PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

AND MONTHLY EECORD OF GEOGKAPHY.

Burma: the Country and People.

By J. Annan Bryce.

(Read at the Evening Meeting,March 22nd,1886.)

Map, p. 514.
In the paper which I am to have the honour of reading to you to-night,
I propose to give some description of what I think will have the princi?
pal interest for the members of this Society?the physical aspects and
the inhabitants of Burma. As I gave a fortnight ago before the Royal
Colonial Institute a description, which some of you may have heard or
read, of its commercial and political aspects, with details of its produc-
tions and trade, it will be needless for me to touch on those subjects this
evening.
The character of a country is most easily understood by beginning
with a consideration of its mountain structure. If you look at the
map, you will see that the great peninsula between the Bay of Bengal
and the China Sea, known by the general name of Indo-China, differsin
its conformation from India proper in this remarkable respect, that its
mountain ranges all run north and south, while those of India run east
and west. The map will show you further that these ranges, which
have a very considerable, though not great, average elevation, say from
3000 to 5000 feet, are separated by valleys of no great width, and that
the principal chains have their roots at the south-eastern extremity of
the great Tibetan plateau. Now these physical features have important
results. The nrjrthand south strike of the ranges, opening out a little
towards the south, permits the mouths of the valleys where the rich
delta land lies to receive the full force of the rain-bearing south-west
monsoon, which passes obliquely up to the north-east. The elevation
of the mountain ranges, while sufficient to secure the condensation of
the monsoon clouds, is not great enough, as is the case with the Hima?
layas, to impede the passage of those clouds. The highlands, therefore,
all over this region have an abundant supply of rain, which gives birth
No. YIIL?Atjg. 1886.] 2 k
482 BURMA: THE COUNTRYAND PEOPLE.

to a number of great rivers, the Irawadi, the Sittang, the Salween, the
Mehkong, and the Mehnam. The direction and length of the moun?
tain chains have determined the course and size of these rivers, of
which all except the Salween, which flows during the whole of its long
course in a v.ery narrow valley, and has therefore a comparatively small
drainage, bring down annually vast supplies of fertile alluvium, forming
rich plains during their course, and great deltas at their mouths.
I have said that the deltas at the mouths of these valleys receive the
full force of the south-west monsoon, and enjoy therefore an abundant
rainfall. Their upper parts, however, have to depend for their water-
supply mostly upon the inundations of the rivers, which are fed by
the abundant rainfall of the mountains. You will see from the map
that the south-west clouds, before they reach the upper valleys, have to
pass over one or more of the ranges. Now when clouds laden with rain
pass over a range of hills which is able to condense them, they are in the
habit of depositing the bulk of the moisture with which they part at
that particular time on the side nearest the direction from which they
come. Furthermore, if there be any considerable space at a much lower
level between the ranges, the clouds will often pass over from one to
the other without depositing any rain to speak of on the intermediate
plain, and again condense on the range to leeward. Over all this region,
therefore, you find that the plains of the upper valleys have much ]es&
rain than the mountains which bound them, and that the eastern sides
of the ranges and the adjoining part of the plain have less rain than
the western sides, and consequently that the streams fed from the
eastern side are smaller.
The number of forest-covered ranges, and the comparative narrow-
ness of the valleys, prevent the development of hot winds such as are
the scourge of the plains of India, and render the climate generally
more equable than in the corresponding latitudes of that country. Nor
is the country more unhealthy than the similarly situated regions of
India, though fever is of course rife in the forests. The north and south
lie of the mountain chains and of the intervening valleys has determined
also the history of these regions. All the tribes which have successively
occupied them have come down the valleys from the north, while the
immigrants who brought, or at least reintroduced, the existing religion,
literature, and civilisation, came by sea from the opposite coasts of India
and landed in the south.
Such being the general configuration of this region, let us now turn
to that part of it which is the particular subject of our consideration.
The country known by the generic name of Burma, including in
that title both the old British provinces and Upper Burma, our latest
acquisition, has an area of about 230,000 square miles, an area that is,
about twice as large as that of the United Kingdom, of which the old
provinces contain about 90,000, and Upper Burma about 140,000, The
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 488

river par excellence of Burma is the Irawadi. This great stream, which
is navigable by steamers drawing five feet of water as far as Bhamo,
900 miles from its mouth, and its largest tributary the Kyendwin, form
in Upper Burma several fertile plains, producing rice, cotton, wheat,
and other valuable crops, while in the lower part of its course, in con-
junction with the river Sittang, it forms a splendid delta, which is the
main source of the world's supply of rice. The vast expanse of delta,
nearly 100 miles each way, appears, indeed, one immense rice-field,
stretching away illimitably, level as the sea. The aspect of this plain
is changeful. In midsummer, after the first heavy rains, an unbroken
sheet of water, it becomes carpeted, as the rice plant grows, with
brightest green, which turns, ere December arrives, to waving gold,
and then, after harvest, to a dreary grey flat of sun-baked mud, over
which the smoke of the burning stubble hangs like a pall. Out of it
rise, visible to great distances, the mighty masses of the great pagodas
of Kangoon and Pegu, as changeful in their golden sheen of light, and
yet as unchanging, as the wide plain over which they have looked for
so many centuries.
Though the delta thus seems one vast rice-field, by no means all of
it is under cultivation. Much is still uncleared jungle, and in parts,
especially on the Sittang side, are great tracts of waste land, roamed
over by deer and tiger, and of savannah covered with a thick growth
of lofty elejDhant grass. It is estimated that only about one-seventh
of the cultivable land of Lower Burma is actually cultivated, but as
the country is opened up by roads and railways, more and more of this
land is being brought under tillage, and already within a year after the
opening of the Sittang Valley line, these wastes are being broken up
by the plough.
All this delta country, exposed to the full force of the south-west
monsoon, has in the summer an abundant rainfall, as much as 100 inches-
in the southern part, but as one journeys norfchthe country becomes
drier till at the apex of it, about 170 miles from the sea, the rainfall is
about one-half. About this point the ranges bounding the valley send
out spurs, which again retire, leaving rich plain country on both sides,
though on the left bank a low arid ridge intercepts the view of it, while
to the west the eye ranges as far as the Arakan chain. In the plain
country of the Upper Irawadi, as I have already said, there is but a
small rainfall. This region, therefore, depends very largely for its
water supply on the rises of the Irawadi and its tributaries, which
are as much as 40 or 50 feet in height, and spread widely over the
country, so that the course of the Irawadi and the Kyendwin present in
places during the rains, the appearance of a great lake nine or ten miles
in width. When the river falls, vast expanses of sand and mud are
left exposed, and the stream narrows to a comparatively small volume,
winding in devious channels among the sandbanks.^ In the spring
2 k 2
484 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

