Shans at home . dawn till the sun is high inthe heavens, long lines of people stream in from everypoint of the compass. Shans carry their goods intwo baskets of the same weight, nicely balanced,suspended from each end of a bamboo pole, whichrests on either shoulder. The pole is not at rightangles to the body, but is carried in a slanting posi-tion. If one basket hangs in front of the right breast,the other is behind the left shoulder, and vice the pole is placed across the back, at thetop of the spine, and grasped by both hands. Thisposition is only used for a momentary relief
Shans at home . dawn till the sun is high inthe heavens, long lines of people stream in from everypoint of the compass. Shans carry their goods intwo baskets of the same weight, nicely balanced,suspended from each end of a bamboo pole, whichrests on either shoulder. The pole is not at rightangles to the body, but is carried in a slanting posi-tion. If one basket hangs in front of the right breast,the other is behind the left shoulder, and vice the pole is placed across the back, at thetop of the spine, and grasped by both hands. Thisposition is only used for a momentary relief to theshoulders. On market days the character of a Shan village iscompletely altered; its streets are filled by peopleof strange speech and costume. There are manyKachins, descended from ancestors of Tibetan origin,who come down from their village homes high upin the hills. Nearly all Kachins can speak and under-stand a good deal of Shan; indeed, the people of thedifferent tribes use Shan as a common language. A. KACHINS 133 hill woman may be distinguished at a distance from alowlander, as she carries only one basket; it rests onher back, suspended from a band which crosses thehead immediately above the forehead. Kachin mencarry their baskets in the same manner as dress of the men of both races is alike, thoughKachins often wear turbans of a brilliant scarlet shade—a colour never worn by Shans. Kachin women weavegaily coloured bags of elaborate designs; the patternsare different from those ornamenting Shan cloth,but both races sprinkle their designs with svastikas;indeed, some of the bags are completely covered bythis emblem, repeated again and again. Kachinwomen wear short skirts descending only to the knees;they are of strong, heavy cloth, bright in colour whennew, but dingy when old, owing to the dirt with whichthey become engrained. Kachins seldom wash them-selves ; they work and sleep in garments which arerarely removed until they become so ragged that newones
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Keywords: ., bookauthormilneles, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
