ere all the cattle, thirty or forty head, and went off
with them. The frightened owners came in to tell the headman about it,
and in his absence they told his wife. And she, by virtue of the order
of appointment as headman, which was in her hands, ordered the villagers
to turn out and follow the dacoits. She issued such government arms as
she had in the house, and the villagers went and pursued the dacoits by
the cattle tracks, and next day they overtook them, and there was a
fight. When the villagers returned with the cattle and the thieves, she
had the letter written to me, and the prisoners were sent in, under her
husband's brother, with an escort. Everything was done as well, as
successfully, as if Saw Ka himself had been present. But if it had not
been for the accident of Saw Ka's sudden appearance, I should probably
never have known that this exploit was due to his wife; for she was
acting for her husband, and she would not have been pleased that her
name should appear.

'A good wife,' I said to Saw Ka.

'Like many,' he answered.

But in her own line she has no objection to publicity. I have said that
nearly all women work, and that is so. Married or unmarried, from the
age of sixteen or seventeen, almost every woman has some occupation
besides her own duties. In the higher classes she will have property of
her own to manage; in the lower classes she will have some trade. I
cannot find that in Burma there have ever been certain occupations told
off for women in which they may work, and others tabooed to them. As
there is no caste for the men, so there is none for the women. They have
been free to try their hands at anything they thought they could excel
in, without any fear of public opinion. But nevertheless, as is
inevitable, it has been found that there are certain trades in which
women can compete successfully with men, and certain others in which
they cannot. And these are not quite the same as in the West. We usually
consider sewing to be a feminine occupation. In Burma, there being no
elaborately cut and trimmed garments, the amount of sewing done is
small, but that is usually done by men. Women often own and use small
hand-machines, but the treadles are always used by men only. As I am
writing, my Burmese orderly is sitting in the garden sewing his jacket.
He is usually sewing when not sent on messages. He seems to sew very
well.

Weaving is usually done by women. Under nearly every house there will be