cliinese 328. 368. 173 173 174 174 174 346. Kardn with decoy-cock 393- Marionette play 347. Decoy-cock in the circle of snares Karen hoop-game Kardn woman weaving Karen spearman Kardn maidens Kardn girls fetching water Kardn bronze drum {pAsi) Karfo grave Buffalo led to water by Karen child Red Kardns Karenni Chins Kachin Chimpdw Taungthu Hovels of the Indian immigrants Chinese shoemakers 394- *Marionette princess. 175 boxing-match 396. Pony-racing 176 397- * Marionette varieties. 176 398- Bullock racing 177 348. 349. 350. 351. 352. 353. 354. 355. 356. 357. 358. 359. 360. 361. . . .... — . 362. Kare'n tree-ladder (Evergreen forest) 363. Manipuris 364. The Chetti . . 365. Bringing the . . paddy 367. 399- The 400. Cock-fighting 401. ChiiiloH . game 403- Chess 404. ... 406. 177 178 . 178 . 178 . 179 . Dominoes 405. Pasit . 179 180 .... game Angalon gambling 407. Chinlon game 180 180 . 408. Chinese dice {iddatmg) 181 409. Burman *The charmer approaching the snake *The hamadryad captured 410. . . . 411. juggler 181 . . 412. Snake-charmer's performance 413- 414. 175 176 boat-race goal {pan) 402. Slashing cocoanuts (6nk6t) . South of India fisherman . . . 366. Foreshore at the factories . 395- Boys' . to the rice-mills . New- Year y?/^, Payd-ye-cho Water-throwing at New- Year . 182 182 183 183 . . 184 . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Xll PAGE PACE 415. Ransom 416. New- Year Sunldung Sunldung 417. procession at New-Year . tug-of-war 2X ThadindyAt iesX\VA\ aX Thadindyiit . 421. 422. Mazes at Thadmdyi'it TazdunginSn festival. 423. Propitiating the local . . of the 438- Funeral of a wealthy . 186 439- 428. 187 442. 188 444. Cinerarium 430. Canoes racing . . 431. Decorating the thebonzedi 432. A . . . . nobo-sdt Home-devotions of the aged . 197 . last stage 197 198 ofyahdn 446. Cinerarium of 189 447. * Vale ! 448. 198 Pondyibyan 188 199 King Mindon Min . Image found in a cave near an ancient TaMing town Mahd-myammuni image Chidawyd Copper image discovered in the . 449. 190 450. 190 451. 191 foundations of 192 A.D. 1784 daughter praying her parents to 433. Painting of Kyaittiyo pilgrimage 434. 445. 190 429. Kyaittiyo on sacred ground . 443. Bier of pSndyi five . 196 . 189 Shwe-Dagon Payd, Rangoon Paya funeral pyre 440. 441. Cineraria . . Burman 195 196 187 The 194 bier reaching the cemetery 187 planets 427. Pilgrims with their belongings The The . . nats of the bier leaving the house 437- — Min Bodaw. The 194 185 Magayi nat 426. Propitiating the 436. Entertaining the funeral guests Nats {nak- house-genius 425. Propitiating the nat 185 186 kazA) 424. Shrine 435. . . ksUvaX 419. Fire-balloons at ThadindyAt 420. River illuminations at JhadindyiU. 418. The veteran 184 452. 199 200 201 202 203 Maha-myammuni, Burmese letterpress (newspaper) Saddik The Burmese harp and dulcimer 192 453.. . 193 454. . 193 455. Hintlia-%\a.T^zA. weight of brass. 206 208 209 211 215 3. SUNSET ON THE COAST. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Burma rertiained in isolation throughout the longest period history. One of her result of was that her type grew more and more this The isolation Burma was due to distinct. of her geographical tion, dice posi- not to the preju- which animates 4. other Mongolian states. Burma ESTUARY OF THE SALWEEN. shut away in is a coign of the earth between mountain wastes and the ocean. The kindred came under the sway of Burma. They fought among themselves and they traded among themselves the wars and the commerce of the greater world beyond affected them little. No base of attack was near enough to Burma for the ancient nations settled within the same natural confines, one after another ; of armies push her- B ; On the west the seas were too wide for the transport on the east serried ranges of hills blocked the efforts of China to conditions of warfare. way to the coast. Burma possessed no staples 'of trade to encourage — BURMA peaceable the of enterprise her own to veloped her character It preserves large a she resources, entirely in Left sort. de- independence. measure of its and charm. Detached though Burma lay from the original freshness contact of other civilisation, the seed-corn of a spiritual influence was brought to her and took root and spread The one until it pervaded her whole life. extraneous influence under which she fell proved of a paramount order. But the broadly of Buddhism was inspiration Every people might human, not racial. shore from take its afar, message to heart individual way. and LANDING-STAGE the ideals it in restraints their it held up became the occasions for REGION. of Buddhist legend furnished the subjects to exercise her poetic fancy. century, A.D., long after fifth when it its real progress In the and at its began among the people who Buddhism had declined only prevailed in Ce}'lon, own enjoined Burma to unfold her own inmost nature. The abounding treasury THE TIDAL IN The source in India, were to give it an enduring home. Buddhism is popularly credited with five hundred millions of adherents. But the seven millions of Burma and perhaps a twentieth of that number in Ceylon, together with the half million Jains of India, are the practical Buddhists of the world. With the rest the profession has sunk to an empty name, as in China and Japan, or it is lax, as in Siam, or it is utterly trans- formed, as in Tibet. The phrase Further India gives point ception. many the to a The wide miscon- surprise of so persons on finding that Burmans have no —to caste take the commonest instance betrays the notion that Burma INTRODUCTORY is The phrase Indo-China part of India. misleading unless in respect also graphy. In respect of fauna, Furtlier India is climate, of flora not inapplicable. is geo- and A probable Indo- Aryan admixture exists in the But (Arakan). north-east and Pegu are as distinct Burma Proper from India as Tibet itself. The original Burman tribes are con- have pushed their way south from the mountains of Tibet. They divided jectured to into three principal east, branches, Arakan {Ra- Yakding) on the west, Paung on the kding, and Burma the chief northern known which attained to middle, on the Irawadi {E-ya wadi). Nothing is (Baiiia), position, in the of the early history of these nations. But it is certain that in looo A.D. Burma was a large and powerful kingdom, with its 7. ANCIENT GATE, WITH FIGURES OF THADYA-MIN AND KEINNAYA. seat at Pagan. historical About that time the first conquest of the lower Irawadi was effected. From the fact that the country was not permanently subdued it may be inferred that the power of the Mun or Peguan race (later called Talaing) was not greatly inferior to that of the Burman. The Muns, from the affinities of their language, are conjectured to be of Annamitic origin. There is mention of the Pagan kingdom independently of the Burman chronicles, and there is above all the evidence of the ruins of Pagan, probably the mightiest of their They testify to the power of the kingdom and the influence of the kind. 1 BURMA 4 In which actuated the kings to build temples on such a scale. 1300 A.D. the power of the Pagan kingdom had spent itself, in a great degree But the owing, as the Burmans believe, to the drain of the temple-building. religion force of the religion was unabated. Burma fell a prey to Shan invaders, who snatched the dominion for nearly two hundred years but failed to consolidate BURMAN GENERAL GOING OUT TO WAR (APPLIQUE WORK). 9. it, of up splitting into principalities like those of their native Burma allowed the Mun power to develop. The hills. The weakness sixteenth century saw the of Pegu and the establishment of a shifting empire over Burma. Exhausted by wars, Pegu in turn declined and lay at the mercy of Siam. ( Yodayd) when Paung {Taung-ngu) came to the rescue. In the seventeenth century the PaungPeguan dynasty brought the Mun empire to its zenith, from which it waned in Towards the middle of the latter century the Burmans under the eighteenth. Alaung Paya rose against the Mun garrisons, overthrew Pegu and finally established the empire of Burma. Arakin was incorporated Siam was subjugated and made triburise ; tary for a time. directed its The empire ambition to the Manipiir was overrun and the Arakanese pretensions in Chittagong were revived, which produced friction with the British power in India. Burman dominion had been a career of unbroken conquest west. in the memory of the then generation the nation believed ; itself invincible. In the elation of their prowess at home they 10. burman picture of the fall of mandalay, INTRODUCTORY 5 to form a conception of the power of nations beyond the sea. The Burmans had no intelligence branch in the shape of a sea-borne trade of their own. So they provoked a trial of strength, and after a struggle, which they made a long and well-nigh desperate one for their well-equipped opponents, succumbed. Burman empire was over, the ancient kingdom only remained. The people had learned the lesson, but not so their rulers, who suffered affairs to come to a thrice-repeated crisis. (See CHRONOLOGY, 1825, 1852, 1885.) failed 11. THE NATIONAL EMBLEM OF BURMA. 12. BABY'S BATH. CHAPTER II CHILDHOOD The and the flower-stand that strike one two things are the in cradle every care Burman bestowed plainest cradle and a The cradle carved dwelling by the on them. has a turned headpiece swings The rail (p. 8). by ropes to which the mosquito curtain is tied. The bed is made of a cotton mattress and a few plies of cloth. The infant is swaddled while its mother is lying in, and for a week or two later according to After the season of the year. 13. THE RATTAN CRADLE (PAKET). that it wears only necklets and The first clothes the child gets are for grand occasions, after it bangles. When the mother has has learned to run about and take care of itself takes she recovered, she her babe with her wherever goes, and if a wood or is not handy she slings the infant in a plain hammock of cloth The Burmans do not carry their young children in a sling on the back hill people, but on the hip as soon as they can sit up (Nos. 327, 424). cane cradle (No. 284). like the V/hen the babe is hardy enough to go without covering, it spends its waking hours on a smooth mat spread over a springy bamboo floor which somewhat — INFANCY 7 tempers Nature's discipline of knocks and bumps, as compared with the bare hard ground of the Indian hut. Nevertheless the young Burman's converse with his environment is unrestricted enough. By the time he is a year old he may be trusted to himself on a flimsy platform many feet off the ground or over the water. There are few things in the way of the child that very cheroot coveted its may it mother not handle. is The plaything. smoking daily The is a bath at the river-side or well has familiai'ised the child with another element. out the into splash to 14. BURMAN MOTHER AND It may shower heart's content with rush and its older in the first tepid puddle. The its playmates tropical first Burman's regular exclamation of wonder or fear is mother " ame. '' INFANT. ! When is a few months old, and friends are assembled and entertained with tea and sweets to witness the ceremony of piercing the ears and giving a name. The Burmans have no patronymics. The name is chosen from a set of current euphemisms proper to the days of the week and their planets, the child relatives according to the star presiding over the day of birth. The fancy pf the parents and the. prognostics of the soothsayer unite to decide the choice. Names compounded from two are kan from ning Common three). with the " are single or series (in Ai-a- names, begin- Sunday-son," are On, Kyaw, San, Shwe, Po, Tha, Dun. Men's and women's names are taken from the same sets only the courtesy-prefixes differ The needle-hole made in the lobe (p. 74). ; of the ear on the naming-day panded by means of plugs and bast. is rolls exof In the course of a few years the lobe takes a plug one-half to three-quarters 15. MUDLARKS. BURMA of an inch thick. tom is This cus- on the decline, and ears of boys are not the generally pierced as so they used to be. The naddung or women's ear-plug of gold is being replaced by the nagdt with its slender stem (No. 241). With eldest-born is frequently girls the fete deferred until they are twelve or fourteen, and is then celeb, .ted with all the more splendour THE FIRST 16. The it. illusion that the earlier they stronger they will chief and Burman (p. source of do so the be. infant fanriilies curious feature of ality is the prevails It is a sickness and of the small- mortality, ness of the A reared. Burman soci- promiscuous suckling of infants in the circle of relatives and friends. Children's heads are shaved in more or less fanciful ways up to the ages of ten or twelve, after which the hair allowed to grow is long. The road-fronts of the houses are always peopled with children. Children are equals and are free to roam through the neighbours' houses and plots, kindly noticed. where they are Adults take in- and make boats, carts and terest in their games, kites other and 14). children are not weaned until the second or Nevertheless they begin to receive solid food as soon as they will third year. take STEP. reels, simple toys for them. 17. THE WOODEN CRADLE (SAUNGBAn). — CHILDREN'S GAMES Manufactured toys are most noticeable wares in the salethe A booths. toy is universal the seed the giant pod from of the dS creeper (No. 251). Like marbles with us, gon-hnyin the seeds — are the the game. 18. YOUNQ CHILDREN'S TOYS. used be played by Lots are cast to A adults. time mano's 1806) characteristic boys' prizes these game of In Sanger- is (1783- games sitoppyit for riders and horses. A ball or bundle is thrown (No. 25). from rider to rider till a player misses the catch, when all the riders dismount and scramble with the horses for the ball. The one who secures it becomes or remains a rider as the case may be. Boys run races for their own sport and that of their elders, They each and race their toy boats. fight duels with their kites, seeking to saw through flier opponent's kite-line, for which his purpose a length of string has been roughened with sand or pounded The peg-top glass. is a favourite That it is indigenous is proved by certain proverbial sayBurman boys are more like ings. our own and take to European games more kindly than other toy. Asiatics the {cf. day is p. The toy 69). the tricycle, of which pinch themselves to provide for their children, and which the happy possessors of will make parents will the common property of all their Where children awaken playmates. such genuine is interest, rarely called C for punishment and is never 19. GAMES IN THE WATER. BURMA lO of savage a have Children description. pretty man- they are respectful to their elders without shyness ners ; or cringing. Children grow up among the implements they will use in after Wooden life. mills husking rice, tilt-hammers and mortars for pounding, for with cotton-seeders rollers, geared spinning-wheels, wea- ving-looms and other simple TOY CART. 20. machines are hold besides agricultural implements, carts and boats, ; or kept in repair by the inmates [cf. p. 120). all The workshops in every house- of which are open to view, and the processes are obvious to every passer-by. is more diversified than in cold countries with more secluded life. From mimicking the occupations of adults children to take part and soon begin to like a real share in them. Their class are interest aroused in children begins with make-believe wares, then develops come made of artizans of every The their learn trade scraps of house and garden produce pocket-money and training in business merge into the age of responsibility intelligence which the school-teacher proceeds to build on has insensibly developed under conditions more than commonly it till into a source The years of without abrupt transition. The (Nos. 281, 431). favourable, which may of tutelage help to account for the precocity of Burman school- children under good teaching. From the ages of eight boys begin attending the school of the Buddhist monastery (kyaung), where they are taught free by the to ten, recluse {pdndyt) or by sojourner recluses his {upazin). The spelling-book in a chorus led by a senior pupil, and is is chanted copied out with a white steatite pencil on a 21. peq-tops (dyin-pauk). 1; SCHOOLING 1 wooden long slate blackened with soot and rice-water (thim- The Burmese bdn). word-building is ex- ceedingly regular and main phonetic (See appendix B). Reading is acquired in the in 23. The Burmans have teacher. eleven one." MARBLES (GON-HNYIN). and can count effort part of a pure decimal notation in which the tivelve are unrepresented. Children one term, without much up to The Burmese eleven hundreds before is on the pupil literally " they come or bugbears to onetyschool up sums mentally. In arithmetic they are taught the multiplication-table and a few rules of thumb {bedin). In addition to the five Buddhist commandments (p. i6) and the objects of contemplation (p. 43), and can reckon homes, they chant passages from the Pili such as the and get other precepts by rote category of duties to parents, teachers and elders, viz., reverence, support, mutual affection (par^ik). They are taught the value of learning as an inalienable possession, together with many precepts from the Lawkantti and Mingala-thdt the conquests of the inner and outer worlds A twin-aungdyin, Apyin-aungdyin, the story of the Buddha (see The Light of Asia) and the legendary cosmogony. As the result of this Buddhist system of schools, nearly half of the male and about 3 per cent, of the female population can read and write, as compared with 9 and 0-3 per cent, for men and women respectively in Bengal. The which the children learn in their scriptures in the school chorus 24. : RACING TOY BOATS. — BURMA ti Bunnan average stands midway between those of Ireland and Austria on the one hand, and Italy and Spain on the other. (Report of the Census of 1891.) The boys at the monastery-school {kyaung-tha) do the domestic work — sweep the floors and enclosures, attend upon the recluses, and help in collecting the daily food. Some scholars live at the kyaung, others have the morning meal others again have their meals at home. The recluse exacts no deference from his scholar, but nevertheless receives from all lay persons a spontaneous homage there, identical with that accorded to royal per- In the kyaung the lads acquire good breeding of their country, for sonages. the GAME OF 25. the race is SITOPPYIT. to be sought. it is among the recluses that the elite of In the stage next to be described, the lad completes by himself sharing in the deference paid to the yellow robe, which he assumes for a season as novice. The monastery-schools are open all the year, but have a large attendance only in the rainy season or wd. Besides the monastic public schools there are private schools kept by laymen and occasionally also by women, in which girls as well as boys are taught. The subjects and methods are the same, but more time is given to arithmetic. The rules of thumb of the Indian bedin are being superseded by modern arithmetic, by help of the vernacular manual prepared by the missionary this training, A Stilson. paid the money small lay fee teacher or in kind. is in Out of hours, the lay-school pupils are of use at their homes, minding their and sisters. The youth Study is is little training brothers begun never broken a chief in off. occupa- tion of middle age. and advanced The teacher— jrtjrf clerical or lay, is reverenced, gg Q-ia^'E race. TA TTOOING next to a parent, with a ' life- long devotion. Before or after the astic novitiate, Burman for the themselves waist to Not the lads to have from the knee (No. The 152). ordeal this reproach the incur cowardice. mon- the custom tattooed submit to to to is is it tattooing intricate pattern of animals Owing traceiy. of surface N of an is and the extent to involved, the pro- most painful. It occupies days or weeks, cess VILLAGE LAY SCHOOL. 27. is according to the fortitude of the subject, for the \ long point ^^ loin-cloth, It is worked with great a kind of lamp-black of the consistence of ink. as photographic As knee-breeches. \^ plates other parts of the body \. the diagrams tattooed with ver- ^^ The Shan practice of letting in pieces drugged with opium rapidity. shows When a Burman tucks up his through the brown skin. he ^\ always does for work or exercise {kaddung-chaik), he looks is he had black ^v ordinary On is It black ^\ bluish if who a handle weighted at the butt, and a of bronze, split like a ruling-pen. The pigment \^ as The instrument has occasion. —beneath the skin— is fail men \^ \ No. 162) for luck and bravado. {se-ni, times imitated by Burmans as a charm ^-^ pudiate the custom of togwin, ascribe it The Arakanese, who reBurman King, who endeavoured thenabbyi). \ to a \ .^ to the eye, it. gold and silver discs the size of two-penny against sword-cuts and bullets {ddbyi ; to disguise his leprosy is In No. 153 it appears fully. frequently have horoscopes and cabalistic milion some- plain as the contrast to render in this way. 'iSi^ 28. KITE-FLYING. — 29. NOVICES MAKING THE ROUND FOR DAILY FOOD CHAPTER (P- 18). III ADOLESCENCE Between Burman the lads ages of an occasion novitiate, and ten upon enter sixteen monastic the celebrated with a The adoption of a religious life by girls is much less general, even for the short time it is embraced by the youths and when it is adopted, there is brilliant fete. ; no ceremony. But a holiday answering to is held in honour that of the boy's novitiate of the girl, especially born child thami-ii. boring ceremony, is tion equipped of it, {sibSn), is THAMI-U ARRAYED FOR HER FETE. is the relatives first- In her case the earnot the piercing itself deferred to the age of ten or twelve. child, 30. if when she in royal attire, or The an imita- and wearing a queen's crown the centre of a great gathering of and friends, who are entertained with music and plays. The be for or lenten who has prepared to renounce the world for a season, or it may The skinldung festivals usher in the religious season wa, June to September the season of rain in Bahar, lad life, is called shinldung. — — MONASTIC NOVITIATE the 15 home of the Buddha. In order to accentuate the renunciation of the world which the lad is making, he ar- is and attended like a and makes a royal progress on horseback or in rayed prince a chariot to the brellas over retinue of friends SHINLAUNQ ARRAYED FOR HIS FETE. the and a and relatives pareikaya for the monastery. um- gilt him, carry his and offerings 31. monastery. bear Attendants use of The par- eikaya are the eight chattels, to the possession of which the regular recluse consist of the thingdn or monastic yellow robes, {yahdn) viz., is restricted. They the loin-cloth (thimbding), upper cloth {egazt), wrapper (thingdn- dyi), and red girdle (kabdn) a needle (at), wherewith to piece his clothing together, a hard-baked black earthen pot (thabsit) in which to collect the morning dole of food, a filter (yezit) to strain the drinking water clear of living things, and a razor (tkindon-dd) to shave the head and face (excepting the eyebrows). The garments are of plain cloth, cut, but without any torn into strips and joined up again (by the donors) in commemoration of the primitive rule of piecing the garments together from rags, as well as to deprive the cloth of value. The cloth is mostly cotton, but silk and wool are also offered. The stuffs are dyed a bright ochre, with By repeated washings the colour deepens to tan. These chips of Jack-wood. The recluse customarily also varying shades produce a picturesque effect. receives sandals to wear, a deer-skin to sit and sleep upon, a broom to sweep his dwelling with, and a large palm-leaf fan, both for a shelter from the sun and a screen from the sight ; womankind. of is slung in a The thabeit yellow cotton and has a lacquerwork In respect of stand and cover. net, chattels, tive however, tokens sunk to a form. have these primi- of privation The many changes have recluses of raiment and the use of spacious dweUings 32. SHINLAUNG PAGEANT (BURMA PROPER), BURMA i6 with good their In all other respects they rigidly observe the rule of life. At the furniture. the kyaung, or by another usage at the has been invited recluse 33. probationer of the thingd —presenting recite to home lad preach, the SHINLAUNQ PAGEANT the same the ordinances of reception. seekers after righteousness In response, the time. First, pray for reception as (PEQU). —the assembly of devoted his pariikaya at of the candidate, whither will he will recluse will inquire about the bodily freedom from debt and other bonds. Then he will recapitulate the rule of the novice's life, who, besides the five commandments binding on all men, must observe five additional integrity of the candidate, the consent of his parents, his injunctions (thila). form of life ; The cardinal precepts of the (2) to respect the property of others Mi ; Buddha and are (i) to respect every (3) their wives and children ; NOVITIATE 17 BURMA i8 the world, but not from observa- the Great as by the world. tion the is homage accorded to him by laity, a recluse who should disgrace his cloth unknown — a thing almost — would be promptly unfrocked by them. For their sustenance novices and the regular recluses de- They receive pend upon alms. these in kind and according to daily need. Their appeal is mute. The morning after his reception 37. SHINLAUNG RENEWING HIS PRAYER. halt in front of his own parents' house receive such dole of food as the novice with his brethren will and the houses of the neighbours to offered (No. 29). is He will not look to right or but keep his eyes rooted on the ground, making no sign beyond raising the cover of his alms-bowl. The recluse may not ask for anything whatever, nor left, even express a predilection. be, is The food, ripe or ready-cooked, as the case doled indiscriminately into the thabeit from the east side, usually woman of the house. A woman may by a should not stand in the shadow of a recluse, of She should not occupy an upper a shrine, zedi, temple or image. floor when a recluse happens to be beneath, nor enter a Thein, nor occupy a higher place with respect to called sun. men (p. 72). Food The recluses when given in a religious spirit, as above described, collecting sun are generally followed scholars bearing a yoke and basket to receive larger offerings on be- half of the monastery (No. 41). Those probationers who remain in the monastery for several years reckoned by Lents {wd) and who a.spire to full membership of the Assembly, read with the — — recluse Pali texts of the Tripitaka, and the commentaries on these, and commit portions, sometimes whole books of the canon, to Recluses of standing memory. and also laymen take part in these exercises. 38. is by a couple of GOYIN MAKING OBEISANCE. BUDDHIST INSTITUTIONS 19 BURMA 20 towards the higher spiritual condition of Ayahdt and Aydttapo. The primitive appellation is Beikku (Pali one Bikkti), dependent on alms. The spiritual state Yakdn, that of the man so imbued with the spirit of the Buddha's preceding teaching as to desire membership of his The canis called Thawtapan. Assembly, didate for full membership must possess the qualifications for the degree of goyin, in addition to a knowledge of life of the rule yahdn and a modicum of Most yahdn are ngklearning. of the religious —pure from youth —that is, have passed from their youthful novitiate to full membership. Men of any condition may be received, and at any age above twenty, if free from debt and other ties, Over and above the precepts observed by byti direct 41. YAHAN ON THE ROUND FOR SUN. but must undergo a fresh probation. the goyin, the yahdn observes one hundred detailed injunctions. merely respect blade of grass. but also the means to Cleanliness up any to lay life, is life. He may particularly enjoined. A He must notable injunction He must store of food. not use a raised sleeping-place, though by day he sented to reclines on the couches pre- The yahdn the monastery. sweeps his dwelling, draws water, washes his and so clothing, when forth, there are not goyin or lay-disciples to perform these services for him. Otherwise his occupations are only those of teaching, study, and contemplation. In Lent the yahdn remains indoors from sunset to sunrise. At this season he also frequently selects a forest retreat for contemplation in the early morning hours i^ussanng). The yahdn practises confession brethren of the Assembly, are equals, but who all of to his whom defer to one another, according to seniority, which is reckoned 4,, not not wantonly injure a buddhist recluse. is not BUDDHIST INSrirUTIONS k 21 BURMA 22 kambawd. The laity of water (No. lOO), let off rockets and guns ceremony of yezHcha, the pouring assembled outside the precincts celebration of the event. in Finally, the performed by the grantor of the is — as at every other ILLUMINATED KAMBAWA. 46. —to site been dedicated for ever. The precincts thein are marked by low boundary pillars, mostly of Sagaing marble, set in the trench, which is then filled in. different form of thein is the ye-thein, which is built over the water to effect its isolation. Although the yahdn, as already stated, may not ask for anything, he may decline what is offered. He signifies this by inverting his thabtit (thabeithmauk). The action has become a symbol for excommunication. The yahdn might assemble in the thein and perform thabeit-hmauk against a layman for heinous wickedness. His house would be passed by in collecting sun and all offerings tendered by him refused. The religious dedication signify that the property has of the A practice has become obsolete ; it is said to have no warrant in the scriptures, and to be contrary to their Where spirit. the people are very prosperous and the yahdn are not many, the, collecting oi sun in the streets has sunk to a formality observed by the novices only, who on return to the monastery empty their thab^t But in other circumstances to the dogs. the sojourner yahdn, novices and scholars live on the sun. Buddha dispenses An the ordinance of the yahdn from collect- ing his food from house to house if be pious people who proffer him his sus- tenance at his abode. there The founder of who" iiuiiuu nomin- the monastery ' (Kyaimsr-taf^d), ^ 6 6/' ^ 4^ g^j^ g^i^.^ gY ^^^ KYAUNQTAQA. BUDDHIST INSTITUTIONS 23 ates the incumbent, regularly undertakes the support of the pdndyi, and which food, frequently of yahdn sojourner is the best his The as well. of its brought every morning by the daughters and young kind, is children of the supporter, the case of joint or, support, in by children of the leading families in turn. is the FOREST KYAUNG. An ornamented vessel used, having a tall cover {pt). The finial to supplies are received by the lay scholars and by them served to the yahdn. The principal meal is taken shortly before noon, for no food may be eaten after that hour till the Water may be drunk and betel chewed at any time. following sunrise. Tobacco-smoking is discountenanced, especially in Burma Proper, where the or the novices, Burma religious views are strictest. furnishes the standard both for scholarship most of the incumbents of the monasteries of Pegu. Scholars and novices may prepare food at the monastery from raw supplies. These the yahdn may not even handle. Hired labour {kappiza dayaka) may be attached to the monastery by the and practice, and trains supporter for the preparation of food and other services. In some cases have been dedicated for the maintenance of monasteries and temples. But the yahdn have no concern lands with their administration. of raiment, chattels Supplies and food are dedicated to the use of the recluses when the is distinction of their presence solicited, fetes vision and of especially funerals. raiment at shinlaung The annual {kat^in pro- thingdn) made between the months of Thadmdyut and Tasdungmdn. The is offerings of necessaries are supple- mented by accessories of every sort books and writing materials, mats. — BURMA 24 cushions, carpets, chiefs, handker- chairs, tables, betel- glass- boxes and ware and crockery, lamps, chandeliers, clocks, knicknacks spittoons, and furniture, always to the exclusion of gold and Gilt silver. wares are permissible. The strict yahdn should prepare his shelter for himself, an unfrequented place. But by the dispensation already in 51. KYAUNQ AT THE CAPITAL. referred himself of a solitary dwelling proffered for his use, and to, he may avail this is invariably the most spacious, palatial size of are them Many substantial, and ornate edifices in the land. for beautiful or too and appointments. The Burman finds nothing too good Not merely case. are these schools numerous, but they are the of who those subject themselves to the restraint of the recluse. The recluse conventionally oblivious of the magnificence that surrounds him. The religious merit of the work, which furnishes It is not for him to deprecate. From the the motive of the founder, is proportioned to the outlay upon it. on his part is in the forest costing a hundred rupees or less, individuals spend hundreds of thousands on the palatial monasteries of the towns {cf. p. 75). When the incumbent of a monastery removes or dies, the senior sojourner Otherwise an upazin is invited from (iipazin) may receive his place as pdndyi. The elsewhere, or the pdndyi of another kyaung is prevailed upon to move. bamboo kyaung up to upaain who has become pdndyi monastery has a Pali as appellation, titular such TMla-ekkaya kyaung, Letter-of-the-Law monastery. no hierAssembly archy in the But it comof yahdn. monly happens that a number of monasteries There recognise is a venerable teacher as referee upon matters of scholarship defers to ^ his preceptor as before. Every 53. SADAW IN HIS STUDY. [_To Jace p. 24. BUDDHIST INSTlTUTtONS 25 and doctrine. Such a group is called gaiiig, and its president gaing-dk, his deputy gaing-dauk. In the same way a group recognise a Saddiv—Sayd-daw, or chief teacher. The whole body again defer to a chief Saddw, usually the 54. yahdn who has been who the is YAHAN INSTALLED AS PONDYL religious instructor to the King during his novitiate, and called Thathanabding. In reaction against the comfort with which the laity endow the monasteries, periodically repair to country retreats for ten or twenty days at a yahdn camps of many, for the sake of cultivating primitive Here each yahdn has a dwelling of the narrowest compass and makes shift with the mere chattels ordained in the canon. But the laity, ever ready to minister to the yahdn, convert these camps into centres of festivity for the time, either singly or in use. 65. WUSSAUNG CAMP. BURMA 26 whole camp fields form laid out in the rice- after of pavilion a in yahdn the The country-side. is harvest, square, the to the in with middle meet a for and practise confession {aba-pye). There are a few yahdn who do not settle in a kyaiing, but wander from place to place, the primitive way, the people providing them with in 66. temporary shelter. T\\&yahdn make journeys their former teachers, and make YAHAN PASSING THE STREETS. and the kyaungs of few travel as far as Ceylon and Buddha Gaya in Bahar. On such journeys the yahdn is accompanied by a scholar or attendant deputed by the kyaungtagA to carry provisions and money, which the yahdn may not handle. When not collecting their sun, the yahdn go abroad with attendants and carry umbrellas, or suffer such to be carried over them, and to the seats of learning pilgrimages to shrines. A wear sandals. The yahdn allow themselves to be driven in ox and buffalo carts but do not drive or mount an animal or avail themselves of horse-draught. They travel by boat, steamer, and rail. Aged yahdn are carried on a litter {yin, waw). ; The kyaung, primarily a shelter for the yahdn, has, in virtue of his occupation, be a school. outskirts of a settlement or at away from come It is at first established it. Secular some buildings to on the distance are not shadow of a religious building. But the growth of towns brings the houses up to the precincts {parawun) of erected within the the kyaung, which stands within a liberal en- The kyaung no particular style. The superand decorated spires {pyatthat) of kyaung are emblems of secular closure, planted with fruit-trees. as such has posed roofs the votive added to ^vy.iiv,! mcijuv-tiiju. state, a^^s.^ distinction. ^^ confer OI.CII.V,, ,,., YAHAN ON HIS JOURNEY. ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS 27 The majority of the kymmgs and buildings of Burma are constructed on piles. The country at large is mountainous. The Burman monopolises race lands upper rows'' way the in the — (Anyd) — Irawadi " in as the Shan flat of the basin the the races nar- same do in the sphere of their influence AGED YAHAN CARRIED ON 58. The YIN. and the Mun race the in (or south Talaing) (Pegu). The plainswaterways with which Burma is quasi-aboriginal races occupy the hill-land and mountains. dweller settles as near as he can to the natural In the drought the rivers recede to great distances from abundantly provided. In order to be close to the channels, the houses have on high piles. The races of Burma adhere to their practice of pileThe Burman building even on elevated -sites, such as those of the temples. wood architecture appears to have developed through the exigencies of pilebuilding and under the influence, as regards decoration, of an exotic masonry style. The Burman style possesses a naive charm recalling the art of the " ages in Western Europe. faith" of It has a certain resemblance to the wooden church-building of Norway. The style was in full vigour up to the middle of the nineteenth century. Since that time novelties of type and manufacture have crowded in faster than they could be assimilated into the indigenous arts, on which they are foisted their flood-level margins. to be crudely (Nos. 60, 99). The affinities Burman art above ferred to, of re- to the art of mediaeval Europe, are extrinsic only. The " aspiring " character of the florid ornament, the quaint figures in their labyrinths recall niches the and gargoyles of tracery, crocketed fantastic of the 69. TEMPLE HILL. BURMA 28 Gothic, ensembie. especially But the of the richness the in Burman decoration does not strike the eye as an efflorescence of the structure so much as an overlaying of it. The grandest work produces the effect of an elaborate model rather than a monu- The mental achievement. the play of forces operating perspicuity of the structure, in out of which the poetry of Gothic architecture flows, has a parallel in the But the boat-building. architecture effort incorporates, Burman which the land to interpret a masonry style in wood, was naturally productive that the tion of of incongruities, masonry was still earlier despite itself wood the fact an interpreta- building. The outward incongruities have been mitigated 60. DECADENT KYAUNQ. in the unique style in which the genius of The stiff Burma has found expression. and monotonous feather-ornament of the Hindu gable (No. 74) has developed into the Burman flamboyant decoration. The bold finial is the sole element of the original which has been preserved literally (No. 62). The graduated ornament of the pyatthat, soaring above the verdure, the recalls proportions of budding head-of-bloom —a case in some point of the theory of the sources of architectural types, in natural the insensible objects, Spencer. suggestions expressed (Essays, vol. ii.) of by Herbert Through the Burman treatment types other than architectural, which Burma has borrowed, acquire a new and distinctive interest. When public a utility, any work of has been undertaken by the kyaung, or people of a village jointly, it good it repair. But when is kept in has been carried out at the cost of an individual— and this applies to most of the public works the repairs are left to the founder — and to his family, }, who have .mv<_ freauentiv ilC4UCULiy ei ORNAMENTATION OF KYAUNQ. ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS 1 29 BURMA 30 visited by pilgrims from of months' journeys. relics distances The earliest cherished are said to have been the pareikaya of Gavvdama Buddha. Symbols of the sacred thabHt are placed about the zedi. Later, the remains of the Buddha were venerated. Bones, teeth, and hairs are thus enshrined. Those reputed relics which can be exhibited, such as the teeth (Myohaung in Arakan, Anuradhapura 64. in Ceylon), are of many The times the human proportions. ANCIENT THEIN AND MODERN PYATTHAT. legend ascribes colossal stature to the Buddha. He did not tread the earth, but floated above did not rest upon his hands, but remained suspended in it ; his the air alms-bowl {cf. p. 36). pyramidal or polygonal base (pandt-chi), This part is the rudiment with niches {hlaing-gic) for images of the Buddha. In its later form, the zedi consists of a of the original four-square temple. decrement (Nos. Above 66, 97;. It the is represented in all stages of its base come tapering courses (pyissagan), body {kaunglaungby three mouldings {kyo-zvaiiig) after these the bell-shaped bon) separated from the thabht-hmauk (inverted alms-bowl). Then follow seven heavy bead-rolls {paung kun-hniLlon) surmounted by the lotus {kyd-lan, saldimg-bon), out of which issues the bulb (ngapydw-btl, {ti, The canopy pein-hn^-daung). umbrella, No. 232) is a metal construction of graduated bands one above the other, richly To the lower embossed and ornamented. edges of these bands small bells are hung, which have vanes to their clappers to make them tinkle in the wind. The tl terminates in a long finial bearing a vane (hngevimana) and at the apex a silver orb studded with jewels (sdnM). On lesser zedi a glass ball or bottle caps the finial. The tt is cone of the PayA-dyi always gilt, the cone In wealthy towns the generally whitewashed. is gilt from crown to es, limestone rock on the ataran. ANCIENT REMAINS platform 31 and corridors, the plastered over. inaccessible, theii' stairs later zedi mass of brick solid Unlike (tamdnthaltn). the ancient temples with and is The summit in is except by means of scaffolding (nyan, No. 217). are a earth, Zedi commonly spoken of as PayA, the same way as are the images of the Buddha, for which the distinctive term is sindu. In addition to the 66. thein, BITAKA-TAIK, THATON. zedi, the and kyaung, there are three other classes of religious edifices, the tasdtmg, wttt, and zaydt. may be decorated in the palatial style But a public well or a roadside water-stand, the portal of a bridge or a wharf, may likewise be surmounted by the royal pyatthat in virtue of the religious distinction which attaches to every work dedicated to public use by private bounty. Nothing adds so much to the picturesqueness of Burma. The temple zaydt (No. 98) is intended for sojourners in the precincts on duty days. The wut differs from the zaydt in having a dai's for images of the Buddha. The tazdimg is only for the All these and are mostly of wood. reception of images. The ancient remains are almost en- tirely confined to the dry zone of Burma the exception of a few in Proper, with Thatfin and in Arakan. Those dating from about 1000 A.D., at Thatdn, have square bases built of huge laterite blocks in the Indian hewn style. The ornament is deeply Above the laterite into the stone. brick and plaster work of later Apart from the destructive influence date. of the climate, and of the rank vegetation base is the climate favours, a further reason of the scarcity of ancient monuments and inscriptions shrines, is the over-building of the by which the original work is lost to view. Where we say "countless as the 67. shwe-hmawdaw paya, pegu. BURMA 32 stars," the Burman says "countless as the temples of Pagdn." remains at Pagan The are all ecclesiastical with the ex- ception of the city gates and ramparts (No. 6). The temple enclosures are now ploughed, but no building is cleared nor is any of the old WUT WITH IMAGES OF THE BUDDHA 68. material utilised. The Pagan monuments are of brick laid in clay and generally lime-plastered. Many have been wrecked by treasure-hunters. A few of the principal temples only are kept in repair. Pagan is said to have been exhausted by the templebuilding of its kings, who, besides exacting labour from their subjects, must have imported skilled labour. An old saying is " the temple is finished and the country is The temple remains occupy an ruined." many area of several thousand room for roads between the walls of the enclosures. The style of the Pagin buildings is Indian. It has been suggested that the Hindu type of work and possibly Buddhism itself reached Pagdn by way of Annam the Mun or Peguan race, from whom the Burmans adopted Buddhism, having a language of Annam type. The great ruins at Angkor Wat, two hundred miles east of Bankok, have been compared to the ruins of Pagan. (See Through the Buffer State, by Surgeon-Major McGregor, 1896.) Such a route as this would help to account for certain features of Burman acres, in places with just : architecture roofs, types and foreign everted may have as well as The by the to India, reached superposed the gable-ends. The Burma by Indian this circuit direct route. ancient temples of Pagan consist of brick corridors, one within the other, with vaulted pent roofs of masonry springing from the outer or lower wall to the inner or higher. The section of the vault buttress. is like that of a In the centre of all Gothic flying are colossal images e9. thadya paya at thaton. IM ANCIENT REMAINS, PAGAN 33 of the Buddha, set against the column which supports tJie dome or Hindu cone. The later domes are pure vaults without central support. In these ancient tem- ples the conical zedi Burma forms jewel, by the four now so typical of finial only, held like a The lowermost cusps. portion of this structure resembles inverted thabeit, the name of homologous part of the modern an the zedi. Possibly this forms the actual reliquary or is the symbol of the same. An TERRA-COTTA FIGURES AT THADYA PAYA. THATON. example of Indian monuments It takes its is direct imitation of the name from Bawdi Paya. Bo tree at the Buddha Gaya in Bahar, and is a florid reproduction of the stupa there. It was built by King Zeyathinka about 1220 A.D. The temple named after Ananda, the chief disciple of the Buddha, was Both the temple (No. 8) and built by King Kyansitthu about 1080 A.D. and kyaung the thein adjoining (Nos. 64, 74) are in full preservation. The gigantic lattice gates of the inner temple are of teak-wood and probably coeval with the masonry. The most imposing of the ancient monuments and the one which marks the best period of the Pagan architecture is Thappyinnyu Paya, built by King Alaung about iioo A.D. (No. 73). Its two hundred feet or more. In the mural decorations at Pagan the Indian character is as marked as in the Sitthu, height is buildings themselves. India has evidently furnished the subjects of the Burman de- signer and trained his style (Nos. 272, 94). The Burman bricklayers had at one time lost the art of arch-building. pointed arch like the Gothic is used temples of ancient Pagan (Nos. 75, The images of the Buddha A in the 'j6). (sindii) are the principal features of the interior of the ancient temples, the true character of F 72. BAWDI PAYA, PAGAN. BURMA 34 The images are of sandstone in Arakan, between the brows {tika) is not omitted caste-mark Hindu where, moreover, the wliich is the same as that of the zedi. A — IMAGES, SCRIPTURES {lyaung-daw). garb is 35 In the sitting figure the either the array of the prince before he became the Buddha or his subsequent garb of recluse. In of the recluse. standing and the recHning images the garb is always that The mound on the head represents the residue of hair, as cut off when he fled According to the legend with his sword by the prince from the palace. The pose the hair grew no more. conventional figure its are rigid is symmetry. The fingers and toes and of equal length. The parallel lobe of the ear reaches Of of the the Indian one with to the shoulder. under the stimulus of western artproducts, the figure is beginning to be 75. EXAMPLE OF KEYED VAULT AT PAGAN. late, realistically treated, especially in the now modelled into natural folds in relief, instead of being conventionally mapped on the flat. Builders vie with each other in the size they give the figure. The recumbent images attain a length of fifty cubits. The image is set on a throne {balin) which is a conventionalised lotus in form, and is surmounted by floral tracery which symbolizes the sacred Bo tree. Images of the Buddha are reverently drapery, which is handled and are spoken of in honorific terms the sacred countenance, the venerable There may be no bargaining about the purchase {puzaw) from the maker. The images are only placed in the temples or on the image-dais of the kyaung form. 76. MODERN FALSE ARCH, AMAYAPOYA. BURMA 3^ where, (pt-deitha), after dedication, The to be private property. cease virtue of these symbols lies in the they sole pious intention with which they are dedicated. The disciple of figure the Ananda is frequently placed in the houses or taken on journeys (No. the Besides 316). reputed of relics the Buddha, the miraculous foot-prints which legend assigns to him on rocks in Burma and Arakan are venerated {Chidaw-yd). Every Burman knows that Gawdama never travelled out of Bahar and was in all legend IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA ENCIRCLED BY 77. the licence of the a poetic one. Models of these placed temple the foot-prints are precincts. Here conventionality reaches the FICUS. is men ; respects as other rule in extreme the sole is and compass and ; laid out with the mapped into diagrams of cabalistic import (No. 450). The Buddhist scriptures should be deposited in masonry temples No. taik, but These 66). {Bitaka- exist in a few pjaces, kept in special kyaungs (No. 453). in general the scriptures are chests isaddik) in The Shan-Tar6k the (p. 146) place saddik in houses, and take pride in the their of surface manuscripts plete volume The com- these contain. P&li text, together with the patristic commentaries and glosses, written on palmleaf, would occupy a space of perhaps one hundred cubic feet. The text alone would cover about one thousand five hundred Only a few quarto pages of pica type. kyaungs possess the complete Tripitaka. Besides the scriptures, other ancient writings are treasured, mogony —the (see such as the kyanza of cos- Sangermano), the Zdt literature legendary lives of the Buddha in previous states of existence, embellished with romance of recent date. 73, image of the buddha on balin. TEMPLE ACCESSORIES The flag-staff {tagundaing) tall accessories. It consists which a long floats most the is 37 striking of the temple- spar, sixty to eighty feet high, from of a decorated streamer. The head of the pole mythical animal, generally the hintha is ornamented with a a fantastic figure of the Brah- (liaiiza, many duck) or else the ktinnayA, a monster with the body of a woman in princely array and the wings and legs The of a bird. •• * daing, Y " instead the ground, (/ being planted in frequently set between is which are carved into figures piles mythical the of butt of the tagi'm- of No. The 7). thadyd pole i86. (p. up by held is transverse bars passing through and it the piles. Colossal lions of Burmese the No. (chinth^. conventional guard the temple approaches much differing as sters —monway in their from the prototype as the own 56) type our lions of heraldry. shaped Stands like throne, on which flowers on placed are offered, a or balin and fruit are the temple platforms. Great bells are hung at shrine (No. every The votary 97). takes the deer-antler off the bar and strikes first the ground This is and then the bell. to call to witness beings both under the earth and above the earth and make them participators in the TAGUNDAINQ WITH KEINNAYA. 