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

S-i A BURMESE WONDERLAND.
district being thinly populated by Karens. Like the
Burmese of Mergui, many Tavoyans have Siamese blood
in them, and it is probable that numbers of Siamese
return themselves as Burmans when a census is taken.
The history of Tavoy, like that of Mergui, is one of
disastrous
struggles between Burma and Siam.
Tavoy is quite as beautiful as Mergui, and with
its roads and motor cars far more accessible. One of
the most delightful expeditions is to the Indo-Burma Tin
Corporation's estate at Taung Thonlon,^ which I was
able to \dsit through the kind hospitality of jMr. Perry,
the Manager. The early morning motor drive of 28
miles along the Siamese Road through bold and splendid
forests already aflame with the blossom of the Silk Cotton
Tree, and the rush back again to Tavoy in the evening
when the quiet twilight adds a soft charm to the scenery,
is by no means the least enjoyable part of the day.
The mine lies
a lake bed.
in a valley which was probably once
The alluvial soil has been impregnated for
centuries with tin washed down from the surrounding
hills. In the dry season, at any rate, no site could
appear less promising for dredgers than this parched
valley. Yet this is the home of a huge dredger which
floats in a pool no larger than a duck-pond. It sucks
up soil in front and passes it out again behind, thus
never enlarging the tank in which it works.
And here,
wonderful to relate, each in an insignificant puddle of
its own, were being fitted together those two now
^
Map Square N.E.