6 A FIRST LIST OP THE 



Karen villages are composed of houses thus built, and from top to 

 bottom there is not a single nail. These houses last twelve 

 months, at the end of which time the Karens move into another 

 valley, make fresh houses, and cut down as many acres of valu- 

 able timber as they want for the cultivation of their crops. One 

 joint of a bamboo will hold about two gallons of water, and they 

 are much used as buckets ; a Karen will sling- three joints from 

 his forehead in returning from drawing water. The uses to which 

 this large bamboo is put are innumerable, not the least curious of 

 which, perhaps, is for cooking rice. It will stand fire sufficiently 

 long for this purpose, and the rice thus cooked is very delicious. 

 It requires nice judgment, and few Burmans learn the art. 



" On crossing the ridge and arriving at the eastern slopes, a 

 very decided change is seen. For some reason or other — aspect 

 possibly — most of the trees retain their old leaves till the new 

 ones come out. These are the Evergreen Forests. They are not 

 continuous nor universal, occurring only in large patches alter- 

 nately with other patches of the same trees, which in the winter 

 months drop their leaves. Water, which on the western slopes is 

 very scarce, is here abundant; almost every ravine having its 

 spring. Palm trees of various species are common, and the valleys 

 are clothed with dense jungle, the favorite haunt of numbers 

 of Plttldm and Arboricola. Bamboos are also a trifle larger than 

 on the west. 



" On arriving at the foot of the hills the vegetation becomes 

 still more luxuriant ; canes, palms, and creepers, cover the ground 

 to such an extent as to make progress impossible without cutting 

 a path. In such jungle the collector may consider himself fortu- 

 nate if he retrieves one bird out of five shot. 



" The change in the birds is no less remarkable than that in the 

 flora. On crossing the main ridge, only by half a mile, Irena 

 puella is at once extremely common ; yet it appears never to pass 

 the ridge to the westward. The same may be said of Ceyx tri- 

 dactyla, two species of Arboricola, three species of Pitta, and 

 many others, which are extremely abundant in the Evergreen 

 Forests, but never, I believe, occur, even as stragglers, on the 

 western slopes. There is no doubt but that the Evergreen Forests 

 will yield many more species than are contained in our list. The 

 birds which I have noted were obtained during a five months' 

 survey for a road from Thayetmyo to Tonghoo. With sixty miles 

 of the route uninhabited, except by a few Karens, and with a 

 large number of coolies to cut jungle and carry baggage, it was 

 necessary to push on as rapidly as possible. Another visit to the 

 Hills last April gave good results, and has considerably swelled 

 the list. The birds of the plains have been obtained during a 

 lengthened residence in the valley of the Irrawaddy. But even 

 here the list is, unquestionably, very far from complete. 



