m- UKmUs^i WMM ^t^AHD-tAlR THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIB LADIES AMONCx PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES AN ACCOUNT OF A TOUR THROUGH BURMA GWENDOLEN TRENCH GASCOIGNE AUTHOR OK "A STEP ASIDE " WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON A. D. INNES & CO. BEDFORD STREET 1896 B?;/ ; / 5 De&icatc THIS LITTLE BOOK TO ME. DONALD SMEATON, C.S.I. (Financial Commissioner for Burma), IN MEMORY OF A DELIGHTFUL SOJOURN IN THE COUNTRY THAT HE LOVES. PREFACE. A SMALL portion of this little book first made its appearance in the pages of Tlie Sportiyig and Dramatic Netvs, and I am indebted to the Editor of that journal for his courtesy in allow- ing me to use the articles. I wish also to ex- press my gratitude to Mr. Donald Smeaton, C.S.I. (Financial Commissioner for Burma), Mrs. Manook, and Mr. Bridge (Deputy Commissioner for Mandalay), for the kind assistance that they rendered to me in giving me much valuable in- formation. I beg also to tender my best thanks to Messrs. Watson and Skeen, of Rangoon, and Messrs. Beato and Johannes, of Mandalay, for their valuable aid in allowing me to use their excellent photographs. NOTE. The author of these bright sketches succeeds in rendering her subjects attractive even to those who are already famihar with them ; and this is a kind of success which is not often attained. She came to Burma on a visit, and fell in love with the country and people at first sight. This accounts for the freshness and warmth of her colouring and her artist sympathy with the little things that concern the people. She has caught their quaint picturesque ways and pourtrayed them with fidelity. Text and pictures are true to life. I have enjoyed the little book, and so will all those who read it. The land of rubies and pearls and gold — the home of a merry, kindly, laughing people — and destined at no very distant time to rule the commerce between Western and Eastern Asia — Burma claims the attentive and sympathetic study of our countrymen at home ; and I recommend this little book to them for their introductory lesson. DONALD SMEATON. Government House, Kangoon. July 20, 1896. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAP. I. The Burmese and their Characteristics ... 19 II. The Burmese Women ... ... ... 43 III. Pagodas ... ... •■• ••• ••• G2 IV. Miscellaneous ... ... •■• ••• 91 V. Mandalay ... ... ■■■ •■• ■•■ 119 VI. Mandalay — The Palace ... ... ■•• 142 VII. On the Eiver ... ... ... ... 168 VIII. Bhamo and Tsembo ... ... ■•• 189 IX. The Flora of Burma ... ... ••• 212 X. On the River below Mandalay ... ... 224 XL Rice — and its Treatment ... ... .•• 249 XII. " Pohn-gyees " ... ... ••• ••• 262 XIII. Burmese Language and Literature ... ... 277 XIV. Ear-boring, Tattooing, and the Burial of THE Dead ... ... ••• ••• 294 13 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. SHWAY DAGOHN ... ... ... ... FlVlltisjliece PAGE THE QUAY AND MARKET, RANGOON ... ... 24 RANGOON ... ... ... ... ... ... 26 LITTLE BURMESE GIRLS DRESSED FOR A PWE ... 33 A BURMESE LADY ... ... ... ... ... 35 A BURMESE SCHOOL ... ... ... ... 39 A BURMESE BEAUTY ... ... ■ ... ... 44 BURMESE GIRLS ... ... ... ... 49 A BURMESE GIRL MAKING CHEROOTS ... ... ... 55 A BURMESE GIRL DRESSING HER HAIR ... ... 58 A DANCING GIRL POSTURING ... ... ... ... 59 THE SHWAY DAGOHN ... ... ... ... 63 VIEW OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA FROM DALHOUSIE PARK ... 66 MONASTERIES AND REST - HOUSES ROUND THE GOLDEN PAGODA ... ... ... ... ... 68 SOUTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE GOLDEN PAGODA ... ... 70 15 ]6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE VIEW OP THE GOLDEN PAGODA FROM CANTONMENT GARDEN 75 SHRINES SURROUNDING THE GOLDEN PAGODA ... 77 DOORWAY AT THE SUMMIT OF STEPS LEADING TO THE GOLDEN PAGODA ... ... ... ... 79 THE GREAT BELL AT THE GOLDEN PAGODA ... '81 THE SULAY PAGODA... ... ... ... ... 85 ELEPHANTS AT WORK STACKING TIMBER ... ... 92 ELEPHANT PUSHING A LOG INTO POSITION ... ... 93 DALHOUSIE PARK ... ... ... ... 94 DRIVE BY THE SIDE OF THE LAKE IN DALHOUSIE PARK ... 95 THE LAKE, DALHOUSIE PARK ... ... ... 99 A EUROPEAN BUNGALOW ... ... ... ... 105 CARTS BEING LOADED WITH PINEAPPLES ... ... 108 A COUNTRY PWE ... ... ... ... ... 114 GIRLS DANCING AT A PWE ... ... ... 117 bird's-eye VIEW OF MANDALAY AND THE SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN PAGODAS ... ... ... 121 A BURMAN HOUSE ... ... ... ... 126 A MANDALAY CART ... ... ... ... ... 129 AN UP-COUNTRY CART ... ... ... ... 133 BURMESE GIRLS WEAVING W'lTH A HAND-LOOM ... ... 136 THE PALACE, MANDALAY... ... ... ... 143 GARDEN ON SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE PALACE ... ... 146 A BURMESE SOLDIER IN KING THEBAw's TIME ... 149 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 17 PAGE 151 THE PALACE THE MINISTER OF POLICE IN KING THEBAW'S TIME . portion' OP THE INCOMPARABLE PAGODA THE COWN MHE DAW THE queen's monastery AT MANDALAY MINGOHN PAGODA THE GREAT BELL ... A TEAK RA'FT ... A NATIVE VILLAGE ... ENTRANCE TO SECOND DEFILE BHAMO THE CHINESE QUARTER OF BHABIO SHAN MAN AND WOMAN THE FIRST DEFILE NEAR THE ELEPHANT ROCK. FIRST DEFILE NEAR THE PASHA GATE. FIRST DEFILE TSEMBO TEAK RAFTS 997 NATIVE VILLAGE BELOW MANDALAY ... ••• ... -j_ji AN IRRAWADDY SAILING BOAT ■ PAGAHN PAGAHN PROME 2 158 ... 160 164 ... 166 169 ... 171 177 ... 183 187 ... 190 193 ... 197 200 ... 201 203 ... 209 219 229 ... 231 235 ... 239 18 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE NATIVE BOATS, BANGOON... ... ... ... 255 POHN-GYEES TEACHING ... ... ... ... 263 A BEGGING MONK ... ... ... ... 268 THE PYRE... ... ... ... ... ... 273 A POHN-GYEE BYAN ... ... ... ... 275 SHIPPING AT RANGOON ... ... ... ... 310 CHAPTEE I. THE BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. OUT of the infinite variety of travellers who visit the East, comparatively few stay their steps, or turn aside in their wanderings, to look upon Burma. To many, Burma is a mere name on the map : a place where some ten years ago we deposed a king named Thebaw and annexed a further large tract of country which was at that time full of Dacoits, fever, and rubies ; the last named can be purchased now with greater ease at Mr. Streeter's, in Bond Street ! Therefore, until lately, Burma has been left in comparative peace, and has been spared that most terrible of all scourges, the globe-trotter. True, a few of the most inveterate Yankees have journeyed every winter up the Irrawaddy, done Eangoon and Mandalay, asked questions, criticised everything, and at the end have come to the satisfactory con- clusion that there exists no country and no people 19 20 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. but the Americans. I doubt myself if those same contented Yankees did really see Burma ; of course, in American parlance, they " did it," but Burma and the Burmese require something more subtle than a mere casual hurried glance. They want a steadfast concentrated gaze beneath the surface, a little microscopic inspection, a little old-world leisure to enable you to obtain any real insight into their ways, habits, legends, and character. The idea of paying a visit to Burma presented itself to us like one of those happy chances that do occasionally fall to people's lot, and it is a chance for which we shall always be grateful. We left England with no more idea of going to Burma than we had of going to the moon ! We merely intended to make the usual respectable, stereotype Indian tour, when fortune (that tickle muse) decreed that among the many pleasant fellow-passengers on board that most excellent ship the Oriental, we should have the good fortune to make the acquaintance of Mr. Donald Smeaton, Financial Commissioner for Burma. Few people have the knowledge and interest in Burma that Mr. Smeaton possesses, and few people have had his enormous energy in carrying out and develop- ing the country under his charge in the way that he has done. Mr. Smeaton has an intense love for Burma and its inhabitants, and the many years which he has spent there, both before and after BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 21 the annexation, have given him an insight and sympathy with his snrronndings which is rarely found, and ought indeed to be rarely prized. It was owing to Mr. Smeaton's advice, and to his warm and hospitable invitation to stay with him and Mrs. Smeaton at Eangoon, that we decided to give up a part of our tour in Northern India, and instead direct our steps to Burma ; and it was in consequence of this decision that in the middle of February, 1895, we found ourselves steaming down to Diamond Harbour to join the British India steamer Africa^ which was to bear us to Rangoon. AVe were spared the voyage dowm the Hooghly, as the mails arrived late that week, and were therefore sent on to Diamond Harbour by train to join the ship. I was