Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 445, 27 October 1904, Page 7

Traveller.

A HOLIDAY IN BURMA. BURMA is not all dacoit-hunting > there are times of peace and happi" ness as well, when one can enjoy a holiday in many a novel way and see the sights of the strangest description. -The natives, or, at any rate, those who have been born and bred under British rule, are a sporting, happy-go-lucky lot, and are, moreover, easily moved to mirth. If you meet a Burman on the road and make a face at him, he will squat down and roar with laughter: but if you were to adopt the same tactics with the mild Hindu, he would immediately imagine that he had encountered the Evil One, and either flee for dear life, or grovel on the ground at your feet. I do not wish the reader to imagine that it is my habitual custom to make faces at natives ; but there are times when exuberance of spirits leads one to perform acts which the high, ' man-and-brother,' Indian official would consider most unseemly.

Thayetmyo (the Mango-town) stands on the right bank of the river Irawadi, about midway between Kangoon and Mandalay, and is a good sample of a Burrnan upcounfcry town. It has many points in its favour compared with more civilised Rangoon : the inhabitants are more primitive and pleasanter to deal with in every way. In the main street are always to be seen groups of emaciated Chinamen, who represent the moneyed class of the population, though by What means their wealth is accumulated is only known to the police. Theit days are apparently spent in loungecbairs, in the enjoyment of their quaint little opium pipes ; night-time possibly sees their houses tranformed into gambling and opium dens of the worst description, for Burmans of all classes and of all ages are inveterate gamblers, and are, moreover, fastacquiring the habit of indulging in the pernicious drug. In the side streets a happier phase of life is seen, and at all times of the day, groups of men are busy with one kind of amusement or another. The Burman is an extraordinary individual; ha will work like ahorse for three or four days, and then for a week will enjoy himself with the money which he has earned. Football is their chief athletic amusement, and is played by them as much to keep their limbs supple as for any other reason. The game is peculiar, and partakes more of battledore and shuttlecock than , our game of football. The ball is six inches in diameter, and is composed of a network of split canes, neatly interwoven. - The number of players is unlimited ; sometimes a dozen men may be seen standing round in a cijple; at others there may be only a couple of players, the object being the same—to set the ball going in the air* and to prevent its touching the ground again. The players wear as little olothing as possible, the ' passoh' being tightly bound round the loins, and on the ball being kicked up, every one doe's his be'stto keep

going. The attitudes of the players are Wonderful to Tool&Lt, the ball being caught on the heel, knee, or back, and sent flying in all directions. - Hands, arms, and even toes, are forbidden to be used in the: game, yet the dexterity with which the ball is kept up defies all. description. Graceful strokes •are much studied, and the swagger assumed by a Burmen, poised on one foot ready to receive the ball on the other heel, is almost ludicrous to watch.

Ono other holiday scene I have to record —a boat-race—and certainly the most exciting one at. which I have ever been present. The day was the Sunday, and as we took our evening stroll towards the native town, we found the river-side densely orowded with holiday-makers, for Thayetmyo we' learned, was about to row a race against Prome, and all the world and his wife were present to witness the event.

Thayetmyo has turned out to a man, and the place is left the care of the parish dogs t The reason is obvious: Thayetmyo has staked its last rupee on the result, and as betting on the tape is as yet unknown in the land, tho people must be on the spot to see what happen s. As we pass along the crowd, wo see little groups of gaily-dressed men and women discussing tho probabilities of the race with voices raised in excitement, and we marvel at the change in the usually ealm-demeanoured Burman. The everpresent cheroot is forgotten, and lies halfsmoked behind the ear; the fruit-seller and the dealer ' napee ' is dis* regarded for the boats on the river, and every one strains forward to catch a glimpse of tho frail little barques. First comes the Thayetmyo boat —a long light dug-out, only a few inches out of tho water, padded by four-and-twenty of the picked youth of the place, and ' coxed' by a* hoary-headed old man, who has probably rowed the course a hundred times or more. Shout after shout goes up. as the peoplo see their boat "pass, and a solemn silence follows whon the ' Pride of. Promo' comes gently up the stream, livery one is gauging the strength of the enemy, and evidently there is some anxiety for the safety of the home rupees. Defeat moans ruin to the northern town, yet, even after the boats have reached the starting point, there is not a man who would withdraw his bet were he given the chance. To the Englishman there did not appear to be anything to choose between the two boats ; they were built on almost similar lines—rogular racing crafts, some sixty feet in length, and so lighly constructed as to appear to bend as the paddlers made them loap through the water. We had taken up our position by the side of a pagoda, thirty feet or so above the river, and were seated on tho backs of a couple of quaint tiger-like images which guarded the entrance to the sacred spot. In front of us was a seething mass of humanity, each one more eager than his neighbour to catch a sight of the rival boats as, thoy passed to their stations. The river stretched before us—one vast expanse, two miles or more in width—while the setting sun at our backs lit up the low hills across the water. What a.wealth of colour met our eyes 1 A foreground of silks of every hue, then the dull gray river, with its silvery sun-decked ripples, and then the sombre bamboo-covered hills, with glorious red reflections filling the heavens on all sides.

But this .is no .time for thinking of scenery, for the boats are already drawn up for the start, and hranother second a cry escapes the crowd—the Burmese equivalent to ' They're "off.' The river is straight at this point, and the whole race can be seen. Down they come, at a pace thatwould make the Irawadi Flotilla Company jealous, the two dozen paddles of each boat plunging into the water with one gigantic splash. No one speaks now, for it is obvious that the race is a tough one. The 'Pride ofProme ' leads by half a length, gradually gaining distance until a streak of daylight is seen between the two boats.- Now a long yell of encouragement, leaves the shore, and, as if in answer to the call, the • Golden Flower' shoots forward and leaves its adversary behind. Again, however, before half the course is rowed, the strangers have come to the front, and the faces of the people around us are growing long; the Thayetmyo rupees are in the balance, and it is evidently a toss-up who wins. Half-a-dozen times in as many minutes the boats change places, until with a few lengths of the winning-post, when the ' Golden Flower' is seen suddenly to leap through the water, andleaving the strangers a good length behind, flies past the post an easy winner. The pent-up feelings of the spectators now burst their bonds, and a perfect roar of delight and applause is given forth. The men snatch Jhe flowers from their mass of hair and fling them aloft, and the women and children shriek and dance for joy." Victory has been snatched from the enemy; Thayetmyo has beaten Prome; but better still, Thayetmyo has won the Prome rupees,