THE TEAK REGION. 221 



grass, or wrapping some dried and sapless tree-stem in 

 immense tongues of flame. By night a ruddy glow 

 colours all the heavens above the spot ; while by day a 

 thick pall of smoke hangs over the valley. Near the 

 scene the air is stifling and thick with falling flakes of 

 ash. Wild animals have fled the neighbourhood ; and 

 clouds of insects rise before the advancing flames, to be 

 devoured by myriads of birds collected seemingly from 

 every end of the country. Innumerable snakes and 

 noxious vermin of all sorts perish in the fire, in- 

 cluding many of the curious grass snake of these 

 regions, which a diligent search will frequently discover 

 twined among the matted masses of the spear-grass. 

 It is a harmless creature, living on insects, and changes 

 its colour from green to yellow, along with the grass. 

 When the fires are burnt out, the spectacle is a dismal 

 one indeed. Hill-side after hill-side of blackness, re- 

 lieved only here and there by a long streak of white 

 ashes where a prostrate trunk has been consumed, and 

 by the wilderness of Salei skeletons, scorched at the 

 base, and above more yellow and ghastly than ever. 

 Yet, even in the heart of those parts of the basaltic 

 region to which this description most fittingly applies, 

 there are few tracts where, at a little distance, some 

 oasis will not be found. The larger ravines are often 

 filled with clumps of bamboo which never entirely lose 

 their verdure ; and here and there a sheltered valley will 

 be met, where there is either a pool of water, or moisture 

 not far below the surface, v/ith its fringe of verdure, and 

 a few Mhowa or Mango trees, perhaps marking the site 

 of some old village, deserted long ago beyond the memory 

 of living man. In the central valley of the Tapti also 

 will be found at intervals bays of rich, deep soil, with a 