not inconsolable at thus missing that portion of the journey, as I confess to having a holy horror of the Hooghly and its horrible erie currents and terrible James and Mary sandbanks, wliere so many a good ship has gone down. The pilot arrangements are marvellous, and the survey of the river most complete. As these sandbanks are constantly shifting, a system of telegraph is in practice to give notice of the exact position of these sandbanks, but even with that assistance the difficulty and danger of navigation is enormous. The Hooghly pilots are too well known to fame to need any words of mine in their praise. We carried ours, a very pleasant young man, with us to Ran- 22 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. goon, and at the mouth of the Irrawaddy we took another one on board to take the ship up the Irra- waddy, which is also, though in a far less degree, very difficult of navigation. In any case we felt extremely well protected with two pilots and a captain on board. The journey from Calcutta to Eangoon takes from three to four days, and in the winter is not unpleasant, even though it has to be accomplished in a British India steamer, where cockroaches are too frequent guests, the cooking not quite on a par with the Cafe Anglais, and where the deck room reserved for the European passengers is of a very limited description. Our voyage was splendid. We floated easily and happily over a summer sea, upon which no ripple came to disturb our tranquillity. Our first view of Burma was a low uneven coast, showing over our port quarter, and at the same time we noticed, though then miles from the land, that the whole sea much resembled the colour of pea-soup, a dark, muddy brown, and the water was absolutely thick with the particles of sand. This sand is swept down from the many mouths of the Irrawaddy, which flow into the Bay of Bengal at that point. The country that you look upon after entering the river on the way up to Rangoon is flat, and possesses no very striking feature of interest. As BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 25 you approach nearer to the town, your gaze lights upon innumerable rice mills of every grade, large and small. These mills have increased immensely during recent years, and Bangoon is now one of the largest depots for rice, and the amount tran- shipped from there every year is something fabu- lous. The rice-mills cannot be accused of being in the least ornamental, their horrible smoking chimneys remind one very unpleasantly of Bir- mingham, Sheffield, or Leeds. The country is not prepossessing, and the river, though broad, is of the same dirty brown hue, and like the sea, thick with sand. Everything at this point is ugly and unattractive with the one blessed exception, "the great Golden Pagoda," which shines forth from its green hill sparkling and exulting in its own splendid magnificence, and giving one a thrill of joy and delight as one's eyes rest upon it. It seems from the river to tower above Eangoon, to stand there like a brilliant golden sentinel guarding the inhabitants from evil. At first it is a mere glitter- ing speck among the green verdure, but at each bend of the river it grows, and grows, until at length the graceful proportions are fully revealed, and the airy spire is distinctly visible its delicate point stretching far up towards the blue heavens. On approaching near to Eangoon the river was crowded with shipping, it being part of the busiest season of the year when the rice is being packed 26 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. and despatched to all parts of the world. Every kind and condition of ship were lying off to bear the much coveted grain away. Besides the rice- boats there were endless craft from every part of the world. Great passenger steamers of the Bibi Line, British India steamers, Irrawaddy river steamers, not to mention sampans and dugouts i ^^i ^^SfldHBIfl ?9^^^I^^H^^RKiL xi& ■i ' .-fliii^ w which ilew about in all directions. The scene on the quay was a most animated one, and the colour, noise, and general picturesqueness made it one of great interest and attractiveness. My first impression of llangoon was one of un- mitigated delight. I expected to land in a country much resembling India, and instead I discovered that I was in a new world, and one that was in BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 27 many respects infinitely more picturesque, and possessed even more charm and originality. Eangoon itself is a large flourishing town with a population of some 180,324. It is the centre of the government and official administrations of Burma, and besides possesses an enormous com- mercial colony. The actual town is decidedly attractive ; the streets are broad, many of the public buildings are fine, and the infinite variety of architecture of which the houses are composed gives it a very distinct and unique character. In one street you may see European, Burmese, and Chinese houses side by side, and bearing each other company in excellent part, the picturesque- ness of the two latter throwing a kindly halo of beauty over their less comely and more common- place neighbour. The inhabitants of Eangoon have quite as much variety as the architecture of their houses. The native of India is to be seen squatting in any conveniently shady corner. John Chinaman, with his long pig-tail and broad, good-tempered counte- nance, stalks along as if the whole place belonged to him ; the Burra-Memsaib with her smart pony- cart, and a husband who receives his thousand rupees a month, dashes in and out among the motley crowd; and last, but oh! not least, the Burmese themselves, with their charming person- ahty, their brilHant coloured dresses, and their 28 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. easy, joyous light-heartedness, flit about, or stand in picturesque groups holding gay and animated converse. The Burmese have been called the " Irish of the East," I should rather designate them as " the Italians of the East." They possess that peculiar charm of being intensely simpatica^ which is so distinct an attribute of the Italian race. The courteous manners, the delight in mere existence, the childish pleasure of the moment and the intense love of a joke — though perhaps this latter is more Irish than Italian — all these delightful qualities are theirs, and certainly their sense of humour is the most acute that I have ever beheld. It is said that if a Burman's house takes fire he laughs instead of cries, and then gets up a Pwe (native play) on the charred ruins. I remember being much struck with this same sense of humour at Mandalay. When we were embarking upon the steamer, a crowd of about twenty youths gathered round to take our four or five little boxes on to the boat. My husband, w^ho had become rather tired of paying twenty people where four would do, told our native bearer to choose three or four out of the crowd and send off the rest. This, how^ever, was not so easily manoeuvred, and words had to be a little emphasised with fists, w4iich resulted in some of the gay Burmans taking a slight roll in their native sand, but this did not in the least BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 29 disconcert or anger them. They merely looked upon it as a most excellent joke, and peals of laughter were the only result. The Burman, alas! resembles the Italian in some of his bad qualities ; in his love of idleness he is essentially given to a dolce far iiiente existence, or let us say that he is extremely successful in his power of doing nothing. He is generous to an amazing degree ; the hoard- ing of money which is so strong a characteristic of the native of India does not seem to be a part of the Burman's nature. If a Burman is possessed of a little money it is generally expended upon what is described as a work of merit. The build- ing of a pagoda, the making a road, or the con- structing of a bridge, all of which works are supposed to bring great kudos in this world, and a rich reward in the next. Should his money not be expended in this laudable manner it is probably spent on a Pwe (native play), or in gambling or betting. The Burman again resembles the Italian in his inveterate love of games of chance ; he is the most confirmed gambler that it is possible to imagine. A horse race, a cock tight, a boat race, or cards, have the most curious fascination for him, and his excitement on the two former occa- sions is absolutely grotesque. As the horses come by, or the boats flash past, he dances, shrieks, laughs, pulls his hair down, takes his coat ofi, in fact, behaves like the child that he is. In no way. 30 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. perhaps, can one better describe the incongruity of his nature than by saying that he is nothing more than a charming child : with all the delightful freshness of youth, the absolute abandonment