Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-02
To be Continued.
ON THE ROAD TO MANDALAY.
Once Forbidden Burma Now Resort
of Tourists-Thebaws Palace.

of Tourists-ThebaW's Palace.
Burma, once forbidden, has become
| attractive to tourists. Steamships
from Liverpool run direct to Ran
COON. the great city Of the country
and a book has been published fol
the use of travellers for pleasure
There is much to see that is novel In
Burma and visitors have only to plan
their journey for the cooler months
between November and March to have
a good time. .,. g: ::
Travellers are cautioned not to
make personal remarks about the
Burmans they may meet. The more
intelligent natives probably under
stand English, and in any case they
are very sensitive to ridicule.
The women of the country are very
charming at a distance, but do not
bear close inspection. They are quite
as naive as the japanese and fal
more free in their ways, but they
greatly resent familiarity.
They are the merchants of the
market places, and the traveller
must have his wit about him or he
will be overreached in trade. The
government has found it necessary to
warn all white comers against the
| Intelligence and business capacity
of these women merchants.
You may travel by rail or steam
boat up the majestic Irawadi to Man
dalay, the capital Of Upper Burma
in the heart of the country. You may
steam up that river to Bhamo, fal
above Mandalay, on the splendid
steamers that ply from Rangoon tc
the head of navigation.
| Rangoon has become great com
mercial city, as much European as
Burmese, so that it does not offer the
surprises that are found further in.
land, though it's pagodas are among
the most magnificent in Asia. Fol
massive grandeur the Shwe DagoT
Pagoda. with its huge dome overlaio
with gold leaf, has few equals in the
world, and the Burmese take specia
pride in it.
| For $50 miles up the river from
Rangoon the country may be said tc
be one vast rice field. Burma is the
largest producer of rice. and for sew.
j eral months during the shipping sea-
son tourists see at every railroad ano
steamboat station long lines Of rice
bags piled up eight feet high awaiting
transport to the rice mills and the
docks of Rangoon.
The greatest objects of interest a
Mandalay are King Thebaw's palaces
where lived that weak ruler and his
handsome queen, who controlled him
and melted the bloody deeds thai
made him infamous. The palaces
stand in a walled enclosure four mile:
square, pierced with guard gates and
surrounded by moat. Thebaw ano
his queen now live in India, prisoner:
of the British government.
Today there is not an article of the
furniture in any of the palaces. A
part of the queens palace was useo
for a while as club for Europeans
but Lord Curzon ordered it to be Civ.
en- up, as all the buildings are of teal
and a fire might easily destroy every
thing.
Nearly every building has it's GU
rious history. One of the structure!
is a watch tower of solid wood start
ed and completed in one day by The
baw'S father. who told the builder
that unless he completed the struc
ture in twenty-four hours he would
be beheaded.
All visitors have a talk with Capt
Reoman, who was imprisoned will
other Europeans by Thebaw. For
week he and the other whites were
led out every day to be beheaded
but for some reason were remandet
to prison. They were all released
when the British forces came up, bu
the strain was too great for one o.
the unfortunates. who went mad II
that week.
1t was Thebaw who, melted by hi
wife put to death under circum
stances of great brutality betweel
seventy and eighty princes, princesse!
and high officials in February, 1879
The outburst Of horror and indigna
ton which these massacres caused lee
soon after to the overthrow of The
baw and the occupation of his coun
try by the British.