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

PREFACE.
Yesterday, while I was planning the arrangement of
these pages, the relics in the Arakan Pagoda were seen
to fly up towards the spire, and hang there, glittering
about the crown. The omen is surely propitious.
This morning a Burmese friend of mine, while
bathing in the Irrawaddy, was seized round the waist
by a Ye Bilu, or Water God, which would have dragged
him away, had not the neighbours rushed in and driven
off the River Nat. Maung G)d himself has since
confirmed the story. " My Lord has correctly heard the
facts, except that the Ye Bilu also went off with my
lungyi^
' '
leaving me a modest man to reach home in
extreme confusion."
There are two Burmas. There is one with Diarchy
which is dull enough, but affords sport to quite a number
of people. The other is half esoteric. It is just a
Wonderland. Like Alice, you can follow a White Rabbit
down into it with the pleasurable assurance of exciting
adventures. Not long ago a httle bird suddenly began
to bet ; and a giant mushroom, far larger than Alice's,
caused a thrill of excitement. About the same time
Skirt