Mandalay to Momien: a narrative of the two Expeditions to Western China of 1868 and 1875, under Colonel E. B. Sladen and Colonel H. Browne ... With maps and illustrations

Front matter

Frontispiece. MANDALAY, THE CAPITAL OP INDEPENDENT BURMA; FROM MANDAL& HILL. MANDALAY TO MOMIEN: A NARRATIVE OF THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO WESTERN CHINA OF 1868 AND 1875 UNDER COLONEL EDWARD B. SLADEN AND COLONEL HORACE BROWNE. BY JOHN ANDERSON, M.D.Edin., F.R.S.E., F.L.S., F.Z.S FELLOW OF CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY; CURATOR OF IMPERIAL MUSEUM AND PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY, MEDICAL COLLEGE, CALCUTTA ; MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC OFFICER TO JiOTII EXPEDITIONS. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Itonbon : MACMILLAN AND CO. 1876. LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

Preface

. Seven years have elapsed since the date of the expedition which furnishes the subject of the larger portion of this work. Its results have been recorded, but can hardly be said to have been published, in the official reports of the several members, printed in India, and not accessible to the general reader. The public interest in the subject of the overland route from Burma to China, called forth by the repulse of the recent mission aud the tragedy which attended it, has suggested the present publication. It is hoped that a compendious and popular ac count of the expedition of 1868 will be acceptable, if only as an introduction to the simple narrative of the mission of this year, commanded by Colonel Horace Browne. The statement of the difficulties which beset our advance in 1868 will prepare the reader to estimate the opposition which, under a changed political condition of the country, compelled the mission under Colonel Browne to return without accomplishing its object.

The narrative of our experiences of the border PEBFAOE. IV country between Bhamo and Yunnan, and its motley population, has been supplemented from materials collected by Colonel Sladen, including a catalogue of Kakhyen deities obtained by him, and which will be found in the Appendix, along with a Panthay account of the origin of the Chinese Mahommedans. To him, as well as to my fellow, travellers, Captain Bowers and Mr. Gordon, I gladly record my obli gations for the information that has been derived from them. For many details illustrating the condition of Yunnan and the Mahommedan revolt in that pro vince, I am indebted to the volumes, issued by the French government, which contain the results of the French expedition from Saigon to Yunnan, under Lagre'e, Gamier, and Carne', whose premature loss their country has to deplore, and to the travels of that enterprising pioneer of commerce, Mr. T. T. Cooper.

No one can treat of the border lands of Cathay without deriving assistance from the stores of know ledge collected and arranged by the erudite editor of ' Marco Polo,' Colonel Yule, to whom I tender my tribute of admiration and indebtedness. My observations on the Kakhyens are confirmed by the learned Monsig. Bigandet, the annotator of the ' Life of Gaudama,' who was the first PKEFACE. V European to visit those hill tribes, and who com municated his experiences to the columns of the leading Rangoon journal. The reader will find among the appendices a valuable note by the same author, on Burmese bells, especially those of Rangoon and Mengoon. The list of Chinese deities given in the Appendix has been translated from the original by the well known Chinese scholar, Professor Douglas, of the British Museum, who has kindly added an explana tory note.

The appended vocabularies may prove interesting to philologists. The illustrations of the country and people as far as Ponsee have been executed from photographs taken by Major Williams and myself, while the views of the country to the east are reproductions of sketches which fairly claim the merit of accurate delineation of its features. The map illustrating the topography of the district travelled has been based upon surveys made during the expedition by Mr. Gordon and a Burmese surveyor, and a second has been added to show the general relations of our Indian empire to Western China, with the various routes which have been e.xplored or projected, including those followed by the French expedition, and by Margary from the terminus of the boat journey to Bhamo. PKEFACE. VI The journal of our ill-fated companion, recently published in China, and received in this country when this work was completed, unfortunately does not carry him on to Tali-fu, but his impressions of the country beyond this point have been briefly summarised in these pages.

