T i: 



198 



'I 1 K N 



between tin- temperature of the air in tlic day and at 

 night is remarkable, as tin- thermometer is ottcn" found at 

 iM 1 , even iii July. In the dry Mttori the ther- 

 mometer varies between tjO" und HO", and th* WMther is 

 very constant, rain rarely falling, and only in short .showers. 

 The heal i- moderated 'by the sea und land breezes, which 

 blow MTV regularly in tins season. 



a ill.' rainy season Bets in towards the end of 

 April or the beginning of May, and lasts to the month of 

 November. During the ttrst two months the rains are 

 iniHlerate, but from the middle of .lime to the bediming 

 .itcinher they arc heavy, when they again begin to 

 abate, and gradually to diminish. Rain falls also during 

 the dry season, but only in showers, which occur at ill- 

 's from four to six weeks. The greatest heat occurs 

 before the rains, and in Die first two months after they 

 have set in, but it is stated that the average temperature 

 of the six hottest months does not exceed 84. Land and 

 sea breezes are regular during the dry season. At some 

 places iii the interior, which are considerably elevated 

 above the tea, as the table-land of Meta-mio, the climate 

 is some degrees more temperate than near the coast. 



The climate is considered very healthy. This opinion 

 is confirmed by I)r. Heifer, who lived there many years, 

 and who savs that it is the most healthy of all known tropi- 

 cal countries for Europeans; and he supports his opinion by 

 the statement that the lists of mortality kept by the medical 

 gentlemen of the European British corps stationed at Maul- 

 main and its dependencies show that the rate of mortality 

 scarcely ever exceeds and is sometimes less than it would 

 be under similar circumstances in Europe. This is the more 

 remarkable, as many of the adjacent countries, and especi- 

 ally Aracan. which resembles Tenasserim in nearly every 

 respect, have acquired a bad name for their insalubrity. 

 Heifer cannot account satisfactorily for this phenomenon. 

 He finds no other reason than that the country is either 

 part of a narrow peninsula or immediately adjacent to 

 one, and that the extensive seas on both sides produce a 

 constant though not always perceptible current of air. by 

 which the noxious vapours that rise from vegetable matter 

 and other elements of malaria are either destroyed or car- 

 ried away. Even the exposure to the sun is rarely attended 

 by bad effects, and the climate does not produce languor 

 or mental inactivity, which is partly to be attributed to 

 the coolness of the nights. 



Productions. If the value of a country were to be esti- 

 mated by the number of marketable articles exported from 

 it, Tenasserim would certainly be one of the least valuable. 

 For, if a small quantity of nee and some teak timber are 

 excepted, hardly iny article worth mention has been ex- 

 ported from that country up to the last few years. Rut it 

 vies with any country on the globe in the varieties of its 

 natural products, and when cultivated it will export almost 

 every article which belongs to tropical countries. 



Though the greater part of the country has not been ex- 

 plored, it is known to be rich in minerals. Gold is found 

 in some of the rivers, but in small quantities. A silver- 

 mine exist* in the range of the Bo-Thowng, but its value 

 is still doubtful. It has lately been ascertained that there 

 is copper-ore in the north-east portion of Sullivan's Island, 

 and on the island of Calla-gkiank, near Mergni. Tin is (In- 

 only metal which hits ever been worked. The tin-mines 

 are about one day's journey to the east of the town of 

 Tavoy, and in the vicinity of Mergui. But Dr. Heifer, 

 who has explored the southern districts, states that the 

 range of bills which runs north of the I'akchain River is 

 the richest in tin-ores, the grains or crystals being -oine- 

 times of the size of a pigeon s egg, and the layer in which 

 they are found being H or 10 feet thick. Itishi' 

