Picturesque Burma, past and present

Preface

WHEN accompanying my husband on a tour through Burma in the spring of 1895, I had do intention whatever of writing a book on the people and country. We paid our visit solely in the pursuit of health and enjoyment. I embodied my impressions in some articles published in the Cornhill Magazine, the Queen, the Saturday Beview, the Album, and the Hospital, fragments of which papers are intercalated in the text. It was not until some time after my return that, finding how little was known at home of the beautiful country and interesting people of Burma, I undertook the task of writing a book on the subject. In carrying out this agreeable but rather onerous work, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to the authors included in the " list of books consulted," but more especially to Shway Yoe (Mr. Scott), for his encyclopædic work, " The Burman ; " to Yule's " Mission to Ava ; " to Bishop Bigandet's " Life of Gautauma," and to Phayre's " History of Burma."

" Picturesque Burma " is illustrated chiefly from photo graphs, which were taken by Signor Beato and Mr. Johannis of Mandalay, and by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd of Calcutta. Mr. Philip Miller has kindly made some drawings. To Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. I am indebted for permission to use the illustrations of the temples of Pagahn ; and to Miss Hart I have to express my obligations for reading the proof sheets. V CONTENTS

Introduction

3 CHAP. I. THE BURMESE GOLDEN PAGODA AND THE BRITISH CITY OF COMMERCE 7 II. A THOUSAND MILES UP THE IRRAWADDY . . . . 20 III. THE ROYAL CITY OP MANDALAY 28 IV. THE RUINED CITY OF AMAURAPOORA 43 V. THE FANES OF PAGAHN 54 VI. TAGOUNG, AVA, AND SAGAING, CITIES OF AVA ... 63 VII. THAREKHETTARA, PROME, PEGU, AND MAULMAIN, CITIES OF PEGU 73 VIII. THE GREAT FORESTS AND THEIR WONDERS .... 88

Book II The People Of Burma And Their Customs IX

THE BURMAN AT HOME 105 X. THE BURMAN AT PLAY 117 XI. THE BURMAN AT WORK 1 29 XII. THE FREE AND HAPPY WOMAN OF BURMA .... 135 XIII. THE CEREMONIES OF BORING THE EARS AND TATTOOING THE LEGS — OF MARRIAGE AND BURIAL I44 XIV. MUSIC, DANCING, AND ACTING 1 52 XV. THE CELESTIAL WHITE ELEPHANT AND OTHER ELEPHANTS 165 \ CONTENTS VIII CHAP. PA0E XVI. SOME NATIONAL SUPERSTITIONS '72 XVII. DOCTORS AND DOCTORING, BURMESE AND BRITISH . . 180 XVIII. THE CRIME OF FISHING AND THE CEREMONY OF PROPI- TIATION :*7 XIX. THE WATER-FEAST, THE CARNIVAL AT THE END OF LENT, AND OTHER FESTIVALS :92 XX. THE ARTS AND INDUSTRIES OF THE BURMANS . . .202 XXI. MONARCHS AND MINISTERS 2I3 XXII. BURMA SOBER AND BURMA DRUNK 224 XXIII. THE CHRISTIAN KARENS 234 XXIV. THE SHANS, KACHINS, CHINS, AND OTHER RACES . . 24 1

Book III The Religion Of The Burmans XXV

GAUTAUMA BUDDHA, THE TEACHER OF THE PERFECT LAW 261 XXVI. BUDDHISM AS A FAITH AND LIFE 27 1 XXVII. THE PHONGYEES AND THEIR INFLUENCE .... 278 XXVIII. LIFE AND EDUCATION IN THE MONASTERY. . . . 288

