An English resident recounts four years in Upper Burma, narrating travel to major towns and the transition to British administration while describing military pacification and the influence exerted in the Shan states. He surveys religious life and Buddhist institutions, daily customs, family and village life, and the material resources and mineral wealth of the region. Social issues such as liquor and opium use, the condition of frontier mountain peoples, and missionary work, including schools, hospital care, and a home for lepers, are examined alongside reflections on governance and the challenges of cultural change.