5V2 Surgeon N. Manders' catdloiiiKt of the 



Shan States are essentially a hilly, or rather a moun- 

 tainous, country ; the usual trend of the hills being north 

 and south, being the continuation southwards of the 

 mountains of Junan. Four ranges of hills at least 

 separate the plains of Burma from the Salwin Eiver, 

 having an average altitude from 4000 to 6000 ft. Many 

 individual peaks rise to a much higher altitude, the 

 highest I individually ascended being just under 10,000 ft., 

 and some of the passes the troops crossed were over 

 6000 ft. in height. They are mostly composed of lime- 

 stone and conglomerate, supporting a heavy forest, 

 which, in the more inhabited parts of the country, is 

 extensively burned by the Shans every cold weather, 

 in order to secure a good crop of grass for the bullocks, 

 which are universally used for carriage. At this time 

 of the year long lines of fire extending from base to 

 summit of the hills may be seen advancing, now slowly, 

 now rapidly, with the wind ; affording a magnificent 

 spectacle at night, but limiting one's collecting rambles 

 to the neighbourhood of the streams and moister jungles, 

 which the fire is unable to reach. The toungya, or hill- 

 cultivation, carried on by the hill-tribes is infinitely less 

 injurious to the naturalist, as the trees on the space 

 intended for cultivation are simply cut down and burned, 

 the damage extending to a few acres instead of over 

 several miles, as in the former case. 



The intervening valleys lie at altitudes all considerably 

 higher than the Burma plains, the lowest— that of Mone 

 — being 800 ft., and that of Nyoungwe, in which is 

 situated the Eulay Lake, 3000 ft. Lying north of the 

 Mone Valley is that of Legya, which is perfectly flat and 

 encircled by hills ; and it does not require an examina- 

 tion of the fresh-water shells, which lie within a few 

 inches of the surface of the ground, to be convinced that 

 this once was the bottom of a sheet of water. The Mone 

 Valley has the representative of the former lake, which 

 probably filled the whole valley, in two very much 

 smaller ones connected by a marsh, which extends some 

 considerable distance round them. 



On the other hand, though the northern end of the 

 Nyoungwe Valley is now dry land, the southern end is 

 an extensive lake, sixteen miles long by seven broad, 

 which once extended up the whole valley. That this 

 was so is proved both by geological evidence and also by 

 tradition. 