Book IV The Story Of Burma For Twenty-five Centuries XXIX

BURMA COLONISED FROM INDIA — TAGOUNG, PROME, PEGU, AND ARAKAN FOUNDED — THE SUVARMA BHUMI, OR GOLDEN LAND OF THE SOUTH 299 XXX. THE RISE AND FALL OF PAGAHN 303 XXXI. THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY BETWEEN PEGU AND BURMA 307 XXXII. THE FALL OF MARTABAN, DESCRIBED BY AN EYE-WITNESS, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY ,n XXXIII. THE GREAT KING BURENG NAUNG AND THE HALCYON DAYS OF PEGU 3,5 CONTENTS IX CHAP. PAGE XXXIV. ALOMPRA AND HIS DYNASTY— THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BURMESE EMPIRE 320 XXXV. THE FIRST BURMESE WAR AND THE TREATY OF YANDABO 326 XXXVI. THE SECOND BURMESE WAR AND THE ANNEXATION OF pegu 335 XXXVII. THE THIRD BURMESE WAR AND THE FALL OF MANDALAY 344 XXXVIII. AFTER THE FALL OF THE BURMESE EMPIRE — THE DACOITS 356 XXXIX. A ROYAL RACE OF HOMICIDAL MANIACS .... 362

Book V The Resources And Future Of Burma XL

PRODUCTS — CLIMATE — POPULATION 37 ' XLI. EDUCATION OF THE BURMAN AND THE BARBARIAN . . 378 XLII. THE GREAT CHANGE — THE OUTLOOK 3&4

Appendix

3S7 WORKS CONSULTED 391 INDEX LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES A Phongyee-Byan or Obsequies of a Monk {see p. 294) Frontispiece PAGE The Second Defile of the Irrawaddy 20 Part of the Queen's Golden Kioung 28 The River Bank at Mandalay 40 A Burmese Belle . ioc Burmese Women I35 The Dragon Pagoda 271 A Phongyee School in a Kioung 290 Shins going out to Beg their Food 292 Dacoits in Mandalay Prison ,55 MAPS Map of Burma A Series of Four Historical Maps ,., The design for the cover is by Mr. W. B. Macdougult from Burmese Embroidery LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE On the Platform of the Shway Dagohn, Rangoon .... 8 A Burmese Girl o Praying at the Pagoda 1 1 A Shrine on the Platform of the Shway Dagohn . . . .12 Carved Wood Screen in a Shrine of the Shway Dagohn . . . 13 Washing Elephants 18 The Great Royal Lake at Rangoon 19 Irrawaddy Paddy Boat with Carved Steering Chair ... 22 A Raft on the Irrawaddy ........ 24 The Entrance to the Second Defile 26 From a Pastel Sketch by the Author.

Lacquered and Glass-mosaicked Columns in the Palace at Mandalay 30 King Theebaw's Throne ......... 30 The Queen's Golden Kioung 35 The Four Hundred and Fifty Pagodas of the Law .... 37 A Shan Trader 39 Pagodas and Sphinxes . . . . . . . . -47 Kneeling Figure from a Temple at Amaurapoora .... 48 Tlie Ruins of the Kuji Temple 48 From a Pastel Sketch bi/ the Author. A Girl Weaving Silk Damask . . . . . . . 50 A Sitting Buddha 52 A Yahandat, or Servitor of Buddha 53 Plan of the Ananda 56 The Gaudapalen Temple 58 Ruins of the Sembyo-koo Temple 60 Design from Burmese Embroidery ....... 62 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XII PAGE Bricks from Tagoung 64 Amidst the Ruins of Amaurapoora 67 A Richly Carved Pagoda 68 Colossal Dying Buddha 83 On the Salwen 85 Charcoal Drawing by the Author. A Dead Tiger 95 Design from Burmese Embroidery 102 Burmese Bamboo Houses 105 A Riverside Village 106 A Burmese Nun 109 A Country Cart . . : 1 1 1 A Village Maiden 112 A Burmese Gentleman . . . . . . . . 114 Fisher Boats Sailing before the Wind 117 Charcoal Drawing by the Author.