months, when the strong southerly wind, the precursor of the monsoon,
sets in, it raises clouds of sand, which, under the bright sunlight,
overspread the horizon with a yellow glare. All around, the thorny
vegetation of this dry region looks at this season bare and arid. Even
the forest-covered hills, the leaves having now fallen, are grey and
dreary, showing the parched ground between the leafless stems, and the
only relief to the eye under the cloudless sky of brass are the clumps
of evergreen mango trees and palms which mark the site of some village.
The time to see this upper region in its beauty is at the end of the
rains. The sandbanks then have sunk under the brimming river, into
which dip feathery bamboos. Everything is clothed in green, while
above, in a sky of deepest, softest blue, hang masses of white cumuli.
The air, though hot, is exquisitely clear, while the mountains, clothed
to their tops with verdure, are visible to immense distances. There is
some good scenery in Burma. The Salween, just above Maulmain,
flows among fantastic limestone mountains, which rise in great preci?
pices out of deep tropical forests. The Irawadi, too, furnishes some
fine bits. In Lower Burma the defile at Prome is highly picturesque.
There are few finer approaches to a capital than the narrow passage
where the river rushes between Ava and the pagoda-crowned ridge
of Sagain?both of them once capitals?while the line of lofty
and serrated crags forms a noble background to the rich plain
where the battlements of Mandalay and the golden spire of its palace
rise beneath its sacred hill. The long defile above the capital, called
the third defile, is pretty, while the first and second defiles, one
just above and one just below Bhamo, are, especially the latter,
extremely grand. The river, contracted to a width of 250 yards,
has forced through a ridge of hills about 1000 feet high a tortuous
channel, down which it rushes in whirling eddies between vertical
cliffs 700 feet high, from whose crest and face trees and shrubs, wherever
they can find lodgment, wave pendulous towards the stream. The
Kyendwin also furnishes some good scenery. The wide mountain
chain which separates Bengal from Burma consists of a great number of
parallel ridges of soft eocene sandstones. The strata, whose strike is
nearly north and south for many hundred miles, dip to the east at
about 45 degrees, and break into cliffs to the west. The Kyendwin for
a considerable part of its course hugs this chain closely, and the river
itself and its tributaries break in several places in and out through the
easterly ridges of it. Especially beautiful are the ravines through which
the Manipur or Myitha and the Yew branches force their way to join the
Kyendwin. I have seen few prettier scenes than the gorge of the former
river. One paddles up silently, winding in and out between beetling
crags, crested and draped with the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics.
Monkeys leap from tree to tree, and peacocks, jungle fowl, and pheasants
of brilliant hue, disport themselves in the glades between the successive
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 485

lines of cliff. When I visited these solitudes they possessed the charm
of the unknown, for I believe that before I went there, in 1881, no white
man had ever penetrated them.
There is in truth great beauty in the forest scenery of Burma. In
the moist regions near the sea?in the Tenasserim province for instance
?and in the deep dells among the mountains everywhere, there are
stretches of evergreen forest, often impenetrable, so dense is the under-
growth of canes, creepers, and bamboos, some of which reach 100 feet in
height. Nothing can be more delightful than one of these nooks in the
forest. The sun hardly penetrates its depths, and even at midday the
perennial stream, now gathering into deep ice-cold pools, now tumbling
over the rocks in cascades, maintains a pleasant coolness. Ferns and
flowers line its banks; bamboo sprays bend over it; tree-ferns and
cycads spread their tufts above it; while over all the giants of the
forest, mostly deciduous, rear their heads 150 or 200 feet aloft into the
air, their stems and branches streaming with creepers, and encrusted
with innumerable orchids, some stiff and erect, others drooping long
flower stems full of bloom towards the ground. The orchids flower at
different seasons, but it is in the hot weather, after the fall of the leaf
in February or March, that most of them are in their glory. For then
there is nothing to hide them from the view of the insects which
fertilise them. In the early part of the hot weather, after the
fall of the leaf, a series of fires rage through the drier parts of the
forest, forming a magnificent spectacle at night, as they sweep in long
lines along the hill-sides. Unlike the great conflagrations in the
resinous pine forests of America, which destroy everything in their
course, these fires, though they check and distort the growth of the
younger trees, and consume dead or fallen ones, do little hurt to living.
trees of large size. Forest travel at this season is far from agreeable. The
air is like a furnace, partly from the sun's heat and partly from the fires,
while the baked soil, bare or biackened with leaf-ash and charred
branches, is almost as hot under foot. Yolumes of suffocating smoke
obscure the view. The timid elephant?the invariable beast of burden
on these expeditions?sometimes jibs at the line of fire and delays the*
journey. But the smarting eye of the traveller is refreshed when
looking up through the smoke it sees the bright orchid blooms far above
on the tree-tops.
I must not omit to mention one characteristic of the vegetation of
Burma, the great number of flowering trees and shrubs, many of which
are sweet scented. There is hardly any time of the year at which the
landscape is not bright with the bloom, and the air loaded with the
perfume, of one or more of these trees, and they are often in such masses
as to form a striking feature in the scene. The scarlet of the cotton-
tree, the orange of the pouk-tree, the purple of the pyinma (Lager-
8trcemia Heginse), the yellow of the padouk (Pterocarpus indica), the
486 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

white of various Bauhinias and of the teak, are remarkable examples

among many others. The Amherstia is even in Burma a rare tree, but
no one who has seen its long salmon-coloured blossoms dropping la-
burnum-like^from its glossy dark-green sprays will readily forget its
beauty.
Having given you some account of the general physical aspects of the
country, I shall now tell you of the people who inhabit it.
The dominant race, which has given its name to the country, is the
largest individual element in the population. But it must not be for-
gotten that the dominions of the King of Burma, even after the wars of
1826 and 1852 had torn away his fairest provinces, formed a true empire,
the union under a single ruler of many races and forms of polity. Sub?
ject to his sway were not only the Burmese themselves, but large
sections of other civilised or Buddhist races, called Talaings or Mons,
Shans, Arakanese, and Yaus, as well as numerous wild spirit-worshipping
tribes, of more or less importance, Karens, Khyens, Kakhyens, and many
others. All appear to be of Mongoloid extraction, but of different
branches, the Burmese, Arakanese, Khyens, and Kakhyens belonging to
the Tibetan branch, the Shans and Karens to branches originally settled
in China. The early history of these regions is obscure, and little is
known as to the order in which the successive immigrations took place,
but inall probability the Talaings were first, the Tibetan branch next,
the Shans, and perhaps the Karens, later. It is interesting to know that
these movements of population are in operation at this moment. Under
the gradually slackening hands of the Kings of Burma, the vigorous,
though uncivilised tribe of Kakhyens has of late years continued
to press down towards the south, driving before it the Shans and
Burmese.
Let us consider first the more civilised or Buddhist tribes.
Of these, the dominant race, the Burmese, is, if we include the
Arakanese, more numerous than any other, when we take the whole
country into consideration, though in Upper Burma it is probably
inferior in numbers to the Shans. Out of a probable total population in
Upper and Lower Burma of 7J millions or so, the Burmese may be
reckoned at about one-half. In Upper Burma the true Burmese race
occupies a comparatively narrow space on each side of the Irawadi in
its middle course, its chief seat being in the Moo valley, between the
Irawadi and the Kyendwin. In Lower Burma, the upper part of the
delta of the Irawadi and the upper valley of the Sittang are also almost
pure Burmese, while in the southern part of the province of Pegu there
is a considerable admixture of Talaing blood, and in some districts the
population is pure Talaing.
The true Burmese is hard-featured, of moderate height, darkish in
colour, though not black like the Indian, of robust franie and rather
short legs. He is strong, hardy, vigorous, and capable of considerable
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 487

