The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1915-11-05

4 three years in Mandalay. An
other in the same room said.
| with evident SURPRISE
rs Mandalay really a place?
thought it was just in a song!"
Mandalay is not only real city but
an extremely interesting one, which
no tourist to Oriental lands can afford
to miss. 1t is the bulwark of Buddhism
in Burma, and the most truly Burman
city that can be found.
| A lively American sight-seer can
"do' Mandalay in two or three days,
but more time could well be employed.
A pleasant trip for the first afternoon
is one to the Arakan Pagoda, in
suburb called Shanzu Mandalay deals
in superlatives, and in this pagoda is
figure said to be the largest brass
image in the world. Except for the
! face, it is completely covered with
gold leaf. Among other curios are
queer armed figures and three-headed
elephants in steel. These were
brought from Arakan at the time of
the British occupation, and after a
rather varied history finally found a
resting place here. In recent years
this pagoda has acquired much fame
as the temporary repository of the re-
| puted remains of Buddha.
| "Mandalay bill' Is a mornings ex.
| cursion and requires an early start
This ascent of over 500 feet is made
up of series of steps fianked with
shrines. At the top lives an especial
ly "holy" monk, who supervised the
construction of the huge building re-
Gently erected to afford a permanent
mausoleum for the remains of Buddha.
Naturally this spot is held in high rev.
erence by the Buddhist community.
| The temple which crowns the hill con-
tains big gold-leaf-covered wooden
image, standing with outstretched
hand, forefinger pointing towards the
door. 1t has been facetiously suggest
ed that the gesture means, you CO."
| for while this image was in process
of construction there was current
| prophecy to the effect that once it saw
| completion the British would leave
Mandalay and the old line of Burman
kings would be restored.
| View From MandaIay Hill.
The view from the hill is magnifi-
cent Spread out in panorama lies the
| whole of Mandalay, with it's stilt-raised
houses and spreading trees. it's few
| church spires and it's hundreds of
white and gold pagodas, while, as a
| background, rise the hills, green.
| black or purple in the changing light.
| On the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy
| river, one can descry on clear day
| the Meingoond pagoda, a huge stone
structure, reputed to be the largest
| piece of solid masonry in the world.
| Near it, but invisible at that distance,
| is the second largest bell in existence
At certain seasons of the year these
| places may be visited in government
! launch, but at other times, when ma
tive sampans are the only means OF
transit, the trip is not often attempted
At the foot of the hill is the place
where the Buddhist scriptures are en-
shrined in $50 tiny pagodas, with
| table of the law to each one. There
| Is a legend that these sacred books
were, in former times, written on palm
leaf and carried about in three bas-
kets. one above another, on mans
head. Hence, they were referred to
as 1.-THE Three Baskets of the Law"
Finally, one king realized that some