MAM. }f ALIA. 457 



and llie vciy first sentence quoted has the true ring about it of the born naturalist : 

 " I'ioneered by him (J. Davis, Escj., Sui)eriutendeut of I'olice, Martaban District), 

 early in October last, I visited tlie haunts of the Thamcn, near ThatOn (a town 

 about forty miles N.W. of Mauhnain), and althougli, owing to the dense nature of 

 the vegetation covering the ]ilains at that time of the year, I was only able to see a 

 few scattered females and young of the second year, yet the insight thus ati'orded into 

 their habits and economy more than repaid us for the severe attack of illness I 

 subsequently incurred, hy exposure to the lieat and wet. 



" This plain of Yengyaing was then, owing to the recent and heavy falls of rain, 

 one large swamp. Xcarly the whole of its unbroken extent, which eraliraces an 

 area of 14 miles in length, with an average breadth of 10, co\il(l be traversc^d in 

 a small canoe, except here and there, where mud and vegetation combined, obliged 

 me to resort to a very unpleasant system of half wading in water, and half sticking 

 in deep slime. A continuation of this plain, broken up by belts of jungle, extends 

 for several hundred miles up the Burmese coast, and has evidently been fornu'd by 

 the gradual retirement of the sea, which at one time doubtless dashed its waves 

 against the llartaban and other continuous ranges of laterito hills. It is now, at 

 Yengyaing, some eiglit to ten miles distant from the hills, and seems to be still 

 retiring, since the water along the coast of this gulf of Martaban is very shallow 

 and studded with sandbanks. For the primary cause of this we may doubtless look 

 to the immense amount of silt deposit brought down by the waters of the Salween, 

 Beeling, Sittang and Kangoon rivers, all of which discharge themselves into the Gulf 

 of Martaban. As the sea retires, a belt of mangrove jungle about a mile in width 

 api)ears to travel with it, thus inclosing the plain with a barrier of vegetation on one 

 side, and the mountains on the other. This strip of mangrove jungle gives cover to 

 numberless hog- deer, tiger, leopard, and pig, but is never entered by the Thamen, 

 except where somewhat open ; nor on the other side do they ever attempt to penetrate 

 into the mountains. The plain is intersected by numerous tidal creeks, which in the 

 hot weather, when deprived of water from the hills, appear to dry up to a great 

 extent, and those still open at that time of year contain no admixture of fresh water, 

 so that it is evident, that for two, if not three, months in the year, the Thamen must 

 be entirely deprived of fresh water, whilst during the rainy season, for six months at 

 least, they may be said to live in water. It appears wonderful how they can manage 

 to exist in such extremes of heat and wet. With the exception of a few stunted 

 trees, and a fringe of hibiscus bushes along the creeks, the plain is covered with 

 nothing but grasses and paddy, of which latter both the wild and cultivated varieties 

 are abundant : owing, however, to the paucity of the population and the consequent 

 demand for labour in this immediate neighbourhood, perhaps only one-fourth of the 

 ■whole area is under cultivation for paddy : this crop succeeds here admirably, and 

 the grain forms one of the staple articles of export from ilaulmain and other JSurraese 

 ports. The remaining three-fourths are covered with the indigenous uncultivated 

 plants which, in seasons of scarcity, are reaped and used for food. This tract of 

 country forms a vast grazing ground both for the Thamen, and for large herds of 

 tame buffaloes which are during the rains pastured here by the Karens, but with- 

 drawn into the heavy jungles near the hills, when, in April and May, the whole 

 of the vegetation on the plain becomes parched up, or is devoured by jungle fires. 

 At the time of my visit vast flocks of waders and other water-birds were arriving 

 from the north, and the creeks were filled with pelicans of several species ; whilst the 

 mud flats absolutely swarmed with stints, sandpipers, egrets, and especially the rosy 

 tantalus. Here and there, stalking gravely amongst the flowering paddy, might bo 

 seen pairs of the Sarus crane {Grus antigone), or a troop of adjutants, both of whicli 

 breed in the neighbourhood. Occasionally the rarer Javanese adjutant was met with, 

 and the Jabiru stork, Mijcteria amtralis. 



"The colour of a full-grown buck is dark brown, especially about the back and 

 neck, with underparts lighter. The females are hornless, and in colour like the 

 female sambar {R. Aristotcli.i), but perhaps a little lighter. The female gestates nearly 

 seven months, and brings forth her young in October and November amidst the jungle 

 paddy, which is then flowering or in seed, and at its greatest height. The doe will 



