age, where the
cattle are also brought for security. Besides rice, they cultivate
wheat, Indian-corn, sugar-cane, millet and indigo; but generally in a
slovenly and unskilful manner. In the dry season, the land is watered by
artificial means, some of which are quite ingenious.

Of animals there is, of course, a vast variety, one of the most useful
of which is the buffalo, which is used to draw their carriages, as well
as to perform the labor that the ox does with us. Elephants are the
property of the king, but great men are allowed to keep them.

The birds in Burmah, though of gay plumage, have little melody in their
song; splendid as they are, we would scarce exchange for them our
cheerful robin and merry bobolink.

Reptiles and insects, though numerous, are not so troublesome or so
venomous as in many parts of the torrid zone. The white ant is perhaps
as destructive as any other insect, and the greatest precaution hardly
preserves one from its intrusion.

The Burmans are, as a race, superior to the Hindoos, being more
athletic and vigorous, and more lively and industrious. They are less
tall than Americans, their complexions dark, their noses flat, and their
lips thick and full. The hair is very abundant, black and glossy, but
generally rather coarse. "Men tie it in a knot on the _top_ of the head,
and intertwine it with the turban. Women turn it all back, and without a
comb, form it into a graceful knot _behind_, frequently adding chaplets
of fragrant natural flowers strung on a thread. Both sexes take great
pains with their hair, frequently washing it with a substance which has
the properties of soap, and keeping it anointed with sweet oil."

The custom of blacking the teeth is almost universal. When asked the
reason of this custom, the answer is, "What! should we have white teeth
like a dog or a monkey?"

Smoking and chewing are also universal. Malcom says, "I have seen little
creatures of two or three years, stark naked, tottering about with a
lighted cigar in their mouth." Tobacco is not used alone for these
purposes, but mixed with several other substances.

The dress of the men is a cotton cloth about four and a half yards long,
covering, when the man is not at work, nearly the whole body in a
graceful manner. A jacket, with sleeves generally of white muslin but
often of broadcloth or velvet, is sometimes added, especially among the
higher classes. On the feet, when dressed, are worn sandals of wood or