78 .902 > VISIT A MONASTERY. ascended Loi Noi, a small granite knoll on the west bank that is crested by a pagoda, in order to settle the position and make a drawing of the hills in the valley of the Meh Li. Between us and Loi Ta Mau and Loi Chang Moo, "the mountain of the crouching elephant," so called from its appearance, the whole plain for a distance of thirty miles appeared to be one great forest with a few small isolated hills cropping up here and there, the area under cultivation being entirely hidden by dense fringes of trees. The Zimmé plain is at its broadest at Loi Noi, and feathers off thence to both ends. Its total length from the gorge beyond the Meh Teng to Loi Chang Moo is seventy miles. 981 LOI CHANG MOO HILLOCKS SCATTERED IN THE PLAIN View from the top of Loi Noi at 8 A.M. 23d February. CLAD COUNTRY LOW FOREST Leaving Loi Noi, we passed, on the east bank, the country - house of the Chow Hluang, or chief, of Lapoon, near which a landing-stage of bamboos and a flight of steps had been erected for the use of the chief. Two miles farther we passed Ban Ta Pee, the village to which lepers are banished. The bamboo clumps fringing the river now became more scarce, and were replaced by fruit-trees and tobacco and other gardens. Hsong Kweh, or Htone Htau, the village where we breakfasted, is on the site of the ancient city of Viang Htau. On visiting the religious buildings, which consisted of a pagoda, two temples, and a monastery, I picked up a fragment of an ancient tile, on which were raised three figures the first a man clothed in a flowing raiment, then an unclad man with a ring or fetter on each ankle, followed by a naked woman with a bracelet or fetter upon each wrist. The portion of the tile containing the heads of the figures had been broken VISIT A MONASTERY. 79 off and lost. The smaller temple had a handsome staircase, the sides of which were formed of twisted snakes and dragons adorned with scales of gold and green tinsel. The plaster scroll-work which embellished the doorway was admirably designed and of excellent cement. Both Burmese and Shans have developed a great talent for architecture and ornamental tracery. The old monk and his acolytes were evidently pleased at our visit, and had no objection to being photographed. I therefore took two excellent groups, which unfortunately came to nothing, as the plates were blotched, like all the others I had wasted my time in using. Before reaching the monastery, a party of young men and women forded the river in front of our boat, laughing at each other's endeavour to join decency with the attempt to keep their garments from the water, which was nearly waist-deep-a nearly impossible feat. CHAPTER VIII. AND EMBROIDERY DYES DESCRIPTION OF SHAN HOUSES-CABALISTIC CHARMS-SUPERSTITIONANCESTRAL AND DEMON WORSHIP-SHAN DYNASTIES IN BURMAHZIMMÉ UNDER THE BURMESE-RULES FOR HOUSE-BUILDING-POSSESSING A GHOUL THE SHADOW SPIRIT KISSING WITH THE NOSEFURNITURE-MEALS-CHINESE CHOP-STICKS-SPINSTERS-WEAVING CHINESE HONGS-FISHING -REVOLT AGAINST BURMAH-ZIMMÉ AND LAPOON DESERTED-A REST-HOUSE— SHAN DIALECTS-ENTRANCE OF THE MEH HKUANG-MUSICAL WATERWHEELS BRICK AND TILE WORKS HOUSES FOR THE DEMONS HOUSES IMBEDDED IN GARDENS-LIGHT-COLOURED BUFFALOES-MY FIRST HUNT IN BURMAH-A FINE PAGODA-APPROACH TO THE CITY - ARRIVE AT ZIMMÉ AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONS IN SIAM AND ZIMMÉ. THE houses in the Shan villages along the river-banks are situated in orchards of fine fruit-trees, separated from each other by palisades. The people, like the Burmese, are very fond of flowers, and rear them in their gardens, and in wooden boxes and earthenware pots placed on the balustrade of their verandahs. Young children encircle the topknot on the head with orchids and sweet-smelling flowers. Girls wear roses, magnolias, bauhinias, jessamine, and orchids in their hair; and net flowers, seeds, and buds into fragrant and beautiful hanging ornaments of various designs. Young men are seen with flowers in the holes in their ear-lobes, which likewise serve as holders for their half-smoked cheroots. Even coolies at work in the fields have flowers in their ears to regale themselves at intervals. The houses of the peasantry are generally built solely of bamboo, with roofs thatched with grass or the leaves of teak and eng trees. The walls are roughly constructed of bamboo DESCRIPTION OF SHAN HOUSES. 