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the air or water with a microscope. I am afraid the discoveries of the microscope would bring sorrow and shame to thousands of believing souls.

Our first visit was to the famous pagoda which rests upon Rangoon like a crown of gold, its burnished splendor seen from afar. The pagoda is in the center of a park of about two acres, around which are fortifications. These fortifications were defended by the Burmese during their war with the English, and in the event of a sudden outbreak, or a mutiny, or a war, would at once be occupied. During the Burmese wars the

pagoda was always used as a fort, and now, in the event of an alarm, or an invasion, or a mutiny, the troops and people would at once take possession. Ever since that horrible Sunday afternoon in Meerut, when the Sepoys broke out of their barracks, burned every house and butchered every woman and child in the European quarter, all these Asiatic settlements have a place of refuge to which the population can fly. A small guard was on duty as we passed up the ragged steps that led to the pagoda. There was an ascent of seventy-five feet up a series of steps-a gentle and not a tiresome ascent if you looked carefully

and did not stumble among the jagged and crumbling stones. On either side of the way were devotees at prayers, or beggars waiting for their rice, or booths where you could buy false pearls, imitation diamonds, beads, packages of gold-leaf, flowers, and cakes. The trinkets and flowers are given as offerings to Buddha. The gold-leaf is sold for acts of piety. If the devout Buddhist has a little money he lays it out on the pagoda. He buys a package of the gold-leaf and covers with it some dingy spot on the pagoda, and adds his mite to the glory of the temple. No one is so poor that he cannot make some offering. We observed several devout Buddhists at work patching the temple with their gold-foil. On the top of the temple is an umbrella or cap covered with precious stones. This was a royal offering, and was placed here some years since with great pomp.

Interesting, however, as Rangoon has been in its religious aspect, it was even more so as an illustration of the growth of an Asiatic colony under the rule of Great Britain. When Burmah was taken by the British it was believed that the East India. Company would find it a costly and useless acquisition. Now it is one of the most valuable of the colonies, presenting a good field for capital and enterprise. Property is secure; the climate, under the sanitary regulations, as good as in any of the tropics, and labor is very cheap. The rice crop is the largest, reaching nearly 2,500,000 acres. About six-sevenths of the soil under cultivation is given to rice. Then comes tobacco, the betel-nut, and the banana. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to raise wheat, flax, and tea. Petroleum exists, although the New York brand was seen in every village we visited. There are mines of lead, iron, copper, antimony, and tin. But as all the mines yielded in 1877 only $30,000, they must be largely developed; but they add to the resources of the province. For generations there has been a trade in rubies and sapphires, gold and silver, and one of the titles of the king is the "Proprietor of the Mines of the Rubies, Gold, and Silver." These mines are undeveloped, and there is no correct knowledge of their value. The growth of Burmah, and especially the position of Rangoon, as the com

mercial center, made a deep impression upon General Grant, who finds no part of his visit to Asia so interesting as the study of the resources of these countries and the possibilities of advancing American commerce. There is no subject, the General thinks, more worthy of our attention as a nation than the development of this commerce in the East. Practically we have no place in these markets. If our merchandise comes at all, it is in English ships. Americans who come to Asia see the fruits of American

STREET IN RANGOON..

industry and capital, which before they enter the market must pay a tax to England in the shape of freights and the profits of English business. The whole trade is with Great Britain, British India, and the Straits Settlements. The Burmah trade embraced in one year four hundred and fifty-six vessels, while America entered and cleared thirty vessels. England has a virtual monopoly, and especially in calico prints and light silk and gauze goods. In one year this ran up to 30,000,000 yards. Clocks and watches, beads and false pearls, also form a large part of the imports. Machinery, matches, leather, salt, and

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silks are also principal articles. The United States sent direct only forty dollars' worth of provisions. Even the petroleum came under other flags. The exports during the same time. were rice, raw caoutchouc, a little cotton, raw hides, cutch, and jewelry-not an ounce going to the United States. Rice pays an export duty, which seems to be a hardship. Of course the fact that the British government rules Burmah aids largely in the monopoly of the trade. But the ports are as free to American ships as Liverpool and Cardiff. General Grant, speaking of these facts, and of the impression made upon him by British India, said he knew of no point which offered as good an opening for American enterprise as Rangoon. The principal articles of export-rice and hides—are always in demand in the United States. This gives a basis for trade upon which you can rely. The articles which Burmah receives can be manufactured as cheaply in America as in England. There is no reason why in cotton goods we could not surpass England, as we have our own cotton and our own labor. To meet this demand it is necessary to study the Oriental taste-what the natives fancy in the way of color, texture, and decoration. The English manufacturers send to the East for Oriental patterns and reproduce them. Ingenious men sometimes create a market, and there are no people more impressible than the Orientals. Some time ago the king put a new top on the pagoda. The occasion was observed as a fête. An enterprising dealer had a cheap calico handkerchief printed with a cut of the pagoda as it appeared with the new top, and opened his consignment in time for the fête. The result was that all Burmah ran after this handkerchief. Another article that could be imported from America so as to become a constant trade is ice. Ice is made by machinery; but it is poor, dear, and unsatisfactory, and the machinery is always getting out of order. Ice is a necessity in the tropics all the year round. An ice famine is one of the greatest calamities that can befall a European community. If proper houses were built for storing the ice it could be made a steady and profitable trade. Then we have petroleum and that infinite variety of knick-knacks called Yankee

FTER leaving Rangoon we ran across to the little town of Moulmain. Here General Grant and party were received by Colonel Duff, the British Commissioner. There was a guard of honor at the wharf, and a gathering of what appeared to be the whole town. The evening after we arrived there was a dinner given by the Moulmain Volunteer Rifles, a militia organization composed of the merchants of Moulmain and young men in the service of the government. This dinner was given in the mess-room of the company, a little bungalow in the outskirts of the town. The next morning there was a visit to the wood-yards, where teak wood is sawed and sent as an article of commerce into various countries. The teak tree is a feature in the commerce and the industry of the peninsula, and is said to be the most durable timber in Asia. The Javanese name for teak illustrates its character, meaning true, real, genuine. It is only