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                            FROM EDINBURGH
                         TO INDIA AND BURMAH


[Illustration: Ayah and Child]


                            FROM EDINBURGH TO
                             INDIA & BURMAH



                                   BY
                           W. G. BURN MURDOCH

                                Author of
         "From Edinburgh to the Antarctic," "A Procession of the
                        Kings of Scotland," etc.



           _WITH TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
                     FROM PAINTINGS BY THE AUTHOR_

                                 LONDON
                      GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD.
                       NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.


                                  _TO_
                                 ST. C.
                                   C.




                                Contents


                                 CHAP. I

                      Introducing these Digressions.
                          Point of Departure.
                        Edinburgh Street Scenes.
                    Flying Impressions from the Train
                                   to
                                 LONDON.

           Street Scenes there -- The Park and Regent Street.
                       The People in the Streets.
               Our Royalties gone, and Loyalty -- going.
             Piccadilly Circus by Night, and Mount Street.       pp. 1-8

                                CHAP. II

        London to Tilbury, and the Platform at Victoria Station.
                    The Embarkation on a P. & O.
                              A Bugle Call.
                      The luxury of being at sea.
                             The Bay, and
                          "Spun Yarns" on to                        9-18

                                CHAP. III

            Orpheus and the Argo and the Sirens in heavy weather.
                        Down the Portugese Coast.
                       High Art in the Engine-Room.
                          Our People going East.
               A Blustery Day, and the Straits of Gibraltar.
                     Gib and Spain, and "Poor Barbara."            19-26

                                CHAP. IV

                  A Blue Day at Sea, and Castles in Spain.
                     A Fire Alarm, and A Dummy Dinner.
                       The Beautiful French Lady.
                   Marseilles and the Crowd on the Wharf.
              _Bouillabaisses_, and Rejane, and Cyrano, etc.,
                  and the head of a Serang for a tail-piece.       27-34

                                CHAP. V

          About the Crowd on Board, and the discomfort of a voyage
                 first class -- British types -- Reflections
                     on the Deck and on the Sea -- of
                Sky, and People, and of things in general.
                  A P. & O. yarn, Old Junk, or Chestnut.
                         Respectability and Art.
                   It gets warm -- The Punkah Infliction.
                    Egypt in Sight, and the Nile Water.

  Port Said and its Inhabitants -- Jock Furgusson and Ors.
    Corsica, Sardinia, Lipari Islands, Stromboli, Crete,
    and The Acts of the Apostles.                                  35-45

                                CHAP. VI

  The saddest thing in Egypt -- Dancing in the Canal, and
    the Search-light on the Desert -- The fizzling hot blue
    Red Sea, and digressions about rose-red Italian wine, &
    Ulysses, and Callum Bhouie, and Uisquebaugh.                   46-53

                                CHAP. VII

  Is still about the Red Sea -- "The Barren Rocks of Aden,"
    and small talk about small events on board -- a fancy
    dress dance, and sports, and so on to BOMBAY.                  54-62

                                CHAP. VIII

  Is -- without apologies -- of first impressions of India;
    and about the landing and entertainments of their Royal
    Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales -- Great
    people and little people, and their affairs; Royal
    Receptions to snake-charmers -- Illuminations,
    Gun-firing, and the Bands playing God save the King --
    Edward the --?                                                 63-74

                                CHAP. IX

  This chapter continues to deal with splendid Royal Shows,
    and there is the precis of a dream of a Prince and an
    A.D.C., who correct the Abuses of the Privileges of the
    Royal Academies.                                               75-84

                                CHAP. X

  And this is about the arrival of Lord Minto, and the
    departure of Lord Curzon, and the Tomasha connected
    therewith; Vice-regal Receptions, and Processions, and
    more band playing, and gun-firing.                            85-101

                                CHAP. XI

  Chronicles small beer -- things about books and little
    Indian beasts and natives, and there is another
    digression to the subject of "English _v._ British
    Union, and the Imperial Idea," and a sail over the Bay
    with a piratical (looking) crew, to the caves of
    Elephanta.                                                   102-111

