Photo by Alfred Joseph Smith 



PAI^AUNG BEAUTIES : BURMA 



The richer Palaung women wear curious necklaces of silver, flat and quite plain, and 

 sometimes so large as to reach down to the waist. Around the wrists are heavy twisted 

 bracelets of solid silver, and many of their cane girdles are embellished with silver wire. 

 The Palaungs are a quiet, well-conducted set of people, sober and hard-working, and, unlike 

 most of their neighbors, far from warHke. 



saddles be taken along, more rapid prog- 

 ress may often be made. The weather, 

 except for a few rainy days at Christmas 

 time, is good for the most part from De- 

 cember to March. 



At any town the subdivisional officer 

 ("S. D. O." for short) will assist in pro- 

 curing carts or mules, and his good offices 

 will often be needed to requisition chick- 

 ens. The Burman does not take life, and 

 sometimes refuses to sell chickens to be 

 killed. A law obliges villages to furnish 

 supplies (to be paid for, of course) for 

 officers and troops passing through. This 

 shrinking from the taking of life, a char- 

 acteristic which the Burman shares with 

 the Hindu, is not from the teachings of 

 Buddha, who is said to have been an 

 eater of flesh, but is a relic of some be- 

 lief or superstition antedating Buddha. It 

 is very real, however, and kill he will not, 

 aiot even a venomous snake or tarantula. 



Except for the law, an officer would 

 be reduced to what he could carry with 

 him, so far as flesh of any kind is con- 

 cerned. No one would kill, or furnish to 

 be killed, any live thing. Thus when we 

 stayed in a government "Circuit House'' 

 at Pagan, there was a cook and a care- 

 taker,a well-furnished house and kitchen ; 

 but the S. D. O. gave a village headman 

 orders to levy such chickens, etc., as we 

 might require. We gave the orders, and 

 so the sin of killing fell on us. No need 

 for the S. P. C. A. among the Burmans ! 

 The town gharri drivers are never Bur- 

 mese, they believe horses so used cannot 

 be kindly treated. 



Dak bungalows are to be found nearly 

 everywhere, though often only shelters 

 and not always provided with crockery 

 and cooking utensils. There are many 

 very comfortable "circuit houses" built 

 for and used by the government officials. 



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