AMERICAN MISSION.

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vegetable gardens, which had been planted on the numerous sand-banks, halted at the bridge to learn the position of the quarters of the American Presbyterian Mission, which had been established since 1867 in the suburbs of Zimmé, and since 1840 in Bangkok. The bridge lies 82 miles from Muang Haut and 236 miles from Hlineboay, or about 300 miles from Maulmain. The height of the banks near the bridge is 1008 feet above sea-level.

CHAPTER IX.

OUR RECEPTION-THE MISSION-HOUSE-A BEAUTIFUL VIEW-A REPASTREV. J. WILSON ANCIENT BOUNDARIES OF ZIMMÉ-CITY OF ZIMMÉPOPULATION-THE BRIDGE-AN HERMAPHRODITE-YOUTHFUL DIANAS -FEMALE DRESS-THE MARKET-SHOPS-THE PALACE-VISIT THE KING-DISCUSSION ABOUT THE RAILWAY-PRISONERS IN CHAINSVISIT A PRINCESS-SHAN EMBROIDERY-A GREAT TRADER-AMOUNT OF CARAVAN TRAFFIC-NUMBER OF ELEPHANTS-BOAT TRAFFIC.

In the meantime Dr M'Gilvary, hearing that our boats had passed, had hurried off a servant to follow them and conduct us to his house. The house is built in a large palisaded garden, which is separated from the east bank of the river by a cart-road.

Entering the garden, where English roses were growing amongst the glorious flowers and flowering shrubs of the tropics, and the air was scented with the sweet blossoms of orange and pummelo trees, we were met by Dr and Mrs M'Gilvary and their little son, who gave us a hearty welcome, and insisted upon our enjoying their hospitality during our stay in Zimmé. Nothing could be more agreeable to us. Pleasant friendly faces, lovely flowers, beautiful fruit-trees, a fine, large, commodious house, a splendid view of Loi Soo Tayp, and the best possible position for collecting information-what more could be desired? The house was constructed for the accommodation of two families of missionaries. One-half was unoccupied, as the Rev. Mr Martin and his wife were on their way from Bangkok, so no one would be cramped by our taking up our quarters there; besides which, Drs M'Gilvary and Cushing were old friends. We therefore gladly accepted the offer.

The Mission-house is built of teak with a shingle roof, in the ordinary style of bungalows in Burmah. A staircase leads up to a broad verandah, from which the front bedrooms and sitting-rooms are entered. At the back are the bath-rooms and another verandah, with a flight of steps leading to the garden and kitchen. The orchard contains fine shady clumps of bamboos, cocoa-nut, mango, tamarind, pomegranate, custard-apple, pummelo, guava, orange, citron, papaw, and coffee trees. The passion-flower grows in great luxuriance, and affords a luscious fruit, which can either be eaten as a vegetable, or like a papaw or a melon.

After the constant strain upon my attention during the journey, I greatly enjoyed reclining in a long-armed chair in the front verandah of the house, and watching, whilst I lazily puffed at my cigar, the ever-changing expression. of the great mountain at the back of the city. The lights and shades swiftly flitting across its forest-clad slopes, as the clouds coursed betwixt it and the sun; the beautiful bijou views in the early morning, as the mist opened out and closed in when dissolving under the influence of the sun; the foreground formed by suburbs on the other side of the river, embosomed in orchards, amongst which the areca-nut, palmyra, and cocoa-nut palms reared their graceful stems and beautiful plumes; the stream of ever-varying and everpicturesque life moving along the road and river; the music formed of the murmur of distant voices; the clearer notes of those that were near, and the clash and clatter that proceeds from the busy haunts of men,-the whole was like a pleasant dream, such a one as Ole Luk Oi, in Andersen's Fairy Tales,' showed the good little boy when he had thrown dust in his eyes and led him into Dreamland.

Having been shown our rooms, we had the luggage carried up and the necessary things unpacked, adding some of our stores to Mrs M'Gilvary's cuisine for the forthcoming banquet.

