Journal of the Society of Arts : Volume LI, No. 2623 [‎717v] (24/32)

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■ JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.
[February 27, 1903
with people dressed in every conceivable
colour, and the scene is most animated.
Lightly clad Siamese, natives of Laos, swarthy
Indians, stolid Cantonese pedlars, Burmese,
Shans, and numerous hill tribes jostle each
other, and the babel of languages once heard
is not easily forgotten.
The Shan, or “ Tai ” race is divided into
many clans. The inhabitants of Kengtung
are known as “ Kuns,” those of the Chinese
Shan States, as “ Lii,” of Meng Lem as
“ Lem,” &c.
There is a good mule-track between Keng
tung and the Salween. Two very high moun
tain ranges have nevertheless to be negotiated,
but a new route has lately been surveyed that
avoids the steeper hills, and a big cart road
will shortly be ready for caravans. After leaving
Kengtung one travels in comparative comfort.
At most of the stages along the road bunga
lows have been built for the traveller. Seven
days’ travelling brought us to the Salween, at
a place called Takaw. We crossed the river
by a ferry boat similar to the one at Kenghung.
The ferry system in the Shan States certainly
needs amelioration.
Two days later we reached the pretty Nam-
kham River, one of the tributaries of the
Salween, and the following day arrived at
Hsai-Kao, where there is a post and telegraph
office. From Hsai-Kao, a good, wide road
led us across undulating plains, resembling
the downs of Wiltshire. Water in many places
is rather scarce ; but with this defect remedied
no country would be better suited for colonisa
tion. Like Yunnan, the Shan States could
well support a larger population. Amongst
the present inhabitants are the “ Red Yang ”
tribe whose dress is very curious. I was glad
to add a photo of them to my collection.
Seventeen days out from the Kengtung we
arrived at Taunggyi, the capital of the
Southern Shan States. It is a prosperous,
and growing British settlement, situated in a
splendidly chosen spot in a plain 4,600 feet
above the sea. This place was only a tiny
hamlet twelve years ago. About that time,
Mr. Hildebrand, until last year Superintendent
of the Southern Shan States, happily selected
Taunggyi as his official residence, and it now
bids fair to rival that well-known sanatorium
of Burma—Maymyo. Trade is thriving, thanks
to the construction of good cart roads, and we
are bound to hear more of Taunggyi as a com
mercial centre in the future.
From Taunggyi we turned south to the older
military settlement, Fort Stedman, distant one
day’s march only. Fort Stedman is situated
on the eastern shore of Lake Yawng Hwe. The
place is much lower and hotter than Taunggyi.
Proximity to water could have been the only
reason for choosing it as a residence for troops.
Sending my caravan round the lake, I crossed
myself in a small dug-out. The shores and
islands of the lake are inhabited by the Inthas
—a hybrid tribe of Burmese origin. Their
method of paddling with their legs is, I believe,
absolutely unique. Standing on the gunwale
of the boat, they balance themselves on one
leg, and twisting the other round the long
paddle force the blade back through the water.
In this way they send the boat along at a great
speed.
The third morning after quitting Lake Yawng
Hwe, we finally left the hills behind us, and
descended into the hot plains of Lower Burma.
For the next two days the roads, though wide
and level, were horribly dusty, and the heat
and glare intense. We struck the Rangoon-
Mandalay railway at Thazi, a small junction
town, where I paid off my caravan. We had
taken 48 days in coming from Szemao, and in
spite of the different altitudes traversed, none
of us were ill on the way, a result, I expect,
of the quinine that I occasionally dispensed to
all.
From Thazi I went down to Rangoon; then
wishing to see a little more of Burma, 1 took
the night mail up to Mandalay. A large pro
portion of the Chinese population of Mandalay
are natives of Yunnan, who have, in most cases,
taken Chinese wives, and settled there. Con
tinuing my railway journey I went right up to
the northern terminus, Myitkina, a settlement
on the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy, quite
close to the Chinese frontier. Some speculators
are dredging for gold in that river, just above
Myitkina.
From Myitkina, I w r ent down on a Govern
ment launch, kindly placed at my disposal by
Sir Frederic Fryer, through the wonderful
gorges of the Irrawaddy, rarely visited by
travellers, though well worth seeing. At Sinbo,
just above the first defile, the river, at the
commencement of the rains, rises sometimes
as much as 84 feet, owing to the narrowness of
the passage lower down. We went down with
the current, at a good pace, to Bhamo, a
trade-mart and military station—also the ter
minus of the Irrawaddy steamers. Bhamo is
growing wonderfully, and trade with Yunnan
across the frontier steadily increasing.
From Bhamo, I continued my way down the
river on one of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Coin-