The scientific reader will perhaps be inclined to complain that the following pages do not contain more of the results of the proper work of a naturalist. Of these, a full and illustrated report, unavoidably delayed by absence from this country, is in active preparation. This will be published by the aid of the Indian government, given at the instance of the Chief Commissioner of British Burma, the Hon. Ashley Eden, by whom the opening up of the over land route to China, as a measure beneficial to the province administered by him, has ever been strongly advocated. J. A. 6 Eoyal Tekrace, Edinburgh, December 31, 1875. PAGES TABLE OF CONTENTS. FIRST EXPEDITION:— CHAPT EPS I. to XI. SECOND EXPEDITION :— CHAPTERS XII. to XVI. CHAPTEE I. MANDALAY TO BHAMO. Overland trade of Burma and Cliina — Early notices — English travellers — Burmese treaty of 1 862 — Dr. Williams — Objects of the expedition — Its constitution — Arrival at Mandalay — Second coronation of the king — The suburbs — The bazaars — Mengoon — Burmese navigation — Shienpagah — Coal mines — The third defile — Sacred fish — Tagoung and Old Pagan — Ngape — Katha — Magnetic battery — The first Kakhyens — The Shuaybaw pagodas — The second defile — View of Bhamo 1-36 CHAPTEE II.

BHAMO. Arrival at Bhamo — Our quarters — The town — The Woon's house — The Shan-Burmese — Kakhyen man-stealing — The environs — Old Tsampenago — Legendary history — The Shuaykeenah pagodas — The Molay river — The first defile — Delays and intrigues — Sala — The new Woon — Our departure — Tsitkaw — Mountain muleteers — The Manloung lake — The phoongyee's farewell 37-66 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTEE III. KAKHYEN HILLS. PAGES Departure from Tsitkaw — Our cavalcade — The hills — A false alarm — Talone — First night in the hills — The tsawbwa-gadaw — Ponline village — A death dance — The divination — A meetway — Nampoung gorge — A dangerous road — Lakong bivouac — Arrival at Ponsee — A Kakhyen coquette 67-86 CHAPTEE IV. PONSEE CAMP. Desertion of the muleteers — Our encampment — Visit of hill chiefs — Sala's demands — A mountain excursion — Messengers from Momien — Shans refuse presents — Stoppage of supplies — Ill-feeling — Tsawbwa of Seray — St. Patrick's Day — Eetreat of Sala — The pawmines of Ponsee — A burial-ground — Visit to the Tapeng — The silver mines — — Approach of the rains — Hostility of Ponsee — Threatened attack — Eeconciliation — A false start — Letters from Momien — A hailstorm — Circular to the members of the mission — Beads and belles — Friendly relations with Kakhyens — Their importance 87-124 CHAPTEE V. THE KAKHYENS.

The Kakhyens or Kakoos — The clans — Their chiefs — Mountain villages — Cultivation and crops — Personal appearance — Costume — Arms and implements — Female dress and ornaments — Women's work — Sheroo — Morals — Marriage — Music — Births — Funerals — Eeligion — Language — Character — How to deal with them — Our Party 125-1.34 PAGES CHAPTEE VI. MANWYNE TO MOMIEN. Departure from Ponsee — Valley of the Tapeng — A curious crowd — Our khyoung — Matins — The town of Manwyne — Visit to the haw — The tsawbwa-gadaw — An armed demonstration — Karahokah — Sanda — The chief and his grandson — Muangla — Shau burial-grounds — The Taho — A murdered traveller — Mawphoo valley — Muangtee — Nantin — Valley of Nantin — The hot springs — Attacked by Chinese — Hawshuenshan volcano — Valley of Momien — Arrival at the city 155-188 CHAPTEE VII.

