C H A P T E R X X X IX
OVER THE PAUNG-LAUNG H IL L S
FROM Pha-pun, the traveller who would re-enter
Burma without making the long return to
Moulmein can do so only by crossing the Paung-Laung
hills, which are the watershed between the Sittang
and the Yunzalin. But the road is rough and wild,
the jungle dense, the people primitive. Shelter for the
night is often unobtainable, food is scarce when it is
to be had at all, and transport is not easily procured.
Yet, until he makes such a journey as this, one who
would taste the full flavour of Far Eastern life is likely
to go away unappeased.
Having, through the good offices of the district
magistrate, secured the services of two elephants, with
Karen drivers, t6 carry my baggage, it remained only
to gather some idea of the route and the distances to
be traversed. Many persons were called into consultation,
and all claimed to have some knowledge of
the facts, either from personal travel or from the talk
of the country-side; but no two of them could be
prevailed upon to agree. However, the mission elder
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