mountains. Then, as the river circles to the west, the
Uyu comes down to it, flowing between low mudbanks.
Above the junction an island, laden with silver-green
kaing, cuts the broad purple spaces of the river with
its sharp outline, and beyond lies Homalin, a line of
lowly houses at the feet of the giant mountains. The
village is, in fact, a long way from them, for the river,
making an unsuspected curve to the north, sweeps in
between them and Homalin. But the illusion remains
of a village in a mountain country, Swiss or Tyrolese,
with great masses towering above it. The mountains
here run into nine thousand feet, and their nearer slopes
are patterned with patches of rough cultivation. Their
summits are constantly veiled in clouds, which impart
to them an air of grandeur and mystery ; and white
wisps of cloud lie in the lofty valleys, deepening the
perspective, and causing the nearer peaks and ridges
to stand out sharp and blue against their quiet curtains.
Rain mists gather in the far interior, lit with the last
rays of the fading sun; distant peaks seen through
this diaphanous veil become transfigured ; and the
great material barrier of the mountains, frowning over
the dark river and the little street of houses, seems
only the threshold of a far-withdrawn land of spiritual
and unearthly beauty.
Little is known of many of these mountain tracts.
In the language of the State they are “ unadministered,”
and there is little desire, on any one’s . part to break
through the immemorial seclusion in which they live.
Down by the river all is peace. Spread abroad here