Englishmen going to Burma are, as a rule, picked men, physically powerful, courageous, energetic, and enterprising; for it is the possession of these qualities which has sent them to the East, either for business or in the service of their country.

And their Burmese companions--of course I speak of a condition of things which is gradually ceasing to exist--are all picked women, selected for the comeliness of their persons and the sweetness of their manners.
After a stay of two or three weeks in Rangoon, I went round by the British India steamer to Calcutta.

Ill fortune awaited me here.

The night after my arrival I was laid down with remittent fever, and a few days later I nearly died.

The reader will, I am sure, pardon me for obtruding this purely personal matter.