MOMIEN. Momien — The town of Teng-yue-chow - — Aspect and condition — An official reception — Return visit — Government house — A Chinese tragedy — The market — Jade manufacture — Minerals — Mines of Yunnan — Stone celts — Cattle — Climate — Environs — The waterfall — Pagoda hill — Shuayduay — Rock temples — Ruined suburbs — City temples — Four-armed deities — Boys' school — A grand feast — The loving-cup — The tsawbwa-gadaw of Muangtee — Keenzas— The Chinese poor 189-222 CHAPTEE VIII. THE MAHOMMEDANS OP YUNNAN. Their origin — Derivation of the term " Panthay " — Early history — Increase in numbers — Adoption of children — The Toonganees — Physical characteristics — Outbreak of the revolt — Tali-fu — Progress of revolt — The French expedition — Overtures from Low-quang-fang — Eesources of the Panthays — Capture of Yunnan-fu — Prospects of their success — Our position — The governor's presents — Preparations for return 223-217 X CHAPTEE IX.

THE SANDA VALLEY. PAGES Departure from Momien — Eobbers surprised — At Nantin — Our ponies stolen — We slide to Muangla — A pleasant meeting — The Tapeng ferrymen — A valley landscape — Negotiations at Sanda — The Leesaws — A Shan cottage — Buddhist khyoungs — For fear of the nats — The limestone hill — Hot springs of Sanda — The footprint of Buddha — A priestly thief — The excommunication — The chief's farewell — Floods and landslips — Manwyne priests — A Shan dinner party — The nunnery — Departure from Manwyne— The Slough of Despond .. .. 248-273 CHAPTEE X. THE HOTHA VALLEY. The mountain summit — A giant glen — Leesaw village — The wrong road — Priestly inhospitality — Town of Hotha — A friendly chief — The Namboke Kakhyens — The Hotha market — The Shan people — The Koshanpyi — The Tai of Yunnan — Their personal appearance — Costume — Equipment — The Chinese Shans — Silver hair ornaments — Ear-rings — Torques, bracelets, and rings — Textile fabrics — Agriculture — Social customs — Tenure of land — Old Hotha — A Shan-Chinese temple — Shan Buddhism — The fire festival — Eclipse of the sun — Horse worship — Ancient pagodas — Eoads from Hotha 274-312 CHAPTEE XI.

FROM HOTHA TO BHAMO. Adieu! — Latha — Namboke — The southern hills — Muangwye — Loaylone — The Chinese frontier — Mattin — Hoetone — View of the Irawady plain — A slippery descent — The Namthabet — The Sawady route — A solemn sacrifice — A retrospective survey 313-332 CHAPTEE XII. INTERMEDIATE EVENTS. PAGES Appointment of a British Eesident at Bhamo — Increase of native trade — Action of the king of Burma — Burmese quarrel with the Seray chief — British relations with the Panthays — Struggle in Yunnan — Li-sieh-tai — Imperialist successes — European gunners — Siege of Momien — Fall of Yung-chang — Prince Hassan visits England — Fall of Tali-fu — Sultan Suleiman's death — Massacre of Panthays — Capture of Momien — Escape of Tah-sa-kon — Capture of Woosaw — Suppression of rebellion — Imperial proclamation — Li-sieh-tai, commissioner of Shan states — Eeopening of trade routes — Second British mission — Action of Sir T. Wade — Appointment of Mr. Margary — Members of mission — Acquiescence of China and Burma . . 333-349 CHAPTEE XIII.

SECOND EXPEDITION. Start of mission — Arrival at Mandalay — The Burmese pooay — Posturing girl — Eeception by the meng-gyees — Audience by the king — Departure of mission — Progress up the river — Eeception at Bhamo — British Eesidency — Mr. Margary — Account of his journey — The Woon of Bhamo — Entertains Margary — Chinese puppets — Selection of route — Sawady route — Bullock carriage — Woon of Shuaygoo — Chinese surmises- — Letters to Chinese officials — Burmese worship-day 350-378 CHAPTEE XIV. SAWADY. The him pooay — Mission proceeds to Sawady — Visit from Woon — Eumoured opposition — The Woon as a musician — Sawady village — Eoyal orders — Baggage difficulties — Arrival of Mr. Clement Allan — Paloungto chief — PAGES Kakhyen pilfering — Abandon route — Adopt Ponline route — Eeasons for change — Tsaleng Woon — Departure of mission to Tsitkaw — Elias and Cooke proceed to Muangmow — Dolphins — Up the Tapeng — Tahmeylon —Arrive at Tsitkaw 379-399 CHAPTEE XV.

