In the Shadow of the Pagoda

# In the Shadow of the Pagoda: Sketches of Burmese Life and Character

By E. D. Cuming (1893), this illustrated collection comprises two main parts. The first, "In the Shadow of the Pagoda," contains fourteen chapters of ethnographic sketches covering various aspects of Burmese society and customs—the physical landscape, urban demographics of Rangoon, jury service, local superstitions, the Shway Dagone Pagoda, domestic life, the Karen people, and other observations. The second section, "Passages in the Life of a Dacoit," is a serialized narrative following eight episodes in the criminal career of a robber or bandit figure, examining circumstances that lead from victimhood through various crimes to capture. The work blends travel writing, character studies, and adventure narrative, presenting Cuming's account of six-and-a-half years' residence. The author acknowledges drawing some chapters from previously published periodical essays in Land and Water, Cornhill, Macmillan's, and Chambers's.