of himself to the present moment, without any gnawing anxiety for the future — that future which in his undevelopment he perhaps does not entirely realise. He again resembles the Italian in his curiously superstitious nature. The Burman's fear of the evil eye and of evil spirits which they call "Nats," is prodigious. Their belief in witch- craft, and in the importance of lucky days, new moons, the efficacy of charms of all sorts, &c., are among their most steadfast beliefs. In religion they are Buddhists, but their intense dread of demons and nats, which they are always striving to propitiate, amounts almost to a second religion, and one which, in many cases, produces a stronger hold upon them. The Burman is innately courteous and given to hospitality ; not that he has quite arrived at that generous pitch which is now so nuich in vogue with certain fashionable London dames, of giving a magnifi- cent entertainment to otlicr people's frioids ! The Burman wisely prefers to entertain his own friends, and he is probably more fortunate than many a London hostess, seeing that he possesses many of them. We had a charming example of Burman hospitality and courtesy while staying at Bhamo. BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 31 One morning as we were walking up the pic- turesque straggling street we passed a particularly attractive Burman house, with two charming little Burmese maidens seated in the verandah. I begged the friend with whom we were walking, and who spoke Burmese, if he would ask the little ladies if I might be allowed to see their home. They assented joyfully, and showed us all over with evident pride and satisfaction, and then gave me the warmest invitation to go and stay with them, adding that they would then show me all over Bhamo. I was, alas ! reluctantly obliged to refuse this tempting offer, as we were leaving for Tsembo early the following morning. Another example of courtesy was shown to us also at Bhamo. We were standing in the street one afternoon, watching a Pwe which was being acted, and we had' not been there many minutes before two chairs were brought out and placed in a good position, and by signs we were made to under- stand that they were intended for us. After seat- ing ourselves great care was taken that none of the audience should stand in front of us, or in any way impede our view of the proceedings. I shall give a description of these Pwes later on, as they are a national institution, and a great feature of Burma. Contentment is another strong characteristic of the Burmese. They do not resemble us of the 32 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. restless West, who are for ever striving after some- thing new, something that we do not possess. Life is easy in Burma ; the curse of Cain does not appear to have fallen upon this happy people, for the rice grows in glorious plenitude without the need of incessant toil. If a Burman has enough of that valuable product to eat, a smart " pasoh " (silk petticoat) to wear, sufficient cheroots to smoke, betel-nut to chew, and a little money to gamble with, he is quite content. No doubt this lack of ambition is in many w^ays very derogatory to the progress of the country. The Burman's apathy and dislike to any work has unfortunately made it absolutely necessary to import much foreign labour, and now nearly all the work of the country is done by coolies from India and Chinamen. This influx from India and China is, alas ! much on the increase, and is greatly to be deplored, as it is feared that by degrees the Burmans as a distinct race will dis- appear altogether, or become so merged into the other races that they will lose all their individu- ality and distinct characteristics. In personal appearance the Burmese are very small, their type of features being decidedly Japanese, from their Mongolian descent. Their faces are broad and fiat, and the eyes inclined to be almond-shaped, and placed rather far apart. In complexion they are light coloured. Some of BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 33 the girls are excessively pretty, and the dress of both sexes is most picturesque. The woman's costume consists of a loose white linen jacket, or should they be rich, of a brocaded jacket, with rather large bell-shaped sleeves, and a " tamehn " which is a long piece of silk or cotton, about a yard and a half in length and a trifle less in width. LITTLE BUllMESE GIRLS DRESSED FOR A PWE. This "tamehn" is generally made in two pieces, of different patterns, the lower part forming a border. The "tamehn" is worn hke a very tight skirt, and is fastened round the chest, the two ends being attached together by a wonderfully cunning twist which, astonishing as it may seem, appears to make the garment quite secure. This petticoat displays clearly the symmetry of the 3 34 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. figure that it covers, and, unless managed with great dexterity, and worn hy a person who is fully versed in the swaying movement necessary to keep it in its place, might possibly leave a trifle less than was desirable to the imagination ! Over their shoulders they throw a dainty little coloured shawl, or, if they are very smart, a fine piece of em- broidered crepe. Their hair is black, and generally long and silky, and this they wear coiled round and round on the crown of the head in what is called a " sadohn," on one side of which they arrange with much taste a bunch of flowers. Should nature not have been bountiful to them in the matter of hair, they add on false tails freely without the smallest shame, and you see the men as w^ell as the women washing their false tails and putting them on with the most amusing sang fivid ! The colouring of the silks and the coquettish manner in which a Burmese woman dresses herself, makes her a most attractive and picturesque vision. The men's dress bears a strong resemblance to that of the women, and is quite as fascinating in its way. They wear the same kind of large white linen jacket, and a shorter silk petticoat called a " pasoh " ; this is a straight piece of stuff generally of some delicate soft-hued silk measuring about seven to eight yards long, and one yard broad. This petticoat has no border, and is consequently nnich BURMESE AND. THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 35 shorter than the women's "tamehn," and displays a good portion of calf and ankle, "but what it loses in length it more than gains in width, as it is A BUBMESE LADY. most voluminous in its proportions. This gar- ment is worn in much the same manner as the " tamehn " except that it is hound round the loins 36 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. instead of round the chest. It is attached with the same cunning twist of the ends and it then hangs dowai in front in flowing, graceful folds, rather resembling a large sash. The men w^ear their hair long and are extremely proud of having as much as they can, false or real ! They w^ear it also coiled, hut put on the very top of the head in what they designate by the term " young " ; round this they tie turban-fashion a brilliant coloured handkerchief, the ends of which hang tastefully down on one side. It is a w^onderfully becoming dress, and a group of Burmans is quite one of the most pleasing and picturesque sights im- aginable. Another of their most cherished pleasures, which might be termed a strong characteristic or habit, as it is most prevalent among all the Burmese, is their extraordinary devotion to smoking. Men, women, and even children — I have seen tiny things of not more than four or five puffing aw^ay with evident satisfaction and delight at enormous cigars. The Burmese cheroots are prodigious in size, measuring from ten to twelve inches long, and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, but they are, I am told, very mild. The women manage their smoking with astonishing grace, and there is a coquettish charm in the way that they wdeld their gigantic cheroots, and a delightful pucker of their rosebud mouths as they try to BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 37 grasp them with their little red lips, which adds to rather than detracts from their charms. There is no denying that the Burman is a volatile, changeahle creature. This characteristic even displays itself in the children, who, I am told, often become weary of one school and go to another, and then tire of that and try a third, and so on, merely for the pleasure of change. The Burman is, I fear, also hardly a trustworthy individual ; not the least from any evil-minded- ness, but merely that with his airy, legere cha- racter he forgets ; or at the moment that a duty has to be performed it is not a lucky time to do it, and so it does not commend itself to him, and he therefore calmly ignores the whole thing. For instance, I am told that a Burman is seldom or never