THE ADVANCE. Residence at Tsitkaw — View from our house — The Namthabet — Junction of the rivers — Arrival of the Woon — Conference of tsawbwas — Hostages — Kakhyen women — Rifle practice — A nigbt alarm — A curious talisman — We leave Tsitkaw — Camp at Tsihet — Burmese guard-house — Lankon, Ponline — Camp on the Moonam — Hostile rumours — Camp on the Nampoung — Departure of Margary for Manwyne — Escape of hostages — Letter from Margary — We enter China — Camp on Shitee Meru — Burmese vigilance — Visit to Seray — Conference with Seray tsawbwa — Suspicious reception — Return to camp — Burmese barricades 400-427 CHAPTEE XVI. REPULSE OF MISSION. Appearance of enemy — Murder of Margary — Friendly tsawbas — Mission attacked — Woonkah tsawbwa bought over — The jungle fired — Eepulse of attack — Incidents of the day — Our retreat — Shitee — Burmese reinforcements — Halt at guard-house — Eetreat on Tsitkaw via Woonkah — Elias and Cooke's visit to Muangmow — Li-sieh-tai — Eeturn of Captain Cooke — Elias at Muangmow — Father Lecomte and the Mattin chief — A forged letter — The Saya of Kauntoung — Eeports regarding Margary — The commission of inquiry — Eeturn of Elias — Visit to the second defile — Mission's return to Eangoon . . . . 428-454 APPENDICES.

PAGES I. A Note by Bishop Bigandet, on Burmese Bells II. Origin of Mahommedanism in China ; from Chinese 455 Document 456 III. Deities worshipped by Kakhyens 457-459 IV. Deities in a Hotha Shan Temple 460-463 V. Vocabularies : — Kakhyen, Shan, Leesaw, and Poloung 464-473 Index 475-479 LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Map of Country Traversed. General Map, with Eoutes. Plan of Momien ; by Burmese Surveyor. Mandalay, the Capital of Independent Burma ; from Mand ALE HlLL Frontispiece. From a photograph by Colonel Sladen. To face page The Deva-faced Cliff, Second Defile of the Irawady 34 From a photograph by the Author. Eooky Barrier on the First or Upper Defile of the Irawady 55 From a photograph by Major Williams. Kakhyen Women 74 From a photograph by Major Williams. Our Camp at Ponsee 89 From a photograph by Major Williams.

Kakhyen Men — Kakhyen Matrons 125 From photographs by Major Williams. Kakhyen and Shan Pipes, Musical Instruments, etc .. 134 From photographs. Nantin Valley, Town of Muangtee to the Left .. .. 178 From a stretch by the Author. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. To face page Extinct Volcano of Hawshuenshan ; from Summit of Momien Hill 186 From a sltetch by the Author. Within the Walls of Momien or Teng-yue-chow .. 192 From a sltetch by the Author. Waterfall of the Taho ; Momien in the Distance . . 208 From a sltetch by the Author. Valley of Sanda, looking Westward from the Hill behind the Town 254 From a sltetch by the Author. Shan Head-dress, Bracelets, and Ear Ornaments .. 296 From photographs. Posturing Girl at Mandalay 354 From a photograph by the Author. View in Bhamo 364 From a photograph by Major Williams.

Tsitkaw, on the Tapeng, looking towards the Kakhyen Hills 401 From a photograph by the Author. London; Miicinilhiii J_ (''.' London ;Ma^millan & C ? London: Macmillun & MANDALAY TO MOMIEN.