79. and is {nagd.. merit of the act Burman has hung by metal No. 47). The bell clasps Emperor Bodaw Payi, on at Mingiin. It of rich is The The worship. design, is not HINTHA. figuring rich, greatest bell in the European model, said TAGUNDAING WITH noble proportions tone of the bells partly to flaws in casting. began of to weigh the mythical dragon owing partly Burma in eighty-eight is to the form, that cast by the 1790, for the temple tons. A historic he bell BURMA 38 Burman type is the one cast for Shwe-Dag6n Paya by the Emperor of the the Sinbyu Shin one in 1775, which weighs forty- tons. According to the Burman cosmogony the world consists of four great islands, North, South, East and West, surrounded by the ocean. Burma and the known countries are situated in the south island. In the centre of {Myimmo-datmg). universe is all rises This Mount Meru of centre the symbolized by a conventional tower provided with niches or caverns for mythical inhabitants of every sort, Nat, 81. Zawdyi (sorcerers), Bihi (ogres), monsters half human and half brute, and dragons (No. 392). The symbol oi Myimmo-daung, made of bamboo, with paper and tinsel, is SYMBOL OF MYIMMO-DAUNG. a feature of various festivals In substantial masonry it is a frequent adjunct of the temples. The Bo to the tree {Bawdi-bin), together with the rest of t\\e ficus family, Hindu. The Bo is a variety of the pipal {ficus religiosd), a deciduous ficus with long copper-coloured acumina to the leaves. sacred to the Buddhists because It is while resting under the shade of a Giya in it was tree at Bahar, 600 years before Christ, that Gawdama realised and Bo the vanity of the ceremonial ascetic systems, resisted temptation, and attained to supreme enlightenment, which, as Buddha, it became his mission to impart to mankind. " The Bo tree is to Buddhists what the Cross is to Christians " (Bigandet). The Mahd-bodi was piously tended while Buddhism flourished in India, and trees propagated from it were planted by Buddhist pilgrims. Such a tree is the historical Bo tree at Anurddhapura in Ceylon, planted in Young plants 245 B.C. and still flourishing. original cultivated from this tree are brought home to 32. bawdi tree. is sacred INFERIOR RELIGIOUS ORDERS 39 BURMA 40 been brought into a pseudo-connection Buddhism with by certain western neophytes of the Tibetan cult, are unheard of in Burma, which is the stronghold of primitive tradition. Pothudaw observe fewer They make yatU. gong of triangular shape 22, 86), thila than their appeal with a which spins on Nos, {kytzi, the string it hangs by, and emits a high and sus- Pdthudaw tained throbbing note. in the alms in forenoon only. money and in kind, for they carry baskets with yoke. the They wear head, Pdthtidaw *" i^!^^J^^^^ ^<**, .-' '4-"='*',^ "^v A*" which a shoulder- a white robe, shave and pluck out the beard. shift for themselves in zaydts about the temples and seldom remain long in one place. POTHUDAW. 86. eat They accept MHhild are female celibates who They shave the head. Their The cloth robe is like that of the other celibates with the addition of a jacket. Both they and the pdthudaw are generally individuals who is dyed a faint red. have lost their family ties. In some places hyaungs are provided for iiicthild, observe a rule parallel to that of the Pothidaw. where they keep schools for girls. A few are possessed of learning. Methild are about as numerous as pdthidaw, and both together are about one-tenth to one-twentieth as numerous as yahdn, and several times more so than There is no class of female recluses answering to yahdn. Payadyun form colonies in the vicinities of the prin- cipal shrines cemeteries They are and of the of large towns. the descendants of temple slaves, the dition to con- which captives in war were reduced both by the Burman and the Talaing races during their incessant 86. METHILA AT WORSHIP. PAYADYUN struggles. 41 Apart from this and the serfdom referred to at p. 32, slavery has only played Burma a subordinate rdle in The within historic and they alone, are treated as outcasts by both of these populations. They beg for alms and also approtimes. payadyt'in, priate the offerings brought to the shrines in Their right to beg profusion at festivals. is admitted, although they frequently accumulate money and Lepers build fine houses. {anti) families of their payadyun colony. compelled to do many in own cases quit their accord and settle in the In some places they were so. The settlements have thus acquired the semblance of leper colonies. There are a few country villages of this Indigent lepers beg for alms. In 88. METHILA ON THE ROUND FOR SUN. 1 89 1 there were 6,000 lepers in Burma, the highest ratio in the Indian Empire, There are now four leper asylums. Casual mendicancy is almost unknown in Burma. The Burman and Brahman soothsayers (p. 158) are regular frequenters of character. the shrines. The Burman astrologer {bedin-saya) casts horoscopes on the Brahman model (No. 279) and designates the days auspicious for undertakings. takes his ing, and name is He from proficiency in reckon- consulted about business calcu- be done mentally. Buddhist duty-days ijibdt-ne, ihadin) follow the quarters of the moon. They are kept regularly during lent. On lations that cannot The these days the pious laity of both sexes and sedate years observe the rule of pothudaw and mithila from sunrise to sunrise attire, is (fibdt-saung). They adopt sober or else white cotton clothing, which considered the plainest of any. forenoon men and women In the separately repair to the temple rest-houses, whither food for the morning meal, which has been collected the previous evening from religious donors G 89. SOOTHSAYER. BURMA 42 {PayA sun-kan), or vately prepared, veyed. voted is The day to pri- conde- is contemplation, and the night is passed at the saydt. Those who keep the duty-day present offerings at the sedi and At the a.d]o'mmg kyaimg. either yahdn of these places a is invited to re- hearse the precepts, which PAYA SUN-KAN. 90. verse after his lead (thila-kari). This their interpretations. great Mun is the laity chant verse by Passages from other scriptures are added, with called TayA-haw King, Yazadiyi't of Pegu, in the —the preaching of the Law. year 1400 A.D., is The reported to have been so impressed by the preaching of a yahdn that he abandoned a campaign on which he had embarked. More than once in Burman history the peaceful contest of building rival temples has been substituted for battle by opposing armies. The Buddha has passed out of existence. While existent, all that the Buddha could accomplish for any being was the human service of showing him the way to work out deliverance by individual effort. Self-reliance is the cardinal principle. There is none to hear prayer. The true significance of the popular worship is not apprehended unless this be borne in mind. No virtue can surpass that of the Inestimable who Master {Myasswa fulfilled bequeathed Law and to men. To it memory the cultivate transcendent merit meritorious in the Such is cult, to founder Paya) the of first his itself is degree. the personal side of the which the appeal. images of the effigies of the Before Buddha the are per- formed the gestures of homage, and are placed offerings symbolical of lighted at veneration the — tapers shrine, flowers 91. yahan reciting the precepts (taya-haw), ^ f^ PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHISM and fruit, gold-leaf laid on the image and No throne. southern — that Rhys Davids, Buddhist (see lodges 43 petitions with an its primitive is, Buddhism)— image, as is the where Buddhism is choked by fresh growth of the pagan ideas which it had arisen against. The Tibetan practice countries in expedients are unheard of. Certain Buddhists Paramdt, dispense with images. The mechanical aid to contemplation is the string of one hundred and eight beads {badf). Even the Buddhism of the in Burma, common called herd no mere veneer, covering a is substratum of the ancient animism The precepts words. The of Buddhism are (p. i86). household ideas and language of the race by are pervaded The it. personal aspect just described does not so engross the votary that FAMILY OF A BURMAN NOTABLE AT THE SHRINE. he misses the doctrine of the Master. At the the worshipper dwells on the three shrine gems {tharanagon thdmbd) —the Buddha, the Law, the Assembly, and the The Buddha (the Sage) was the supremelycompassion for the subjects of karma, who extended other categories of the scheme, enlightened one, filled with was the means of his own emancipation. Dharma, Pali Davimd). By an impersonal to the universe the enlightenment that The Law {Tayd, Tayamd, Sanskr. — cosmic process, sin works suffering and virtue effects deliverance. is the legacy of sin and continues until the merit births (bawd), transference outweighs the demerit (akuthd). of personality with 94. {kzctho), Re-incarnation accumulated in successive Transmigration does not involve consciousness of MODERN. RELIGIOUS SUBJECT. preceding states, but the BURMA 44 of continuity moral account an individual {Kan, Pali Karma) Kaviina, Sanskr. although the Buddha enlight; ened his disciples about the previous identities of himself, of many even other individuals and lower creatures. Re- incarnation provides the scope for atoning the injustices of individual lives, without de- barring the salvation of any. FAMILY OF A BURMAN NOTABLE LEAVING THE SHRINE. The slowness of the process by which vast results are achieved conforms to the analogy of nature, which does not create, but evolves. The doctrine of kan is, in fact, an adumbration of the principle of persistence of force. But instead of regarding the results of actions in a given phase of existence as being separately modern dissipated, as science would imply, they are thought of as combined to form the starting-points of fresh phases of individual existence, until equilibrium As attained (Nirv&na). final from the concurrence of given antecedent conditions, continues to burn while they are maintained, and is extinguished upon their dispersion, yet not without bequeathing results of its own, so it is with sentiency, which continually becomes the source of fresh desires, of temptation, sin, and consequent suffering. For the avoidance of sin, is a flame results the five cardinal precepts and precept within are given, precept up to the minute rule of life of the yahdn. At the root all evil lies Ta-hnd (Sanskr. trishna, thirst, concupiscence). of From this fundamental the Dawtha, Mawha evil Lawba, forms proceed (greed, pas- sion, ignorance), in the abstract, absence of contentment, absence of self-control, lightenment. absence of en- With the extinc- tion of selfish desire, virtuous ' conduct ensues, others are «« ™*°^* JRi^^^ ^^° pR'^cess doing homage to THE BUDDHA IN A PREVIOUS INCARNATION— WETHANDAYA Cshwezawa work p. 121). si PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHISM 45 regarded as oneself, they are loved and are succoured, and by such actions the consequences of sin are atoned for. As imperfections are corrected by self- 98. TEMPLE ZAYAT. discipline, crimes are expiated by the pains of hell {ngaye). of the great aim, that is, given the principles extirpation of desire and A neissa, Dokka, 99. A ndtta all For the perception that desire entails, there are (change, trouble, dependence), which DECADENT KYAUNQ (P- 28). beads, and which may be paraphrased as the " which the " unpitying rush of changes struggle tmpermanence of all things, the involves and the helplessness of the event, which is " at the mercy of blind the pious ponder as they tell their BURMA 46 The only certain good within the control of man is acts. The final annihilation of desire, attained forces.'' his own the conduct of in the course lives of self-discipline, ushers in the serene state of Nirvana {Neippan, Pali Nibbdn), in which the subject of karma is no longer chained to forms of existence by any debt of sin. At death is then attained the perfect of lives upon Nirvdna was the apprehension in life (Exposition Wuziyama, of Thila-ekkaya kyaung). The spiritual stages to condition Pari-nirvdna, of which of Sadaw tj -Nirvdna are AyaJidt and Aydttapo. recluse, much less by But one himself, that 100. it is not claimed for the holiest living of these stages has CEREMONY OF YEZETCHA (p. been attained. 22). is the utmost. The third of the gems is the ASSEMBLY, the spiritual family " of the Buddha, or communion of those who adopt to the Devotion to the ideal " full the aids towards holy and example. ment of life Nevertheless, inculcated life holiness, in nowise debars The Law of his doctrine though unfavourable to attain- it. Gawdama Buddha one half of which has elapsed. Buddha. The metaphysics of by him and who perpetuate in the world, It is is to last for a period of five thousand years, then to be superseded by the law of a Gawdama are studied by few (see new Rhys Davids, Buddhism, and Huxley, Romanes Lecture), but thanks to the network of schools, with which Buddhism has overspread Burma, its practical features are within the knowledge of all. ADOLESCENCE Such Is the life ideas in which he that opens to every Burman may grow up and Hve and ; 47 such are the scenes and the die without having taken part in the world longer than the years of childhood. But if, as happens in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the novice of the Assembly returns to the world, he first takes leave of his poiidyf and surrenders the parMaya he brought as probationer. 101. GOYIN PRAYINQ FOR LEAVE TO RETURN TO SECULAR LIFE. 102. PLOUGHINQ FOR WET CULTIVATION. CHAPTER IV MANHOOD AND OCCUPATION The cultivation of the low- lands provides the occupation and livelihood of one out of every two Burmans. There is little undulating The hills as a rule rise abruptly from land or steppe. the alluvial these the 103. VIEW OF latter On plains. bulk the population is of settled. For the wet form of ricecultivation, which alone IN. gives regular crops and therefore called permanent cultivation, as opposed to taungya land must be lightly flooded for a good (p. 147), is the part of the season the crop must has formed nor for any lengthened period land must not be so porous as to let the rain-water drain not be submerged after the ear beforehand. The away when the subsoil water sinks. of one season may ; The patch be drowned or be left of fields favoured by the floods dry the following year owing to — AGRICULTURE 49 the vagaries of the rivers. good season is one in A which a large proportion of the fields enough for an early start and in which the water have rainfall is steady, the surface to break in long deluging the favourable quality is rice-fields. OUTLOOK OVER MIXED FORMS OF CULTIVATION. 104. is wards — portions of the diluvial way by merely the same ample land with tenacious saving the surface-water. dry up by a the nor rain other at soil All the alluvial land times. of not leaving — soil In laid out Where fifty and elevation in level the rainfall inches and up- can be utilised regions of in lighter localities, such land is brought under rice by help need be by terracing as well. The rice-fields are bordered by low turfy balks {kazin) about a cubit high, to keep in the water. These regular rice-lands form less than one-tenth of the gross area of the country. The rest is mainly irreclaimable, chiefly mountain, waste. The waste areas of the rainfall, few favoured in a of irrigation and if alluvial plains (kwiri) are flooded to ten deep feet the rains. in from three They are clothed with elephant-grass {kaing) studded with through silk-cotton The other species. form shallow lagoons up in the sugar-cane (which No. 103) which dry Dry-season crops also grown on the wet {in, market is lentils, and vegetables — are obtained Burma has become for a in the kaing. the rice-mart of the Since the development of this trade world. the price than and a few hot season. system), maize, limited trees lowest levels in the kwin of the quadrupled, staple export producing in has more the lower country a prosperity which has no parallel It is bein respect of its equal diffusion. development of the wealth c J u tU U „r of Pegu has been favoured by the upheaval lieved that r T. 1 H this T . HILL-PEOPLE MAKING THEIR cultivation clearinq (p. 149). 10B. BURMA 50 fresh silt-beds are raised to the cultivation by which of the delta of the Irawadi, sixteen miles from the coast and without a sea in the approach, was. in historic times, a port. Ships came up to Tenaserim Siam, and to south, the ancient emporium of trade across the Peninsula to level. The town of Thaton, now Akauttaung A mass and probably to Pegu. was collected by the late in the north, of precise data on this subject John Merrifield, who came to the conclusion that Tenaserim had risen fifteen to twenty feet in the course In 1900, ten and a half million acres of the last 300 years. were cultivated in Burma. The rice crop was estimated at three and a half million tons, of which two millions Fallow lands were were exported, worth ;^ 14,000,000. Mr. and a half million acres and arable estimated at five millions, out one hundred and one millions. In waste at twenty-four of gross a area of 1872 a considerable firm failed over the enterprise of bringing a few thousand acres Kayasu under of reputed arable waste at much water cultiva- they rotted. The area has lain waste ever since. Most of the waste land granted to companies has been resumed, on account tion ; got so the crops of their failure The land. to satisfy that the condition of utilising the conditions which render land suitable for wet cultivation are less simple than they appear at the first glance. is It is much too Where possible that the estimate of the arable waste high. the fields depend on the surface-water for their supply, a margin of fallow has to be left a deposit of plentiful it is river-silt it is taken out on the the case because the cattle the outskirts of the groups throughout relapse into nology, 1570, THE RICE PLANT THE EAR. waste. 1 If But fields. are so rice-fields, the where they get ; unnecessary. much manure this is at is seldom large. On which are dispersed kwin, fallow land The depopulation of may in readily Pegu (Chro- 591-1740) threw great areas out of cultiva- Anyone was free to reclaim waste, and is so still. Burma Proper, where good land is much scarcer than are fixed on the soil in many places by royal grants tion. In in Pegu, proprietors (cka-mye, bdbabaing). There were also royal demesne lands leased to tenants. In the dry zone of where rivers flood their Burma Proper, rice cultivation margins or where facilities is impracticable except for irrigation exist. Rice ^ DRY CULTIVATION is 5' a and luxury a part in region, that of the require- ment is imported from Pegu. Crops of sorghum and millet (pyaung, Iti), sesamum and various pulses [pF), (Jinan) as well as cotton (w«), are obtained on the better sort of soil, during the light rains, from July to September. The dry soil is too hard for ploughing even when moistened by such rain 108. PLOUGHING IN as falls. It is scraped up with harrows instead. Four oxen are yoked abreast and THE DRY ZONE. the driver rides on the beam of the harrow to give it weight. or staple cultivation of the whole country begins between June and August, as soon as the grass-sod which has formed on the rice-fields in the by-season— and which has served for pasture in the interval— has got thoroughly water-logged. The soil is then turned, about six inches deep, with a wooden The wet plough {te, Xos. I02, 1 19) are available, a large tdn clods left by the plough bearing a shoe of bronze or iron. Where elephants is used which does the work of four ploughs. The are broken fine, and the wet soil worked into slush by herds of buffaloes driven round and round in the fields. If there are not enough cattle, the plough-clods are worked down with harrows drawn by buffaloes or oxen (No. 325). A rotary implement is coming into use to prepare the clods for the harrow (No. 168). the moist region. There is very little open grass-land Unless the scrub which springs up is cut, the land soon re- lapses into jungle. For the above operations cattle are needful to the cultivator, though he makes little use of the manure and does not use the milk at all. The cattle are only used for draught, and very little care is bestowed on breeding. Oxen 159. ELEPHANT PLOUGH, in BURMA 52 worth twenty to sixty are rupees head, a twenty-five to bufifaloes The fifty. heavier and more latter are powerful, and better able to work and the wet in forage to themselves, but for they are subject to many distempers, of which the worst The anthrax. is noses of the draught-cattle are pierced and a thin rope 110. BUFFALOES TRAMPLINQ DOWN THE CLODS. rove through which at the During a great part of the year there are of little service for wheel-draught is ; no work spliced back of the horns. for the then they are is bufifaloes, left to roam as at they large. frequent the streams and lagoons, where they are followed by egrets and crows, which pick the worms out of the mud as the bufifaloes turn over While crops are standing, cattle have to be kept in pens at in their wallow. This work is done by children from twelve night, and to be herded by day. They The buffalo-pen is made near the house, if possible in a years upwards. water-logged spot where the animals can wallow in the mud, which protects them from the bites of gad-flies and mosquitoes. Where there is no wallow, smoky fires made are to keep the insects need to be protected with of the delta cattle fodder for their worth grown is milk five to ; for the cattle, but goats In away. curtains. find In pasture certain and they are twenty ru- pees a head. The rice-fields first ploughed and ready are sown broad-cast series (pyo-gin). later, when for nur- A month the rice-plants are about a foot high, they are taken up and trans- planted into the prepared fields, a span apart. The roots are simply pressed down into the soft slush m. driving localities the arid home the buffaloes. are region kept (5 WET CULTIVATION 3^>J 53 BURMA 54 for fodder, the corn is to the ground, having cut close first been down with laid it easier. makes which bamboos, by pressing it For reaping, the villagers coBut in the plains of operate. the delta, where cultivation has so greatly, there is not labour enough on the spot extended to reap the crop. Harvest come down from Burma Proper and also large numlabourers 115. bers WATER SCOOP (KA-HNWE). from the south of India (p. 159). In the plains reapers get their two meals and a quarter of a bushel of grain a day or the equivalent a reaper gets a bushel a day for his labour. The common wages of daily labour are about half a rupee in Pegu, and a quarter less in Burma Proper. Before 1850, when the export trade began, wages in money (p. 56). In the hills were only half as much. The sheaves are left to dry for a day in the sun and then gathered into garbs. These are piled on a dry field into a circular heap some three feet high, and broad enough for a herd of buffaloes to tramp round upon and tread the grain off the ear, to which it is attached by ^ blender petiole. Another way is to pile the garbs in a high crescent-shaped heap, round the central space of which four to six head of cattle are made to travel abreast and tread the garbs which are cast down from above. The grain keeps best in the husk and is stored in bins of bamboo wattle smeared with clay {sabaji, Nos. 119, 120). The covering of the rice-grain is a strong adherent husk like that of barley, but mostly without any beard. Rice in the husk is called Saba (Engl, paddy). 116. CUTTING THE CROP IN THE GREAT PLAIN. >^ CLEANING THE GRAIN Under the white coarse yellow husk The two pellicle. preserved. parts rice, is a shell of bran, and beneath that a delicate outer coverings have to be removed and the inner one " Cargo rice," which forms the bulk of the mill produce, is three simply husked, and one part paddy. The mixture bears the transport 118. than white better This done is 55 rice. either TREADING OUT THE GRAIN. Burmans clean the by simple pounding or rice by according first to daily need. husking the grain in a and then pounding it to get off the bran. The mortar or is of hard wood, with a hard wood pounder as heavy as the arm can wield Chaff and else the pounder is mounted in a tilting-beam for foot-power. bran are separately winnowed out with sieves and trays (sagdw) of bamboo, and in exposed places by the help of the wind also. For wholesale husking, the native mill is composed of two strong wicker-work cylinders made wooden mill {kyeissori), ; with clay, in which are embedded upright staves of solid hard wood (Nos. 127, 184). As the mill wears down, the layers of wood keep above the clay like the layers of in a herbivore's tooth, enamel a rough surface In the early days work. of the export trade, rice was husked for shipping in this maintaining for way. The separation of the done with a machine copied from our farmyard winnower, and now manufactured chaff is 119. CLEANING RICE WITH THE HAND-POUNDER. BURMA 56 in A bas- every town. ket {din, of bushel) cleaned rice (san) costs three to four rupees, and lasts a man about a month. The loss of volume in cleaning is about twenty-five per cent, and the cost of the 120. CLEANING RICE WITH THE HAND-MILL. unhusked soaking, first fluid, which it is is ground with water is in the For Indian stone hand-mill. After passed through the mill repeatedly until strained and used while fresh. The houses in Burma are mostly built {wabo), a denizen of the evergreen hills, is of rice. of that cakes and sweets, rice grain one-third about it forms a creamy Wheaten bread is a of bamboo. The novelty. giant bamboo cultivated in the plains for house- posts and masts and side-buoys of boats. feet and a girth at the butt of two No rest of the material for the house. but the universal dd With (No. 231). {/mi) for lashing. opened out —a Its culms attain a height of eighty Every bamboo jungle supplies the tools are needed for bamboo work, sabre, trimmer, chopper, according to bamboos are hewn, Thin-walled bamboos are the dd the broad planks into feet. of the houses {taydn). its slit proportions into withes for the walls bamboos are shaped into narrow planks for or bamboos laced floor down open and Stout thick-walled flooring, the split at is of laid intervals. round Loose planks of wood are becoming general for floors, (p. even 119). in houses built of bamboo Every Burman can handle the dd, but not so expertly as the hill people. The house-posts, floor-girders, and principal frames are frequently of timber, and outlast several relays of the bamboo-work, which in a few seasons. The inducement keep a material clean and neat which has soon to be replaced is not great, and engenders negligent habits. In the better houses, bamboo is only used for the walling decays to ,21. winnowing grain in the wind. ; HO USE-B UILDING 57 and the Straight roof-rafters. trees are selected for posts, are either plain, left or and the sapwood is dressed off, or they are dubbed octagonal the timbers are rough-hewn with the dd. Posts of hard and ; wood durable also squared, for the saw. house. CUTTING GIANT BAMBOO (WABo). if set at the heads of the posts to scare significance special to It is the posts of the thought unlucky them before Sham bows them {hngemmana) Besides birds alight on they are roofed and arrows are are timbers cut with the A attaches 122. {pyinkadd) and the scantlings in. . the miniature bow-and-arrow stuck in bazar goods to scare crows, this is the only form in which the long-bow and arrow survive in Burma in practice, ; arrows are used with a crossbow (No. 204) and pellets with the plain bow [le), and that not extensively. Another curious custom is the one of laying a piece of cloth between the to the nat of the tree their head of the post and the wall-plate as a propitiation (p. 187). heads are hung with among The themselves. Before the large posts of temples are reared, offerings, which the workpeople afterwards share front bays of the house have a floor only a few feet the ground (kyanneing) — unless where the — making a verandah, the comoff mon or unenclosed the house, free flood-levels require it to be higher portion of strangers. to The back bays have a floor about four cubits off the ground or above the lower floor. A bamboo nects floor or the wooden ladder con- floors. The upper enclosed is all round, and has one or two bays partitioned off. A pent-roof covers the and grain-bin, cooking-place where the rice-pounders and implements are stored as well or else I there is a shed for 123. rearing the posts of theIwut. BURMA 58 Frequently these (No. i6). the water-stand is lower bays. the a separate opening into one of erection, There are several kinds of roof-thatch, of which the bound on sticks of split The leaf of the palm makes The This material is less by dam the best thatch. is also used. material called strips are held together bam- large leathery leaf of the 2« tree LASHING THE ROOF-POLES. is broad-leaved grass, boo. 124. commonest thekkk, a A roofing wagdt is made of bamboo shingles, of which handy for tying to the rafters. Tiles and modern wooden shingles three or four wattles, inflammable than thekkk can only be used on strong roof-frames. Floor-mats of the stoutest kind are {hni-dyaw). Common mats are one half to three-quarters of an inch thickness. Finer and more pliable mats are plaited of the outer silicious rind of the bamboo plaited of the inner fibre split into withes, broad, and about one-twentieth in made of the reed thabdw. thin plant. The Thimbyu is cloth used in The finest of all are made of the outer skin of the the universal sleeping-mat. Burma is now, for the most cotton yarns, both plain and coloured. part, imported, as are also the Nevertheless, the domestic cloth industry in the villages. Native textile cottori {wa) is of two one white, the other dun. The cotton, after being culled from the seeded between wooden rollers. The fibre, caked together by the continues to flourish varieties, plants, is rollers, is scutched by flicking it off the string of a bow into a basket, the fibres disperse again. It then worked be- is tween the palms into flakes convenient for the spinner The (baing-hngiri). plain spindle, com- mon everywhere India, is in obsolete in Burma where even the hill-people use thewheel {yii). With the excep- tion of the stuff for the 125. plaiting wall-mats. where WE A VING 59 recluses' robes, cloth in the piece, Dyes used chiefly is not dyed but in the yarn. for cotton imported, but are the also in- digenous dyes continue to be used for The Burmans silk. excel in yellows, oranges, deep rich deep greens, reds, and which they harmonise with beautiful effect. Their clear blues HixL^ BINDING THE THATCH. 126. purples are and indifferent. Except in a few localities, where weaving is a speciality, the men take no share in the industry spin and dye the yarn and weave beyond constructing the looms. Women the cloth. The lath of the loom {lekka) is of graceful outline often elaborately carved and is furnished with two ornamented metal pins, with loose metal rings, that jangle at each swing of the beam, and proclaim the industry of the young woman, to whom this business chiefly falls. Hence it comes that the loom is a The same applies to other occupations of the girls, such favourite rendezvous. as rice-cleaning, when the suitor will take a turn at the heavy part of the work and lounge while the sifting goes on. Common patterns of cloth are tartans, The plainest cloth woven for which two or three shuttle-spools are required. — — is at least shot with a colour different to that of the warp. The intricacy of denoted by the number of spools. Scroll patterns icheik) in silk are called lun-tayd (hundred-spool). The warp is a cubit wide and about twenty cubits long, which makes a man's a pattern is loin-cloth The (pasS). and doubled its piece edges together along one side ; is sewn the turn of the cloth serves as a bag or according as wallet, is draped paso is and girt ; it the has no lining. hitched piece The round the loins long or short, according to fancy, without the help of a belt ; but elastic belts are now coming in. The slack is worn in a bunch in front {kabdungzd) or is thrown over the shoulder, ^g^ plaiting floor-mats (see v- ee). BURMA 6o For work and exercise the pasd is girt into the narrowest compass {kaddimgThe women's cloth chaik, No. 407). — taniHn — To is is only three long. cubits the upper edge of the figured silk joined a strip of plain dark-coloured cotton or velvet. To the lower edge is joined a piece striped with the colours CLEANING AND SPINNING COTTON. 128. of the centre-piece, to that again a stfip of red silk shot with white, and The tamein with calico. lined it is Pasd and (Nos. 136, 137). Both are in process of being super- overlaps very little tamtin are the distinctive national dress. seded by the more convenient londyt, except for gala occasions^(No. 34). The londyi is an endless cloth, generally of red tartan, about equal to two tamdn, worn like the Malay Men wear sarong. their long hair in a top-knot, and For gala they wear a fillet of white muslin round the temples tied in a knot, of which the long ends stand wp'(pazun-hnyat). Bright-coloured figured silk kerchiefs {gaung-baung) are worn in the same way. But more generally hair and kerchief are wound up together upon the head. Women wear nothing on the head except flowers and jewels. They wear kerchiefs frequently use no head-dress. (pwa) over their shoulders, of the same kind as the men's gaungbaung. These were at first of bright Chinese embroidery, but are now damask silk prints from Europe. The fashion of their patterns and colours changes. ;were not an invariable Jackets part of the Burman costume, but are now kerchiefs The universal. older of men's white pattern muslin jacket {taing-ma-thein Nos. 374, 389), and women's white muslin, or coloured and inji, gold-figured gauze jackets No. inji, 379), They type. are are of (lesslii!- Indian now superseded more convenient kadd by the inji, of Shan-Chinese type, worn by both men and women (Nos. 288). 115, Over-jackets of im- ported woollens have also be- come A general. wrap or blanket of heavy cotton cloth, or of imported broad-cloth (j«««_^, No. No 184), completes the kind of wool is outfit. indigenous ifr'iaai..« igg. th^i weavinq-loom CLOTHING 6i or spun is Burma. in or Caesar m woven Frederick 1569 mentions woollen among the goods cloth brought to Burma, vid AraWeb vests for boys kdn. and men, of European manufacture, are becoming general. of the The use of shoes European shape is bringing in the use of socks and stockings. The ad- dition of a European shirt 130. LAYING OUT THE WARP, under the Burman jacket by the modern office clerks. With the The coloured increased use of body-linen hdve come the Indian washermen. stuffs are washed by the Burman women. The native dyes wash well, especially the silk dyes. An alkali-earth (sappya) is found in Burma, but soap is of modern introduction, and is now sold in every bazar. Needles used to be brought to Burma from China, as well as scissors, though the latter are also fashioned in Burma at present both are imported from Europe. Burmans work the needle from them, like other Asiatics. The work is pinned to a cushion at the head of a post planted on the work-box. The use of the thimble was unknown until tailors came over from India, but is now general. The bulk of the tailoring is in the hands of immigrants from China but their prejudice against the sewingmachine is helping to transfer the makes up the incongruous kit affected ; ; business to the Burman women. Nearly every well-to-do family in the towns has its sewing-machine. At sunrise women the start with their water-pots for the day's supply, and again before they cook the evening meal, which the day's work. On finishes the morning errand they do the most of their washing. In the evening they carry a spare cloth to change for the one they bathe wash and coil in, into a which they pad to put between the head and the water- ^^^ Burmese carving of weavinq-loom. BURMA 62 The Burmans bathe pot. in the morning or evening, and not in the heat of the day. Men and women bathe in their clothes and same places. Burmans will at the of good travel far drinking water. It to is a source stored in porous earthen pots with covers, in which Rain-water it settles and cools over-night. is saved for other is and uses large glazed jars (sin-d). A in used for dipping the water out, to avoid disturbing the sediment. and has scarce man the In season the river water bears is stored cocoanut ladle to stand for hours. rainy a heavy silt Spring water owing to the distance of the Bur- settlements from the hills. The and tanks. In the moist region the subsoil water comes up to, or near the surface during the rains, and in the drought sinks twenty or thirty feet. In the dry zone it is sometimes necessary to dig one hundred feet for water. Wells are generally fenced and protected from return and 132. BURMESE SILK ordinary sources are CLOTH PATTERNS. '^^ ,3||:«:, vi^i^. ---r^'um 133. THE SPRING. rivers, wells, f5 K« ilt^ v- < I- < a DOMESTIC WORK 63 some parts of the country the In surface water. water is earthen brackish. borders Shallow tanks with built-up are made the store to rain- water for drinking, and, unlike the tanks in India, There these are kept free from contamination. is always a separate stand for the pots of drinkingwater, either in the house distance, with a roof of itself, or within reaching The domestic own. its (nyaimg ye-S shrine and flower-stand zin) quently associated with the water-stand. is from the advantage of keeping away the the isolation of the water-stand to suggest a religious intention gotten animistic import — — so drip, marked as possibly of for- addition in ^ is fre- Apart to the obvious one of a boon to the traveller, in virtue of which the water-stand in the frequently decorated is Buddhistic religious style (No. 158). already noted, dwelling-houses are not for fit As places images of the Buddha, but only temples. In Buddha is venerated by keeping the houses, the his sacred tree 135. nyaung ye-6 SEWING CLOTH. The actually used plants the aloe shrine takes its the flower-vases on the in which is often richly decorated. name from such as keep green longest are The observance has very [indt). green zin, in the ficus, but the the shade, especially possibly been transferred pre-buddhistic one (No. 157). The native method of getting fire is in shown Except enough No. 141. in the great plains, there is waste land about the settlements, bearing trees and scrub where dry faggots may be collected. of dry timber are dragged Logs and in, firewood for cooking split off as required, or billets are carted in and stored against the rainy season. In the cold season, made on fires the ground the houses, sit around. for the But in are often front of inmates to in general, 136. village well. from a —a BURMA 64 fuel only for manufac- required is cooking and in tures. Rice is the staple of every meal, except The dry zone. in the millet and sorghum which there take the place of rice are cooked in the same way but need longer boiling. " A boiling " {ta-o-dyeC) common terval phrase for an of minutes. fii^X. in 137. CARRYING HOME THE WATER-POTS. riceis several put to boil about the in- twenty After washing waters, in rice is an earthen pot with enough water to and boiled till the grains are quite clear. The rice-water is poured off, and the rice is put back on the fire to steam. Rice is cooked fresh for every meal and A relish is made to eat with the rice, consisting of a watery stew of is eaten hot. cover it, fresh greens or of pulse. sesamum oil (Jinan-zi). The used fat This curry is is seasoned with turmeric (sanwi'n), capsicum {ngayotthi chilli), Fresh able. and either fish, salt-fish or ngapi prawns, or meat are added (p. — 92). if avail- In default of cultivated vegetables, wild bamboo-shoots and sproutPickles of lime and other There are fruits are used as separate relishes. two meals in the day, both of the same nature. The morning meal is eaten at about nine Meals are o'clock, the other before dark. The taken by the household in common. greens of all sorts, ing leaves, are used. housewife or daughter gets mats ready in the — kyannHng and places in the centre a byat large, deep, wooden platter, lacquered red into which she turns out the cooked In the middle of the rice rice {tainhi). bowl with the The family squat round curry and a spoon. the byat, or if a large household round several. is set a ''' °"'"'°- '^*"' ;°te™' — DOMESTIC WORK 65 the villages the In veller is invited to passing trajoin in the Everyone in turn ladles gravy from the bowl on the rice in front of him and mixes and meal. eats and it with his fingers. after eating, Before mouth and fin- gers are rinsed. After the meal a drink of water is is taken. Fruit eaten after meals and at odd times. The importation of delf crockery and enamelled ware has been going on for a long time. 140. FETCHING IN FUEL. Betel (kun) times except at is taken at meals, and all to- is smoked by men, women, and children (No. 21). The betel-box plays same part in Burman sociality as the snuff-box still does in parts of Europe. The chew of betel is made up of the fresh leaf of the betel-vine {kun-yuet, No. 409) bacco the smeared with moist slaked lime {ton) and folded over — slices of the nut of the — Dried tobacco-leaf, cutch and spices cinnamon and cloves " are frequently added. betel-chewing " is a common phrase for about a areca or betel palm. A Old people who have lost their teeth pound up the betel a small brass mortar (kun-dyeik) for chewing. The spittoon {tu^-gan) is quarter of an hour. in indispensable. The native tea balls the or tea is prepared by is the in North. It is either in or , is The dry (leppekkan). infused hill-tribes of the isin-chi) fist {leppeUhauk) loose pickled of a size Chinese fashion {/epp^yye, No. 146). When the rinsed after platters the have been meal evening and the tables put by sabwkwhich gives the name to the hour, the day's work is over and the young women smarten themselves up to receive hnimik — their beaux. chief toilet- is the face-powder {than- — the cream-coloured bark requisite ) The K 141. GETTINQ FIRE BY THE NATIVE METHOD. dry BURMA 66 of the dry of a tree zone, ground into a paste with water on a special perfunned by grinding The paste is stone. It is sandal-wood with it. smeared on the face and left to dry, which the excess is rubbed off. For great occasions the paste is left But ordinarily the on over-night. after freshed " with water (inye-hnaon rising in the morning. The Burmans admire white teeth and polish them with charcoal on a soft face is " thit) stick. dress The was old style of like the women's early fashion of about 1867 in Europe. THE COOKING-PLAOE. 