and handed
aboard a bunch of geese, the same as those we had seen;[29] he is out of
shot and powder, and I believe we have no cartridges on board. The geese
weighed five and a half pounds each, but they put on some three pounds
before the end of the season, before they go north, possibly to some
lake in the Himilayas or Western China, to breed.

[29] Barhead and grey lag geese are the two kinds commonly seen.

At Saigang we fairly draw a breath with astonishment at the beauty of
the panorama that opens before us. The river widens to two miles, and
comes to us in a grand curve from the north and east. Mandalay is at the
bend, some nine miles up. It is like a beautiful lake edged with a
thread of sand--a lake that Turner might have dreamed of. Above Saigang
on our left are green woods, capped with white and gold minarets, with
white stairs and terraces leading up to them. To the north one or two
canoes, with bright sails, and distant mountains with purple corries,
and fleecy clouds, are mirrored on the tranquil river: these distant
hills are of very delicate warm violet tints, on their shoulders we can
just make out the forms of forests, and heavy white cumuli hang above
them in a hazy blue. The white Saigang pagodas on our left in the
distance look like Scottish-baronial or French chateaux, embowered in
foliage. Across the swelling river ("swelling" is the right word, I am
sure, for the river's surface _seems_ to be convex) and to our right the
country is flat, and in the green woods are the overgrown ruins of the
once splendid city of Ava. Certainly, of my most pleasant recollections,
this wide landscape, and all its light tints of mother-of-pearl, will
remain one of the most delightful.

Mandalay is at the upper end of this lake-like part of the Irrawaddy; it
lies back and behind the river bank or _bunda_, so it is not visible
from the river.

Our steamer pulls up against a flat that lies against the sandy shore,
exposed, at this time of year, by the lowness of the river. There are no
wharfs as I had expected, only two or three floating sheds, and two or
three steamers like our own. The sandy shore slopes up some thirty feet
to the bundar, and over that we see palms and trees.

Up and along the sandy shore we drove in a gharry, a man on either side
to prevent it upsetting in the ruts, and if it had not been for the
honour of the thing I would as soon have walked! On the top of the
bundar we struck a macadamised ro