Chapter I. Mandalay To Bhamo

Overland trade of Burma and China — Early notices — English travellers — Burmese treaty of 1862 — Dr. Williams — Objects of the expedition — Its constitution — Arrival at Mandalay — Second coronation of the king — The suburbs — The bazaars — Mengoon — Burmese navigation — Shienpagah — Coal mines — The third defile — Sacred fish — Tagoung and Old Pagan — Ngape — Katha — Magnetic battery — The first Kakhyens — The Shuay baw pagodas — The second defile — View of Bhamo. For some years previous to the date of the expedition of which the progress is narrated in these pages, the attention of British merchants at home and in India had been directed to the prospect of an overland trade with "Western China. Most esj)ecially did this interest the commercial community of Rangoon, the capital of British Burma, and the port of the great water highway of the Irawady, boasting a trade the annual value of which had increased in fifteen years to £2,500,000.

The avoidance of the long and dangerous voyage by the Straits and Indian B Archipelago and a direct interchange of our manufactures for the products of the rich provinces of Yunnan and Sz-chuen might well seem to be advantages which would richly repay almost any efforts to accomplish this purpose. One plan, then as now, zealously insisted upon by its promoter, Captain Sprye, was the construction of a railway connecting British Burma and China via Kiang Hung, on the Cambodia river, and the frontier position or reputed town of Esmok. But as it was, and still is, necessary to send a surveying expedition over an unknown and alien country, as a preliminary, this project, whether chimerical or not, could not compete with the immediate possibility of opening a trade by way of the river Irawady and the royal city of Mandalay.

Although before 1867 but four English steamers with freight had ascended the river to the capital, harbingers of the numerous flotilla now plying on the Irawady, it was known that a regular traffic existed between Mandalay and China, especially in the supply of cotton to the interior, which was reserved as a royal monopoly. This trade was reported to be mainly carried on by caravans traversing the overland route via Theinnee to Yunnan. According to the itineraries of the Burmese embassy in 1787, the distance is six hundred and twenty miles, and forty-six hills and mountains, five large rivers and twenty-four smaller ones, had to be traversed in the tedious journey of OVERLAND TEADE. 3 two months. But an unbroken chain of tradition and history indicated the natural entrepot of the commerce between Burma and China to be at or near Bhamo,* on the left bank of the upper Irawady, and close to the frontier of Yunnan.

The Burmese annals testified that during several centuries this had been the passage from China to Burma either for invading armies or for peaceful caravans. The most recent Burmo-Chinese war had arisen out of the grievances of Bhamo Chinese merchants, and the treaty of peace that was signed at Bhamo in 1769 stipulated that the " gold and silver road " between the two countries should be reopened. Mutual embassies had consequently jour neyed between Pekin and Ava, and almost all had proceeded by way of the Irawady and Bhamo. European travellers and traders had early discerned the importance of this channel of intercourse, which seems to have been alluded to by the great Venetian, Marco Polo, under the name of Zardandan. The old documents of Fort St. George record that the English and Dutch had factories in the beginning of the seventeenth century at Syriam, Prome, and Ava, and at a place on the borders of China, which Dalrymple supposes to have been Bhamo.

According to this authority, some dispute arose between the Dutch and Burmese, and on the former threatening to call in the aid of the Chinese, both the English and Dutch were expelled from Burma. In * Pronounced " Bhamaw." B the reputation of this field for mercantile en terprise seems to have again attracted the attention of the authorities at Fort St. George, and four years afterwards one Dod, trading to Ava, was instructed to inquire into the commerce of the country, and to request that a settlement might be sanctioned at Prammoo, on the borders of China. This mission was unsuccessful, and Prammoo cannot with certainty be identified, but the strong similarity of the name seems to point to Pan-mho or Bhamo. Coming down to more recent and certain data, we find that Colonel Symes, H.E.I.C.'s envoy to Ava in 1795 (and who was accompanied by that able geographer, Dr. Buchanan), states that an extensive trade, chiefly in cotton, existed between Ava and Yunnan.

