Oct., 1891 . 
BURMA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
231 
cottages to chat over the evening cheroot. Little stalls are 
set up at street corners, on which cooked rice, sugar cane, 
cigars, and other trifles are exposed for sale to the passer-by, 
and curious cakes, like magnified pancakes of extreme thinness, 
are cooked dexterously over wood fires. 
The streets are alive with people passing to and fro, or 
sitting on their heels about the stalls, laughing, chatting, and 
enjoying the coolness of the evening. Every now and again 
the air is rich with the heavy scent of a Pancratium, or of 
the Sathapoo, the male flower of the Pandanus or Screw 
Pine. In one street, inhabited mostly by Chinamen, we 
always saw lighted lamps burning before quaint representa¬ 
tions of their deities as we passed the open houses, and their 
Joss-house stood in close juxtaposition to an Indian temple 
and to Burmese pagodas, for Buddhism is a liberal creed, 
and all forms of worship have ever been freely tolerated in 
this land. 
Not unfrequently preparations were being made fora Pooe 
(pronounced Pooey ), or theatrical representation, in which 
the Burmese take especial delight, the stage being set in some 
field by the wayside, or even at the junction of three or four 
roads, the temporary interference with the traffic being 
accepted as a matter of course. Such performances are 
given either by some rich individual or by subscription among 
the inhabitants of some particular part of a town, and in 
times past fierce faction fights have arisen out of the rivalry 
of different quarters in regard to the superior quality of this 
or that theatrical company. 
We were fortunate enough to see a Pooe of exceptional 
merit at Tongoo, the performers being specially brought from 
Mandalay, or I should rather say a portion of one, for the 
entertainment begins about 8 p.m., and is only brought 
to an end by returning daylight. 
In the middle of an open space surrounded by clumps of 
bamboo and tall cocoa-nut palms, was erected an awning of 
mats covering an area of perhaps forty or fifty feet square. 
Beneath was the stage, some twenty feet square, and consisting 
of a few mats laid on the turf, and in the centre were two rude 
pillars of stone or brick, each a couple of feet square and 
three feet high, on the top of which were two earthen bowls 
in which crude mineral oil was blazing. These served as 
foot-lights and illumination of the house at the same time, 
and were replenished from time to time by one or other of the 
performers out of a reserve tin by means of a wooden ladle. 
Behind the stage was a large wooden chest, the wardrobe 
of the company, from which, during the progress of the 
