tional scarf or head-dress should it be
cold. Short socks and boots of European make are now unfortunately
commonly worn, while a silk scarf of bright colour tied round the head
completes the male costume.

The women are clad in much the same way, wearing a similar "lungyi"
and jacket or the more beautiful "temaine," a skirt of rich figured
silk, which is open on one side, exposing the leg up to the knee, to
which is added a broad fringe of darker material, which trails upon
the ground, giving it a more graceful appearance than the shorter
"lungyi." Wooden sandals are worn on the feet, while on their
shoulders is thrown a long scarf of delicately-coloured silk. Unlike
the men, the women wear no head-dress, but take great pride in their
hair, which is always glossy and well dressed, and almost invariably
is adorned by a comb or some choice flower. Endowed by Nature with
beautiful hands, they love to accentuate the point by a display of
jewellery, which, though sometimes worn to excess, is always _good_,
for the Burmese lady would scorn to wear a spurious gem. Pretty fans
or handkerchiefs are carried in the hand, while, like a halo
surrounding the head, dainty parasols, semi-transparent and
hand-painted, shield them from the sun. It is difficult to give any
true impression of such a Burmese crowd, in which every conceivable
variety of tint and texture is displayed, and permeating which is a
sense of universal gaiety and lightness of heart. It is like nothing
so much as a beautiful flower-garden, while the people themselves
would seem to be as free from care as the butterflies that hover above
the blooms.

CHAPTER IV

THE IRRAWADDY

To all countries rivers serve the same purpose as the veins in one's
body, being their great source of life and activity. Not only do they
drain and fertilize the land, but also afford the readiest and most
economical means of transit for its trade; consequently on their banks
are found the largest cities and most active commercial life of the
country.

This is particularly true of Burma, for, railways still being few in
number, the Irrawaddy forms its great highway for traffic, and a large
fleet of steamers plies regularly with freight and passengers between
Rangoon, Mandalay, and Bhamo, while thousands of native craft of all
shapes and sizes assist in the carrying trade of the country.

For a thousand miles the Irrawaddy is alive with traffic, and on its
banks have settled th