Herbert Thirkell White

“ A strong swimmer can cross from bank to bank. Leaving the wharves and the Hard of Mandalay thronged by steamers, launches and Burmese craft, the Irrawaddy glides past Ava, renowned in history, Sagaing, a typical Burmese town embosomed in tamarind groves, Myingyan, a busy port, Pakôkku, a trade centre near the mouth of the Chindwin river, Pagan, with its silent array of pagodas, Yenangyaung, redolent of earth-oil, Magwe, Minbu, the fort at Minhla, the old frontier pillars recalling memories of Dalhousie, the great Governor-General, Thayetmyo ”

“ Piercing this rampart, the Irrawaddy enters the First Defile, a gloomy, savage, rock-bound gorge, thirty-five miles in length. The Defile is narrow, tortuous, romantically beautiful, in places of un-fathomed depth. Rocks in mid-stream, sudden abrupt curves, seething whirlpools, render navigation difficult and hazardous. In the dry season, with care but without in-superable risk, launches steam up and down the Defile, their movements strictly regulated, under statutory sanction, by the civil authorities at Bhamo in telegraphic communication with Sinbo. ”

“ The fauna of Burma is singularly rich and varied. In nearly every district wander herds of elephants, from thirty to fifty, sometimes as many as a hundred, together, very destructive to crops, eating much and trampling down more. Except in the Shan States, they are strictly preserved and, save in defence of human beings or in protection of property, may not be shot without a license. The capture of wild elephants with the aid of tame elephants as decoys [1] was practised by Burmans probably from very ancient times, and certainly up to the extinction of the Burmese monarchy in 1885. ”

“ It has long been recognized that for Burmans opium is exceedingly deleterious and demoralizing. The opinion of the better classes condemns its consumption utterly and without reserve. They regard the use of opium in any form as contrary to the teaching of their religion and as destructive of the body and soul of the consumer. For at least fifty years, the policy of Government has been to discourage the use of opium without any reference to the effect of its disuse on the revenue. ”

“ Certain trees of species which have an economic value are classed as reserved. These may not be cut on public forest land except under license. Teak, most valuable of all trees, is placed on a lonely eminence, its extraction being safeguarded by stringent rules. Wherever it is found, growing teak is the property of the State, and may not be cut down without permission. But, except in the case of teak and of trees in reserved forests, much liberty is allowed to the people to use forest produce, even of reserved kinds, for domestic purposes. ”

“ Each has a wooden clapper round his neck to guide the riders when searching for them. Elephants thus hobbled often go quite a long way in a single night and are not at all impeded in their foraging. Though mechanical appliances have almost displaced them for this work, elephants are still used for piling teak logs in the timber yards of Rangoon and Moulmein and seem to display remarkable acuteness and intelligence. From time immemorial, the kings of Burma set much store on the possession of white elephants, regarding them as among the most honourable insignia of their royal state. ”

“ An interesting custom in the Shan country, which prevails also further east but not among Burmans, is the holding of a bazaar or market every fifth day. Bazaar day is not unlike market day in an English provincial town, but more brilliant. From far and near in picturesque crowds buyers and sellers flock to the meeting place. One of the most famous of these bazaars is held at Kēngtūng, far to the east across the Salween, where thousands congregate, strange folk from the hills, La and Wa, and people of other uncouth tribes, mingling with the predominant Shan. ”

“ Here is a great bell which the British essayed to remove by sea after the Second War. Unluckily, while it was being shipped, it fell into the river and all the king's horses and all the king's men failed to get it up again. In reply to their request, the Burmese were told contemptuously that, if they could recover it, they might keep it. So they took a bit of bamboo and fished up the bell and replaced it on the pagoda platform where it still hangs. If you take the deer's horn which lies handy for the purpose, first strike the earth, then strike the bell three times, your wish shall be granted. ”

“ The Headman is the leading villager; the village magistrate and judge, with power to try petty criminal and civil cases, and the local revenue collector. The elders have no legal power or status, but in practice they exercise substantial influence. All villagers are bound by law to assist the headman in the discharge of his public duties; and new comers cannot settle in a village without his permission. On all residents is imposed joint responsibility for peace and order. They are bound to keep the village in a state of defence and to resist armed attack. ”