employed as a signalman, for the excellent reason that he would one day turn the signals on the right way, the next he would probably have forgotten all about the existence of such a thing as a train, or would have gone off to a Pwe or a pagoda feast, or perhaps it would not have been a lucky moment to do it in, so that the passengers and the train would have fared rather indifferently. And yet with all their faults and all their short- comings there is no denying that, as a nation, they are a most fascinating people. One of the strongest impressions that you have with regard to a Burman, is that he is emphatically a " gentle- 38 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. man"; he has none of the cringmg, whmmg, detestable manner of the native of India, and he possesses that essence of good breeding, of always being perfectly at his ease. Burma is a very democratic country, as there is no hereditary upper class. Burmans are said to have an inordinately good opinion of themselves, and of their own capa- bilities. They put a high estimate on their own qualities, and no doubt they are not entirely unwise, for the world generally takes you at your own valuation ; and if you have the opportunity of impressing sufficiently upon people that you are very clever or very smart, or very important, they generally, in time, end by believing you. The Burmans are extremely fond of all sorts of games ; they play a kind of chess in which they greatly delight, and boxing and football are both pastimes which appear much to commend them- selves to them. Football they play with a vast deal of dexterity, tucking up their silk petti- coats in a very amusing manner, and kicking the ball far into the air. It is quite a different game to our football. The players arrange themselves in a circle ; they then start a very light, wicker-made ball, and the great object is to keep the ball going as long as possible, and not to allow it to fall to the ground. They are not allowed to touch the ball with the hand, but they catch it on BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 39 their shoulders, ankles, feet, &c., and they do this with marvellous skill, sometimes even jump- ing into the air and catching the hall on the heel. It cannot he said that courage is a very strong feature of the Burmese character. Fighting does not form part of the things which their soul generally hankers after. They are peaceably A BURMESE SCHOOL. inclined, and if they desire to obtain any especial object they prefer that it should be gamed by craftiness rather than by force. An amusmg story of their diplomacy is told by Shway Yoe (Mr. Scott) in his dehghtful book, which I venture to quote: "The Burmans and the Shans (a tribe who inhabits a large district of Upper Burma) had a dispute over a fine tract of paddy 40 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. land. The Shans were perfectly ready to settle the question by force — not so the Burmans ; that mode of procedure did not appeal to them, and they therefore resorted to diplomacy, and advised that the settlement of the question should be referred to the arbitration of an aged hermit, who suggested that the tribe who should first erect a pagoda should possess the much coveted land. Both sides accordingly set to work, but the Bur- mans soon discovered that the steady, hard-working Shans were entirely outstripping them. So they took counsel together, and determined to have recourse to stratagem, and at night they con- structed a framework of bamboo, the required height of the proposed pagoda, they then draped the skeleton with cloth, which they covered with white plaster. The effect from a distance was so admirable that it completely deceived the Shans, who departed to their own country in despair, firmly impressed with the idea that a miracle had been performed." There is rather a curious and interesting account given of the first authentic travellers in Burma by Sir Arthur Phayre in his history of Burma, which I also venture to quote in his own words : — " The first authentic narrative of travel in the countries of the Irawadi is by a Venetian, Nicolo di Conti. This traveller resided during the first quarter of the fifteenth century at Damascus as a BURMESE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 41 merchant. He proceeded to Bussorah, and thence by sea, in company with some Persian merchants, to Cambay and Ceylon. He next went to the port of Tenasserim, then a place of importance, and from that to Bengal. After having sailed up the river Ganges he returned to the coast, and took ship apparently at a port oh the Megna for Arakan. He arrived at the estuary or mouth of the river, which he calls Kacha, and which foreigners still call the Arakan river, though that is not the native name. He proceeded to the capital, which he correctly states has the same name as the river. He then went eastwards across the mountains, still apparently accompanied by some of his Persian friends until they reached the river Irawadi, which he calls Dava, no doubt from the name of the capital. He proceeded up to Ava, where he arrived probably during or about a.d. 1430, when Monhyin Mengtara was king. He names the country Macinus or Mahachin, a term he learnt from his Persian or Indian companions. He describes two methods of trapping and taming wild elephants as practised by the natives, the white elephant kept by the king, the rhinoceros, and other animals. He mentions some customs characteristic of the people. " Nicolo returned to the sea-coast by the Taungu routes, and speaks of the city of Pegu, the capital of the province of the same name. 42 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. " The next traveller, whose narrative of a visit to Burma or Pegu has been preserved, is Athanasius Nikitin of Iwer. He travelled in Asia between the years 14G8 and 1474. He went to the city of Pegu, but only mentions the Indian traders there. He does not note the difference of race between them and the Burmese or Talaings. " The Genoese merchant Hieronimo di Santo Stefano went to India from Egypt with Hieronimo Adorno from Coromandel; they came to Pegu, and arrived at the city of that name in the year 1496. This was during the reign of Binya Ran, King of Pegu. He mentions Ava, where grow rubies and many other precious stones. ' Our wish was to go to this place, but at that time the two princes were at war, so that no one was allowed to go from the one place to the other.' The native histories do not mention any actual war between the kings of Pegu and Burma at this time ; but Binya Ran attacked Dwjirawati, a city or fort belonging to Taungu, which was very likely to bring about war with Ava. Hieronimo Adorno died in Pegu on St. John's Day. The property of the deceased was seized as a forfeit to the king, according to the law of Burma and Pegu in the case of foreigners dying in the country. The property was, after much delay, restored to the survivor, but the traveller was detained in the country for a year and a half." CHAPTEK II. THE BUKMESE WOMEN. THE Burmese women are such an important and unique feature of Burma that I feel that they demand, ay, and deserve, a chapter to themselves. In no country, I think I may say — except perhaps in America — have women such a prominent posi- tion as in Burma. Utterly unlike their miserahle Mahomedan and Hindoo sisters, they enjoy ahso- lute liberty — a liberty of which, if rumour prove true, they make ample use. Women's rights are not in Burma an illusive dream, a thing to be shrieked and struggled after, they are an accomplished fact. The Burmese are all "new women," and take a very forAvard and active part in all matters per- taining to business. Few husbands would dare to enter into any mercantile arrangements without the aid or advice of their wives ; at least the probability is that should any poor deluded man be so unwise he would hear a good deal more about the matter than he quite desired. 44 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. A Burmese woman is generally supposed to have quite as good a head for business, if not better, than her husband, and she is extremely clever in arranging a good bargain, and will often in her husband's absence drive a harder one than he would, and conduct the sale of a whole crop of paddy with masterly capability. A BURMESE BEAUTY. In matters pertaining to law, or with regard to property where legal documents have to be drawn up, and also in the case of taxes, the woman's name always appears as well as the man's ; but there is another reason to be assigned for this, i.e., that the Burmese have no surnames, so that the woman's name is partly introduced to avoid any mistake or confusion. THE BURMESE WOMEN. 