In the Carved Steering Chair .118 On Pleasure Bent 122 A Burmese Girl . . . .127 The Steering Chair of the Big Paddy Boat 131 Embroidered Powder-bag 134 Burmese Woman Smoking 137 Drawing by Philip Miller. Tattooed Legs 146 A Court Prima Donna . 153 A Troupe of Women Dancing at a Pwe . . . . . .154 A Dancer . 155 A Harp 162 A Crocodile Guitar 162 Musicians Playing a Harmonicon and a Harp . . . .163 Taming a Wild Elephant j6g Carved Figures of Nats . . . yy2 Carved Nats on the Platform of the Shway Dagohn . . .182 Net Fishing in the River jgo Gifts borne in Procession to the Pagoda xoc LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Crowned with Flowers for the Pagoda Festival . . . .197 A Temple Gong 198 Bound for the Pagoda 1 98 Carving Buddhas 204 Gong 206 Burmese Silver Teapot 206 Burmese Silver Sugar Basin 207 Milk Jug 208 Gilded Box inlaid with Glass Mosaics 208 Silk Damask . .211 The " Centre of the Universe " 215 A Minister of State 220 A Village on the Salwen . 237 A Shan Tsaubvva in Court Dress 245 A Shan Warrior 246 A Shan Beauty 247 A Kachin Woman 249 A Kachin 250 An Embroidered Kachin Bag 252 Outside Bhamo 254 Colossal Statue of Dying Buddha surrounded with votive offerings 269 The Pagoda of Royal Merit, and the 450 Pagodas of the Law at Mandalay 272 Phongyees Reading the Scriptures ....... 274 A Kammawahsah, or Buddhist Bible 281 A Sayah with an Attendant Scholar 289 The Upper Reaches of the Irrawaddy 300 Carved Wood Decorations of a Kioung . . . . . .319 Alompra Represented as a Buddha 323 The Great Bell and the Monster Pagoda at Mengohn . . .325 The Cheroot Box of a Princess 343 The King, Mindohn Min 344 Drawn by PHiLir Miller.

King Theebaw and Queen Supayah Lat 347 The Apartments of Queen Supayah Lat 349 A Minister of King Theebaw LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE A Member of the Hlwot-daw 353 The King's War-boat bringing the Flag of Truce to Ava . -354 By Mr. Melton Prior, reproduced by kind permission of "The Illustrated London News." Bullock Gharry 355 A Little Burmese Princess . . . . . . . -358 A Maid of Honour of Queen Supayah Lat . . . - . -358 Wood Carvers in the Courtyard of the Palace . . . . 380 The Rev. Dr. Marks . .

Book I The Country Of "burma A Past And Present

INTRODUCTION.

BURMA is to the traveller a land of delight, a country where gaiety is natural to the people, insouciance is con genial to the soil, and colour is born of the sunshine. To every taste Burma affords subjects of unfailing interest ; to the historian it offers attractive researches on the origin of ancient nations and the stone records of buried cities founded by Aryan and Mongolian emigrants in the remote past ; to the ethnologist it suggests inquiries into the characteristics of races differing so widely as the Shans from the Takings, and the Chins from the Karens ; and to the philosopher it shows the spectacle of an atheistic people deeply imbued with the spirit of a lofty ethical religion. To the antiqua rian, the investigation of its ruined pagodas, temples, and palaces promises the charm of discovery, and will perhaps throw light on the influence of Babylon in the far East ; to the botanist its forests yield the pleasures of inexhaustible study, and to the sportsman the opportunity of hunting such big game as the tiger, the elephant, and the rhinoceros ; while to the artist the harmonious " composition " of the scenery of river, forest, and mountain, the picturesqueness of the flower-clad people, and the splendour of the colouring HOOK I 4 of sky and land, afford that sense of satisfaction known to him whose eyes are the windows of a soul that rejoices in beauty.

Burma is so little known to tourists that, after my husband and I had travelled from Rangoon to Bhamo, and up and down the reaches of the noble Irrawaddy river, after we had revelled in the natural beauties of the country, gloried in the sunshine, wondered at the pagodas, and studied the history and the people of Burma, I came to believe that a fresh account and a pictorial representation of this interesting land would not be unacceptable to the English public. In the following pages I have attempted to present to my readers concisely, and yet as fully as the largeness of the subject will admit within the prescribed limits, a sketch of the cities, the people and their customs, the religion, the history, the resources and the future of Burma, while also relating personal incidents of travel and giving the impressions of the moment.