142. sadon hair- chignon The form is seen in Nos. About 1880 a new fashion in this 30, 381. by the palace, which now prevails. Tresses of false hair are much used by the women. Flowers in the hair and jewellery complete the toilet, was set performed in view of everyone, They take long hair (No. 127). pride in the size of their top-knot {yaung) and rarely eke it out with false The heavy knot works loose, so that combing hair in the way the women do. of the actors in the pzvk, which, like that The men's combing consists in toilet is their and knotting up go on perpetually. The hair of both sexes is coarse and and jet black. Children's hair gets foxy from alternate exposure to The hair is sun. rain and smoothed with cocoanut oil and washed with soap-nut once or straight At twice a month. Burmans the avoid wetting their native wooden combs but the other times concerned are to The hair. are coarse, Chinese tooth comb is beginning to serve a useful purpose. Burmans turn grey at forty to fifty years of age and white at sixty to seventy. ness is rare. wear their rnen's faces Aged men little are top-knot. smooth, are Baldstill The many 143. the family meal (old style). — tHk TOILET 67 having no thirty. is not of trace The beard is beard till sparse and shaved but plucked out with tweezers. (The yahdn of Bui'ma likewise use tweezers for the beard.) When there is a pas- sable moustache, towards middle The is allowed to grow. on a mole is cultivated sometimes a single long hair life, it hair for luck. Besides wood the sandal- perfume just mentioned, there is the perfumed wood kalamet. Sandal-oil and attar of roses 144. THE FAMILY MEAL (NEW STYLE). have long been imported from India. Scented waters are made from various flowers and an oil is obtained from kaddt-ngan. Scents imported from Europe have become a regular toilet article. The shoulders and arms of those who habitually wear jackets and do not labour in the open are brunette face and hands are darker, much like the complexion of the sun-browned Levantine, but of a yellower tint than his. Regular exposure browns the skin to a copper hue, and where exposure is severe to a brown-black, but not so opaque a black as that of ; The India or Africa. again on avoidance Women's and colour lightens of exposure. complexions are fairer the new-born are no darker than in Europe. As a rule the Burman is darker and slenderer, with a more oval face the Talaing fairer children's ; ; and more face. The thick-set, with a broader gloss of the skin helps to exaggerate the light and shade in photographs and make the complexion appear too dark. of the men is The from ordinary stature five feet three inches to five feet six inches, and of the women from to five feet. four feet nine inches The people are moderately spare habit. Having made her evening of a toilet, 145. betel (kun). BURMA 68 the girl takes such cotton as wheel hlt, some the for hour of liibyoof evening is the time of the bachelors' round." men are expected to calls only, so as old the for roll as the dusk called, literally, " to light work, people up The young make short not to keep the By late. " old men's sleeping time," as the hour after the short twilight they must have duenna, who, relieve the in sight, 146. TEA (LEPPEYYe! the girls is always to in called, as if to not waiting for come up house for the night. has quite a language of is so left, into the Courtship own in which the suitor needs to be proficient. people of fashion are referred to as kdla-ihd, kdla-tkamt—lzds and girls ' of the period," who cultivate smartness in their speech, bearing and dress. The suitor brings presents of flowers and fruit and ornaments. Oranges, expenits Young sively stored one by one, long past the season, are for this sole purpose. %^ Carved — COURTSHIP 69 work - loom boxes, - mirror - laths, stands are often the lover's handi- Not the work. ofiferings scholar, is he least of the lover's of her charms. rent THE SUITORS 149. in praise ditties to the fancy of every The imagery which is the main feature of these odes, is borrowed from every source of beauty, blossom and flower, dewdrop and pearl, planet and star. Burmese metre is largely eked out with VISIT. so compressed as to is own But there are cur- euphonic particles the diction be a will sing or recite to his mistress verses of his one. he If poetry. make ; at other times the sense most difficult for a foreigner to grasp. Romantic attachments are frequent in The frequency of the mere marriage Burma than in England or America. In this the customs of the hill-tribes of Burma, the Marriages of affection are general. real life, as they are the rule in the play. of convenience respect there is not greater in no is parallel to neighbouring Asiatic civilisations or even the Latin races of Europe. Their mutual qualities, physical, moral, and material, are for the most part known to Burmans evince an openness and frankness the parties from childhood. amounting a much the to joviality, not to The term voice. be met with for betrothal purchase of the bride. the original in other parts of Asia. In saydn-pe, according outfit, means. earnest-money to takes the form It of a silk tanu'in or a piece of jewellery and is for the girl, brought by the lad when he comes with parents sent of the to girl's the marriage. parents matches his ask the con- to indulge parents Where oppose, runaway are frequent. — testifies modern usage, however, the saydn merely a share of the cost of They play of feature and yet greater freedom in the modulation of freer ^^^ marriage ceremony. to is ^UkMA 76 Burmans do make money in order to marry, Girls but marry in order to make money. marry from the age of about twenty, and men The marriage is a quiet about twenty-five. affair. A day is fixed, when the lad and his parents repair to the home of the girl, whither They are generally condoned. not wait to some of the elders of the village been invited for addresses the lad wise " : witness. The {Ifidyi) parents of the girl Seeing that our children we pray you have father of the in this love each your daughter be as our daughter and our son as your son (ekkan). The girl's parents express their pleasure and approval, and according to one usage, the couple thereupon join hands (lettat), which other, let ' means marriage as 151. THE IDEAL AND THE REAL. ; but the joining-of-hands a rule figurative. is After this the lad goes and fetches his bedding, curtain, and clothes and places them in the house in token of reception into the family. In conclusion, the When one or both parties are strangers in the place, friends undertake the part of parents and the elders make inquiries as to blood-relationship and pre-existing ties. Kinship closer than first-cousin and the corresponding step-relationships are respected except by royalty (p. 170). Sometimes marriages are of a more festive description parties and the witnesses eat pickled tea together. — {iningald). Astrologers are and company entertained as at the ndbauk Other unions, mingala. again, are by mere mutual called in agreement, without formali- By timeof any kind. honoured custom the lads ties of the right to village claim pelt the new-married night {gi-pyit), and pair the to buy them the house of it is off. couples mostly start at usual New life in n MARRIAGE 71 the young wife's home, the lad As working for her parents. family comes and other daughters marry, are pairs established in houses of people are designated ein-daung makes their the — householders. elder Married own. Marriage no in the names and their prefixes. Everyone marries in Burma the census of 1891 gave 1,306,722 husbands to 1,307,292 wives. The same census gave 102 females to 100 males of the Burman (so classed difference ; as Buddhist) population. (In Burma prostitution is con- fined to the large towns.) A family of seven is considered large. number of house-occupants is 5.5. a Burman village household is 100 The The average cost of living of to 200 Rs. a year. In the towns the well-to-do spend 600 to 1000 Rs. and more, and at the present day keep a servant or two for the rough work, generally natives of India. Such accumulations of wealth as are made by individuals in India and other countries with a plutocracy and a proletariate are 153. THE CHALLENGE not paralleled among the Burmans. Nevertheless in{seef. 177). dividuals amass tens of thousands of rupees, which for the most part they spend on works of religious merit. and almost Monogamy universal is the received practice in Burma. Second-wives are taken by a proportion of officials and men of wealth. Hence comes that the Burmans wonder more the moderation of Europeans than at the it at such license as they indulge. is more open, status of the it This license not nearly so great as in India, but corresponding women more provokes to the of Burma, and scandal in it is higher thus comparison. Unions of this sort among the Burmans are separate esmerely by mutual consent. A tablishment town a different quarter of the maintained for the second wife or is concubine under no ledged in {maya-ngh). disability, Her but she is children by the first, and generally whos^ husbaqd's loye wife [inayajt), are not acknowolder, slje is 154. an "oriqinal,.' BURMA 72 said to and have stolen. The helpfully. The vast majority of couples best influences of regular family go through life life faithfully are developed. The dissolutions of marriage which take place are chiefly on account of incompati- /.^jy-^" -r- 155. PLEASURE PARTY BY BOAT. Sometimes the husband and wife merely drift apart. Such a separation, when of long standing, is accepted and the parties are free to marry again. In acute and irreconcilable differences the parties apply to the elders of the It becomes the elders' duty to make three eff"orts to displace for divorce. bility. suade the couple from their purpose. {kwd Pickled tea byf). is Failing in these, they pronounce separation eaten, as in the case of the marriage. the union go with the father, the girls with the mother. The boys Common of goods are her dower and the proceeds of her independent trade and divided equally investments are at the woman's own disposal from first to last. When she can manage as she often contrives to do the mother keeps and provides for There is no all her children, but they retain a lien on the father's support. woman so well able to shift for herself as the woman of Burma. Her independent status would seem to be the corollary of her independent ability ; — — manage by herself Nowhere else is the wife more prized nowhere is to ; woman better able to make terms with manAlthough under the Hindu code of Manu which the Burmans nominally the follow, woman is status of only the Indian iBg. pleasure party sy cart. STATUS OF WOMEN no one, woman As But it the aspiration of every is a transmigrate as to phase man so one, it is is man {bawa, existence of the state of a desirable life kind exists disability of a practical for her. next 72> the in p. 43). thought a more inferred her that in the previous incarnation has brought the woman's and tender How deep the poetry which the idea upon state is of transmigration weaves her. into the life of Buddhist may be judged from example at the close of Chapter XXIII. Orphans are of The Soul of a People. adopted by relatives, and in default of the the such, never to find foster-parents. fail The between the sexes is the common one of out-door and in-door. Wherever circumstances permit, women division (NYAUNG-YE-0, PP- 6, 63). zone of commerce In certain localities of the labour of relieved places neutral is transacting the bulk part are DOMESTIC FLOWER-STAND 157. of in women and women embark ; hardship ; the sheltered and carts belong to the children. The great middle boats in wholesale trade, besides of the retail trade. women do the lighter out-door work, and in the poorer districts of the dry zone they share in the heavy labour. precedence Women among men are accorded according to the standing they have acquired by marriage The by their independent efforts. Kyaungamd — the woman who has founded enjoys a and who supports a school or — deference on all sides the munificence of her proportioned gift. to Women mix among men but are never jostled by At great gatherings men and them. women group apart. The Burman women are smart at repartee, and hold their own freely in perpetual the between the sexes. banter that goes on 158. WAYSIDE WATER-STAND (PP- 31, 63). L IN THE CITY — BURMA 74 Every man or stranger, woman, ad- is K'lnbyd^sir, dressed There madam. is a courteous address for nearly every relation in Children, life. speaking to in their parents, grandparents, and aunts, say Shin and Daw lord, 159. CHILDREN AT THE RIVER SIDE (p. 8l). lady wife to husband, younger brother Shin ; husband to wife, Byo, Bya terms of endearment or sister to elder, Go, Maung-dyi ; elder brother to younger Maung ; brothers uncles, — ; — to Maung Ma. sisters, Ma and ; (brother and sister) have become the These are used ordinary prefixes to names, answering to our Mr., Mrs., Miss. To inferiors and in disparageMiddle-aged men are given the which is also the prefix to the bwk even by parents to their grown-up children. ment, the nga, plain mi, men address Go, and old mi are that of used. U (uncle), conveyed by the address .Saj'ii— teacher, master. Great regard of the yahdn. To The honorific word for wife is gaddw, thus sayd-gaddw, min-gaddiu. lord of lords; royal self; AsMn-Paya royalty the addresses were Gddaw These titles came to be used for ministers Pdn-daw-dyi of great glory. and governors, as more euphemistic ones were devised for the kings. The same addresses are accorded by courtesy to the yahdn, who on their part The address the layman as Tagd, Tagddaw supporter, great founder. In other layman refers to himself as tabyt-daw the honoured disciple. is — — — — of relations other Hfe, periphrases are — used for the pronouns of the first and second persons. The ngd, plain I and you are only used in nin — — Thus the / is serhumble tyunSk — the (For women, tyunvant. disparagement. current phrase via.) for addressing In phrase superiors, the tyiinddw, Payd-tynnddxv is igo. chinuon game, applique work (p. 179), — — , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 75 —the slave, ship's humble lord- his servant. There are special honorific terms for the com and going, eating and sleeping of royalty and of the yahdn. The most coveted titles or ing appellations 161. children's tubs at flood-time (p. 811. The first of these The great increase of age. to the by courtesy given is to those Payd- taga of a of a — founder school, temple. are of kyaung-tagd, founder per.sons of venerable prosperity has given a corresponding impetus founding of such works, so that the tagd are more numerous than The ever before. magBuddhism shone through- private foundations are on a scale of unprecedented At no nificence. out the land in period has such resplendence as now. and badges {salw^, No. the kings. Small dignities titles hereditary in many One places. Personal 31) used to be given and offices have Nevertheless, no aristocracy has developed. of these titles was Thakiii. (mast by in ' 162. CARVING OF OHINLON PLAYER (pp. 13, 179). After again e-ld ? are absence, " Europeans all same way the sahib " unusual a mere address, in between " equals. Here you and an inquiry about health At departure, as India. in Despite the punctilio greetings er, now assumed lord), " I'm off," " are ma- You're There is going" tkwa dawmk. answering to the established saldni or to our " Good day," " Good-bye." The vernothing bal salutation to the yahdn, after obeisance, — Goda-di-mya thdppdyd pyippa-e Id is your Grace duly provided with the canonical is by been 163. THE PABYA SHRIN E (p. 188). — ! BURMA ^6 requirements yahdn pyippa, pyippa, I To which ? my am, the responds, cordially tagddaw —that supporter valued Just as salutations are ordinarily omitted, so thanks are only expressed favours. tion is The for special sense of obliga- conveyed by adopting courteous forms of speech, in which "the particle ba always The set forms of figures. and thank you are thus dispensed with. Where, however, a disparity of age or position exists, every act of the superior becomes by courtesy a boon. A Burman is disconcerted by a simple present, as well as by bakshish and payments above the stipulation, which he is particular to make beforehand. But when approaching a superior with a request, the inferior bears an offering of courtesy, generally fruit. The inferior makes shiko both on approaching and taking leave. A Burman does not stand, in the presence 164. FOREST ZAYAT AND WATER-STAND of his superior, but his squats down. (p. please 63). When he has occasion to pass close to does not walk erect but crouches. superior, he By well-bred Burmans Every Burman, the yahdn not excepted, on ascending the kyanniing of a house, removes his As we Westerns respect the roof that our host has prosandals or shoes. vided by doffing our head-gear, so Easterns respect "Cue floor that is provided the gestures of respect are performed in a very graceful manner. an observance of a practical nature where the floor serves both for seat and an greeting with Oriental to our hat, the respect by the shows In table, way analogous slipping the sandals even outside the courteous house. is the Still more practice of washing the feet before entering a house or kyaung. Burmans always contrive to sit the so as to hide the soles of feet or to turn them 165. RECEIVING A VISITOR. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS away from the 77 company. In a similar spirit of courtesy a rider dis- mounts and Among umbrellas closed. are discourtesy few are acts of accounted so grave by the Burmans as that of reluctance awakening a disturb to The sleeper. sleeper a connected with the belief that 197). (p. the body during It is looked upon as show resentment and spirit {leippya) leaves sleep is a weakness to the temper {dawtha, p. 44). A visitor in a house is offered a new mat to sit VILLAGE CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE. 166. upon, water to chew, and a spittoon. time he is drink, If it betel invited to partake he has had food, and refreshment to be meal; other- Although the quota of leisure that falls to everyone is greater in Burma than anywhere else, owing to the wide-spread prosperity of the inhabitants, there is perhaps no country in which every man, woman, and child is less exempt from business concern. Thus it happens that after a few commonplaces, conversation inevitably wise he is asked if gravitates to business — prices, harvests, prospects. is Next brought. in interest come the programmes, the local celebrities and their doings. In every house there are scales and weights, and the household is engaged in occasional or regular trade. Accounts in money and kind are current between neighbours. Whatever spare produce remains is exposed for sale. The villages either have festival a quick fence of impenetrable thorny bamboo (inyimva), or a hedge of cactus and bamboo some briar, or chevaux-de-frise. parts they are open. In The old towns {jnyo) had ramparts and (Nos. 387). stockades The 6, 371, highest sites about the village are for the zedi, the Payd-myeo'c sacred ground, the next best are Then comes for the kyaung. the enclosure of 157. approach to the village. — BURMA 78 head-man or functionary, and the village other round about, the houses of the villagers in or regular less The more rows. village streets are and broad in houses the places well-spaced, with some are plots of fruit-trees and vege168. VILLAGE CAUSEWAY IN THE TIDAL REGION. gardens between table - and at care is roads except in a few riverain localities and tidal regions, where the back. No bestowed on the embanked roads and brick causeways are necessary. Trees are planted in front of the houses cocoanut and betel palms, giant bamboo, the evergreens, tamarind, mango, and jack, for their fruit and shade gangaw, sagd, and padduk for their shade and scented flowers mkzali, r^i, and several j^a/J species. The screw-pine and various ; ; ornamental shrubs are gardenias, and roses. Plants cultivated balsams —are cultivated Palma — tardssjxga (frangipani, Christi (castor-oil plant) by Europeans in the tropics spreading everywhere. is — crotons, Pot-gardening is No. 92), common sennaya, for hedges. begonias, caladiums, becoming a feature of the villages and even of the raft-houses and boats. Well received as the stranger is by the people of the village, he has to The dogs are the scavengers of the settlements, together with the crows and the myriads of ants. The termites (" white ants ") account for the dry vegetable refuse, but they also invade the brave the displeasure of the village curs. dwellings and destroy dry wood, mats, and thatch. houses in the same way as dogs. 169, A Cats attach themselves to peculiarity of the domestic cat of VILLAGE RIVER-FRONT. Burma is SETTLEMENTS, SEASONS 79 tail. Wild animals are often kept and fetch good prices. Monkeys, the kinked as pets, porcupines, deer, tamed. 404) ; doves, minas, The commonest. bulbul, but kept it is occasionally are otters, Cage-birds are many houses in (No. and parakeets are the principal singing bird not a cage-bird. is the Poultry is sake of fighting-cocks or for fancy, The wild peacock is caught young and kept for the ; it is generally a savage bird. and the hare are the national The peacock emblems of Burma (Nos. 2, 7, 11). The houses and boats are infested with rats and cockroaches. The latter have an enemy in the tmiktk, a large lizard of the same which catches flies in throughout the tropics of Asia. tribe as the little gecko, the houses THE VILLAGE 171. DOGS... This animal whence its is remarkable name (see for its loud The Shadow of cry, the What Pagoda). with the cawing of crows, barking of dogs, croaking of frogs, chatter of sparrows, loud hum of cicadas, squeaking of rats an interval of real stillness by day or night is a boon in Burma, when the quiet does not merely — serve to bring out the ominous "ping" of the mosquito. perennial pest The " come the bombardier In addition to this flights of insects at dusk, as the rainy season approaches. comes with them, a beetle which raises a blister wherever it touches, and which is a danger to eyesight. But one of the most charming effects of the country is produced by the myriads of fireflies with their rhythmical ' illumination of the river sedges at night. The seasons of Bur- ma— and Further India at large — are three rainy, or south-west ; the mon- soon, the cool, or northeast monsoon, and the hot season. last, roughly from May {Kason. The rains speaking, to September Naydn, Wazo, Wagdung, Tawthalin, 172. THE TAUK-TE (ONE-THIRD NATURAL SIZE). BURMA 8o see a Appendix fall of hundred E), with fifty to two inches accord- ing to locality, and with shade temperatures of 75 to 88° F. The cool from NoFebruary to vember {Naddw, Pyatko, Taboddry season wk), with 173. VILLAGE SCENE IN rare showers, and shade temperatures ranging from 50 to 80° THE DRY SEASON. in The is the twenty-four hours. most pronounced in the inland and northern regions, less At elevations of four the neighbourhood of the sea. thousand feet, winter-night frosts occur. The hot months are March and April {Tabdiuig, Tagu), with occasional showers, and shade temperatures of 80-95°, and 90-105°, according to locality, in the course of the day. There is always a considerable fall of temperature at night in Burma. October {Thadindyiit TazdtmgmSn) frequently has the character of the hot months. The regions which have the lowest temperatures in the cool seasons have the highest in the hot season. But the greater heat of the dry zone is relatively not so trying as is a lesser heat in an atmosphere saturated with moisture, which impedes the cooling of the body by evaporation. As the heat attains its climax, clouds begin so in cool season is the south and — to gather. The rains break, often quite abruptly, with violent thunderstorms. Nevertheless, lightning-stroke the rains set Irawadi and in, the great Salween swell, owing, as it is is uncommon. Hail is very rare. Even before rivers begin to believed, to the melting of Himalayan snows in which they have The high their sources. floods of these rivers, however, coincide with the heavy rainfall in Burma. Towards the beginning of July the rivers and tributaries have risen ten to twenty feet, submerging their flooding the low-lands. wadi banks and The Ira- Mandalay, where it is about two miles wide, rises thirty at 174. south-west monsoon clouds. SEASONS AND CLIMATE 8i feet. The Sal- above the rapids, with a width ween, of a quarter of a mile, rises fifty feet. The high level fluctuations, September. water in channels 176. VILLAGE ENVIRONS IN THE FLOODS. and yellow clears itself in the grass-grown Many Kwin. is with maintained, till The the main is heavy silt, turbid with but it a cart-track of the dry weather becomes a creek passable by deep-laden boats. The whole aspect of the country and mode of life are changed the villages of the Delta are accessible by water, and many stand in water. At this season the heavy traffic of the country proceeds. In some places the rise is so great and so variable that the people depend on their boats, and every child has a tub of its own Such a village is Sanyue on the Myimmaka {Myit-ma-kd), (Nos. 159, 161). the river that denies its tribute to the great Irawadi, and delivers the waters of the Y6ma straight to the sea (see map, and momakd, p. 115). ; The Burma is the spring-tides above rise of sixteen to eighteen feet. mean low-water level on the coast of In certain estuaries of the Martaban Gulf, dangerous bores are produced. In the Delta, which is a network of creeks, and in Arakan, the facilities afforded for traffic by the tidal currents are unequalled. The abatement of the monsoon rains, in the course of September, like the break of the monsoon, attended dries thunder- with The storms. is surface soon and the sub-soil water begins to sink, leaving but little marsh land the hot season advances, bamboos the trees and the As {bwet). dry forest leaves, and wither, covering lose the of their grasses the soil with an inflammable layer. In the open, the heavy dews M 177. VILLAGE SCENE IN THE HIGH FLOOD. BURMA 82 keep the pasture green March. By April the till ele- Kwin phant-grass in the is dry and ready to burn like a prairie. Camp cultivation fires the stump spread, cheroot starts the or burning a of and fires fire, which runs through the kaing and the 178. SCENE IN THE bamboo forest PLAINS AT. FLOOD-TIME. the thatch and the houses are as dry as tinder, and village flapper on long bamboo till it is stopped by a broad waterIn the hot weather course. fires are frequent. poles are provided at every house to tear bamboo of A hook and off" the thatch Water-pots are set along the roof- ridges, so and beat out the fire (No. 431). But if a high wind is blowing, the that they only need to be overturned. burning thatch is carried across streets and creeks. The people can only save their movables and accept the situation, which they do with characteristic good humour. The religious buildings being more substantial, there is a better chance of extinguishing them when on fire. Religious merit is to be gained by the effort the whole village turns out with waterpots to quench the flames and ; slake the embers. 179. THE IIRAWADI AT PROME ip. 137>. 181. BRICK-MAKERS (p- 97). CHAPTER V TRADES AND PROFESSIONS Most in artizans settlements are the rural cultivators as well, plying their special trade home in the by-season. The industries continue to be practised in the seaport towns, where certain of them, such as rice-cleaning, are conducted wholesale (No. 184). The plant used largest the country villages o\\-m\\\{siz6n). oil of Burma is is in the The cookingpressed from the seed of sesamum (hnati), resembling a black grain rape. It is 182. not so delicate as olive The oil, but is OIL-MILL. used for adulterating the latter. made of the mill consists of a great Oil-cake is used for fodder. pestle of the same. trunk of some hard-timbered tree with a mortar Hnan is grown as BURMA 84 a secondary crop in the. hills, a dry-weather crop in the kwin, and a full crop in the dry The zone. care of the tdri palm, the plant- ing and milling of sugar-cane, the care of orchards and the raising of vegetables are occupations of a special kind. The tan and pe palms, which yield the palm-wine or juice, The propagate naturally. tan grows about a foot a year, and attains a height of eighty hundred feet (No. 167). It fruits at Tan palms are to twenty years. common on the temple-lands and other well - drained and uncultivated clearings. to a fifteen The curved flower-stalks of the tan are cut through, and to their stumps earthen pots are slung exudes. A from a tree dies its ; gigantic some months. for receive in or the juice that more is collected twenty-four hours. juice is also obtained then it flowers for the ; first time, fruits Fresh juice of all may be drunk even by the yahdn. When boiled fresh, the The a sugar {tannydt). collecting pots are boiled out daily, by which the yeast that forms is destroyed. This boiling liquor age. of the omitted when the intended for a beverIn that case a decoction is is nut of pangd or other is added, which helps astringent to arrest fermentation vinous stage. fermentation in at the Otherwise, acid is twenty-four and head of bloom is cut off" at the base and the juice flows The dant palm is tapped in the same way as the tan. three palms is sweet, and before fermentation sets in, it juice yields Palm- from the/^, the dried leaves of which are used for writing on. The tree takes about fifty years to mature PE AND TAN PALMS. 183. to gallon complete withhours. Fer- ,,,. cleaning r,ce wholesale (p.,65), ; SUGAR 85 tan-ye merited is sake the are few among mans. Women are uni- the Bur- versally abstainers. OANE-CRUSHING make they MILL. the of Drinkers of tdri sugar. 185. of Most of boiled down beer. the juice for the strength alcoholic small (tdri, has palm wine) - The Burmans do not brew or distil liquor of any kind, but in some places a drink called sk-ye by adding to tari an infusion of herbs of weak narcotic properties. In of parts varieties the India within the On cultivation. cultivated, ktvin, sugar-cane of last dry fifty soil, principally too (kyan) heavily flooded years a thin by Shan and settlers. till A Cane-juice is rice-cultivation, variety of sugar-cane with cane tops are kept standing in water can be put out for the next crop. fruit. for Sugar-cane is a 'dark cut pressed out in wooden mills between is eaten like rollers In accurately is an adjacent shed on a much Earthen pots have been superseded by cast-iron cauldrons, at of Shan manufacture, but now imported from Europe. first stalks of the cane furnish a large part of the fuel. it to is the syrup has thickened poured into hard and flat moulds The product solidify. of a colour {kyanlagd). It is brown light is eaten and is used for baking sweetmeats none of it goes to Almost the whole refifteries. is the soil has been turned and they scale than the palm-juice boiling. When rind November in great deal of sugar-cane turned and geared by cogs or spiral teeth (No. 187). furnace for boiling the juice, which is an earthen The crushed certain have been introduced from have proved a means of extending These thrive. plain ; lee. boiling down the cane-juioe. larger BURMA 86 out-turn settlers Chinese spirits the edible wild fruits of Burma, wild acid the wild after the chief many is less fruit, succulent for the part The culti- protected from cattle rapid TURNING ROLLERS FOR THE CANE kinds of most and astringent. fruit-trees need above the is ground. mango There are kanazo. vated 187. distiUing 156). (p. Of for by up bought is be high to till But so the growth that in two to five years the trees are es- MILL. Tamarind, mango tablished. and jack are the commonest fruit trees and need little care they are wayside trees in the villages. Clumps are planted in the kyaung enclosures and at ; camping-places (sakdn) for their shade. In the dry zone the tamarind attains the proportions of our oak (No. 309), as does the mango in the moist regions (No. 304). A congener of the mango, the maydn, is also planted. The jacktree attains moderate size, but, although evergreen, its shade is light. The cocoanut palm ipn) has to be artificially germinated by watering the nut for several weeks before planting, for it rots if left to soak. It needs fencing for some years and does not bear for ten to fifteen, which a comparatively long time for labour to await its return in the tropics. Burma grows only a is small proportion of the cocoanuts she requires the rest are imported from India and the ; Dry cocoanuts cost one-half one anna, and green nuts as much as two annas each. The water of the green nut is a Nicobar Islands. to refreshing beverage, frequently offered to the yahdn and in betel-palm (kun, hospitality areca) is to strangers. The more extensively and pumelo, jujube propagated. Limes, citron anH guava, cashew and bael are planted about .ise. collecting jack-fruit. FRUITS, VEGETABLES, FLOWERS 87 They the villages. mand little de- or no care. on which proper care is bestowed Fruit-trees are custard -apple, the orange, mangosteen and durian, the in the first of these dry region, the latter three in the The south. FRUIT-STALL 189. IN (duyifi) JULY (teNASERIM). the of labour before it bears as the cocoanut has been so Its cultivation ; but the much extended fruit is requires moist durian about same expenditure prized above all others. of late that average durians in the season cost only about double the price of green cocoanuts. Thirty years ago both durian and mangosteen used to cost two and three times as much as now. The limits of durian and mangosteen are 17° N. and 95° E. Only a small part of the habitat of both trees is included in Burma. Oranges, like most fruit trees in Burma, are grown from seed. The custard-apple is planted on terraced hillsides. It gives to the Irawadi at Prome a character which recalls the vineyards of the Rhine. The fruit of Burma, however, as of the tropics at large, is the plantain or banana {hngeppydw-thf). Many varieties are cultivated, some of them very delicate. The plantain is propagated from suckers after fruiting in the second year, the plant dies. The papaya (thimbdwthi, Nos. 407, 435) was introduced over sixty years ago and has spread everywhere. Of sweet fruits there remain the pine-apple, which is cultivated in the light shade of the orchards of jack, and the watermelon, grown in vegetable gardens together with cuvegetable cumbers and marrows. The walnut and ; the the chestnut flourish The north. bears there also, in vine but is not extensively cultivated. Other nuts are the cashew kernel and the ground-nut {mye-bi) roasted. ; both have to be The kernels of 190. rod net (paittaqun). BURMA jack and several other fruits are roasted and eaten. Vegetables are regularly cultivated in the vicinity of large towns. villages very little In the trouble is A bush or and a few plants of brinjal or tomato are pumpkins and gourds are set trained over the roof or on taken with them. so of capsicum ; arbours in front (Nos. 126, 414). The market vegetables are onions and garlic, 191. SWING NET (yagwin). Qf beans, fresh many kinds and dried, yams, " sweet-potato," pumpkins, marrows, gourds, brinjals and tomatoes, chimbdung, kyeppaung and kyemmauk. Green maize is used as The cultivation of maize would admit of great extension in the a vegetable. kwin if there were a market for the grain. Green shoots culled from all sorts various tubers, of wild herbs and trees are brought to market. bamboo shoots they turn red by and cardamom occur wild in Burma and are ; The most substantial of these boiling as shellfish do. Black pepper are also cultivated, but not extensively. Turmeric and ginger are cultivated, as well as anise, caraway and coriander. Cinnamon and cloves are imported. Nutmeg is native to the evergreen forests European vegetables, raised by Chinese gardeners, are offered of the south. for sale in the markets of large towns. Potatoes are imported from India and have been grown with success in the Shan and Taung-ngu hills. European flowers have spread everywhere. Cut flowers are sold in the markets for toilet The rose has been use. cultivated in Burma- for ages and is the flower most prized. No grafting is practised nor are any garden varieties of the known. The real floral wealth orchids of Burma — {thikkwabdn) its — the people are only begin- ning to discover owing to the interest taken in by strangers. 1 them 192. fish-trap (hmyon). FISHERY 89 Next the to rice- industry the greatest in- dustry of Burma is the catching and curing offish. Unhlce the rice, entirely for is The fisherman sumption. by taking gets his living contrary to the car- life, dinal injunction Buddha — "let destroy, 193. DABBINQ WITH or who do those so." The subterfuge which the animal food, namely, that they had no share thus provided against by the Buddha Burman is in in the the form a kind master to his animals, but much neglect of injuries, such as da-cvAs, often inflicted putting a suffering creature out of pain reluctance to take other obtaining life operative is animal food than in is sanction specious of resort the him not or cause destroyed, any FLY. the fish local con- life to be at all, the acts of to act of taking in using life, of his injunction. was The cruel suffering results from in temper. not recognised or is The merit of denied. The preventing the people at large from fish. But such is the craving for flesh that Burmans will consume that of animals dead from natural causes and of the many animals commonly rejected for food. The Burmans do not eat the flesh of the The ways Hooks are used mount a fly for monkey, dog, parrot and crow. of taking fish are legion. bait and also to dabbing {ban laik). A contrivance to be seen along the banks of every river is the hmyon, a cage trap with falling door for with large fish. day and also Fish-spearing by is practised torch-light at night. by On the largest scale, fish are taken by drawing off the form p. water from the in the depressions Screens of 49). of the bamboo set in the channels while N lagoons which flat kwm {in, or reeds are the floods are 194, oaqinq fish singly (saunq-to). BURMA ^o draining off. When the ;weather is clear enough run out and the fish are taken. residue of water is drain the in of its water, the fish are taken work of curing the Where the channels do no for the by men who advance close abreast which they thrust to the bottom up the length of the lagoon with conical cages 195. CAGING FISH at every step, taking out the fish IN COMPANY. they catch by an opening at the top (saung-td). But the water in some lagoons remains too deep for this plan, and then tugaung These are enclosures along the margins of the lagoons into which are made. the fish are enticed shelter of green by the boughs laid on the surface of the Small fish are caught with the casting-net (kwi). Heavy nets for river water. and sea fishing are made o{ paissan twine, a kind of jute, tanned with cutch Light nets are made of cotton twine. Drop-nets with floats or madamd bark. of bamboo or paw are used in the big rivers, the estuaries, and on the coast. This class of fishing is getting into the hands of settlers from Enormous India. quantities of small fry are taken in the estularge aries in traps called funnel-shaped damin, which are anchored in the tidal .currents. The shark tribe {ngamdn) are common on most prized thalduk The the coast. in {Jtilsd), Burma but is there many kinds of excellent Large fish sun-dried. tle are slit, salted The eggs fish ngaare fish. and of the tur- are collected on the laying- ige. fish weir and trap. 8, FISHERY 91 Ducks' and fowls' eggs banks. are also eaten. Small fry and the bony made are diment ngapi process is fish Peguan com into the — pressed fish. essentially the The same as that of anchovy paste manufacture, but is conducted The way. are in a much rougher fish after being taken spread out in the sun and then pounded in a mortar, again sunned and again pounded with about a quarter their weight of 198. SLUICE OF' UAGOON FISHERY (iN). salt. Fermentation is not uniformly arrested at the proper stage, so that the product becomes contaminated with putrescence. According as the compound remains moist or dry it is made into balls, moulded into bricks, or stored in Ngapi jars. is sent to Burma Proper and the Shan States in enormous quantities. Fresh fish, dried fish, and ngapt are much the same in price, one half to one rupee the viss (3.65 lbs.) according to quality. NgacMn is a crude and unwholesome pickle made by putting fish to ferment with boiled and salted rice. Salt used to be obtained from sea-water and from brine wells in the interior, before the import of salt began. The manufacture still drags on, as the local salt estuaries is is let better for curing purposes. At into shallow pans like rice-fields, or spring-tides, sea-water in the it is After the brine has been concentrated by evaporation boiled down a furnace. drons in spherical earthen pots, Iron caul- like those in No. 186 are superseding the earthen pots, and the round cauldron is in its turn placed by a being flat re- iron pan. ll'^ - The chase, so far from forming the diversion of princes and satraps, remains to the vatcriens of the villages f -?p^^-, which are raised with the in Ka-hnwk. the heat of the sun, it is built with clay into a vault over BURMA 92 to eke their living The by. reprobate typical who is reclaimed in Bud- legend dhist is the hunter {inoso). The religious stigma would pro- be bably less severe if the scope 200. of the chase were SEA-FISHERMEN-S HUTS. not so restricted as is is. it In the forests of Burma, with their dense cover, forage for herbivores game cannot scarce at certain seasons, so that game as there is has a wide beat, and derance of forest land over clearing. in the cultivation or near the sea there is on its is multiply extensively. For the same reason, the game that forages borders has a limited field in Burma. : There are four species of the sat {sdmbar of India), the dayi (porcine deer), dyi (barking deer, roe), and a beautiful species peculiar to the antlered deer), which has the form and found in the plains on the coast of Pegu, Proper. On dark nights these deer are prepared, with three sides dark. Eastern Peninsula, the thamin (browstature of our red deer. A is with nets in the plains Hunters watch at their haunts for them to break cover and come out into the of the coast. cane-fields or other cultivation. A stout net, a couple of yards wide, stiffened with is at bamboo intervals uprights, run across the line of retreat, opposite to Thaiuin are and again in the north-west of Burma hunted with the mt-on. lantern is The flare is directed towards the deer, which be approached up to striking distance. The by it that they may deceived at the same time by the tinkling of cow-bells. daye and dyi, are caught are so dazed herd In the plains a closer approach to the conditions of shikar in India, and the chase becomes more of a recognised occupation. deer Such hard to find owing to the vast prepon- ^o,. pounding ngapi. Smaller deer, THE CHASE 93 which party second a in is hiding At with dogs. a sign, the dogs are slipped and the deer chased head- long into the nets, where SETTING NETS FOR DEER, 202. they are caught or cut down before they can get clear. Sat and thaniin, which would clear the net at a bound, are coursed with greyhounds of local breed {Kaindbf) when they have ventured far enough into the The Burmans have been acquainted with firearms since the fourteenth open. century of our era. Saltpetre they obtained by percolating with water the droppings of bats accumulated in caves, and boiling down the lye it was also ; obtained from certain marshes flint-lock is still ; sulphur probably came from China. a favourite, because the ammunition is easy to procure. The old Weapons were bad, and the moso is a poor marksman but he manages to approach very Cross-bows, snares, and traps for game are used by the hill near to his quarry. Such venison as is obtained is hurried off to the people, in default of firearms. where it is retailed fresh. nearest market town, If it cannot be thus disposed ; of, it wild Next cut into strips and sun-dried. is pig. Wild bufifaloes a wild ox localities limestone hills. the partridge are found {saing). is to deer, the chief quarry ("bison," pyatmg) frequent the forests. A wild goat lives in some The hare and common in the open country of the dry zone and the plateau-land of the hills. Peacocks are not uncommon in some localities, but are nowhere so abundant as silver pheasant in the great treme bamboo all is argus occurs south. The the in Wild the dry forests. common forests. fowl [taw-dyet) are A India. in {yit) ex- or jungle common in Decoy-birds are used for snaring these, and also the ring-doves {dyo). Ducks, 203. kamabi doq. is the In a few of the rocky BURMA 94 and geese the including some kinds, "imperial" pigeon. large to be counted But the only game Burma of pigeons are as places, in many abundant are teal upon in the snipe {zinyaw), which fre- is quents the The Burman does rice-fields. game, nor does he shoot wing or running game. the on bird any not attempt at this Pelicans are shot for the sake of the crest and neck feathers, adjutant-birds for the The marabout feathers. egret {hyaing) the ducted by Burma aigrettes for is con- Other notable birds of aliens. the hornbill, are chase of cruel with its noisy and the kinghunted by the Chinese for its fisher, plumage. There are no rapacious birds flight, HILU-MAN WITH CROSSBOW. 