A Burmese wonderland; a tale of travel in Lower and ... - Khamkoo

A BURMESE WONDERLAND. 247
'
Gold-smith Weep ' with envy at the frail beauty he
cannot imitate. Up in the hills there are wonderful
lilies, tree orchids, ground orchids, and a host of other
wild flowers. Higher still, cherry, plum, bauhinia,
magnolia and rhododendron have their season of
riot ; while few pictures are more lovely than a carpet of
primulas, or blue buttercups, on the highest grassy or
pine-clad slopes of the frontier.* And as for blossoms
en masse, all have admired the crowded water-hyacinth,
and the splendid pageant of gold and scarlet when
acacia and gold mohur flower together in Sagaing
and Mandalay.
Early in April the
once naked peepul and cotton
trees are fast assuming their foliage. So are the
Htanaung Bin whose quaintly twisted limbs, reminiscent
of Japan, are so typical of Upper Burma. It is
the season when tender leaves cast a soft, green haze
over the bare branches of Ingyin, tamarind and
bamboo.
Light showers now lay the dust temporarily, enough
to set Zigwet the owlet chuckling ; and Tucktoo, the
lizard, asking longingly :—^Mo la ? Le la '^ (Is it
rain ? Is it wind ?). But the rains do not break
properly in Mandalay until the 25th of May. At this
season the villagers
hold sports and tugs-of-war which
are supposed to invoke rain. This is the Burmese
New Year, and at the full-moon of Tdgoo the Water
Festival takes place at which water is
thrown about.
* See A Burmese Enchantment. Pages 1 74 and 200.