45 In that most important relation of life, marriage, the Burmese young lady practically settles the question for herself. She probably enjoys a good deal more liberty in her choice of a husband than is accorded to many an English maiden, though the latter certainly has the chance now of pur- suing her victims on a bicycle, or let us say of being pursued by them ! The Burmese girl, though not yet possessed of that useful and excellent machine, is not slow to discover numerous places and opportunities for meeting her admirers. For instance, at the many pagoda feasts, at a Pwe, or when she goes market- ing at the bazaar ; all these are excellent rendez- vous, and certainly, to judge from my own observations, she is not behindhand in the old- world art of flirtation. There is nothing vulgar in the way that she practises it. All is conducted with the utmost charm and grace, and the young man must be stony-hearted indeed if he does not fall down before the blandishments of one of these bewitching little damsels. As a matter of form, it is necessary that the girl should have her parents' consent to her marriage, as should she be unwise enough to marry without it they retain the power (should they choose to be so extremely disagree- able) of separating their daughter from her hus- band, even in the event of their having been married for some years and possessing children. 46 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. The parents' consent practically legalises the marriage. Ptunaway matches are not unknown in Burma, but in such cases the parents are seldom very severe to the delinquents. They are too easy- going and too indolent to exert themselves to take any very strenuous measures, though occasionally in Lower Burma the father of the girl insists upon the separation of the young couple until the husband has procured a situation. But even this laudable and praiseworthy idea is usually aban- doned, from the intense apathy and idleness of their natures, and the young people are simply blessed and forgiven. After marriage it was. formerly the custom for the bride and bridegroom to take up their abode (at all events for a time) with the bride's parents ; the girl was then able to learn from her mother the mysteries of becoming a good Hans Fran, while the fortunate husband was supposed to do his share of the work, to be at his dear mother-in- law's beck and call, and to help to sustain the home and make himself generally useful and agreeable. Charming and enviable position, no doubt, but not one, methinks, that would quite commend itself to an English husband ! However, such was the custom of the country, and very little choice was given to the young people, as should they have ventured to have put THE BURMESE WOMEN. 47 forth new ideas, or advanced the unseemly sugges- tion of setting up house alone they would have been looked upon with great disfavour. With old- fashioned people this custom is still continued. Should the bride or bridegroom be an only child, the couple remained with the parents until their death. A very tender and filial action, and one much to be commended, but it might perchance prove a little trying and irksome to English tempers. The Burmese are more amiable and more easy-going, and they are also more ready to share the goods which the gods have bestowed upon them, and are not so grasping and avaricious. These customs, I am told now, are no longer practised as a regular thing. It is permitted for a man to have two or more wives should he desire it, but this is a custom little in vogue in Burma, probably because the Burman finds that one wife is generally more than sufficient for him to manage, and that his life would be one of great unrest, and become a bewildering tangle of excitement if he possessed more than one of these resolute but bewitching- little dames. I can well believe that a henpecked husband is not quite an unknown quantity in Burma. The age at which most of the men marry is from eighteen to twenty, and the girls from about four- teen to fifteen. The preliminary love-making is 48 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. conducted in much the same manner as in other countries. The old, old story is related with the same fervour and devotion, and the little Burmese girls receive the tidings with charming flashes of their bright dancing brown eyes, and coquettish shrugs of their graceful little shoulders. The authorised courting, by which I mean the courting which takes place after the suitor has paid his addresses to the parents, and been approved by them, is carried on in a different and rather original manner. It seldom takes place in dayhght, the proper courting hour being between nine and ten o'clock at night, when a lamp is placed in the window by the young lady to give notice that she is ready to receive her admirer. The reason for this curious hour having been selected is hard to explain ; it may be because the Burman is so indolent that he prefers to doze comfortably during the hot hours of the day, or that he vainly hopes to find his lady's heart kinder when the evening shadows lie on the tired earth, or when the moonbeams weave cunning webs of light around the sacred pagoda. Whatever the reason be, between nine and ten o'clock is the mystic hour, and at nine o'clock the young lover sallies forth to see " his fair lady." He is attended by two or three chosen swains, and this gay company betake themselves to the bride's abode. Arrived at the house, they wait without THE BURMESE WOMEN. 49 until they are informed that the parents have safely disposed of themselves in bed. They are then bidden to enter, and find the girl ready \Yaiting to BURMESE CilULS. receive the attentions of her lover. She is arrayed in all her very best apparel, which probably con- sists of a dehcate rose-pink "tamehn," with the 4 50 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. purest of white linen jackets. A dainty bunch of flowers peeps wistfully out from among the dark, glossy coils of her hair, while, if she be fairly well to do, glistening gems glitter in her little ears, and a fascinating embroidered crape scarf is thrown across her shapely shoulders. If fair to see (and we will imagine that she is so), she looks bewilder- ingly charming with her flashing brown eyes, and rosebud mouth drawn up into a becoming pout by the prodigious cheroot at which she puffs with intense satisfaction. The girl is sometimes alone, sometimes also attended by a clicre cnnie. When this latter is the case, the two sets of friends are probably not loth to entertain each other, and the happy pair are left to undisputed enjojment of their blissful lovers' hour. The parents, though supposed to be comfortably installed in bed and asleep, are in reality very much awake, and are keeping a silent but strict watch upon the pro- ceedings of the young people, and they are quite ready to check severely any courting on the part of the lover which they consider a little too ardent or demonstrative. At length, when all the preliminary part has been successfully accomplished, all the arrange- ments concluded, a proper dowry fixed upon, and that most important of all important things in a Burman's mind, a lucky day chosen, the marriage takes place in the bride's house. THE BURMESE WOMEN. 51 There is nothing whatever pertaining to a rehgious service about it, as Buddhists, to which faith the Burmese belong, do not consider that rehgion plays any part in what is to them a merely social contract, and a Buddhist priest would con- sider his presence at a wedding most out of place. There is ahvays a large feast, and of course a Pwe (native play), as a Burman can do nothing without that national amusement. The only approach to a ceremony that does occasionally take place is the following : the bride and bridegroom are seated upon the ground opposite to each other, they are then bound together with a white scarf, and they eat a little rice out of the same bowl, and join their right hands together palm to palm. But even these extremely simple rites are more often dispensed with, and the feasting and the Pwe are considered amply sufficient to solem- nise the union. In some parts of Burma, in out-of-the-way country villages, they still retain a curious cus- tom of tying a cord across the road along which the bridegroom must pass on his way to his home. They then demand money from him before he is allowed to proceed on his way. Should he refuse this backshish, they break the cord with a curse on the newly-married pair. They have yet an older and still more disagree- 52 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. able custom, which is, that on the wedding night a party of gay young bachelors assemble round the house of the newly-married pair, and pelt it with stones and sticks, which is extremely detrimental to the flimsy bamboo structures, and often results in serious damage being effected to the house, and not unfrequently to the occupants. This custom is especially curious, as it resembles a practice still occasionally in vogue in very out-of-the-way and rural villages in England, of throwing stones and firing guns round the abode of a newly-wedded pair. Divorce is delightfully easy of attainment in Burma. Sir George Lewis and Sir Charles Russell would find their services little in requi- sition. The marriage ties are easily loosed and cast aside, almost for the mere asking. A woman can leave her husband if he is poor and cannot support her, or if he leads a lazy life, or if he is old and ailing, or should become crippled after marriage, he can be readily disposed of ! A man is at liberty to divorce his wife if she fail in presenting him with a male child ; but I am not in a position to say what period of time the lady is allowed to fulfil her part of the compact ; he can also divorce her if she does not show him proper affection, or if she persists in going to places of which he does not approve. Temporary divorces are also occasionally resorted THE BURMESE WOMEN. 