[Illustration: NATIVE HOUSE NEAR THE RIVER.]
The scenery of the river was not much unlike that of the Yang-tse in China, except that it was more tropical, and the foliage and verdure generally were more luxuriant. Wherever there was a forest the trees were large, and overspread with climbing plants and orchids; then for long distances the banks were covered with tall grass that would conceal an elephant walking through it, and for this reason it was called "elephant grass" by the officers of the steamboat. Villages of bamboo were reasonably abundant, some of them large and compactly built, while others were small and straggling. There were plantations of bananas and other tropical fruits, and sometimes they were so large and luxurious as to make a ready explanation of the very low price of these products of the soil in Burmah. If a man does not become weary of the monotony, he can get along very cheaply in this country by living on bananas alone.
The steamer made short stoppages at several villages, and finally rested for an hour or more at a place called Myanaong. This gave Doctor Bronson and the boys an opportunity to go on shore to see what the town contained.
There were crowds of natives in gaudy costumes, and nobody seemed to be actively employed. One man who spoke a little English offered to conduct the party around the place, and his offer was readily accepted. He led the way to a temple or pagoda with a curious arrangement of terraces and peaked roofs that can only be described by a picture. There was a good deal of gilding and yellow paint in the ornamentation of the building, and on the corners of the terraces there were staffs or poles with bells that jingled in the wind. As before stated, the large bells in Burmah have no tongues, and are rung by sticks of timber swung against them, but the small ones that hang on the roofs of the temples are better off. When the breeze is blowing they keep up a perpetual tinkle by no means unpleasant.
The entrance was up a marble staircase at one corner of the lowest terrace, and there was a similar stair at the opposite corner. Each of the entrances was guarded by fierce griffins, like those already described at Rangoon, and the carving was by no means of an ordinary character. The wood-carving on the ornamental parts of the building was generally well done, and the boys spent some time in examining the various designs. They climbed to the top of the edifice and looked down on the roofs of the lower buildings that surrounded it; some of these were the residences of the priests that had charge of the temple, and others were intended as lodging-houses for strangers who came there to worship, and intended to spend several days in the place. The priests were in yellow robes, like those of Bangkok, and their general appearance was much the same. The architecture of the temples, and certain parts of the worship of the Burmese, have no resemblance to the Siamese forms, but the principles of the religions are identical. Buddha is the divinity in the one country as in the other.