220 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



Although mangoes, 1 or rather the trees, are very com- 

 mon, good mango fruit was in those days very difficult to 

 procure nearly every one has a beetle inside, and the only 

 grafted ones I ever saw were some imported by me and 

 planted at Tongho. Custard apples thrive opposite Prome. 

 But Burma except in the hilly districts was not then a 

 good place for fruit. Very fine mangoes and oranges may now 

 be had in Rangoon, Mandalay, and Moulmein. 



In 1858 the Government discontinued the works on the 

 road I was employed on, so I reverted to the sappers and 

 miners. Each company of a European regiment and the 

 sappers had been supplied with a large boat, and Butt and I, 

 with the help of Dr. Ranking, who had formerly been in the 

 navy, rigged ours up as a yacht, and, having obtained a 

 month's privilege leave, we determined to sail up the river and 

 have a look at Mandalay, the new capital. We took two 

 sappers as a crew, and our two servants, and, laying in an 

 ample supply of stores, we set sail. It was blowing great 

 guns when we started, and the wind continued fair and strong 

 the whole way. I was steersman ; Butt undertook the man- 

 agement of the sails, etc. Everybody laughed at us, and told us 

 we were a couple of fools for thinking we could get up without 

 the aid of a Burmese crew, but I, who had already been up, 

 knew there were no difficulties in the way, so we felt confident 

 of our ability to do without extra aid. Our yacht was a 

 capital sailer, and being provided with a keel she could sail on 

 a wind, whereas the Burmese boats can only sail with a breeze 

 fair astern. We did not stick to the bank like the Burmese, 

 but went boldly into mid-stream. Seeing us do this, several 

 large native boats followed our example, and in a straight run 

 fairly ran away from us, passing us with a good-natured joke, 

 but directly there was the least bend they all went ashore, 

 whilst we, close-hauled, passed them in our turn, laughing at 

 them and asking them if we should report having seen them 

 at Mandalay. It is no joke if one of these huge craft gets on 

 a lee-shore if there is a strong breeze blowing, for it then takes 

 them sometimes days to get off. We landed at many of the 



1 Excellent mangoes are now obtainable in Mandalay, and, in fact, 

 nearly every district in Upper or Lower Burma. W. S. T. 