                                CHAP. XII

  Is a somewhat lengthy drawn-out chapter about a train
    journey from Bombay up the Western Ghats, and down south
    on the Deccan (Dekkan) Tableland to Dharwar -- Rather a
    "carpet-bag chapter," to quote Professor Masson.             112-122

                                CHAP. XIII

                                Dharwar.
                         My Brother's Bungalow.
                        Life in a small Station.
                               The Club.
                            Duck-shooting                        123-135

                               CHAP. XIV

         A letter on the subject of DUCK -- And a Cholera Goddess.
                                                                 136-144
                               CHAP. XV

  Last evening at Dharwar, then notes in the train south to
    Bangalore.                                                   145-149

                               CHAP. XVI

  Is of notes and sketches about things you see in
    Bangalore.                                                   150-156

                               CHAP. XVII

  Is of a long journey for a small shoot -- Life on the
    Railway Line, and a letter about SNIPE.

  Our day's shoot is cut in two by the Royal Procession, and
    we go to the Embassy, then to jail, and make a picture
    of the Bazaar by lamplight, and discourse on the subject
    of music with the Maharajah of Mysore.                       157-173

                               CHAP. XVIII

  Is about the Maharajah's Palace at Mysore -- To
    Seringapatam in Trollies -- Remarks about the Siege,
    mosquitoes, and landscape -- Back to Mysore, and Dinner
    on the Track.                                                174-185

                               CHAP. XIX

  Channapatna Village, and a free tip to artists -- Our Camp
    in a railway siding in "beechen green, and shadows
    numberless" -- Thoughts of Madras and the Ocean again --
    How we rule India, and _ghosts_ on the railway track --
    A Bank in India, and about cooking, and the Indian
    squirrel or Chip-monk -- The Maharajah -- Red
    Chupprassies -- The Museum, and Ants, etc., etc.             186-196

                               CHAP. XX

  _En route_ for Madras -- A plague inspection in the grey
    of the morning -- Madras and blue southern ocean,
    through Tamarisks, and the silvery Cooum and fishermen
    seine-netting on the strand -- The Race-course -- The
    Old Fort of the Company -- Dinner at the Fort, and the
    people we saw there; and of those we remembered who once
    lived there -- A Digression from Crows to ancient Naval
    Architecture, and the new Order of Precedence.               197-209

                              CHAP. XXI

  A delightful Fishing Day -- Surf Rafts. -- Making Calls --
    Boating on the Adyar River -- A Sunday in Madras
    Churches, and on a Surf Raft -- End of the Year.             210-220

                              CHAP. XXII

  1st JAN. 1906. -- Call at Government House -- The Fort
    again -- More about Surf Rafts -- Lord Ampthill's
    Government House Reception -- Nabobs and nobodies. --
    Fireworks and pretty dresses, and the band playing.          221-226

                              CHAP. XXIII

  Out of Madras, and on the blue sea again, bound West to
    Burmah -- Packed with Natives -- An unsavoury Passage
    Ruskin's English and Native Essayists.                       227-231

                              CHAP. XXIV

  GOLDEN BURMAH, and the Golden Pagoda -- a gymkhana dance
    -- Sketching at the Pagoda entrance -- Various races --
    Bachelor's quarters -- The Shan Camp -- Princesses and
    Chieftains, and their followings -- Mr Bertram Carey,
    C.I.E. -- The peace of the platform of The Shwey Dagon
    Pagoda.                                                      232-244

                              CHAP. XXV

  "The Blairin' trumpet sounded far," and the Prince comes
    over the sea, and lands at Rangoon -- Receptions and
    processions; pandols, shamianas; and Royal Tomasha --
    Illuminations at night on the Lake, and the Royal Barges
    -- Song about Our King Emperor -- We start for Mandalay
    by river-boat up the IRRAWADDY.                              245-250

