than the mails, for they stop
oftener, and tow _two_ flats or barges, one on each side. After
Mandalay, Bhamo will be our objective; it is the most northerly British
cantonment in Burmah, and is near the Chinese frontier. All the way
there trade is carried on at the stopping places between the traders'
booths on the flats and the riverside villagers. We expect to find this
trade mightily interesting, as we shall see men and women of the wild
mountain tribes. I hope to see the Shan sword-makers particularly; they
make splendid blades by the light of the moon, for secrecy, I am told,
like Ferrara, and also because they can then see the fluctuating colour
of the tempering better than in daylight--and perhaps because it is
cooler at night!

CHAPTER XXVIII

Seven hundred and eight miles we have come to-day from the sea, a
regular Argo trip, yet we are far from wearied, and, allowed a day to
stop here and there, would willingly proceed in the same manner to the
Arctic circle. The farther we go, the more are we impressed with the
apparent wealth of this country; the soil is fertile to a degree, the
climate is better than Egypt; there's coal, oil, minerals, precious
stones, gold, marble, alabaster, and such a magnificent waterway. Had I
a hundred years to live I'd scrape capital together to put into this
recently "acquired" land; as it is perhaps it would be cheaper and
better to stay here now, and learn Burmese philosophy, and make capital
out of the flowers that blow.

... That settles the matter--I get my gun sent up from Rangoon, or go
down for it myself--over 200 splendid geese along a sandbank! Within 200
yards! I could count their feathers with my glass. The Captain tells me
you just need to drift down in a native canoe and make a bag with ease.
Rather a shame, you say; for the Burmans are not supposed to take life,
so the geese are not afraid of a dug-out canoe. But a Burman is
delighted to eat what others kill, and besides, I have been so often
outwitted by geese at home, that I'd just like to have one chance, to
retrieve past misfortunes. Between Mandalay and Bhamo, the Captain says,
they are even more numerous than here. Beyond Bhamo, he describes the
river water as so clear you can count the pebbles thirty feet below its
surface, and describes the whacking big Mahseer, the gold dredging, and
the game alongside--peacocks--leopards--buffaloes!

As we were talking, the Rock pilot came alongside in a launch