( 5 ) 



simus, though this tree is met with occasionally the whole way up 

 the river, the natives cultivating it for its fragrant flowers, with 

 which the young women adorn their hair ; and also for its fruit, 

 which is used for hackling thread. A Burman's love for flowers 

 is remarkable : where circumstances admit, each house is fronted 

 with a few roses, hibiscus, or a gorgeous creeper ; and few dwell- 

 ings will be found without their flower-pots filled with some 

 favourite plant ; boatmen even delight in decorating their craft 

 with these embellishments of nature, while the gentle sex do not 

 consider their toilets complete unless a tastefully-arranged wreath 

 of flowers entwines their hair; and yet, perhaps, there is no country 

 in which its gardens serve as a worse guide — chronologically, 

 politically, or geographically — than those of Burma. 



8. The Rhizophora mangle is, of course, the staple shrub 



of the delta, where also varieties of 



biiefly P discussed. "^°^ i0m maW ^ 6 ^ ne Acanthaceas are observed. The 



fruit of Rhizophora mangle is edible, 

 and attention might be turned with profit to the tanning proper- 

 ties of its bark. Nothing is more desired in England than a 

 substitute for oak-bark; but the bark of this shrub could not be 

 exported with profit, owing to its bulk, though extracts might be 

 made in the country, and shipped with ease. It would be well 

 worth a trial, as an extract of this tree is said to perform its office 

 in half the time of oak-bark. The tannin would have to be 

 made in an earthenware vessel, as iron communicates a principle 

 which causes the leather to become brittle and discoloured. 



9. We are now well out of tidal influence, and I was told 



would bid adieu to our candle-light 



^Visitation of insects by candle- pests _but not SO J for no SOOner do 



we make fast for the night, and the 

 head-wind dies away, than we are tormented by small flies, of 

 innumerable species, mosquitoes, and that most odious of insects, 

 the flying bug,* all of which, attracted by the light, swarm roimd 

 the lamps in such numbers as often to extinguish them, even at 

 the peril of their own lives. These little pests seem to find a 

 pleasure in worrying all who are within the influence of the light. 

 The bugs insinuate themselves between one's skin and clothes, 

 diffusing a most disagreeable scent, which is only intensified by 

 any attempt to release them ; saucy crickets, too, swarm and 

 spring up at one's face, whilst the mosquitoes maintain a 

 constant guerilla warfare, trying no less to the patience than 



* The disagreeable scent at all times exhaled by the bug tribe (Geo corisce) is no 

 doubt the insect's only means of defence and guard against extermination. 



