<+> Over the Paung-Laung Hills
type, of timber and iron; the women were placid and
dignified, and not at all disposed to run away ; the
men were quiet and courteous and appreciative of
distinctions unknown to the untutored Karen. The
headman proved himself to be a polite and sagacious
gentleman ; a peasant, but also a man of the world.
Rich orchards of guavas, papayas, palms, and other
fruit trees confirmed in me the impression I had
formed as I came,- of a country that is rich in little
valleys, and wooded hill-slopes, and running waters.
It seemed to me that in the hands of a progressive
community, all this country, instead of being a sealed
wilderness, might become famous for its orchards, its
populous villages, and its beauty. I have met with
few natural sites more charming in a minor key than
that of May-wine, no country happier in its cool forests
and innumerable streams.
The next day I pushed on to the village of Taung-
sale-zeik, and leaving it behind me, emerged abruptly,
about eleven of the clock, into open country. It was
with a feeling of pleasure that I looked again, after
a detention of three weeks amongst mountains and
forests, on open and wide-reaching plains. The slightly
undulating landscape, spreading away in soft blue-green
outlines to the horizon, seemed to me scarcely at all
Eastern in character. Presently I reached the edge of
the Shwe-gyin river, near its junction with the Sittang,
and on the farther shore, in the peninsula between the
two rivers, there spread in a pong curving line the
town of Shwe-gyin.