An English Girl's First Impressions Of Burmah

by Beth Ellis

A book described, on its re-release in 1997, as "one of the funniest travel books ever written.” The book was first published in 1899 and describes Beth Ellis' trip to Burma to spend some months with her married sister at a remote 'station', which is probably in present day Maymyo.

Towards the close of my visit to Burmah I was dining one night at a friend's house in Rangoon, when my neighbour ... suddenly turned to me and asked me if it was my intention to write a book. At my prompt reply in the negative he seemed astonished, and asked, what then did I intend to do with my life? ... if, as my questioner clearly intimated, it was the custom for every casual visitor to the Land of Pagodas either to write a book or to 'do something with his life,' my duty seemed clear. I had no desire at all to undertake either of the tasks, but as there was apparently no third course open to me, I decided to choose the safer of the two, and write a book. So far so good, but what to write about? I have considered the merits of unnameable subjects, from the exploits of the old Greek heroes to green Carnations, but each appears to have been appropriated by some earlier author. The only subject which, so far as I can discover, has never hitherto formed the theme of song or story, is Myself, and as that is a subject about which I ought to know more than most folks and which has always appeared to me to be intensely interesting, I have adopted it as the theme of this, my first plunge into Literature.

This is the first in a series of books written between 1820 and 1920 by travellers, explorers, missionaries and officials, on their impressions and records of Burma (presently Myanmar).

Genres: Travel

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Elizabeth Ellis (1874 – 2 August 1913) was a British novelist and travel writer.

Reviews

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beth Ellis had a successful career as an author of historical romances in the early years of the twentieth century, until her tragic death in childbirth in 1913. Her first book, published in 1899, was this charming and humorous account of her travels from England to what was then the Province of Burma in British India and a six-month stay there with relatives. The reader will learn a little bit about Burma, but more about life in a British colonial outpost, in this case, the hill station Remyo, near Mandalay. It's clear Ellis took away fond memories of her time there, as she concludes:

I remember Burmah, too, as a land of picturesque buildings, of rich jewels, exquisite costumes, and beautiful graceful women. A land of kindly hearts, friendly welcomes, and ungrudging hospitality. These are remembered when the last glint of the golden-domed pagoda has faded into the shadowy distance, and we sail away from the peaceful sunshine and the palm trees, westward ho! to this hurrying, bustling modern world, where, though beauty exists, we have not time to appreciate it, and where, like King Midas of old, we would turn all we touch to glittering gold, and forever destroy its charm.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abso-blooming-lutely Marvellous – 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5

This book, the first written by this author, published in 1899, had me smiling as I read the first page so I thought that augured well. A quote at the beginning of chapter 1 is a very apposite one, “I am not naturally a coward, except when I am afraid; at other times I am as brave as a lion.” In real life, she is the former, but in her fertile imagination, she is the latter, and she goes on to give examples, which are hilarious.

Beth is invited to Burmah for the winter, journeys by ship, and by herself. On board are several young male self-proclaimed “experts” on life in Burmah who give her advice as to what one does when confronted by wild animals such as bears, tigers, etc. This innocent listens to it all avidly and tucks it away in her memory in case she should happen to need it! Her observations are keen and what she sees from the ship as they pass countries are well-described, with Gibraltar getting special mention.

Beth eventually arrives safely in Rangoon and spends some time there before travelling by train to Mandalay. Here she is met by her brother-in-law, and after a few days they set out for Remyo (now Pyin U Lwin), a new settlement that in time became a “hill station” for the Anglo-Indians to retreat during the hot summer months. Beth’s descriptions of life in Remyo are absorbing, and her account of how her sister’s servants operate is hilarious (I especially liked how they washed the floors!). Beth and her sister’s pathetic attempt to plant an English garden is very amusing and her discourse on the Casual Visitor is a real hoot.

Her gift for descriptions is superb, especially in the writing of sunsets, sunrises, moonlit nights, where she waxes lyrical and one can clearly see the beauty so described. Beth also gives graphic word pictures of scenery, buildings and people. This extremely witty account of the author’s impressions of her trip to, and stay in, Burmah is delightful and highly entertaining and provided me with a huge amount of enjoyment.

Beautifully and humorously written and edited well, I can recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an account of a young woman’s memorable six month in Burmah in the later 1800s.

Several countries Beth mentions have since changed their names – Burma(h) is now Myanmar, Siam is now Thailand, Ceylon is now Sri Lanka.

PS. Forgot to mention: some formatting problems with digitisation, especially with page numbers, but that is a very minor matter.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book provoked me to laughter several times, despite its obvious age and dated situations.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel narratives by women writers were very rare before the advent of modern travel via airplanes. I can only think of two others from the 19th century, though they were a lot more seasoned than Ellis, having traveled over large parts of the world. The author, by contrast wrote about a six month visit to her sister, whose husband was posted to the hill station Maymyo in colonial Burma. Perhaps more strikingly, she wrote it with great self deprecating humor, making the whole account a lighthearted read compared to most other travel writing of the time. Her travel memoir begins and ends with the long journey between England and Burma, with the final stretch via a very arduous ride over winding mountain roads by horseback. The middle chapters were organized around themes such as the European and local communities, recreational activities and the various creatures, big and small, encountered during her stay. Her deft writing captured the scene and lifestyles of the British in those days, and the very stark contrast with the culture of the locals, whose customs and language were so alien that there was almost zero understanding between the ruler and the ruled. Ellis described the Burmese as if they were all the same person with the same attributes, i.e. racial stereotyping, which was par for the course in those days I suppose.

I read the book with Orwell's 'Burmese Days' firmly in mind, and I could see that the two accounts were very much in agreement in the portrayal of both scenery and people. Of course, Orwell himself had first hand experience as well, which made his writing and characters so convincing. Alas Ellis failed totally in her attempt at documenting her stay with photographs as her attempts at capturing images of Maymyo failed owing to the very crude cameras available at the time. It would have added much to her account of such a bucolic location.