204. of dangerous disposed of by vultures and crows. work by Eugene W. which prey on them cattle are of Oates.) in An makes a as stout as protect bait, the its casualties in the kill, or a spring-gun is tiger. a par- is the as Panthers or leopards {kyatkit) occasionally take calves, goats, pigs, and dogs from the villages. These beasts are easier to trap than tigers, which are shy of dwellings and everything artificial. A crocodile and forest track insecure from time to time. walls, to dog used from the The annual feature of the trap in the illustration tition India. are about one hundred, of which thirty old tiger {kyd), past hunting deer sometimes shot from a tree over the A speedily is see the systematic Herbivorous wild animals being scarce, the beasts and their depredations on men and much less significance than Burma from these causes constructed. Carrion Burma are particularly scarce, are ascribed to snake-bite. is {tititii), size. (For the birds of population of tigress with cubs, pewit the {inijdiutg) sometimes makes a reach of river unsafe for swimmers, and ' „„, 205. ^„.„ FOR . TRAP TIGER. pig, or a The tiger set or a trap WILD ANIMALS 95 then the bathing-places have to be staked in. Wild elephants make a road dangerous at times. IClephants are captured by pit-falls. Decoys are also used in various ways small animals are detached from the herd by their means and then kept going until they are worn out, and can be tethered and hobbled for taming. The breaking in is accomplished by pinning the elephant between trees or stout posts where it cannot lie down, keeping it underfed, and giving food as ; the reward of docility. captivity in, in —as the Young same way, about the half grown. elephants born in occasionally happens The stock is — are broken sixth year, when replenished from Siam, where the wild herds are larger, and the business of catching is more developed, and where also elephants breed more frequently in captivity. The elephant-breakers and trainers are Shans, and the words of command Shan. Rhinoceroses ikyan) may be found about the sources of streams BRINGING 207. IN ROE-DEER (DYI, in the seen. evergreen A hills ; occasional tracks are tapir occurs in the forests of Tenaserim. Wild dogs {cams rutilans) occur in a few localities. There is no wolf, fox, or hyaena, and no jackal east of Arakan. There is a larger and a smaller black bear {whvun), very rarely en- and not aggresThere are several countered, sive. species wild of cat {taiv- dydung) large and small, and A a few species of weasel. porcupine is found small {pyu). rat The huge bamboo- {pwe) is dug out of its burrow by the hill people. There are many tribes of monkeys and gibbons the ; weird cry of the latter characteristic evergreen are sound forest. the only wild is of the the Squirrels animals 208. MEASURING THE PANTHER. BURMA 96 A great lizard {jnit), one commonly notices. weighing twenty to forty pounds, infests it is shot and eaten by the hollow trees ; Burmans, and skin its used for sandals. Most of the venomous snakes of India are common to Burma, excepting the small and deadly krait. The formidable hamadryad is added, but there are no fully established man which cases of the pursuit of buted to snake-bite are The is attri- The casualties due to chiefly among the reapers. this snake. gigantic python is not dangerous to man. Scorpions and centipedes are com- mon enough, but their stings and bites are not often serious. Good factures water. is only found in and from these the manu- clay for pottery certain localities, are sent to great distances Clay almost stone-hard and by laterite pounded with a tilt-hammer, screened, and worked up in certain proportions with water and sand, by treading with the feet. The best and strongest pots for cooking are not turned on the lathe but patted into shape by hand. These are but slightly porous and of a hard consistence. The lathe pottery is very porous when not glazed. A salt glaze is used for jars to store oil. For ornamental work, lead glazes, coloured with vitriols, are employed. At the potteries, are THE hamadryad. 209. immense reverberating are for built Smaller kilns kilns the firing are pots. fired all round or are excavated underground on the plan of the lime- Wood kiln. is the fuel used. Stone for building except in : 51 '«w; Arakan. is scarce, Masonry reserved for the zedi. Of is late, owing to a fresh impulse from India, masonry has again come Everywhere into greater use. in the inhabited plains one 210. pottery-patting the ware into shape POTTERY AND BRICK comes upon hill and on nearly every bear evidence that at some bricks time a bricks, 97 ::edi had crowned the top. In the moist region the disintegrating effect of the vegetation indication original doubtless is such that frequently no remains of the form of the The use structure. came in of brick with the early Bud- dhist architecture exemplified at Pagan. The brick-fields are on the confines of the rice-fields, and of the as to soil, a light loam. same character The work begins November after the ground has dried. The surface soil is rejected and the earth dug with mattocks a yard or two deep. The clods are soaked in water and trod- in moulded left den into a doughy mass with an admixture of rice husk. The bricks are LATHE POTTERY. 211. direct on the ground, which has been smoothed beforehand, and are to dry in the sun (No. i8i). Before stacking the dried bricks, the lower or rough edge is trimmed with a da. The commonest size of brick is 12'' x 6" x burn consists of ten thousand bricks and sells for about forty-five rupees. the dry zone, brick has always been used A some extent, unby the government. for house-building to less when In the prohibited south, the brick-work is in- variably plastered over with ingade to prevent the clay mortar from washing Now out. that bricklaying in Pegu has passed into the hands of masons from India, lime-mortar is usual. The limestone rocks which are a feature of the Eastern Peninsula, rise abruptly from the plains to heights of one to three thousand feet (No. honeycombed with They are which facilitate quarrying. 107). fissures During the floods, boats can approach and be loaded with the stone. Lime is used for white- wash, plaster, mortar, and for chewing 212. FANCY POTTERY (SHAN). i i". In BURMA with betel. abound in The limestone rocks caves, many of which with been incrusted images, and transformed into temples and shrines (No. 84), but the rock is not hewn. The lime is packed in baskets of leaf and bamboo-wicker, a stone or two in weight it sells at the kiln for one and a half to two rupees a hundredweight. have ; The tenacity of the Burman limeplaster 213. KILN FOR PATTED WARES. is is very great. obtained by Strength liberal use of and work by the addition of glue and palm sugar. Hair and fibre are not added. For the first layers, coarse sand is mixed with the lime, for the finishing layers, fine sand. The decoration of the work is only roughly indicated in the masonry. The relief of the ornament is high, and the thickness of the stucco very conlime, siderable in parts. gold-size {thissi, p. The loi) is stucco is frequently gilt, in the better class of on zedi and images. The applied direct to the plaster, which, however, in time, furnishes a soil for lichen, causing the gold to scale off Although stone is not quarried in sufficient abundance for building except in Arakan, good stone for carving images is found in several places. The most notable of these is Taung-u, on the Irawadi, opposite Pag^n. More important than the red sandstone dustry of Taung-u is in- the industry at Sagaing, opposite Ava, on the Irawadi, where a beautiful white marble is quarried. The heavy blocks are hewn in the rough at the quarry and transported to the site of erection to be finished. The subjects are chiefly the conventional images of Buddha, from a pound the in weight to several tons (No. 218). The cordage used in g,.^, pottery shqp. STONE, PLASTER, SILK 99 Burma twisted from is the bast of the skaw tree For {sterailiay2iv\eX\Qs). guys, stays, and standing rigging rattan is used for and withes bamboo {km) ties, of split for common skaw rope is ties. The three and four stranded, LIMESTONE ROOKS. 215. boats, employed. is Split rattan strong of and is twisted with native gear own rope-walks. A long and even four-stranded rope is made by three men. This furnishes a good example of mechanical advancement, when compared with the method of the hill-people, who require six men to twist a much shorter rope of the same number of strands (Nos. 219-20). Shaw rope is smooth, but has not the flexibility of cocoanut-fibre and manilaFine cotton yarn is twisted into cord for fibre ropes, which are now imported. very like that of our making A coarse jute fibre nets. [paissati) is also twisted for net-making. under the ban of Buddhism for the same reason as fishery. The greater part of the silk yarn used is brought from China, but a good deal is produced locally by the Zabein or Yabein, a people speaking Burmese and resembling the Burmans in most respects, but despised by the latter. They are settled along the foot of the Pegu Y6ma hill-range, on its eastern and western slopes, where they make clearings in the forest {taungyd) and plant the Silk-culture is They prepare a yellow mulberry. silk yarn which, coarse and knotty as preferred for the best class of Burman raw silk five to cloths The 132). fetches thirty- rupees forty It viss. silk No. {Juntaya, a is a perfect washing silk in all its dyes and wears a lifetime. In a few silk-weaving industry men is a special by women. Manipur practised as well Settlers localities, from as 216. LIMEKILN. it is, is loo BURMA LACOUER WARE lOI inner side de- brightly is with corated silks. floss are umbrellas {shwe-di) Gilt dedicated in the kyaung, but The are not actually used. umbrella white the The emblem tibyu is of {tibyii) is sovereignty. above the set images of the Buddha and above the remains of the yahdn, who are assumed at 219. their death to enter ROPE-WALK. upon a The higher spiritual stage. metal canopy surmounting the zedi is a conventionalised ti (No. 232). Of European umbrellas have become a staple import of Burma. Lacquer-ware vessels and utensils light, durable, and watertight — made with a tisitatissiiiia, — are exudation of the bark of Melanorrhcea tree of the in forest. The gum blackens to jet It dries slower than the "Japan black" of commerce, help of the late, thissi, common the on exposure to the air. Thissi is applied but is much tougher it sells for two to three rupees a viss. to wood turnery and bamboo wickerwork, either plain or with pigments, The commonest lacquer goods are platters {byat generally with vermilion. and daunglan), which are turned of teak or yamank wood and given two or ; three of coats thissi. After the platters, the ware is the betel-box {kun-it). the dry region, but the betel- principal Coarse lacquering is article done of everywhere box industry is peculiar, to The advantage of Pagan. lacquer-ware and of a deep cover for the betel-box, keep the At green first sight credible that cylindrical it leaf is boxes with exact their trays and covers, fitting as each piece to fresh appears in- these if had been turned out of the block, should start from a wicker-woi'k frame. Yet so it is ; the models are plaited so true that the rest lacquer- HILL-PEOPLE TWISTING ROPE. in BURMA I02 of the work can be done on a lathe. To prepare the wicker for lacquering, given a first is it of fine clay to The work is " rough-stufiSng the fill " interstices. then painted with tliissi, which penetrates and toughens the clay and binds the fibres of the When wicker. the thissi has set, which takes several days, the work is put on the chuck of a bow-lathe and ground smooth with a fibrous stone a petrifaction-product. Var- — and grinding are repeated nishing till UMBRELLA MAKERS. 221. the being surface added smooth, colour is to the later coats. and when the varnish is about half set, the pattern is chipped with a metal style through the fresh layer to the After the work has hardened, the patterns are emhard lacquer beneath. Then a coat of contrasted colour by scoring bellished the underlying contrasts. conventionalized Finally the lacquer (No. 224). peculiarity of thissi facturer has an is that it underground wares to harden workmen, meet without the ware As much rupees as is paid for a cup of such The ordinary quality. ware has not the tenth part and of this sells for rupees a elasticity, one to ten box. The deep cover of the betel- box is ordinary is the traveller's drinking-cup. is like a The carpenter's patterns Subject designs are also are sets hardest in a — a thing moist atmosphere. almost unknown The finest lacquer, is which in ara- executed polished with buffs of graduated fineness. Pagan, the centre of the industry, in. highly-skilled twenty-five figures.* cellar driest locality of the dry zone. cracking. given, rings through the layers, with a tool gouge, so as to bring but besques and is A Every manu- Burma — for the same time the only made by a few at the is so elastic that the lips of a cup may be brought to METALLURGY 103 Thissi also forms the vehicle of a mirror-glass of many-coloured is mosaic which with putty, cemented together. This is used for the thrones and other the palaces, temples, and kyaung. Whole ceilings and mented in appointments The mosaic mouldings. of walls this is are way orna- (thayo). set off with gilt The work, though is sometimes rich and impressive, both as to de223. SCORING RINGS ON LACQUER- WARE. sign and colour (Frontispiece). Foot-gear used to be of the nature of luxury in Burma. In houses and boats people always go barefoot. But in many parts of the dry zone the thorny weeds make sandals a necessity. The common material is raw buffalo-hide, The covered on top with woollen cloth and having cloth-covered straps. straps come from the sides, near the hollow of the foot, and arch over to the Tanned leather slippers spot where the toe-post of the Indian patten is set. of European shape made by Chinese are now ousting the Burman sandal and often tawdry, wood patten. Most of the well-known metals are found in Burma. Before the importation of pig, bar, and sheet metals, and of metal manufactures from the Lawa settlers Zimme from West began, (Chiengmai, Tyin-mai) practised the smelting of and lead. These have disappeared. Metal goods used to come in from the Shan States and China, but the principal manufacture was carried on by Burmans and Talaings. Even at present, the only heavy metal goods imported are iron cauldrons, anvils, sledge-ham- iron, copper, tin, zinc, industries mers, Saws, and vices —besides files, chisels, locks, nails machinery. augers, hinges and and screws, dies and taps, pocket-knives and fancy metal goods, are imported. precincts were, Bells until for the temple recently, the heaviest castings made, but of late a ETCHED DESIGN ON LACQUER (hNGEPPYITTAUNG), BURMA I04 sprung up between the towns rivalry has bells, is enriched — as Ordinary pot. in casting large images. a bronze consisting of four parts copper tp two of tin they fancy bells are —by made pious donors of brass For the best used. The alloy cast silver into the melting- images also are cast ; LAOQUER-WARE DEALER. 225. who is 226. in brass. The SANDAL-MAKER. and 10 of lead. The image or bell is modelled in wax as thick as the metal is intended to be, shell of clay is plastered over the wax with the needful upon a core of clay. between the clay surfaces at intervals. When the clay has dried, the supports The crucibles are of heated and wax ready for casting. the run out, mould is clay, of about two hunalloy consists of about 70 per cent, copper to 20 of zinc, A dredweight capacity, and are heated by a The Bur- forge-blast. man dom so are sel- castings sound, and never and clean as fine those the of Though defective Shans. the bells are in tone, the kyizi (Nos. 22, %6) the round, and hammered 227. BRASS-IMAGE FOUNDERS. IRONWORK 105 gongs {mating. No. 322) have very Copper and sonorous qualities. brass utensils are not used by the Burmans for cooking, but brass used for fruit-platters, and bowls, betel-boxes and toons, mortars, scales spit- and weights, and furniture and bullock harness. cow-bells, is water-cups for horse The import of iron and steel began centuries ago, nevertheless blades of Shan steel and manufacture only blacksmiths of the country hill-people dominant The depended their The Burman races. hearth for are still accounted the With the exception of Shan settlers, the Burmans were the BURMAN HORSE-FURNITURE. 228. best. till chief forge is the Chinese blacksmiths arrived. The implement and their weapons upon the the same as the Shan, on a bigger scale. at the ground-level, with a pit in front, to enable the smith to is if needful. He does most of it sitting on a peculiar round-backed seat to the right of the blast. The anvil is like a hammer-head, set upright in a block of wood. There is a trough shaped like a canoe for quenching the work and the tools. The hammers are from one to five pounds, stand up to his work the pincers of the universal pattern. There are the ordinary punches and sets. The blast is on the plan of the bamboo blast in No. 235, but has large cylinders of palm trunks in which pistons, packed with feathers, are worked alternately. The Chinese blacksmith had already adopted the European anvil and heavy sledge-hammer for forging iron axles and tyres, anchors and grapnels. These the Burman has adopted in turn. The bench-vice is also universal. adheres to his The Chinaman wooden horizontal box-blast, fitted with valves like a double-action P pump, whereas the 229. BURMAN BLACKSMITH (OLD STYLE), BURMA io6 Bur man has copied the leather double-bellows from the steam- mill workshops. Making is das the blacksmith's principal busiFor the uses to which the ness. Burman puts da, he to be offered is his not likely a better implement. The da is a blade twelve to twentyinches long, four 230. BURMAN BLACKSMITH (NEW somewhat curved STYLE). back from the edge, with the weight towards the point, and fixed by a tang into a long handle of cane or bamboo, iron-bound or whipped to prevent splitting. not vibrate the haft, and in is The da must when it for that reason not riveted through, so that Unless when both hands are used, the Held in this way, the balance of the dd is different to that of any other implement or weapon. It requires knack to use the dA effectively. The long, slender, pointed dci is the fighting weapon {dalwk), works loose can be driven tight again. it haft is gripped near the blade. and is all of steel, with a cane handle. the universal implement. point, is work (damd). are only A steel. knife is There knives, Shan light are but shorter dalwk, with with paring damduk. dagger they are rather than Bur- man implements {damThe Burman ydung). and Shan smiths use a steel scraper set a cross-handle, in some- or without a Short blunt-ended das are used for heavy These faced called A 231, swordsmith, GOLD AND SILVER 107 thing like a spoke-shave {daing-dyaik), for the rough shaping of the blades after forging, to save their The blacksmiths make the axes of the country files. also. The old Burman axe consists of a long-handled wooden mallet with an iron tip like a small spade. The smiths also make spear-heads for the hill-people, iron shoes for ploughs, mattocks and hoes, tires and axles of carts, dee nails for boats, nippers for sugar- cane and betel- nut, and other of locks and fire-arms. A They do tools. repairs special class of iron-work making tl for zedi. The tinsmith's trade was unknown in Burma until fifty years ago. In Pegu it is still in Indian hands but in Mandalay the Burman is ; tinsmiths are unequalled. Argentiferous galena is found Burma, but the in ore barely repays working for the sake of the lead. The used silver in Burma and most of the gold imported from China, India, and Europe. villages in sifting the thin different parts of Burma is A dozen get a living by A sand of streams which bear gold. broad dish shaped like a flat cone is filled with wooden sand and gravel, and worked at the water-level with a rotary by ment, movewhich the lighter material 232. CANOPY OF GREAT ZEDI refilled, as is driven out centrifugally. The dish and (TI. PP- 30, 101). and many after is filled seven or eight hours' work grains weight of gold flakes have accumulated in the depression centre. at will the The out-turn of a steady worker is three to five tikals of gold in the season. The stock in trade of the gold and silver worker consists of a bamboo blast, clay crucibles, blowpipe, solder and flux, aquafortis and mercury, hammers, punches and anvils of and beading-plate. by the customer, who pays from one half up to the full weight, in bronze and iron, wire-plate Bullion furnished is 233. MOUNTAIN CASCADE. BURMA io8 silver, of the work, for work- manship. The gold used is fineness of the from eighteen to twenty-two and a half Copper is (four to sixteen ytie of to the kyat or is carats. the alloy for gold copper tikal). yice of alloy to the kyat) pure metal mediate silver Silver 234. Silver used of rupee fineness (four is is The (baiv). fineness the up to inter- of sterling most usual. alloyed with copper WASHING FOR GOLD. and with zinc. With the few and ornaments for women's wear are Chasing and repousse fashioned, of beautiful design and considerable finish. ornament are used for the gold and silver plate, filigree and beading for the gold ornaments. Those who can afford it, serve drinking-water to their guests in a large silver bowl {paid) holding a gallon or so, with a small paid floating on the water. Other objects of luxury are silver lime-boxes, betel-boxes, hafts and scabbards of sabres. Broad zones of repousse-vior\i are relieved by fillets and beadings. The plain vessel having been hammered into shape is filled with a tough lac. This affords a ductile matrix, yielding where the chaser is applied and supporting the relief implements named above, plate portions. The first step is for display to out- work with a bronze punch, after which the lac is melted out and the metal annealed. Lac is poured in again, and a stage of relief line the raised. By the relief is full annealings successive obtained.* The figure designs are the signs of the zodiac, mythical episodes from animals. quently carry zat, Women and fre- some thousands of rupees worth of gold in the form 235. village silversmith. * The figure to the left in No. 237 is Go Tha Ban of Mauhiiain, the sihx-rsmith who designed and executed the tools used for the sides of this volume. The back is from the cover of a Kambawd, to the colours of which it corresponds. ^ GOLD AND SILVER 109 of plain gold bangles {lekkmik), and their ear-plugs consist of a roll of sheet- gold coiled to the thickness The Burmans of a finger. admire a with dull red-yellow surface. gold They enhance the effect by a red colouring of the inter- stices of the work, in the same way as the Chinese do. Neck ornaments {baye) are of several kinds. The commonest one used to be the thick roll of gold gree, neck. worn This in is fili- front of the now replaced by bayk of several chains, for the most part jewelled. On the breast is worn the broad dalizdn, also formerly filigree, but now of of jewels and pearls. 237. TOWN SILVERSMITH. Strings of real and imitation pearls are worn and jewelled pins ; and gold or jewelled combs Rings are worn on the fingers and gold filigree buttons of the Chinese type on the jackets. The last two are the only ornaments now used by men. Anklets are worn by children. Gold and silver coinage on a European model was adopted by the kings of Burma about the middle of the nineteenth century— the " peacock " coins, struck from dies engraved in Paris. Rough coins of lead used to circulate. The coins shown in No. 238 are those of Arakan kings from 1500 to 1750 A.D., from the collection in the hair. of the late Mr. C. H. White. 238. Before the introduction of coinage, SILVER COINS OF THE ARAKAN KINGS. BURMA 10 1 gold and silver bullion were used exchange, as they for the Shan States. still are in Chinese gold current in the form of market stamp of foil is with the fineness. It can be conveniently cut with scissors and weighed. carry their Silver is Travellers bullion in this used by the Shans often form. in the form of ingots which have to be hewn and assayed when making a purchase. The standard for commodities, 239. circulates GOLD-BEATERS. Burma in times the value of Indian coin. Notes yet as Burmans, bear have no the they now although figures their value of gold. The lowest in Burmese. Rubies and sapphires (kyaiunare separated from the sand and gravel of certain localimyat) Mog6k, in the is. Hard gems notably ties, same way as gold are cut with gem-dust on a hori- zontal wheel driven by a flywheel and treadle in a regular Rock-crystal lathe-stand. in this way and is cut on a hone. Mogaung and also Jade is found at is exported to China. Amber is found at Bamaw. Gold-leaf mous is used in enor- quantities for gilding zedi and images. employed. Only pure gold The paper for ting the gold-leaf in the is separa- book in silver, the lowest among is fluctuation being referred three is the circulation wages and rent the 240. ALCHEMISTS. to coin that 241. GOLD JEWELLERY. \_To face p. no. 1 TIMBER which 1 1 hammered it is is obtained from bam- boo-fibre. Burma the idea still may be compounded from In gold or the by quantity of their means. fine prevails that baser metals Alchemists are found who experiment every town, augmented gold in of success or practise on dupes the gold that and blast upon is the is and laboratory, who furnish A furnace to be increased. is mercury. chief the appliance potent in hope the agent of the relied Ingredients of every sort, and mineral, are experimented with, under the influence of charms and cabalistic forms, whence the name animal, vegetable for alchemy, The ekkaya-to. business DEFILE BELOW THE GREAT RAPID OF THE SALWEEN. religion, lone being actuated by greed as un- is der the ban (lawba, of not ap. 44), Buddhism eschews every thing mystical and occult. The operations are but because primitive carried on at night are found among who from their for secrecy. Reputed adepts the class of recluses called life in yaM, the wilds are supposed to penetrate the arcana of nature. Wood-work was greatly restricted until better Planks and scantlings used be laboriously prepared for boat-building and for palaces, religious edifices, and the houses of Excepting the inner gates of the the great. tools were imported. to masonry temples, wood-work over a century old is But before the Burmans possessed the means of turning their timber to account for themselves, the country had become noted for its stock scarce. of teak. but the Burma possesses general purposes timber had teak many pre-eminence of teak timber. Teak come possesses valuable woods, is to the such that for mean always advantages teak-tree out of leaf CmarchI, I BURMA 12 nearly of being all heart-wood, having considerable strength, with moderate hardness and weight, working easily with axe, saw and chisel, taking nails, not rusting nails or iron all, with it. It and above in contact has a serviceable brown colour and an odour by which it may always be distinguished, due to the presence of an oil which repels the attacks of insects, notably of the termites, and which proTeak is in short the tects it from decay. At the end of prince of eastern woods. the eighteenth century, teak was already being worked out of the Burma forests and brought to port, where the foreign shippers 244. MIXED HILL-CROP OF RICE, SESAMUM, AND TEAK, IN SEPTEMBER (p. 149). had estab- lished sawpits for squaring the logs. The steel pit-saws found their way into trade and gave an impetus to wood architecture, of which the ecclesiastical buildings of Timber-traders Burma are the chief building started teak examples. ships in employing Chinese carpenters. This business has been abandoned, but lighters are Burma, still built. The {tectona grandis) teak-tree occurs in patches of the dry mixed forest, the forest namely of which the principal bamboo, with timber element trees ciduous species scattered of is fifty through a deciduous or it. more de- Of these dozen produce serviceable The bamboo-stools send up their culms timber. to heights of forty and sixty feet in the course of a few weeks, before their branchlets and leaves species about appear. half a By means of this the bamboo has the advantage over all other vegetation. The seedlings of trees have to struggle up under its cover. At intervals of twenty to thirty years the bamboo Then is species flower, to grow again from seed. DISUSED ^ TYPES OF FOREST 113 the chance for the timber- A trees. seeding teak- originate a clump tree may of young natural teak clearing, happens on on the as just cultivation clearings {taimgya, p. 149). Sometimes a mixture of trees in the far 247. THE GREAT RAPID OF THE SALWEEN its turn suppresses So young bamboo. from forming vegetable mould on the surface, the (hATJI). great crisp leaves of teak (No. 355) provide rich fuel to the forest fires which burn every season and kill the struggling seedlings of trees. The bark of teak has about an eighth of an inch of a loose corky layer which protects the quick against scorching. bare exposed to severe erosion by soil is of a better kind than occurrence its own are made rain. It is to the soil that teak flourishes. are easy to start and the young languish and to seed prematurely trees are very promising. when planted Teak axes of growth. Where the bloom drops plantations But they begin to pure, as they mostly are. height early, before commencing to flower, which full its Its limited to patches of the dry forest zone, in which drainage and is other factors not yet understood concur in a favourable way. attains The only where contributions it Teak does in no further straight length is grown. The stock of teak is in the main mature and over-mature. It is the savings which the mixed forest has accumulated of this imperishable wood, and is not supported by relays of younger generations in due Much even of proportion. its the is is off, apparently rising stock exhausted stationary in vigour a girth blanks in ; may of vigour and a tree crippled five never attain feet. The made by working out the teak are naturally up by the competing seedlings in grow twenty Q filled more numerous Teak species. open situations to thirty feet 248. VORTEX OF THE GREAT RAPID. BURMA 114 high a few seasons and in get clear of the forest fires. But those struggling under cover are cut back by fire every year. attain a feet in Trees may of sixty height A twenty years. vigorous attains tree a marketable size of seven to eight feet girth at breast height in sixty to eighty years 249. DEFILE BELOW THE LAST mon on good sites. The RAPID OF THE SALWEEN. trees ; ten of to twelve feet girth are com- boles of the full-grown trees range from twenty-five to seventy-five feet and are mostly straight artd round. The dry mixed forest character of the bamboo, one of seven or eight species. is determined by the prevailing The mixed forest constitutes a vegetal zone skirting the kzvin, chiefly on sandstone slopes and hills, up to one thousand The timber tree most abundantly interspersed in the bamboo is feet elevation. pyinkado, an " iron-wood " suitable for house-posts, sleepers, and rough work. The most valuable timber tree after teak, but even more sparingly distributed, In padduk, an excellent wood for carriage-building it has a rich red colour. The sandstone the driest type of mixed forest the cutch-tree is common {sIlSl). is ; soil is interrupted by great stretches of " laterite," noted for its barrenness. not devoid of vegetation, but the forest which occupies these areas stunted, with frequent blanks. It is called Burma, excepting the and the trees of the littoral pine of the high altitudes. This forest contains several congeners of the sal of Below the forests of the sandstone and laterite comes the ,^WOT, with its preIndia. vailing kaing, interspersed with leppan and pauk trees. In the water-logged spots, and on the fringes of permanent lagoons, is the 260. MANGROVE JUNQLE. It is open and indaing from the prevailing only gregarious forest tree of is /;/, the 251. EVERGREEN FOREST BROOK. [To /ace p. 114, TYPES OF FOREST 115 paludal forest {yagalng taw) and Towards the {bivet). marshland sea, the river-sides of the kwin are bordered with lamti and pinli-kanazd, the evergreen monotony of which is only broken by the dani {Nzpa), a palm with immense fronds somewhat like the cocoanut, but not developing a stem. The mud-banks of the tidal estuaries are overgrown with mangrove Above {byte). tree " the brackish water, the riparian the willow {inomakd), the is denies its homage to the rain." by grace of heaven trees put leaves, the willow sheds its own, drought when all tree that For when forth and their in the the rest are bare, the saucy Between the willow at edge and the kwin or the hillas the case may be, comes a narrow tree breaks into leaf. the water's slope, band of 252. RIPARIAN FOREST. thikkd, ka-nyin (wood-oil). riparian forest with a frequent under- growth of cane-brake. This is the habitat of several useful timber trees, thingdn, pyiinma, These trees and their associates follow the banks an inter-mixture in the forest of evergreen trees which occupies the soles of ravines, abounding in lianas and epiphytic plants, with an undergrowth of imisacece. Above this forest or, in other cases, the kwin, comes the zone of dry forest already described. of the small Above feeders into the hill-regions, or form the dry forest zone, but where the comes the hill evergreen forest (No. 256). Here also at lower levels soil is volcanic, trees are in the ascendant, except for occasional bamboo (Nos. trees are of of patches of giant 122, 362). innumerable The species, spongy and worthless timber, with a sprinkling of ka-nyin, kaung-kmfi, tauiig-pein-hnk, and and in the extreme The underSouth, gangaw. growth consists of young trees, with palms, pandanuses and thingdn, 253. upper waters of river (JULY"). BURMA ii6 other large endogenous plants. is The shade dense, so that grasses do not grow, but owing to the absence of is mould on the surface. great height, The trees are of commonly one hundred feet clear bole (No. 362), mous The girth. forest fires, there and often are of enor- natural rotation short is owing to early decay, and the bulk of the Above trees are slender. evergreen forest, as it is " this " tropical named by its explorer, Kurz, at the altitude of three to four thousand feet, according to latitude, comes a zone of stunted evergreen trees, among which oak species are conspicuous. Mulberry, raspberry, briar, and other shrubs of the temperate zone grow wild, and a decided change of climate is experienced. 254. FOREST STREAM IN One THE PINE REGION. to several thousand zone khasya, tinyti, Burma the greatest altitude of the The pine forest has an undergrowth When burns, the this the resinous stems, and The timber forest. size, port. but is the region of feet the above pine is kills hills. of sac- runs up fire extensive areas of good and attains great too unfavourably situated for trans- The forest types are not in all cases sharply defined, but merge into each other. The I • 2, way specific gravity of green teak and of dry teak about o to get it dry for floating 8. is is about The best to ring or " girdle " the trees. The bark and shallow sap-wood are cut through with the axe the leaves wither and the tree dies. In two or three seasons the timber is light enough to float, and meanwhile it is not exposed to the danger of being burned or overseen in the undergrowth as it might be if felled in order ; to season. The tree is eventually felled at the level of the girdle, but if buttressed or un- 255. GIRDl^ING' this {pinus No. 340), up to ten thousand feet, charum. is THE TREE. TIMBERWORK sound is felled gets scarce, the 117 much higher. woodmen are out the stem-pieces fifty years before. in left As timber glad to work this way, maybe If felled green, the teak throws out powerful suckers from the stool which grow six to ten feet in a season and get clear of the forest they produce felling, In sixty years fires. marketable timber. After the trees are cut into suitable logs for dragging. The latter is the most ardu- ous part of the business. to or From the stump the nearest floating-stream may be a mile two of heavy country. The teak to be worked out of the forests is too sparsely distributed for roads or machinery to pay. Elephant power for the work. is the most valuable adjunct The rainy season, when and streams are full, the ground moist and slippery, and the weather cool for brooks 257. FELLING THE TREE. the animals to work, is the time chosen for away at one end, and a drag-hole made and the subsequent raft-ties, at each end. The draggingpaths get worn into troughs in which water lodges and facilitates the work. Every brook on the way is utilized, for though too scanty to float the log, it lightens the labour. The elephants are worked a few hours in the morning and dragging. The corners of the log are cut for the elephant chain a few in the evening and turned loose at other times, with the fore-feet hobbled, The Karens keep their elephants in excellent conto forage for themselves. dition ; such casualties as they have are due to anthrax, which spreads from the buffaloes, and to other epidemics. In the timber-yards at the seaports, on the other hand, in spite of grain and green feeding and great care, the animals are worn few years. out in a Elephants are heavy enough for BURMA ii8 timber-work years, at and are eighteen at their prime from tuskless Females and males (Jiaing) are worth one thousand to two thousand rupees tuskers from one thousand five hundred to four thousand. Tuskers are of use for manoeuvring thirty to sixty. ; the logs shallow the in streams and getting them PUSHINQ THE LOGS OFF THE SHOALS (AUNG). 259. off shoals. The logs are not launched into the main stream or river until the last freshets of the season have gone down, allowed to boom, for sorting water-course far as the and rafting to available is timber becoming unmanageable. for fear of the drift singly as miles below the rapids. for port. rafting, The Salween The logs are deep water, where they are stopped by a On the Irawadi and Sittaung, the main but on the Salween, only the last sixty its rugged course through the lime- tears stone mountains which occupy the centre of the Eastern Peninsula, traversing some ten degrees of Deep way. which The may and tapping teak latitude tranquil alternate with stretches localities furious on a good part of rapids, be judged from the fact that teak logs are often shivered foresters stamp the timber with their property- marks. all in splinters. over They have to bide their time until the logs reach the rope-station be sorted. boom or {kyoddn) and can In the south-west monsoon the logs have to be salved one by one by men in canoes. The deep-water raft many consists of five to ten tiers of as logs each, securely bound with rattan by the drag-holes to cross-poles, and linked the same manned by four with material. The or five men, and raft is is often '^..^S^ weeks on its journey. It may not have to bring up until it reaches tidal waters, when it is easily moored. But where the raft has to be stopped against several the full force of a three to five knot 260. its the violence of LAUNCHINQ NEAPED UOtjS, '<=^ CARPENTRY 119 current, a is remarkable device employed. Two ten-foot handspikes, with a shoulder two have feet above the point, mooring-rattans from one end of the hundred feet long and an inch thick, bent on to them. each One raft, of these is sent ashore from the forward end of the and worked raft in 262. the like a as the raft slews ROPE-STATION ON THE SALWEEN (KYODAN). plough bank, going deeper round and the tension increases, and so stopping its way by degrees. the other end of the raft, If the first which is attempt fails is made from Arrived in port the a second then the forward one. But when the path is dragged up the mud-banks by elephants. sometimes elephant carries powerful a log bodily. The whole of the blocked, a timber market the to are bringing combined by a timber-broker operations of logs are (forester, thiggaung). Teak cuts readily, though it blunts the tools very soon. There is little waste. Sawn planks are displacing bamboo for the better-class houses. Sawyers earn from one-half to one rupee a day. The indigenous carpenter's tools were a small adze {pegot), chisels and gouges (sauk), awls besides da and axe {patissein). baw, " selecting-shave ") with carpenter's rule is also general. {lun), The Burman adopted the Chinese When the straddle and a rough saw (hlwa), the Chinese plane {yukberich. The English impulse to good house-building was given by the production of cheap planks, the immigrants from China got the whole of the work. The Burmans have begun to oust them from the heavy carpentering and from the joinery as well. Oi'dinary Burman carpenters earn | rupee a day, the better work- men I to I J rupees a day, compared with the Chinaman's i^ rupees. The wood-work is left 263. BINDING THE LOSS INTO RAFTS. BURMA I20 plain or is oiled with A petroleum. crude wooden house of the modern Burman pattern costs from three hun- dred rupees upwards a bamboo house only ; twenty to sixty. The Burman ing-lathe primitive 264. TIMBER-RAFT. poppets is turn- of the usual type sliding ; two in a bed, with centres to hold the work, round which a cord passes from the simple bamboo overhead. But of late, mandril-lathes have been constructed after models in the steam-mill workshops (No. 187)Mechanical construction has great attractions for the Burman, and is stimulated by the high wages of labour. The foremen sawyers at the steam-mills are Burmans, the other hands natives of India. Menders of clocks and sewingmachines are in all the towns. An engine-erecter, who had set up machinery in most countries of Europe and Asia, said he had nowhere met the same natural aptitude for handling machinery as in Burma (cf. p. 10). The floral wood-carving of Burma is remarkable for its freedom and treadle-bar to a springy lath or spontaneity. Rich as the floral tracery is, the animal grotesques are laboured The carving is done in teak-wood when it is meant for otherwise, yamane is preferred. fixtures The tools employed are chisel, gouge, and mallet. The design is traced on the wood with charcoal, gouged out in the and deficient in fancy. ; rough and finished with sharp Teak-wood and yamani have a coarse grain, in which fine detail cannot be rendered. Small and delicately elaborated fine tools, using the mallet for every stroke. figures are carved in sandal-wood and also Whole in ivory. tusks are carved over with figures of Buddha the and are dedicated kyaungs. In the figures in some are in the of these modelled a single piece under an 265. sawing up the loqs. ^ PAINTING AND DESIGN 121 arbour of tracery, which entirely encloses them. Ivory hafts and scabbards of daggers and sabres are ornamented The in ivory carving The the is same way. not polished. conventional flat design, painting and embroidery exhibit affinities to the Indian decoration of the ancient temples (Nos. 94, The 272). anachronisms and other naiveties of our mediaeval designers are paralleled in 267. Burma BURMAN CARPENTERS. ; modern witness the introduction of British officers with their fieldglasses in the design of the Prince of Pagan destroying the monster at Hngep- pyittaung (No. 224). The medium used for painting is a coarse tempera. From the labels attached to European goods, many of which are excellent in design and and perspective have been learned. in colouring colour, lessons From photographs, ideas of accuracy have been gathered, and from illustrated newsNeither carver nor designer ever uses a model. papers, ideas of composition. The painter of No. 433 confessed that he had not seen the place himself; he had it described to him. In pure design with- out colour, the shweza-wa work It is the best. is a kind of drawing in lacquer, which appears black on a gold ground (No. 96). Of late the Burmans have attempted cuts on type-metal They (No. 276). illustrations for of books are executed with chisel and punch the graver is unknown. Ancient inscriptions are rare in Burma, ; although the thamding, or depository for the circumstances of reli- slabs recording gious foundations, In tion. may many is a recognised institu- of the thamding at Pagan be seen the ancient Pali square chawhich the Burmese round character racter, of is The square character is kambawd (No. 46). The King Mind6n Min caused the whole a development. preserved in the late of the Pali R text of the Tripitaka to be 268. BURMAN TURNER. BURMA 122 engraved on 729 marble slabs, by feet 4 feet. 3 These, set under as manystucco canopies, are known as the K-tithodaw or Laiv- — kama-yazin the royal of merit (No. 385). work They constitute the most important of the King's A religious foundations. number were spent by a committee of years of learned yahdn in editing the text. Certain por- been transferred to type, and The development of in time the whole of this text will be available in print. the round Burmese character out of the square Pili was favoured by the nature The fan-leaf is of the material used for writing on the leaf of the /^ palm. Then they split into its segments, which are piled, and dried under pressure. 