108 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXD PRODUCTIONS. 



" Tlie Karons have another mode of prcparinf; this kind of rice, -which is particu- 

 hirly convenient for travellers. A quantity iinljoiled is thrust into joints of a small 

 bamboo, a little water added, and the orifice closed up. It is then roasted, and if 

 eaten with butter and salt is most delicious. The Karens select only two varieties 

 of Bamboo for this purpose, and these impart to the rice a sweet delicate flavour." 



The Burmese adopt a similar plan with other sorts of rice. The diy rice and a 

 little water is put into the joint of a bamboo, which when plugged is then set on a 

 large fire. The rice in cooking swells, and when cold, the bamboo is broken away 

 and a solid cylinder of cooked rice extracted like a sausage, which is frequently 

 carried, as a convenient form, on a journey. 



liico can be sown broadcast in inundated fields, but the more common plan is to 

 transplant it when some six inches high. For this purpose the seed is sown very 

 thickly in nurseries, from which it is removed, and hand planted in the mud of the 

 prepared field root by root. In the hills the Karens, however, raise rice just as other 

 grains are raised, by dibbling the seeds in holes made with a spud, and as this mode of 

 cultivation is commonly practised on the virgin soil of a hill clearing, well manured 

 with the ashes of the burnt foi'est, the yield is very abundant. 



Rice contains a much less per-centage of nitrogenous compounds than wheat and 

 many other cereals ; hence rice flour is certainly not so well adapted for infants' food 

 as the flour of other cereals, and particularly that known as entire wheat flour, which 

 is richer in phosphates than ordinary flour. At the same time rice flour has some 

 recommendations, as, from its translucent gelatinous appearance when cooked, it is 

 extremely well adapted for pretty and ornamental dishes like blancmange and 

 puddings. Whoever has travelled in Ceylon will doubtless recall to mind the 

 transparent ' hoppers ' or white gelatinous pancakes made of rice flour, and will at 

 once recognize the familiar rice flour in many of the well-puft'ed ' Corn flours,' which 

 the public are urged to consume. Many may have seen the denunciatory advertise- 

 ments of rival 'Corn flours.' " Bice jfoiir is not cum four ;^'' " Rice flour is corn 

 flour," which forces one to question if wholesale equivocation does not pay better 

 than simple truth. Of course, if by ' corn,' we mean cereals in general, then the 

 flour of Rice or Maize is com flour ; but if, as most English people understand 

 the word, 'corn' is used to signify wheat (when not otherwise specified), then I 

 fear greatly that many vaunted Corn floiirs have small claim to the title which 

 they bear. Let every one judge for him.self. If a com flour, when mixed into 

 a thin paste and cooked on a 'griddle' like a Ceylon ' hojiper,' which we know 

 is made of rice flour, produces an article identical in appearance, we shall not be 

 far wrong in the conclusions we draw from the experiment, the more so if we 

 compare the article in question with the similar one made of what we know to 

 ho genuine flour of wheat. By all means therefore let careful parents make as 

 much blancmange and puddings as they choose of ' Corn flour,' but see that their 

 children are fed on the flour of wheat. 



For an interesting account of the various legends and superstitions connected 

 with rice, consult ' Mythologie des Plautes,' by Angelo de Gubernatis, who remarks: 

 " Le riz joue, dans les croyances populaires orientales, a pcu pres le memo role quo 

 le ble dans la tradition europeenne : il est essenticllcment un symhole de vie, de 

 generation, d'abondance." — II. p. 311. A familiar example of the use of rice, as 

 a symbol, is where in modern weddings it is showered over the bride, as a token 

 of the fruitfulness her friends hope she will display. This custom of throwing 

 grain over a bride is very old, and is alluded to in the curious ballad of the ' Wedding 

 of the Cid,' translated by Lockhart — ■ 



" Then comes the bride Ximena, the King he holds her hand ; 

 And the Queen, and, all in fur and pall, the nobles of the land ; 

 All ilown the street, the ears of wheat are round Ximena flying, 

 But the King lifts ofl' her bosom sweet, whatever there is lying." 



It may, however, be questioned if all our modern fine ladies who join in the fun of 

 rice-tkrowing, fully comprehend the meaning and significance of their own act. 



