a fortnight, from Mandalay to Bhamo and back. But
the stall-holders are wisely conservative, and frequently
retain their stalls for years. In this way they build
up a business connection, and are well known in all
the towns and villages along the river. Thus if the
Headman, Moung Bah, of Moda village, wishes for
a new silk putsoe of the fashionable dog-tooth pattern,
or his wife a tamem of the new apple-green and pink
tartan, or Ma-Hla, the village belle, a necklace of
Birmingham pearls, they go down to the steamer
landing, and with much detail describe their requirements
to Ah Tun the Chinaman, or Sheik Ibrahim
the Mohammedan trader, whose long grey beard contrasts
strikingly with the hairless faces about him ; and
in the fulness of time the “ fire-boat,” trumpeting its
advent, brings to each of them his heart’s desire.
The transaction, gratifying in itself, is made more so
by time. Moung Bah’s wish for a fashionable garment
was probably inspired by an eloquent hint from the
silk dealer, or a glimpse of a Mandalay dandy, when
the last boat passed through. A week’s reflection eked
out with clouds of green tobacco smoke and the enthusiastic
advice of his neighbours, a calculation of
ways and means, have brought him to a pleasant
decision before the boat’s return down-stream; and
then, the order given, there follows a period of blissful
anticipation. If you are travelling up in the boat
next voyage, you will see Moung Bah sitting on his
haunches on the high foreshore of Moda village, chewing
betel-nut with apparent calm ; and when the boat is
184
run alongside and the lascars plunge overboard into
the river with a rope to make her fast, and the gangway
planks are laid, Moung Bah will walk up gravely to
the upper deck and enter into possession of his long-
expected purchase. A period of further excitement
will follow on his return home, when the fashionable
garment will run the fire of domestic criticism, and the
loud praise of the village cronies, Business transacted
under such conditions is laden with subtle charms for
the Oriental. Time, the mere element of hours and
minutes, is a thing of no account in a bountiful land,
where there are no paupers and no poor law ; in a
smiling land where it is always afternoon.
The deck of a cargo-boat is itself a microcosm
of Burmese life. Down the centre there is the long