the walls records, in letters of gold, the names and
contributions of the builders of the temple. Its roofs
and eaves are richly ornamented with figures of men
and animals. The other joss-house is in a different
style ; double-storied, like a private house, and it opens
on the street. Within, two men are lying on tables,
lost in opium dreams; huddled figures unconscious of
the world. A third, who is cheerily at work, plaiting
a basket, makes me welcome. Upstairs there is an
altar, and there are some fine paper lanterns, large
enough to hide a man in. Adjoining this temple is a
lofty building, the dwelling-house and place of business
of the opium farmer.
A pleasanter spectacle awaits me at the house of
a cigar-maker. A number of laughing girls stand
outside, very daintily dressed, and the whole front of
the house is scarlet with the tasselled hibiscus. Within,
lie the materials for the day’s work, the raw Indian
tobacco, and the broad leaves in which it is to be
wrapped. All the work is done by hand, and nearly
every girl in Burma can roll a cigar. The indigenous
article is a monster eight inches long, consisting of
chopped wood, tobacco, molasses, and various herbs,
wrapped in the silver-white skin of a bamboo ; and so
wide in diameter that it completely fills up the mouth
of any young damsel who tries to smoke it. For
presentation purposes, this long cheroot is often wrapped
at one end in a coat of purple or gold paper. It accumulates
a formidable mass of fire at the lighted end
and requires some skill in the smoking. But the
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Burman infant acquires this skill before he can walk,
and while he is still at the breast. No one thinks of
smoking such a cigar
through. Two or
three long puffs, the
lips of the smoker
thrust out to meet
the circle o f th e
cigar, and it is put
down or passed on
to some good fellow
sitting by. This old-
fashioned cheroot is
gradually giving way
to the cigar of rolled
tobacco a n d th e
trifling cigarette.
Leaving now the
thoroughfares of the
town, I climb by red
stairs and narrow
l a n e s under the
shelter, of y e l l ow-
hearted champaks to
the summit of the hill
that dominates the
city. Here halfa century
TH E REA LISM OF TH E BURMESE A R T IS T
ago the British battalions were quartered ; but traces
of their occupation have all but passed away. Here on
the camping grounds the red cattle now graze, the
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Blind Beggar and Carved Figure
4 1
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