exertion after a spasmodio fashion. He is passionately fond of

outdoor games. A wrestling-match or canoe-race in its way
rouses as much enthusiasm, and gives rise to as much gambling,
as a prize-fight did or a boat-race or cricket-match now does with
us. His own so-called football is a sport requiring skill and
agility, and he has taken kindly to the English game, as well
as to cricket. He may be seen playing polo, learnt from his Manipuri
subjects, in the streets of Mandalay, and the race-meetings in Lower
Burma draw large and enthusiastic crowds of Burman spectators. But
his energy is intermittent, and does not redeem his character from the
charge of general indolence. He will abandon his work for a week to
watch a regatta or a poay, for these poays or plays?performed either
by actors in person or by marionettes worked by strings over a screen,
and the Burmese show considerable skill in both forms?are as inter-
minable as the Chinese dramas, though they are certainly more in?
teresting to watch. The Burman, indeed, will have his holiday in
season or out of season, and he endeavours with great success to make
his life a perpetual picnic. He is, in fact, intolerant of the restraint
either of regular work or of any other form of discipline, unlike in
this to the Chinese and Hindoo. The attempt to raise regiments
in British Burma has failed, and the character of its police has
always been so unsatisfactory that it has to be largely recruited
from India. The restraint of prison discipline is particularly obnoxious
to the Burman, as witness the many savage outbreaks in the jails of
Eangoon and Maulmain. In the remarkable conflict of races of which
Burma is becoming the theatre I feel sure that the Burman himself will
be worsted. In the north he is being pressed down by the Shan
and the Kakhyen. In the south he is being ousted from manual
labour, both skilled and unskilled, by the more attentive, if not
more intelligent, Chinaman and Hindoo. A remarkable instance is
the fact that among the many hundred labourers employed by the
Bombay Burma Corporation in its teak saw-mills at Rangoon, there
is now hardly a single Burman, and the trade in Upper as well as
Lower Burma is passing every day more and more into the hands of
Chinese and natives of India. That the Burman has during the course
of more than two thousand years displayed great national vitality is
certain, for though overpowered for short intervals by Shans, Talaings,
and even Chinese, he has always re-asserted himself, and re-imposed his
sway more firmly than before. Now, though no physical deterioration
is so far apparent, the national force would seem to be dwindling. The
introduction of opium and liquors with the other blessings of British
rule, might have had to answer for this in part, were it not that the
same decay is visible in what was till just now the King's country,
where the Burman who tried opium smoking or drinking had to risk
a flogging through the streets behind beat of gong?a sight I have
488 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

myself witnessed more than once in Mandalay. Judging by the

experience of British Burma, the severe attitude adopted by the native
government towards opium smoking and drinking, appears to show a
wise insight into the weaknesses of the race. In Lower Burma, opium
especially has done much to sap the character of the people. Whatever
may be the case with the Chinese?and there are different opinions?
there seems no doubt, that in the Burman, the use of opium com?
pletely destroys the moral sense, and the smoker of it is liable at any
moment to become a robber and a murderer. This is quite recognised
by the people themselves, and our Government would probably meet
little opposition if it made the use of opium penal.
But to return, the decline of which I am speaking may be due partly
to contact with the civilisation and power of the West, which at the same
time cut the people of the independent country off from the sea, and
ensured to those of the lower country conditions which in a fertile
country made life easy, and allowed full play to the national vice of
indolence. However this may be, there seems little doubt of the
tendency which I fear may be aggravated by the termination of a
separate national existence entailed by recent events. I hope I may
be wrong, for it would be a pity to see the disappearance of a race
which almost within the limits of this century was able to overrun
Siam on the one side and Assam on the other, and which besides its
warlike enterprise has many fine qualities. His religion enjoins upon the
Burman certain acts of liberality, but even apart from this he is kind,
hospitable, and open-handed. He is, indeed, like most Mongolian races,
in some sense indifferent to human life, but he is rarely gratuitously
cruel. You may ask?what about King Theebau? Well, no doubt
under his rule a great number of cruel acts were done, but, so far as I
know, they were all done with a political object, and were in many
cases, considering the circumstances, political necessities in the eyes
of his advisers, and the details were often grossly exaggerated by the
newspapers in India. In regard to one batch of alleged massacres, that
which is said to have taken place in 1880, I can say with confidence
that, having been in Mandalay at the time, and having taken trouble
to get to the bottom of the evidence, I am firmly convinced that the
allegation was absolutely devoid of foundation. An extremely bad'
government Theebau's undoubtedly was, and he is, of course, respon-
sible for its crimes, but there is good reason to think that he never
instigated, and was often remorseful for them. After the execution
of his brothers, he for a time drank heavily, and I was told at the time
that this began in an attempt to drown his remorse. The habit was
encouraged by men who had designs upon his life and throne?their
subsequent execution was called a massacre?but he had long entirely
abandoned it. Personally, Theebau always appeared to me?and I saw
him a number of times?a stupid, rather sensual-looking, but amiable
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 489

