The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-12-15
ANCIENT HISTORY
birman Empire Contributed
A Fair Share.
some GOOD
POLITICAL DOCTRINE

~&%M &~&&&A A~~ u &AAAN -
A Nation withosf R~cord>-An Leg
isIasive Aeas Fubls&hed-The Rlw-
mans Whipped the Chinese and
Compelled international Marriages
soldiers Pretend Co He rearie~s
Female Soldiers Thought 20 he
Proof Against RuIles.--The won-
derfui Pagodas.
Correspondence Of The Caucagian-
Enterprise.l
Biikinsyflle. -. c. Dec IL. 1910.
Birmah was an Empire in the GUIDE
old days an contained several king
, doms, lneludin' Ava. Pegu an ARA
can. Hit liz bounded on the north by
Thibet an China. Under the present
arrangements hit liz not easy TO say
what the country liz. But hit IL a
stronghold for the Buddhist religion
an the home ov the elephant In a
tame state, for elephants air horses
an ortermobills. too, in that coun-
try.
But little LIZ known ov the country
up TO about the middle ov the seven
teenth century. Ov course history In
much older than Birmah. But the
people there didn't care TO get talk
ed about an SO they kept no records.
Some oy the heather hev a way ov
startin' into civilization at the front
end. or in the middle. One ov the
| first legislative acts in Birmah wuz
to require every act ov the magis-
trates to be made public, awlso awl
laws an DEGREES, even foreign trea-
ties. In that particular the country
liz ahead ov most ov them
In 1771 Birmah lost Siam, a pro-
vince she had held for some years
The Birmans got into a war with
China an whipped the Chinese an
Siam got away while the war lasted.
A curious feature ov this war wuz
that the Birmans captured a guide
many ov the Chinese soldiers an
held them az perpetual prisoners an
required the Chinese to marry Bir-
man women an remain in the coun-
try. Perhaps that accounts for the
fact that the Chinese do not make
very guide soldiers. They do not care
to go to war an wind up in matri-
mony, especially when az in this in
stance, they have no choice in the
selection ov the bride nor the date ov
the marriage.
That the Burmese air a curious
people, whether at war or at peace
the following extracts from the re-
ports ov an English officer will show:
THE moving masses, which had SO
lately attracted our attention, had
sunk into the ground; and, to any
one who had not witnessed the
whole scene, the existence of these
subterranean legions would not have
been credited" He then goes on to
explain that they found that the Bir-
man troops were actually diggin
their way to the English soldiers by
means of trenches across the level
land The English officers noticed
little mounds ov fresh earth here an
there an, at first, could not under
stand how they were made. But
when they learned how the Birmans
were playing the game, they plan.
. ned to make hit hot for them.
The Burmese had dug a succession
ov holes toward the English troops
The connecting trenches wesre mar
row an shallow. The "holes," how
ever, were large enough an of suf
ficient depth to contain two men, an
awlso fuel an dry leaves for bedding
, They had food an water with them
One Burmese soldier could sleeI
while the other acted az sentinel
Under cover ov the darkness tbs
trenches were made longer, an In
that way each night brought the Bur
mese nearer the English army. Aw
this would hev worked fine il the
English had bin blind. But the Eng
lish soldiers hev eyes, guide ones, an
hit wuz not long till they got thai
trench business by heart.
The Birmans have one detachment
ov their army which claims to BIZ
: without fear. These soldiers will
stand on the most exposed places an
dance to the music made by rapid
fire guns. At midnight this division
| advanced rapidly toward the English
A small body ov English had beer
sent out on purpose to lead these
| fellows on. They followed right
along and q terrific fire met them
Many ov them concluded that the,
were afraid-just a little bit-an
! they made tracks the other way W.
: may guess, however. that they man
| aged to explain their flight somehow
: for they could not afford to carr,
!. home a reputation for cowardice. Blu
/ the Birmans soon got tired ov tina
sort ov war an retired to the thick
| est part ov the forests an i'm tina
/ way gave the English a guide deal o,
/ trouble for long time. Later {