BUDDHISM AND BUDDHISTS 21 



receptacle, and this forms the daily meal of their masters and 

 themselves. 



The women are a merry, pleasant set, and so struck were 

 the stalwart Sikhs, that when, after the war of 1852-53-54, 

 they returned to their own country, many took back with 

 them these, comparatively speaking, plain women, preferring 

 them as wives and companions to the far comelier women of 

 the Punjaub. I have no doubt that our numerous native 

 troops, principally Sikhs, located in Burma, have all taken 

 wives of the country, and have settled down for good in the 

 province. 



There cannot be a prettier sight anywhere in the world than 

 a crowd of Burmese gathered together en route to a pagoda 

 on a gala day; what with their gay dresses, pretty figures, 

 pleasant faces, banners streaming, flags flying, the beauty of 

 the scenery, and the general jollity, no pleasanter scene could 

 be wished for. The women of course can neither write nor 

 read, because their priests cannot teach them, but I think 

 their ignorance is preferable to what they learn at the schools 

 instituted by Europeans. 



I do not myself believe that the missionaries, though 

 earnest, hard-working people, do any good. You cannot con- 

 vert a Buddhist. If you talk to him of our religion, he will 

 tell you Gaudama and Christ are one, and that the sayings 

 and doings of the latter are but the utterances of the former, 

 who lived some 700 years earlier. 



To highly educate people like the Burmese, Chinese, and 

 even Hindoos, is, I think, a great mistake. They were far 

 happier when their minds were unhinged, and they did not 

 ape the vices of the conquering race. 



Whilst it is all but impossible to convert a Buddhist, the 

 Karens, having no religion but a legend that the true faith 

 would be preached to them by people ruled over by a queen, 

 have been converted by the dozen. So whilst the missionaries, 

 chiefly American, all but starve on the pittance they get from 

 their Societies when dealing with Burmese, those that preach 

 to Karens live in clover, as they are supported by their 

 converts. 



Although the country abounds in large game, it is very 