young man. He had a particularly soft and sweet voice, a very unusual
thing for a Burman.
The Burman is light-hearted and merry, fond of chaff, and, unlike
the Hindoo, with the thorough appreciation of a joke. He has less
servility, and when away from the demoralising influences of the Court,
more regard for truth than most Orientals. Altogether his character,
religion, and habits insure his being regarded by us more as a friend and
equal than as an inferior.
The character and demeanour of the people is well illustrated by
their dress. Both men and women wear gay variegated silks, and
decorate themselves with flowers. No more brilliant sight can be seen
in the world than one of the festivals at the great pagoda of Bangoon,
when its wide platform is thronged with thousands of gaily-dressed
people praying, making offerings at the shrines, listening to sermons
from monks, gossiping, or feasting. The air is filled with the sound of
bells and gongs and the hum of the great multitude, while above all
rises the golden bulk of the mighty pagoda itself, shining in the
sunlight.
About the origin of the Talaings there are several theories. Some
consider them an aboriginal race of what is called the Kolarian type,
while others believe them to be immigrants of Mongolian race. Their
language, hitherto little studied, is now being investigated by a com?
petent scholar, Dr. Forchammer, whose researches will no doubt east
light on their origin. This language is now almost extinct in Burma,
but it is still spoken by the settlements of this people in Siam, and said
to be allied to the speech of the Anamese. In appearance the Talaings
are smaller, plumper, fairer, and less hard of feature than the Burmese ;
but in religion, character, and habits, they are now hardly distinguish-
able from their hereditary enemies. The Talaings, whose ?kingdom
used to embrace the delta of the Irawadi and Sittang, probably still
form the bulk of the population there.
From China appear to have come the great race of Shans, or, as they
call themselves Tai, who have the largest numbers of any people in the
Indo-Chinese peninsula. They occupy the whole of the Mehnam,
almost the whole of the Mehkong and the Salween, the Upper Sittang,
and a large part of the Irawadi, extending from it into the valley of the
Brahmaputra. They thus form a very important part of the population
lately subject to the King of Burma.
Though the Shans are thus powerful in numbers, some inherent
defect in their character or organisation has preventcd them ever
keeping together as a whole. The King of Siam, the only sovereign
representative of their race, bears sway over a comparatively small
section of it, the great bulk being subject either to the King of Burma
or to China, some of them to both. But though in subjection, the Shans
have mostly retained their political organisation. There is an oligarchy -
490 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

of nobles arranged in a regular gradation, of whom the first or chief

prince, called in Burmese Tsawbwaw, is theoretically supreme, but,whose
power is practically much limited. Estates go with the various* offices
in this oligarchy, and the succession to both is limited to certain families,
but it by no means always goes to the eldest son, or even eldest male
of the family, and the succession may be carried by the female. The
selection of a successor to any of the places in the oligarchy seems to be
made by the other members of it, but requires confirmation by the over-
lord, the King of Burma, or the King of Siam, as the case may be. The
succession often gives rise to protracted disputes, and at Mandalay was
the occasion of great extortion. It was in this way that Theebau lost his
authority over a large group of the states to the east of Mandalay,
In face and figure the various branches of Shans differlittle. They
are, speaking generally, a well-grown, athletic race, bigger and stouter
than the Burmese. Both men and women have often magnificent figures,
In complexion they are fairer and clearer than either Burmese or
Chinese, and in the mountains many of the women have nearly white
complexions, with rosy cheeks. The Shans have broad round faces, with
large eyes, slightly deflexed at the inner corner, but less so than in the
Chinese, small, rather flat noses, and widish, thick-lipped mouthsv which,
are often opened in a broad grin, for the Shan is naturally a jovial, simple
fellow, always ready for a laugh. They are sometimes described as
indolent and apathetic, hardly a fair account, I think, of the northern
Shans, who push over immense distances all through these obscure
regions in pursuit of their favourite occupation of peddling. But they
do not seem to have either the intermittent vigour of the Burmese, nor
the steady attentive plod of the Chinaman, and this absence of force no
doubt explains to some extent their political separation and helplessness
as a race.
The dress of the Shans has been affected, to some extent by the
influence of the particular dominant race, but speaking generally, thei?
taste is for sober colouring.
Of the non-Buddhist races within the limits of Burma, the most
important are the Karens, Kakhyens, and Khyens.
The Karen race is widely extended over the peninsula of Indo-China,
and embraces many tribes. Of these the principal, within the limits of
Burma, are called the White and the Red. The latter inhabit a small
territory called by their name at the eastern end of the late frontier
between Upper and British Burma. They are a wild intractable race,
who after many attempts of the Kings of Burma to subdue them, at
length succeeded in getting their independence recognised. There is
no central authority, and the chiefs of the various sections of the tribe
seem to wage continual war upon each other.
The White Karens, who live within our borders, are a shy, peaceable
race, mostly inhabiting the mountains of Tenasserim. There are large
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 491

settlements of them also at the?western side of the Irawadi delta. Some

few of those who have descended into the plains have become Buddhist,
and dress like the Burmese, but they have never mixed either with these
or the Talaings. The hill people have retained their simple spirit-
worship, and it is among them that the missionaries, American, English,
French, and Italian, have been most successful, For the Buddhist with
his highly metaphysical creed, and elaborate code of morality, almost
never accepts Christianity.
The Karens are generally small in stature, with rather flat faces,
which have a gentle, timid expression. Their original seat seems to
have been South-western China.
The Kakhyens and Khyens belong to the Tibeto-Burman branch of
the Mongolian race, and are spirit-worshippers. The various tribes are,
like those of the Eed Karens, often at war with each other. Neither
race has ever been practically subject to the King of Burma, and for
many years his attitude towards them has been much more defensive
than aggressive.
The Kakhyens, or Singphos as they call themselves?the word
" man "
singpaw means simply?inhabit the upper part of the valleys of
the Irawadi and Khyendwin, and extend over into Assam and China.
In Burma they reach as far south as latitude 25?, while in the east they
have pushed down along the mountains as far as latitude 23?, and the
movement is still going on. They are certainly a vigorous race, and in
Assam have a much better character than in Burma. I believe, how?
ever, that the treacherous and extortionate Burman is largely to blame
for the intractability of the Kakhyens of the Irawadi, and it would not
surprise me if, under English administration, they became a valuable
element in the population.
The Khyens, a cognate race, inhabit the, great range separating
Burma from Bengal, southwards, from about latitude 24^?. They are in
appearance and manners very similar to the Kakhyens. One peculiar
custom they have, that of tatooing the faces of the women when they
reach the marriageable age, apparently with the view of making them
unattractive except to their husbands. I shall have occasion to say more
about the Khyens immediately.
And now, to give you an idea of what life and travel in Burma
are, I may with propriety offeryou some account of a journey I made in
1881 in the little-known region of the Kyendwin, where for fiftyyears
no European had been seen till I went there, and into some parts of
which I believe I was the first to penetrate. Having taken from the
king a lease of the teak forests in this district, I was anxious to visit
them, and when the manager of the Irawadi Flotilla Company asked
me to join a party which he had arranged with the view of examining
the capabilities of the Kyendwin for steamer traffic,I gladly accepted
his offer.
492 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

