NOTES ON BURMA 



865 



EARLY MORNING AMONG THE SIX HUNDRED PAGODAS OUTSIDE OE MANDALAY 



iendid way of seeing the country ; the 

 press boats for those whose time is 

 >rt; and, better still, the cargo boats 

 rich tow alongside great bazaar flats 

 i spend weeks in passing up and down 

 J: river. The space on the flats is 

 ited out in small parcels to store- 

 ;pers, who practically live permanently 

 , board them and who have their regu- 

 !. customers in the various riverside vil- 

 lus. By traveling in these one may 



sure of seeing about all the folk in 

 fery village passed, as well as having 

 isonably lengthy stays at all the larger 

 pis. 

 Perhaps the most remarkable "sight" 



the upper river above Mandalay is the 

 finished Mingun pagoda, the largest 

 lid mass of masonry in the world. 

 ;ar by, under a huge roof and slung to 

 giant beam of teak, hangs the largest 

 rfect bell in the world. The great 

 oken bell of Moscow only is larger. 

 Buddhism in a comparatively pure 

 rm is the religion of the Burmese, 

 ^ery Burman dons the yellow robe of 

 e monk for part of his life and these 

 mgyis, as they are called, partially jus- 



tify their somewhat vampire-like exist- 

 ence by keeping alive the rather feeble 

 flame of native education. Many are 

 monks for life, and these with their neo- 

 phytes live in the pongy kyaungs which 

 are scattered over the whole country. 

 These monasteries serve as rest-houses 

 for pilgrims, and in very many cases are 

 remarkable examples of the character- 

 istic architecture. 



The finest of all is the Queen's Golden 

 Monastery at Mandalay, which is here 

 inadequately illustrated. The rich carv- 

 ings and the gilt now dulled by time give 

 a particularly pleasing and venerable ap- 

 pearance to the building. Native archi- 

 tecture is fast on the decline, however, 

 since Theebaw's reign has ended, very 

 ingloriously, the independent line of Bur- 

 mese kings. Yet a new land to England, 

 the government has not awakened to the 

 ■fact that the palaces and formerly royally 

 protected monasteries, of Mandalay espe- 

 cially, need restoring and preserving. 

 The religious spirit of the people cares 

 for the greater pagodas, while the less im- 

 portant ones, overgrown with luxuriant 

 tropical foliage, make pleasing ruins. 