                             CHAP. XXVI

  The Flotilla Co. -- Bassein-Creek mosquitoes --
    Searchlight fantasies fairy-like scenes on the river by
    night and day -- Up stream on a perfect yacht -- Past
    perfectly lovely villages and scenes -- The Nile nowhere
    -- Mr Fielding Hall -- Riverside delights -- Prome --
    Pagodas -- The Prince comes down the river.                  251-263

                             CHAP. XXVII

  THAYET MYO, 20th Jany. -- It gets cooler -- Thoughts of
    big game -- Watteau trees -- Sweet pea dresses --
    Country scenes -- Popa Mountain -- The Fanes of Pagan --
    A little about shooting and geese -- and the pleasures
    of the river life to end of chapter.                         264-275

                             CHAP. XXVIII

  The shore at Mandalay -- The Queen's (Supayalat) golden
    Kioung or Monastery -- Street scenes -- THE ARRAKAN
    PAGODA, and scenes for a Rubens or Rembrandt -- The
    Mecca of this Eastern Asia -- Burmese women bathing -- A
    Burmese harper -- The Phryne in hunting green kirtle --
    Mingun and the pagoda that was to have been the biggest
    in the world, and the 90-ton bell -- Mr Graham's house
    -- Life on S.S. "Mandalay" at the Mandalay shore -- King
    Thebaw's Palace.                                             276-293

                              CHAP. XXIX

                             Away to Bhamo!

  Off again -- In a cargo steamer up river to the end of the
    Empire this way -- The markets on board and Burmese life
    -- Changing views, flowers, sunlight and swirling river
    -- Fishing -- Geese -- Painting -- Cascades of beautiful
    people, Snipe-shooting, and more fishing.                    294-302

                               CHAP. XXX

  Anchor up -- Mist on the river -- "Stop her" -- Pagodas
    and cane villages -- Fishing with fly; A 35-lber -- The
    Elephant Kedar Camp -- Animal life on the river banks --
    We go aground -- The crew strike work -- We get away
    again -- Kalone to Katha.                                    303-313

                               CHAP. XXXI

  Sunshine and haar -- Children of Cleutha -- Moda -- Girls
    and old ladies of Upper Burmah -- We meet a Punitive
    Expedition, Sikhs and Ghurkas under a Gunner-Officer
    returning from Chin hills to Bhamo -- Fog banks and the
    second Defiles -- Jungle scenery -- Shans and Kachins at
    Sinkan -- We go shopping on an elephant at BHAMO --
    China Street -- A Chinese gentleman's house -- The Joss
    House -- Painting in a Chinese crowd -- Marooned.            314-327

                              CHAP. XXXII

  The D.-C. Bungalow -- Roses, orchids, and "The Mystery."       328-330

                              CHAP. XXXIII

  Many pages, lengthy, descriptive, of an expedition in
    canoes, and on elephant back through pucca jungle to
    shoot snipe, and of our entertainment in the evening at
    the Military Police Fort, with Kachin dances in
    moonlight -- A Review of Kachin native police.               331-342

                              CHAP. XXXIV

  Preparations for our pilgrimage into China -- Our
    servants, ponies, and live stock -- On the Road -- From
    Bhamo to the back parts of China -- The first
    Rest-House.                                                  343-347

                              CHAP. XXXV

  Kalychet -- A mid-day halt and Mahseer fishing -- Views in
    the Kachin Highland Forests -- Rivers -- "Seven bens and
    seven glens" -- Caravans on the track -- The Taiping
    river -- A Spate -- Fishing                                  348-357

                              CHAP. XXXVI

  "On the Water" continued -- Nampoung -- The edge of the
    Empire -- Six to seven thousand feet up, and cold at
    night.                                                       358-362

