BURMESE WOMAN WITH CIGARETTE.
In Burma, as in other Oriental countries, the streams are the wash-tubs of the nation, and a flat stone takes the place of a washboard. It was wash day on the Irawaddy when we started out on our boat ride, and the bank of the river looked like a flower bed, so bright and varied were the colors of the turbans and dresses of the long row of washers swinging the clothes high above their heads and beating them upon the stones.
BUDDHIST TEMPLE.
Burma is the home of the pagoda; one is never out of sight of them, but they differ in shape from those seen in China and Japan. The Burmese pagoda is usually circular, though sometimes octagonal. The largest of these is known as the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. It is a solidly built pyramidal cone, with gradually diminishing outline and is surmounted by a ti or "umbrella" spire of concentric iron rings from which hang little bells which tinkle when moved by the breeze. This pagoda has a circumference of 1,355 feet at the base, rises to a height of 370 feet, and stands upon a terraced mound which is itself 160 feet above the level of the country around. The upper part of the pagoda is gilded, and its base is surrounded by many elaborate shrines containing images of Buddha. Here the faithful offer their devotions during the day and evening, and the vendors of candles, incense and flowers do a thriving business. Here, also assemble the lame, the halt and the blind, to gather their penny tribute from the passersby.
THE SHWE DAGON PAGODA.
Mandalay is still more liberally supplied with pagodas. At the largest, the Aracan, one sees repeated the scenes of the Shwe Dagon, only the beggars seem more numerous. At this pagoda there is a filthy pool in which live a number of sacred turtles, and they must have charmed lives to live at all in so foul a place. They rise to the surface when food is thrown into the water, but they are so slow in their movements that the kites which hover about the place generally snatch up the morsels before the turtles reach them.