53 to. A Burman told my friend Mr. Smeaton one day, that he had not been quite satisfied with his wife's behaviour, and that therefore he thought that a temporary divorce would be a most ju- dicious measure. I did not happen to hear if the ladies also resort to this means with re- fractory husbands, but I can quite believe that it w^ould be possible. Probably because divorce is so easy of attain- ment it is not very frequently taken advantage of. Burmans are very affectionate husbands and fathers ; family affection is a very strong trait of the Burman character, and in the event of their wives not always giving them complete satisfac- tion, they are generally too indolent, or let us say too good-natured, to do more than reason with them. When a Burmese woman marries, any property which she may possess, either from her own earnings or by inheritance, is hers entirely, and is set apart for her children or heirs ; and in the event of her being divorced she has the powder of taking her own property away with her; also any money that a wife earns herself after marriage belongs exclusively to herself. Thus the Burmese are quite as advanced and up to date, if not more so, than we of the West, and I believe I am right in saying that these laws concerning women's property existed in Burma long before the Woman's Property Act was passed in England. 54 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. The Burmese women put all their fortunes as a rule into jewellery. Some possess really lovely diamonds. While staying with Mr. Donald Smeaton at Eangoon, many charming little Burmese ladies used to come to pay their devoir to Mrs. Smeaton. They would all come in and arrange themselves on the floor in a row, or in a circle, and laugh and chatter together like little birds, or if they brought an interpreter with them, they sat quiet with wistful little faces trying hard to understand what was said. Many of them, though not at all rich, had beautiful jewels, earrings and rings were what they mostly affected. The former were large rounds, set with five or six huge diamonds, emeralds, or rubies, which I noticed were always cut into sharp points, and not like ours in flat angles. The earrings are all of the same pattern, and they showed us how cunningly devised they were, as the gold settings with the stones were made to unscrew and allow of other stones being sub- stituted. The little ladies took immense interest in our European clothes, and fingered them all over with profound wonder. I expect that in their hearts they thought them very ugly after their lovely silks. The refreshments that they most delighted to partake of were jam, cake, and tea ; but the former THE BURMESE WOMEN. 55 was their great delight, and they ate it with enor- mous gusto, and generally with their lingers. I met two or three Burmese ladies at Rangoon who were most charming, and spoke English extremely well. One of them was kind enough to go shopping with us one morning, and assisted us in hargainingfor the lovely Burmese silks which are a great product A BURMESE GIRL MAKING CHEROOTS. of Burma. They are woven on hand looms, mostly at Mandalay and at Amarapura, and are of the most hrilliant and yet with all the most artistic colours imaginable. The little shop to which we went would have made a charming study for an artist. The costly silks strewn about in a wondrous mass of warm glowing colour. In one 56 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. corner sat a group of Burmans choosing with infinite care some new pasohs, fingering the delicate materials with knowledgeable acnteness, gossiping, smoking, and bargaining in their indolent graceful way ; while in the opposite corner, we stood watching two or three dainty Burmese maidens, who flitted here and there dragging out each moment more of their tempt- ing wares, and casting dazzling pieces of fabric down before our eager gaze. We spent a delight- ful half hour in that seductive shop, but we came out very nuich poorer than we went in. I have said at the beginning of this chapter that the Burmese are modern women, and so they are in their capability, intelligence, business-like habits and liberty ; but how vastly different to the modern woman of England ; ay, at the risk of their wishing to tear me in pieces, I must say it, how enormously superior to the shrieking, lectur- ing, struggling, unmannerly female, this terrible product of the nineteenth century, who is for ever screaming her rights upon platforms, and losing all that delicate womanly charm, in which if she could only be persuaded to see it, lies the secret of her greatest influence. The Burmese woman has shown herself far wiser : she has placed the limitation at the right point, she has possessed herself of her liberty, but yet she has retained that gem beyond all price — her winsome womanhood. THE BURMESE WOMEN. 57 the greatest and most powerful weapon for the subduing of man. It is curious that the Bunnese who are certainly in some ways so apparently civilised, should in others be almost barbaric in some of their customs. For example, on the birth of a child the Burmese mother is as nearly killed with what might be deemed kindness, but is in reahty the most gross ignorance, as can possibty be conceived. ^Miat- ever the state of the weather, even if the thermo- meter stand at llO or more, the miserable mother, directl}- the child is in the world, is placed as near to a huge fire as it is possible. Hot bricks, rugs, and blankets are piled upon her, and this she has to endure for seven dajs, besides drinking a noisome compoimd called Green Medicine. On the seventh da}^, the woman is given a kind of Tm-kish bath, which is in reality sitting over a vessel containing boiling water, into which has been put tamarind twigs, and a few other leaves of different kinds. After she has endured this for about an hour, still of course enveloped in the hot blankets, she is then given a cold bath, and is supposed after that to be cured, and able to resume her every-day duties. How she ever survives the treatment is indeed a marvel. There is another treatment for a confinement which does not appear nearly as disagi'eeable, it is the following : — The patient has to drink a 58 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. concoction made from three roots, called Isa-pa- lay, Orin-pya, Ka-doo-mi ma-kin. These three roots are pomided well together with an equal amount of each root, and this medicine is administered three times a day to the woman with cold water. They say that this medicine is very heating so A BURMESE GIRL DRESSING HER HAIR. that they are ordered to bathe in cold water three days after the confinement. It certainly sounds a more natural treatment, and one less calculated to kill quite so many patients. There are certain whispers concerning the mor- ality of these delightful little damsels, rumours which say that their standard on these points does THE BURMESE WOMEN. 59 not quite coincide with European ideas. Their affections are incHned to be a trifle catholic, and they have occasionally too generous a wish to A DANCING GIRL POSTURING, make the bungalows of certain poor exiles a httle more homelike than is perhaps quite wise or quite necessary. 60 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. These little ladies do not discard the aid of paint and powder, which is greatly to be deplored, as in many cases they much disfigure their pretty little faces, and do not in any way enhance their charms. The powder they use is made from the bark and roots of Murraya Paniculata, a kind of shrub of the citron kind. They make it into a paste and then smear it over the face. It is occasionally used also by very smart young men ! Burmese women are not generally highly edu- cated, and that seems the single instance of their not possessing all the advantages of the men. Learning is not considered necessary for a woman. Perhaps her wits are considered sharp enough without it, and any spare time that she has they consider is better expended upon adorn- ing herself. In Eangoon, however, among the richer classes, the w^omen are often very well educated, and some are quite learned in Burmese literature. Now that I have arrived at the last page of my chapter on these Burmese dames, I wonder if I have succeeded in my efforts to do full justice to their charms, and whether I have sufficiently emphasised and dwelt upon their graces and delightful personality. I would fain have you love them as I do, and as you would, if you could only walk with me down a street in Kangoon or Mandalay, and behold them like so THE BURMESE WOMEN. 