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Duayn in the wet season is a considerable river, but in tbe 

 dry season its mouth is not more than 200 yards wide. The 

 whole of its course probably exceeds 600 miles. 



From its confluence with the Kyan Duayn the Irawaddi 

 continues, in general, ;t s south-western direction, but with 

 numerous bends on both sides, to the neighbourhood of Sem- 

 beghewn, where it turns to the south, and continues in that 

 direction to the town of Padaong Mew. Hence it runs to 

 the south-east, and after a few miles passes the promontory 

 of Kyaok-ta-ran, and enters the low countries which form 

 its delta. This promontory constitutes the boundary be- 

 tween the antient kingdoms of Ava and Pegu. The popu- 

 lation, which north of it consists principally of Birmans, or 

 Mranmas, is to the south of it almost entirely composed of 

 Talains and Karians. In this part of its course the river 

 sometimes expands to a width of three or four miles, and at 

 other places it narrows to 600 or 800 yards. At the more 

 narrow places it is commonly very rapid, and the navigation 

 is also rendered difficult in the dry season by numerous 

 shoals and a few ledges of rocks which traverse the bed of 

 the stream. 



The valley of the Irawaddi, south of its confluence with 

 the Kyan Duayn, to the town of Melloon (south of 20 N. 

 lat.), is, in its general aspect, hilly, and very uneven, but 

 the hills rise to no great height, at least not near the river, 

 and are in many places separated by tracts of flat country, 

 which in some places are extensive and well cultivated. 

 South of Melloon the hills approach nearer the river, and 

 often form its banks. They are in most places covered with 

 forest-trees of considerable size, among which teak-trees are 

 frequent. Cultivation is confined to the narrow flat tracts, 

 which here and there separate the hills from the river. 



The most remarkable place in this part of the valley of 

 tho Irawaddi is Pughan or Pagham Mew (north of 21 N. 

 lat.), which, according to Birman chronology, was the seat 

 of government for above 1 200 years. It contains the most 

 remarkable and interesting remains of antiquity in th 

 Birrnan dominions. The ruins extend for at least eight 

 miles along the bank of the river, and occupy frequently a 

 depth of three or four miles. In this space the number of 

 temples is quite surprising. They are of all sizes, and in 

 various states of preservation. Some have been restored, 

 and are still used as places of worship ; others are tole- 

 rably complete, though neglected ; but many are mere 

 ruins, and a considerable number are heaps of mouldering 

 brick. 



Farther to the south (about 20 30' N. lat.) the eastern 

 banks of the Irawaddi offer a remarkable natural phe- 

 nomenon, the famous wells of petroleum, which are situated 

 near a village called Re-nan-khyaung, about three miles 

 from the banks of the river. The wells, which are stated 

 to be about 300 in number, occupy altogether a space of 

 about sixteen square miles. The country here is a series of 

 sand-hills and ravines. The hills are either covered with a 

 thin soil, or altogether bare, the trees, which are sparingly 

 scattered over them, not rising beyond twenty feet in height. 

 The pits from which the petroleum is obtained are artificial 

 perpendicular shafts, commonly from 200 to 250 feet deep, 

 the greatest depth not exceeding 300. At the bottom of 

 the pits the liquid seems to boil ; but whether from the 

 emission of gaseous fluids, or simply from the escape of the 

 oil itself from the ground, is not yet determined. The oil 

 is drawn from them by common earthen pots. When taken 

 out of the well it is of a thin, watery consistence, but thickens 

 by keeping, and in cold weather it coagulates. It has a 

 pungent, aromatic odour. Immense quantities of this oil 

 are annually consumed in the Birman empire. It is used 

 for the purpose of burning in lamps, and smearing timber 

 to protect it against insects, especially the white ant, which 

 will not approach it. The quantity exported to Coromandel 

 and the Malay peninsula is trifling. 



The country near the petroleum wells is also remarkable 

 for its petrified wood and its fossil bones. The petrified 

 wood is abundantly scattered over the whole country be- 

 tween Prome and Ava. It is commonly beautifully silici- 

 fied, and displays most delicately the structure and fibres of 

 the living plant. The fossil bones are confined, as it seems, 

 to the neighbourhood of the town of Wesmasut, at no great 

 distance from the petroleum wells. They are imbedded in 

 the sandy hills, and consist principally of the remains of 

 mastodons, alligators, deer, and the rhinoceros. 



