nese call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty
stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a
bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good
whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king.

CHARACTER.--The Burmese are a blunt and rough people. They are not like
the Chinese and the Hindoos, ready to pay compliments to strangers. When
a Burmese has finished a visit, he says, "I am going," and his friend
replies, "Go." This is very blunt behavior. But all blunt people are not
sincere. The Burmese are very deceitful, and tell lies on every occasion;
indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods. They are also very
proud, because they fancy they were so good before they were born into
this world. All the kind actions they do are in the hope of getting more
merit, and this bad motive spoils all they do. They are kind to
travellers. In every village there is a pretty house, called a Zayat,
where travellers may rest. As soon as a guest arrives, the villagers
hasten to wait upon him;--one brings a clean mat, another a jug of water,
and a third a basket of fruit. But why is all this attention shown? In
the hope of getting merit. The Burmese resemble the Chinese in their
respect to their parents. They are better than the Chinese in their
treatment of their children, for they are kind to the _girls_ is well as
to the boys; neither do they destroy any of their infants. They are
temperate also, not drinking wine,--having only two meals in the day, and
then not eating too much. In these points they are to be approved. They
are, however, very violent in their tempers; it is true they are not very
easily provoked, but when they are angry, they use very abusive language.
Thus you see they are by no means an amiable people.

APPEARANCE.--In their persons they are far less pleasing than the
Hindoos; for instead of _slender_ faces and figures, they have broad
faces and thick figures. But they have not such dark complexions as the
Hindoos.

They disfigure themselves in various ways. To make their skins yellow,
they sprinkle over them a yellow powder. They also make their teeth
black, because they say they do not wish to have white teeth like dogs
and monkeys. They bore their ears, and put bars of gold, or silver, or
marble through the holes.

The women wear a petticoat and a jacket. The men wear a turban, a loose
robe, and a jacket; they tie up their hair in a knot behind,