tribute to support the priests and monks who guard the temple.

From Kandy the mountain railway winds upward to a height of six thousand feet above the sea. Soon after leaving the historic town the road passes through dense forests of palm and bamboo, and then come the tea plantations.

The mountain sides have been cleared of jungle and the fields thus gained are set in rows of tea bushes. Brown coolies are at work among the tea plants. Many of these workmen are natives of southern India, coming here every year to work for the great planters, and returning to their humble homes after the harvest

season.

The pearl fisheries of Ceylon form one of its most notable industries. Pearls of large size are classed among the world's most valuable gems, and have always been highly prized. The principal pearl oyster beds of Ceylon are found near the northwest coast of the island. Large numbers of the natives are engaged in the work. The divers, who secure the oysters in which pearls are formed, are trained to their work and become very expert. They can remain under water from sixty to eighty seconds, and during this time collect many shells in the net with which each diver is provided.

CHAPTER X.

INDO-CHINA.

ACROSS the Bay of Bengal is the peninsula of IndoChina. The western portion is Burma, which belongs to England and forms a part of the Indian Empire. It is sometimes called Farther India.

The country is a succession of river valleys bounded by long ranges of hills and mountains. Much of the hilly country is covered with dense forests. Among other rare and useful trees growing in Burma is the teak. Great quantities of teak wood, cut in these forests, are floated down the rivers to the seaboard, there to be shipped to distant ports.

Teak wood is used for building ships and bridges, and for other kinds of work requiring strength and durability. The great river Irrawady, rising among the snowy ranges of Tibet, flows through Burma and enters the sea by a network of channels, forming a great delta. It is navigable by steamers for more than eight hundred miles. During the rainy season this great river presents a grand spectacle. It overflows its banks and floods the valleys far and wide. The whole country from one range of hills to another appears to be a series of great lakes. The fields, roads, and bridges are covered with water from one foot to twelve feet in depth. In the villages cattle are to be seen stabled in the houses, which, like the houses along the rivers in Siam, are always built upon posts high above the river.

The

The people go from house to house in canoes. children sometimes amuse themselves by catching fish on lines let down through holes in the floors.

Although this great overflow causes much inconvenience, there is very little excitement when the river begins to rise, because the people are so accustomed to

it. Besides, they know it is one of their greatest blessings, for upon it depends the success of the rice crop.

The people of Burma are not of the same race as the natives of India. They belong, rather, to the same family as the inhabitants of Tibet and China. The Burmese occupy the rich river valleys, and are, in some respects, superior to the other native tribes.

The hill districts have a scattered population of Karens, who live either in small huts, or in long, low buildings, where, under one roof, from fifty to eighty families are to be found.

The Karens differ in their religious beliefs from all the peoples around them. They believe in one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who at one time. left them on account of their wickedness. Because of this belief, Christianity has been welcomed quite readily by the Karens, and many Christian churches have been established among this rude people. Wherever Christianity has been accepted, great changes for the better have been made in the life of the Karens.

At Rangoon, the principal city, are many large lumber yards, where teak wood is made ready for use. Here elephants are employed in moving the heavy logs. The elephant has almost the entire handling of the logs from the time they are taken from the water, where they have been stored, until they have been cut into thin planks used in shipbuilding. A dozen or more elephants may be employed in the same yard. These intelligent creatures will balance a log on their tusks and, holding it firmly with their trunks, will walk off with it to the sawmill. They will then hold