If I succeed in arousing interest in a little known land and people, now subject to British rule, and in inducing others to visit this beautiful and unique country, my object will have been gained. In order to have a clear understanding of Burma, and of the past struggles and present condition of the races who inhabit the valley of the Irrawaddy, it is necessary to have a definite conception of the geographical features of the country. A glance at the accompanying map will show that on the extreme north of Burma there is a continuation of the snowy Himalayas, extending from the northern borders of Assam towards the great continent of China. These mountains send southwards three principal spurs ; the Arakan moimtains, which divide Arakan from Burma proper, and are inhabited by the wild Chins; the range which extends between the valleys of the Irrawaddy and the Sitang, and another range between the Sitang and the Salwen rivers.

Running for over a thousand miles throughout the whole MAP OF BURMA IXTRODI'CTIOX GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION 5 length of Burma is the great waterway of the Irrawaddy. which takes its rise in the snow mountains of the Lang tang branch of the Himalayas. About midway in its course it is joined by the Chindwin, which passes through Manipur. In the delta of the Irrawaddy the river opens by a number of mouths into the Bay of Bengal. These estuaries form natural harbours of great commercial value. The Sitang flows through the Tounga country, between ranges of moun tains occupied from the earliest times by the tribes of the Karens. The Salwen, which is almost as long as the Irra waddy, is not navigable, owing to rapids and waterfalls. At its mouth was situated the old port of Martaban. To the north-east of Burma, China approaches her borders by the province of Yunnan.

Across the mountains which separate Yunnan from Bhamo are the trade routes by which gold and silk enter Burma. On the north are the mountainous districts which owned the sway of the Shan chiefs, and to the north-west are Assam, Kachar, and Manipur, whose kings were tributary from time to time to Burma by the fortunes of war. The coast-line of Arakan and the port of Bassein were known at an early date to emigrants from India and Portugal, but the long range of the Arakanese mountains, pierced by passes of great difficulty, protected Burma from incursions from that side. On the east, Burma was bounded by Shan states, those on the north being tributary to Ava, and those on the south tributary to Siam. Tenasserim, the western half of the peninsula stretching towards the Malacca Straits, was subject to the Burmese Empire.

It is separated from Siam by a long chain of mountains, dividing the peninsula into two. We thus see a country, 800 miles from north to south and 400 miles broad, watered throughout its whole length by magnificent rivers, provided by nature with splendid HOOK I natural ports, hedged in on the north, east, and west by mountain ranges difficult to cross ; a country which produces ■everything required both for the natural and the civilised man, rice in abundance for food, magnificent timber for building houses and ships, iron for manufactures, precious stones for adornment ; where the climate is endurable all the year round, and where life can be passed in ease and without excessive toil ; a country which required but a Government engaged in developing the rich resources of the kingdom, and a people willing to work in peace, to have become one of the most splendid and powerful Oriental empires the world has ever seen.

But, as the story of Burma told in these pages will reveal, the land was torn by incessant strife ; the kings of Burma, not content with a magnificent empire, wastefully squandered the lives of the people and the treasure of the country in foreign wars of mere aggression, and after 2500 years of misgovernment — the dark picture of which is only illumined from time to time by a few figures of true greatness and beneficence — they succeeded in so impoverishing and depopulating their country that it fell an •easy victim to the arms of the British Government, whom they had provoked by senseless arrogance, and wilfully insulted beyond what was considered pardonable. In spite, however, of desolating wars, in spite of ferocious kings and tyrannous governors, the people preserved their characteristics, their customs, ideas, and religion, and it is these, combined with its great natural beauty, which make Burma a country of such surpassing interest.

