My final tour brought me at last to the lovely lake of Indawgyi, which I had in vain tried to reach in 1894.[277] From Hopin on the Mu Valley Railway the distance is only some thirty miles, which we rode leisurely in three or four easy stages. With us were Mr. Hertz,[278] the very able and distinguished Deputy Commissioner of Myitkyina, and Mr. W. Scott, one of his Assistant Superintendents, whose knowledge of Kachin language, folklore, and customs is extensive and peculiar. Very impressive is the panorama of the lake, lying in a semi-circle of hills, with few traces of civilized intrusion. A pagoda here and there on its green banks adds a picturesque touch to the scene. We sought but did not find the floating islands of which we had heard long ago. Indawgyi lies on the border of a fertile country once populous, but devastated after a Kachin rising not long before the Annexation. It is slowly recovering, and as population increases will once more be a rich harvest-field. Thence we paid a last visit to Myitkyina and the confluence.[279] More precious than the Commissioner, the Lieutenant-Governor was not allowed to shoot the rapids. He was induced to skirt them on a pony. Of the rise and progress of Myitkyina I have already written. Then for the last time, with many regrets, we passed through the glorious First Defile and bade farewell to it for ever. It were ungracious to close this discursive record without expressing my grateful obligations to those who worked with me in the last responsible years of my service. No Lieutenant-Governor ever had a better personal staff or more capable Secretaries. If I take leave to mention Mr. F. C. Gates,[280] Mr. W. F. Rice, C.S.I., Mr. Lionel Jacob,[281] Mr. R. E. V. Arbuthnot, Mr. G. F. Arnold, C.I.E., Mr. F. Lewisohn among Secretaries; Major F. J. Fraser, the late Mr. D. Shearme, Captain A. F. S. Hill, R.E., Mr. C. S. Pennell, Captain E. L. Caldecott, R.A., among officers of the personal Staff, it is not that I value less highly the loyalty and good service of their colleagues. If I were to mention Commissioners, district, and departmental officers to whom I am indebted, I must name practically the whole Commission and plagiarize many pages of the Civil List. So after a chequered career we bade farewell to Burma, fairest and brightest of Eastern lands, the memory of whose happy people will always be enshrined in our hearts. GLOSSARY [Containing only Burmese words used more than once, or not explained in text or notes.] _amat_ = Minister. _atu-ma-shi_ = incomparable. “There is none like her--none.” _bein-sa_ = opium-eater. _bo_ = chief, leader. _da_ = a knife of any sort. _Ein-she-min_ = heir-apparent. _gyi_ = great. _hlutdaw_ = Council of State. _kala_ = barbarian, a foreigner from the West. _kappiya-taga_ = a lay attendant of a monastery. _kin-bya_ = a somewhat familiar form of address. _ko-mi_ = a game of cards. _ku-tho-daw_ = royal merit. _kyaung_ = monastery.