GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 305 
der, and the river is thence navigable to the sea, a distance of over 
900 miles. It is a rapidly flowing stream, running most of the way 
in long meanders between low banks, but about Prome it commences 
to divide up into a number of branches, which find their way to the 
sea in a series of devious courses through the very fertile and highly 
cultivated delta of the Irrawaddy. A flotilla of no less than 550 
shallow-draft steamboats, belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Co., 
run regularly up and down the river, and pushing into every nook 
and corner of the delta constitute the main transportation system of 
the country. 
Bordering the river on either side is a wide tract of flat land with 
ranges of hills running north and south. These physiographic ele- 
ments constitute the land of Burma. 
Burma is rather more than ten times the size of Ceylon, having 
an area of 262,000 square miles and a population (including that 
of the Shan States) of 13,212,000 persons. 
As in the case of Ceylon, the Portuguese were the first Europeans 
to settle in Burma, which they did in A. D. 1519, to be followed 
less than 100 years later by the Dutch, and soon after this by the 
English. About the middle of the seventeenth century all European 
merchants were expelled from the country, owing to a dispute be- 
tween the Burmese governor of Pegu and the Dutch. The Dutch 
never returned; the English were subsequently invited to return to 
Burma, which they did. The Government of Burma in the following 
years passed from one ruler to another and the English settlements 
were attacked from time to time, which led in succession to the first, 
second, and third Burmese wars and eventually to the annexation 
of the whole country to the British Dominions in A. D. 1886. 
Burma now has representative government, and the country, being 
freed from the tyranny of oppression, exercised by its successive 
rulers in former times, enjoys a higher degree of freedom and pros- 
perity than it has ever known in times past. The Burmese as a race 
are short in stature and thick-set. The men wear long hair on their 
heads, but have little or none on their faces, and show in their fea- 
tures a strong infusion of Chinese blood. They are well clad; both 
men and women wear skirts and both delight in bright colors and silk 
attire. There is probably no country in the world which presents in 
its streets and market places such a wonderful display of bright, 
harmonious color. In many respects Burma presents a striking and 
pleasing contrast to India. The merry, brightly clothed Burmese 
have no counterpart in Hindustan, and the richness of the soil and 
exuberance of the vegetation, together with the sleekness and vigor 
of the cattle, is at once marked by a visitor coming from India. The 
life of the Burmese is free from the deadening effects of castes and 
the seclusion of women, two customs which stereotype the existence 