Chapter I The Burmese Golden Pagoda And The British City Of Commerce

THE city of Rangoon was founded by Alompra in 1755, this astute monarch recognising the fact that a port on one of the most navigable mouths of the Irrawaddy, where trade with foreign nations could be encouraged, was one of the best ways of consolidating the newly formed empire of Burma. But for untold centuries before Rangoon was founded the adjoining Thehngoottara Hill had been holy ground, and the Shway Dagohn Pagoda had been a goal for pilgrims for nigh upon 2000 years. It is still the magnet which draws travellers to Rangoon, and the holy fane, " shot upwards like a pyramid of fire," is eagerly watched for as the vessel steams slowly against the strong stream up the muddy river. To see the great Pagoda and to worship at its numerous shrines is the object of thousands of pilgrims, not only from Upper and Lower Burma, but from the distant Shan Hills, from Siam, from Ceylon, and even from China ; for here are said to be enshrined not only eight hairs from the holy head of the god-like Gautauma, but also the staff of Kaukkathan, the water-filter of Gavvnagohng, and a portion of the robe of Kathapa, the three Buddhas who preceded Gautauma Buddha.

These relics, together with costly offerings of gold and jewels, are not, however, exposed to the gaze of the devout, nor to the sacrilegious hand of the unbeliever ; to preserve them for ever, they were, centuries ago, deposited in an underground chamber, which was walled up, and over it has risen the solid and HOOK 1 glittering golden cupola, the work of successive generations of seekers after merit. The famous Pagoda stands on a mound of earth surrounded by a moat. The lower part of the hill is a fort, the upper has been levelled into a vast paved platform, 900 feet long by 685 feet wide, on which rests the Shway Dagohn and the shrines. The ascent is by four flights of stone stairways looking north, south, east, and west. That on the south is the most frequented, and the entrance to it is guarded by colossal mythical beasts in white plaster.

The irregular stone steps are flanked on each side by colonnades of stone and teak pillars, which support many-gabled roofs, handsomely carved and painted. From a broad base, measuring 1350 square feet, rises the pointed gold cupola of the Pagoda, one solid mass 370 feet, into the sunny air. The tapering point is crowned by a gold htee or umbrella, elaborately wrought and hung with multitudes of gold bells set with jewels. This htee cost £ 5 0,000, the money being subscribed by the King, Mindohn Min, aud pious Burmans, and was constructed entirely by voluntary labour. The whole Pagoda, from broad base to tapering point, is gilded with pure gold leaf. In the last century Sinbyoo Shin (or Tsheu-byo-yen), king of Burma, gave his weight in gold (12 stone), .69000 in value, to regild the whole Shway Dagohn, a work which was repeated by Mindohn Min in 1 87 1.

Humbler offerings are, however, accepted, and it is considered a work of merit to attach gold-leaf to some patch left bare by the rains. At the four cardinal points are temples or shrines. The splendidly carved roofs are supported by pillars covered with rough but effective glass mosaics, and in the cool shadow there are numerous sitting statues of Gautauma, the passionless and pitying Saviour and Saint of the Buddhists, whose calm and passive face overawes the passion-tossed worshippers at his shrine. On the platform there are also crowds of smaller ON THE TLATFORM OP THE SHWAY DAGOHN, RANGOON THE SHWAY DAGOHN CHAP. I 9 shrines, the gifts of the pious ; bronze bells, big and small, the sonorous sound of which vvhen struck, gives notice to the Nats, who are the watchful angels of the Burmese, that an act of merit or devotion has been performed ; tall wooden poles, silvered or glass mosaicked, surmounted by the Brahminy goose, and bearing streamers on which prayers and praises are written ; statues of elephants kneeling in recognition of Gautauma's pitying love for animals, and monster beasts with human faces in memory of the tender love of a lioness who suckled a king's son abandoned in the forest, and whose heart burst with grief when her foster-child forsook her.

