196 
BURMA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
Sep., 1891 . 
of pious devotees, each of which contains images of the 
Buddha in alabaster, wood, or bronze, of all sizes from one 
foot to thirty feet in height, many of them richly ornamented 
with gold and vermilion, and amounting in all to many 
hundreds. 
The interior of some of these annexes is adorned with 
pictures of Gautama’s miracles, such as the cure of persons 
afflicted with loathsome diseases, or the resuscitation of others 
who have been hewn into pieces, depicted with very unpleasant 
realism ; but in many of these drawings accessory landscape 
is rendered with admirable perception of the forms of tropical 
life, both animal and vegetable. 
To complete the scene, picture to yourselves the Buddhist 
yellow-robed monks moving to and fro, or surrounded by 
pupils, to whom they are expounding their doctrines ; pilgrims 
of many races and in many-hued garments passing in and 
out of the shrines or pacing round the great terrace with 
hands outstretched and fingers joined at the tips in silent 
devotion ; astrologers, with their mystical “properties,” sur¬ 
rounded by eager listeners; worshippers dotted about here 
and there in the great open space, repeating their forms of 
prayer in monotonous nasal tones. Remember that many of 
these have travelled from distant Siam or from the hills of 
Upper Burma, men, women, and children of manifold ethno¬ 
logical types and in diverse costumes ; observe how some are 
carrying before them books of gold-leaf fixed in cleft sticks, 
and are ever and anon performing an act of piety by affixing 
a piece to some part of the building; and how quiet, clean, 
well clad they are, and in what evident earnest. 
Picture to yourselves these shrines, with their doorways 
and roofs all adorned with magnificent, deeply-undercut 
carving in teakwood, in which conventional designs, based 
on plant forms, are mingled with spirited figures of men and 
beasts, and the whole scene full of life, movement, and colour; 
and lastly, imagine the great Pagoda itself, golden from base 
to top, resplendent in full blaze of tropical sunlight, and 
standing out against a sky of cloudless blue, and the whole 
scene set amidst the graceful foliage of palms, giant bamboos, 
and forest trees, and you will scarcely wonder that I look 
upon our visits to the Scliway Dagon as among the events of 
our lives. 
Twice did we see it: once in the glory of dazzling sun¬ 
light ; once again by the light of the full moon, when its 
carved roofs and doorways, its innumerable quaint sculptures, 
and its countless calm-faced Buddhas were invested with a 