61 many dainty coloured flowers, dotted here and there, all laughing, talking, joking, all telKng yon by their sweet joyous faces that life (any- how in Burma) is worth living. CHAPTEE III. PAGODAS. AMONG the numerous picturesque objects which Burma possesses, none are so graceful, or add so nnich to the interest of the country and the charm of the landscape, as the pagodas. These fascinating, airy structures are to be seen in every town and village. They peep up through every grove of mango, they deck every hillside and river bank. In design they are bell or conical shaped, wide at the base and tapering gradually away until they are surmounted by what is called a Htee or Umbrella Spire. They are built usually of bricks, and covered either with plaster or gold-leaf. To erect one of these tapering, picturesque edifices is to arrive at one of the greatest ambitions of a 13u.rman's life. It is supposed that the build- ing of a pagoda will procure for him everything that is delightful in the next world, and immense cudos, reverence, and respect in this. In fact, it would seem a charmingly facile manner of com- PAGODAS. 65 passing the great difficulty of gaining joy in both worlds, and of serving God and Mammon. The title of " Payah Tagah " (builder of a pagoda) is always added to the name of the virtuous individual who spends his money in this admirable way ! The word " pagoda " would signify " rehc shrine," but the amount of these treasures would now indeed have to be as the sands of the sea if they are to equal the thousands of pagodas ! Pagodas in Burma are built in a solid mass except for what is called the Tapanah-teik, or rehc- chamber, which is a square room built at the base of the shrine, and is the portion of the building that is usually completed first. The most famous of these structures are the " Shway Dagohn " at Kangoon, the " Shway-8an- Daw" at Prome, the " Shway-Hmaw-Daw " at Pegu — all these, it is steadfastly affirmed, contain holy hairs of Buddha ! The " Shway Dagohn " at Rangoon, or Golden Pagoda, is one of the most ancient and venerated shrines which exists, and it certainly should hold a high place among the beautiful and artistic monuments of the world, for it is exquisite in design and form. Its proportions and height are simply magnificent ; wide at the base, it shoots up 370 feet, tapering gradually away until crowned by its airy golden Htee, or umbrella-shaped roof. 66 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. This delicate little structure is studded profusely with precious stones and hung round with scores of tiny gold and jewelled bells, which, when swung lightly by the soft breeze, give out the tenderest and most mystic of melodies. The Htee was the gift of King Mindohn-Min, and VIEW OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA FKOM DALHOUSIE PAKK. it is said to have cost the enormous sum of fifty thousand pounds. The great pagoda is believed by the faithful to have been erected in 588 B.C. ; but for many centuries previous to that date the spot where th.e pagoda now stands was held sacred, as the relics of three preceding Buddhas were discovered there when the two Tabling brothers (the founders of PAGODAS. 67 the Great Pagoda) brought the eight holy hairs of Buddha to the Thehngoothara Hill, the spot where the pagoda now stands. Shway Yoe (Mr. Scott) says that it also possesses in the Tapanah- teik, or relic chamber, of the pagoda the drinking cup of Kaukkathan, the "thengan," or robe, of Gawnagohng, and the "toungway," or staff, of Kathapah. It is therefore so holy that pilgrims visit this shrine from far countries, such as Siam, and even the Corea. The height of the pagoda was originally only twenty-seven feet, but it has attained its present proportions by being constantly encased in bricks. It is a marvellously striking- structure, raising up its delicate, glittering head from among a wondrous company of profusely carved shrines and small temples, whose colour and cunning workmanship make fit attendants to this stupendous monument. It is always a delight to one's eyes to gaze upon its glittering spire, always a fairy study of artistic enchantment ; but perhaps if it has a moment when it seems clothed with peculiar and almost ethereal, mystic attraction, it is in the early morning light, when the air has been bathed by dewdrops and is of crystal clearness, and when that scorching Eastern sun has only just begun to send forth his burning rays. I would say go and ga;^e on the pagoda at the awakening hour, standing there on the last spur of the Pegu Hills, and 68 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. framed by a luxuriant tropical bower of foliage. The light scintillates and glistens Hke a myriad of diamonds upon its golden surface, and the dreamy beauty of its glorious personality seems to strike one dumb with deep, unspoken reverence and admiration. Nestling on one side of it are a number of MONASTERIES AND REST-HOUSES ROUND THE GOLDEN PAUODA. Pohn-gyee Kyoung (monasteries) and rest-houses for pilgrims. All these are quaint, carved, and gilded edifices from which you see endless yellow- robed monks issuing. The monasteries situated at the foot of the great pagoda seem peculiarly harmonious, as if they would seek protection and PAGODAS. 69 shelter beneath the wing of their great mother church. The pagoda itself is approached on four sides by long flights of steps, but the southern is the principal entrance and that most frequented. At the base of this stand two gigantic lions made of brick and plastered over, and also decorated with coloured paint ; their office is to guard the sacred place from nats (evil spirits) and demons, the fear of which seems ever to haunt the Burman's mind and be a perpetual and endless torment to him. From this entrance the steps of the pagoda rise up and are enclosed by a series of beautifully carved teak roofs, supported by w^ood and masonry pillars. There are several quaint frescoes of Buddha and saints depicted upon the ceiling of these roofs, but the steps which they cover are very rugged and irregular. It is, indeed, a pil- grimage to ascend them, although the foreigner is allowed to retain his shoes. The faithful, of course, leave theirs at the foot of the steps. The entrance to the pagoda inspires one with a maze of conflicting emotions as one stands before it ; joy, sorrow, pity, wonder, admiration follow so quickly upon each other that they mingle into an indescribable sense of bewilderment. The first sight of the entrance is gorgeous, full of Eastern colour and charm ; and then sorrow and horror fill one's heart, as one's eyes fall suddenly upon the 70 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. rows of lepers who line the way to the holy place. Each is a terrible, gruesome sight, a mass of ghastly corruption and disease, and each holds out with maimed, distorted hands a little tin vessel for your alms. Why should Providence allow so awful an SOUTHEBN ENTRANCE TO THE GOLDEN PAGODA. infliction as leprosy to fall upon His creatures ? Could any crime, however heinous, he foul enough for such a punishment ? These are the thoughts which flit through your brain ; and then, as you pass on, wonder takes their place at the quaint beauty of the edifice, and lastly intense and wild admiration takes entire possession of you, and all PAGODAS. 