A thousand miles on an elephant in the Shan StatesHallett, Holt S. (Holt Samuel)
History
A thousand miles on an elephant in the Shan States
Hallett, Holt S. (Holt Samuel)
Laos -- Description and travel; Thailand -- Description and travel
The Karens, Shans, Kakhyens, and other hill tribes, who are
spirit-worshippers and not Buddhists, are the stocks from which converts
are produced in Burmah and Siam. If you wish to have Burmese Christians,
it is necessary to train them in mission schools from childhood. A
Burmese adult behaves like a goat in the sheep-fold. He skips in and out
as it suits him. Too often he merely enters to see what he can get from
the shepherd. It is said to cost more to convert a Burman than it does
to convert a Jew. A Roman Catholic missionary told me some years ago
that he very much doubted whether his mission had ever made a real
convert out of an adult Burman. As the sapling is bent, so the tree
grows.
Having finished the inspection, we returned to camp, where I regaled
myself with my long-wished-for smoke. The boys, when scolded for their
delinquencies, pretended to look chapfallen; but I am afraid I had a
twinkle in my eyes when rebuking them, as I saw the three convulsed with
laughter before they were many paces away. During our absence the other
elephant-drivers had shot a deer, and on our return presented us with a
leg. This was a delightful surprise, as we had been subsisting on fowls
and tinned provisions for several days.
The next day was Sunday, so we had a delightful day’s halt. I sent some
of the Karens off to the neighbouring villages to obtain sufficient
fowls and rice for our journey to Maing Loongyee, where we could obtain
a fresh supply. Veyloo and Jewan went off on a lark, but soon returned
in a dismal plight to seek my aid. In attempting to get honey, one had
been stung on the eyelid, the other on the neck. An application of Perry
Davis’s pain-killer acted like magic, taking away the pain; and a little
ointment sent them off again light-hearted—putting down their
punishment, I hope, to their yesterday’s conduct.
On Monday we started a little before seven, and followed the Yembine and
its branches to the crest of the pass over the range which divides the
drainage of the Salween from that of the Thoungyeen. The pass—32 miles
from Hlineboay—has its crest 612 feet above sea-level, or 446 feet above
our camp at Teh-dau-Sakan. On our way we met a party of Shans proceeding
to Maulmain. A descent of about 50 feet from the crest brought us to the
plateau, interspersed with detached hills, which is separated from the
narrow plain through which the Thoungyeen runs, by a row of cliff-faced
masses of limestone 1000 and 2000 feet in height, between which the
drainage of the country flows to the river.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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