407
the plant is split and a piece of wood is inserted,
and. a chatty or other vessel is suspended over the
flower head to prevent the plant growing and make
the head grow thick. All the plants grown for the
drug are treated in this way. The chatty remains
suspended over the plant for about a month. The
stem is split when it has grown about as thick as
the finger, and the plant is cut down a month after.
I have never seen the seeds of the plant ; but I
have seen the plant growing. The plant grows to
a height of about 7 or 8 feet, and is propagated
by seed. I have never heard of the seeds being
consumed. When the head and its leaves become
dried, the " séjouk " is fit for use. There is no
process of preparing the flower head for storage;
it is stored as it is gathered. No part of the plant
below the incision is turned to use, not even for
fibre, because the stem is crooked and the fibre is
spoilt by the splitting of the stem. I don't think
the head contains any seeds. About six or seven
bunches or heads are taken from each plant. The
branches of the plant are pressed together and
thrust into the neck of the chatty, which latter is
about a foot in diameter. The chatty is made of
mud and is light, but baskets are generally used.
The chatty or basket is supported by the plant it-
self. The bunch on the leading shoot is regarded
as the best in quality. This cultivation would not
be found in every Shan village.
Among the Shans about two men out of a hun-
dred smoke the drug ; women never smoke it. The
drug is used in three different ways. The drug
is cut into shreds, mixed with tobacco and smoked
in the cigar. It is not washed or prepared before
mixing with tobacco. I can't say in what propor-
tion it is mixed with tobacco. The cigars in which
it is smoked are very small, about the size of a
cigarette. The smoke is inhaled into the lungs.
Tobacco is not inhaled in the same way. The drug
is sometimes smoked. unmixed, rolled up into a
cigar. I have seen it so smoked, and the cigarette
is half the size of that in which the drug mixed
with tobacco is smoked. The " tanape " leaf is the
covering of the cigar, the same as that used for
the tobacco cigar. The drug is sometimes mixed
in curries. It is also used medicinally, mixed with
other drugs, in treatment of debility and dyspepsia.
It is not used in the treatment of fever, but as a
protection against malaria. I don't know if it is
used for dysentery. I do not know of its being
used for cattle ; but I have heard that it is given
to elephants when they become lean and weak.
The drug in small quantity is exhilarating, but
in large doses the user becomes timid. I have
heard that, taken in excess, it causes madness. I
have seen a man become temporarily mad from an
excessive dose. The man is frightened at every-
thing he sees, and therefore I call it madness.
Such a man will scream at a post, thinking it is
about to fall upon him. He will remain in this
state for five or six days without a fresh dose. I
have never known any one become permanently mad
from the drug. I have never heard of any other
drug being mixed with " séjouk" to increase its
strength. The people of the Danu villages within
the State grow and use the drug in the same way
as the Shans do. They do not grow the plant for
fibre. I never heard of the drug being taken in
the form of drink.
Since the Shans are Buddhists, all intoxicating
drugs were prohibited in the Nyaungywe State.
The hemp drug was only allowed to be grown for
medicinal purposes. For the first offence an offend-
er would be lightly punished, on a second convic-
tion he would be imprisoned. The State did not
take any special steps for enforcing the prohibition.
I used occasionally to punish offenders myself, but
the punishment was always very light. I think it
would be possible to put down the cultivation by
severe measures. There would be no strong feeling
against such measures, because, unlike opium, the
habit of using hemp can be easily broken. People
would smoke tobacco if deprived of hemp.
" Sèjouk" is never sold out of the State. People
grow it only for their own use, and sometimes it is
given to friends.
51. Evidence of KUNGYI, uncle of Sawbwa of Hsipan (Thibaw).
Oral evidence.
The State of Hsipan (Thibaw) is north-east of
Mandalay. I am uncle of the chief and his princi-
pal adviser. The hemp plant is not cultivated in
our State for narcotic purposes, so far as I know.
It may be, but I do not know. The Kachins
grow the plant for fibre, but there are no Kachins
in our State. I have never seen the drug used in
the State, but I believe that it is used both for
smoking and also in curry. The use is not pro-
hibited in the State, because there is no need to
prohibit the use. The subject has never come up
for any administrative action. It has never occur-
ed to me to have it prohibited, for, though there
may he use of the drug, I do not think there is in
our State.
52. Evidence of KINWUN MINGYI, C. S. I., Prime Minister to the late Govern-
ment of Burma.
Oral evidence.
Under the Burmese Government the hemp drug
was under prohibition because it was one of the
things prohibited by the Buddhist religion. The
prohibition was enforced by light punishments.
For the first offence the offender would be warned,
and surety for good behaviour taken from him.
For a repeated offence the offender would be im-
prisoned. Offences were brought to light by the
officers of police. No special orders on the subject
were issued to the police, but the people knew they
were not allowed to indulge in intoxicating drugs.
As Prime Minister, I had no personal connection
with such cases, and I do not therefore know how
the prosecutions originated. I have known. people
to be punished for breach of this prohibition, but
the punishments were awarded by the Police Magis-
trate. No special law on the subject was passed
during my tenure of office as Prime Minister. The
cultivation of the plant was not prohibited, but the
prohibition was against the use. I have seen the
plant when I was young, but I should not be able
to recognize it in the field now. I never heard of