I 



216 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



has been made, and they ought to pay well, especially when 

 the railroads, now in course of construction, are completed. 

 The crude petroleum is like thick mud and is very offensive. 

 In Rangoon they have refineries now, and manufacture candles, 

 soap, and kerosene and Rangoon oil. 



Leaving Yay-nan, the banks of the river form chalk cliffs, 

 rising from 100 to 150 feet above the river bed, and, sailing 

 alongside, we found they were infested with wild blue-rock 

 pigeons, who had formed their nests by burrowing into the 

 chalk formation, and as the country is well cultivated with 

 wheat, cholum, and other grains, we found the birds delicious 

 eating, and shot a good many of them. As most of them fell 

 into the river when killed, our boatmen, who were amphibious, 

 retrieved for us and fared all the better for their exertions, as 

 we gave them a good many of the birds. As there is no 

 regular monsoon, the great staple, paddy or rice, is grown 

 only here and there where irrigation can be resorted to, so the 

 people of Upper Burma are in great measure dependent on 

 the Lower for their great necessary of life. A trip up this 

 great water-way, especially in a large commodious boat, is 

 very pleasant. We never found the heat oppressive ; the steady 

 wind acted as a fan, and the scene varied so at every turn and 

 twist as to resemble a kaleidoscope, and we never tired of its 

 beauties. We halted for two days at Pagan Myo, which alone 

 is worth a month's trip to see ; along the river bank for fully 

 nine miles there is visible pagoda upon pagoda, and these 

 extend inland for some three miles. Unfortunately, most of 

 these beautiful structures are in ruins ; the hill people, who are 

 not Buddhists, have broken into them for the sake of their 

 relics, and but few remain intact ; these luckily are probably 

 the most beautiful of all. Yule declares that the Ananda Pya 

 is in its way more lovely than the Taj at Agra. He thinks it 

 was built by Italians acting under the orders of the Court of 

 Ava many centuries ago. Pagan used at one time to be the 

 capital of Burma, but it was captured by the Chinese, and in 

 1824-26 Sir Archibald Campbell made it his head-quarters 

 for some time. It is only a place of very secondary importance 

 now, but will ever be famous for its monasteries and pagodas. 

 There they make, too, the best of the boxes the Burmese use 