You will remember what I told you about the river which drained
the eastern sides of the mountain ranges in this region having less water
than those which are fed from the western sides. The Kyendwin is a
case in point. Though it must have nearly as long a course as the
Irawadi, it is in the dry weather a good deal smaller, and at the time
we entered it had sunk to a low level. The navigation therefore pre?
sented many difficulties, and it took us nearly three weeks to reach the
point about 250 miles from the mouth, beyond which it was found
impossible for the launch to go.
In the rains, however, there is said to be less comparative difference
between the Kyendwin and the Irawadi. The rise in height of the
former is quite as great?40 or 50 feet, and it inundates its valley
widely, just as the Irawadi does. This consideration may serve to
weaken the argument that the vast body of water brought down by the
Irawadi in the rains can only be accounted for on the hypothesis that
it is identical with the Sanpo of Tibet.
A few miles up is Moonyuwa, the principal emporium of the
valley. Here we found several Chinese merchants, and a great number
of the large boats, by which the trafficof this extensive region is done.
The owner of the boat is also the trader, and with his family, spends the
whole of his life on the vessel. At harvest he times himself to be in
the rice-producing districts up the river. Loading his boat with that
grain, he works down the Kyendwin, selling his cargo wherever he gets
the best prices, till he reaches Moonyuwa, where he parts with what
remains of his rice, and any hides, horns, beeswax, sticklac, or ivory he
has been able to pick up above, and for his return journey buys English
salt, cotton piece-goods, turkey red and other coloured yarns, silk hand-
kerchiefs, knives, needles, nails, and other such small wares. His cargo
on board, he toils back up stream, poling all the way along the bank, for
the current is strong. After many weeks, it may be, of this work, he
fixes himself at some village, builds on the bank a booth, as a shelter
against the sun, and his womenfolk proceed to dispose of their wares.
There they remain till the next harvest comes, when the old round is
repeated. The boats generally go in parties as a protection against
robbers, or as they they are called in India, dacoits, a word you must of
late have seen frequently in connection with Burmese affairs. And I
should perhaps say that in those semi-civilised regions little stigma
attaches to that profession; it is not so very loug since the highwayman
was rather a hero among ourselves.
Aloungpra, the founder of the late dynasty, seems to have been little
better than a dacoit to start with, and even lately there is reason to
believe that some of Theebau's ministers, the Tinedah Mingyce for
instance, were in league with robber bands. The Yenoung Prince as he
was called, the reigning favourite in the early part of Theebau's reign,
was certainly a dacoit while his father was a leading officer at court.
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 493

Of course in the case of men of ofncial position all this was sub rosa, but
I will give you an instance to show how little disgrace attaches to the
calling. Talking one day at Mandalay to a htghly respectable Shan
forester, to whom we were about to advance a large sum of money (he
was one of the right-hand men of the Tsawbwaw or Prince of the State
of Mone) I noticed, his jacket being open, that his breast was covered with
the little lumps which indicated the presence beneath the skin of pieces
of ruby, sapphire, gold, and what not, inserted in the flesh as charms
" What need have
against wounds. you for so much of this kind of
" u
thing ? I asked. Oh," said he, in the most open-air way, and without
the slightest change of countenance, " I was bred for the profession of
dacoit, and of course I had to make myself invulnerable," and I may
add that he genuinely believed that he was invulnerable. Although,
however, the calling is hardly a disreputable one, it is needless to say
that the dacoit was not allowed to have it all his own way, else there
would soon have been nobody left to rob, and under the theoretically
excellent Burmese system of holding the district responsible, a hue and
ery was now and then raised, and an attempt, sometimes successful,
made to exterminate the gang. The regular mode of punishment was
crucifixion, and as the Kyendwin has always been infested by dacoits
the ghastly instrument of execution, a St. Andrew's cross, is a frequent
object on its banks.
The delta, if I may call it so, of the Kyendwin may be said to end
about 40 miles from its mouth, where low hills begin to appear on both
sides, but in the valleys of the main river itself and of its tributaries
there are many fertile plains. In good years the Kyendwin valley
exports a good deal of rice and other grains. There is everywhere
evidence in the shrunken towns and deserted villages that the country
could maintain a much larger population. About 70 miles up, the most
eastern of the parallel ridges forming the dividing chain between Bengal
and Burma is approached, and from this point as far up as I followed its
course, about 150 miles, the river keeps close to the chain, through the
pretty scenery I have already described. Here an amusing incident
occurred. I ascended the hill behind a town to get a view, and saw to
the east, on the other side of the Kyendwin, one of the great lagoons or
back waters produced by the inundation of the river during the rains.
I could perceive through my glass that it was covered with water birds,
of which vast numbers frequent the rivers of Burma during the winter,
to return across the Himalayas, as the hot weather comes on, to their
distant summer quarters in Tibet. Now the sight of these countless
geese, ducks, and teal was an appetising one. The supply of the com-
missariat was always a difficulty under the Buddhist regime of Upper
Burma. To slaughter cows was criminal, sheep there are none, goats
are scarce, and unsavoury when you do get them. But on the beaten
track of the Irawadi prejudice is so far relaxed that chickens may be
 494 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

bought with an unconcealed purpose of slaughter. Not so on the remoto

Kyendwin, where not even furtive visits by night and the payment of
exorbitant sums were always successful in getting over the prejudices
or fears of the possessors of barn-doors. Under these circumstances one
would often be without food if the gun did not provide it, and it hap-
pened that at the moment we were rather short. So when on descending
to the town I paid a vibit to the woon or governor of the district, I
asked him for men and boats to enable us to shoot over the lagoon. He
was very civil, but said that as the old king had given charge of the
lives of the wild birds on this lagoon to the monks of the neighbouring
monastery he might get into trouble if he helped us. I of course did
not press him, and, not thinking any evil, we got boats and men for
ourselves and made an excellent bag, none the worse for the immunity
the birds had hitherto enjoyed. While on the water we had heard
shouts from a number of people on the bank, and on landing it turned
out that these shouts had been meant for us. We were requested to
visit the monastery, and on asking why, were told that the head monk
wished to pound us with his elbow for having killed his birds. To
inflict this punishment the operator squats on the ground, the culprit
being laid on his face with the small of his back immediately under the
elbow of the chastiser, who, doubling his arm, makes a succession of
sharp digs with his elbow into the soft part of the back below the ribs. '
The punishment may be made painful and even dangerous, and as,
moreover, it would have injured the prestige of our country for its first
travellers to submit to even ecclesiastical chastisement, we, under the
whole circumstances, respectfully declined the honour of an interview
with his eminence the abbot.
Pursuing our journey to the north we find the river keeps closely to
the eastern foot of the mountains. It cuts through several of the outer-
parallel ridges, and at about 180 miles from the mouth we reach one of
higher ridges alongside which the valley henceforth runs, with, the,
serrated forest-clad tops of the mountains rising about 2500 to 3000
feet above it. On the east there is low hilly country, in which are a
number of well-cultivated valleys; each of these forms, roughly speak?
ing, a separate principality, under an hereditary chief, called Myothoogyee.
In former times these chiefs were practically independent, and possessed
the power of life and death. Of late years the King of Burma has
endeavoured to tighten the reins, by planting governors all over the
region, but their authority has been little regarded. A fertile source of
dispute was the succession to the chieftainship. As I have said, it was
hereditary, but there was no regular order of succession within the
limits of the family, any more than there was in the case of the royal
family of Burma, or of the Shan principalities. Any member of the
family who could get recognition at Mandalay, and could hold his own,
might assert a claim, so the factions of the various claimants, while they
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 495

