The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-06-06


ment from Nepsl, wi h English officers.
these man limo Of for.a along the
Chimes border, maintain photographic
communication from mountain peak to
mountain peak. patrol the country where
nar airy, form columns for punitive cx-
p ditions against insurbcrdlnate kachin
chic fl and IN their leisure grow straw
berries and English vegetables from seed
and plants supplied by government Tor
purposes OF experiment. The soil Is rich
ana viii grow anything. All that Is
needed Is AN agricultural population. In
The old day, this was no mans land. Life
and property were unsafe.
ihe Burman kings used the region
neftp OF the great defiles as primitive
colony 20 which criminals were transport
ca Tor life. guard was maintained In
the gates OF the tlenle to shoot anyone who
should attempt to run through the rap
ids' there was no ROAD back by land.
between the wild animals on the plains
fnd the fiercsr kaohins In the mountains,
these roor wretches led o sorry existence.
Traditions OF those old days prevent the
burmans from daring to move into these
regions. Acres Of virgin soil here await
the cultivalor. When we have railway
connection with China, then We may look
for Ghinese to coma In and settle here.
Government built thS railway to open up
the country, looking q long way into the
future. found that by waiting i've days
III t1bhyiuh 0ottia Hct . ht1 pass vi .
government steamer down through the
defiles to Bhamo. So hunted and dshed
and enjoyed myself, and on Sunday Ia a
little bamboo chapel with a matched root
that cost $lU. preached in Burmese to the
little handful of Christians that meet
there for worship. Here came TO light
evidence of the value of four schools in
Lower Burma. Two Christian clerks in,
the courts, who owe their position to the
knowledge gained In mission schools and
who are faithful to the Christianity there
emphasized. were present with their
families; the back bone Of the hopeful
beginning OF church ON that northern
frontier. / shall 60 back TO school.work
with increased conviction Of Its mission
ary value. II we could see the end from
| the beginning, how much more heart we
should put into the work Of training
| children for lifel
Delightful days those at Myitkyina; but
Bhamo IL my destination and Myitkyina
atwayside experience
Who would not appreciate q govern
ment that In this remote region provides
SO fine o steamer and furnishes you o
free passagee Why, this Is like the Hud-
son below Poughkeepsie; but is SO cold In
the early morning that wear winter
oyercoat with comfort. thing haven't
done since the Atlantic voyage. These
steamers move the troops about, ration
the forts, carry the mails. We shall stop
for the night on the way to Bhamo. for
1t is voyage of 100 miles ard steamers
are not allowed to pass through the defile,
going down, later than 10 In the morn
Ing for fear Of collision with an upward
bound steamer. So we tie up at Sinbo at
300 in the afternoon only TO ind that
the winter has risen IS feet, and the steam
ers are not allowed to pass when there Is
q greater rise than 90 feet We set the
steamers gauge andsiind that the river
IL rising siX lnrkag hnnF Tho
OF this Is that there has BEEN rain In the
mountains and that the gates of the defiIe
are very narrow, no wider than the Saco
at the.'narrows, (you can skip stone
across, and the great volume OF this
mighty Irrawaddy has to go pouring
through that narrow. gorge The water
goes roaring through with the pace Of the
Saco below Salmon Falls, and to give
steamer Roadway enough to steer her
through the tortIous channel is to run
the risk of smashing her against the
rocks. We went to the telegraph office
Still rising" was the reply. Next morn
ing the gauge In the gorge showed a rise
Of 30 feet.
The steamer was hopelessly stalled, i
found that native boats would ply and
there was nothing for me to do to enable
me to keep my appointments but to leave
the steamer at Sinbo. hire q native boat
and run through. An English officer said
II wouldn't do 1t. I did 1t once; but
once is enough. You couldn't hire me to
go through there again" / asked the
Burmans. They said there was no dan
ger; that they went through when the
guage registered 80 feet rise. That set
tied it / couldn't AFFORD three or four
days Of my vacation sitting on the river
bank waiting for the water to fall. /
engaged o boat. a laung, about 40 feet
long, dugout with raised gunwaIe.
made sure that 1t was teal, for teak floats
and II capsized would not sink, saw that
oars and fittings were all right, that the
long steering oar hung ont astern was
securely shipped and that had q helms
man of experience who knew the channel,
and two strong men to row. We had
about 10 miles to go. Then i looked at
the rounded roof over my head. 1t was
water tight and sufficient protection. from
the sun. on we started through broad
inland sea made BY the river backing up
from the gates of the defile. Dead ahead
were upright hills rising 200 or 800 feet
with no apparent passage through the
ridge. Soon we heard the roaring at the
beginning OF the gorge; saw the water
the boat and hurried her on. had begun
20 write. The Burmans forward shouted,
"Sit right in the middle of the boat
When abe begins to rock, don't grab at
the sides, but keep still and II the water
PUSHES in over the side, don't mind, we
will soon be through the worst of it. awe
were approaching the Peshaw rocks,
where the river pitches down like Little
Falls and runs like mill race. A whirl-
pool caught the steering oar and swirled
the boat around. Another caught the
bows and slap came the water over the
sides and the boat tossed like an egg shell
hut the men bent to their oars and we
came through al right. There are forty
five miles of whirlpool and rapids. Two
steamers have gone down there and never
been heard from again. No one knows
the depth; but the Peshaw gates are the
worst point. Once past that kpoint you
are out of real danger. but not out of ex-
oitement. told the men to call my at
tention to any thing of interest on the
way scenic or historical, resumed my
writing, joliied the boatmen when they
got lazy, shared my breakfast and lunch