269. BURMAN WOOD-CARVER. have tions since — are trimmed even, and punched with holes to is dohe with a file them by. The leaf is ruled with turmeric, and the writing which scratches through the hard epidermis to the spongy layer underneath both sides are written on. The transverse strokes tear the fibre more, and leave a plainer mark, which leads to a minimising of sharp steel style, kK ; longitudinal strokes. When the writing is complete, the wooden covers are lacquered, gilt, and their faces brown petroleum, which both preserves the material and brings out the the edges of the leaves oiled with crude writing. time. The oiling is repeated from time The leaves become dark and friable to in and the writing hard to decipher. Manuscripts over two hundred years old are scarce. Copyists are paid one rupee per inga of ten leaves, the work of a day or two, fifty years, according to their expertness. Until rag-paper began to be imported, the paper in use was 270. carved scene from zat. INSCRIPTIONS that made from the inner AND WRITING bark-layer umbrellas are covered with {yc-sekku). 271. of The the sekkii-bin, tree is the common 123 same in the that the mountains BURMAN PAINTER AT WORK. MURAL DECORATION THEIN. IN AN ANCIENT CARVED ELEPHANTTUSK. on the eastern border. The bast is frayed out in water and the pulp spread on muslin trays to dry. It is soft and strong, but uneven. It was used for writing on, in its natural cream colour, with a reed pen and Chinese ink, and BURMA 124 still used by the Shans for their sacred is form of chiefly in the stiff up number of PALM-LEAF MS. owned by Burmans, from which printing establishments quite a literature of their religious works has issued. Burma At first Buddha foundation of a romance-literature of indigenous type. in the large towns ; Newspapers have not but news travels very the ordinary way, especially news about the prices of goods. has not contributed to the spread of western knowledge The Yaw Mindyi, be expected. a minister made a most praiseworthy effort to popu- larise western ideas A treatises. grand scale native in was way that might King Mind6n Min, MS. in the sixties, through for want of organised sup- successful. action in the late upon a than a Burmese — nothing less — was on foot In Japan, port. of the in an analogous enterprise What applies to concerted matters like the above, applies equally to political combination. Few Bur- mans, even after years of schooling, learn enough to read an English newspaper with profit. To this day there is no Burmese manual for the study of English. The scholars learn only enough of the language to procure them employment as accountants Similarly, there are few and copyists. English who can understand a Burmese newspaper. Dealers, with the exception of the 275. fast in This western art undertaking encyclopaedia fell of a series Modernised beginning to form the in his previous incarnations [zai) are yet taken a firm hold, even but the Buddhists of considered print not good enough for the scripture canon. legends of the the paper Burma by in 274. there are a The Burmans use Burmese type was cut (No. 452) and the first the American Baptist Mission. At present writing on with a steatite pencil. printing-plant set MSS. tablets {parabtfik), blackened, like the thimbon, for copyist at work. MEDICINE 125 who dealer in medicine, ooooowo. at is doctor teacher, —which is same time the the physician, do not receive the title sayd — accorded to every workman. The physician {sHhama saya) makes no charge for his advice, but only There is, however, a school for his medicines. of doctors who oppose the use of drugs, and rely upon the regulation of diet and on shammaster pooing make their charge Ague (intermittent they ; operation. for the latter fever, fyd-na) commonest complaint in Burma, which no one escapes. The remittent form of malarial fever is also common. Attacks may be light and pass away of themselves, or they may be is the severe and protracted. to encourage sweating. sorted to if it drugs are the lord of hell receives his steward's account of the pains inflicted on sinners (p. 12l), 276. Government quinine selling the offices may be effectual Malaria is the chief The common treatment cause of mortality. can be helped, as the Burmese drastic. In severe cases the head shaved. Quinine was at one time making way the in began to be scheme of bazars ; practised, but and soon it lost repute. at the post Santonin worm-tablets likewise medicine. until adulteration Rheumatism is common in Burma. treated by shampooing {a-kn^ik), which began. It is in this is complaint most efficacious. A-hne'ik a kneading of the muscles and nervous plexuses is is ; massage, in the sense of rubbing, not practised. The expert shampooers possess an empirical knowledge of the inter- dependences in the nervo-muscular system which is remarkable. An attack of lumbago, which would cripple one for days, is cured in half an hour. Vapour baths, over the water of hot springs, are also resorted to. Heart-burn and colic are common ailments. 277. is its adulteration in rehabilitating the had a great reputation is Aperients are not re- BURMAN APOTHECARY. The BURMA 126 Dysentery is much less frequent in natives Consumption in European residents. and pneumonia are rare, but coughs and than bronchitis are known. common. Cancer mild course. not un- fever does not Scarlet nor does typhus. It is typhoid fever existed in introduced ; it rare is occur, whether Burma or has been uncertain among attacks Europeans in a the natives, but bad form. diseases lurk in the towns. p. is Measles and chicken-pox follow a Venereal (For leprosy, see and cholera recrudesce There are no records of Small-pox rages in severe Diarrhoea 41.) every hot season. other pestilence. epidemics, but with greatly diminished inci- dence where vaccination has been accepted. Native practitioners were acquainted with inoculation. 278. SHAMPOOINQ tion (A-HNEIk). great Government has met with The introduction of this how grotesque ; wiseacres cast about for another. of England success. the arguments may be that prevail upon The alleged motive of the government was too improbable so measure exemplifies the people. In introducing voluntary vaccina- the British — that a child existed What more likely than a dream of the Queen in Burma who would overthrow her dominion ! would be reached and removed by the plan of poisoning the blood of the whole generation. It was many years before This child could not be known, but it wmmmmmm* 279. HOROSCOPE ON PALM-LEAF. myth was dispelled. In 1894, when small-pox was known to be approaching from Karenni, the Karen (nat-worshipping) village of Bilin-M6waing among the others, consisting of sixty souls, submitted to vaccination. all but sixteen cases. The lymph took Six months later small-pox reached the locality. in Twelve — MEDICINE 127 of the unsuccessfully vaccinated caught the disease, and ten of them died. None four were attacked. statistics of the forty- be could These multiplied. The medicine - dealers keep many of the crude commercial drugs, besides simples of their own collecting. the principal Of are the former, aloes, jalap, croton-seed, senna, bitter barks, catechu, opium, camphor, ginger, cardamom and other aromatics. The medicinal use of castor-oil Spirits are now used medicinally. is not known, though the plant is common. Many of the vegetable remedies are almost inert (see The Burmese, what do they But there is one that deserves to knozv of medicine ? by Dr. D. H. CuUimore). be known, namely, the Shan remedy for tape-worm, tSss^, which is both effectual 280. Among and mild. green KOTHENA YON vitriols, (p. 19l). the mineral drugs are mercury, calomel, sulphur, blue and alum, salammonaic, nitre. There is a whole category of supposi- titious remedies, tiger's gall, rhinoceros' blood, ant-eater's scales, and so forth ; Allied to this class of remedies is that they are charred before being made up. nakkaddw) trade on the superstition of charms, the vendors of which (nat-wives that disease is caused by demons. Every patient will be as particular to mention He will be advised to avoid certain classes his star as to describe his complaint. of remedies on certain days. must not The and so on. Friday, purge on panic, epidemic and In times of " Sunday son " thebonzedi are erected at every house, as they likewise are in cases They of sickness (No. 431). are merely of sand, held together with circles of bast. Sometimes they are erected to avert calamity declared be to impending in a shwepe-hlwdza. a message on gold foil dropped from heaven by a Thadyd Images are dedicated (p. 186). 281. CHILDREN'S BAZAR (p. 10), BURMA 128 the temples in the at same TIMdnzedi are erected on the day of a sick person's planet, and decorated with spirit. according to the years flags Here Buddhism, which knows of no vicarious of age. merit (or demerit), by a survival 88). (p. 1 act is (P- spirit IE is tainted animism The merit of the intended to cancel the demerit PREPARING TAWTHALIN OFFERINGS of of which possess the some troubled is seeking body of the to suf- Offerings are likewise set apart for the troubled spirit in the forest, to ferer. sick person. When an epidemic of cholera occurs, the whole village sets up a din at sunset with bamboo sticks, to frighten the demons away. But many minds are averse to such superstitions, and they seek for divert him from the They natural explanations. and "vapours." The " ascribe disease to states of the blood, to " heats cooling qualities of nitre are extolled for the one, and the cordial effects of spice for the other. questions Dietetic body, and everyone has his or her pet nostrum. Very little interest every- operative surgery — is attempted as compared with India and China merely the opening of abscesses and setting of bones. Hare-lip and cleft palate, and the cognate deformities, appear to be frequent. The dressings applied to wounds and sores are chiefly turmeric, slaked lime, «z;«-leaves. Successful lithotomies and other major operations, and the boon of chloroform, have spread fame of western vastly wider reach itself surgery than circle The the in it a can sick are ten- by the Burmans, and never abandoned in panic fear as happens in epidemics among the hill-tribes. There derly nursed are few greater sources of re- ligious merit than ministering to the sick. the During the puerperium, is to main- Burman custom asa. burman carrier. 284. BAZAR SCENE, PEGU. [To /ace p. 128. ILL UMINANTS 129 a tain fire The for five or seven days. property antiseptic smoke may be the a and placed alongside couch, it, on billets hearth as big as the special of of of of value, but the relaxing effect of the artificial a women more enlightened PEDLARS. The practice. of oil (hnansiy No. 282). ^rz-tree, He believed to be particular than the The hos- pital of Fund is the Lady in the street uses a light spring yoke of the the heavier form of which is is about a double that of India. is goods Dufferin helping to spread a the population ratio of insane in his is why the Burman so much less hardy neighbouring races. quarter of that of Western Europe and America, but Almost the only dealer who hawks are this in 285. heat reason seen in No. 283. By its is the seller wood of the springiness the yoke maintains the load at an even level, thus saving waste of work. As much as a hundredweight is carried for long distances. In merely shifting goods at warehouses, carriers will move two hundredweight. They earn six to twelve The only vegetable annas a day. oil used for burning is the oil or resin of Chips are soaked in the wood-oil and made up into the ka-nyin (No. 362). torches (ifiidaing) with leaves of the pandanus. deep recesses into the butts of the time to time to induce a fresh trees for it The oil is to collect in, obtained by hewing and firing these In the valley of the flow. Irawadi, the crude earth-oil from the wells at Yenandyaung is burned in open This is the earliest lamps. petroleum known to commerce, under the name " Ran- goon oil." In recent years petroleum has also been found The out-turn in Arakan. from the Burma oilwells in was 1 898 - 99 thirty - two million gallons, S valued at 286, TOY AND FLOWER STALLS. from BURMA I30 about three million At rupees. pre- both woodcrude and oil earth-oil are being sent superseded kerosene. by The crude earth-oil COUNTRYl:sALE-DEPOT. 1287. is used for preserv- ing But woodwork. its being place taken is by now established in Rangoon.* Travelling Burma Proper and all sorts of fancy nicknacks The approaches to the villages of the interior. the residues from the local refineries, pedlars hawk the silk goods of from the sea-ports to the temples are favourite resorts of stall-keepers of all sorts of wares, especially of wax-tapers, plain and moulded, gold leaf, coloured paper flags and flowers for the votaries to decorate the shrines with, and toys wherewith to gladden the hearts of children —an act of merit befitting the shrine of religion in this cheerful In sad contrast to the gaiety of the booths land. who beg The prominence for alms. is the spectacle of the lepers of these unfortunates at such places creates a disproportionate impression of their numbers, high as these are (p. 41). The on the occasions of Shinldung fetes, festivals, and funerals, make the trades of manufacturing and distributing the requisites of the kyaitng offerings dedicated The wares very important ones. representative of the factures of late, Burma. But of imported goods clocks gular — have part furniture, —crock- lamps glassware, ery, collected in the pareikaya shop used manu- and become a reof the kyaung and are offered in meaningless profusion. This has helped to bring the pareikaya trade into the hands of foreigners. Every floods man year, have after subsided. dealers establish * the Bur- dry^88. rolling cheroots. See The Occm-rencc of Pctrolcidii in Bunim, bv Dr. F. Noetliii"-. to be MERCHANDIZE AND DEALERS 131 weather sale-booths {tawrJ), tor trade with the hill-people, at central points from the towns as canoes can as far navigate the stream. fish They sell dried pease, sugar, and ngapi, and tobacco, pottery and crockplain and coloured yarns, needles, salt, oil, spices ery, thread, cloth of every sort, elastic belts, under-vests, matches, tapers and soap, kerosene oil, pencils, and ink pens, paper, playing-cards, beads, spectacles, mirrors and fancy articles from Europe, besides biscuits, densed milk. in 290. PAREIKAYA DEALER, nothing corresponding to the the larger villages as well. fairs The Burman cheroot for con- refreshments. Salefestival, But there of India and the West. Both men and women smoke tobacco. (No. 21). and booths are set up at every chiefly is sardines, All these wares are sold (seleik) is Children begin at four or five a roll five to eight inches long and an inch thick, consisting of chopped tobacco-leaf and the pith of the tobacco stem, with a wrapper made of the inner skin of the spathe of the betel palm, or the spathe of maize, or else the leaves of pmik, thandt or bambzvi, which are smoothed on a hot The Burman exquisite toys with this cheroot much The fan is not affected by men or women in are also rolled of plain tobacco-leaf, in the Indian way stone. as the Japanese does with the fan. Burma. Good cheroots they are very strong. ; Unlike the Shans, Karens and Chinese, with pipes, their and the natives of India with their hookah, the Bur- man the cheroot. Togrown on the silt banks dry by the rivers (Nos. 191, sticks to bacco left 264) ; is but the bulk is imported A delifrom the South of India. cate "birds-eye" tobacco is prepared by the Karens and Shans on the North-East it is shredded green, and does not keep well. At intervals on the main lines of ; 291. bazar scene, burma proper. BURMA 132 traffic are refreshment-booths, sweetmeats, and tea are sold. be taken the in where fruit, Meals can markets of the towns. In the villages casual travellers enjoy the In the after- hospitality of the people. noon the markets are closed low tables are set in the roads, where cheroots, fruit, and sweetmeats are sold in the evening. ; Some of these refreshments are prepared on the baked rises to such as the monlebwe, a wafer spot, in the flame of a an immense fire, in which it size. Burma is conwho receive a Wealthy men operate with The wholesale trade of ducted by brokers {pwhd) commission. their 2.91. CLOTH BAZAR. own capital, others find investors money-lenders to form partnerships and small companies to divide bring their grain direct to the mills ; The out to interest. most of is whom bought up by never visit the one to six per cent, per mensem. What is the form of plate and ornaments is put into trade or is put interest not hoarded in Producers frequently but the bulk of the grain the native brokers to the order of the exporters, interior. profits. and advance funds, some on money Money-lending Appalling as is is not a special business because everybody — — the measure of risk such hard bargains are not driven as in India. Debtors when sold up can nowhere make a new start so well as in Burma. Brokers do banking in a small way but banking has been made a practises it. is the rate of interest ; regular branch of business by the Chettis from India (No. 364), who pay as much as one per per month on deposits and charge one and a half per cent, on loans fully secured. European banks and investments with their high security and low rates of interest do not cent, Burman capital. The carrying business attract mainly by water, ma possesses for is which Bur- unrivalled facili- ,^3 ^,^^^ ^^^^^ BOAT-BUILDING ties, 133 especially in the floods. building of boats most of is the con- exercised all structive skill of the people. type of large, Burman is the greatly from The the art that boat, small laimg. It The and differs the ordinary dug- out of the Shans and others, and, if as it implies a waste of timber compared with the built-up craft, it still produces from a given log a hull of more than double the capacity of the dug- ROUGH-HEWING THE BOAT-HULL. 295. out. It bears bumping against and snags better even than the dug-out, because the grain is nowhere cross. The wood preferred for hulls is thingdn, which is tough and durable, steams well, and grows near the water. A sound straight tree of four to twenty feet girth and fifteen to seventy-five feet length is felled and hewn into a rough cylinder. A narrow groove, about one-tenth of the girth, but not less than six inches wide, is sunk along the flattest aspect of the log for about seven-eighths of the length. The ends are left solid, and the groove rocks is down cut for groove the log The is two-thirds of the thickness of the log. Through hollowed out into a shell having a section like the tool used (kyettaung) is this letter C- a solid chisel of several pounds weight, lashed with made from a branch, which allows of the tool and every part of the interior being reached, while keeping clear of the edges of the groove. Lightened of more than half its mass, the log is dragged to the water and floated rattan to a tee-headed handle, being set at various to the builders Here the rough angles yard. hull is adzed true outside. of Circles holes bored through, vals, for the shell are at inter- a guide, and hollowed to is a uniform thickness with the kyettaung and other special tools. holes are Then the plugged up 296. opening out the boat-hull. BURMA 134 and the hull water. filled When the with wood is waterlogged, the hull is emptied and a slow made under its fire The whole length. edges of the original which now blend into stem and stern and only remain vertical slot, 297. boat-builder's YARD iPEGU). amidships, are gripped by two rows of wooden by green creepers, wet ropes, or iron chains, to long levers that have the bottom of the boat for fulcrum. From the power- ends of the levers, ropes are belayed to two bamboo rails pegged to the ground on each side. As the heat takes effect, and the hull opens out, its symmetry is carefully watched vee's lashed until the originally vertical edges of the slot are horizontal. The beam is now was and the displacement several times greater. The opening to go somewhat beyond the intended beam, and I'ecesses are cut out is allowed These are then put in place, and the shell for the stout thwarts {pagdn-byiii). allowed to close upon them. The levers are left in position till the wood is The capacity of the boat is further increased by building on sides quite rigid. These consist of long seamless planks, stiffened by above the solid hull. mouldings and ribs, and in the case of cargo-boats by an upper tier of thwarts Such boats the join is luted from the outer side with bee-dammar {punnyet). The rounded solid hull (lating~g6) is are built of a capacity of ten to forty tons. the most serviceable for the rivers of Burma, on account of the ease of getting the boat can be worked about in every direction till it wears a it off shoals double what it ; ; 298. UAUNG-QO POLING AGAINST A RAPID. CANOES AND BOATS i 1 > 135 — — BURMA t36 Canoes cost from twenty to one hundred rupees. Since ship -building was started, boats of greater dimensions be built solid than could eighty to one hundred — tons have been built of teak on method {zat-hle). But the lines of the launggo are rigidly adhered to. A the carvel hull exactly simulating the solid hull built with stout is and sheathing then the sides are added a most remarkable example of conservatism of type. These two classes of boats canyIn Burma Proper, where timber does not attain most of the rice to port. canoes only are made on the laung-go plan moist region, in the size as such have always been built up. boats In these the laimg-go type is also the larger closely {lating-rjdt, Nos. simulated, but not so The narrow bottom 294, 300). The planks are is flat and is fixed to the side-planks of the lower hull by ribs. two to three inches thick and ten to twelve inches broad they are held together by nails driven obliquely from recesses near the seams, which are luted The upper side-planks are with dammar, and are strengthened with ribs. Poop and prow are strengthened by iron dee-nails attached as in the Immg-go. along the seams. The capacity of such boats ranges from twenty to one hundred SHIPPINS-PORT ON THE IRAWADI. 302. ribs ; — ; ; and fifty tons, and they cost from 500 to 5,000 rupees. The crew consists of from five to twenty men. They only sail before the wind and cany an immense expanse of sail, to stem the current of the Ira- wadi, which runs four to five knots The in the rains. course of the river and the prevailing wind Durare in their favour. ing the rains these craft make two trips, north by in and south, and They the dry weather. convey the produce of lie Pegu to Burma Proper, 303. burman sea-ooinq craft (kattu). BOATS AND BOATMEN i/gapi, rice, 137 dried fish, salt and besides imported goods. They bring down the manuNorth cutch, lacquer, images, and parcikaya wares. They have to endure a formidable competition from the river steamers. factures of the existing form, the boat In its of Burma affinity to presents no near the boats of neigh- bouring peoples. 305. BURMAN OARTWRIGHTS. India they have treated But the interest. purely their relieved is in a and by life in The work The types which the Burmans borrowed from way which gives them independent of distinctive which culminates own achievement. of the masses line art — architecture the stately ship of the Irawadi is derives unity from the noble balance from the spirited sweep of the curves. plastic incident in the rich carving. The The severity of structure itself ia patent and not concealed (with the exception noted), and the decoration goes Besides their own type of boat, the Shan type (No. 320) in hand with it. has been developed into a large craft for carrying earth-oil in bulk the peingdiv. hand — Two form the sides of the lower hull, with several thick planks intervening, for the flat bottom. Two planks above these complete the sides, all held together by nails and ribs as in ihe laungsdt. There are outrigged bamboo galleries for the crew to row and pole, which allow of the deck-house being long, partially-hollowed teak logs end to end, accommodation from carried providing for several rig is the laungsdt. families. same as in The the In tidal and salt boats have to be beached once a month to bream the bottoms and dewaters, The rest woodwork and tackle stroy the teredo. of the is protected with earth-oil. The boats of on Indian T Arakan lines. are There is 306. BUFFALO-OART. BURMA 138 a bottom shallow dug-out with four or three planks built up from side- The it. planks are held together by cane lacing, with a caulking of They grass. but crank, are are very good sea- The nevertheless. boats, only decoration crocodile's is a rough head at the bow. The boat population of Burma in 1891 was nearly 307. TYREINQ THE WHEEL 84,000, or about i 5 per whole population " greatly in excess of the proportion borne to by the maritime population of the most maritime nation in the world " — cent, of the the total (Census report, p. 34). The only sea-going craft are the few score kattrc, small junks of twenty to sixty tons, manned by five or six Talaings. They venture as far to sea as the Nicobars, east monsoon. Tavoy The where they ship cocoanuts rest of the year they lie by. The in the fine or north- kattn are built at Dawe and cost from one to two thousand rupees. They carry a compass of European make, for use in thick weather but the navigation is empirical. (" "), ; The cart-building exemplifies the the root-wood of shd (cutch) is Burman dug out love of curves. In Burma Proper for the sake of the bent timber. In Pegu, curved branches of thingdn are used for the body. For wheels, solid discs of kaung-hmu and other woods were used in Pegu, where timber grows large (No. 306). together In the North, the solid wheel mortices and is still made up of three pieces, held by tenons (Nos. 301, 309). Pa- wood preferred for these wheels. They have a very long box for the axle, which is of pangd wood the dduk the is ; axle-box tan. is hooped with rat- Since the introduction of spokes and iron tyres, skill has been concentrated on the wheel ; the body of the cart preserves its local type. Burman has proved The the best wheelwright of the East, both 30a. pleasure-cart, burma proper. CARTS AND ROADS for 139 heavy wheels and the light spider wheels he uses in He pleasure and racing- carts. employs a very long hub to steady the wheel, which is as yet unprovided with turned axles and boxes. Padduk and pyinkado wood hubs, with at the ends. spokes and is 310 BURMAN The are coming by are used PONIES. into use for the light Burmans Teak is felloes. in for bushes used for The axle of imported round bar iron, ; the end wooden axle-bed forms Imported springs European vehicles built by Chinese carts, they exemplify to the natives a the towns bar-iron for tyres well-to-do iron with plain linch-pins of the the shoulder. used are plain is likewise imported. ; novel departure in luxury, in which not splendour but comfort is the standard. merely the tracks made by the carts. As the bullocks travel in the line of the wheels, the road is passable until the ruts Then the are so deep that the axle-bed scrapes the mound in the centre. track is abandoned for one to the right or left. The same thing happens when the road is too heavy or when a tree falls over it. In the rice country the grain is carted across the fields. But in the dry zone a roadway is left The country roads are between the fences of the A few fields, as is also the case in the eastern hill-plateaux. state roads [ininlan) following the high ground used to be kept but the only regular road-making was done near to the not penetrate the tricts to any hill dis- distance. The Burman pony small — eleven hands the — but best capital. is to is thirteen said to have constitution and the greatest endurance of any breed. its damp In Pegu, with climate, the breed does not flourish so well as The ponies in the North. exported brought from down Pegu are from the WAY5IDE REST-HOUSE, clear, Cart-tracks do BURMA 140 Shan ing is hills, where alone breed- a regular business. The Shan pony is stouter than the Burman, but not so hardy. The Burmans train their ponies to amble at a forced pace by sawing the bit as they urge them on the ponies' mouths become hard in consequence. ; Ponies used to be worth twenty to fifty rupees, but now, times more. 312. Arab many stud-horses have recently been introduced COUNTRY BRIDGE. by the British Government. owing to the want of roads and There is little or no leather about the vehicles good enough for quick draught. Burman saddle and accoutrements. The' seat is a thick pad stuffed with cotton, with a hollow to leave the backbone free. The girth and stirrup holders are cotton web, the bridle and crupper are of thick cotton rope, plaited over with red cotton yarn the stirrups are of brass, the plain bit is iron (No. 228). The Burmans hog their ponies' manes, but they admire a long natural tail. Very few animals are left entire. Travel is made easy in Burma. There are rest-houses {zaydt) for travellers Both these and the at every town and village and at every stage on the road. motives. The footneedful foot-bridges (tadd) are provided from religious lift an oar or a hand on his way by cart or boat, and will take traveller will get a Burman The is a those who can afford it pay their way. at a job in return poor linguist, and is wholly engrossed with the language and ways of his own The aliens on people. ,ji.ja^^K3Kiff^ ...jMKUb» his soil and the neighbouring races meet the Burman half way, saving him the need of learning languages and adopting from him their notions of culture and Ponies were used for riding only, doubtless ; ; fashion. Encountering, as he does, within the limits of his travels, a material welfare little ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^,p^^^ TRA VEL inferior to his own —not penetrating as —the Burman far as 141 China or India, where he might witness the dire struggle for existence which has disciplined the races about to compete for his soil fails to realise how enviable is the lot he m 315. TOWN ENVIRONS IN THE DRY ZONE. 318. SHAN CAMP IN THE LOWLANDS. CHAPTER VI ALIEN RACES Unlike the homo- geneous populations of the West and the Far East, most Asiatics live in the presence of races to alien themselves. The Burman and Mun the distinct races, members of the Mongolian family, which struggled for the supre319. SHAN BULLOCK CARAVAN. macy for over a thou- sand years, have become Such blends of Normans and Saxons. same human family are believed to produce the best fused, as did the different varieties of the races. (Peguan, Talaing) language survives in a few Taliings no longer maintain any separateness, in localities, The Mun but elsewhere the name or sentiment. Unless where there is occasion to emphasize the distinction, the Taldings are here But there are races on the soil comprehended under the name of Burman. SHANS 143 they though which, frequently intermarry with the others, nevertheless, the main, in continue distinct. The Shans are the most of important They these. contested the mastery with the Bur- SHAN CARRIER CARAVAN. 321. mans and Talaings, and secured it, too, in fourteenth the and centuries fifteenth ; subsequently they were reduced to tributaries. The Shans are broken up into a number of principalities, of which forty acknowledged the suzerainty of Burma, while others are under that of China and Siam. up split (" Sciam The chieftaincies. The name miles. Shan into ;" Siaiu a mfaii). is area of the call principalities are further is believed to be merely a French Shan is the Burmese name of the great race that calls itself Tai (free-men). branch the Burmans The forty states Yodayd, the name of its The 61,000 square way of spelling branch " Siamese for the northern southern or " ancient capital above Bangkok between Siam and Burma are at present insignificant. The northern Shans who trade to Burma and who settle there divide into two branches, the Yun, who wear their hair short like the Siamese, and to whom the Uzimbot are allied, and the Yon, or Mune Shans, who wear their long hair in a top{Bangatik). The relations knot like the Burmans they are the most warlike, and their role in Burma is the The stature of the Shans is somewhat less than that of most considerable. they the Burmans ; ; comand are of a much more pronounced Mongolian A large type. proportion of them pock - marked. are are of a lighter plexion, The men tattoo in same way as the Burmans, but much the higher up the body and lower down the 322. shan shinlaunq fete. BURMA 144 and have more sent on the Ddbyi and rest of the surface. Both thenabbyi are universal. sexes chew betel inordinately. The Shan men are recognised by their Chinese pantaloons. These are very wide, and are hitched legs, about the waist in the same way as a loincloth, without the help of a belt ; they can be worn long or short, and tucked up as close Both men and a huge Chinese hat straw plait {kamduk) with as kaddung-chaik. 323. women wear SHAN BLACKSMITHS. of soft an oiled-silk cover, or else a spathes. The jacket is stiff kamduk of bamboo of the Chinese type, but quilted, and with the margins scolloped. The women wear a tamein or londyi. For gala the Shans get themselves up like Burmans. The Burmans, on their part, adopt Shan pants and kamduk for journeys. In his own country the Shan occupies the lowlands, as the Burman and Talaing do in theirs. The more aboriginal tribes, such as the Kachi'n, are confined to the hills, where they are practically independent. Even the peaceful Karens of the Shan hills rarely see the tax-gatherer, who, at the most, levies a few cotton blankets or tikals of wax. The chiefs {Szvabwa) of the principalities imitate the state of the Burman with palace pyatthat and kings, One other insignia of sovereignty. their nobles {amdt), white umbrella Dependent on the prerogative. the chiefs hereditary governors of is are the various and village headmen The common people {puke). are bound to the soil in until they can buy themselves free. a kind of serfdom, degrees, viyoza, thamddi, hein, This costs seventy-five rupees ; then the man is exempt A man's labour belongs to from taxation and corvee. anyone who will keep him and pay the above sum on his behalf the servitude which this involves is generally ; of a mild description. The character developed under such conditions contrasts unfavourably with that which ^'1 r<wL SHANS 145 the democratic Burma has for age, are life, less. despotism of Respect nurtured. property, and honour Though Buddhism is diligently observed in externals, it is less operative than in Burma, even the yahdn being lax. ancient animistic cult is The practised shadow of the Buddhist There is less education, especially of women, who, moreor I'ather are given over, marry in the temples. 326. KYAINGTON SHANS. — — before in marriage On the other hand, their harder maturity. circumstances and greater pressure of population have produced in the Shans habits of greater industry, and of greater neatness and order in their belongings than the Burmans evince. The a canny race. first Though they are addicted to gambling, the Shans are mark of their settlements is the fencing in of every plot. But they are great gardeners, and have better occasion for fences than the Burmans. With less freedom and elbow-room, not having extensive alluvial plains in their country, the Shans are driven to the expedients of terracing and irrigating the soles of the mountain valleys and favourable parts of the undulating land. By these means they render areas available for permanent (wet) cultivation of rice, which would otherwise only give a taungya crop once in ten years. In some places they get two crops a year. The Shans breed cattle extensively, and breed very fine ponies. They are the best metallur- gists of the north of the Peninsula. They Burmans cane and bamboo in excel the work, but are inferior to them in The woodwork. Shan canoes on the Salween are of (No. teak, merely 320). boatmen expert ber raftsmen. dug The Shans and out are tim- The ferryman stands on one foot on the poop- of the canoe with a long-handled paddle, U which 327. SHAN-CHINESE. BURMA 146 he works with the with both hands free foot and —not a muscle of But it is the body idle (No. 193). Shans that the as caravan traders figure chiefly in They Burma. carry produce and wares between the emporiums of Burma, and the land-locked areas of their contiguous own and On territories. homeward journey they take their salt, and ngapi, and the general of goods named at p. 131. salt fish, class The caravans bacco, 328. KAREN FOOT-BRIDGE. has his rice supply in lac, The garlic, and seeds. kit of the lightest is a cloth roll tied about his waist. down bring to- ground-nuts, thanakkd, The goods ; carriers' each man are carried The men travel about fifteen miles a by men or by pack-bullocks. eighty pounds weight. The bullock-caravans travel about day, and carry about The ten miles, and the animals carry about two hundredweight, including gear. The Shans bullocks are turned loose to foi-age for themselves in the afternoon. celebrate the same Buddhist festivals as the Burmans, and in much the same either Their funeral observances are way. The Uzimbot alike. are a branch of the Tai family, on second-rate land which they are a steady and law-abiding settle people. They dress find idle, who migrate to Burma and They and which they improve. like the Burmans, but the men wear their hair in a very peculiar cut moderately fashion, short at the sides, like the Siamese, and cropped short from the forehead crown, where it to the stands up Other Shans in Burma, having distinctive dress and customs, are the Kyaingt6n Shans and the Shantar6k like a brush. to be met with (Shan-Chinese). They come 329. karen ferry-rafts on the salween. — KARENS in small 147 numbers, chiefly as pilgrims to the Buddhist shrines, of which the chief is Shwe Dag6n, in Rangoon (p. 188). The Karens are the most important the hill- race of the country, and best exemplify the mode of whom life of the quasi-aboriginal tribes, Burmans, Talaings, and Shans have kept out of Karens," the plain-land. The " white Sghaw {Sghrraw) and Pwo, occupy Burma and Siam. the mountains between They have east colonies in mountains far to the and west, and have also spread into They call themselves Baganydw {Bghrraganydw), and call the Burmans Baydw. The Burmans call them the plains adjoining. Kayin, and familiarly 331. KAREN VILLAGE. Karens get On and remove to fresh sites every season. mountain tracts the Karens are more or less Burmanized, and practise Buddhism, being attracted by the the fringe of the prestige of the religion, with vals in which everyone is its great festi- free to share especially now that they can mingle in the towns without fear of their quondam oppresThe barbarous togwin, which the sors. Burmans themselves are beginning to disuse, is one of the first marks of the contact The of the Karen with the dominant race. Karens settled in the lowlands are known as Talaing-Kayi'n, and Bama-Kayin. The men know Burmese, and dress like Burmans. The Karen is noted for truthfulness and chastity. The former — play- in clearings (tatmgya), on which they raise one crop, Tlia-ngk-dym much the same way as we say "Jack Burman" and "John Chinaman." The mate, characteristic is pro- bably to be accounted for by absence of coercive regime, their society being, as Mac- pherson says of the Khonds, pervaded by their living by making hill-forest BURMA 148 " a spirit of equality, and governed by the moral influence of its natural heads alone." (Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology, Vol. I., is called gives his village. KARENS BRINGING ELEPHANTS TO MARKET- 333. The p. 407.) chief of these elders Saivke ; he name to the The faults of the Karens are their and a degree of superstition so extreme that a motherless infant is refused adoption for fear of turning the wrath of a vengeful demon upon the foster-mother. In epidemics of cholera and small-pox the Karens abandon their villages in panic fear. The Karens are shorter but of stouter build than the Burmans and Takings, and of much fairer complexion. But their name of " white Karen is derived from their clothing. Very characteristic is their short upper arm. Young people of splendid physique may be their addiction to drink, dirt, '' seen but the conditions of ; forests, that are so hard, life and malaria is so prevalent in the the population remains station- — ary by the census of 1891, 633,600. The toilsome Karen finds lightness of heart in the liquor he brews, a remarkable contrast to the The and vivacious abstinent Burman. borne out in the dreary wail of the Karen music and the bright and exuberant cadences of the Burmese. Karen contrast children is grow independent very young (No. 355), and begin their heavy outdoor labour soon. Early physical exertion possibly accounts for quality noted above. is the second The hill-cultivation moral greatly at the mercy of the seasons, from burning-time The hardship in April to harvest in October. is aggravated by a supersti- tion of divination-bones {Kyeyyo) tabooes the most eligible have the crops which often sites. Scarcely been garnered than the clearing of a fresh site for the village begins. 334. karens going out to work. KARENS 149 The primitive the remote Karens in build hills one or more huge bamboo barracks, partitioned off for the different families. Those with more separate huts. new plete, settlement Bamboo is preferred left is hard at occasional trees of large size are killed by ringing, or ; are lopped to get rid of their shade is com- cultivation-plot of four to eight acres of forest on the hill-side. its forest is Karens, both the each household work clearing build When the men and women, carouse. From February to April KARENS SOWINQ THEIR CROPS. 336. contact in civihzation to dry for burning, till ; many trees The lumber Sometimes an are felled (No, 105). the rain clouds begin to gather. unexpected break of the monsoon prevents the burning and renders the whole labour futile. After the first burn, the residue is stacked against the standing When the rains have set in, the seed is sown. A man trees and burned again. goes in advance and makes rows of shallow holes with a hoe mounted on a long and tapering bamboo staff the free or wide end is furnished with openings in ; the side, which cause the Women bamboo to emit a musical note at each stroke. and the secondary crops {/man, cotton, and, in a few localities, teak-seed for the government, No. 244), in Watchers' huts are built, and the birds scared alternate rows, and close the soil. with seed-bags follow seed the till From has that time till they put in the rice sprouted. the crop is it has to be assiduously weeded. If the cultivator falls thick, ; weeds he cannot sick for a fortnight the gain ground, and come up with the work again. The clearings have to be fenced to protect them against deer and pigs, and the rats be kept down by which often extend have to lines of traps In years of (p. for miles. bamboo seeding 112) the rats multiply to 337. karen crop-watcher's hut. BURMA ISO such an extent that they destroy whole crops and stocks of corn and produce famine. Towards harvest time birds have to be The scared again. generally rains fall. A crop rice before the ripe chance break taken advantage of to is last is cut, dry, and thresh the corn, which is got under cover in a bin on the taungya, ox punzo, as when done dary crops ripen KARENS CUTTING THEIR CROP. 338. bers, it is called The seconlater. Cucum- with. pumpkins, marrows, brin- jals, and other coarse vegetables, and sometimes tomatoes, are sown on the margins and along the pathways. In a good season the Karens get about double the quantity of grain they need for living. The whole of the secondary crop is for trade. In the moist ravines they cultivate the betel-palm and betel-vine, and they have taken to orange gardening at the foot of the They hills. honey by climbing high trees (No. 362) bamboo spikes into the wood. The only honey of Burma is wild but bees fre- ; also collect the wild betel-vine the tree-ladder is made by ; limestone caves quent the degree that collect out. in some sells for such a places the right to honey and wax Honey to in them is farmed ten annas and wax two and a half rupees a viss. The They staple food of the Karens is rice. for make it a curry in the they Burman way ; with eat ngapi, salt fish or fresh fish, or the flesh of pig and deer, especially the " small deer They keep " they trap at the taungya. goats, poultry and pigs, which latter are the .scavengers of the villages. But the chief purpose animals are bred is to for which these be killed and the nats, who have to be proon all occasions. At every village site and clearing for cultivation a off'ered to pitiated 339. and driving KAREN WOMAN COOKING. KARENS 151 miniature bamboo hut made is (td-lhil, No. 337), and furnished with utensils or symbols of such. The joints of bamboo piled against the horizontal bar repre- sent vessels for the blood of the offer- ing ; the whole offering priated by the really appro- is The yahdn votaries. have persuaded the Karens under their influence to discontinue keeping animals, so as to be out of temptation to sacrito fice flats. The Karen exclusively an evil idea of nat spirit, is whereas the Burmans have the conception of thadyd and byamma, beings of a transfigured human nature by them nat is chiefly used in this sense (p. 186). The Karens 341. KAREN UIQUOR-STILL. also offer to the nats the liquor they brew {kauttg), which is distilled from a wort made by setting boiled rice to ferment. The drinking of this offering at the shrine is accompanied by saltatory movements. What the Karens can save, they invest in purchase of elephants (No. 333). ; Owing to the transient nature of the hill-settlements, the paths do not get well enough worn for The elephant is them an pack-oxen. the only beast of burden available to ; elephant can carry five to ten hundredweight A small village clubs in the hills (No. 314). together to buy an elephant to carry in the corn and take the secondary crops to market well-to-do villages own who own a but some own Individuals wealthy, They ; elephants. several couple are accounted as many as twenty. hire the animals out for carrying pro- duce or for timber-work, or engage business on their own account. in this Their spare cash the Karens bury in the earth or hide growing bamboos. The point of the da struck into a green culm so as to open a in is slit. The rupees are dropped in, the da pulled and not a trace remains. Karens are good workers in bamboo and cane, and are out, 11 , excellent J woodmen. r^. They are ^ expert m . 