carried on intrigues at Mandalay, used also to fight on the spot. And

even a decision at Mandalay did not necessarily end the strife. For of
late years the claimant successful at court was invariably the most lavish
briber, not the man strongest and fittest for the post. The central
authority being weak, the rival claimant or claimants not seldom per-
sisted, and there resulted bloody feuds, often prolonged for years.
While I was on the Khyendwin, one of the governors attempted to
assert the King's authority in a case of this kind, but he was beaten off,
and I saw his boats retiring discomfited down the river.
The inhabitants of this region are mostly of the tribe called Yaus.
Their dialect is generally said to be a variety of Burmese, but the people
themselves are much more like the Shans, being larger, fairer, of softer
features and voice, and more fleshy, as the Americans would say, than
the Burmese. The women are on a much larger scale than their
Burmese neighbours, and often very handsome, after a Mongolian
fashion. Their dress, too, both in design and colour, savours more of
the Shan than of the Burmese taste. The Yaus have given their name to
a river and district to the west of the Irawadi, below the mouth of the
Kyendwin, but it will be seen that their range is much wider than this
localising name would denote. They, in fact, form the bulk of the popu?
lation of the whole of this region fromlatitude 20? to beyond latitude 24?,
On the Khyendwin there is some infusion of Burmese blood, especially
near its mouth, and m the northern part we find the Shan district of
Kale. About latitude 24? the blood becomes more purely Shan. On the
frontier of Munipur is the Shan principality of Thoungthwot, or Sumjok,
and on the other side of the Khyendwin the Shans extend across to the
Irawadi.
Left alone, when my companions had returned with the launch to
Bangoon, I proceeded during the next two months to traverse the forest
region backwards and forwards across the river, working gradually to the
south, my object being to examine the teak-producing districts.
Travel presented some difficulties. I had practically no European pro?
visions, so had to content myself with what game I could shoot?
my ammunition ran very short?the few chickens I could purchase,
and cakes made of pounded rice. I had an order from the king to pro-
cure as many elephants and men as I wanted, but in spite of this found
it often very difficult to persuade the villagers to accompany me into the
districts exposed to the raids of the Khyens.
We had of course always a number of elephants to carry the bagga^e
and provisions of the party. As a beast of burden the elephant is indeed
indispensable in forest travel, no other animal being able so well to cross
rivers, mountains, and pathless forests. It is wonderful to see how the
creature manages his unwieldy bulk on a slippery descent, or an almost
vertical upward slope. His height enables him to step over fallen trees,
while with his trunk and his weight he can force a passage through
496 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

seemingly impenetrable undergrowth. But except when a river had to

be crossed I preferred walking. Travel on an elephant's back is by no
means agreeable. His motion is a peculiarly unpleasant combination of
a, pitch and a roll, and perched aloft on an insecurely fixed car one has
iilways the chance of being precipitated?it may be down a cliff?should
a casual branch catch the car, or the girth give way under a particularly
violent lurch; and unless the driver is very careful there is always the
risk that one may be blinded or hooked off by some overhanging
hranch.
I had no tent, but with a waterproof sheet below and a thick rug
?above I managed to defy the cold and heavy dews of the forest; nor,
though I used to bathe in the forest pools and drink the forest water,
did I ever have a touch of fever in this region, reported so deadly.
My first expedition was to the Kubo valley across the forest-covered
ridge to the west of the Kyendwin. These mountains are quite unin-
Jiabited, but some hunters, who were taking dried deer-flesh to sell on
the Kyendwin, reported several raiding bands of Khyens to be on the
war-path. Though we were a party of thirty, all with firearms of some
sort, the Burmese officials who accompanied me and my own Burman
followers were dreadfully alarmed, pressing me to return, and when I
had at last got them to start they kept in the rear, allowing me, my
Chinese interpreter, and the Madrasi cook to lead the way. Emerging
into the plain of the Kubo valley on the third day we reached Khanpat,
the chief town of the district, without molestation. The Kubo valley is
a, great depression which extends for about 250 miles from north to south
between the first and second of the great parallel ridges of the main
chain. It varies in width from 10 to 20 miles, and forms an almost
level plain. At about latitude 20? 40' there is a slight east and west
elevation, which forms the watershed between the two sections of the
depression. The two sections are drained by rivers, both of which have
broken passages to the Kyendwin through the dividing ridge. During
the rains, owing to the very slight difference in level between the Kubo
and the Kyendwin valleys, and the extreme narrowness of the passages
joining them, the water, especially in the southern part, rises to a great
height in the inner valley, and there being no flow there is an immense
deposition of alluvial matter. It is indeed clear, from the great depth
of alluvium and absolute flatness of surface, that at no distant geological
period the whole of this depression must have been a lake.
This Kubo valley is considered the richest portion of Upper Burma,
the yield of rice being said to be one-hundredfold. It was once populous,
but owing to the long wars of Burma and Manipur, and to the raids of
the'Khyens, it has now become in large part a jungle-covered wilderness.
The chief towns, once large cities, now include within their walls only
a few hovels. The numerous tribes of wild Khyens who inhabit the
central ridges from latitude 20? to latitude 24?, have in the intervals of
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 497

their own internecine feuds found a profitable variety in raids down into
the low country, extending these as far even as the Kyendwin. Their
raiding season is the dry weather, for in the rains the country is im-
passable without boats. Creeping in bands of 50 to 100 through the
jungle, they surround a village at night. The villages are protected by
stockades of teak beams, and a single or double chevaux de frise of
bamboos outside, the jungle being kept cleared to some distance. In?
side, at intervals of about 15 or 20 yards, are platforms on which the
villagers sit by turns all night through, firing guns every few minutes
to show the Khyens that things are ready for them. The game of the
Khyens is to find the watch ill-kept, when they either clamber or throw
fire-brands over the stockade, for the houses, being of bamboo and thatch,
are very inflammable. If the fire catches they effect an entrance in
the resulting confusion, and kill those who do not surrender. The sur?
vivors are carried off into captivity on the mountains, when they are
worked as slaves till the ransom which is put on their heads is paid ; but
if they do not try to escape they are not as a rule unkindly treated. A
few of them do manage to escape, but most die in captivity, for the
ransoms are comparatively large, and many have no relatives left to take
the trouble about the collection of it, often a matter of years. It is,
however, a work of religious merit in this region to contribute and I
was often asked to do so. One old woman told me she was within a little
of making up the 500 rupees to ransom a son who had been in captivity
for fourteen years, and I gave her what was needed to complete the tale.
I began to realise what all this meant, the first night I spent in the Kubo
valley. At sunset I went out of the gate of Khanpat to bathe in the clear
stream, which flowed at a little distance from the town, over a pebbly
bed. In the twilight I soon saw a dusky group gather on the shore, and
thought this was a case of the usual curiosity. For all over this country,
where no white man had ever been seen, my appearance was the signal
for a crowd to collect. They would gaze at one for hours, and the bolder
would feel my clothes and press me to turn up my shirt-sleeves, not be-
lieving that the skin could be white all over. If I slept in some village
house, I used to be con&cious, from a number of whispers as I awoke in
the grey dawn, that the room or verandah was full of curious gazers, so
that my toilet was often a matter of difficulty, and this kind of levee used
to last practically till one went to bed at night. But on this occasion
I found curiosity was not the cause. All the men were armed,
and I was told they had come to prevent the Khyens who might
be lurking in the jungle, from sw^ooping down and carrying me off.
When I got back to the town I found the guard platforms manned,
and all night long my slumbers were disturbed by the discharge
of the watchers' guns close to my ears, for the place was very small. As
my journey went on I got quite used to the sound. I was never attacked,
though one night a village a mile from where I slept was burnt, and its
No. VIIL?Aug. 1886.1 2 l
498 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.

