■)2 Dr. Hamilton's Account of the Frontier between 



this he makes small holes, at irregular distances ; but in ge- 

 neral about a foot from each other. Into each of these holes 

 he with his other hand drops a few seeds, taken from the 

 basket as chance directs, and leaves the farther rearing of 

 the crop to nature ; only he resides near, in a temporary hut, 

 to drive away destructive animals, and to reap the crop as 

 each kind ripens. Next year, in general, the cultivator se- 

 lects another spot covered with wood ; for in such a rude 

 cultivation, the ashes are a manure necessary to render. the 

 soil productive, except in a few places peculiarly rich that 

 bear a second crop. When the wood on a former joom has 

 grown to a proper size, the cultivator again returns to it ; 

 and then there being tew large trees standing, the opera- 

 tion of cutting is easier, and the ground is more perfectly 

 cleared. 



In this state of society, no tribe, whatever extent it may 

 occupy, can make any considerable progress in the arts either 

 of peace or war ; and accordingly the Tripuras, subject to 

 Radun Manik, are useless but harmless neighbours, along a 

 frontier of about a degree and a half of latitude, and in a 

 political sense are altogether insignificant. 



The distance in a direct line east from Komila to the frontier 

 of Ava Proper, near the river Khiaenduaen, is rather more 

 than 200 geographical miles. The Tripura tribe reach with- 

 in a few miles of Komila, and extend about thirty miles to 

 the eastward, while Taunduaen, the capital of the Aengiin 

 subject to Ava, {Phil. Joum. iv. 83, vii. 232.) the nearest 

 part of this kingdom, is from twenty to thirty miles in a di- 

 rect line west from the Khiaenduaen. As the territory of the 

 Aengiin may reach twenty or thirty miles farther west than 

 its capital, there is great reason to think that the space in- 

 tervening between the Aengiin and the Tripura nation, will 

 be somewhat above 100 geographical miles in width. No 

 inquiries that I made either in Ava or Bengal, enabled me 

 to ascertain that there was any passage entirely through this 

 space. There perhaps intervenes a mountainous barrier, that 

 has not been overcome, owing probably more to its rugged- 

 ness than to its great elevation ; for mountains of an Alpine 

 height are not visible from either side, which thev could not 