342. KAREN HIDING COIN bamboo. IN 'A QROWING 152 f^^^ BURMA < KARENS out-of-doors labour oldest 15: women who can move make journey for water, which The about sixty. till is their daily- fetched and stored Old men occupy themselves with plaiting mats and None are idle.baskets, and repairing gear. The Karens are acquainted with the medicinal virtues of many plants, such as bitter barks for But all sickness and misfortunes are ague. Offerings and charms ascribed to the nats. in joints of the are relied on giant bamboo. more than medicines. When a body is treated with great person dies, respect, and every kind of offering the propitiate the spirit. The and the bones are buried to this use corpse at 346. KAREN WITH DECOY-COCK. is is made to cremated, a place devoted {ayo-daimg), often at a distance, owing to the migrations of shrine is villages. Here a erected, consisting of a miniature hut, upon which a rude carving of a bird always figures. This symbolizes a mythical creature For some which conveys the spirit over rivers and chasms on its wanderings. time after a death, cotton threads are stretched beside the footbridges for the spirit to pass by on, without meeting the living. shrine similar to that at the ayodamig is made at a place where two roads cross, and at each shrine the clothing of the deceased, and sometimes new clothing and utensils, are dedicated. It is at funerals that the dreary Karen music is chiefly heard. The tones are very A widely contrasted. is The dirge accompanied by the notes of the pAzi, a great bronze, country, cast in a drum of the Shan single piece, in though the metal is only the eighth of an inch thick. The pdzi is struck on the end with a padded hammer for the deep fundamental tone, and flicked on the side with a stick to bring out harmonics an octave or two higher. The Karennt, X or " Red 347. DECOY-COCK IN THE CIRCLE OF SNARES. ; BURMA 154 Karens," have a language of Karen struc- but the people ture, the recall truculent much more Kachi'n than the mild Karen. They inhabit plateau the size between lying 348. the northern limit of the KAREN HOOP-GAME, White the southern limit of Shans and Kachins. a about half of Wales, The Karenni Karens and are darker-skinned than the men wear The women wear Shan jackets, and a red gaung-baung. a black cloth, somewhat after the manner of the Siamese women they do most of the labour, even the tilling of the rice-fields, which are on the Shan model but taungya is practised also. They brew a liquor from millet-corn, which the They the Karens. use red and black colours in their clothing ; short pants, sleeveless ; The villages are permanent, situated on points Feuds between villages are chronic and form the Such of the Karenni as settle in the chief concern of the male population. lowlands adopt the Shan civilisation and dress. The Chins are believed by some to represent the stock from which the Burman tribes originated, and to have descended into the valley of the Irawadi from the plateau of Tibet, with the inhabitants of which the Burmans and Chins possess linguistic affinities not shared by other races of the Peninsula. men always carry in their gourd. of vantage, and are stockaded. The Chins are the hill-people of the mountains Irawadi and its the Chindwin. many and west of the great tributary The diverse. tribes are Towards the south and on the borders plains of the they are Bur- manised in a great measure, and have dropped their primitive characteristics, their language. selves Asho. of the women's tooing which notably They call themThe black tat- is faces, the most distinctive of 349. karen woman weaving. ^5, CHIN, CHIMPAW their customs, is 155 obsolete in many places ; it have originated in the fear of the women being carried off by the plainsmen. The southern Chin men dress like the Burmans, but more scantily the women wear a is '^•'**%'-<. said to ; black thindding with embroidery round the middle and a black gaung-baung. vation is like that of the The culti- Karens, but exhibits improvements upon it. The more gentle are chosen and are ploughed and several crops are raised on the site inhill-slopes ; stead of only one. Where the acacia abounds, the Chins practise cutch-boiling. wood The heart- hacked to chips, which are boiled and strained and the decoction concentrated is in iron cauldrons. The Chimpaw tribes, also called Kachin, They are the hill-people of KAREN MAIDENS. are numerous. Upper Irawadi and adjoining country. (See Mr. George's account, Census 89 1.) They cut ianngya like the other hill-people. The Chimpaw have the defects of the Karens without their virtues. But they have held their own the Report 1 against their more civilised aggressors from the time of Shan dominion onwards, with greater determination and success than any hill-people of the Peninsula. Taungthu means hill-man but the race to which the Burmans give this name has its nucleus in the Thatdn plain, where it musters 30,000. There is ; a lesser nucleus, also called That6n, in the Shan country which, according to the latest was colonised from Pegu and not vice versa as had been supposed. The Taungthus have mainresearches, Thatdn in tained themselves distinct from the Muns (Talaing), the masters of Pegu, for five hundred years or more. Shans. black much red The men dress like The women wear a thindding and londyi like the Chin, but with trimming instead of em- 352. karen girls fetching water. BURMA 156 broidery and with tassels to red The Taungthus are craftsmen in the all Buddhists strict expert arts They Peninsula. the exhibit a wood build KAREN BRONZE DRUM ; noticeable liarity in their 353. in style of are and magnificent kyaungs prevailing silk gaung-baung. the the these pecu- stone fences. The Chinese used to come to Bamaw from Yiinnan by way of Momeit, which was (PAZi). the route followed both by trade and by invading armies, at the terminus of which Chinese have been But they have not spread in Burma from that centre. The peaceable invasion of Chinese comes by way of Canton, Singapore, and the settled for long. Burma ports. of the Chinese Burma numbered 37,000. The Buddhism Although they follow their own mode of life the Chinese are in better touch with the Burmans than any In 1891 the Chinese in is in all particulars, a mere name. other foreigners. tailor, Besides the trades already noticed shoemaker, market-gardener They butchers. —the Chinese — carpenter, get plenty of custom as pork- are getting the parcikaya trade of Pegu into their hands, a great deal of the brokerage and wholesale trade developed the horns. They have also. hides and They import Chinese pro- trade in and manufactures on a large Banking and insurance are conducted by Chinese firms. They visions scale. run steamers of their own. Their The agricul- the Chinese prestige is very great. tural Chinaman coolie have not appeared as yet. and Significant in Burma the above as most conspicuous immigrant and vending of spirits. activities are, the fdle of the recent Chinese is the distilling The Chinese hold the sale of opium all ; the licences for for which they blacksmith, 354. karen grave. and -«, CHINESE 157 pay enormous sums. Secret agents freely provide opportunities for lads to establish the craving for the drug, the retail price of which is double weight its in silver. has ever taken an opium farm. {beinsci) is of a man. thing the No Burman Opium-eater Burman can say The people deplore beyond every- the worst thing a maintenance of facilities for the vice, almost unknown before, spread of this a capital offence give a Most of the Chinese in fact.* have Burman wives, to settlers life Burman of perfect ease (p. REDi ma. KARENS— KARENNI, stocks (the reverse of which is This mixed believed to have a great future in Bur- The sons are brought up as Chinamen, not suffered to wear the plaited queue of the pure Chinese ; ~A , But the men are they merely coil the the daughters as Burmans. '-' /f^J. 357. 358. CHINS. * Note. — No opium do from same human group, holds for the Aryan-Burman). 356. they The China- be expected to unite the best qualities of the parent race whom half-breeds, issuing as they distinct varieties of the may 161). is grown in Burma, KACHIN— CHIMPAW, BURMA ^58 hair round the unshaved part. The only The half-Chinese have nothing to say to opium. other visitors from the confines of China are the Panthay muleteers and the Mainthas. 359. TAUNGTHU. 360. HOVELS OF THE INDIAN IMMIGRANTS. Brahmans (Pon-hnd) were patronised by the kings of Burma as astrologers Those settled in Burma came at different times from different parts of India, but principally from Manipur. They strictly guard and calendar-makers. their caste, is though their language Burmese and they dress as Burmans, except for the avoidance of silk and coloured stuffs by They study and teach the men. Sanskrit after the Burman mode. They teach arithmetic by rule of thumb, and frequent the shrines, where they cast horoscopes and Altell fortunes (pp. 41, 126). though they have no religious community with the Buddhists, they are includedin the Buddhist category of venerable persons. full The Sinhalese yahdn are in communion with the yahdn sei. Chinese shoemakers. 362. KAREN TREE LADDER. \.To face p. 158. NATIVES OF INDIA 159 A few yahdn Sojourner yahdn from Ceylon are always in Burma. from Burma make the pilgrimage to the Bo tree at Anuradhapura in their company. The The Indian immigrants to Burma are mostly harvest labourers. of Burma. 363. majority return home MANIPURIS. the end of the season, but an increasing proportion at find work in the seaports or are absorbed in the callings in which natives of India have established themselves. In 1 89 1 there were In this way their nearly half a million, in a total three quarter millions. There is numbers steadily increase. population of seven and evidence that Indian traders formed a large Burma Proper, in the eighteenth century. Musulman butchers body, even in are mentioned in the middle of the six- teenth centuiy. But the influx which has given an Indian complexion to the ports of Burma is a feature of the last The Indian settlers have fifty years. now the chief shai'e in the river fishing, and passenger boat-traffic, brickmaking and brick-laying, peddling, por" terage, and general unskilled or " cooly work of Pegu. Trades which they have ferry introduced are the butchers', dairymen's, washermen's, bakers', tinsmiths', hack-carriage drivers', and the vendors of imported wares. The Indian tr-ader 364. the chetti. i6o BURMA ALIEN RACES trees. i6i All that the villagers asked for (and of course got) was exemption from land-tax. Another hopeful feature quality of self-criticism. — Persian, is that the With the Indian Burman retail trader is comes not devoid of the also the wholesale and Bania. And the Burmans at large accept the situation, never dreaming that by travelling abroad and seeing for themselves how other nations manage and how they fare, they might learn to conduct their own business, and help to save Burma from sinking to the level of proletariate countries. Natives of India and China have learned so much in their capacities of assistants to European merchants that they are getting the retail trade in European goods to themselves. Even as importers, with their agents in Europe, they are making themselves independent of the European merchant in the East. The European spheres of activity on which Burmans merchant Parsi, Surati, Chetti 368. EUROPEAN TYPE OF HOUSE. have entered are saw-mill enterprise and the profession of advocacy, in which latter they have attained a high standing. To the Burman, the native of India is the foreigner /«r excellence Kald and shares the disrepute that a stay-at-home people commonly accord to the — — when he is a needy one. To them he is the dog that eats from his table {" Kwe-Kald !"). While the Chinaman, despite his uncouthness and uncanny parasitic trade, is considered an eligible man, Kald-mayd—n\gg&rs-viii& is a term of reproach. The Kald half-breeds foreigner, especially the crumbs which fall — They appear to possess fewer good qualities than either of the pure races. The Euro-Burman half-breeds are called Baylnji—{¥^xvs\^\, the Indian equivalent of Frank) explained by the Burmans as Bayin-dyi are called Zerbddi. (adherent of) the Great Prince (the Pope). Europeans are the only remaining foreigners whom the Burmans encounter, excepting a few Armenians, Jews and Malays. Armenians were beginning to play Y BURMA l62 who farmed out customs and taxes to them. that there were then one hundred Europeans in mentions Symes, exception of a few merchants and masters of ships, the Rangoon. With the European standard at that time was not a good one. At present the authority a role under the kings of Burma, writing in 1800, of the handful of British in Burma ramifies into the old native channels government by which the mass of the population 369. HARBOUR SCENE. is reached. of — 370. HEADMAN MUSTERING HIS VILLAGERS. CHAPTER VII POLITICAL With and the watchful rivalry of the Talaing Besides the to guard his camp. enemies without, and their potential allies within, brigand bands of his own race had to be held in check. The chronic wars of Burman and Talaing (Mun), who were separated by no natural frontier, have left their record in the stockaded villages between Prome and Mimbu, a noman's-land in which soldiers were impressed to fight, now on this side, now on that, and where, on being disbanded, they continued the plunder by which the armies subsisted in war. The traditions of brigandage and alien races planted the exploits on his soil Burman had hourly need to contend with, the of noted leaders bered, and such enterprises are are remem- still a resort of the vauriens of a village or country-side when they taik sddya ! their chance damydThese brigands {damyd, gang- perceive robbers, dacoits) lay their plans to surprise a village while the men are away at work by a night or endeavour to create a panic attack and so obtain their booty without risk of an encounter. An occasional gang might g^, burman outpost stockade. BURMA 164 it was remight develop into a band under a regular leader {B6) and become the disperse as quickly as cruited or else it scourge of the countiy, rapidly attacking points separated by days' journeys. bands and keep guard the Against such combine villagers ; torches alarms. ready for night the brigands when strong, are the villagers have are But too no choice but to enter into league ZTX. VILLAQE ELDERS IN At the horrors of barbarous war. occurrence. with them and pay blackmail if they would not experience CONCLAVE. present brigandage is of very sporadic Travellers are perfectly safe. Throughout Burma every man was liable to serve in war. He would have sabre and pike and would be provided with musket and ammunition, but Latterly the king's body-guards wore a sort of no further accoutrements. Cannon are mentioned as early as 1350, and a century (No. uniform 9). matchlocks were in use. Caesar Frederick in 1569 speaks of pikes and later, arquebuses and good cannon. When disbanded, the soldiers had to surrender their muskets, but numbers were smuggled away, to add to the rigour of the the guerilla waged by brigands and his own severity of the villagers' retaliation. The civil military leader is called Bo ; the governor or minister of the king, Wun, which means a burden or trust. The former might be a young man, the latter but rarely so. elders — Age and synonymous headmen, lAdyl are almost a thing, it is done. in influence Burma. — are agreed The If tfee upon village elders represent the fundamental substratum of They are congovernment in Burma. sulted by the ofKcials on matters affecting rr the people, whose natural, if unofficial, . y '^^^- BURMAN OFFICIAL RECEIVINGapplicants. VILLAGE SYSTEM 165 representatives they are, their position attaining by the of the sphere suffrages tacit Their public. defined not is nor are their numbers fixed in any way. fluence In- naturally is centred in a few of the ablest, but these are not 374. OFFICIAL PASSING THE STREET. permitted for to usurp themselves. it The on the reciprocal regard of the elders for the the lUdyh, though they moderate popular The affairs which they manage are feeling, never take an unpopular course. the local festivals and the religious undertakings in which the public life of The the country centres and in which conflicting aims have to be conciliated. laying out of ordinary irrigation channels and other village works are arranged by the ludyts. They witness marriages and divorces, and generally regulate the social life of the people. A tacit agreement, parallel to that between the villagers and their headmen, bound the king and the people, whose sentiments were reflected by officials drawn from their midst. natural If, not content with the consideration accruing through age and gifts for leadership, and with managing a business of his own, our Burman aspired to a public career, he might enter official life by attaching himself to the suite of some functionary. This he would do at first in a menial capacity, he found favour, he might become secretary, deputy, and eventually and, as loyalty of the villagers sentiments of the rests community ; attain to the chief dignities. A scion of royalty just out of his teens would be given 1 a town or province to on (myozd), as well govern by the help of deputies and But a son of advisers. the people would be gray before he climbed live as to to such a position. The •myoza had to remit a 375. burman judge proceeding to court. 1 BURMA 66 annual fixed revenue the to and he retained such excess as he could raise for treasury, more Even himself. cynical than the appellation of myoza, but nevertheless cepted, is thwethauttyi, The revenue variable, 376. JUDGE PRESIDING COURT IN ac- officially of his deputy, that or bloodsucker. exactions were and were levied with outlying locali- little regularity ties escaped altogether. ; The people of such places were (YON), al- most without ostensible government. The 3-rupee household tax of 1862 had advanced to 10 Rs. in 1886 {Thathameda). There were also special imposts and special exemptions. The original style and address of the king came to be adopted by his deputies, as more high-sounding titles were devised for him. Every officer is now addressed Payd and spoken of as min, which means ruler, prince. The full style of high there were the traditional titles officials used to occupy several lines of a document of the office and territory, the prerogatives granted by the king, conspicuous among which were the number of red and gold umbrellas allotted to the rank, and the ; executive powers, such as ddbaing, holder of the sword. The last-named symbol was borne before the arbiter of officer as life. The lower grades of office were, and in many places still are, hereditary, especially that of thadyi, the appointed headman who levies the taxes from the people (literally The Burmese the poor, sinyHhd). corre- no matter how wealthy he be, one who holds no office at the mercy of the is a " poor " man lative of official is significant ; — asoya. If the rapacity of an official J under the old regime grew intolerable, he incurred the risk of assassination, likelihood of being avenged authority. The religious without much by the central aversion to be 377. the city gate (pya-o). NATIVE GOVERNMENT 167 the cause of suffering and death, and the discredit re- on officialdom by its methods, lead the best elements of the population to shun office, as a touching of flected The dearth pitch. and character of ability in the govern- ing classes leaves the governed without The efficient religious protection. motive further operates in withholding in378. A THE PALACE GARDENS. pregnant category is that of the causes at the yon, an open shed official, and it is "five The governors and Rulers, Ill-wishers. presented in the formation first in enemies" — Fire, deputies who a public place. about criminals. Water, Robbers, acted as judges heard But every cause was instance at the house of the contrary to accepted ideas of polite- ness to approach a superior empty-handed, even on a mere visit case were At of courtesy. The pros and cons of the understood before the regular hearing. the hearing, the advocates of the parties iashe-ne) publicly presented their pleas and the evidence The Burmese form recorded. kyanza in the of oath was to take the hands, a book of imprecations which the witness invokes on his head falsely. is The judge if he should speak or judges intimated their finding who recorded it in official style The punishments awarded to condition of prisoners were much to their clerks isaye), and read out. it criminals and the Europe at the time of the Every judgment of importance was registered in the Hluttaw or chancellery at the capital, presided over by the four chief ministers like those prevailing in Renaissance. ( Wundyi), through whom all governors of provinces issued. system of appeals. royal commands to the There was no regular The Hindu code of Manii served as a body of law, and statutes were decreed by the kings but tdnzan (custom) supplied standards of a more practical and stable nature. ; '" ''°''°'''' ''°''(|py''o*daw°'" 1 BURMA 68 The British administration the native official machinery, from the thadyi to the myook, augmenting the preserves numbers so part as to reach every of the area and ing the powers. curtail- Under native regime even thadyis might be dabaing. The new regime takes account of the village for influence ; liidyis moral many of them have the sake of their been invested with power to 380. compose PALACE FRONT AND SPIRE. differences up to small amounts, and some of the more prominent are honorary magistrates. Independent spirit is on the increase the Nevertheless, in officials have to reckon with a new temper in the people. municipal councils the supineness and complaisance of the native members are ; calculated to stultify the position accorded to them. do not arouse tion deal with, and the thadyi personally measures the land-tax and poll-tax from house to house, make receives reports many can sanita- matter they long to excluded from their jurisdiction The can Road-making and local excise, the fields, collects 157). {cf. p. the is their interest, in such a he circle as the circuit of twice a year, and commission on the amount. on matters within his circle. He As revenue-circles as a native magistrate personally control are united into a township, under a inyoSk, who at the same time supervises the co-ordinate grades of He pubpolice distributed in the township. his cases, under civil and licly tries criminal codes of law and powers as magistrate, by procedure accessible to everybody. These codes form the most valuable models of system, in the vernacular, up to the present. i5y their help both judges and advocates Five to have trained themselves in law. eight townships, according to facilities for ssi. burman princess. BRITISH ADMINISTRA TION supervision, are combined i6g into a district under a European magistrate, the Deputy Commis- who has a European officer for district sioner, of superintendent police, commanding an average force of four hundred native constables. At the district headquarters are a police-dep6t, treasury, jail and hospital, besides courthouses and offices. The district officer hears appeals from the niyodks, and tries all offences except This the gravest and heavy civil suits. organisation is the backbone of the civil government, the Commission.' There are thirty-six such districts, and four hundred native magistrates, on salaries of one hundred to eight hundred rupees a month, besides one hundred ' and twenty-five native honorary magistrates. The success of this economical administration, organised by Sir Arthur Phayre, in ensuring the safety of 382. ment of ROYAL INSIGNIA. life enterprise and Burma five in thrift. given a The fulfil- new value to British garrison of 1900 consisted of three thousand European and seven thousand hundred Indian regular To and property and the contracts has return to native troops. Burma — In the centre of the capital, and by euphemism of creation, rises the pyatthat which canopies the principal throne in the great hall of audience, where envoys and tributary princes used to be received. also the princes of his blood and the high own officers of state paid court to the king on gaddw-ne, days when they craved pardon of the king for their short- comings. is The throne ascended by a (No. i) stair at the back, leading from the council-room of the king's cabinet of palace ministers, who were the medium of with communication the Hluttaw. On such occaz 383. ANCIENT CAPITAL SAQAING. Here — BURMA 170 which otherwise only figure as surmounted by a queen's crown {sibdn). The shape of a king's crown is seen in Nos. 151 and 425. There being but a single palace and thousands of kyaimgs and temples, the palace the kyaung it appears to resemble a kyaung. But the converse is the fact is which in virtue of its religious character shares the distinction of the palace. The most recent style adopted sions the king appeared in the royal emblenris of state. The insignia, insignia in the illustration are ; by the Burman A Lords. White Elephant. the — presence of the king, with face averted An effulgence of the royal countenance. official called by The ensign betokening the presence of the king. king and of the chief queen {mtbayd) Two from the, repeat aloud the words uttered tliandawzin used to the — Shin-Bayin Lord of was Sinby^ Shin Lord of the Every subject prostrated himself in sovereigns was chief title is the tibyA (p. lOi). were borne according to the solemnity of the occasion. The chief queens were frequently half-sisters of the kings. For all the royal acts, the lying, rising, to eight there are euphemisms proper to the one of the most current of these is shwepawddaw the golden foot. At his demise the sovereign is said eating, speaking, occasion — ; abode of nats or delectable land the was broken. The paraphernalia of the king's service were elaborate but in his attitude to the yahdn he comported himself as an ordinary man. The Royal White Elephant was maintained in great pomp it ate and drank out of golden vessels and had to migrate to the ; staff of his tibyA ; ; a retinue for probably an its pampered so that — was it 1806 which lived for phants CARVED FIGURE OF NAT. " kept in virtue of for An service. albino elephant really white captured A died. in 1805, but was second was captured in years. Other "white elehave enjoyed their reputation fifty state possessing certain assumed criteria of the "white'' variety, as to the number of the toes, direction of the tail-tuft and other distinctions, without regard to the colour of the skin. Change of capital at the accession of a new sovereign was characteristic of Burman empire, even convulsion. such changes. facing the when Events of the flat there was no change of dynasty or other political latter kind were no doubt the original reasons of Next to Pagan, Sagaing, on the right bank of the Irawadi, and now desolate site of Ava, is the most impressive of the ROYALTY, HISTORY 171 BURMA 172 struggles in 1754, is the involved account of the Shan.* the and Mun, the Burman, races, the imperial for mastery of its three Irawadi the of valley the of isolation the As already stated in the Introduction, the from the neighbouring civilisations by great natural barriers, favoured neutralization The development of an independent and distinct civilisation. Aldung Paya established of those barriers it is that now exposes Burma to the races inured to worse conditions. * See Appendix A, Chronology, 387. THE CITY MOAT. sudden competition of 388. THE BURMESE DRAMA (ZAPPWE) AND BAND. CHAPTER VIII PAGEANTS AND FROLICS Pl-AY-ACTING tion of the is the great entertainment of Burma. its inmates the characters. {pwi') and invariable scene, ways of than did royalty royalty, the traditions of Hero and heroine itself. The countryman courtiers. which The name/w^ festivity the distinctive term for play-acting his deputies travestied. women nifies is palace is zappwk and births Buddha he is ; their retinue consistently apphed to any kind of The play may be sig- in various of his a prince, as, for in- Wethandaya, the most popular and poetical of the Zdt, which has been translated into English by Mr. L. A. Goss. The stance, in legend, or an same, episode from the furnishes the thread on which the romance of the play strung. The central interest is is the love of prince and princess the stories are brought ; up to ggg. the is the history of an incarnation of the is The king actors Zdt or marionettes {yotthi). The the readiest illustra- adheres to more tenaciously figures as jester or clown. and duced by men and it is are prince and princess, idealised, ; The/zy^ the characters in the play. pro- 174 BURMA •*fill«. DRAMA AND MUSIC 175 foreigner, preferably from Europe, is brought on the scene. Peals of laughter proclaim these from afar. interludes The troupe eight actors of four and tresses are paid to ac- thirty to sixty rupees a night, according to their celebrity 393. MARIONETTE PLAY. of the whole entertainment, which everybody free to attend, is Occasions the household that gives the pwe. and the distance they come. io'i is The cost defrayed by pivk are shinldung fetes and new house, or the dedicaAt general festivals, subscription pzvi are organised and are The actors of the zappwi are professional, but in the han- other domestic events, such as the completion of a tion of a kyaung. free to every one. pwt or yein-pwk, the performers are amateurs large number One of performers. ; this or two dozen years go through the postures of the is already implied by the young Burman dance in girls some other fancy costume. it is the most beautiful is given by day sight in the country. The simultaneity of the movements even to the tip of a finger, uniformly as princesses or of ten to fifteen time to music, in all dressed This entertainment ; is as perfect as in the best-trained ballet. the yotthe-pwh the marionettes are In made to perform wonderful evolutions by means of their strings. Burmese music developed highly Europe. There is of is probably the most any except that of no musical notation. The by subject deserves to be studied thoroughly help of the phonograph the ; phonograph records prepared for this work were unfortunately all broken but through the in transit, courtesy of Mr. P. A. Mariano possible to reproduces it has been append a score which the music (Appendix faithfully Burmese music, of the language C). In just as in Shan, the character is markedly reflected. (See 394. marionette princess. BURMA 1/6 Herbert Spencer, The Origin and Function of Music) The simplest Burman dulcimer {patala). The harp has a boat-shaped body of wood, with a skin stretched over it for sounding-board. instruments are the harp [saung) and the The thirteen strings are of silk, strengthened with varnish. patala are of dry bamboo (No. 454). 395. The staves of the These two instruments are not loud they ; BOYS' BOXING-MATCH. accompany the voice, as we use a harp or guitar, and also by The loud band {saing-dt), which gives so much character to the themselves. The clarion {hne) is a loud and pwk, is composed of clarions, gongs and drum.s. strident instrument, the effect of which is enhanced by the second clarion. These are supported by gamuts of tuned gongs (18) and drums (22) in circles There are two tenor drums and a bass drum (kyi-waing and saing-ivaijig). The tone of the Time is accentuated by cymbals and clappers. ibondyf). are used to gongs is flourishes pianist. round and bright that it may be mistaken for a piano played on the kyi-waing would imply considerable execution Drums are struck with the fingers, gongs with padded sticks. so Boxing-matches are the simplest of the contests which, after and form the chief popular pageants, plays diversions. The spec- and stand in a wide circle. At one tators sit a raised platform side is for the women The cutes judges. are No present. challenger exe- a defiant dance 396. PONY-RACING. ; the in a Continued fivin No. 392. . BOXING, RACING 177 in the ring his and slaps (lemmdimg-kat) to the exclamation oi yduk- arm kyd! bdthd!—ms.n that you are and son of a man! some (No. 153). When one steps into the ring to take up the challenge, the are pair con- ducted by seconds to the who decide if they they ^rc fairly matched judges, 39ff: BULLOCK RAciNQ. ; Every kind of attack is fair except then stand the head to keep the long hair from tied on is pulling hair and biting a cap defeat, but matches are very betokeriV of blood coming loose. The^' first trace Powerful is no betting. there This may be the reason why frequently drawn. But temper. show they if seconds are on the alert, to separate the combatants aside to await their, turn. ; the absence of temper, despite the severity of the contest, is its conspicuous appear to rare The frank dispositions of Burman and Talaing of deprecation advantage. The high spirits of the victor overflow in chivalrous " people a such That among " the merest fluke in the world his prowess Abuse is not so the sense of personal honour is keen goes without saying. cheap as in India. The vendetta is unknown. Fatal quarrels occasionally arise feature. — from jealousy ! ; the old national justice put the law into the hand of a betrayed husband. its in Pony-racing is the sport of the North, as boat-racing is that of Pegu with network of channels. The races are run in heats of twos, like all races There are small stakes for the owners, but betting is the soul Burma. of the sport. In this the women 399. 2 A freely participate. THE BOAT-RACE GOAL {PAN The course is flat, half BURMA 178 a mile to a mile. Popular diversions, common ]Jto Burmans and Europeans, are the race meetings, with their kindred accompaniments. The boat-races are held at the Thadln-dyut festival are forty to inside and out (No. 430). The canoe for one 184). Racing-canoes ; COCK-FIGHTING. 400. Competing crews generally belong and heavy wagers to be is (p. man they are lacquered eight to twenty. of crew a paddled by sixty feet long and only wide enough to different villages, which causes excitement The goal is a boat moored in the river, Through the hollow of the athwart of which is fixed a long bamboo (pan). latter runs a loose rattan, projecting a hand-breadth at each end. The bow-hands make a dash for this rattan, and the boat that secures it is the winner. Burmans to run high laid. are excellent swimmers, which they need to be for these races, as the canoes are commonly swamped trouble is at the goal ; but they have no swimming contests. in parts of southern Pegu. Some taken with breeding the animals and training them to trot fast. In Bullock racing is a favourite sport the race they go at a gallop over a course of about half a mile. 401. OHINLON GAME. -^ s RACES, GAMES 179 — BURMA i8o Chess, dominoes, /a«V, and cards, are the intellectual — games. war-lord ') Chess {sippayin from introduced was probably China times. ancient in differs in ' It some points from the game played agrees with Europe, but in that played Chinese settlers in Burma. by The pieces are King, General (in lieu two Elephants of our Queen), (in 405. lieu of Horsemen, two Chariots (in lieu of our Castles or Rooks), and PASIT GAME. eight moves the Elephant moves moves as the General, plus The Soldiers. The General moves one square as in our game. our Bishops), two at a one square forwards, the Horseman moves as our Rook, the Soldiers move up very differently to ours as our Knight, the Chariot The Pawns. pieces are set Chariots at King Rook as our : sqrs. „ K2. General „ K3. Like other King time diagonally, Horsemen at Elephants „ Soldiers QB and KKt3 sqrs. KB3 and O2 „ (K's4,4th "IQ's 4, 3rd ' game of chess is played for money, unless where games are played to pass the time, without stakes. The Burmese dominoes (thomdefinite contests, the at funeral gatherings, bonpS) are made with brass They of black wood, for nails points. are held like cards, and are played down in the same way, not set as dominoes are us. Pasteboard cards from Europe are common, and are to be found in every with {pi) sale dep6t. The staid elders alone of lay people take no part in any sort of gambling. Venial as gambling upon in (pk-cha) is is looked general, card-player a term of disparage- 406, angalon qambuing, GAMES AND SHOWS i8i ment associated with thauk), next after — opium-eater. sot which Women do not often play chess or cards have a game {ayet- beinza is ; they called pasit (beetle- somewhat resembling backgammon. fight), Games of pure hazard are in great favour, especially at festival Chinese and Shan settlers gambling-dens for the dissolute youth, with Chinese dice (Nidaung, Angalon, No. 406), and times. start CHINESE DICE (NIDAUNG). 408. the thirty-six animal lottery {tt, thonzi-chaukkatmg kasd), symbols intelligible to paper or cloth with compartments for six different money is shaken in a For angalon there is a figures of animals on which on a wooden cube, which is every nation and the meanest capacity. staked, corresponding to similar figures box. The showmen in Burma are the conjuror and the snake-charmer. The Burman juggler {myet-hle sayd) makes no pretence of occult powers, not even His name implies that his movements " elude the eye " but his to children. ; legerdemain does not attain to the art of the Indian and Chinese jugglers. The snake-charmer, on the other hand {dlambk sayd), pretends to be protected He by magic. is tattooed all tongue which he shows, and that alleged the over with snakes in other ; he has ways he plays upon slits at snake-men inoculate themselves with the venom, but this is not authenticated, though it is known of from the experimerits Calmette and Fraser.that immunity can be produced in this The cobra way. is whe^ the* bdk), the a hamadryad much same procured (inivye- exhibited, but ,_only hauk) irigan- larger species of family, cannot (p. 96). be The snakes are exhibited in their natural ac?. the side of his credulity. bmrman juqquer, It has been BURMA 182 state ; the fascination of the show is soon as the snake is molested feels the the un- But no one it ghdes away harmlessly proximity, any apprehension from its danger. as ; moment the A the snake. showman cobra ceases easy to is may take months to discover The creature is tracked by the tease to find, but it a hamadryad. trail it leaves sand of a dry stream or the dust of a road to the place where it is watching its eggs. At this time, if ever, the snake is in the But like the rest of the cobra movements are comparatively slow the charmer's hand is quicker, the snake is aggressive. family, its ; captured and consigned to the basket before it can After that strike. impunity. There no is it THE CHARMER APPROACHING THE SNAKE. the same day snake is set by the performer, and made to execute feints of attack corresponding to the feints of the charmer, creates swaying who keeps time the — " snakes are to music, impression that — the dancing " difficult to They to and so the snake is The sound. feed and keep in con- go after a month or hope of catching them again the charmer vows to release the snake after a definite term, and has a superstition that if he keeps faith the snake will not hurt him. The Burmese festivals have been dedition. are let two, in the ; being confined to a single one, which begins in April and goes on to the scribed as But that is an exaggeraThere are two regular carnivals of a week or ten days each, and several others of following March. tion. a couple of days' duration, besides occasional festivities to celebrate the and temples, — and last, completion of zedi but not least, the that it at large, is it handled with sort of training charmers say that the snake 410. is ; the may be shown caught. When the appears to be bluffed NEW-YEAR FESTIVAL ^b!^~' t - y ' ' ^ 'vffiaH^^H 183 BURMA t84 Party feeling, which often runs high between the quarters of a village, and with their sedi, finds rival an outlet kyaung at Tagu As the tug-of-war {lim-swe). in the superstitious whistle for the wind, so do they expect to tug in the the monsoon by this means, when everything season panting for at is rain. After Tagil, the next festival season is JVdso — commencement of 414. WATER-THROWING AT NEW-YEAR. by the Shinldung fetes, described in Lent. Chapter III. This season June in — the the Buddhist is signalised During Lent there is no regular festival. The October, great festival of Thadlndyut celebrates the close of Lent. when the rains are generally over, and is It falls in the one for which the most extensive preparations are made. Every festival is signalised by the offerings But now they are literally " poured " in profusion, as the word implies {sun- Idling). Yarjamd paths fenced with bamboo trellis, such as made to the yahdn. — those prepared for the progress of royalty —are got ready along the chief Through these on the morning of the great day the yahdn defile in endless procession. As many as a thousand yahdn may be invited to receive the Thadindyut offerings in a large town. The offerings are poured into the alms-bowls by the laity scholars are stationed at intervals to relieve the yahdn of their loads of offerings. After the yahdn come pothudaiv and niHhild. Both ends of thoroughfare. ; the yazanid are rated with deco- arches of IffiPl^SK bamboo and tinsel. About these are grouped life-size figures of mythical to import — dragons guard the entrance, princes and princesses of the nats to take part in the In the honour done to Thingd (No. the evenmgs 151). fire- 4^5. ransom procession at new-year. FESTIVALS balloons are sent off, 185 rivers are illuminated with rafts carrying and the lamps Labyrinths of bamboo are erected round the zedi, which entertain the children and especially the hill-people, who pique themselves, not which are set adrift. NEW-YEAR .TUG-OF-WAR. 416. locality. These labyrinths are called Wingabd, mountain maze, to which Prince Wethandaya was banished by his without reason, on their sense of after the father, in the zdt legend. Tazdung-mon but not in journey of Burma is the next At Gawdama Buddha Proper. after Thadindyut it is kept in Pegu, season Buddhists commemorate the miraculous to the nat country after the death of his mother, to festival ; this to her the enlightenment which had come to him on earth, and by means of which he had attained peace. Spires of bamboo-work and tinsel the tazdung-daing impart —are — built twenty to fifty feet high, as symbols of the stair by which Gawdama ascended. These are carried I'ound the place with music, and are finally dedicated In the months Thadindyut the katein-thingdn are dedicated, and the mathdthingdn are woven. The katein-thingdn is the annual supply of the primitive pareikaya, and is of a nominal character, owing at of the zedi (No. 422). Tazdung- inon and to the profusion of offerings at other times. The mathd-thingdn is a cloth wherewith to deck the images of the paung of Buddha and the the zedi (Nos. 429, 449). It the offering of the women who weave 2 B is SUNLAUNQ it, AT. THADINDYUT FESTIVAL. 1 BURMA 86 and, in order to possess its proper be completed in a This is the day and a night. The only approach to a vigil. texture is loose, and broad bands value, should of tinsel are shot through to up the woof faster. Tawthalin is a minor festival, falling in Lent, and observed only The Tawthalin offerin Pegu. ings are distinguished by being in thousands, one thousand little cakes, one thousand plantains, and so on (No. 282). The number one SUNLAUNQ AT THADINDYUT FESTIVAL. 418. thousand W^thandayA of the thousand gdta or stanzas of the Buddha's The above observances observances, if not individuals only, or of a religious furtively all said to be symbolical hill may have as is at a time tribes, been. ; have by the whole The only other nothing to often the case, are common Burman Unlike the Karen, who knows only evil spirits. The former belong ro- mance, the latter are chiefly Burman paganism. In nat-yua the the is delectable land to which, by a courtesy analogous to the German selig" " hoch- " the and kings " h'dchst- are said to migrate at their demise. A higher order than nat is thadyd and thadyd-min, and above these the highest order of being, byammd, the cloud- with These kept by in the survival of the primitive cosmogony, do original they have sufficient show what the to Burman has both good and land of the zat give them. character Gawdama final incarnation. earnest and enlightened Buddhists. conducted, by households and Talaing worship of evil nats, the the eclat they can by nat worship of the with the to the all and are rejected Buddhism, is the legend of are the Buddhist festivals, which are celebrated population together, with recurring sat, but one, closely prefiguring the last incarnation make 419, fire-baluoons at thadindyut, ANIMISM whom dwellers to mans pretend to the Bur- owe their These ethereal beings origin. the law of karma, and re-birth. They have to attain nirvana like men, through virtue. Under subject to are " " in gods the Pali scriptures to be understood such are Together beings as these. men they form with group tliaddazvd beings —to whom de- is Stevenson, (See livered. the mes- Buddha sage of the the — rational The Lexicon, pp. 603, 788.) higher orders of existence not to be confounded are with higher the religious states, ayakdt,aydttapo,-wh\ch. by the "noble are attained path" alone (p. In 46). situated fairyland, this in Hhnawunta taw (Hima- the layas) and the clouds, its poetry of the people centres. (See The Soul of a People, As Chapter XXI.) heavens are ethereal beings, the by indwelt so also eveiything on earth has presiding heavenly genii cent, the friendly nats benefi- are terrestrial or of the its The genius. ones The malign. mountains in- and their protection is invoked against wild to and dangers beasts spire awe, wayfarers. A nat is pro- 187 BURMA [88 by pitiated offerings at a shrine, almost always in minia- Only ture. music A dhists. assigned ein-dwin whose nut PROPITIATING to which nat has as it and Bud- genius dwelling the shrine offered. up, nats THE LOCAL NATS (nAKKAZA). by special little is flowers, Min Magayt replaced 423. fruit, offered are is — nat, in a cocoa- The nut is the water dries is drunk. assumed the There are who preside over countries, U Mindyi and tJ Mindya for Burma, U Yindyi for Pegu, B6daw and his sons for That6n, and other local nats. These nats are propitiated by such offerings as a crown, or by standing guard before their images, upon undertaking a journey, entering on a race or other The five nats of the firmament have a special cult associated with contest. that of the eight planets, with which the Buddha and eight yahdnda are mixed up. The local nats are most commonly propitiated in pyatho (December), The visitations of malign spirits are attributed to what the harvest month. the Burmans call unripe (asHn) deaths. Such are deaths from lightningstroke, accidents of all sorts, child-bed, cholera, and whatever is violent and sudden. The normal re-incarnation of the karma of such is immature they haunt localities as ghosts (tase), and seek ; the bodies of the living for hosts, thereby causingsickness. Slaughter accounts battle in for a plague of this kind, and the one plague entails another. Pilgrimages tothe great shrines are made in the dry months, espe- full moon. The most sacred shrine of the Peninsula and the perennial resort of pilgrims is the zedi on the site of the ancient Mun village Dag6n, renamed times of cially at Yangdn (Rangoon). The legend declares that the original founders . , , . , .,.,,. of the shrme deposited eight hairs 424. SHRINE OF THE HOUSE-QENIUS— MIN magayi nat SHRINES AND PILGRIMAGES 189 Buddha there. The shrine now known as Shwe-Dagon Payd (Shwe-tl gon) was built over by the Emperor Sinbyu Shin in 1775 of the and brought to its present height of about three hundred feet above the It stands at the the southernmost platform. extremity of Pegu Y6ma, and occupies a commanding position spur of the over the port of Rangoon, asserting the 425. PROPITIATINQ King Minddn Min gilt in in THE NAT BODAW. 