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

A BUKMESE WONDERLAND. 59
are empty of women, who are in fact " purda." Nothing
strikes one so forcibly as this after Burma, where
the Burmese woman, with all her charm of dress and
manner, is so tremendously in evidence.
In the north-east portion of Akyab, in the Buthidaung
Sub-division,
the population now consists chiefly
of permanent Chittagonian settlers. Large numbers of
Chittagonians also
spread over the country temporarily
for the ploughing and reaping seasons. The Arakanese
now tend to concentrate in the Sub-division of Kyauktaw. ^
Some people think they must necessarily be submerged
in time. Others believe that they will hold
their own. Fortunately they do not intermarry much
w-ith Chittagonians : and though rather an indolent
race, have yet brains enough to be fairly prosperous,
and in a few individual cases even rich.
Besides Arakanese, four other indigenous races
occupy the hills, particularly in the Arakan Hill Tracts
along the upper reaches of the Kaladan River. These
are all quite wild hill people, namely. Chins, Daingnets,
Taimgthas (who are said to be descended from Taking
invaders) and Khamis. The Khamis have villages in
the plains opposite Kyauktawand elsewhere, but they
are a timid, naked people, and the population fled from
the only village I entered as soon as they saw me.
Khami women wear only a very short skirt and a
triangular bit of cloth over the left breast—the breast
specially dedicated to the husband. The men wear
^
Map Square B. K?