"This commodity was transported up the Irawady to Bhamo, where it was sold to the Chinese merchants, and conveyed partly by land and partly by water into the Chinese dominions. Amber, ivory, precious stones, betel-nut, and the edible birds' nests from the Eastern Archipelago, were also articles of commerce. In return, the Burmans procured raw and wrought silks, velvets, gold-leaf, preserves, paper, and utensils of hardware." Both the researches of Wilcox and the journal of Crawford's embassy to Ava in 1826 referred to the trade and routes by Bhamo, and the Bengal government in 1827 published a map containing the best procurable information about the Burmo-Chinese frontier. EAELY NOTICES OP BHAMO. 5 Colonel Burney, who was Resident at the court of Ava. in 1830, published a large number of valuable contributionsto the history, geography, and re sources of Upper Burma, and accurate itineraries of the Theinnee and Bhamo routes to China.

Our experience demonstrated the accuracy of the latter as far as Momien, and it may be inferred that the remainder will be found equally exact. Pemberton* seems to have been the first to fully realise that — to use his own words — " the province of Yunnan, to which the north-eastern borders of our Indian empire have now so closely approximated, has be come from this circumstance and our existing amicable relations with the court of Ava an object of peculiar interest to us." In the same year Captain Hannay accompanied a Burmese mission to Mogoung, and for the first time Bhamo was accurately described by an eye-witness, and much valuable information gained respecting the trade then carried on between Ava and China. His description of the importance of the town, however, differed widely from that of Drs.

Griffiths and Bayfield, who visited it two years later.f Hannay gives the reported number of houses as one thousand five hundred, while the latter travellers estimated town and suburbs as containing five hundred and ninety-eight houses, " neither good nor * ' Eeport on Eastern Frontier of British India,' 1835. \ Vide ' Selection of Papers on the Hill Tracts between Assam and Burmah,' Calcutta, 1873. large," which latter description is more in keeping with the present condition of the town. In 1848 Baron Otto des Granges published a short survey of the countries between Bengal and China, showing the great commercial and political importance of Bhamo, and the practicability of a direct trade overland between Calcutta and China. In this paper the far-seeing author advocated the equipment of a small expedition to ascertain the mercantile relations of the country about Bhamo, to examine the mineral wealth of Yunnan, and to enter into negotiations with the Chinese merchants.

In 1862 the government of India, in the prospect of a treaty being negotiated with the king of Burma, directed their Chief Commissioner, Sir A. Phayre, to include in it, if possible, the reopening of the caravan route from Western China by the town of Bhamo, and the concession of facilities to British merchants to reside at that place, or to travel to Yunnan, and for Chinese from Yunnan to have free access to British territory, including Assam. The first of these objects was to be effected by obtain ing the king's sanction to a joint Burmese and British mission to China. A treaty was concluded whereby the British and Burmese governments were declared friends, and trade in and through Upper Burma was freely thrown open to British enterprise. It was further stipulated that a direct trade with China might be carried on through Upper Burma, subject to a transit duty of one per cent, ad valorem on BUEMESE TEE AT Y OF 1862. 7 Chinese exports, and nil on imports.

The proposal, however, as to the joint mission was unsuccessful. In the following year, Dr. Williams, formerly resident at the court of Mandalay, obtained the royal permission to proceed as far as Bhamo, where he arrived in February, after a journey of twenty two days. His object was to test the practicability of a route through Burma to Western China, and the results of his experience led him to strongly advocate the Bhamo routes as politically, physically, and commercially the most advantageous. His energetic advocacy led the mercantile com munity of Rangoon to appreciate the importance of their own position, commanding, as it does, the most ancient highway to Western China. His claim, however, to have been the first to suggest this trade route must yield to that of Otto des Granges ; and the assertion that he was the first Englishman who visited Bhamo could only have been made in ignorance or forgetfulness of the labours of Hannay, Bayfield, and Griffiths.

When the commercial acuteness of the merchants was thus directed to the possibilities of the overland trade, it might seem at first sight that the stream could be tapped at Mandalay without following it up to the borders of Yunnan. But our growing intercourse with the capital of Burma made it known that for twyelve years the Burmo-Chinese trade via Bhamo, which in 1855 represented £500,000 per annum, had almost entirely ceased. Whether this were owing to the effects of the Mahommedan rebellion in Yunnan, or, as some alleged, to Burmese policy, was uncertain. It was an additional problem, and the then Chief Commissioner, General Fytche, anxiously pressed upon the government of India the importance of solving it, and under the treaty of 1862 of thoroughly examining the possibility and probable results of reopening the Bhamo trade route.

