1
Môk-so-bo-myo, the hunter’s city.
3
Great or headman of the circle.
5
Headman of the village.
6
Members of the Provincial Civil Service.
7
Literally, heads of townships, members of the Subordinate Civil Service.
8
Major-General T. Lowndes, I.S.C.
9
Mr. B. Ribbentrop, C.I.E.
10
The late Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson, K.C.S.I., Lieut.-Governor of Bengal.
11
This term, formerly in ordinary use, is now obsolete.
12
Paddy is the local name for unhusked rice.
14
Major-General Horace Browne, I.S.C.
15
Colonel C. H. E. Adamson, C.I.E.
16
Mr. A. H. Hildebrand, C.I.E.
17
Called after General Godwin, who commanded the force in the Second War.
18
The population of Rangoon in 1881 was 134,176; in 1911 it numbered 293,316. In 1878 its trade was valued at £10,484,469, as compared with £32,040,000 in 1911 (private trade alone).
19
A Chief Commissioner, newly arrived, whose face was not yet familiar, was told by a barber in the town, in the course of his ministration, that he should try to join the gymkhana, as that was the way to get into society.
20
Afterwards of the Commission.
21
Nat, a spiritual being in Burmese mythology. For a full account of nats the curious may refer to Sir Richard Temple’s learned and sumptuous work “The Thirty-Seven Nats.”
22
This is, however, a matter of taste. A lady told me that the only thing which made it worth while to come to Rangoon was the Strand Hotel, with its general comfort and its incomparable omelette. The pagoda merely impressed her as “a messy place.” Perhaps she was only playing upon the poor Indian’s simplicity.
23
Kala is as nearly as possible barbarian, and has a connotation of contempt. It is applied by the Burmese to all foreigners from the West, Indians or Europeans. A Chinaman is a cousin, so is a Siamese. Neither of these is a kala.
24
The late Mr. G. D. Burgess, C.S.I.
25
The late Sir Charles Aitchison, K.C.S.I., successively Member of Council and Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab.
26
Maung Pe, I.S.O., K.S.M.
27
The first Viceroy was Lord Canning. Many people erroneously think that Clive or, perhaps, Warren Hastings was the first who attained that dignity.
28
Mingyi, one of the four principal ministers. Literally, great lord.
31
There is a subtlety here. Ko is one of the Burmese equivalents of Mr., more respectful than Maung.
32
Council of State at Mandalay.
33
As to grammar, Latter helped us in those early years. Students of to-day, more fortunate, have the invaluable help of Mr. Bridges’ book.
34
What it really wrote was “clearness and simplicity.”
36
The late Colonel F. D. Maxwell, C.I.E.
37
The late Sir Edward Spence Symes, K.C.I.E.
38
Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff, K.C.S.I., K.C.M.G.
39
The late Sir Charles Bernard, K.C.S.I., for some years Secretary in the Revenue and Statistics Department at the India Office.
40
“Don’t let them do that, they’ll take me for a Burmese Minister,” he called out, as officious underlings were hustling some carts out of his path as he rode through Mandalay.
41
Among many mistaken appreciations of Burmese character is the notion that Burmans have no sense of gratitude. This story indicates the contrary. Since my retirement I have been touched by the frequent receipt of letters and other tokens of remembrance from Burmese friends obviously disinterested.
42
Ti, an umbrella; also the ornamental summit of a pagoda.
43
The Arakan Pagoda, as we call it, at Mandalay.
44
Sergeant or Thugyi’s wife.
46
Tha-yet-my̆o, not the city of mangoes, as might be supposed, but the city of slaughter.
48
In taungya cultivation, the farmer prepares a piece of forest-land by setting fire to the trees and undergrowth, and fertilizing the ground with the ashes. Rice and vegetables are sown broadcast. Except by careful Chins, the same piece of land is not used again till the forest growth has been renewed. It is a wasteful plan, rightly discouraged.
