alking down the road; they move
majestically, and when they reach the pariah dog the driver, or _oozie_,
seated on the first one's neck, pricks him with a point to make him look
where he is going, so that he avoids the dog. You will see plenty of
elephants here, for elephants are to Burma what camels are to Egypt, the
regular beasts of burden. They carry the kit and camp paraphernalia for
the men who go into the jungle sometimes for months. They move the logs
and trunks of the timber which is cut in the forests in large
quantities. You remember the dark wood of the Circuit House and the
poongyi choung? That is all teak, the best known wood in the country,
corresponding to our oak. There are forests of it, and large companies
exist simply for getting it out. There are still herds of wild elephants
in the little disturbed parts of Burma, and every now and again
Government catches them in _keddahs_ in great quantities. I wish we had
the luck to go with a hunting-party.

[Illustration: ELEPHANTS, BURMA.]

The family which owns that hut is seated on the edge of the platform and
are watching us with as much interest as we watch them. Two bright-eyed
little girls in jackets play beside a smiling woman. You will notice
here the girls and women have quite as good a time as the boys and men;
no veiling of faces or hiding away for them. The Burman knows better,
and he would get on badly without the active help and advice of his
comrade and wife.

CHAPTER XXIV

ON A CARGO BOAT

[Illustration: DANCING GIRL, BURMA.]

Did you ever see anything like it in your life? I never did.

We are on a steamer coming down the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay, and
it is our first evening on board. We are not the only passengers, there
are also a widow lady and her daughter, a girl a few years older than
you, but still in pigtails, whose name is Joyce. We were all four
sitting very comfortably after dinner on the deck, which is roofed in,
making a fine open room like a verandah, when a few large,
light-coloured moths appeared; then, as if by magic, the whole deck was
suddenly alive with them. They banged against the glass of the lights,
thumped into our faces, and whirled around exactly like a thick
snowstorm with very large flakes.

"It's one of the plagues of Egypt," you yell.

Joyce screams, pulls her long plaits round her face to prevent the moths
catching in them, and dives for her cabin. Everyone follows suit, and
soon anxiou