The Lower Courses
forest, the sambhar bellows in the dense thickets, the
tiger and the panther stalk their prey, and the stray
Chin alone stands for the supremacy of man.
The scene that is thus unfolded before the eyes is
one of distinct beauty ; a feast of colour in its way.
The sky, laden with heavy rain-clouds, runs the
whole gamut of the spectrum. But when the sun
goes down, and the clouds chance to gather in an
TH E A P E X OF TH E D E L T A A T MYANOUNG
unbroken canopy overhead, they become a burden
upon the spirit. T. he world grows small, the motionless
air lies heavy on the lids of earth, the soul of
the spectator is prisoned within the universal gloom.
It is at such times that the white man, whose
destiny has brought him here, feels himself an alien
and alone. The merry people, the blue hills, the
shining' river, are phases only of his exile. Pestiferous
insects fall in hecatombs into his food, and leave their
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