Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for several reasons. That's quite a pity while these books contains useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible. John William Palmer described in 1856 his own experience and referred to an earlier publication.
p. 94. “In a volume entitled “Two Years in Ava, by an Officer on the Staff of the Quartermaster General's Department” (8vo. London: Murray, 1827), occurs a description of Burmese warboats, which will answer well enough for the present period, and may with propriety be quoted here, for changes in Ava are unfrequent and slow.”
p. 95: “But, speaking of war-boats, the “Officer on the Staff” of the Quartermaster-General’s Department” says: "The Burmese war-boat is formed of the trunk of the magnificent teak-tree, first roughly shaped, and then expanded by means of fire, until it attains sufficient width to admit two people sitting abreast. On this a gunwale, rising a foot above the water, is fixed, and the stem and stern taper to a point, the latter being much higher than the other, and ornamented with fret-work and gilding. On the bow is placed a gun, sometimes of a nine pound calibre, but gene-
p. 96: rally smaller ; and the centre of the boat is occupied by the rowers, varying in number from twenty to a hundred, who in the large boats use the oar, and in the small ones the paddle. “A war-boat in motion is a very pleasing object. The rapidity with which it moves; its lightness and the small surface above the water ; the uniform pulling of the oar falling in cadence with the songs of the boatmen, who, taking the lead from one of their number, join in chorus, and keep time with the dip of the oars; the rich gilding which adorns the boat, and the neat uniform dress (?) of the crew, place it to the eye of a stranger in a curious and interesting point of view, and, in regard to appearance, induce him, when contrasting it with an English boat, to give the former the preference. In point of swiftness, our best man-of-war boats could not compete with them, and of this superiority they generally availed themselves, when an action was impending.” It is difficult to imagine, in spite of the general accuracy of this description, what manner of men these could have been, whose " neat uniform dress" so pleased the officer. No doubt he alludes to " undress" uniform, which by Burmese regulation consists of about a yard of tattooing, half a yard of breech-cloth discretionary, and a foot of the invariable Turkey-red twisted in the hair. I retain a merry recollection of the first warboats I saw at Rangoon, when belligerent messages were beginning to be bandied between the Commodore and the Governor, who, in-
p. 97: spired with Dutch courage, had summoned a flotilla from Prome. One morning thirty of these gilded craft (the Quarter-master’s officer has described them well) came down the river, and approached the town in long-drawn file. Red flags fluttered in the bow and stern of each, spears glittered, and innocent-looking muskets. A thousand paddles, wielded by two thousand vigorous arms, swept the water as one, “falling in cadence” with the monotonous songs of the steersmen. A thousand triumphal gongs were banged as though they were about to sit down to simultaneous dinner at a thousand Burmese Astor Houses. A hundred triumphal dances were executed by a hundred indecent gentlemen in Terpsichorean gymnastics, and the burden of their war-song was something in this sort:
“Burmah-man strong man;
Hum, hum, hah!
Kumpny-man no can;
Hum, hum, hah!
Burmah-man run fast;
Hum, hum, hah!
Kumpny-man come last;
(An innocent compliment).
Hum, hum, hah I”
p. 98”With each “hah!” a vigorous plunge of every paddle into the brine in strictly musical time, and the low, slender craft shot through the water like a feathered shaft, her bow halfhid beneath a pile of foam.
p. 99: Later in the progress of the war, a superb specimen of these war-boats was sent to the Queen. It was discovered by some of our men hauled high and dry in the jungle, on the left bank of the river as we were descending from Prome. Some idea of its dimensions can be formed from the fact that it seated a hundred rowers. The stern was spread out like the tail of a graceful bird; and the sides, above the waterline, were chastely carved in a style of art unapproachable out of Burmah, where skill in wood-carving is the most esteemed and lucrative of the handicrafts. The whole was elaborately gilded within and without, and carved oars were left in their places lashed to pins with thongs of cane, no row-locks being used.”
