Highroads of Geography Part 6

FATHER.

16. A LETTER FROM BURMA.--I.

1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--Since I last wrote to you I have visited several of the large cities of India. A week ago I was in the largest city of all.

2. On Christmas morning I sailed down the mouth of the Ganges into the open sea, on my way to the country of Burma.

3. Now I am in the chief town of Burma, and you will expect me to tell you something about the land and its people. From what I have seen, I think Burma is a prettier country than India.

4. In the chief town there seem to be people from many lands. I saw Chinamen, with their pigtails hanging down their backs. I also saw Indians from across the sea, and white men from our own country. Of course, there were also many Burmese, as the people of Burma are called.

5. Kate and May will like to hear something about the Burmese girls and women. They are not at all sad like the Indians, but are very bright and gay. As I write these lines I see a party of Burmese girls pa.s.sing my window, I can hear them laughing.

6. They are very dainty in their dress. One girl wears a skirt of pink silk and a blouse of light green. She has bracelets on her arms, ear-rings in her ears, a string of coral round her neck, and flowers in her hair.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Burmese woman carrying an umbrella}]

7. In one hand she carries a bamboo sunshade; in the other she holds a big paper cigar! She is very fond of smoking, and you never see her without a cigar. On her feet she wears sandals.

8. The men are gentle and rather lazy. The women have far more "go" in them than the men. Many of them keep shops, and are very good traders.

The wife is the chief person in every home.

9. The men also wear skirts, and sometimes their jackets are very gay.

They wrap a handkerchief of pink, or of some other bright colour, round their head.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {A Burmese man}]

10. The Burmese worship Buddha, a prince who lived more than two thousand years ago. He was a very n.o.ble man, and he gave up all the pleasant things of life that nothing might turn his thoughts from goodness.

11. Amongst other things he taught men to be kind to animals. All animals are well treated in Burma.

12. All over the land you see temples to Buddha. These temples grow narrower and narrower the higher they rise. They all end in a spire above which there is a kind of umbrella. It is made of metal, and all round its edge are silver or golden bells, which make pretty music as they are blown to and fro by the wind.

13. By the side of many of these temples you may see a great image of Buddha. Most of the images are made of bra.s.s. The Burmese pray before these images, and offer flowers and candles and rice to them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Statue of Buddha}]

17. A LETTER FROM BURMA.--II.

1. Wherever you go in Burma you see monks. They have shaven heads, and they wear yellow robes. Every morning they go out to beg. Boys in yellow robes go with them, and carry large bowls in their hands.

2. The people come out of their houses and put food into the bowls. The monks do not thank them. They say that he who gives is more blessed than he who takes.

3. The monks live in houses built of teak wood. In every village you can see a monk's house standing in a grove of palm trees. In these houses the monks keep school.

4. Every Burmese boy lives for some time in one of the monks' houses.

Here he learns to read and write, and is taught to be a good man.

5. I went to see the most beautiful of all the monks' houses. It is in a city far up in the country. The building is of dark-brown teak wood, and has many roofs, one above the other. It is covered with carving, and here and there it is gilded.

6. Many boys in yellow robes were playing beneath the trees. They were the scholars of the school. One of the boys told me that he was never going to leave the place. When he was old enough he meant to be a monk.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Burmese boy in robes}]

7. In the city I saw the palace of the king from whom we took Burma. It stands inside a large s.p.a.ce, with high walls all round it. Outside the wall is a broad ditch full of water. When I saw the ditch it was overgrown with water-plants covered with pink blossoms.

8. Many buildings, something like the monks' houses, form the king's palace. Some of the buildings are very richly carved, and are covered with gold leaf. Inside one of them I saw great teak pillars, also covered with gold.

9. The chief building ends in a very lofty spire, with a beautiful metal umbrella above it. The Burmese used to believe that this spire was in the very middle of the earth.

10. Another fine building is a high lookout tower. From the top of it there is a grand view. On one side I saw a hill covered with temples. At the foot of the hill there were four hundred and fifty of these temples.

There must be thousands of them in and near the city.

11. As I drove to my hotel last night I saw a number of boys playing Burmese football. They do not take sides, nor do they try to kick goals.

The football is made of basket-work.

12. The boys stand round in a ring, and the game is to keep the ball from touching the ground. The boys pa.s.s the ball from one to the other by knocking it up with their heads, arms, hands, legs, or toes. Some of the boys are very clever at this game.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Boys playing Burmese football}]

13. Burma has many beautiful rivers and some fine mountains. By the side of the rivers much rice is grown. Away in the north there are grand forests filled with wild animals. Tigers are often shot within twenty miles of the old king's palace.

14. Now I have filled my paper, and I must bring this letter to an end.

I hope you are all well and happy. I am leaving Burma tomorrow.--Best love to you all. FATHER.

18. A LETTER FROM CEYLON.

1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--A week ago I landed in the beautiful island of Ceylon. It lies to the south of India. Get mother to show it to you on the globe.

2. I am still under the British flag, the Union Jack. I can see it waving from the top of a big building. The people of Ceylon are proud to call themselves British.

3. I have just been for a ride through the streets of the chief town. I rode in a rickshaw--that is, a kind of large baby-carriage drawn by a man. My rickshaw had rubber on its wheels, so we went along very smoothly and quickly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Rickshaw with pa.s.senger}]

4. Some of the carts are drawn by little bullocks that trot along as fast as a pony. I often meet carts with a high cover of thatch. These carts carry the tea, which grows on the hills, down to the ships in the harbour.

5. Some of the men of Ceylon wear tortoise-sh.e.l.l combs in their hair.

They are very proud of these combs, and some of them are very handsome.