                              CHAP. XXXVII

  Nampoung river -- A fish in the bag, a cup, and a pipe, by
    the river side -- We wade into China -- Meet the Chinese
    army and wade back -- Another cast in the Taiping -- "G"
    collects many orchids -- From Kalychet to Momouk --
    Riding in the sun in the morning and back to the plains
    alas! A pleasant evening with the Military Police. A
    study of a Kachin beauty, and of an average type of
    Upper Burmese girl -- Good-bye Bhamo -- Paddling down
    the Irrawaddy -- More river-side notes -- A.1. shooting,
    to the writer's mind -- The Luxury of a Cargo Boat of
    the Flotilla Company -- Deep Sea Chanties, and Mandalay
    again.                                                       363-379

                             CHAP. XXXVIII

  We drop from the comfort of the Cargo Steamer to the
    comparative discomfort of the train at Rangoon --
    Another plaguey inspection -- Another joyous embarkation
    on another B.I. Boat -- Calcutta -- Benares and its
    Ghats; after the Golden Beauty of Burmah! -- Street
    scenes and riverside horrors -- A muddle of indecencies
    and religions -- A superior Fakir's portrait --
    333,000,000 gods -- An artist's private deductions --
    _Les Indes sans le British_ -- Delhi and Agra.               380-391

                              CHAP. XXXIX

  India generally speaking, as a preamble to several pages
    about Black Buck shooting.

  The Taj Mahal not described -- Sha Jehans portrait.            392-401




                    LIST OF  ILLUSTRATIONS
                                   BY
                             AUTHOR AND "G."


                              _By Author_

  Ayah and Child                                          _Frontispiece_
  A Glimpse of the North Sea                         _to face page_    4
  Piccadilly Circus, by Night                                          8
  A Spanish Woman                                                     26
  A Cafe, Port Said                                                   44
  Aden, and Fan-sellers                                               58
  Waiting for Carriages after Reception at                            79
      Government House, Bombay
  Lord Minto's Landing in India                                       92
  A Reception in Government House, Bombay.                            98
  Sailing from Elephanta                                             111
  An Indian Tank                                                     151
  A Street Corner, Bangalore                                         171
  Entrance to the Shwey Dagon Pagoda, Rangoon                        237
  H.R.H. Prince and Princess of Wales                                249
      landing at the Boat Club, Rangoon
  A Burmese Harpist                                                  284
  A Priests' Bathing Pool                                            302
  A Chinese Joss House                                               324
  A Kachin Girl                                                      370
  A Girl of Upper Burmah                                             372
  A Fakir at Benares                                                 387
  A Delhi Street Scene                                               390

                           _Illustrations by "G_."

  A Sacred Lake near Rangoon                                         244
  Sunset on the Irrawaddy                                            251
  Mid-day on the Irrawaddy, distant Ruby Mountains                   298




CHAPTER I

[Illustration]

Some time ago I wrote a book about a voyage in a whaler to the far
south, to a white, silent land where the sun shines all day and night
and it is quiet as the grave and beautiful as heaven--when it is not
blowing and black as--the other place! A number of people said they
liked it, and asked me to write again; therefore these notes and
sketches on a Journey to India and Burmah. They may not be so
interesting as notes about Antarctic adventure and jolly old Shell Backs
and South Spainers on a whaler; but one journal ought at least, to be a
contrast to the other. The first, a voyage on a tiny wooden ship with a
menu of salt beef, biscuit, and penguin, to unsailed seas and
uninhabited ice-bound lands; the other, in a floating hotel, with
complicated meals, and crowds of passengers, to a hot land with
innumerable inhabitants.

I trust that the sketches I make on the way will help out my notes when
they are not quite King's-English, and that the notes will help to
explain the sketches if they are not sufficiently academical for the
general reader, and moreover, I fondly believe that any journal written
in the East in these years of grace 1905-6, must catch a little
reflected interest from the historic visit of their Royal Highnesses the
Prince and Princess of Wales to India and Burmah.

Edinburgh is our point of departure; the date 13th Oct. and the hour 10
P.M. All journeys