Source
John Williamson Palmer. The golden Dagon, or, Up and down the Irrawaddi: being passages of adventure in the Burman Empire. New York, 1856.
p. 94. “In a volume entitled “Two Years in Ava, by an Officer on the Staff of the Quartermaster General's Department” (8vo. London: Murray, 1827), occurs a description of Burmese warboats, which will answer well enough for the present period, and may with propriety be quoted here, for changes in Ava are unfrequent and slow.”
p. 95: “But, speaking of war-boats, the “Officer on the Staff” of the Quartermaster-General’s Department” says: "The Burmese war-boat is formed of the trunk of the magnificent teak-tree, first roughly shaped, and then expanded by means of fire, until it attains sufficient width to admit two people sitting abreast. On this a gunwale, rising a foot above the water, is fixed, and the stem and stern taper to a point, the latter being much higher than the other, and ornamented with fret-work and gilding. On the bow is placed a gun, sometimes of a nine pound calibre, but gene-
p. 96: rally smaller ; and the centre of the boat is occupied by the rowers, varying in number from twenty to a hundred, who in the large boats use the oar, and in the small ones the paddle. “A war-boat in motion is a very pleasing object. The rapidity with which it moves; its lightness and the small surface above the water ; the uniform pulling of the oar falling in cadence with the songs of the boatmen, who, taking the lead from one of their number, join in chorus, and keep time with the dip of the oars; the rich gilding which adorns the boat, and the neat uniform dress (?) of the crew, place it to the eye of a stranger in a curious and interesting point of view, and, in regard to appearance, induce him, when contrasting it with an English boat, to give the former the preference. In point of swiftness, our best man-of-war boats could not compete with them, and of this superiority they generally availed themselves, when an action was impending.” It is difficult to imagine, in spite of the general accuracy of this description, what manner of men these could have been, whose " neat uniform dress" so pleased the officer. No doubt he alludes to " undress" uniform, which by Burmese regulation consists of about a yard of tattooing, half a yard of breech-cloth discretionary, and a foot of the invariable Turkey-red twisted in the hair. I retain a merry recollection of the first warboats I saw at Rangoon, when belligerent messages were beginning to be bandied between the Commodore and the Governor, who, in-
p. 97: spired with Dutch courage, had summoned a flotilla from Prome. One morning thirty of these gilded craft (the Quarter-master’s officer has described them well) came down the river, and approached the town in long-drawn file. Red flags fluttered in the bow and stern of each, spears glittered, and innocent-looking muskets. A thousand paddles, wielded by two thousand vigorous arms, swept the water as one, “falling in cadence” with the monotonous songs of the steersmen. A thousand triumphal gongs were banged as though they were about to sit down to simultaneous dinner at a thousand Burmese Astor Houses. A hundred triumphal dances were executed by a hundred indecent gentlemen in Terpsichorean gymnastics, and the burden of their war-song was something in this sort:
“Burmah-man strong man;
Hum, hum, hah!
Kumpny-man no can;
Hum, hum, hah!
Burmah-man run fast;
Hum, hum, hah!
Kumpny-man come last;
(An innocent compliment).
Hum, hum, hah I”
p. 98”With each “hah!” a vigorous plunge of every paddle into the brine in strictly musical time, and the low, slender craft shot through the water like a feathered shaft, her bow halfhid beneath a pile of foam.
p. 99: Later in the progress of the war, a superb specimen of these war-boats was sent to the Queen. It was discovered by some of our men hauled high and dry in the jungle, on the left bank of the river as we were descending from Prome. Some idea of its dimensions can be formed from the fact that it seated a hundred rowers. The stern was spread out like the tail of a graceful bird; and the sides, above the waterline, were chastely carved in a style of art unapproachable out of Burmah, where skill in wood-carving is the most esteemed and lucrative of the handicrafts. The whole was elaborately gilded within and without, and carved oars were left in their places lashed to pins with thongs of cane, no row-locks being used.”
Source
John Williamson Palmer. The golden Dagon, or, Up and down the Irrawaddi: being passages of adventure in the Burman Empire. New York, 1856.
