The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.43

v1.c15.43

The train from Rangoon to Mandalay crosses the broad levels of the delta, passing through endless rice or 'paddy' fields. Only the ears of the grain are lopped off; the straw is burnt as it stands. The Burmans are mostly yeomen, each owning his cattle and doing his own work in the fields. Beyond the delta the railway follows the Sittang river, with hill ranges low on the eastern and western horizons. At Mandalay it comes through to the Irrawaddy again.