71 is forgotten in the glorious nearness of the great Golden Pagoda. On either side of the rugged steps there are rows of most picturesque little stalls, at which are sold endless offerings to be made to Buddha — flowers of every shade and hue, fruit, glowing bunches of yellow plantains and pepia, candles, wondrous httle paper devices and flags, and, lastly, the gold leaf, which the faithful delight to place upon the beloved pagoda. It is looked upon as a great act of merit to expend money in thus deco- rating the much loved and venerated shrine. There is a curious and melancholy history con- nected with the people who hold these little stalls. They are called "pagoda slaves," and they were and are yet looked upon as outcasts ; no respect- able Burman would dream of holding any inter- course with them, as it would be impossible for him to do so without contamination. The pagoda slaves are the descendants of prisoners taken in war, but no king has had the power of liberating them, and should a Burman marry one, even unknowingly, he and any children he might have by a previous marriage would become also pagoda slaves. It is hoped that by degrees this curse will be removed under our rule, but as things move slowly in Burma, it will take time. The history concerning these poor people is a very singular one. It is as follows : — In the life- 72 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. time of Buddha there was a mighty king called Peam-na-tha-ryah, who reigned over a large city called Ya-ya-gne. One day it chanced that the king passed by the koung (monastery) and beheld the priest cleaning out the koung, and he stopped and asked if he would accept some men to do this menial office instead of himself as an offering. The priest replied that he could not accept the men without the consent of Buddha. Buddha answered that such an offering of men to serve the koung might be accepted. The king therefore offered fifty men to do service at the monastery. After this offering it is said that the village flourished exceedingly, and it was ever after named Kapilawook (Kapi signifies offerings). This was the true origin of the pagoda slaves. No curse then rested upon them ; theirs was a voluntary service, and they were exempt from the paying of taxes, and their one duty was to serve the monastery. But by degrees the idea of pagoda slaves changed, abuses crept in, and the pure, fair notion of the voluntary-service giver was forgotten, and kings took to offering the prisoners taken in war to the pagodas and koungs, and putting a terrible curse upon them — a curse so dreadful that no one had the power of releasing them from this merciless and barbarous slavery, which lasted through all their lives and descended to generations yet unborn. This punishment was PAGODAS. 73 the most degrading and the most dreadful that could be inflicted, and this slavery lasted for eight hundred years, from the reign of King Manya- tayaw to the annexation of Burma, and even now continues in a lesser degree. The first king who made his prisoners of war pagoda slaves was Du-la-ka-ma, King of Ceylon. He conquered the city of Chakim and brought the rebels to his country, where, after cursing them, he offered them to the Ta-de-daw pagoda as slaves. Naw- ral-ta-ya, the famous King of Paghn (the Holy City of Burma), who reigned about the time of King Canute, conquered the King of Tha-tone, from which country he brought the prisoners back to Paghn ; he then cursed them, and offered them as slaves to the Thw-ye-gon Pagoda in his own city. Kyan-yil-tha, also King of Paghn a little later, about the time of William the Conqueror, after he became king, revenged himself upon his wife's relations by cursing them and offering them as pagoda slaves ; this he did because they had called him a pagoda slave in the days when he was poor! Later, again, in the reign of Charles I., Tha-lon- Min-tayah, the King of Ava, first conquered the Shans, and brought them as prisoners, whom he cursed and offered to the Koung-mhoo-daw Pagoda in Lagaing as pagoda slaves. This is the true 74 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. history and origin of the pagoda slaves, and a very strange and sad one it is. Sad that a custom which had begun with so much purity of thought and desire should sink to such terrible depths of horror and revenge, and though one trusts that by degrees this is passing away, it has not entirely done so at present, and probably it will take many years before the old curse can be forgotten. Occasionally, I am told, a pagoda slave has with utmost difficulty concealed his birth, and gone into business in some large town ; but he lives in constant dread of detection, and of being cast out from among respectable people. The majority of these pagoda slaves did not appear to make any effort to raise themselves, but accepted their fate, and still remained round the pagodas selling offer- ings to the devout. No pagoda slave was per- mitted to enter a monastery, nor would a Pohn- gyee (monk) even accept alms from one. No bait, be it money or anything that this world could give, could bring these poor people into communion with their fellows. A Burmese girl would not think of marrying one, not even if he possessed the riches of Golconda. Their position was a most strange and unique one, and not the least terrible part of it was the infectiousness of their curse, which descended upon those with whom they might wish (and who in their turn might have been willing), to hold converse with them. PAGODAS. 75 Who can tell what tragic love-stories have per- chance been enacted between these poor outcasts and their more fortunate brothers ; what heart- breakings and heart-burnings, and all unrecorded, borne in patience and perhaps in silence. As you mount slowly up the steep uneven steps of the pagoda, turn for a moment and glance back VIEW OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA FROM CANTONMENT GAEDEN. at the scene. It is a pagoda feast, and the place is crowded with the faithful from all parts, who have come from far and near to present offerings and perform their religious observances. It is an entrancing picture, a marvel of colour and pic- turesqueness — see, the stalls are laid out with their brightest wares, and the crowd is becoming 76 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. greater every moment. Look at that group of laughing girls, they have donned their most brilliant tamehns, and dainty shawls, and the flowers in their hair are arranged with infinite coquettishness ; behind them are coming a dazzling company of young men in pasohs of every indescribable shade ; perchance they are the lovers of the girls whom they are following so eagerly, and they are bearing fruit and flowers to present to Buddha. Beyond them again are some yellow-robed Pohn-gyees ; they are supposed to shade their eyes from looking upon women with their large lotus-shaped fans, but to-day they are gazing about them more than is permitted, and are casting covert glances of admiration on some of those dainty little maidens. Behind them again are a white-robed company, they are nuns, and their shroud-like garments flow around them in long graceful folds. Their hair is cut short, and they have not so joyous an expression upon their faces as the rest of the community, and they toil up the steep steps a trifle wearily. Behind them again are a little toddling group of children^ with their little hands full of bright glowing flowers and fruit. Shall we follow in the crowd and see where the steps lead ? It is a wondrous study, the effects of light and shade ; look at that sunbeam glinting in through the roof and laying golden fingers on the PAGODAS. 77 Pohn-gyees' yellow robes, and turning the soft- hued fluttering silks into brilliant luminous spots of light. At last we have arrived at the summit ! Let us pause and take breath morally and physically before walking round the great open-paved space in the centre of which rises the great and glorious SHIUN'KS SL'UilOl-MJl.NU THE UUEDKN PAGODA. pagoda. There it stands towering up and up, as though it would fain touch the blue heaven ; it is surrounded by a galaxy of smaller pagodas, which seem to be clustering lovingly near their great high priest ; around these again are large carved kneeling elephants, and deep urn-shaped vessels, which are placed there to receive the offerings of 78 AMONG PAGODAS AND FAIR LADIES. food brought to Buddha. The crows and the pariah dogs which haunt the place will soon demolish these devout offerings, and grow fat upon them as their appearance testifies ; but this, curiously, does not seem in the least to annoy the giver. He has no objection to seeing a fat crow or a mangy dog gorging itself upon his offering, as the feeding of any animal is an act of merit, which is. the one thing of importance to a Burman, The more acts of merit that he can accomplish in this life, the more rapid his incarnations will be in the next. There are draped about the small golden pagodas and round the base of the large one endless quaint pieces of woven silk ; these are offerings from women, and must be completed in one night without a break. On the outer circle of this large paved space are a multitude of shrines, enclosing hundreds of images of Buddha. You behold Buddha standing, you behold him sitting, you behold him reclining ; you see him large, you see him small, you see him medium size ; you see him in brass, in wood, in stone, and in marble. Many of these statues are simply replicas of each other, but some differ slightly, though the cast of features is always the same, a placid, amiable, benign countenance, with very long lobes to the ears, which in Burma are supposed to indicate the great truthfulness of the PAGODAS. 7