NOTES ON BURMA 



849 



ELEPHANT PILING TEAK 



phants may be seen carrying supplies to 

 the camps, bringing the logs to water, and 

 carrying the Europeans about who 

 supervise the cutting of the teak. Dur- 

 ing the last few years, unfortunately, an 

 epidemic of anthrax, or splenic fever, has 

 more than decimated the ranks of do- 

 mesticated elephants, while the catching 

 of wild elephants is about given up. Let 

 us hope temporarily. 



The best months to visit Burma are 

 really December, January, and February. 

 The rainfall is far heavier than-over most 

 of northern India, and for this reason the 

 heat of the seacoast is rather oppressive. 

 Inland the rainfall is less and the climate 

 always better. During the rains Burma, 

 like the rest of the tropics the world 

 over, is no place for the person who is 

 solely on pleasure bent. Often in the 

 lowlands near the coast malaria is preva- 

 lent, but the whole land is safe for as 

 much as the average person sees of it ; 



more so, indeed, than very many tropic 

 regions. 



Nearly every one lands at Rangoon,, 

 but it is not the town to give the new ar- 

 rival a feeling of joy at reaching Burma. 

 Why more do not stay on the same- 

 steamer and go somewhere else is not 

 easily explained, except perhaps that 

 Rangoon ends the route for most of 

 the steamers that go there. The arrival 

 at an unattractive bund, swarming with 

 ragged Hindus, and this either dusty or 

 slippery with oily mud, is the invariable 

 introduction. 



A short walk acros's an open space, I 

 almost said a park, partially shaded by 

 some scraggly palms and illshapen aca- 

 cias, leads one to a very mediocre hotel. 

 The trees are soon more forcibly brought 

 to one's attention, for toward eve I think 

 every crow in Burma comes to this 

 grove to roost — and caw. When one 

 waits a bit too long before rising for the 