Around the base of the Pagoda is a forest of models of the cupola, all of which are gilded. The covered stairway leading to the Pagoda gives a foretaste of the varied and picturesque life of Burma. On the lower flags lepers crouch in their misery, and hold up their mutilated limbs and hideous faces to the passers by and beg for alms ; higher up A BURMESE GIR are booths where gaily dressed women offer flowers, rice, toys and photographs for sale. A crowd of worshippers, brilliant even in the gloomy shade of the carved roofs, are all day long wending their way up to the holy shrine. Here passes a group of Burmese girls, who in their rainbow-tinted tameins (straight skirts) pinned closely round their shapely hips, clean white jackets, and gay kerchiefs, look like HOOK I walking tulips on a sunny day in spring.

In their smooth and heavily-coiled black tresses sweet-scented flowers are jauntily stuck : their eyes are laughing, but their mouths are engaged in smoking big green cheroots. A contrast to this happy party is a dying man, who with many moans and groans painfully tries to mount the steep steps ; but his legs at last refuse to carry him farther, and he is borne to the shrine in the arms of his friends. Here are Kachins from the north, strong in faith but shy in manner, who have come a long and costly journey from the mountains to make their offerings, and secure a balance of merit in their favour in the long account which is kept by the Nats through countless ages. Troops of shaven monks, " the noble order of the yellow robe," in their toga-like saffron-coloured draperies, are ascending the steps, where Bur mans, Shans, Kachins, Chinese, Madrassees, Siamese, and Euro peans jostle one another on their way to the wide platform above.

While we were on the platform, and were being shown the sights and having their meanings explained by tvvo learned Bur mans, a party of Kachins arrived with a yellow-robed phongyee or monk to make an offering. Having purchased several packets of gold-leaf, to the value of about £2, from one of the treasurers of the Pagoda, three Kachins mounted to the highest ledge of the cupola to stick it on, while their friends watched the process from below ; soon, however, anxiety and curiosity got the better of them, and presently the whole party, women included, were seen climbing the fluted ridges of the cupola to make sure that every atom of their offering was used to beautify the great golden Pagoda. All day long the devout may be seen in the attitude of prayer before one of the statues of Gautauma, repeating in Burmese or in sonorous Pali the great precepts of the law and the five commandments, the keeping of which leads to self renunciation and holiness of life.

Offerings of rice, sweetmeats, PRAYING AT THE PAGODA CHAP. I 11 and flowers, daintily arranged on lacquer dishes, are laid before the shrines and left for the birds and dogs to eat. There are here no religious services, no priestly ceremonies ; the Shway Dagohn is simply a holy place for prayer and meditation, a shrine where the heart is lifted up by contemplating the three precious things, the Lord, the Law, and the Assembly. To call the statues of Gautauma idols and the Burmans idolaters is to PRAYING AT THE PAGODA show a profound ignorance of the essential beliefs of Buddhism. There is no God in Buddhism, and Gautauma Buddha is not deified by his followers. His memory is revered and loved, and his great example followed, more or less, but even here in his holiest shrine he is not worshipped in the religious sense.

The prayers we hear uttered with so much earnestness are not being said for benefit or for aid, but the praises of Buddha are being sung and his commandments repeated, till the worshipper brings his mind into sympathy with the great Ideal.

BOOK I

To be bewitched by the Shway Dagohn, one must see it by the light of the full moon. It is late, and the moon is high in the heavens as we grope our way in the darkness of the colonnades and stumble up the uneven steps. The wide platform is deserted, not a worshipper disturbs the solitude, not a muttered prayer breaks the silence of the night ; the brazen solemn faces of the Gautaumas gleam in the shadows, and the Nats on the carved roofs seem to be mutely dancing to the music of the stars. " High striving to the upper air " the tapering cupola rises towards the heavens, from which the soughing of the midnight wind wafts down the tinkling of the jewelled bells swinging on the golden htee above. As we descend the hill again to where the monster beasts are staring with blank white faces at the moon, we muse ou the mighty power of Buddhism, the faith of hundreds of millions of the human race, and the lines embodying a current belief in Burma rise to our minds : — When white men reign, Thy glories wane, Yet blaze again While yet they reign."

