Letter from Burma 2

Heinda Mine

Tenasserim

Southern Burma

January 12, 1935

Dear Mums,

I hope all is well with you in Brecon and you aren't too cold. Thank you again for having Rosalind with you for the holidays. I hope she isn't too much for you. We do plan to be back in England next Christmas, probably arriving there about the 22nd of December.

We went the 35 miles into Tavoy this week to buy furniture for Mark's game bungalow. It isn't large but they need beds and a table and chairs and some basic cooking equipment. When they go off into the jungle hunting, it is important to have a base, and it might as well be a comfortable one rather than just a tent.

Tavoy town is made up old wooden and mortar buildings along dusty streets. The parallel streets meet other perpendicular ones forming a grid which makes up a downtown area. The. City Hall building is very old,  built by the British not long after they arrived in 1826.

Crossing the bridge over the Tavoy River, the road branches in a Y shape. To the left and further up will take you to the other remote villages linked via dirt roads. To the south, you come to a village called Long Lone and further down other remote villages and eventually to a small fishing village at the southern tip of the small peninsula. Horse carts are used as public transportation.

As well as the Buddhist temples, there is a mosque in the down town area. There are many Moslem traders and businessmen here. I was told about Friday prayers in the mosque. The khutbah (sermon) was delivered in local dialect with quotes from Koran reminding us to do good deeds and prepare ourselves for the Life Hereafter. The imam said the best of preparation is taqwa (a self-awareness which in a broad sense involves thankfulness and respect for God and his creation.) Next to the masjid is a Moslem-owned coffee-shop. We joined some locals for a cup of laphayet (tea with milk).

Mark hasn't been feeling very well, but I expect it is just overeating and too much work. I'm sure he will be back to his old self very quickly.

We have been seeing a lot of Mack, who is one of Mark's closest friends, and whom he goes hunting with. In answer to your question about whether they hunt elephants, the answer is no. One can get a license to hunt them, and it is illegal to shoot them without a license, but having a tame working elephant here at the mine makes us value them, and we wouldn't want to kill one for the sport. But there are lots of other animals which he hunts, and Mark has several heads and skins on display in his hunting bungalow.

Much love,

Gwenllian