1 Burman character of the place above the masts of ships that The predwarf everything else. sent canopy was dedicated by 871, at the cost of half a million of rupees. the ordinary way, but plated with gold foil. The cone It is not of the zedi itself is gilt from the peak to the platform. Such a gilding costs three hundred thousand rupees and lasts fifteen to twenty years in the climate of Rangoon. Till the Shwe-Dag6n Payi was brought to its present height by the Burman Mun capital Pegu had been the greatest in the though not the most sacred as a reliquary. This is Shwe-hmdwdaw Payd, also about three hundred feet high from platform to summit (No. 6"]). Its conquerors, the sedi at the land, site is not so favourable as that of its rival, nevertheless the zedi is a noble object. Mahd-myaimnuni at Amayap6ya (No. 449). This colossal image of the Buddha weighs several tons, and it was brought over the Arakan mountains by the Burman conquerors. The head was damaged when the tazdung over the image was burned down in After the Shzve-Dagon Payd the next greatest shrine 426. PROPITIATINQ THE NATS OF THE is the FIVE PLANETS. I BURMA go 1884, and has had body of the image to is The be replaced. encrusted with gold which the pilgrims affix by a miraculous quality of the image the gold leaf is said ; Next to adhere without the usual size. in image is the Shwe-zettaw, sacred footprint on the rock, west of a Mimbu on the Irawadi {cf. p. 36). Only the site of the original footprint on the hill is shown. The rock which bore it clove celebrity to this asunder, according to the legend, A sequence of a profanation. the original The fourth occupies great shrine con- tazdung beneath. a resort Kyaittiyo Payd, which in model of is of pilgrims believed two hairs of the Buddha. is to enIt is erected on a boulder which overhangs the peak of a mountain three thousand six hundred feet high, looking out on the plains of the Sittaung river. The legend tells how this boulder which is not a rocking-stone in days of greater piety used to float free above the summit. There are those who argue that even now a fine thread can be drawn between the boulder and the rock. About one hundred and fifty years ago — — 429. KYAITTIYO PAYA. [To /ace p. igo. — SHRINES AND PILGRIMAGES 191 a Karen from this neighbourhood was taken prisoner in the wars and carried One night he dreamt that in the to Ava, where he eventually became yahdn. cavity of a rock, on a hill near his home, were two hairs of the Buddha missionary yahdn which had been deposited by Ottara and Sawnase, the who brought Buddhism to Pegu they died and attained part-nirvana at this The Karen was allowed to travel place, and were buried at the foot of the hill. a zedi was built to the spot, where he found what he had seen in his dream Kothina yon (No. 280). there, which is now a famous resort of pilgrims ; ; 430. CANOES RACING IP- 178. 431. DECORATING THE THEBONZEDI CHAPTER (p. 1271 IX AGE AND MORTALITY and women of the and die sooner than those of temperate climates. One meets reputed centenarians in Burma, but it is rarely The men tropics age that the old people can prove they are able to connect their year of birth their age, unless some with is a very age for a native of attain. their 432. A DAUGHTER PRAYING HER PARENTS TO NOBO-SAT. them event. historical Ninety years When great Burma to parents are past prime their children pray to nobo-sat, which means that they should be at the chil- the remainder of their dren's charge for their parents'. The turning-point is lives, as the children had not marked by any first been approaching parents on a solemn occasion adopts the gesture of veneration. aged are not idle ; at formality, but a child they preserve a great elasticity of mind and interest in The things ; AGE AND MORTALITY 193 study their they ligious books, re- occupy themselves with their grandchildren, teach and tell them stories, and make toys for them. They do them 433. PAINTING OF KYAITTIYO PILGRIMAGE. the light repairs the house and and when still keep the house and tell the shrine on duty-days. their are too old to go on pil- grimages others, they they of gear, beads alone. The with the veteran can Every old man is by courtesy ludyt, The old people wear plainer clothing than halt to and every old woman amidyi. the young, and, according to old Burman fashion, less of it. The human dignity of the aged is of a kind that apparel cannot add to. Steeped in the spirit of Buddhism, the aged never yield to anger. Wanting neither for necessaries nor A peaceful honour, the pathos of their serene old age is purely that of years. end is their lot. (See The Soul of a People, p. 330.) And now our Burman is equipped for the final stage. To the dead of whatever degree royal honours are accorded. The body is spoken of as aldung, "that which is about to be," to be something of a higher nature, namely, as the dead are spoken of German in as blessed." The laid under a white or royal canopy, upon a temporary The body is bier, for one or several days. swathed in grave-clothes, the thumbs and " corpse is great toes tied together with strips of white cotton cloth, and in the son is mouth of a lay per- put a gold or silver piece for kaddga — ferry-hire. While the body state, the catafalque {dald) is is lying in being pre- pared for carrying the bier to the cemetery. The dald is a tall paper, ending in with colours and laid in is a coffin placed in a bamboo and royal pyatthat, tinsel. The gay corpse is similarly decorated, which or shaped part of the 2 c erection of over the sarcophagusdala. Above the coffin BURMA 194 tam^n, according to the sex Figures of winged keinof the deceased. nayd support the coffin. All these preparations are costly, but they are never omitted floats dipaso or (except in the case of " unripe " deaths), for if the family of the deceased have not the means, the neighbours contribute. dald is preparing, the relatives bours are entertained are provided a pavilipn erected in in front of the house. pwk While the and neigh- Music, glmes, and by day and by night help them to pass the time. to The Burman word for funeral is matkd, a sorrowing and the mourning of the relatives is open and Death is spoken of with bated breath loud. and true solemnity. It is not baldly stated ; that a person ended. 435. is dead, but that their The dead are borne in life has tender THE VETERAN. memory. Nevertheless, the incidents of the mourning that they receive point in a fable. The python snake with its gigantic size and forbidding aspect looks the king of venomous reptiles. And such, according to the satire, the python used to be. So potent was his venom that if he bit so much as the track of a creature it must die. On one occasion the serpent bit the foot-print of a man who had angered him, and crept to the village to enjoy his revenge. But he found nothing there to betoken sorrow. Music was playing and the people were dancing. This mortified him so that he climbed a lofty tree and spat all his venom forth. The preparation of the catafalque and the entertainment of funeral are so inconsistent with the funeral guests are costly, but the offerings to These are what give tinction vVs to t\ve yakdmxe the chief expense. dis- the funeral. many yahdn of the place and the surrounding country as the family can afford to present offerings to, are invited to precede the cortege to the cemetery. are all The offerings of identical nature and value. In the iUus- 436. entertaining the funeral guests, FUNERAL OBSERVANCES 195 BURMA 196 playing music as florid in its way as is the decoration of the bier. At the reserved for the relatives to cemetery the pyre has been partly prepared it is complete it by carrying heavy billets and putting them in place. The coffin is taken down from the catafalque and brought to the pyre, with the head to the The gay catafalque is cast on the West the direction of the sacred Bo tree. ; — 439. THE BIER REACHING THE CEMETERY. it is allowed to decay. Before laying the coffin on the wood, swayed to and from the pyre seven times, in obeisance before the Bo While this is done a sabre is held up with the edge facing the coffin, the tree. signification of which is obscure. The cover is now removed, and the coffin turned over on the pyre and lifted away. Fuel is heaped on the corpse and the fire kindled. The relatives assemble before the yahdn who have come to the cemetery, and the ceremony ol yezetcha is performed in respect of the offerings dedicated, which have meanwhile been conveyed to the kyaung. All except the When the pyre is consumed, the fragments of bones are relatives return. Here they are collected in a vessel and brought to the house of the deceased. venerated for several months, after which they are deposited in sacred ground Those who can afford it build a cinerarium (ay0-0, Nos. 441, 442). {pay a- my e). ground, where it is In the burial, to where or of case which fuel earth resorted is scarce is seven the costly, same opened at obeisances are the the coffin is the grave (which about and grave-clothes are loosened. if is deep), two cubits the ; The corpse, that of a man, is clined towards the inleft, 440. the funeral pyre. PONDYIBYAN 197 if of a woman, towards the After the coffin has right. been lowered, the relatives and throw on the chief mourner waves a kerchief and calls friends The earth. on the kaw) spirit toretui-n (leippya- ; the kerchief is de- posited where the corpse had lain in days, the dwelling, for seven when friends once more. 441. CINERARIA ON SACRED GROUND. died a death that is are held looked upon as natural. are bidden Regular funerals when a person has In the case of violent and other "unripe" deaths the body is buried in haste without any obsequies (p. 188). Incongruous as are certain of the customs observed at lay-people's funerals, it is at the funerals of the solemn recluses that the boisterous Burman practices reach their climax. When the incumbent of a kyaimg dies (much less pomp is displayed at the funeral of a sojourner), the body is embalmed, so as to-^allow of several months being devoted to the preparations for the funeral. The corpse is swathed like a mummy and laid in a solid dug-out coffin of hard wood. Mercury is poured in at the mouth and honey is applied externally. A support for the coffin is made in the form of a nagd, raising its head and fiery tongue to guard its trust. Upon the coffin rests an Beneath the naga effigy of the deceased. is a throne and colours. ture is (balin), decorated with gilding Sometimes the v/hole struc- of glass mosaic {thayo), and subse- Such quently forms part of the catafalque. elaborate dald are not burned, but brought back to the kymmg, where they are kept, although not used again. canopy of Over corresponding all is a royal magnificence, with the ttbyu or royal ensign at the four corners. Thus the the kyaung, may be the or in during kyaungtagd coffin lies a special the is whole occupied in in state building, rains, with it while the 442. the last stage. BURMA 198 preparations mony, which of lation in. The funeral pdndyt-byan cere- —the trans- The expenses the yahdn. and frequently shared flow grand the for is czS!iQ6. public catafalque is are contributions of the same de- sign as the ordinary dald, but of several times greater dimensions — fifty to sixty feet to the tt of the pyatthat. It is solidly high con- and braced and strengthened in every direction. At the present day the catafalque is mostly erected on a stout platform on wheels. A long cable proceeds from each end of the carriage to draw it by, and enable it to be controlled where the road descends. It is difficult to manoeuvre at the turns of the streets and under the telegraph-wires, although the latter are carried on special posts where structed, 443. they cross the approaches to cemeteries. BIER OF PONDYI. pyatthat often its in original perfection which it is ; nevertheless it fails to reach stands out brilliantly in its the grand display, frequently preceded and followed by subsidiary pyatthat erected over carriages which bear the largest offerings to the kyaungs. The Myimmo Daung with its denizens (p. 38) up on a carriage, others are bright with nats and thadyd, immense paper models of boats, ships, and steamers, and similar freaks is built of the Thadindyut carnival. Life-size models of white elephants, caparisoned with red and tinsel, Uniform costumes are move got ready, and scores of young men are drilled The day is fixed for their parts in the cortege. long beforehand, and people throng in from all in the procession. the neighbouring villages in their brightest The sunny silks. streets are lined with booths, /wi are being acted, and bands are playing. At noon the great catafalque begins its progress to the cemetery, drawn by the people, preceded and followed by regiments of masqueraders, endless lines of women carrying offerings, and sight- 444. The destination in cinerarium of yahan. CONCL USION 199 the idea be to conjure up the utmost being honoured, the object could not be more completely seers. If possible contrast to the When attained. the coffin is life of the man who is the bier has reached the cemetery, not set on a pyre like that of the lay- man, but is burned in the catafalque, for which purpose the latter has been filled with combustibles. The fire is not lighted in the common way kindled from a distance by means of rockets. ; it is These by different villages or quarters of Each of them backs their rocket for the are contributed the town. honour of starting the fire. In Burma Proper great rockets are sent through the rattans to the catafalque. reach and. another to kindle. But is it the guided by one thing to air, The Talaing rockets, with the trunks of hard trees, hooped with iron, for and mounted on stout carriages, are merely It frequently happens aimed at the catafalque. then the fire is that none of them hits the mark the rocket that kindled by hand. But went nearest has won the day great sums of money change hands, and as they return home, some people's barrels, ; ; are spirits 445. PONDYIBYAN. than higher while everybody else puts the best upon it. Tk pondyi-byan kanng-di it was a glorious pondyi-byan, and the kyaungtagd will be congratulated upon it as long as he lives. It is as though feelings held in life-long repression had regained the field and were asserting their sway over the passive embodiment of the restraining power. Extremes meet and ever, — face ; herein the secret Buddhism serious exerts may lie over of the Burma, spell in her mood. The Burmans course of strength, life are wont to mark the into five stages then to get — first to get knowledge, then 446. CINERARIUM OF KING MINDON MIN. BURMA 200 and happy child living a life opening the stores of traditional of nature. Then the schoolboy and student the escapade of pleasing; wisdom. Then the gallant, absorbed in arts of family and settling the coming of marriage as the event frequently proves family, then substance, then K{ltho. First the free ; down to work. Then the staid man of substance, precise in expression, versed Lastly, his in the councils of the village conclave. founder or co-founder of temple or school, he relinquishes his work to his children, and spends the evening of life in kindly intercourse, in ancient lore ambitions in and heard satisfied, study and devotion to his religion. 447. VALE! APPENDICES APPENDIX A. CHRONOLOGY. Compiledfrom Spear mail's Gazetteer of British Burma and Phayre's History of Burma. B.C. Legendary origin of the Burman kingdom. Founding of TagAung by Abhi Yaza (Raja), a conquered Sakya king of Kapilavastu (" apilawiW'') in Audh. 865. Era of King Kawza begins. Thirty-two kings follow, ending with Binnaka Yaza. 825. King Kan Yaza-dyi is established at Kald on the Chindwin. His son Umidusitta migrates to Kyauppadaung in Arakdn and establishes the Arakdn Kingdom. King Kan Yaza-nge is established in TagSung. 691. Era of King Kavvza closes. Era of Bodaw Yuzana, Raja of the looo. K Sakyas, grandfather of 623. Birth of legend Gawdama, begins. Gawdama, ; afterwards the Buddha, according to the according to historical researches, sixty to one hundred and thirty-one years later. Chinese irruption into Burma. King driven south to Maid. Tripartition of kingdom. Prince Doza Yaza of Kapilavastu marries the chief widow of the king and founds old or northern Pagdn. Seventeen reigns follow, up to 443 B.C. 588. Gawdama quits the palace and enters on his mission as Buddha. Miraculous visit of the Buddha and five hundred yahdn to Sagiing. Changes in the earth prophesied the formation of the Bo-u lake, the rise of Popa mount (volcanic), the retreat of the sea from Thaydkittaya near Prome(c/; p. 50), and the spread of Buddhism. Era of Gawdama begins (lasts 543. Demise of Gawdama Buddha. till 82 a.d). First Buddhist council. 523. King Ajutasatra collects the relics of the Buddha. 443. Two Burman kingdoms, Tagdung and Pyu (Pye, Prum, 4-48. IMAGE FOUND IN A Prome ?) Prince Labadutra of Tagdung hunts the great GAVE NEAR AN ANCIENT TALAINQ TOWN. boar, which he kills at Wettokyiin near Prome. Second Buddhist council. The 250. King Asoka {Asdiuka "min) of Pattaliputra distributes the relics of the Buddha. Cf Ottara and U Sawnasd king's son Mahinda goes as missionary j^^ifw to Ceylon. missionary j'a^i^w to Burma. 241. Third Buddhist council. — 2 D — APPENDICES 202 B.C. 150. 80. Legendary visit of Gawdama to Arakdn (!) The Mahd-myammuni image modelled from the Buddha, and cast by King Sandathuria. The Buddhist canon reduced to writing by Vattagamini. A.T). 65. 82. The Buddhist Scriptures brought to China. New era of Pyu King Thamundayi't. (Lasts till 638.) The Muns destroy Thaydkittaya. King Thamiindayit driven north, where he estabUshes Eighteen reigns follow. 128. Rise of Magadu in Martaban {Mottamd). 400. The missionary ^<i;/i:^« Buddhagosha from Ceylon brings the Buddhist scriptures to Pegu and reforms the religious practice (see Phayre, p. 31). 410. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa Hian visits Ceylon. 450. Burma invaded by Shan Chinese {Tar ok Tartar.?) 518. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Chun Yun visits Ceylon. 552. Buddhism introduced into Japan. 629. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim H iouen Sung visits Ceylon 104. New Pagin. — ; remained till 648. 638. Era and dynasty of King Pupasaw— the present era. Accession of King Pyinbya, to whom nine of the temples 800. at Pagdn are ascribed. Siam {Yodayd) converted to Buddhism. Irruption of Shans into Burma. (Date earlier .? Pres- sure of Chinese on the N.E. the probable cause, Phayre, King Saw Yahdn introduced naga p. 12.) worship. of King Anctwyata Minsaw the Great. Abolishes nagd worship. Builds temples at Pagdn. Invades China to procure the Buddhist scriptures and sacred tooth-relic. A model of the relic procured and deposited in the Shwezigdn Payd, Nyaung-ii. Invades Arakdn and endeavours to take 1017. Accession the Mahd-myammuni image. Invades Pegu, captures Thaton and brings away the Buddhist Pagdn. Takes Tenaserim from Siam. scriptures to 1085. Southern provinces rebel, but are re-subjugated. King Kyansitthu of Pagdn builds Ananda Payd and Shwc Ku Payd. Establishes relations with the Buddhists 449. MAHA-MYAMMUNI IMAGE. of Ceylon. Repairs the shrines at Boddhagaya through the agency of the King of Arakdn. 1160. King Kyansitthu of P agin murdered by his son after reigning seventy- five years. I 167. Accession of King Narapati Sitthu the Great. Empire established o\'er all the kingdoms except Arakdn. Embassy sent to the King of Ceylon, who deputes five yahdn to teach Buddhism in Burma. 1204. Burma invaded from India. Burman sovereign deposed- -Kala-kyd miii. Cambodia i-;84. 1300, and Arayamana invaded from Ceylon. Burma invaded by China and tribute demanded. King Narashihepade driven south and pursued to Tar6k-hmaw before Prome, whence he fled to Pathdin Tarok-pye-min Pagdn referred to by Marco Polo as the capital of a great kingdom. Burma invaded by Shans. King Kyawzwa of Pagdn made a recluse. China interferes APPENDICES 203 A.D. on behalf of Burma and besieges Myinzaing, but without effect. Pagdn kingdom parcelled out among Shan leaders. Siam recovers Tenaserim. Pegu regains independence. Prome, Taung-ngu (Paung), Myinzaing, Pinya, Sagging, Thaydt assert independence. Pagin dynasty continues in name only. Shan dynasty of Beinnaka established in 1306. 1330. 1348. 1364. 1385- •423- 1438. Burma Proper. King Zaw-aw Thin Hmaing of Pegu recaptures Tenaserim from Siam. Foundation of chronic hostility between Pegvi and Siam. Tenaserim recovered and Pegu made tributary by Siam (Siamese accounts). King Sinbyu Shin of Pegu. First mention of cannon. The Mun have fire-arms. Inwa (" Ava," Ratanap6ya city of gems) founded by Shan-Burman King Rahula (Thado Minbya). Accession of King Yazadiyft the Great, of Pegu. War with Burma. Chinese interfere on behalf of latter. Arakdn supports Burma. Peace concluded, 1421, on the basis that Prome is Burman territory. Death of King Yazadiyit of Pegu. The calendar adjusted by moving the date back two — years. scribes the Nicolo Thaton d' Conti, traveller from Italy, de- as a seaport. West about this period Other travellers from — Ludovico Barthema Bologna, Hieronimo Adorno, Hieronimo de San Stefano and the Russian, Athanasius Nitikin. Chinese invasion of Burma repelled. Queen Shinsawbu of Pegu. Ali Khan usurps the kingdom of Arakdn. Burman kingdom weakened by inroads from the North. OHIDAW-YA (p. 36). Adventurers from Europe in the service of the rival kingdoms. King Dammazedi of Pegu. Zealous Buddhist. Shan Swabwa of tjnaung overthrows the Shan-Burman king of Ava. Five independent kingdoms— Ava (Shan), Prome (Shan-Burman), Taung-ngu (Paung), Pegu (Mun) and Arakdn. Taung-ngu begins to rise in power. Thohambwa succeeds to the kingdom of Ava. Massacres oi yahdii and plunder of zedi take place. The king assassinated, 1542. Giovanni de Sylveira (Arakdn). Travellers of the period Ruy Nunes d'Alcunha, 1511. Antonio Carrea (treats with the King of Pegu on behalf of Portugal, 1519). Odoardo Barbessa (reports the King of Pegu to be very powerful, 1520). Cassar Frederick. Ralph Fitch. (Memoirs, ed. J. Horton Ryley. See Jardine, introduction to Sangerof 1444. 1446. 1454- 1461. 1505. 1530- — — Soldiers of fortune Caspar d' Cruz, Boniface Damien, mano's Burmese Empire^ Giovanni Cayero and Ferdinand Mendez Pinto. 1540. Martabdn (M6ttamd) besieged by Siam. 1550. King Tabi'n Shwe-ti of Pegu advances on Ava, but is repulsed by a confederation of the Shans. Pagin is occupied and the other Burman kingdoms subjugated. Siam recovers Tenaserim. Nawratha (afterwards called Bayln-tiaung next to the king) leads an expedition against Siam with assistance of the Portuguese adventurers, Seixas and Cayero, who bring five hundred Portuguese soldiers. — APPENDICES 204 A.D. 1550. king of Pegu) succeeds, under the title of SinbyuMun dynasty, is beheaded. Expedition to and capture of Ava. Advance to Zimmfe. Shan states subjugated, 1562, Siam invaded excepting Theinni. Advance on Laos, as far as the Mekong. Bayin-naung (brother-in-law of the my4 Thamdin Taw, Shin. last representative of the ancient and the capital Ayodaya captured. Tenaserim recovered from Siam. Troops sent to the aid of the King of Ceylon. states re-subjugated. 1575, the Shan Zenith of Mun empire. 1581. Pegu exhausted and depopulated. In his old age the emperor becomes fanatical, compels foreigners to embrace Buddhism (the solitary example of the kind) and to respect Mahomedan butchers mentioned at this period. 1581, preparations for animal life. invading Arakdn interrupted by the death of the emperor. Yuwa Yaza (crown prince) succeeds. 1591. Nanda Baym 1570. succeeds to the empire of Pegu. Successful expedition against Ava. Advance against Siam " with 5000 elephants and 300,000 men." Ay6daya besieged without success, and again in 1593. Pegu drained of men and resources. The immolates his relatives (witnessed by emperor gives way to senseless savagery Massacres of the people ordered and persecution of Gaspari Balbi, of Venice). The Siamese the yahdn. Taung-ngu and Arakdn league against the emperor. ; invader 1 596. is acclaimed. The Arakanese advance as far as Thallyfn (" Syriam ") on Pegu channel, opposite Sack of Pegu. Fabulous accounts of its wealth. Independence of Ava reestablished. Siam recovers Tenaserim and besieges Martaban. Taung-ngu attacked by Prome while engaged in repulsing the Siamese. Philip de Brito a Portuguese shipboy who grew up in the palace at Arakdn deserts the Arakanese and seizes Syriam for the Portuguese. 1600, Philip de Brito recovers Yam^thin for Taung-ngu. Ava re-subjugates Prome and (i6io) Taung-ngu also, and obtains the tooth-relic of the Buddha. Travellers at this period, the Jesuit Boves, Faria y Souza. De Brito captures Taung-ngu but is attacked and defeated by the King of Ava and is tortured to death. De Brito's Portuguese comrades are sent to Ava. King Mah4 Damma Yaza of Taung-ngu reconstitutes the empire, with his capital at Ava. The help of Portuguese galleons obtained by sea. The Siamese ally with the Portuguese. Envoys sent to Burma from the Emperor Jehanglr and the governor of Bengal. The Englishman Samuel dies in Burma his property seized but afterwards restored. The English invited to settle. English factories at Syriam, Prome, Ava, Bamdw. Disputes of English and Dutch settlers. Both compelled to withdraw. The Mun Emperor Thado Damma Yaza on the throne, with the capital at Ava a good and wise ruler. Builds Kaung-hmitdaw Payd, below Sagging. Bintale succeeds, and is succeeded by Maha Payawa Damma Yaza. An invasion from China repulsed with difficulty. The Kingdom of Ava usurped by Prome. The pirate Gonzales appears in Arakdn. Bengal in a disorganized state, of which Arakdn takes advantage, and with the help of Gonzales advances as far as Lakimpdr, but is driven back to Chittagong. Gonzales turns the Arakanese fleet against Arakdn and commits shocking atrocities. The Vicero)- of Goa leagues with the pirate, who never- Rangoon. — 1607. 1615. 1616. T632. 1648. 1658. 1 66 1. ; ; theless 1664. 1672. 1687. — is eventually beaten. The Arakanese advance into Bengal as far as Dakka. Accession of Emperor Thiyi Payawa Mahi Damma Yaza of Pegu. Haindyi Island (" Negrais "), at the mouth of the Pathdin River, is taken by Captain Weldon (British) on behalf of the Siamese. At the bidding of the East India Company APPENDICES 205 A.D. Governor of Mergui expels British traders ("interlopers"); seventeen massacred in the scuffle that took place. The British fall into disrepute. A the Siamese British 1688. French mission follows. of Pegu sends a The Governor letter to the Governor of Madras asking for British traders to settle in Pegu. 1695. The Burman Government confiscates the goods and the ship .Si". Antony and died in Burma of Adrian Tilbury, an Englishman who Messrs. Fleetwood and Sealy deputed by the Madras Government to recover the above, in 1697. Messrs. Bowyear and Ahson deputed on the same duty in 1709. ; 1698. Accession of Emperor Sinbyii Shin Dipata. Nicholas. Non-Buddhist foreigners treated with contempt, but not molested. 1720. First Cathohc mission. 1733. Accession of 1740. Emperor advance as 1738. Manipuris Sinbyii Shin Dipata II. far as Pegu-Burman Empire again The are taxed. Sagging and destroy temples there. Pegu exhausted by imposts disintegrating. ; even the looms The Muns rise against march north and capture the Emperor Kaungthit. condition of the people wretched. the 1752. Taung-ngu-Peguan dynasty, The East India Company have an agent in Pegu. A Gwe Shan becomes King of Pegu, but abdicates. Binnya Dala elected in his place. The Muns under the Yuwa Yaza (crown-prince) and Dalaban march north in great force, with the co-operation of renegade Dutch and native Portuguese. A\a destroyed, the king taken to Pegu (where he was executed two years later on a charge 1754. Aungzaya 1746. 1750. of conspiracy). of Mosobo to rise against the (later Mun Shweb6), afterwards called AUung garrisons, which are dispersed. Paya, rallies the Burmans The Burmans march on Pegu, — Rangoon (Yangon the end of the strife) is founded and Burman empire proclaimed under Aldung Paya. See his journal (Oriental Repertory, 1755. Embassy of Captain George Baker to Burma. The Emperor AMung Payi sends a golden letter for London, Dalrymple, 1791). dehvery to King George III., but it is intercepted. 1756. Murder of Bishop Nerini. Fresh Campaign, in which Pegu is finally subjugated. The name 1757. Rising of Muns. Dalaban, the Mun general, Talking the vanquished given to the Mun race. afterwards called Nawratha, enters the service of the Burman -Emperor on honourable take the city and capture the emperor. — — terms. The crew 1758. Manipur of the is French ship Galat^e are subdued. A rebelUon of the seized. Takings is suppressed. massacred at the instigation of the French. Siam is invaded and siege laid to AySdaya, without success. His eldest son Naungdawdyi succeeds, under his father's will 1760. Death of Aldung Payi. Palace intrigues. The capital changed that his three sons should reign in succession. 1759. The British settlers at Negrais are from Shwebo to Sagding. 76 1. Captain Alves deputed on a mission to the Burman Emperor. 1763. The Emperor Sinbyushin succeeds his brother Naungdawdyi. 1 Shweb&. 1765. Manipur, now the 1766. The capital changed to overrun by Burma. Tenaserim is recaptured, Siam invaded under the command of Dalaban, Ayodaya destroyed and the country laid under tribute. The Siamese defence conducted with the help of a British privateer. Burman ally of the British, is expedition against Zimm^. APPENDICES 206 1769. The Chinese invade Burma with The Chinese invade Burma and 1771. Siam throws 1767. Their army is repulsed and destroyed. Their soldiers permitted to return 50,000 men. are repulsed again. disarmed. off the Burman yoke and recovers Tenaserim. A force is despatched against Siam, of which the Talding brigade mutinies and invests Rangoon. Faihng to take • the place they retreat to Martaban. expedition is sent against Martaban, consisting of 20,000 which reduces the place. 1774. An 1775. The Emperor Sinbyu Shin visits Rangoon. Binnya Dala. The Shwe Dagon PayA men and twenty-four guns, Peguan Emperor dimensions, and decorated with a magnificent ii. Siam invaded Judicial murder of the last built over, to its present is again, without effect. Manipiir overrun again. his son Singu 1775. Emperor Sinbyu Shin succeeded by 1781. Emperor Singu Min dies. Succeeded by Maung Maung, son of Emperor Naungdawdyi, contrary to the will of Aldung Paya, under which his own third son Maung Waing was designated. Maung Capital changed to Sagging. Min. Waing captures the palace, murders his nephew, and assumes the empire under the title of Bodaw Paya (also called Badon Min, Sinbyu-mya Shin, and Mantay4-dyi). Commits fearful atrocities against his opponents at Paunga, where he destroys the whole of the inhabitants, yahdn included. Capital changed from Sagging to Amayapoya (Abode of Immortals). 1782. Rebellion of the Taldings in J COPPER IMAGE DISCOVERED IN THE FOUNDATIONS OF MAHAMYAMMUNI, 1784. 451. 1785. Expedition 1790. Siam suppressed. made against Junkseylon, without success. 1786. 1787. Invasion from Rangoon Surgeon W. Hunter visits Burma. 1783. Father Sangermano lands in Burma. (Remained till 1806. See his work The Burmese Empire) 1784. Arakdn invaded and subdued. The Mah&-myamntunim\-^%e. brought to Amayap6ya {cf. B.C. 150 and A.D. 1017). Arakanese take refuge in British Chittagong and from thence harass the Burmans. Siam invaded without success. repulsed. Tenaserim recaptured from Siam. 1793. Punitive expedition sent against the Arakanese reftigees in Chittagong. Michael Symes (see his work) sent on a mission to the Emperor of Burma by the Governor-General of India. Burma contends for an envoy from the King of England on the precedent of the envoy (Lord Macartney) sent to the empire of China. Efforts to negotiate a commercial treaty unsuccessful. Subsequent envoys— Captain Cox. 1803, Lieut. Canning, 181 1. 1795. Captain 1803. The Amayap6ya ^•fl;w_§- caste ideas in the 181 1. The filibuster of Bmman Thingd yahdn. in Ceylon, protests against the intnision of there. Chin Byan overruns Arakdn from the base of British Chittagong, APPENDICES 207 A.D. Burman embassy to the Governor-General of India. Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary, lands in Burma. 1817. The Burman government intrigues with the Mahrattas. 1 8 19. The Emperor Bodaw Paya is succeeded by his grandson Badyidaw. Capital changed to Ava, 1823. Tro^ibles with Munipur the Rdja erects a royal pyatthat over his residence. The British arm the Manipiiris. 1823. Outrage committed by the Burman government on the British outpost at Shahpiiri Island, at Naf, ArakAn. Burma warned by the British that war may ensue. The Burmans in reply advance to Kacheir. British declare war and land their forces. Burman resistance broken, 1824 (5th March). 1813. ; fall of the able General Maha Bandula Cost to British, 4000 men and ^5,000,000. ArakiJn, Martaban and Tenaserim provinces annexed. Indemnity of 1,000,000 rupees imposed on Burma, and a treaty of commerce exacted. 1827. Talking rising in Rangoon. Mission of Captain Crawfurd to Ava (see his work). 1829. Inroads made on British territory by Burman brigands, from the base of Martaban. not without aid of the Taldings, on the (24th April, 1S25). 1837. 1845. 185 I. 1852. 1853. 1855. 1857. 1862. 1866. Martaban government bound down by British to restrain Burman subjects. King Badyidaw deposed and his son Thayawadt Min proclaimed king in Burma. Capital, Kyaummyaung and later Amayapoya. The reign disfigured by barbarities. 1841, the king visits Rangoon. King Thayawadi deposed and his son Pagdn Min proclaimed. Massacres at the palace. Extortions practised by the government of Rangoon, and the British traders Lewis and Sheppard ill-treated. Second British war, which lasts nearly twelve months. Pegu annexed British Burma Commission organised by Colonel (afterwards Sir) Arthur Phayre, the first Chief Commissioner. Brigandage becomes rife, but is suppressed by degrees. King Pagdn Min deposed and his son Mindon Min proclaimed in Burma. Mission of Capt. Henry Yule to Ava (see his work). The Burman capital changed to Mandalay. A fresh commercial treaty with Burma negotiated by Colonel Phayre. The rebellion headed by the Myingon-Myingondaing princes, quelled, with the assistance ; of the British. 1872. 1878. Embassy of the King of Burma to the Queen of England. Deathof King Mindon Min. Accession of his son Thibaw Min. The young king a puppel hands of evil ministers. Massacres at the palace. Massacres in the jail and atrocities at the palace. Disorganization of the state. Approaches made by the Burman government to the French. Third British war. Burman resistance nominal only. The Burman government overthrown, the king deported and the in the 1884. country incorporated in the Indian Empire. 1885-87. Local outbreaks of resistance and general revival of brigandage, which are gradually suppressed. APPENDICES 208 APPENDIX B. STRUCTURE OF THE BURMESE LANGUAGE- -MODE OF TRANSLITERATION. THE'B.urmese alphabet is a model of classification. The orders, with sub-orders. force of each letter is The vowels and consonants form separate The name consists in its name. conveyed of two parts, the generic and the specific. The latter describes the form of the letter by its resemblance to some familiar object for instance ta-sindu elephant-fetter ta (oo ). Sentences are punctuated, but the words are written from left to right without separation. The horizontal line of characters consists mainly of the consonants, the characters added above and below the line denote the vowels. The Burmese is all Burmese just as German is all German. The — — ; — meaning of a compound word is as obvious as the meaning of dicrch-sichtig is in German and trans-parens is in Latin. A learned in new its which root one has function of substantive may be used as verb and adjective upon one unvarying model. The forms of speech have tended to preserve related ideas in the same categories as the terms expressing the ideas. The Burman has no equivalents for our " herb, shrub, tree." He speaks of " grainplants, The creeper-plants, timber-plants." conveyed by a monosyllable. The disuse of mute consonants in the spoken language greatly reduces the number of available combinations of sounds by which to differentiate monosyllables. A tonic system of root idea is vowels and the aspiration of labial and dental as well as of liquid consonants, help to multiply the possible combinations. Context comes to the aid of these 452- BURMESE LETTERPRESS (NEWSPAPER, p. 124). subtle distinctions. of universal parts of speech in their syntax and their inflexions. classes of objects are of a curious prolixity. twenty or more different Just as Prefixes application The numeral we say pair, and suffixes indicate the proper to various affixes couple, brace, so one of has to be employed with the number, according to the nature of the object. Secondary meanings are obtained by a free compounding of words. The language possesses terms for ideas of much subtlety and complexity but metaphysical terms are imported from the Pali, the language of Buddhist philosophy. The pronunciation of the Paii is adapted to that of the Burmese. Thus Samanera becomes ChinthamatU. Sanskrit, which is affixes ; studied by few, presents still corrupted into Thinthakaydit. greater difficulties to the Burman. The The word terseness of the language appears in its for Sanskrit proverbs. is For — APPENDICES 209 — Kwe-hle k6nlo pon ma-id "The dog-flea may jump but it raises no dust." Seven compared with the ten of the almost monosyllabic English. In the above sentence the order of ideas is much the same as our own. But as a rule the order is the opposite. " Fetch hither water to quench the fire " is ml thappo yc yiigi', literally, " fire to ciuench, water instance, syllables as The ideas are expressed in order of their practical importance. The checked mutes of the Burmese language give it an abruptness which is reflected in the staccato of the Burmese music. But Burmese possesses sonorous qualities also, for instance, Shwe Sandaw PayA, Shwe Zigon PayA. The sounds of the letters used in this work for transliterating Burmese words are as fetch hither." follows : Vowel-sounds. as in Italian l\ u, 'I' English bell (but long in quantity) c „ at i, ,, aisle ail „ „ cow aiv „ „ caw ei „ Consonants „ eight „ English, including the f, Few Burmans can pronounce ;, and generally substitute y V, and for it t/i, omitting x: in the Pali words. All consonants are mute. They are not wholly suppressed as they are in French, but are merely checked in pronunciation. The Burmese for demon is written nat in this work, because it is too inconvenient to indicate the checked mute by such a form as tia^. The final n should, strictly speaking, be always followed by a ^ or a suggestion of g, thus dagSng or dagon^ instead of dagon. But to write it in this way is inconvenient in many of the combinations. This should accordingly be borne in mind. The combinative changes on the other hand which consonants undergo in final certain positions spelling and not have been incorporated left to the reader to form. in the Instead of the current form sit-bayin (chess), which correctly renders the Burmese spelling of the word, the form sippayin is used, which renders the actual pronunThe letter k combined with y has a ciation. varying force according to its position. Thus hya pronounced just as written, but in the duplicated form kya-kya, the pronunciation is tya-dya. There are a few exceptions such as kak-kyi (scissors) pronounced as spelled. When the k is aspirated, its combination with y gives tsh (English cli) and is dzh (English j). Kyaung (a monastery) is pronounced as written. In the compound taw-kyaung it is pronounced taw-dyaung (a forest monastery). But when it is the aspirated k, taw-kyaung makes taw-chaung (a forest stream). The modulation of SADAIK (p. it fiirther, thus taw-dyaAng, with the second syllable rounded up sharply In deliberate utterance certain of these modifications disappear again just as we the voice differentiates (wild cat). 2 ; E APPENDICES 2IO and in rapid utterance. Ka in duplication becomes Burmese words used within the English text have been inflected in the English way only when they have some currency in English, such as Shan, Shans. A further difference is made by the rising tone corresponding to the rising modulation of English speech in asking a question, and the falling one in answering. The former has a parallel in the Swedish the pronimciation of the Burmese methild recalls that of the Swedish Upsald.. On the other hand our interrogative modulation of voice has no signification in Burmese. The question is formed by the use of the interrogative particles, l&, le. There are three quantities. W& means bamboo wa means cotton wa means stout. Only the most salient of these distinctions have been embodied in the transliteration. Besides quantity, emphasis (stress) plays an important part. For instance, pdla means cardamom paid means a bowl. Where the stress lies on a diphthong, the accent has been placed on the first vowel, for typographical reasons. The accent is used to express emphasis in the case of vowels which are stressed but are not long. The pronunciation of Burmese depends a great deal on the correct intervals or " rests." These are partly indicated by the conjoining of the syllables, the hyphening and the separation. For instance Siubyu-mya Shin forms a single phrase, but the syllables have not all the same degree of cohesion. The hyphen has to be used in many cases where there is no rest, to simplify the reading and to preserve the right associations of consonants, such as in Pon-hnd, ka-nyin. Finally the cadence of speech is most distinctive. The intervals favoured in Burmese music and the tones on which the phrases begin and end indicate pronounce the ka-ga, article differently in deliberate pa becomes pa-ba, ta becomes ta-da. ; ; ; ; ' certain of its features (Appendix C). APPENDIX NOTE ON BURMESE MUSIC, C. by Mr. P. A. MARIANO. The fundamental pitch-note of Burmese music corresponds to our A-natural. Three kinds The first is the Doric scale consisting of the ist, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 8th intervals of the diatonic scale. The second is the diatonic scale in the Burmese diatonic scale however, the 7th is tuned flat by about a quarter tone. An instrument tuned in this way may sound out of tune to a good European ear, but most ears will scarcely perceive the difference. There are no flats or sharps in the Bxirmese gamut. Nevertheless, changes of key are not infrequent in their melodies. These invariably proceed from the tonic to the sub-dominant but without the introduction of the 7th flat, as there is no regular system of counterpoint. Here the advantage of tuning the 7th somewhat flat is apparent, for it does duty as the 4th interval of the new key. A change from tonic to dominant sometimes also takes place. The third scale is a kind of minor it consists of the same notes as the major diatonic scale, but it begins and ends with the third interval. Strict time is observed two-four is the usual time. Pure Burmese melodies are beautiful in themselves. But on account of the preponderance of scales are used. ; ; ; of grace-notes {mordeiite, accaciatura, appogiatura) Europeans find it difficuh to catch Not being able to eliininate the grace-notes from the simple theme, they do tunes. Burmese not appre- much as they do the medley of catches of European and Indian music becoming the fashion. The " Kayd-than " now played by the regimental bands as the Burmese National Anthem, is an example of this kind. It is made up of bits of bugle-calls {Kayii = bug\e) and snatches of a polka. ciate genuine airs so which is APPENDICES 21 I The Burmans do not appreciate singing in a low pitch. They do not admire men's voices baritone or the bass. A-natural is considered the standard pitch for men's and Dnatural for women's voices. The higher the tenor the more it is admired. Their ideal singer is a tenor approaching a contralto. On the other hand a soprano voice is less admired than a contralto. The propensity is to cultivate high voices in the men and low voices in the in the The women. their hearers. professional singers are true artists The ni;6-dyin than weeping song — hearers. The lo\-e songs are full of pathos. separation and meeting again of the lo\ers. eagerly awaited by the play-goers. An ; and are able to —invariably brings It is command the feelings of tears to the eyes of the indispensable scene in all the operas is the the most interesting part of the play and is The best songs are sung in these scenes and the best talents of the performers called into play. The Burman is readily excited the dancing songs never his b}' music hands and legs going. ; to set fail There is a style of martial music played at boxing-matches, races, and grand tugs-of-war which excites the Bur- The performance of a complete Burmese band is a study Considering that the muin itself. mans to action. play without a score, the strict time they observe sicians harmony and are truly wonderful. A few specimens of genuine Burmese music are appended 216-220). No. I is a song in (pp. 454. THE BURMESE HARP AND DULCIMER (p. 176). the harp accompaniment. The first twenty bars constitute the usual prelude to music The tendency of the Bunnese musician is to repeat the vocal part as an interlude, with all the variations and embellishments he can add. The last four bars are also usually played as a symphony at the end of each verse. The prelude and symphony are not peculiar to this song but are played with all songs of the same description. No. 2 is a specimen of another Nos. 3 and 4 are examples in the minor scale. Both are style, more suited for an orchestra. major scale, with of this kind. No. 3 is called Nan-thein yodaya. It used to be played on the entrance of the very ancient. king to the Audience Hall and is the true national anthem of the Burmans. Its beauty and grandeur need no comment. No. 4 is a popular lullaby. Burmans unquestionably being forgotten. The modern tendency is to imitate European and Indian themes, and the time is not distant when genuine Biirmese music will be a thing of the past. It is possess is a matter for great regret that the beautifiil music which the APPENDICES 2T2 APPENDIX D. STATISTICAL. Area. Burma Proper and Pegu (excluding Shan States, 61,000 sq. m.) 158,322 squaremiles = 101,326, 122 acres. Area cropped, 1900 10,556,104 Population in Mean annual 1901 (incltiding birth-rate per „ death 1 , 000 . Shan . States, 1,228,460) . . . . 