“ Often at Prome and below Mandalay, rows of steamers have been held fast for days. Elsewhere, steamers have grounded and remained high and dry for months till released by the rise of the river. Meanwhile the vessel becomes a stationary dwelling round which the caretaker plants a little garden for profit and for pastime. In the rains, high rises flood the banks to the destruction of growing crops. At the same time, the silt deposited enriches the soil.
The scenery of the Irrawaddy has been often celebrated. It is declared to be "as stately as it is beautiful; as passionate as it is serene." ”

“ In recent years, income tax has been imposed in Lower Burma; payers of income tax do not pay capitation tax. In this way, the obvious inequity of the uniform capitation tax has been remedied.
The corresponding levy in Upper Burma is an impost inherited from native rule called thathameda, a graduated income tax. It is levied at varying rates, the highest being £1 yearly on each household in a town or village. The rate having been fixed, the gross amount due from any unit is the rate multiplied by the number of households. But every household does not pay at the average rate. ”

“ In pictorial art, so far, Burmans have not attained a high standard. But there are native frescoes and pictures more quaint and grotesque than beautiful. Some frescoes on the walls and ceilings of zayats (rest houses) near the Shwe Dagôn Pagoda, representing the torments of lost souls, are realistically horrible. And there are many old frescoes at Pagan. One thing a Burmese artist can do. He can draw an elephant. An art school has been opened at Rangoon. It is possible that Burmese pictorial art has a future. ”

“ Approached by a long flight of steps, fringed on either side by rows of stalls where cheroots, toys, candles, and many varieties of miscellaneous goods, are offered for sale, the Pagoda attracts pilgrims and worshippers from all parts of the Province and sigh-seers from distant lands. Any day, one may see pious men and women telling their beads and murmuring their aspirations, acknowledging the misery of this transitory life, burning candles before holy images. ”

“ Upper Burma, exclusive of the Shan States, is a Scheduled District, that is, a territory for which the Governor-General has power to make Regulations without the aid or intervention of a legislative body. In the early years after the annexation, this power was freely exercised; but since the establishment of a local Legislative Council it is seldom needed. The law administered in other parts of India prevails, generally, in Lower Burma. As in other Provinces, there are local systems of land and revenue administration and there is a special Village Law. ”

“ The uppermost Silurian beds pass up into a great limestone system which has been termed the Plateau Limestone from the fact that it forms the great undulating plateau of the Shan States. Visitors to Maymyo will be familiar with the typical scenery belonging to this system, rolling uplands covered by a thick mantle of poor red clay soil on which the common bracken fern nourishes, shallow valleys or precipitous gorges, and steep cliff-scarps due to faulting. The limestone, when freshly broken, has, like so many limestones, a fœtid smell. ”

“ The greatest fisheries are those of the Irrawaddy Delta where definite sections of streams and creeks are leased to master fishermen. In these areas, fish are caught by means of weirs and traps fixed in the water. In free river and in sea fisheries, also of considerable importance, fees are levied on nets and fishing implements. On account of the destruction of life involved, the fisherman's occupation is regarded with disfavour by pious Buddhists. ”

“ Harvest comes at the beginning of the cold weather. Of many varieties of rice, kauk-kyi, which supplies practically all the crop for export is the most important. In Upper Burma, besides rice grown on fields watered by rainfall, great quantities are raised on irrigated land. In dry districts, a winter crop, mayin, is sown in the cold season on the edges of meres and on marshy depressions and reaped in the early rains. In the hills is practised a wasteful form of cultivation known as taungya. ”

“ Teak is so intimately associated with Burma and so valuable a product that some space may be devoted to a description of the method of its extraction. Before teak can be extracted, the tree must be quite dead and dry. Almost always it has to be floated down streams; and green teak does not float. Therefore, two or three years before a forest is to be worked, a Forest officer goes through it, accompanied by a gang of coolies, and selects the trees which he considers fit for felling, taking care to leave a fair proportion of good seed-bearing trees for the purpose of regeneration. ”

