440 
NATURE 
[Marcu 7, 1907 
A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BURMA. 
IR GEORGE SCOTT has condensed into a 
volume of 485 pages, which any tourist can con- 
veniently carry about, a mass of useful information 
about Burma. The book is described in the preface 
as of the nature of a skeleton or of a painter’s study 
for a larger work. It is, however, much more than 
this, and contains all that any ordinary tourist needs 
to know about Burma, and, indeed, a good deal 
which is not known even to some who have resided 
for many years in Burma. 
The work is divided into seven parts. Part i., 
““The Country and Climate,’’ contains, besides an 
account of the fauna, flora, and geology and minerals 
at the stretch until the full limit of twenty-five bands 
is reached. Similar coils are worn on the legs and 
arms, so that the average woman carries fifty or 
sixty pounds of brass, and some manage as much as 
eighty pounds. Thus weighted, they carry water for 
| domestic use, hoe the fields, and go long distances to 
marlkxet. 
Part ii. contains an account of the Government of 
Burma. The first provinces of Burma to be annexed 
were <Arakan and ‘Tenasserim after the first 
Burmese war in 1826. The province of Pegu was 
| added in 1852, after the second Burmese war, and 
of the country, a most interesting account of the races | 
of Burma. 
It is doubtful who were the original inhabitants of 
Burma. The only aboriginal tribe of which there is 
any trace are the Selungs, who live in the islands | 
of the Mergui archi- 
pelago. Their lan- 
guage shows affinities 
with those of the Tsiam 
or Cham aborigines of 
Cambodia and of the 
Aitas or Negritos, abor- 
igines of the Philippine 
Islands. In any case, 
the aboriginal inhabi- 
tants have been almost 
entirely replaced by 
swarm after swarm of 
Indo-Chinese invaders 
who have come down 
from north - western 
China, from Tibet, the 
Pamirs, and Mongolia, 
following the course of 
the great rivers. The 
Indo-Chinese were fol- 
lowed by the Tibeto- 
Burmans. After the 
Tibeto-Burmans came 
the peoples of the 
Siamese-Chinese sub- 
family—the Karens and 
the Tai, or Shans, and 
the last irruption, that 
of the Chingpaw, was 
only stopped by the 
British occupation of 
the country. The people 
of Burma, although Fic. 1.—Stiff-necked Padaung Belles. 
they are divided into five coils to twenty-five. 
many tribes and races, 
are, with the exception of the Selungs, all of the 
same original stock. Out of the total population of 
Burma, which was found at the census of rtgor to 
be approximately ten and a half millions, about 
seven millions speak Burmese. 
Sir George Scott gives an account of all the various 
races found in Burma, and illustrates his text by 
photographs of many of them. We here reproduce 
the frontispiece photograph of the — stiff-necked 
Padaung belles. These women wear neckbands of 
solid brass rods. The bands vary in number from 
five to twenty-five, and the idea with which the bands 
are worn is to keep the neck always on the stretch. 
Five coils are ‘all that can be got on to begin with, 
but fresh coils are added as space is made for them 
as the girl grows, so that the neck is constantly Ikept 
1 “Burma: a Handbook of Practical Information.” 
Scott, K C.I.E. Pp. x+520. 
tos. 6d. net. 
NO. 1949, VOL. 75] 
By Sir J. George 
(London: A. Moring, Ltd., 1906.) Price | tl 
| the 
Burma, as it now stands, was completed by the 
annexation of Upper Burma after the third Burmese 
war of 1885-1886. 
Vhe three provinces of Aralsan, Tenasserim and Pegu 
were administered each by their own Commissioner 
under the Governor-General of India until 1862, when 
they were amalgamated under a Chief Commissioner, 
‘The neckbands of these women are of solid brass rod. 
_They vary from 
From ‘‘ Burma : a Handbook of Practical Information.’ 
and it was not until May 1, 1897, that Burma be- 
came a Lieutenant-Governorship. 
The account given of the duties of officers is 
generally correct, but since the handbook was written 
commissioners of divisions and deputy commis- 
sioners of districts in divisions and districts where 
work was heavy have been relieved of judicial duties 
by the appointment of divisional and district judges, 
whose time is devoted entirely to judicial work. 
In this part Sir George Scott gives an excellent 
account of the Shan States, with which he is so in- 
timately acquainted. The progress made in the 
Shan States, which were ina state of complete anarchy 
when Upper Burma was annexed, is surprising. Ail 
that they now require to secure their further develop- 
ment is the Southern Shan States railway, which 
will, it is anticipated, soon be commenced. Accounts 
are also given of Karenni, the Kachin Hills, and 
Chin Hills. The Northern and Southern Shan 
