The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-11-04

Maiays and BurmAns s.
Friendly to, Lone Travels
.Rangoon, Nov. S.--Charlss w
Blythe, an Epglishman ,wAp 4 j}er.
neyins on foot from Sipeapors h
Calais, France. and Londop, rseshtly
arrived in Rangoon and is, now On
his way to Calcutta. He intends IA
pursue his way through northern In
dia, Baluchistan and Persia to shat,
el-Arab, whence he will follow the
Euphrates to its source and make hfz
way through Asia Minor and Eurbpe.
He hopes to arrive in England by the
end Of 1923.
Mr.. Blythe, who has already cover.
ed 2,100 miles of his trip, thinks
that his last 200 miles in Siam con-
stituted as difficult country as he
shall ever encounter. He carries no
firearms or weapons Of any kind, land
has not yet had need Of any. His
pack weighs from 20 to 40 pounds
and consists Of clothes, food, maps,
notebooks and simple camp utensils.
Malays and Burmans, the traveller
says, are the most friendly pebpse
he has encountered SO far. The
Siamese he ranks last, although none
of them have been definitely unfriend.
ly.
Describing some of the adventures
he has had since leaving Singapore
last May, Mr.. Blythe says, in part:
II wished to traverse Siam with
all possible speed. From Kuen
Nung my troubles commenced. Roads
in the interior Of Siam are non
existent. Even cartroads are termed
by courtesy. For two days trav-
eled by earth paths, sleeping in far.
mers' houses, until I reached Pata-
lung, which is a railway town not
far from the coast. The place being
infested with mosquitoes, requested
the station master to allow me to
sleep in the waiting room, which re.
quest he granted.
Leaving Patalung entered the
jungle again, although farms and
villages were frequent. All this
time I was guiding myself north
ward by the sun, every day or two
tacking across to the railroad in or
der to keep the direction. There was
but little fear of losing my way as
the mountains run parallel tothe
sea, leaving between a strip Of plain,
varying from ten to 40 miles in
width. The large villages are locat-
ed between the coast and the rail-
way.
ut was remarkable that I encoun-
tered no wild animals and very few
snakes, which sometimes I killed and
sometimes avoided. The natives
were generally friendly enough al
Though our intercourse was limited
owing to my defective Siamese vo-
cabulary. .
"Some 40 miles north of Cham-
phon, I was very puzzled to account
for the fact that large expanses of
the hillsides were cleared and used
as grazing grounds for cattle, as
had not credited the Siamese with
sufficient energy to clear large AREAS
of hill jungle. I was told that some
60 years ago terrific tempest swept
across the isthmus Of KrKa and de-
stroyed all the vegetation.
From Prechuap Kirikan the coun-
try became Siam of the picture books
-pagodas perched on seemingly in
accessible crags, natives clad In
brilliant-colored clothing. quaint OK
cars, priests and monks and mohas-
teries; herds of vicious-looking water
buffaloes, and rice fields everywhere.
Il entered Bangkok July %, exact
ly two months after leaving Singa-
pore. Bangkok, like most large towns
of the East, Is a curious mixture Of
West and East, the old and the new.
Palatial reinforced concrete build
ings are jostled by wretched novels;
foul-smelling, winding lanes lead
from spacious boulevards. Pagodas
stand a stones throw from churches.
The old walls of Bangkok ore
fine example of the Notifications as
understood by the Oriental nations.
Miles in length, averaging 80 feet in
height by some 20 in thickness and
build of massive granite blocks, they
present a fine spectacle. The gov
ernment houses are built of stone
and are imposing structures. About
half dozen of the far-famed white
elephants are housed there. The
tramway service In Bangkok is the
most comfortable of all I have tested
in Asia.
AT Ban Lara, my northernmost
limit in Siam, turned southwest
and arrived in a relatively large
town named Sawankalole. While
talking with the schoolmaster he jok-
ingly remarked that I was a spy.
The local chief of police immediately
became enamored with the idea and
spent an uncomfortable 80 minutes
relieving his doubts"