Page:Walter Matthew Gallichan - Women under Polygamy (1914).djvu/137

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CHAPTER XI

MARRIAGE IN BURMA

Almost all of the writers upon Burma describe with enthusiasm the spell and the glamour of this beautiful country. We hear from visitors glowing reports of the happiness of the people, the delightful home life, and the attractive and amiable qualities of Burmese women.

Burma, with its flourishing capital Rangoon, is the largest province of India, and one of the most prosperous. The increasing population points to the comfort of the people and the vigour of the Indo-Chinese stock from which they descend. Quite ninety per cent of the natives are Buddhists. The system of education is better than that of most other parts of India, and, in the Western sense, the people are more progressive.

Polygamy is permitted in Burma; but the practice is not common, being confined almost entirely to a few upper-class families. Nevertheless, the tradition re-

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