"It is a condiment that they mix with rice to render it more palatable," the Doctor answered, "and is a great favorite with the Burmese. It is made by mixing finely-chopped fish with certain spices, and other flavoring things, till it is in the form of a paste. The fish is first allowed to get a little old, or 'gamy,' and before they chop it up the smell from it is anything but agreeably to a European. The flavor increases with age, and the older it gets the more do the Burmese like it." Frank and Fred concluded they would take their rice without nagapee for the future. The perfume that rose from the boat was all they wanted. [Illustration: MONASTERY AT PROME.] They stopped several hours at Prome, a large town that was said to contain some handsome pagodas and a Buddhist monastery, and was famous for its silk manufactories. One of the first persons our friends met on shore was a man whose accent was so decidedly American that Doctor Bronson at once asked from what part of the United States he had come. He proved to be a native of Massachusetts, and was settled in Burmah as a missionary: he invited the strangers to visit his house, but, as their time was limited, they were unable to do so. This incident naturally led to a conversation concerning the American missions in Burmah, as soon as our friends were again on board the steamer, and moving up the Irrawaddy. "Since the early part of this century," said the Doctor, "the American Board of Foreign Missions has been represented in Burmah; their stations are scattered throughout the country, and the labors of the missionaries have been attended with a great deal of hardship. Of late years they have fared better than they did when they first came here, as the authorities are less suspicious of them than formerly, and the comforts of life are more easily obtained. In the early days, and especially in the time of the first Burmese war, they were frequently arrested and thrown into prison: one of them, whose name is well known in the United States, was kept in chains for more than a year, and for a large part of that time he was under sentence of death." One of the boys asked who this missionary was. "He was Doctor Judson--Adoniram Judson," was the answer; "he came to Burmah in 1812, and died in 1850. He was two or three times in America between those years, and he died on a voyage from Rangoon to the Isle of France, where he was going on account of his health. He did a great deal for the advancement of the Burmese; he learned the language, and prepared a Burmese-English dictionary, together with a good many translations. The dictionary he made is the one now in use, though it has been considerably increased by other scholars.