between the Salween and the high laterite ground which separates it from the basin of the Hlineboay river. The highest point passed by the cart-road between Shoaygoon and Hlineboay is less than a hundred feet above the former place. The great flood of 1877 rose two feet six inches above the bank of the Salween at Shoaygoon, or to a level twenty feet above the ground in the interior; but owing to the breadth of the valley and the slope of the country, the flood-water passed off in a stream a mile in breadth and about ten feet deep.

Leaving the valley, we proceeded over laterite ground, amongst small trees and scrub-jungle. Before reaching the Hlineboay river we had been pretty nearly jolted to death by our abominable driver, the worst and most apathetic of his kind I have ever suffered from. The carts, as is usual in Burmah, were springless, and ordinary jolts might be expected; but this creature drove us against trees and over tree-roots a tyro might have avoided. I was particularly annoyed, as Dr Cushing was only just recovering from an attack of liver complaint. It was no use expostulating (though expostulate we did), for there only came bang, bang, bang over another tree-root. We had to laugh, the man seemed so utterly irreclaimable. Loogalay, my half-breed Burmese Mohammedan, who was walking by the cart, assured us that it was no use talking to the man,—“ He was yainday (a country lout); born a bullock, and would die a buffalo ❞—that is, he was born a bumpkin and would die a blockhead.

On passing near the village of Quanta, which is situated about eleven miles from Shoaygoon, Dr Cushing called to me to hold my nose, the Karens, to propitiate the nats (demons, gnomes, and fairies) of the vicinity, had sacrificed a dog to them, and the air for a hundred yards was reeking with the stench from the crucified remains.

A mile and a half farther on we entered the low ground bordering the Hlineboay river, and shortly afterwards came to the stream. The banks, even where cut away for the cart-road, were steep, and the ford was narrow. Here was a chance for our Jehu. When racing down the bank, in

stead of attending to the oxen he gazed back at the other carts. The cattle, turning sharply at the ford, dragged the cart into the deep water up-stream. We were soused up to our waists, our bedding was drenched, and I incurred three hours' unexpected labour in cleaning and readjusting my surveying instruments, which would otherwise have been ruined by their bath. Our Handy Andy was not in the least discomposed by his achievement; it was an everyday feat to him his countenance was a picture of impassive stolidity; he showed no signs of being horrified or even delighted at the effects of his carelessness. What could we do but laugh? He was indeed born a bullock, and fast merging into the buffalo. A mile and a half downstream from the ford, skirting the river, brought us to Hlineboay, where we put up in the court-house, which the myook, or native judge and magistrate, had courteously placed at our disposal.

Hlineboay, a village of seven or eight hundred inhabitants, chiefly Karens, being the headquarters of a township, contains a court-house and police station. It lies at the junction of the thoroughfares from Thatone and Maulmain to the Shan States and China, and is at the navigation head of the Hlineboay river, and 111 miles distant by water from Maulmain. In the dry season, which lasts for half the year, it has a large local market and carries on a considerable trade. People congregate there from all directions. Scattered before the court-house you may see natives of India from Maulmain with cotton goods and twist; Burmans and Talaigus from the same place, with oil, salt, dried and salt fish, tinned provisions, and other commodities; Karen villagers with fowls, ducks, and pigs from the neighbouring districts; Shan and Toungthoo cattle-dealers from Thatone on their way to the Shan States; Chinese with mule-caravans from Yunnan; parties of Shans from Zimmé, with packs of beautifully worked silk garments, and others returning with woollen and cotton piece-goods and sundry articles of peddlery: the whole scene teeming with life and colour. In the rains trade becomes slack, and the Myook moves his quarters to Shoaygoon, opposite which

OUR COMMISSARIAT.

5

the great teak-rafts drift down the Salween from Siam, the Shan States, and Karenni to the timber-yards at Maulmain.

Moung Tsan Yan, the Myook, an old acquaintance of mine, came to see us on our arrival, and told me that he had secured fourteen elephants, six for our party and eight for that of Mr Bryce, the head manager of the Bombay Trading Company, who had asked me to join parties with him, so that we might travel together as far as Zimmé. Dacoits might be lurking on the frontier: the more Europeans there were together, the less liable should we be to attack. I accordingly halted until the 23d, when, hearing that he was delayed, I determined to start, making short journeys in order to enable his party to overtake us.