“ The westward movement of the solid block of old rocks forming the Shan plateau, meeting the southerly creep towards India of the Tibetan plateau, has formed the sigmoidal curves of the Irrawaddy valley, the general north-south trend of the oil-fields, the Arakan and Chindwin ridges and even the western sea shore, all features of relief roughly parallel to one another in direction and at right angles to the great earth movements in which they originated. ”

“ Towards the end of this phase we find evidence of sea along the west of Burma, occupying what are now the Arakan Yoma and the Naga Hills, and to the north in Yunnan where the presence of beds of salt and coal points to shallow water conditions. After the coral-reef land of the Shan States had been worn by rain, rivers and other natural agencies into ridges and hollows, a gentle depression of the whole caused an invasion of the sea, which filled up the hollows with fine sediments. ”

“ Commissioners, deputy commissioners, sub-divisional and township officers, and village headmen are concerned in the revenue administration. At the head is the Financial Commissioner. In Lower Burma, the land revenue system is comparatively simple. The State is the ultimate owner of all culturable land and levies revenue upon it. Private persons hold by grant or lease from Government or by occupation. Any person who occupies culturable land, paying revenue in respect of it, for a continuous period of twelve years, acquires a permanent heritable and transferable title called landholder's right. ”

“ Workers in brass and iron are engaged in making bells and gongs, images of the Buddha, and das (knives) of all shapes and sizes. Burmese bells are notable for beauty of tone and for graceful shape. The making of bronze statuettes is a comparatively modern industry [7] .
Silver-work. Even more than for crafts whose end is utility, Burmans are renowned for art-work. Without, perhaps, rivalling the idealism of China or Japan, Burmese artists, subject to their limitations, attain a high standard of excellence. ”

“ For some short time after the annexation of Upper Burma, the elephant-catching establishment was maintained. Later the somewhat primitive native method was abandoned and the capture of elephants on a large scale was undertaken by skilled and trained officers. Some years ago the Government Kheddah Department was abolished and, at present, the supply of elephants is left to private enterprise. The Burmese elephant is a useful beast, docile, and believed, perhaps erroneously, to be sagacious. He is not commonly used for riding and not at all on ceremonial occasions. ”

“ Though politically and administratively included in the Indian empire, Burma is definitely separated from India geographically and its people differ from the people of India in race, speech, religion and manners. It may almost be said to be a part of India merely by accident. Separated from the peninsula by the sea and by ranges of hills, it comprises a distinct nation. ”

“ The only conspicuous native feature is the bazaar or market, held after Shan fashion every five days, where strange people from the hills in picturesque attire mingle with Europeans and Shans and Burmans. ”

“ Generally they are dug up the following morning and despatched to the bazaars for the consumption of Burmese epicures. If a nest is overlooked and the young are hatched they have many other enemies. They run down to the sea as fast as they can, but few reach sanctuary, for cormorants, sea-gulls, and big fish lie in wait to slaughter the innocents [14] .
Frogs and toads are of many species. And leeches infest the forests to an incredible extent.
Fishes. Rivers and the sea abound in fish; fisheries are a source of wealth and sustenance to the community and of revenue to the State. ”

“ People who speak and write of Burma as a rule get their impressions from the most highly developed, and therefore most easily accessible, deltaic region and Irrawaddy valley. But the land of plains and swamps is but a fraction of Burma which is mainly a country of rugged hills and mountains. ”

“ The Pagoda is in the custody of trustees who receive the offerings of the faithful and ensure the maintenance in good order of the shrine and its precincts. In too close proximity is an arsenal.
On the border of the city, approximately on the site of King Tharrawaddy's myo, lies the cantonment, a wide expanse, including the pagoda, where there are barracks, parade grounds, residences of military and civil officers. Formerly open and picturesque, it is gradually becoming crowded with houses. Presently it will be removed to a distance and the space will be given up to the expansion of the town. ”

“ If a man has more land than he can properly cultivate, the headman may resume part and allot it to another. Bobabaing land is theoretically the private property of individual cultivators and formerly was subject to no State dues. It is now liable to revenue assessment, subject to adjustment of thathameda [10] .
Land revenue is collected by village headmen who receive a commission on the collections. In 1919—20, the gross land revenue amounted to £3,037,600.
The next great head of revenue in Lower Burma is the capitation tax. This is a poll tax levied at a fixed rate on all adult males. ”