The romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir - Khamkoo

32 THE ROMANTIC EAST
belief in them underlies their Buddhism and is
of Gaw-
not affected by the adverse teachings
dama.
One of the sights of Rangoon
is the Central
Jail, capable of accommodating three thousand
prisoners and holding nearly two thousand at
the time of our visit. There were prisoners at
work as carpenters, blacksmiths, printers, bookbinders,
mat-makers, cabinet-makers, wood-carvers,
and -
rope makers
;
and at the jail showroom,
opposite the entrance,
can be bought
the results
of their labour. The carved teak furniture is
worth buying, but you
must estimate an amount
equal to the original cost for shipping expenses
to your home in London. If it goes farther, or
to a country where there is an import duty on
such goods, more must be allowed for expenses.
The gallows in the jail-yard are built to remain in
position
permanently,
and we saw some Burmans
in the cells under sentence of death. The
prisoners all have fetters rivetted to their ankles,
and if refractory are punished by being put to
work on a windlass working a grinding-mill, or
by flogging. We heard the groans of one poor