9,221,161 37 '34 . . acpes. 28-16 „ Distribution of Population in 1891. 6,X29,.82 Burrnans and Takings {-'-;^^3;°3°.j97} (Increase since 1S81, 22J per cent.) Shans Karens 206,794 633.657 95.571 2 200 . ..... Chins Chimpaws (Kachin Chinese ? more) . . , . ........... ....... ............ 37.407 432,639 . Natives of India Europeans (including 4000 troops) Eurasians 12,491 . 6,978 167,134 Others Total, census of 1891 7,722,053 Fiscal. In 1796 the special impost and produced the equivalent 01 33 '3 tikals of fine silver per house took three years to collect, of about nine million rupees. The purchasing-power of money has declined 50 to 60 per cent, since that time, apart from depreciation of silver. In 1900 the gross revenue of Burma was 70,400,000 rupees, of which Pegu contributed The expenditure was forty-three millions. Out of the surplus there was a 63 per cent. balance of Rs. 24,700,000 of Imperial revenue over expenditure. The incidence of direct taxation (land and capitation taxes, which produce about one-half of the revenue) is four rupees per head of population which, with an average of 5 5 inhabitants, comes to twenty-two rupees • ; per house. Criminal, Averages 1894-8. Convictions for ofl'ences against life (including attempted murder and culpable homicide, 40 per cent.) ., ,, hurt . rape . robbery theft . . . . _ 244 2,691 76 654 8,681 '' 1 ) . APPENDICES 213 Commercial. in Values of the staple items of the sea-borne trade of lakhs of rupees and from 1899, to all countries, : Imports. Apparel (including Metals haberdashery, excluding hosiery) .30' . • . . . . . . . steel 1 tin (incl. tin-plate 61 zinc Oils (kerosene) Paints and colours • & . . . Dyes 7 . ,, 50-89 17-10 Earthenware and porcelain Glass 6' 12 beads and (incl. bottles) . . . . shoes) . . Liquors . 6-92 . . .... Machinery Matches (safety only) . manufactured Spices and Betel nut .... unmanufac .... Tobacco, Sugar Tobacco, tured manufactured Jute (gunny-bags) 50-50 Leather (excl. boots and . . Provisions (see p. 131) Salt Seeds. Silk : yarn Drugs (incl. opium by the Government 14 '4, pp. 156-7) .... Paper .26" . 2'4I 32 1 16-01 8 22 - ' Treasure Umbrellas Woollen goods shawls , , Miscellaneous . 4'34 2-84 42-07 0-25 3 '24 ? . 146' thread (including hosiery ?) .... .... i 25' Cotton yarn piece goods. „ handkerchiefs „ shawls ,, iron (incl. hardware) lead .2' . Caoutchouc, raw .... copper. i Canes and rattans Clocks and watches Coal : brass . Candles Cards, playing Exports. 1-30 10 -60 54-25 1-90 3-00 98-42 12-28 20-84 14-16 39-43 48-04 31-56 .... .... Cutch Drugs Fruit and vegetables Hides, raw Horns . i6-oi . 0-73 0-59 6-is 0-35 . Ivory .... Jade Jewellery Jewels (rubies excl. postal) Lac Tin ... Oils, paraffin, other ,, Rice : in and pearls. 0-34 . 1-32 14-27 8-33 . wax . 43-24 20-94 . husk . husked, " cargo rice ,, 54-24 0-64 73-36 8-73 20-31 3-28 Sesamum seed . Spices Timber, teak other ,, . Tobacco, unmanufactured manufactured Treasure , , Miscellaneous Total Imports 26-36 22-74 7-77 3-90 Rice bran, " meal " :ii-64 . 11-37 . Cotton, raw 19-87 27-79 0-05 9-92 71-25 3-32 1-33 1-70 68-11 . 1154-95 Total Exports 1538-85 . Development of Sea-borne Trade. Years Number Tonnage 1825 of ships 1854 56 .... Value of exports, 1840 Rs. 5,400 82,000 I Coasting trade with Calcutta 300,000 I Value of imports, Rs. Years ... 86,000 . . — , APPENDICES 214 APPENDIX E. MEASURES. Time. / Obsolete lo = (karazi) fillips 6 bya^i I 60 bizana ^60 hours \ 30 days 12 months byaii 1 — — = I day = I month — I year (hnit). I bizatia. I hour [nayl). (ni). (la). Since the introduction of clocks and watches the old day of sixty nayi has become obsolete and the day of twenty-four hours universal. The days of the week are named after the sun, moon, and planets, correspondingly to our own. The month is divided into the waxing [lazdn) and the waning (labyidyaw) moon of fifteen days each, alternately with months of fifteen days waxing and fourteen days waning. Seven years in every nineteen admit an intercalar month of thirty days. In leap years the month Wdzo is repeated under the name Dutiya Wdzo. The months correspond more or less with our months, as follows : Kasdn. I. Nay6n WazO . . 30 days, April to May. 7. 29 May to June. S. 30 June to July. Tawthaliii 30 The 30 July to August. 10. Tahdd'dii August to September. Septemberto October. II. Tabduiig 29 30 12. Tagti 29 in 638 A.D. iung. 29 Thadlndyiit2Ci TazdiingmSn 30 days, October to November. November to December. 29 ,, Naddw present era commenced (thagayif) December ,, to January. January to February February to March. , ,, March , to April. Thus the year 1900 a.d. is the Burmese year 1261-62. Length. i finger-breadth thit = = I mai/i (breadth of 12 thit = I = = I ta. 4 grains of rice 8 2 twa 7 daung 500 ta 1000 ta 6400 ta . . . = = = I [lettathit). 6 grains = I thumb (inch, lemma). palm with thumb extended, 6 inches). 2 maik = I iwa (span, 9 inches). daung (cubit, 18 inches). 4 dating = I pe (foot, 12 inches, 30 '5 /itan (spear, fathom, 6 feel). ngdya-dwin (one mile, 1609 '33 metres) I I daing. yiizana (obsolete). Capacity. litres. 1 zali (sixty-fourth) 1 pint 4 zali I byt (sixteenth) 2 quarts 2 byl I zaydt (eighth) 1 2 zaydt I sdi (quarter) I gwi (half) I din (babket) 2 seit a gwi . . gallon 0-567 . 4-543 2 gallons . . . cm. 4 -, <S ,, , 36-346 APPENDICES 215 The din (basket) is the unit by which grain is sold. It used to vary locally, but is now standardised to the British imperial bushel. Liquids are sold by weight, not by capacity. A bushel of rice in the husk weighs 46 lbs. cleaned 60 ,, ,, ,, Weight. r r SPECIMENS OF BURMESE MUSIC. 2l6 No. I. Andante cantabile. (Dulcimer, etc.) p^m^m p. A. Mariano. i P^ Harp. =P=^r: ^^±i=A-fi ij ^ itU^ —— — i^P= -i I^- — =i^ r- ^$^^^- :*riz P- I F^ i Jt-wi ^ IeS^e 1^ u^=^3i :t- IP :i=t=^»t: IE :5P=?E BURMESE MUSIC 217 Voice. iP=^ h-'-h -r" w-l' =s m m i=^^ -W- 1 zM=^-^_ r^ t— \- =*^= I^SZ ^^=^= "^m — r- r-"-r 1 ^w ^^=r— =q: *-^-^--ir * — d- ^^ i: riie^i= r^ Harp. f:!]' i^= 2^: :^: t? 1^=1= rNo. 2. Andante H^^^ ^g maestoso. :P=^= :ti;t=p; :P=:^ ^: ^I ::?=: ^; 4 :^E^f r=--=x---- P2= ^^ Ip=t=t^ =^=.p^ — ^- I i^i^MI^E^iig^^^^=l3l^S^p y g 3 r :f=r|||^^ -f=^ ^Cj-^^ETf :t=t: ^r BURMA 2l8 /^ I s I 1 BURMESE MUSIC i=^(^:==^z =i 219 ^= i=it p--pi« il g rg^ :f=zrt^t4 Eg -H P^^^^^^^^^^3^^=^^^^^^^^ 1W—W=-W—W~ L- s^t^^^^ 1 1 "^^^ W: ^^ 1 -W-^W^ :p-P: ist _L^1 iit ;j»^^: :Ni- itrrp ifc=P: h~ -I q^= -p q- 1«— ^:*ii: 1 i f- I ^=F fei^f^i^ — I* —I— m t— -i slentanao. =1^ ll^^ i ^ S f^^^ :eii^ S gE^I=p ip-i^=iti ^1 ipz^pr :i»— f"-:FP" iten S :p=irp :t=t :g= -I '-I- iqi :r=p=p ii^ziz --W==-f:=i--j^-=-W- t=t=t=t 1= ::^=:i: zirri:: i h — 2 BURMA 20 -^^^^ W- ^ -^- rit. t^= zw--Y-^—W- it=:r -^ No. 3. :^= E^ --^- :t= Moderato maestoso. Aru. fe^"=f=^: 5: :y S^=E igr: -^ f=2- t=t =^t^: m =^ -h- iqi^izqrc^; =^: t:X^---^zMz *±^Z :^=^: :p=P=ff: r^-p: :P=t Symphony. a li^^ii^ip^ig^ S-:;^-*— ^ i^p^z Aria. ^^1 -P-^=t=t f:zt: :g: ^ i ^ :i=*z :^= li^E :^: :g^pz =fe=fcr: :t=:t: -I— Se ?2=f= IP=P= Symphony. P=P=P= ^^^^ No. 4. isii ^7=1=T rpr*=i: tzi=t^p: =^: :g= Aria. :ff:_^p_ #$^g= i^=p: rp=p: E& ^ —^— K-^ £ :p=]^p=_-i=:;=p=zzpi;i: ^:: i^ii; ^P=»:=:^::ipzizpri tl=t!= Symphony. N^^^g= f-fs-s*— P—mrp=^ EC^a ?^ § =:^ i^ INDEX (/« which the Glossary Abuse, 177 incorporated). is Angkor Wat, 32 Animal food, 15, Accoutrements, military, 164 Address, forms of, 74 life, Adulteration, 125 Animals, wild, 79, 92 Animation, 9, 69, 148 Advocacy, 161 Advocates, ashe-ne, 167 Age, influence of, 164 Aged, the, 65, 75, 153, 192, 193 Ague, 125 Akauttaung, 50 Animism, 128, 145, 186 Anise, sabdn-sabd, PiinpiiLella anisttm, 88 Annam, j 3 Ants, 78 Ami, Akiitho, 43 leper, 41 Anuradhapiira, 38, 159 Alatnbi Sayd, snake-charmer, 181 Anyd, 27 Aldung Payi, 172, 205 Alchemy, ekkaya-to, no Apothecary, 125 Appeals, 167, 169 Alcohol, ayet, 84, 86, 148, 156 " Alligator," see Crocodile Alluvium, 48 Aloe, mot, 63, 127 Altar, a misnomer, 19 A ppliqud-vioxV, j stud-horses, 140 Arakdn, Yakding, 3, 13, 36, Area, 212 Argus {giganteus), 93 Aristocracy, absence 1 7 , Ami, game, venison, 93 Amidyi, 193 Ananda, image of, 36 75 Arithmetic, n, 19, 41 Armenians, l6i Hmyd-zeik, Arrow-poison, Upas, Antiaris toxicaria, 152 33 Anatta, dependence, 45 Art, 28, 120, 121, 137 Artizans, 83 Ash'6, Chin, 154 A soy a, government, 166 66 Assembly of Yahdn, Thingd, Ancient remains, 31-33 Andissa, change, 45 44, of, Shan, 144 Aniwyata, King, 202 Anchor, kyauk, 135 Angalon, 181 Anger, dawtha, 98, 129, 137 Arch-building, 33 Architecture, 27-33 Alum, kyauttchin, ill Ananda PayA, 9 Aquafortis, theldwdaka Arab Amdt, noble, 144 Amayapoya, 171, 206 Amber, bay in, 10 "Ami!" 89, 91 15, 89, 91 -jt, Assassination, 193 1 Astrologer, Bedin sayd, 4 , -19, 43, 46, 184 70, 158 1 INDEX 222 Audience, hall Beittha, viss, 215 169 of, 'Ava," Inwa, 170 Bells, Awza, custard Betel, see apple, Aiiona reticulata, 87 kaung-laung, Ayie, pausseiii, 107 37, 40, 104 Kun box, kicn-it, 6;, loi Ayahdt, Ayattapd, 20, Ayetthauk, sot, 181 46, 187 Betrothal, 69 Betting, 177, 180 Ayo-6, cinerarium, ig6 Bier, funeral, 193 Badi, rosary, 43, 193 Bigandet, Bishop, 38 Bilu, ogre, 38 Binding of volume, designs Bael, see Dssfdt Bahdr {Bihdr), 14, 26, 36, Baker, G., 205 Bakers, 56, 159 BalUi, throne, 35, 37, 197 Ball-games, 9, 179 Ballet, , hiding coin giant, see rat, see , Biscuits, mon, 131 Bison, see Buffalo Bitaka, Buddhist scriptures, 21, 36 in, talk, 35 112, 149 151 Wabo Blackmail, 164 Blacksmith, /(7W, 105 Blanket, saung, 60 Blast, forge, 105 Pmi Bo Banana, see Plantain Band, musical, 176 tree, sacred, see Bawdi 86, captain, 164 Boat, hie, 133-137 Bandicoot, mus bandicoota Bangle, see Lekkauk building, 133-137 , Banking, 132, 156 Banknotes, 1 10 children's, 81, 135 (No. 24) races, hle-bwi, 178 Bombardier beetle, 79 Book-chests, 35 blocks, engraved, 121 Basket, bushel, din, 56, 215 Bath, daily, 7, 6r, 62 122-124 Bdtha, culture, cult Books, Bawa, re-birth, 43, 73Baw, pure silver, 108 Bawdi-bin, sacred Bo Bores, river, Bawdi Payd, Pagdn, 35, di, 8 Bow tree, Ficus religiosa, 35, 38, 196 33 Baye, necklace, [09 Bayindyl, 161 (and arrow), le, 57 Bowl, see Paid Boxing, leppobwe, 176 Boys, their spirit, 9 Brahman, Pon-hnd, 158 Bran, Pwe, 55 Bazdr, night, 132, see Market Brass, kyi, 104-105 Beads, badi, rosary, 43, 193 Bean, see Pease, Pe Br&dLA., Bear, IVewun, Helardos malayanus, 95 Beard, 67 Bed, 6, 30, 58 Bedin, reckoning, 102, 108 , han-pwe, 175 Bamd, "Burma," 3, 171 Bamiw, Bamo, 156 Bamboo, wd, 56, TJ, 88, , for, Birds, cage, 79 scaring, 53, 150 wild, 93, 94 38 1 1 sayd, astrologer, 41 Begging, 41 Beikku, Bikku, one dependent on alms, 20 Bein, opium, 126, 156 Beinza, opium-eater, 157 pau?ig-mdH, 56 Bribery, 167 Brick, 6t, 97 Bricklayer, 33, 97, 159 Bridge, (add, 31, 140 Brigand, damyd, 163 Brinjdl, kaydn, Solanum mclolongena, 88 British, Ingaleit, \lit, 162, 168 Broker, ji^w^i'a, 132 Bronze, 104 Brow-antlered deer, see Thaiiiin 1 INDEX Buddha, the, 35, 36, 38, 43, 46, 89, 173, 185, 186, 201 Gaya, , , — 26, 33, 38 relics of the, 19, 29, 1 89-191 story of the, 11, 34, 38 Buddhism, 2, 15, 42-46, 89, 92, 99, 166, 145, 147, 183, 186, 191, 193, Buffalo, tue, Bull-fighting, 179 races, 178 Burial, 153, 196 "Burma," Batnd, Bwi, 3, 171 159 17 Byammd, 81, 115 151, 171, 186 king's, byadaik, 169 Shazdung Cactus, see 183 of, Cauldrons, 85, 91 Causeways, 78 Caves, 39, 93, 98, 150 Celibates, other \\-\?i.\i yahdn, 39 female, 40 , Cemetery, 196 Centenarians, 192 Centipedes, kin, 96 Cereals, 51 Ceylon, Thiho, 38, 166 Chancellery, Hltittaw, 167 Chase, 91, 152 Byat, platter, 64, loi Cabinet, the Chasing, 108 Cheerfulness, 9, 69, 82, 130, CaXtnAsiT, pyekkadein, 214 Cheik, 59, 99 Calmette, 181 Cheroot, seleik, 131 Chess, sippayin, 180 Calomel, padd sd-cho, Camp, see 1 27 Sakdn Candle, paydimg-daing, 131 Cane, kyein, calamus sp., 1^1^, 115, 118 Canidas, absence of, 95 Canoe, laung, hie, 133 1 69-1 71 Capsicum, chili, ngayok-thi, 88 Caravans, 146 Caraway, sa-hmut, Caruni carvi, 88 Card-games,/^, 180 Cardamom Chevaux-de-frise, thamin-dyo, yj, 163 Chidaw-yd, 36, 190 Chiefs, Shan, 144 Children, interest taken , status in, 8, 130, 193 71 of, Chimbdimg, Hibiscus sabdariffa, 88 Chimpdw, 144, 155 dug-out, 145 Capital, 132 Burman, 148 Chetti, 132, 161 Ca.mp\ioT, paySk, 127 Capitals, 209 Cellar, ro2 Mahommedan, Bwet, marshland, 95, 5 , ransom 199, 200, Bos ami, 51, 152 Pyaiing ; taw-dydung, wild, breeding, 145 128, wild, see Bullock-caravan^ 146 , Cattle, in, 201 Butchers, Christi Catafalque, dald, 193 Catechu, see Shd , , Palma Castor-oil, see Cat, 78 footprints of the, 36, 190 , 223 [elateria) pdla, 88 Cargo-rice, 55 Carnival, 182 Carpenter, lethamd, 112, 119 Carrying trade, 132 Cart, hie, 72, 138 Chill, mosquito, 6, 79 154 China, 1,61,86, 100, 105, 107, no, 112, 119, Chin tribes, 123, 139, 141, 143, 155, 156, 158, 161, 180, 181 Chindwin River, 154 Chinlon game, 179 Chinthd, lion, figure of, 37 Chittagong, 4 Chivalry, 177 Cholera, kdla-ua, 126, 128 Chronicles, 171, 201-7 Chrys^ Chersonesiis, 171 , toy, 9 Z2>xvm%, pan-tu, 120 (Nos. 61-63, 157, 269-273) Cashew, see ThihS-thayit Cigar, see Cheroot Caste, 2, 19, 41 Castings, 104 City ramparts, Cicada, 79 Cinerarium, ayo-6, ']^ 1 96 INDEX 224 Credulity, 126 Clanon, hni, 176 Clay manufacture, 96 Creeks, tidal, 81 Climate, 79, 116 Cremation, 153, 183, 196, 199 Crews, boats', 135, 136 Criminals, 19, 167, 212 Clocks, 24, 120, 130, 213 Crockery, 65, 131 Cloth, manufacture, 59, 99 Clothing, 6, 59 Crops, dry, 40, 84 Cleanliness, 7, 20, 56, 61 Clerk, sayd, 61, 167 Crocodile, mijduHg, Crocodilus porosus, 94 Clowns, 173, 174 Cobra, mywi-haick, Naja tripudians, 181 , wet, 51, 145 Crossbow, 57, 93, 94, 152 Croton, kanaka, 127 Crow, gyigan, Corviis iiisolens, Cock-fighting, 179 Oft, Cocos mtcifera, 138 Cocoa-nut, Cocoa-nuts, slashing, on-kot, 179 splendens, Codes of law, 168 macrorhyticus, Coffin, 193 Crown, Coinage, 109, 214 Colic, wun-kait, 125 Combination, political, 124 Commandments, the five Buddhist, Cruelty to animals, Commission, Company, entertainment of, 8, 11, l6. 89 14, 77, 175, Curtain, 6, Cutch, see of, 11, Ddbyi, 13, T)-A.\axa.zx, Corvee, 144 38 60 Wd 167 observances, 169 Courtesy, 74, 76, 193 Courtship, 65, 68 Covetousness, see 144 punnyet, indwe, 134 brigand, 163 Dance, 151, 174, 175 Dangers to Burma, 141, 161, 172 Dam, Nipafruticans, 58, 84, 115 Daiinglan, byat on tripod, loi, 14-5 Dautcha yatli^, 39 Cough, chaung-so, 126 j/o//, 56, io6, 152 Ddgaba, DagSba, see Zedi Daing, league, 214 Damyd, Court, Awza Shd Dd, sabre, etc., Ddbaing, 166 Cordage, 98 Coriander, nannan, Coriandrum sativum, 88 59, 70 43 Copyist, 122 Cotton, see 48-54 terrace, 145 Custom, toman, 167 Coolies, Indian, 159 Costume, plain, Curves, 135, 138 Custard-apple, see Cooking, 64 11, 35, , Currency, 109, 214 Curry, 64 141, 172 Conventionalization, 35, 102 Conversation, 77 Cosmogony, 148 garden, 84-88 hill, , Conservatism of types, 136, 188 Contemplation, Buddhist objects Contentment, 44 89 , Cultivation, 194 26 17, 20, 19, Cuckold, 177 Cullimore, D. H., 127 Complexion, 67 Concubinage, 71 Concupiscence, 44 Condiments, 64, 91 Confession, > J royal, tarapu, 170 the, 169 Compass, mariner's, 138 Competition, unfair to Burma, \ Lawba Cradle, 6 Crawfurd, John, 206 Davids, Rhys, 43, 46 Dawfe, "Tavoy," 138 Dawtha, anger, 44, 77, 193 ZJfzy/^-ornament, 28 Dead, honour accorded to the, 194 Dealers, 124, 129-131 Death-rate, 212 Death, "unripe," sudden, 188, 194, 197 94 1 1 1 INDEX Debt, 132 225 Dysentery, thwe-pa wun-kya, 126 Decadence, 27 Decoys, 152 Ear-plug, see Nadaung Deer, 92, 149 Deformities, 138 Ears, piercing Delta, 50, 81 Earth-oil, see Demesne-lands, 50 Education, children's, 10 of, 7, 14 Earth-burial, 196 Democracy, 145, 165 Demons, 128, 148, 153, i86 general, , 1 higher, 18, 124 , Depopulation, 50, 204, 205 Deputy Commissioner, 169 Design, 102, 108, 121 Petroleum Eggs, U, 90 Egret, paddy-bird, byaing, Herodias alba, 94 Ludyi Elders, village, see Despotism, 145 , respect towards, 9, 11, 12, 75, 164, 192 Dew, 81 Dhanna, 43 Elephant, Sin, Elephas indicus, $1, 95, 117, Diarrhcea, wun-kya, 126 Emblems, Dice, tiidauiig, i8i Embroidery, Nos. 2, 9, 160, 386 Encyclopaedia, Burmese, 124 Enemies, the five, 167 151 Diet, 125 national, v, 5, 79, 100, Dilapidation of buildings, 29, 31, 39 Diluvium, 48 Din, bushel, 56, 215 English, /w^ateV, 119, 124 Engraved blocks for books, Dinga, Enlightenment, 43 coin, 109, 215 Disease, j)"zw^<z, 125 Enterprise, 169 Distinctive type, Entertainments, i Divorce, 72 creeper, Dog, , Entada Euphemism, 93 wild, Canis rutilans, 95 74, 170 Excise, 168 93, 152 Excommunication, 22 Export, 50, III, 132, 212 Drinking-water, j^, 61 E-ya-wadi, see " Irawadi Eyebrows, 15 Drought, 81, 183 Drugs, 127 Face-powder, Drum, boti, 176 Dry zone, 29, 50 Fairs, absence 131 Fairy-land, 187 Dufferin, Lady, 129 Family Duld, rheumatism, 125 Fa.n, ya/, 15, 131 Dulcimer, /fl/a/a, 176 Durian, see Diiyin Fashion, 68, 140 Female education, Duty-day, Mo-ne, 31,41, I93 Duyin, Durio sibethimis, 87 Dyeing, 15, 59 Dyi, roe-deer, Cervulus attreus, 92 Fences, 77, 145, 156 Ferry, kado, 141, 145 2 G '' ThanakM see of, Duck, see Teal Duenna, 68 (adj. kyt,gyi), great, old 194 7 Euphorbia, see Shazdung Europeans, 9, 71, 88, 141, 161, 168, 176 Evergreen forest, 115 Drama, 173 — 2 Era, 2or, 213 scandens, 9 22, 78, Dokka, trouble, 45 Dominoes, ih6mb6npe, 180 Dove, dyo, Ttirtnr sp., 79, Dragon, nagA, 38, 47 121) 8, 14, 75, jy, 165, 175, Environment, converse with, Epidemics, 127, 188 District officer, 169 D6 1 170 (p. Fallows, 50 ! life, 8, 71, 72 1 Festivals, 182 Ficus species, sacred Bo nyaung, 38, 78 which see tree, ; F. rdigiosa, INDEX 226 Fielding, H., 73, 187, 193 Filter, _)/£2//, Garrison, British, 169 Gaungbaung, head-cloth, 60 15 mode of getting, 63 Firearms, 93, 107, 164, 203 Gawdama, see Buddha Gdya in Bahdr, 33, 38 Fire-flies, Gems, Fire, 79 Fires, 29, 82 Geographical position, Fish, 64, 89, 131, 146, 150 , catching', curing, 89, Ghost, 90 6, i 188 Gilding, 98, no, 122, 189 Ginger, j'inzein, Zingiber officinale, 88 56 hmSn, 56 Flower-stand, nyamig-yeo. tase, Gibbons, 95 Flagstaffs, tagtitidaing, 37 Floods, 80, 133, 160 Floor, 10 1 the three sacred, 43 , Flour, Girdle, kabdn, 15 6, 63 (No. 157) Glass, mosaic, 107 Flowers, 66, 68, 88 ware, 24, Fodder, 52, 53 Food, 64 Goal, ra.ce, Goat, wild, 1 30 pan, 178 capricomis sumatreiisis, 93 Foot-gear, 76, 103 Footprints of the Buddha, 35 Ford, sinku Gold, shwe, 107-111 Forester, thiggaiing, 118, 119 Forests, 81, 92, 112, 114, 119 GSn-hnyiu, marbles, 9 Gong, mazing, kyizi, 40, 104, 176 Forge, 105 Good Fort, tat, 77, 164 Fortune-tellers, 41, 158 Goose, ngan, 95 Goss, L. A., 173 Foundations, charitable, 73-5 Frangipani, tarossagd, 78 Frank disposition, 69, 177 Fraser, 181 Frederick, Csesai", 61, 209 and silver workers, 107 beaters, 1 10 breeding, 12 Gothic, affinities to, 27 Gourd, Bii, Lageiiaria vulgaris, 88 Government, asdya, 165-170 Governor, Wun, 164 Goyin, monastic probationer, 17 unknown, Fre.ebooters, 163 French, " PyintMt^^ 205, 207 Grafting, Fruit, 78, 86 Fuel, 63 Grass-land, 51 Greetings, 75 Funeral, mathd, 146, 153, 180, 193-199 Furniture, 23 Gregarious trees, 1 14 Ground-nut, see Myebe Further India, Guava, see Malagd 2 Grain, storage Guests, 8, 14, 77, 175, Gun, ihendt, Gaddw-ne, 169 Gyt, see 88 87, of, 54, 13, 93, 57 199 144 Dyt Gaing, congregation oiyahdn, 25 Gallantry, 73 Gambling, 145, Game, ame, 92 Games, , adults', 177, 181, 199 1 79-1 81 1., 204 Half-breeds, 157, i6i children's, 8, 11, 19, 152 Gangaw, Mesuaferrea, Hail, 80 Haindyi, "Negrais" Hair, 8, 17, 66 78, 115 Ganja, sejaiik Gardenia, 78 Gardening, 78, 88, 145, 156 Garlic, ^^//;;/«, Allium sativum, Hamadryad, ngan, Ophiophagus Han-pwe, 175 Vidxe, ydn, Lepus peguensis, 93 Harness, ponies', 140 Harp, saiing, 176 Harrow, ton, 51 claps, 96, iS INDEX Harvest, 53, 150 Imports, 58,99, 103, 105, 130, 139, 152, 161, 212 labour, 54, 159 Hawkers, 129, 130 Hazard, 181 Head, shaving of, 8, Head-gear, 60 Headman, ludyi, In, Dipterocarpiis turbinattts, 58, 114 In^jMl, 49, 89, go Incomes, 71 17 Incongruities, 199 Indaing, In 1 14 7, India, 32, 33, 71, 97, 148 107, 114, 159-161 Indo-China, 3 Indyin, Pentacme Siamensis, YatM Hides and horns, 156 Hierarchy, absence of, forest, Independence, early, i6-(. Heart-burn, _)//;«^(f /-««, 125 Hell, ngaye, 45 (No. 276) Hereditary office, 75, 166 Hermit, see 227 1 131, 141, 14 Infancy, 6 20, Influence, 164 24 Hill-forest soil, 113 Inoculation, kyaiittd, 126 people, 107 Hilsa, ngathalditk, Clupea palasah, 90 Insanity, 129 Himalayas, Himawunta-ta-w, Hindu types of work, 32, 33 Hintha, 37 Insects, 79 Insignia, royal, malika-tazA, 170 80, 187 Inscriptions, 31, 121 Instruments, musical, 176 History, 3-5, 143, 171, 201-207 Hlutta-w, Chancellery, 167 Insurance, 156 Hmyoti, 89 Investments, 132 Inwa, " Ava" Irawadi, E-ya-wadi, Sesamum Hnaii, til-seed, 121, iiidicitm, 51, 64, 83, 149 Hne, clarion, 176 Hngeinmana, 30, 57 Interest on money, 132 3, 27, 8o, 87, 118, 136 Iron, than (cast, thwin-than), 103-105, 139 Iron-wood, see Pyinkado Hnt, bamboo withs, 56 Irrigation, 49, 145 Home Isolation of industries, 83 Burma, i, 172 20 Honey, /ja-^«, 150 Ivor)', Hornbill, aukchin, Hoinraius bicceros, 94 Horoscope, 41, 158 Jack, see Pein-lme, " Jack Burraan," 147 Horse, see Pony Hospitality, 8, 14, 65, T], 132, 140, 175, [94 Hospitals, 129, 169 1 Jackal, kwe-a, 95 Jacket, iiiji, 60, 144 Jade, 1 10, 213 House-building, 56 House-posts, 57 Japan, 124 Jardine, John, 203 Humour, Jealousy, 72, 177 174, 175 Jews, 161 Judicial procedure, 167 Hunter, 92, 152 Hunter, W., 206 Huxley, T., 46 Ideal, and the real, Juggler, 181 70 Ignorance, mawha, 44 Iguana, see Put Illuminations, 185 Images, 30, 34, 63, 98, 120, 127 signification of, 35, 42 , Imitation-goods, loi Immigrants, 54, 61, 141, 159 Implements, see Tools Jungle, 51, 92 Jungle-fowl, see Taw-dyet Kachin, see Chimpaw Kadat-ngdn, Cananga odonita, 67 Kaddung-chaik, 13, 60, 144 Ka-hnwe, 53, 91 Kaing, sacckaru?u spontaneum, 49, Kald, native of India, 161 Kdta, period, 68 82, 116 51 INDEX 228 Kalagd, cloth screen, Kdla-na, cholera, 126, 128 Kyeisson, rice-mill, 55 KamAbi dog, 93 Kamduk, 144 Kambawd, breviary of scripture, Kyeppaung, Chavanessia i Kyemmauk, Nephelium hypoleuca, 88 esculenta, 88 Kyettaung, 133 21, 22, 108, 121 Kati, 44 Kanasd, Baccaurea sapida, 86 Ka-nyin, Dipterocarpus alatus and Kytwaing, 176 Kytzi, triangular gong, 40, 104 Kyi'cn, see lyicn Icevis, 115, Labour, 129 hired, 54, 159 Karens, 117, 147 red, Karennt, 153 Lac, cheik, 146 Lacquer-ware, loi, 121 Karma, Ladd, vulture, Pseudogryps bengalensis, 94 KatHn KatM, Lamps, 24, 130 LanvA, Sonneratia acida, 1 1 Landing-stage, tadd. No. 5 Language, structure of, 11, .140, 208 , 44, 187 thingdn, 23, 185 see Manipiir Kattu, junk, 138 Kaung-hmu, Parashorea Kazin, 49 Keinnayd, syren, stellata, 115, 138 Laterite, 37, 194 Kerosene, yendnsi, 130 Kin, scorpion, centipede, 96 King, titles and state of, 165, i66, 170 Kingfisher, peimiyin, Alcedo sp., 94 Kites, boy's, 9 Knife, dd, 106 Kothena yon, 14 , Lawd, 103 Lawba, covetousness, 191 Krait, absence of the, 96 A'?/«, betel nut, leaf, , 1 Lathe, 96, 102, 120 Laung, canoe, 133 Laung-go, cargo-boat, 134 Latmg-zdt, cargo-boat, 136 Law, the Buddhist, Dharma, 43 state, Tayd, 167, 168 areca catechu, 65, 77 chavica betle, 86, 1 50 Leimmaw, Knn-it, betel-box, 65, loi Kurz, S., 116 Kiitho, religious merit, 24, 43, 82, 200 see Orange Leisure, 19, 77 Kwet, 215 Lekkauk, bangle, 108 49, 82, 84, 85, 88, 89, 114, 115 Lepers, 41, 130 Kyaittiyo PayH, 190 Kyan, sugar-cane, Saccharum offlcinariim, 49, Leppan, silk-cotton tree, Bombax malabaricum^ 49, 114 (No. 170) Leppet, tea. Camellia thea, 65, 70, 72 Life, 85 Kyama, , Kyat, Lent, 20, 41, 184 Leopard, see Panther Kyd, see Tiger Kyaikamt, Amherst Kyaington Shan, 146 Kyannding, 57, 64 , tikal, of, 192 the five stages of, 200 11 Lightning, 80 Lime, limestone, ton, 97 Limes, thambayd. Citrus medica, 86 214 Linguist, the school, monastery, 10,24 Kyaungama, foundress duration Light of Asia, oath-book, 167 sacred work, 36 Kyauk, stone, rock, 135 Kyauk-na, small-pox, 126 Kyaung, abode of yahdn, 1 1 Lein-byan, 19 Leippya, 7T, 197 Kiithodaw, 122 Kwin, 44, Lead, ke, 107 Learning, 20, 23 Leather, 103 of a school, 73, 197 Kyaiingtagd, founder of a school, 22, 74, 75, 197 Lion, figure Burman a poor, 124, 140 of, chiiithd, 37 Liquor, 84, 86, 148, 151, 156 Literature, 36, 124 Living, cost of, 71 5 INDEX 229 Locks, 103, 107 LSndyi, 60 .Uatho thingdn, 185 Loom, 59 Mawha, Love, 69, 174 Mawlamyaing, " Maulmain, Moulmein Maydn, Bouea oppositifolia, 86 Mats,/_y(z, 58 Paniciim paspalum, 51, 64 Lu, man Ludyi, village elder, 70, 72, 164, 200 Lit, millet, May In crop, 53 Meals, 64, 150 Measles, welthel, 126 Measures, 213 Lunswe, tug-of-war, 184 Luntayd, 59, 99 Lutwet, 17, 47 Luxury, 139 Lying-in, 6 Lying-in-state, 197 Madamd, Dalbergia gtaiica, D. ovata, 90 Madyt, tamarind, Tamaritidus iiidica, 78, Magistrates, 168, 169 MahAbodi, 38 86 j Meat, ametha, 64, 89 Mechanical construction, 120 Medicine, 125 Melon, water, paye, Citrullus vulgaris, 87 Mendicancy, its rarity, 41 Merchandize, 131, 137, 146 Mercury, /rtrf(?, 107, 197 Merit, see Kutho ; vicarious, unknown to Buddhism, 42, 128 Merrifield, 1 171 Maintha, 158 Maize, see Pyaitng-bu Malaga, guava, Psidiuiii guava, 86 J., 50 Metallurgy, 103, 145 Metals and metal goods, 103 Metaphysics, 46 Malaria, 125 Methild, female celibates, 40, 184 Mezali, Cassia florida, 78 Malay, Bashu, 161 MaltkatazA, 170 Ml, see Fire Mtdaing, torch, 129 Man, " Maze, wingaba, 185 Lugald, lad MahA-myammuiii, 89 MahA-yazawin, history, ignorance, 44 Midwifery, 129 lu Mandalay, 107, 171, 207 Mandat, pavilion, 21, 174, 194 Mango, see Thayet Mangosteen, see Mingut Mangrove, byu, Rhisophora sp., Manipur, 4, 99, 158, 205-207 Manners and customs, 65-75 Mtjaung, see Crocodile Military service, 164 Milk, condensed, 131 Millet, see 1 1 Lu Mills, 83, 161 Mimbu, 163, 190 Mill, prince, ruler, 166 Marbles, 9 Mina, thalika, Acridotheres eulabes, 79 Mind, elasticity of, 192 Mindon Min, King, 100, I2I, 171, 207 Mingala, festivity, 70 Mingalathot, 11 Mingiin Paya, 38 Mingiit, mangosteen, Garcinia inangostana, 87 Marco Polo, 202 Mariano, P. A., 175, 210 Minlan, 139 , children's, 10 Majiii, laws of, 167 Manure, 50 Manuscripts, 122, 124 Marabout, Leptoptilos giganteus, 94 Marble, 34 Minister of State, 164, 167 Min-Magayi Nat, Marionettes, 175 Markets, 131 Marriage, 69, 145, 152 Marrow, /(zyow, Benicosa Masks, 174 Masonry, 96 cerifera, 87 188 Misery, 45 Mission, American, 124, 207 Momaka, Salix tetrasperma, iij Monastery, see Kyaung Moneylender, 132 1 1 INDEX 2 30 Mongolian characters, Monk, see Yahdti Monkey, my auk, 79, Monogamy, 71 i, Neighbourliness, 77 143 Neippan, Nirvdna, 44 Nets, 90, 92 New-year, 183 95 Nga-cMn, Monsoons, 80, 81 Months, 79, 213 Ngapi, Ngaye, Mortahty, 125, 193, 211 (No. 276) hell, 45 Ngebyti, 20 infant, 8 , 91 64, 91, 92, 131, 137, 146, 150 Ngwe, Mosaic, glass, 103 Mosquito, see Chhi Mottama, " Martaban," 202 Mountains, tainig, 116 Mourning, 194., 195 see Silver, Money Nicobar Is., Un-dyun, 86, 138 Ntdanng, dice, 181 Nim, damd, Millcttia sp., 128 Nirvdna, 44, 187 Mti, 215 Nitre, jaw^/Zw, 127 Mudlarks, 7 Mulberry, /o^fl, Morus indica, 99, 116 Mun (Talking, Peguan), 3, 4, 67, J38, ^M^ 155, 163, 172, 195, 202-207 Mund Shan, 143 Nobosdt, 192 Noise, incessant, 79 Norway, wood churches 142, Notation, , 27 of, 1 musical, 175 no Mural decoration, ancient, 33 Notes, bank, Musaceas, 115 Music, Burman, 174, 175, 196, 210, 211 Kardn, 153 Novices, monastic, 15--17 Nutmeg, sadeippo, Myristica loiigifolia, 88 Musulmans, 159 Nyauiig-yeozin, flower-stand, Nyaungd6n, " Yandoon , Myammd, Myimmakd, 8t Myiimno Daung, 38, 198 stricta, township magistrate, 168 see E., 94 Oath, form of, "ji Oil, 144, 165, 166 17, 192 Occultism, 39, ni, 181 Offerings, 15, 25, 42, 183-185, 188, 193, 19S Officials, 71, 78, 100, 165-167 cooking, 64 mill, 83 in Old age, 192 Snake On, cocoa-nut, Cocos nucifera, Omon, gyethun-ni, Allium Na, illness, Nabauk 63 167 Obeisance, shikd, Myoza, governor, Mysticism, 39, Oates, liypogtea, 87 Myin-wd, thorny bamboo, Bambusa Myo, city, 77 Mywe, 6, lyi Myebe, ground-nut, Arachis Myeik, Beik, " Mergui " My00k, " pain 86 Onkdt, 179 miiigala, ear-boring, Naddimg, Nagdt, Nagd, Aragon, 38, 78, cepa, 88 7, 14 Opium, bein, 14, 127, 156, 157, 181 Naivety in art, 12 I^akkadaw, Natvvife, 127 Opium-eater, beinza, 157, 181 Orange, leimmaw. Citrus aurantiitni, 68, 87, Orchids, thikkwabdn, 88 Ornamentation, architectural, 28 Names, 7, 17, 71, 74 Nanatthi, pine-apple, Ananassa saliva, 87 Narapati Sitthu, King, 33, 202 Ornaments, 108 Orphans, 73 Osshit, bael, ALgle Nat, 38, OJ, 23 Ot-deitha, 36 , ear-plug, 109 197, 202 (No. 47) 57, 150, 153, 170, 185, 186, 188 shrine, Kardn, 151 Navigation, 138 Necklace, see Baye Needles, 8, 15, 61, 131 niarniclos, 86 Ottara, 191, 201 Otter, pyan, Lutra nair, 79 Over-building of shrines, 31 1 50 1 5 1 INDEX Ox, wild, see Saing Oxen, nwa. Bos indicns, Pabva shrine, Paiidtik, 51, 138, 178 Peacock, daung, Pavo muticus, 79, 93 Pease, Pi, Pisum sativum, dolichos lablab, -myit, Psophocarpns tetragonolobus, -limmywe, Trichosanthus anguinea — — 75 Pterocarpus indiais, 1 , , -nyaung-ni, Caiiavallia gladiata, , -paziin, Cyanopsis psoralioides, — — 01, 170, 171 Paid, bowl, 108 , — 78, 114, 138, 139 Paddy, 54 Pagdn, ancient remains of, 3,32,33, " Pagoda," see Dagdba Pain, na Paket, cane cradle, 6 Pdla, see 231 -yindyan, Cajaims indicus, 51, 88 , Peg-top, 9 Pegu, depopulation , of, wealth of, 49, Peguan, see Mun , Cardamom Palace, 103, 169 50 poniei, 139 71, 75, 77, 141, 160 Peingdiv, 137 Pali, 18, 35, 121, 122, 208 Peiii-hne, jack, Palm-leaf MSS., 12: Palm-wine, 84 Paltna Chrisii, castor-oil plant, 78, 127 Pandanus, 129 (No. 207) Pangd, Terminalia tomentella, 84, 139 Pan-hlaing creek, i6o Pantaloons, 144, 154 Panthay, 158 Panther, kyathit,felispardHS, 94 Papaya, Carica papaya, thimbdwtht, 87 Paper, sekkii, too, 122 Parabiik, 124 Pelican, Artocarpus wumbo, integrifolia, 78, 86 Pelicajtus philippensis, 94 Penance, 17 Pepper, hngaydkkaiing. Piper nigrum, 88 Perfumes, 67 Persian wheel, 53 Pet animals, 79 VtXroleum., yendn, 120, 122, 130, 137 Phayre, Sir Arthur, 169, 201, 207 Pheasant, see Yii Phonetic speUing, 11 Phonograph, 175 Photography, 121 Paramdt, 43 Pickles, 64, 91 Parawun, 26 Picturesqueness of Burma, 3 Pareik, 1 Pardikaya, 13, 15, 130, 137, 156 Parents, 11, 192 Pari-iiirvdna, 46, 191 Partridge, ka, Francolinns sinensis, 93 Party feeling, 178, 184 Pasit, 181 Pig, 149 tawwet, sus cristatns, 93 , wild, Pigeon, imperial, Carpophaga ceiiea, 9 Pile-building, 27 Pilgrimages, 30, 188, 193 Pine, see Tinyii Pine-apple, see Nanattld Pas6, 59, 100 Pasture, 51, 82 Pinld kanazS, Heriteria Patala, dulcimer, 176 Path^in, " Bassem " Pathos, 174, 211 Pauk, Butea superba, 114 Plainlands, 48 Planks, III, 119 Paung, Platter, see Byat Play-acting, /w, PayA, 3, littoralis, 1 1 Pipe, sedan, 131 4 29, 74, 167 Plantain, hngeppydw-thi, Musaparadisiaca, 87 Plaster, ingadd, 97, 98 173 Payadyiin, temple slave, 40 PlayJ characters in, Payd-mye, 77, 196 Payd-sun-kan, 42 Play, children's, 8-u, Plough, te, timbraailifera, 84, 122 173 Sarcogramma Plutocracy, absence Pi, playing-cards, 180 Poetry, pi, weight, 215 '^o\\<::&, 2, 19 52 Plover, tititu, Pdzi, 153 Pe palm, Corypha ;. of, 71 37, 69, 73, 173 yazawAt, 168 atrochinalis, 94 1 5 1 INDEX 232 Poling boats, 135 Political combination, 124 Pyaungbii, maize, Zea mays, 49, 88 Polygamy, 71 PSndyt, incumbent oi kyaiing, Pye, " Prome," 171 Pyaung-gauk, Andropogon sorghum, 10, 24. race, 64 reginae, 115 Pyinkado, ironwood, Xylia dolabriformis, 57, Pondyi-byan, 197 Pony, myin, 139, 145 Pony Pyimma, Lagerstroemia flos 51, 114, 139 Pyre, funeral, 196 Python, Sabaji, Python reticulatus, 96, 194 myinbwe, 177 Popular feeling, 165 worship, 42 Population, 50, 138, 145, 160, 204, 212 Porcine deer, daye, CerV7U pofcinus, 92 Quarries, Porcupine, pyu, Hystrix bengalensis, 79 Qwnme, pya-pyassd, 97, 98 Queen, Mibayd, 170 adulteration of, 125 Posts, house, 57 Pot-gardening, 78 Races, Potato, myauk-u, Solaniim tiiberoswn, 88 Racing, 177 Rafts, 118 Pdthudaw, 40, 184 alien, 142 80 Pottery, 96 Rainfall, 49, Poultry, 150 Rains, action on Prawn, /a^2/«, 64 Prayer, 42 Presents, 68, 76, 167 Rakding, Yakding, see Arakdn Ramparts, 77 Rangoon, Yangon, 171, 189 Prices, rise Rangoon of, 49, Jl Priest, Buddhist, a misnomer, 19 Ransom soil, 113 oil, 129 procession, 183 166 Prince, 167, 173 Rapacity, Print, 122, 124 Prostitution, 71 Raspberry, 116 Rat, /«//, Mus decumana, 79, Rattan, see Cane Razor, thiiidoii-dd, 1 Reading, 1 Realism, 34 Reaping, 53 Public works, 28, 140 Puerperium, 129 Re-birth, 43, 73 Recluse, see Yahdn Pulse, see Pease Recreation, 19 Pumelo, see Tjiegaw Pumpkin, Shwe-paydn, Curcubita moschata, 88 Refreshment, 131, 132 Punctilio, 74 Re-incarnation, 43, 73 Relics, sacred, 19, 29, 188 Prisoners, 167 Proletariate, absence of, 7 Prome, Pye, 87, 163 Property, security of, 169 Prosperity, general, 49, 71, 75, 77, 141, 160 Punishment, 9, 19, 167 Punnyet, dammar, 134 Ptmzo, r5o Put, iguana, 96 official, 1 49 Regimen, 125 Religion, thdthand, bdthd, 2, 15, 42-46, 89, 92, 99, III, 128, 145, 166, 179, 183, 186, 191, 193, 199, 200 Puzzles, arithmetical, 19 Remains, ancient, 31-33 Pwi, bamboo-rat, Rhizoinys suma/rensis, 95 Pwe, play, drama, festivity, 172, 198 Pweza, broker, 132 Jiemedies, superstitious and other, 127 Pya, mat, 58 Pydna, ague, Repotissd, 108 fever, 125 Pya-pyassd, quinine, 125 Pyatthat, graduated spire, 22, 28, 144, 169, 193 Pyamig, wild buffalo, Cavmis gaums, 93 Rendezvous, 59 Repartee, 73 Resourcefulness, 160 Revenue, state, 166, 168, 212 Rheumatism, dula, 125 Rhinoceros, kyan {R. sondaicus), 95 INDEX Rice, sabA, sau, Oryza saliva, 53, 54 233 Sangermano, F., 9, 36 Sanskrit, " Thinthakay^it^' 158, 208 , cleaning, 55, 83 , coolcing, 64 Santonin, adulteration export, 49, 212 land, 48 Sa-nwiii, turmeric. , , Riverbank cultivation, vagaries , of, mayin, 53 80 49, 160 soap, 61 Sardines, ngd-ditta, 131 Satthapt'i, Saungbdn, wood Saw, hlwa, wi, 171 ng Sawke, Kardn headman, 148 78, 88 Saw-mills, 161 Rowing, 135 Sayd, teacher Royalty, 74, 172 Ruby, kyauk-ni, no Saye, clerk, 167 Scholarship, 23 Ruins of Pagdn, 3, 31-33 Saba, rice in husk, paddy, 54 Sabaji, grain-bin, 54 see Python SchooUng, (title), 12, 74, 125 9, 12, 18 Scorpion, kin, 96 Screw-pine, see Satthapii Scriptures, 21, 36 Seasons of the year, 79 Sejaick, ganja , rfi?, 106 Saccharum, see Kaing Sekkubin, Broussonettia papyri/era, Saddik, book-chest, 36 Self-control, Saddw, 23 reliance, 42 Safety, public, 164 Sent, 13, 144 Sagd, language Sagd, Michelia champaca, 78 pwegaing, 127 Sennaya, 78 Serfdom, Shan, 144 Sagging, 34, 98, 170, 171 Sails, 135, 136 Saing, vifild-ox, Gavceus sondaicus, 93 Saingdi, music band, 176 Sakdn, camping-ground, 86 S>i:XiTi-3L, Sericulture, 99 Service, military, 164 Sesamum, see Hnan Sethania, nhysician, apothecary, 125 Sdl, i)horea robusta, 114 Salammoniac, sawettha, I2j Sewing, 61 machine, 6l, 120 Sale-booths, Slid, 9, 131 Salt, sd, 64, 91, 131, 146, 150 cutch, Acacia catechu, 65, 114, 138, 4, 85, 105, 107, 123, 133, '37, 14°, 142- 155 Saltpetre, ^-aw^-^/w, 93 Shampooing, a-hneik, Salutations, 75 Shan, Salwe, 75 lit) 147, 154, 172, 181, 212 Than-lwin, Samanera, 17 Sdmbar, sat, Cervus San, cleaned rice, 56 Sandalwood, 120 Sandstone, 98, 1 14 2 1 44 criticism, 161 25 Saddle, kon-hiii, 140 Salvireen, odoratis- cradle, 6 Savanna Bhumi, 37, 69, 173 Rosary, 43 Rose, hninzi, Rosa ccntifolia, Pandanus screw-pine, simus, 78 Saung, harp, 176 15 Rope, kyo, 98 Sabre,, longa, 64 no Sapphire, uila, Sappy a, Rockets, 198 Roe, dyt, Cervulus aureus, 92 Romance, 125 Sanyu^, 81 'R\\&ts,yc-ckaiiiiv^, myit, Roads, Ian, 139 Robes, monastic, of, Curcuma H 80, 81, 118, 145 Aristotelii, 92 Shan-Chinese, 146 ~, Kyaingt&n, 146 , Uzimbok, 146 Shark, ngamdn, Carcharias gangeticus, 90 Shaving, 8, 17 Shaw, Sierculia sp., 99 INDEX 234 ShazAiing, Euphorbia nerifolia, nivulia, , 11 Soil, 97, 113, 114, 115 ^pyatthat, E. antiquorwn, Shikdr, ami laik, Sojourner recluse, see Upazln 93 Shiko, obeisance, Soap, sappy a, 61, 131 Social life^ see Entertainment 17, Soldiery, 163, 164 192 158 Shin-Bayin, King, 170 Soothsayer, Shingles, roofing, 58 Soul of a People, 73, 187, 193 Spearmkn, H. R., 301 Shinlanng, 14, 130, 175, 185 Shipbuilding, 112 7, 41, Spectacles, 131 Shoes, see Foot-gear Spelling, 10 Showmen, Spencer, Herbert, 28, 148, 176 l8l Shrines, 29, 188-191 Sliwe, see Gold Spice, 65, 88, 127 Shwebo, 171 Spirits, 156 Shwe Dagdn Payd, Slvwedi {shwe-ti), Shwe-hmawdaw Spindle, Spinning, Squirrel, sliin, 96, 152 umbrella, 15 Payd, 189 gilt Statistics, i\i-2\'i Shwe-pe-hlwaza, 127 Shwezawd, Stature, 67 Steamers, 121 Shwe-zetiaw, sacred footprint, Shwe-ZtgSu Payd, 203 Siam, Yodayd, 4, 95, 143 SibSn, queen's crown, 14, 170 36, 170, 190 of, 128 Siddartha, " Theiddat," see river, 137, No. 179 Steatite, 10, 124 thau-mani, 105 Steel, C, Stevenson, R. 187 Stilson's arithmetic, 12 Sick, care Silk, ^0, 60, gS Silk-cotton, see Tuegau Spittoon, see 38, 147, 188 5.8 Stockade, Buddha tat, 77, 163 Stone, 34, 96 precious, kyank-mydt, , Leppan Sin, 44 Straw, 53 Streets, 78 Stucco, 98 Shi, see Elephant Stup a, see Zcdi Silver, ngwe, 107, 108 Sinbyii, white elephant, 170 Suckling, promiscuous, 8 Sinbyn Shin, Lord of the White Elephant, Suffering, 44 30, 33 , Singing, 174, 211 Sinhalese, 138 Suicide, 212 SinyStha, poor man, 166 Sulphur, kan, 93, 127 Sun, food charitably given, Suitors at law, 167 Sippayin, chess, 180, 194 game, 9 Sittaung or Paimglaung laung, Sitoppyit, Sittwe, 10 Sugar, cane, kyantagd, 85 palm, tannyet, 84 170, 205 Sindu, Image, 1 R., 118 Akyab Superstition, 1 18, 22, 41 84 41, 57, 126, 127, Slate, thimbon, 11 Slavery, 144 Slaves, temple, 40 Swabwa, Shan Sleep, 20, 77 Small-pox, kyauk-na, 126, 143 Snake-charmer, Alambi-sayfi, 181, 182 Snakes, myw^, 96 Sweetmeats, 7, 56, 85 Sweet potato, Kasun-A, Batatas Snares for game, 93, 152 Snipe, zinyaw, Gallinago 148, 184 Surgery, 128 chief, 144 Swaddling-clothes, 6 sp., 94 Swimming, 178 Sword, dd, 106 Symes, Michael, 206 " Syriam," Thallyin, 204 cdiilis, 88 182 5 1 INDEX TAmjtrcs, parabdik, 124 Thabdw, 58 Tag-d, religious founder, 32. 74, 75 Tagiung, 171 TliabHt, alms-bovvl, 15, 30 Tagiindamg, temple Thaddawd, Ta-hnA, trishna, Tai, 143 Talking, see hmaiik, 22, 30, 33 flag-staff, thirst, 37 concupiscence, 44 rational beings, 187 Thadin, Sabbath, 41 Ihadmdyut, festival of, 178, 184 Thadyd {min), transfigured being, Mun Tamarind, see Mady'i Tainein, 60 Tainiii, cooked rice, 64 Thadyd Payd, Thaton, Thadyt {Thaji), 31 166, 168 Tail palm, Borassiis flabelliformis, 84 Timitithdyi, " Tenaserim," 50 Tliagayit, era, 213 Tanks, 63 Tkallyin, " Syriam," 204 Tape-worm remedy, tossi, 127 Thakiii, master, 75 Thamding, 121 Cervus Eldi, brow-antlered deer, 92 Tapir, tarashii, Tapinis malayamts, 95 Tari, 84 Thatniii, Tarossagd, Frangipani, 78 Thandkkd, Murraya Tasi, ghost, 188 Tat, fort, stockade, 77, 169 13, 143, 147, 154 Taukte, Gecko guitatus, 79 Taung-ngu, 4, 88 Taung Pein-hne, Artocarpus chaplasha, 115 Taungthu, 155 Taung-u, 34, 98 Taung-ya, 48, 99, 105, 113, 145, 147, 149 Tawdyaung, Thayetmyo Taw-dyet, jungle fowl, Galliis ferrugineiis, 93 festival, 31, 189 festival, 185 Te, Diospyros burmannica, 100 Thandawzln, 170 Thandwe, " Sandoway " Thatilwin, " Salween " Thappyiimyu Payd, 33 Thatch, 58 ThathamMa, 166 Thdthaiia, religion Thathanabaing, 25 Thaton, 31, 50j '55 Thawtapan, 20 Thein, 18, 21 Thein-thamot, 21 Tea, see Leppdt Thekke,\h-AXi:.\\Ya%-%x?&'i,Imperata cylindrica, 58 , (kyihi),Tectonagratidis,\\\, 116, 139 export, 212 , habitat Tea.k,i!yiift 113 Thenabbyi, 13, 144 Thiho-thayet, cashew, AnacardUim Teal, sissali, 94 Thikkd, Pentace Burmanica, Tliikkado, Ced?'ela Temperature, 80 Temple approaches, stall-keepers Thila, at, 130 building, 4, 31 1 16, 20 kan, 42 1 Maranta dichotoma, Thindaing, 152, 155, smock Thin, thimbyu, , Termites, cha, 78 Terracing of slopes, 49, 145 1 Toona Commandments, Thimble, 61 Thimbon, slate, 29 Pagdn, 31-33 slaves, 40 Tenaserim, Taninthdyi, once a Teredo navalis, 137 occidentale, 86,87 Teeth, 66 hill, powder, 78, 86 Thayo, coloured mirror-glass mosaic, 103, 197 Thebonzedi, 127, 128 Tazdimg-7nd}i of, paiiicelata, face Thdyawadi, " Thurrawaddy " Thaydt, mango, Mangifera iiidica, 186 Taxes, akmi, akdiik, 166 Tayd-haw, preaching, 42 Tazdung, Thami-ti, 14 65, 146 Tattooing, togwin, Tawthalin 37, 127, 151, 183, 186 port, 50 Thirigd, assembly oiyahdn, 38 184 16, 19, 46, Thiiigdn, monastic yellow robe, 15 , Hopea odorata, 115, 133, 135 Thissi, Melanprrhcea iisitatissima, 98, 101-103 8 1 4 1 5 INDEX 236 Thiyya, Shorea obtjisa, 1 Trapp 1 ThombSii pe, dominoes, 180 Threshing, 54, 118, 245, 330 Throne [yazd)baUn, 34, 103, 169 Thunderstorms, 80 Thwethduttyt, 166 Tt, canopy, umbrella, 30, roo, 107 — — 1 , lottery, 181 , byii, 144, 170, 189, bore, di, 81 Hnan Ubot-ne, duty-day, 41 1 1 rafting, work, 1 1 n6 Time, measures of, Tin, khnapyu, 103 64, 65, 68, 213 of, 38 Upazin, sojourner vahdn, thambyu-sayd, 107 Pinus khasya, 116 Aicoiiana tabaaim, 7, 23, 65, 131, lo, 2 Utensils, loi, 105 UzimbSk, 146 146 Toddy-palm, see I an logwiti, see Tattooing Toilet, 60, 65 Tola, 215 Tomato, kaydn-chin, Lycopersicum. cscnlenhim, 88 Tombs, 196 '1671, 10, 21 Upheaval, 50 Upyize, incumbent of kyaung, Titles, se, Umbrella, see Tt, tiby^ Unfrocking, 18 Uniform, 164 Universe, centre Tiny-Ci, pine, 74 Tobacco, Tricycle, boy's, 9 Tripitaka, 18, 36, 121, 122 Turtle, leik, 91 Type, printing, 124 Tikal, 214 smitli, 1 Turnery, 10 1, 120 Tiger, kyd, Felis tigris, 94 Tika, 34 Timber, 1 Trishna, see Ta-hnA TiUgan, spittoon, 65, 77 Tuegaw, pumelo, Citriis decumana, 86 Tug-of-war, hm-swe, 184 Turmeric, sanwin, 122, 128 197 Tibet, 3, 43, 154 Tidal area, 78, 81 Til-seed, see soil, Traps, 92, 152 Travel, 140 Trees, ornamental, 78 , timber, 114 harrow, 51 lime, 65, 97 T6nzan, custom, 167 , Tools, 10,51,56,57, 103, 105, 107, iir, 119, 121, 133 Tooth-relic, sacred, 30 Top, 9 Torch, mUaing, 129 Tossi, tape- worm remedy, 127 Toy-sellers, 130 Toys, children's, 8-1 Trade, 73, 77, 129, 159, 161, 212 , children's, 10 , wholesale, 132 Vaccination, nwa-kyantto, Vegetables, 78, 88, 150 Vendetta, unknown, 177 Veneration, gesture of, 192 Venereal, lubyo-na, 126 Venison, ametha, 93 Vermin, 79 Versatility, 160 Vigil, 21, 186 Village sites, "]"] system, 165 Vinaya, see Whii Virtue, 44 Visitors, 77 Viss, 215 Vitriol, blue, d$t(a, 127 Vivacity, 9, 69, 148 Voice, modulation of the, 174, 210 Vulture, see Ladd Traffic, 81 IVa, stout, 208 Transliteration, 208 JVd, cotton, Transmigration, 43, 73 126, 127 Varnish, loi , Gossypimn herbaceiifn, Lenten season, 20 51, 58, 128 INDEX WA, bamboo, Bambusa sp., 56, 1 14, 149 Wab6, Bambusa gigantea, 56 Wagdt, 58 Wages, 54, 119, 129, 135 Walnut, t/iifcha, Juglans regia, 87 Wars, chronic, i, 162, 171 Washing, 61, 159 Waste-land, Watches, 213 Yanbyd, " Ramree Vani^dn, Weights, 171, 188 Yazamd, 184 144, 150 49, 71, 75, 77, 141, 160 West, influence of the, 35, 124 173, 185, 186 Wheat, 7'o«-^(ZiJa, 53, 56 Wheels, 138 sinbyu, 170 Wicker, loi Willow, 115 Wingabd, maze, 185 Wini, Vinaya Bitaka, 21 Women, status of, 18, Woodwork, in, Yesekku, 100, 123 Yethein, 22 Yezetcha, 22, 196 214 petroleum, 129 water, ye-dwin, 62 oil, White elephant, Yeinpwe, 175 Yend?i, see Petroleum Yendndyaung, 129 59, 99, 152 WHhandaya, 88 Yaw 93, 106, 107, 152, 164, 203 T], sp., " "Rangoon," Yazadiylt, king, 42, 203 Weapons, Weaving, " monk," Yamane, Gmelina arborea, 120 supply, daily, 61 183 transport, 132 , Yam, myauk-A, Dioscorea subsoil, 62, 81 , stand, 3i> 63 V^ zx, pay dung, 104, Wealth, widespread, Weaning, 8 rule, "recluse," 19, 22, 46, 74, loi, 170, 184, 197 Yakding, Bakding, see Arakdn Yaung, top-knot, 60, 143 Mindyi, 124 Yasa, Raja, King, 201 Water-feast, Wells, Yahdn, follower of the perfect Yathd, hermit, 39, in " Yaukkyd-bdthd!'' 177 49, 50, 212 Tagu-la pive 237 72 Yit, silver pheasant, Geunceiis lineatus, 93 wheel, 53, 58 Yddayd, Siam, 4, 143 , Yoke, spring, tabo, 129 Vnti?a- back-bone, central mountain range, 81, 99 Y6n, court-house, 167 Y6n Shan, 143 YotM-pwe, marionettes, 173, 175 Yue, 214 Yule, H., 207 Yun Shan, 143 119, 120, 145 Worship, 42 Zabein, 99 {Zat-pwe), 173 Zdi, 36, 109, 124, 173 121-124 IVun, wundyi, minister, governor, 164 Zappwe Wun-kya, Zawdyt, sorcerer, 38 Zaydt, rest-house, 31, 42, 140 Zedi, 29, 98 Zerbddi, Indo-Burman half-breed, 161 Zettdn, rotary harrow, 51 Zi, Ziziphus jujuba, 78, 129 Zimmfe, Chiengmai, 103 Writing, 11, diarrhoea, 126 IVtissauiig, 20, 25 Wut, 21, 31 Wuziyama, Sadd.w U, 46 YabJin, 99 Yagding taw, 115 LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., Limited, AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W. London