es and cases lie upon the
bank, and are being loaded into bullock-carts or carried to the top of
the "bund," as the bank is called, where pack-ponies are waiting to
carry them to more distant destinations.

The villagers "shikoh"[4] as we land, and swarms of youngsters follow
us on our tour of the village; but though greatly interested in
ourselves and our hardly-concealed curiosity, they are always polite
and never annoy us in any way.

[Footnote 4: The Burmese form of salute.]

The village lies close beside the river, and is, as usual, bowered in
trees, which overhang the bank. Its other three sides are enclosed by
a stockade of thorns or wooden palings as a protection against wild
beasts or attack by dacoits, bands of robbers who until recently
lurked in the jungles, and often raided outlying and unprotected
villages.

The stockade is nearly always overgrown with creeping plants, yellow
convolvulus, tropaeolum, and a charming little climber like
canariensis. On each side is a gate built of balks of timber, and so
heavy that it must run on wheels. This gate is always shut at
nightfall, so that no one can enter the village unknown to the
watchman, who is called "kinthamah" and keeps his "kin" in a little
booth called "kinteaine" erected close beside the gate.

By the gates and at intervals along the roadside are little cupboards
raised above the ground and thatched with grasses called "yaiohzin";
these contain jars of drinking water for the use of wayfarers, and are
always kept replenished by the villagers. The drinking cup is usually
made of a polished coco-nut shell with a long handle of some hard
wood, and it is noticeable that the water is never spilled or wasted,
for Burma is a thirsty land and some of these watering-places are far
from the river, and every one drinks with due regard to the
necessities of the next comer.

Entering the large compound which the stockade encloses we are in the
village itself. Here the houses of the Burmans are pleasantly situated
among rows of toddy-palm, mango, padouk, and other trees, among which
the peepul, or sacred ficus, is almost always found.

The houses are more or less arranged so as to leave a lane or street
between them, and are generally built of bamboo, though many have
their principal timbers of teak or eng-wood. The floors are usually
of split bamboo, and the roof of elephant-grass, or "thekka," as the
thatch of dried leaves is called, forms a good protection