keep them clear of shoals
and their heads downstream.

In many cases the population of a raft is so considerable that quite a
little village of huts is built upon it, and I have seen cows, goats,
and fowls, as well as the wives and children of the crew, housed upon
it. In one case at least I remember seeing a raft upon which was
erected a bamboo pagoda, and frequently upon the sand-banks in the
river small pagodas of the same material are erected for devout
watermen.

Not least among the many beauties of the Irrawaddy are the glorious
sunsets behind the "Yomas," when the colours are repeated in the
limpid water, which perfectly reflects the pinnacles of "kyoungs" or
pagodas, or the pretty village that lies half hidden amidst the varied
foliage which in rich masses crowns the banks.

CHAPTER V

THE IRRAWADDY (_continued_)

Almost every morning dense mists hang upon the river, screening
everything from view until the sun, slowly gaining power, presently
dispels the fog and reveals the beauty of the scene.

Very beautiful indeed are some of these panoramas disclosed in the
early sunlight.

Close beside the high and clear-cut bank, crowned with flowering
kine-grass, our steamer lies, the silently-flowing river gurgling and
bubbling under our keel. The water is quite still, and repeats every
detail of the opposite shore, behind which, rising terrace upon
terrace, are the wooded "Yomas," in whose ravines and valleys still
hangs some remnant of the fog. The foliage is of many kinds, the
feathery tamarind and acacia contrasting well with the more heavily
leaved banyan; betel-nut and toddy-palm rise above the mulberry or
mimosa, and conspicuous among the varied tints of the forest is the
delicate green of the bamboo, to the Burman the most useful perhaps of
all the forest growths, and everywhere abounding.

Life awakens with the sun. Herds of cattle roam along the shore, while
in the fields from raised platforms half-nude men and boys scare
wild-fowl from the ripening crops. The smoke of many fires on shore
and from the craft upon the water rises perpendicularly in the still
air, as the frugal morning meal is being prepared ere another day's
work begins.

Between its banks the Irrawaddy sweeps in splendid curves, producing
an ever-growing sense of bigness and dignity. Some of its reaches are
very wide, and have more the appearance of an inland lake than a
river. On such sand-banks as are not already occupie