Buddhist festivals are celebrated at the new moon aud the full moon, and on these days the wide platform is crowded from morn to eve with worshippers, and the stairway is thronged with as brilliant a crowd as can be seen anywhere in the East. At the foot of the hill of the Pagoda are numerous monasteries standing in shady woods. The roofs and balconies of these kioungs or monasteries are handsomely carved. Extending along the roads leading to the Pagoda there are long lines of rest-houses, intended for the use of pilgrims who come from a distance to lodge for the night. To show how tenacious the Burmans are of preserving their A SHRINE ON THE PLATFORM OP THE SHWAY DAGOHN GASP. BALBI ON SHWAY DAGOHN 13 HAP. I ancient customs, and also the antiquity of their holy places, the descriptions of Pegu by the European travellers of the sixteenth century are interesting reading.

Gasparo Balbi, a CARVED WOOD SCREEN IN A SHRINE OP THE SHWAY DAGOHN. Venetian traveller, who visited Dagohn in 1593, gives the following description of the Pagoda. He writes : — " After we were landed, we began to goe on the right hand in a large

BOOK 1

14 street about fifty paces broad, in which were some wooden houses gilded, and adorned with delicate gardens after their customs, wherein their Talapois, which are their Friers, dwelt, and looke to the Pagoda or Varella of Dagon. The left side is furnished with portals and shops, very like the new Pro curatia at Venice ; and by this street they goe towards the Varella, for the space of a good mile straight forwards, either under paint houses or in the open street, which is free to walke in. When we came to the Varella, we found a paire of staires of ninety steps, as long in my judgement as the channel of the Rialta of Venice. At the foot of the first staire are two tigres, one at the right hand and the other at the left ; these are of stone. The staires are divided into three, the first is forty steps, the second thirty, and the third twenty, and at the top of each of them is a plaine spacious place.

On the last step are Angels of stone, each with three crowns one upon the other. They have the right hand lifted up, ready to give the benediction, with tvvo fingers stretched out. The other hand of one is laid upon the head of a childe, and of the other upon the head of an Ape. These statues are all of stone. At the right hand is a Varella (Pagoda) gilded in a round form, made of stone, and as much in compasse as the streete before the Venetian Palace, if it was round, and the height may equal Saint Markes Bell-Tower, not the top of it, but the little pinnaces. At the left hand is a faire Hall carved and gilded within and without. And this is the place of devotion, whither the people goe to hear the Talapois preach ; the streete is greater than Saint Markes, at least larger. And this is a place of great devotion amongst them, and yearly multitudes of people come by sea and by land.

And when they celebrate a solemn Feast, the King in person goeth before them all, and with him the Queene, the Prince and his other sonnes, with a great traine of nobles and others, who goe to get a pardon. And on this day there is a great Mart, where are all sorts THE PAGODA MADE A FORTRESS CHAP. I 15 of merchandises which are current in those countries, which they frequent in great multitudes, and which come thither not so much for devotion as traffique, and we may freely goe thither if wee will." 1 Truly, the Shway Dagohn has altered but little in three hundred years. The stone stairways are still thronged by multitudes who come thither by land and by sea, and Rangoon is still frequented not so much for devotion as for traffic. It was indeed the wonderful opportunities which the port of Rangoon offered for trafficking in the wealthy produce of Burma that made it so desired by the British.

From Chitta gong to Ceylon there is no port its equal, and the fabled wealth of the Indies is not so well worth possessing as the vast forests and the abundant produce of the fertile land of " the Lord of the White Elephants." When wandering one day among the shrines on the platform of the Shway Dagohn, and thinking only of Gautauma and his faith, we were startled by suddenly coming across, under the shade of trees on the north side, a group of plain tomb stones with inscriptions in English commending the dead lying there to God. These are the graves of our soldiers who fell on this spot in the second Burmese war, and we are thus rudely reminded of the fact that this holy place has twice been turned into a fortress by an invading enemy. In the first Burmese war, in 1824, the hill and platform of the Pagoda were taken by the British troops without resistance, the town of Rangoon having been deserted by its inhabitants and protectors.