The most important place on the Irawaddi, between the 

 mouth of this river and the capital of the Birman empire, is 



Prome (about 18 50' N. lat.), called by the Mohammed- 

 ans Pron, whence the European name derives its origin 

 the Birmans call it Pri (pronounced Pyi). It is a thriving 

 town, and contained in 1827, shortly after the war, upwards 

 of 10,000 inhabitants. This place, or rather one lying 

 about six miles to the east of it, is reported to have been 

 the most antient seat of the Birman government, at an 

 epoch which begins some centuries before the Christian era. 

 The ruins of the antient town consist of a broad, earthen 

 wall, of a quadrangular form, from five to six feet in height. 

 The area contains no relics of antiquity, and is overgrown 

 with trees. 



The promontory of Kyaok-ta-ran, which forms the south- 

 ern extremity of the valley of the Irawaddi, is the eastern 

 extremity of one of the offsets of the Aracan mountains. 

 Nearly opposite to it rises another chain of hills of very 

 moderate elevation, which, however, in its progress to the 

 east increases in height, and forms a range which is visible 

 at a distance of fifty miles and upwards. The higher por- 

 tion of these mountains, called the Galladzet Mountains. 

 extends in an eastern direction probably to the banks of 

 the Setang river. Nothing is known of this range but its 

 geographical position ; nor are we better acquainted with 

 the country extending to the north of this chain up tj the 

 capital of the empire, and occupying the central parts of the 

 southern portion of Birma, between 18 and 22 N. Ut., and 

 the rivers Irawaddi and Saluen. It is supposed to be a 

 country of secondary and tertiary formation, and to consti- 

 tute a kind of uneven table-land of very moderate elevation. 

 As far as our information goes, it has 'in general a very 

 sterile soil, consisting mostly of sand or gravel, and is very 

 thinly inhabited. Perhaps the valleys along the rivers 

 form an exception. The hills, which cover the whole sur- 

 face, and are commonly low, rise to a considerable height in 

 a few places. A conical mountain, called Poupa, several 

 miles to the east of Pughan, is thought to attain an eleva- 

 tion of above 5000 feet. Crawfurd thinks that the ranges 

 visible from Ava to the south-east exceeds the mountains of 

 Aracan in height; and Sangermano states that the Ka- 

 rians, who inhabit the neighbourhood of Tongo or Taunii, 

 have been able to maintain their independence against the 

 Birmans in their mountain-fastnesses ; whence we may 

 infer that this portion of the Birman territories contains ex 

 tensive mountain-ranges. 



The southern portion of the Birman empire is a low, level 

 country, without any hills. It comprehends the Delta of 

 the Irawaddi, and all the extensive tract which spreads from 

 its eastern branch to the banks of the Setang river. Ha- 

 milton estimates the southern line of the Delta at 135, the 

 western at 145, and the eastern at 113 miles. It contains 

 more than 10,000 square miles, and is considerably larger 

 than the Delta of the Nile. The country east of it may 

 extend over a tract of nearly the same area ; and thus this 

 level country contains considerably more than 20, 000 square 

 miles. 



The Irawaddi enters the low lands near 1 8 N. lat., where 

 it throws off a great number of branches of various magni- 

 tudes, watering an immense extent of country, and affording 

 a convenient internal navigation, to which there are few 

 parallels in any country. Many of these branches reunite 

 and divide again. The river falls into the sea by fourteen 

 different channels. The three principal are Bassein, Dalla, 

 and Rangoon, or Syrian. The Bassein river, also called 

 Anank Khiaun, that is, western channel, forms an excellent 

 harbour near the island of Negrais (called by the Birmans 

 Haingri Kyun, and by Sangermano, Negraglia), and is 

 navigable for vessels of considerable burden up to tho town 

 of Bassein ; farther upwards it is only navigated by the river 

 barges, and this navigation extends in the dry season (from 

 November to May) only to Lamena or Lemena. Higher 

 up it is a trifling stream, nearly dry, anil all water con- 

 nexion with the main river is interrupted ; but after the 

 rains it becomes again navigable for the river barges. This 

 channel branches off from the main river south of My- 

 an-aong. 



After having thrown off the Bassein river on the right, the 

 Irawaddi continues to flow in a southern direction, but with 

 numerous windings, and sends off many smaller branches. 

 At nearly the same distance from the sea and the place where 

 the Bassein channel branches off, is the second great branch 

 of the Irawaddi, at the village Yangain-chain-yah, the river 

 hero dividing its waters between the Dallah and Rangoon 

 channels. The Dallah channel forms near tho sea nume- 