inhabitants killed or carried off. In the course of my journey I traversed

most of the southern part of the Kubo valley, and visited its chief town
Kale. This, the ancient capital of a great principality, I found in sad
plight. Its extensive brick enceinte and the remains of fine monasteries,
testified to the former importance of a city which now only reckoned a
few hovels. The TsawTbwaw, or prince, was living at Mandalay in
disgrace, having been connected by marriage with one of the Burmese
princes who rebelled in 1867, and the Burmese governor who replaced
him was living in the Kyendwin valley at a safe distance. The Tsawbwaw
had in his day possessed great influence over the Khyens, and the evils
under which the valley suffered were said to have greatly aggravated
since his removal. Hoping that his restoration might improve matters,
I made interest at Mandalay, and eventually succeeded in getting him
reinstated. But whether things had gone too far or his age has made
him less active, I hear that he has not so far done much good. How?
ever, now that our Government has come, we may be sure that the wild
tribes will be kept in order, and that this rich region will recover its
former prosperity. It will undoubtedly prove one of the most valuable
parts of the new province.
From Kale I made my way to the south, up the valley. On the
high range to the west, 4000 or 5000 feet in height, could be seen
distinctly the clearings and villages of the wild Khyens. They cultivate
hill rice, cotton, and other plants, on what is called the Toungya
system. A patch of jungle is cleared, the trees are burned for manure,
and the seeds sown in the ashes. One crop is taken, and then the
plot is abandoned, not to become cultivated again till, years afterwards,
it has become covered with jungle afresh. All up the valley the stream
keeps nearer the eastern than the western side, and as for fear of the
Khyens, cultivation and villages are confined to the side of the river
furthest from them, the major portion of the valley has become covered
with forest, in which both teak and cutch occur abimdantly. In the
fields every man works with his gun by his side, and keeps as close as
may be to his village, so that wayfarers are few, and the rich landscape
has a desolate aspect.
At one village I had an illustration of the way in which the
feuds with the Khyens are perpetuated. The headman, who had an
unusual reputation for bravery, had made proposals of amity to the
neighbouring tribe of wild Khyens, and told me his intention was to
make them drunk on rioe beer, for which they have a weakness, and
then massacre them all. I left two days before this laudable plan was to
be carried into execution, and never heard the result.
It will be seen how interesting and complicated are the circumstances
of this great possession. It will require a delicate and yet firm hand
to deal with the numerous and intricate problems presented by the rela?
tions with the wild tribes, the Shans, and our new neighbour, China,
 BURMA: THE .COUNTRY..
ANP PEOPLE.?DISCUSSION. 499

l)ut we may have confidence that?the success which has attended us so

far in Burma will not desert us now. The experience of Lower Burma
has shown that the Burmese are easy to govern, and once the dis-
turbances natural on so great a change are quelled, our new subjects of
that race will prove equally tractable. It is possible that the settle?
ment of the country may take a longer time than it did after the
previous wars; for those wars only lopped off members of the old
empire?they left the heart. The officials of the lost provinces were
still able to find scope for ambition and intrigue at Ava. But now the
heart itself has been struck at,. and we must expect it will die hard.
From the Shans, if they once come in?and they appear likely to do
so?there will be no trouble. Considering their strength if united, it is
wonderful they bore the heavy Burmese yoke so long, and under our
government their resources and population will increase.
The Khyens, Kakhyens, and other frontier tribes may give us
trouble at first, as they or their relatives have in Assam, but firmness
with conciliation will in time disarm their hostility. No valid inference
can be drawn from the state of their relations with a government like
that of Mandalay, at once weak, treacherous, and arrogant.
Our new acquisition rounds off our eastern frontier and consolidates
it. Intercourse may be opened between the Irawadi and Brahmaputra.
Trade will increase?though perhaps not quite so speedily as.is.hoped?
not only from the development of Upper Burma itself, but from the
access it will afford to China. In securing that our new subjects them?
selves contribute to the attainment of these results, there will be
ample scope for the exercise of those qualities which, after all is said
and done, have made England the greatest civilising power the world
has ever seen.

Afterthe paper,
Mr. Holt Hallett said he had listened to Mr. Bryee's account with the very
greatest interest. A great part of the basin of the Kyendwin visited by the
lecturerhad never been previouslydescribed,and he was glad to hear that large
and rich plains existed not only along the main streambut in the branchvalleys.
Mr. Bryce's account,whereit did not covernew ground,was so full and so accurate,
that he did not think he need take up the time of the meetingby diseussinfit.
He might, however,say something about the Talaing or Mun, and the Lawa or
Lua, two very importantraces which once occupied the deltas of the Irawadi,
Sittang,and Salween rivers,but were rapidlymergingand becoming lost in other
races. During his late journey he met many Talaing who still spoke Mun, and
was told by them that the race was in threetribes,the Mun Tine, or Pegu Talaing,
the Mun Dee, or Bangoon Talaing, and the Mun Myat Lawa, or ^alaing of
Myawaddi, Kyeikmyo,and Toungbo-myo. The Talaings foundin Tavoy are Mun
Dee. The Mun Myat Lawa are most likely hybridoffspring of the Lawa and Mun
races. Many of the names on the map to the north-eastof Maulmain are Lawa
words,and these people are said to have been the aboriginesof the valley of the
Salween as well as of the countrylying to the east of it. The Kiang Tung Lawa
2 l 2
500 BURMA: THE COUNTRYAND PEOPLE.?DISCUSSION.