This enterprise might be deemed one of hereditary interest to the descendant of that enterprising merchant-traveller, Mr. Fitch, who has left an account of his visit to Pegu in 1586. The proposed expedi tion was sanctioned by the government of India in September 1867, and the consent of the king of Burma having been duly obtained, arrangements were forwarded for the departure of the mission from Mandalay in January 1868. The chief objects of the expedition were, to use the words of General Fytche, " to discover the cause of the cessation of the trade formerly existing by these routes, the exact position held by the Kakhyens, Shans, and Panthays, with reference to that traffic, and their disposition, or otherwise, to resuscitate it, also to examine the physical conditions of these routes." Thus the duties to be discharged were multifarious, pertaining to diplomacy, engineering, natural science, and commerce.

These accordingly were all repre sented among the members of the mission, whicli consisted of Captain Williams, as engineer; Dr. OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. 9 Anderson, as medical officer and naturalist ; with Captain Bowers and Messrs. Stewart and Burn as delegates from the commercial community of Ran goon.* A guard of fifty armed police, with their inspector and native doctor, formed an escort, while the command of the whole was entrusted to Major Sladen, Political Resident at Mandalay. It is saying scarcely enough to add that to the foresight, tact, and resolute patience displayed by him as leader was due whatever measure of success was obtained. He had already secured not only the consent but the co operation of the king. Written orders had been despatched to the icoon, or governor, of Bhamo, and to other places, to render all assistance.

Besides these verbal aids, the king placed at his disposal a royal steamer, named the Yaynan-Sekia, better known as " The Honesty," to convey the party to Bhamo. On no former occasion had it been deemed prudent for steamers to ascend save for a few miles above Mandalay; and great difference of opinion existed as to the navigability of the upper Irawady in the dry season by a steamer, though only drawing three feet of water. In the morning of January 6, 1868, the steamer Nerbudda, which had conveyed the party from Rangoon, made fast alongside the landing-place of * The Chamber of Commerce, under the able president, Mr. M'Call, had been most active in urging the despatch of the mission, and had subscribed £3000 for all expenses of their repre sentatives, and for tho purchase of specimens of manufactures. the present capital of Burma, three miles from the city, of which only the golden spires could be seen above the trees.

As our stay was not to exceed three or four days, all the party remained on board until it should be time to embark on the Yaynan- Sekia. Beyond a jetty used by the Burmese in the floods, lay the royal steamer undergoing thorough painting and cleaning for our reception. She was moored in a creek, the royal naval depot, where numerous war-boats of the past and the present fleet of royal steamers are laid up in ordinary. For nearly three miles the river banks presented a busy scene. Native boats were loading or dis charging cargo ; houses extended the whole distance, those nearer the river being tenanted by fishermen. A large suburb stretched inland from the shore ; each house was surrounded by a vegetable garden enclosed in a bamboo fence eight to ten feet high, while all were embosomed in magnificent tamarind, plantain, and palm trees.

The women were busily engaged weaving silk putzos and tameins in various patterns.* Beyond this suburb lay a large flat of alluvial land, devoted to rice-fields, some in stubble, from which the grain had just been reaped ; in others men and women were irrigating the young * The putzo is a long narrow silken cloth of a chequered pattern, which a Burman winds round him to form a suit of clothes. The tameiu is the feminine equivalent, partly of cloth, partly of silk, with a zig-zag pattern, the silken portions forming the skirt, which, according to ancient custom, exposes one le« almost completely in walking. AEEIVAL AT MANDALAY. 11 crop, now about six inches high, three crops yearly being raised from these lands, which formed, as it were, an island of cultivation, surrounded by houses. The leader of the expedition, Major Sladen, came down to welcome us, and we rode with him to the Residency, situated on the banks of a canal, which runs parallel with the river, and halfway between it and the city.