94 A COLLECTING TRIP 
years ago this was still an independent kingdom. The 
old King Thebau is still living near Madras on a 
pension of Rs 6,000 per month, $2,000. We remained 
only two days in Rangoon, for it is a fearfully ex-— 
pensive place. Rooms in a decidedly second rate 
hotel, $5 per day; carriage, $6; with extras at every 
turn. We should have used the bazar carriages but 
the town has plague in it now and these are fright- 
fully dirty. The great pagoda, the Shwe Dagon, is so 
gorgeous that words cannot describe it. We hope our 
photographs, which we shall send you, will help our 
descriptions when we get back. Now we are in 
Mandalay. We left Rangoon at 1.30 in the afternoon 
yesterday and arrived here at 6.30 this morning. The 
train was very fair, very slow and so did not shake as 
badly as some trains we have been on. The palaces 
and pagodas here are quite gorgeous, but dilapidated, 
especially the Golden Monastery of the Buddhist 
monks, onee a splendid pile of wonderfully carved 
teak. Many of the palaces are beginning to fall apart 
owing to the work of the white ants. Tomorrow I 
shall try snipe shooting which is said to be very good 
here. The day after tomorrow we shall take a steamer 
and go for six days up the Irrawaddy to Bhamo, 
towards the Chinese frontier. We are going on a 
steamer which tows two big floats on which are 
Burmese bazars; the people come down from the in- 
terior to trade with the persons who have booths on 
the floats. In the bazar to-day we saw a party of 
Shans from just near the Siamese border; they are 
funny little folk, very short and with great soft straw 
hats about three and a half feet wide; they looked like 
walking umbrellas. The people here are bright and 
