P R E F A C E
I W E N T to Burma in the spring of 1891, and
-thereafter for three years’ I remained in Rangoon.
I often think how slight a knowledge of Burma I
should have-carried away, had I left at the end of
this period. -Happily it came to me to travel during
the next two years throughout the length and breadth
of the land, and Burma in its true character was
disclosed before my eyes. The idea of recording my
impressions was constantly present in my mind at this
time; but I did not write much. It seemed to me
that the country was a big country, and that I might
well spend a year or two in preparation.
But I was too liberal to myself. Domestic and
personal troubles sent me home unexpectedly in the
spring of 1896, and two years later, when' I returned
to the East, it was to find myself swept into quite
another and very engrossing current of work in
‘Northern India. But my thoughts were still often
‘with Burma, and as I went to and fro amidst the
‘splendid monuments of the Mogul Emperors ; as I
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