Dr Cushing kindly took over the commissariat from me, and we set to work to sort and rearrange the baggage. Previous to leaving Maulmain I had purchased forty pahs, or baskets made of pliable wicker-work, each being about twenty inches long, fifteen inches broad, and ten inches. deep, which would fit easily into the howdah of an elephant. These, after sorting, we labelled and numbered, entering the contents of each in my note-book.

Method in packing saves a great deal of trouble and time when on a journey. I never met a more methodical man than Dr Cushing. His arrangements were admirable. Everything was kept in its place. Each elephant-load was stacked separately throughout the journey. Each driver had charge

of his own load, and was held responsible for it.

Stores for several weeks' supply were packed separately, two pahs together containing what was likely to be required each separate week; and no other pahs, except those in charge of the cook, were allowed to be opened without our consent. The cooking utensils, crockery, a dozen of brandy for medicinal purposes, two dozen of whisky, and some of the medicines, were packed in straw in small wooden cases. These, together with the pahs, two waterproof bags, and a tin box for clothes and money, my office-box, rugs, bedding, chairs, and camp-bedstead, and our two selves, formed the load of the six elephants which were to convey us and our

6

LOADING THE ELEPHANTS.

belongings to Maing Loongyee, where fresh steeds had to be procured.

The medicines, purchased by me chiefly in England, were the usual ones carried in Indo-China. They consisted of quinine, Warburg's tincture and arsenic for fever, ipecacuanha, Dover's powder and laudanum for dysentery, Eno's fruit-salt, Cockle's pills and chlorodyne for lesser ailments; pain-killer for dispelling the agony of bites from noxious insects such as the huge dairy-keeping red ants that milk syrup from plant-lice, centipedes and scorpions; Goa powder for ringworm, the most general and contagious plague in the far East; and vaseline and Holloway's ointment for abrasions of the skin and ordinary casualties so frequent on a journey. Dr Cushing was a doctor of souls: he knew, and would know, nothing of physic; he abhorred it. His wife had been the general practitioner on his former journeys. There was no help for it; I must be the physician as well as the leader of the party.

At daybreak on the 23d of January, having finished our packing and procured a Karen guide who could speak Burmese and Talaing to serve as my interpreter as far as Maing Loongyee, we had the elephants brought in and

loaded. Here Dr Cushing's

power as an organiser became apparent. The baggage had been stacked into six loads, two smaller than the others for the elephants which were to be ridden by us. The howdahs, however, proved of unequal size, and some of them would not hold the tin boxes and cases which were intended for them. The air was filled with complaints and remonstrances. Each of the Karen mahouts, naturally, wished his beast to carry less than its portion. Each objected to have another burden foisted on him. Loogalay and Portow were worse than useless: both made confusion worse by fussing about, tugging at the Madras

Portow.

PORTOW AND LOOGALAY.

7

boys, and putting them out of temper by imperious commands mixed with abuse. Ignorance, according to the copybooks, is boastful, conceited, and sure. I never saw the proverb better exemplified than by these two men throughout the journey. It was impossible, in Portow's opinion, that Portow could be mistaken; he knew everything; he was always ready and eager to advise, and equally ready to jeer at and snub any one else who ventured to do so: but although he had been the head-man of his village, and was an egregious blockhead and an egotistical bumpkin, he was eminently good-natured, and bore no malice when plagued, as he frequently was, by our Madras boys.

Loogalay, or Moung Loogalay, as he liked to be called, was a hectoring, swaggering blade, as gaily dressed as a game-cock, and as vain as an actor. A well-built lad of about two-and-twenty, who had been brought up in an English school, tall and good-looking, thoughtless, gay, and careless, in his gaily coloured Burmese costume he looked the beau-ideal of a dashing youth. His hair tied in a chignon on the top of his head, and festooned with a loosely arranged silk kerchief; his putso, or plaid, serving as a petticoat, with the end jauntily thrown over his shoulder; his clean white cotton jacket with gold buttons, and the flower stuck in his ear,—how could one help enjoying the sight of him, however much one might be put out by his indolence !

Madras boys, particularly those who have been attached to the officers of a native regiment, and have seen more or less of the world, generally have a pretty good opinion of themselves. Some are good wrestlers, and most of them can use their fists. Loogalay was employed as my henchman, or peon-not to do domestic service, but to attend to my wants on the journey; to pick up geological and botanical specimens, measure the depth and breadth of streams, help me when photographing, and carry instructions to the rest. of the party. His salary was greater than that of the boys, and he looked upon himself as head boss over them. Anyhow, to him they were kulahs, his natural inferiors, mere savages or outer barbarians; he was a loo-a man and a Burman. Instead of giving orders as emanating from me, he