must not be confused with the Baw Lawa, the race just alluded to, as theyare
an entirelydifferentpeople with a perfectlydistinctlanguage. The Kiang Tung
Lawa are an intrudingrace gradually pressing southwards. They are tall and
athletic,and are hardly distinguishablefromthe noithern Shans. Many of their
villages are now to be foundin the valley of the Meh Low river,betweenZimme
and Kiang Hsen. Even the Talaing allow that the Baw Lawa are the aboriginesof
the country,and there can be little doubt that many of the people now speaking
Tai, or Shan, and Burmesein the neigbourhoodof Zimme'and Maulmain,are either
pure or hybriddescendantsof the Lawa. As to the Talaing, but littleis known of
them at present,but it is not unlikelythat the Kolarians of India, the Mun or
Talaing of Burma, and many of the tribes in the basin of the Mehkong are of
the same race, and are descendantsof the Mon tribes,some of whom w7ere, according
to M. Terriende Lacouperie, dwellingin China at the time of the arrivalof the first
Chinese immigrantsinto that region. The sequence of the onrushof the races into
the Lawa countryor Central Indo-China,seems to have been firstTalaing,secondly,
Shan, thirdly, Karen, and lastly, the Thibeto-Burmese tribes. Whether the
Kamaits, Kamooks, and other dwarf tribes in Central and Eastern Indo-China,
are descendantsof the pigmies met with by the early Chinese, or whetherthey are
immigrantsfromthe sea-board,is anotherinterestingquestion which may perhaps
be solved with the aid of the copious vocabularieshe (Mr. Hallett) collectedof their
languages and handed to M. de Lacouperie,togetherwith those of the Lawa and
otherraces met with duringhis exploration.
Sir Rutherford Alcock wished to say a few wordsin referenceto the whole
subject of Burma. The very interestingand excellentpaper which Mr. Bryce had
read contained a great amount of original information,and he was sure had been
verymuch appreciated. It was impossibleto divestthemselvesof a very considerable
amount of intereston politicalas well as geographicalgroundsin the whole of that
territory at the present moment. The proximityof the territorywhich had lately
been annexed to India, to Assam on the one side, and to China on the other,made it
an object of particular interest,and it would have been to any othernationthan
their own an object of desire and ambition. It had really been forcedupon them,
they did not seek it, though it was quite clear that it was most advantageousboth
for themselves and the neighbouringStates that a settledGovernmentshould be
placed there,and one which was capable of developingcommerce. He should like
Mr. Bryce to tell them what he conceivedwould be the facilitiesof communication
betweenAssam and Yunnan. No doubt therehad been in formertimesa greattrade
betweenthose provincesand Burma, but fromwant of access to the sea, fromwhich
Yunnan was very much cut off by ranges of mountainsand an unsettledregionof
plundering tribes, trading was a great difficulty. With a settled Government,.
however,in Burma, and a good understandingbetween Great Britain and China,,
new markets would spring up almost without any efforton the part of the two>
Governments. The Chinaman, with his industryand perseverance,qualities which,.
accordingto Mr. Bryce's account,the Burmesewere ratherwantingin, would, if he
saw an opening,certainlypush his commerce,in which not only all Burma and the
Malay Peninsula would profit,but also the whole world. Fortunatelythey did not
seek in gettingany possessionsof this kind,to excludeothers,or to keep a monopoly;
they werequite willingthat the whole worldshouldcompetewith them,and equally
enjoythe same freedom. That could not always be said of some of theirneighbours,,
but at all events it had long been theirnational principle,and he hoped it would
always continue to be so. Some very interestingparticularshad been given about,
the ethnographicelement,which he was bound to say was a little mixed. Although
 BURMA: THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE.?DISCUSSION. 501

there was a predominanceof the Mongolian element,which a friendof his usually

characterisedas " That unlovely race, the Chinese," it seemed that they had rather
improvedin appearance,accordingto Mr. Bryce'saccount,and he hopedthatas there
was that improvementin the physical appearance,so theremight be an improve?
ment in theirrnoralstatus. At all events that countryoffered a wide fieldforany?
thing that western civilisationcould bringin aid. They were very much indebted
to Mr. Bryce for the interestingparticularshe had given them. They could not
know too much of this country,which,as regardedIndia and Great Britain,had a
very great future,and he hoped that with friendlyco-operationon the part of the
ChineseEmpire,theywould soon see what was oncecalled a goldenroadre-established,
and that it would be fruitfulin bringinggold to all those whomightfrequentit.
Mr. Annan Bryce said they were verymuch indebtedto Mr. Hallett forthe par?
ticularshe had given about the branchesof the Talaings, which he (Mr. Bryce) was
bound to say he did not know before. Mr. Hallett had a great knowledgeof these
subjects,and it was to be hoped that theywould soon have a fullaccountin the book
which it was understoodhe was about to publish. With referenceto what Sir
ButherfordAlcock had said, he did not feelby any means certainthat the routefrom
Bhamo into China was the best way of approachingYunnan and Sechuen, because
on looking at the map, they would see a greatnumberof parallel valleys running
at right angles to the course of that route, and the railwaywould have to cross
those valleys,and the riversflowingthroughthem,beforeit got into the rich country.
There was the Salween, then the Mehkong,and the Kin-sha-kiang,and branches
of those rivers. The gorges were very deep, and the mountains between them
very high, so that the routewas an extremelydifficultone, and for a railway he
thoughtpracticallyimpossible. If theywere going to make a railwayto Yunnan, he
thought they should adopt the route proposed by Mr. Hallett and Mr. Colquhoun,
namely,fromMaulmein to Baheng, and thenceby Lakon to Kiang Sen and Kiang
Hung, close to the frontierof Yunnan. This routeruns almost all the way through
an easy flatcountry,much ofwhichis veryfertile,and onlywants a largerpopulation
to develop it. That was Mr. Hallett's route,and it seeired to him (Mr. Bryce)
that if they were ever going to have a railway to tap Yunnan, this was the
best way to make it, because it would run up the valleys instead of crossingthem.
Sechuen was a really importanttrading country,which they would like to reach,
but it was so long a way off,that he did not think they could profitablyget at it
from that side. That trade, he thought, would always find its way down to
Shanghai. He supposedthey were bound in course of time to see some communica?
tion with this south-westernterritory,and although his knowledge was not by any
means so great as that of some others,for he had been only as far as Kiang Mai
or Zimme'in that direction,he was still convincedso faras he had seen that Mr.
Hallett's would be the best route, and he would consequentlygive his vote in its
favour.
The President (the Marquis of Lorne) said at that late hour he would only
say that the large meeting which had assembled showed the very greatinterestthat
this subject excited,and he was quite certainit would be the feelingof the meeting
that it had been most adequately and most interestinglytreated. He was no doubt
<expressingthe feelingsof the meetingin saying that they were most gratefulto Mr.
Bryce forhis instructivepaper.
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