Burmese Sketches - Khamkoo

BURMESE SKETCHES. 1 1 rf
long, and la feet high. They are known as the Sindat-myindai
(elephants and horses of war) ; but the representations are
those of elephants and tigers or lions alternately with those of
Nats interspersed between them.
The Kelatha (Kelasa) pagoda —the Kelasabhapabbatacetiya
of the Kalya/ji Inscription— was visited on the 2nd January.
It is situated on a steep hill about 2,000 feet high, and appears
to have been renovated. It derives its sanctity from the tra-
dition that, like the Kyaiktiyo and Koktheinnayon pagodas, it
contains one of the three hairs given by Gotama Buddha to
the Rishi Kelasa. Near the pagoda are two stone inscriptions
erected by King Dhammaceti. They are in the Talaing
character. The engraved portion of one has been entirely
destroyed and only the socket remains standing, while half of
the other has been broken. Only one " Manusslha " facing
seawards is found on the pagoda platform- Numbers of square
bricks with the representation of a lotus flower impressed upon
them are lying about the place.
The Kelasa hill abounds in plants used in Burmese medi-
cine. The plant called Maukk'adaw is employed as an antidote
against snake-poison, and another called K'wegaungzawet
is used in curing hydrophobia. It is a well-knov/n fact that
cases of hydrophobia have been cured with medicines which
are a secret to Burmese doctors, who are utterly ignorant of
the Pasteur method. It appears to me that the interests of
the science of medcine and the humanity generally would be
served if the study of Burmese Pharmacopaeia could be scientifically
pursued. The Medical Department could, perhaps,
instruct the Burmese Assistant Surgeons to take up the study.
On the same day, the village of Ayetthema, which is 4
miles off, was visited. It is the ancient Taikkula and the
Go/amattikanagara of the Kalya/^i Inscription. Dr. Forchhammer
in his Notes On the Early History and Geography of
British Burina^ II, page 7, says: "Though the seashore is
now about 12 miles* to the west, this place was still an important
seaport in the i6ih and 17th centuries; it is marked on
the map of Professor Lassen as Takkala, but erroneously placed
a few miles north of Tavoy. Cables, ropes, and other vestiges
of sea-going vessels are still frequently dug up about Taikkala."
The subject of the identification of the Tak(Ma of Ptolemy
and the Kalah of Arabian Geographers is discussed at pages
*0f late, the sea has been encroaching' on the land. At the time of my visit; the
sites of many villages, which derived their wealth and prosperity from the ripe
tfade, were under wate^\