e =  a in “bane.” è =  e in French “père,” without any sound of r following. i =  ee in “feet.” o or ô =  o in “bone.” u =  oo in “fool.” au =  ow in “cow.” ai =  i in “line.” ei =  ei in “vein.” aw =  aw in “law.”

Every letter, except y after g, is sounded separately, including final vowels. Thus, lu-gale is pronounced “loo-ga-lay.” These instructions are crude and unscientific, and may excite the derision of purists. They will enable anyone to pronounce Burmese words with some approach to correctness. In the case of Shan names I have as a rule adopted the Burmese forms rather than the Shan forms in official use, which no one who does not know the language can pretend to pronounce properly.

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Buddha’s Foot (Photograph by A. Leeds)	Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Burmese Houses (Photograph by A. Leeds)	48
Chin-lon (Photograph by E. G. N. Kinch)	58
The Potter (Photograph by E. G. N. Kinch)	64
The My̆o-ôk-gadaw (Photograph by A. Leeds)	64
Snake Pagoda (Photograph by A. Leeds)	70
Burmese Girl Worshipping (Photograph by A. Leeds)	70
When the Floods are Out (Photograph by A. Leeds)	84
The City Wall, Mandalay (Photograph by A. Leeds)	120
Row of Buddhas (Photograph by A. Leeds)	128
Releasing Turtle (Photograph by A. Leeds)	128
A Burmese Family (Photograph by A. Leeds)	162
The Sawbwa of Thibaw (Photograph by London Stereoscopic Company)	174
Monastery with Carving (Photograph by A. Leeds)	184
The Thatha-na-baing (Photograph by Watts and Skeen, Rangoon)	190
A Monastery (Photograph by E. G. N. Kinch)	200
Pagoda at Mone (Photograph by Sir J. G. Scott, K.C.I.E.)	226
The Paungdawu Festival (Photograph by Sir J. G. Scott, K.C.I.E.)	232
Bo Cho and His Sons	260

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ERRATUM.

Page 12, footnote *, for “Admiral,” read “General,” and delete “naval.”

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A CIVIL SERVANT IN BURMA

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY: A RETROSPECT AND SOME COMPARISONS

Burma is a Province of the Indian Empire. It is not, as some suppose, a Crown Colony administered directly under the Colonial Office. Nor is it, as others do vainly talk, a foreign State where Britain is represented by Consuls. It is the largest, yet the least populous, of Indian Provinces, more extensive even than undivided Bengal. The estimated area is over two hundred and thirty thousand square miles,