What a banquet that was! Never in my life, since or before, have I so enjoyed a repast. A nice white tablecloth and napkin once more under one's nose, and European food, with American dainties, and dessert, where fresh

strawberries, gathered in the Mission garden, made their appearance, and violets were placed in glasses by our side. I felt more inclined to feast my eyes and my sense of smell than to eat everything was so tempting and so tasteful. Then the fragrance of a well-cooked dinner; and fresh vegetables, and plenty of them; and that pumpkin-pie, the first I had ever tasted,-it was a feast for the gods! A gourmet who wishes to revel in the highest pitch of epicurean enjoyment, could not do better than take a trip into the jungle, and after recouping his jaded appetite, suffering from six weeks' privation and frugal fare, taste the relish of such a feast.

After dinner was over, we received a visit from the Rev. Jonathan Wilson, who had been with the Mission at Zimmé since 1868, the year after it had been established there by the Rev. Daniel M'Gilvary. After giving me a hearty shake of the hand, he asked what he could do for me, and was delighted at the prospect of a railway being carried from Burmah through Siam and the Shan States. Railways were the grandest civilisers in the world, and would do wonders in ameliorating the wretched condition of the people and in spreading Christianity through the land. "Don't be afraid of troubling me," he said; "I shall be only too delighted to aid in your good work." He then asked me to come and talk matters over with him at his diggings. He lived next door, all by himself. His wife was recruiting her health in America, and the two young ladies, who resided in one-half of the house and taught in the Mission schools, were away in the district. We accordingly strolled through the gardens to his house, where, after talking over matters, he promised to have my gold-leaf changed into silver; to collect all the information he could about trade and prices from the people; to inquire about the manners, customs, spirit-lore, and superstitions of the people; and give me a written memorandum about them. I was certainly most fortunate in securing the aid of missionaries who had been so long in the country as Mr Wilson and Dr M'Gilvary, particularly when they manifested such interest in gathering information for me.

BOUNDARIES OF ZIMMÉ.

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The ancient kingdom of Zimmé, or Kiang Mai, according to M'Leod, "comprised fifty-seven cities, mentioned in the Burmese books as fifty-seven Kraings (corruption of Kiang, a fortified or walled city), many of which at present exist, or their ruins can be traced. Muang Nan and Muang Phé (Peh) were included in the number, and the capital was both Kiang Mai and Kiang Hai, a place to the northward on the Mé Khók (Meh Khoke). It extended from the Mé Khong (Cambodia river) to the Mé Khóng (the Salween river) east and west. To the northward it was bounded by the territories of Kiang Tsen (Hsen) and Kiang Tung, which extended to the Mé Khók; to the southward to the territories of Kampeng, belonging to Siam." The kingdom, according to the Siamese history, was known as Sawakamala, and its capital as Krung (Kiang) see Satanahkanahut, probably Pali names, and not used colloquially, but merely in religious and State documents.

The city of Zimmé, which lies 430 yards to the west of the river, is divided into two parts, the one embracing the other, like a letter L, on the south and east sides. The inner city faces the cardinal points, and is walled and moated all round. The walls are of brick, 22 feet high, and crenelated at the top, where they are 3 feet broad. The moat surrounding the walls is 30 feet wide and 7 feet deep. The outer city is more than half a mile broad, and is partly walled and partly palisaded on its exterior sides. Both cities are entered by gates leading in and out of a fortified courtyard.

The inner city contains the palace of the head king, the residences of many of the nobility and wealthy men, and numerous religious buildings. In the outer city, which is peopled chiefly by the descendants of captives, the houses are packed closer together than in the inner one, the gardens are smaller, the religious buildings are fewer, and the population is more dense. The roads in both cities are laid out at right angles to each other; no rubbish is allowed to be placed outside the gardens of the houses, which are palisaded; water is led into the town from a stream flowing from Loi Soo Tayp; the floors of the houses are all raised

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