In Farthest Burma

Abstract

CAPT. KINGDON WARD left Myitkyina, the railhead in Upper Burma, in April, 1914, on a journey to the little-known frontier lands around the head streams of the Irrawaddi, with the object of continuing the botanical researches which had previously taken him to Yunnan and the Burmese frontier. His course was by the Nmaihka valley, with a deviation via the Ngawchanghka valley and an ascent of Imaw Bum, to the frontier post at Kawnglu. Thence he passed by Langtao to FortHertz, the outlying British station founded in 1914 in response to Chinese designs on this remote part of Burma. Capt. Ward has much to say about the isolated plain of Hkamti Long, where Fort Hertz lies, and the curious dwindling remnant of the Shans who inhabit this fertile plain hemmed in by the Kachins. The narrative, without being thrilling, has a sustained interest throughout, for the author not only shows considerable descriptive power, but he also avoids boring his readers with the details of camp and trail which loom so large in many travel volumes. What Capt. Ward has to say about the routes on the frontier in relation to Chinese policy deserves careful attention, for he writes with knowledge and authority on this remote and neglected corner of the Empire. The illustrations are excellent, but the two maps are disappointing.

In Farthest Burma.

Capt.

F. Kingdon

Ward

By. Pp. 311. (London: Seeley, Service, and Co., Ltd., 1921.) 25s. net.