102 A COLLECTING TRIP 
at Tandjong Prick, the port of Batavia, to Buitenzorg 
and the gardens, which we have been longing to see. 
Ros. joins in my love to you all. 
Lovingly, 
Tom. 
Rangoon, January 3, 1907. 
Dear Mother: 
Such a wonderful trip as we have taken. I wish 
vou could have been on it with us. We left Mandalay 
by a cargo boat of the Irrewaddy Flotilla Company 
on Sunday, December 16, and went to Bhamo and 
back on her, a twelve day trip. Each day was better 
that the preceding. We stopped two or three times 
a day at funny little out-of-the-way villages and saw 
many interesting people, often with their ears bored 
and stuffed out with wads of colored cloth; some of 
them went even so far as to have buffalo horns 
through their ears. Men and women alike carried 
enormous knives which they flourished around if 
things did not go as they liked; as they hated to be 
photographed we managed to get only two good pict- 
ures of them. At Bhamo we went over a very in- 
teresting old Chinese temple; the carvings in it were 
magnificent. We saw numerous caravans coming - 
from China and many just starting off—poor little 
ponies, they were very heavily loaded down and they 
had a five days trip ahead of them. There was a 
delightful newly wedded English couple on board, 
a Mr. and Mrs. Stuart McLean Jack, and an enor- 
mously rich American and his bride, common, but 
pleasant ; so we six spent Christmas very pleasantly. 
We were delighted to get the cable on Christmas 