81 matting; and bamboos slit open and spread out by gashing them on the inner side form floor planks a foot and more in width. Not a nail is used in the structure; slips of bamboo twisted into string form the only fastenings when cane is not procurable. In a country where fires are frequent, and bamboos spring up like grass, these houses are eminently adapted to the requirements of the people, as they are cheaply constructed and can easily be replaced. Passing through the gateway in the bamboo palisading, you enter the garden where the house stands with its floor raised six or eight feet from the ground. Under the house is a space where elephant howdahs, gardening implements, and materials are kept, and where cattle can be tethered for the night. Ascending the steps, you reach a platform or verandah, which is usually partly or wholly roofed. The houses are invariably built with the gable-ends facing north and south; the verandah being generally at the southern extremity. The east side of the verandah has a wall continuous with that of the house. Along this wall is a shelf on which are placed offerings of flowers for Buddha and for the beneficent spirits. On the western side of the verandah stands a covered settle for the earthen water-pots, which hold water for drinking and cooking purposes. The outer posts of this verandah, when only partially covered in, rise high enough to support the balustrade, on which pot-herbs, onions, chillies, garlic, flowers, and orchids are grown for family use. The floor of the uncovered portion of the verandah serves in the daytime as a drying-place for betel-nuts and fruit, and at night, after the heat of the day, furnishes a resort for a quiet lounge under the fast cooling sky. If the family is religiously disposed, it is to the verandah that the monks are invited to conduct a merit-making service for the prosperity and health of the household; and it is to the verandah that witch-finders, medicine-men, and sorcerers, as well as monks, are received to render their services for a small consideration in cases of sickness. Look on the tops of the house-posts, under the rafters, and you will find cabalistic charms inscribed on fragments of F cloth, which have been placed there to prevent the intrusion of malignant spirits who bring calamity, disease, and death. The belief in the spirits of the earth, found in all the dark corners of the world, and at one time nearly universal, fetters its victims with the bonds of superstition. Superstition saps all manliness from them, makes them live in constant dread of their surroundings, and consider themselves akin in soul to spirits inhabiting the lower grades of creation and the vegetable and mineral kingdom. The spirits in the unseen world, although considered to have previously inhabited human forms, according to the people are as malicious as monkeys, and can only be kept in good humour by constant coaxing. The very best-the spirits of their ancestors, and the spirits of deceased monks, the teachers of their youth-will certainly take vengeance if provoked by neglect. Knowing that Shan dynasties reigned in Upper Burmah from A.D. 1298 to 1554, and in Lower Burmah from A.D. 1287 to 1540, and again from 1740 to 1746; that the people of Zimmé were tributary to, and at times directly ruled by Burmah, between A.D. 1558 and 1774; and that Talaings, the people of Lower Burmah, flocked to Zimmé and Siam, and settled there in the latter half of last century and in the first half of this century, it is not surprising to find that many superstitions held by the Talaings and Burmese are common to the people of Zimmé. Thus the instructions given in the Burmese Dehttohn upon house-building, and choosing the site and materials, and also as to the lucky day for the commencement of the house, are generally applicable to Zimmé as well as to Burmah. Superstition takes under its guidance almost every detail; and when the house is completed, it still directs as to the day and the manner of moving in to take possession, and even as to the direction the people are to repose in at night. No door or windows are allowed in the eastern wall, and the family sleep with their heads to the east. The flooring of the house is supported by posts forked at the top to carry the floor beams on which rest the bamboo |