 difficult to work these ores, as the contiguous country is 

 entirely uninhabited. Tin-ore is also found on the banks 

 of the Bokpyn river nnd on Domel Island. The richest 

 deposit* of tin-ore are probably yet unknown. Iron-ore of 

 good quality is found in abundance in the vicinity of 

 Tavoy, and at several other places farther south. t^\< 

 in the districts south i,l the Ttnasserim river. Antimony 

 occurs in the neighbourhood of Maulmain. Extensive 

 coal-measures have been lately discovered in several 

 places on the banks of the Tenasserim river. The coal is 

 generally of good quality, anil the best kind is near the 

 liankx of the river below the last rapids, so that it can be 

 brought to Mergui at moderate expense. Three or four 

 years ago thin mine began to be worked at the expense of 



the East India Company. It is 1 1, ,;:_;, t that the discovery 



of ihi-se coal-measure* will have sum. 



navigation of the (iuli of Mm-. 



laeca. Limestone and marl.: mon in the northern 



distncU. 



Rice constitutes the principal object of cultivation : but 

 it do not appear that irrigation is practised ; and only 

 one crop is tukcii. \\ ; , mtcd al a few places on 



a small scale. Other objects of agriculture are sesamnm. 

 eludes. jams, sweet potatoes, plantains, and melons. The 

 sugar-i-mie, indigo, and tobacco are only grown for home 

 consumption, and also cotton, which is of an inferior kind. 

 It i* thought that these lat articles could be raised 

 great extent if there was a demand for them. Among the 

 trees which are cultivated the most important is the 

 palm, which succeeds well as far north as 15 N. lat. 

 Since the occupation by the British, the natives have lie- 

 gun to cultivate it on an extensive scale, and it will 

 yield a large article of export if the fruits of tins palm 

 should continue to be used in Europe for tanning, in- 1 

 of oak-bark and sumach. Of late years c. nut- 



meg-trees, and clove-trees have been introduced, 

 two thrive well, and promise to remunerate the cultivators, 

 but the success of the dove-trees is still doubtful. The 

 produce of the coffee-trees is compared with t 

 quality of Java. Nearly all the delicious fruits which 

 grow in the Malay I'cniiMila and the Indian Archipelago 

 may be raised in Tenasserim. The durian is found up to 

 Id- \. lat.. and is exported to Rangoon and other p' 

 of Ava. The mangosteen has lately been introduced, and 

 thrives well, but only south of ill" N. lat.; mai. 

 pine-apples, guavas, and oranges also succeed well. In 

 some parts the arnotto(Bixaorellana is raided. Cocoa-nut 

 plantations are rather extensive near the sea, und also the 

 nipah palm (Nipa fmticans). The toddy or palm-wine of 

 the latter contains more saccharine matter than the cane. 

 Nearly the whole of Tenasserini is covered with timber- 

 trees, which are not much used at present; but a 

 countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal are mosth desti- 

 tute of such forests, and the "demand for timber is rapidly- 

 increasing, they will soon be considered as a source of 

 wealth. Extensive forests of teak-trees still exist on the 

 banks of the Attayen, and furnish at present the most im- 

 portant article of export. A small number of junks are 

 annually built by Chinese at Mergui and Tavoy fn.m 

 the Hopea odorata, which is also employed by the Bir- 

 mese in the construction of small craft. The best 

 timber-trees, except the teak, belong to the Hopcas. Vati- 

 cas, and Shoreas; the most numerous are the Di 

 carpeae, which attain nn enormous size, but furnish an 

 inferior wood. All these trees when full grown are from 

 70 to 120 feet in height, rising with a straight trunk -40 or 

 60 feet high, and before they throw out any branches Kiev 

 have a circumference of 10 to 3() feet. In addition to 

 timber, the natural productions which are derived from the 

 forests and plants winch grow wild are numerous. There 

 are various kinds of trees yielding caoutchouc, sticklac, 

 gamboge, sassafras, eajeput-oil, different gum-resins, nut- 

 oil, black varnish, sandal-wood, dammar, several tanning 

 substances, several dyes, aloes, and sapan-vvood. Carda- 

 mnm-plants arc said to be found in the mountains on the 

 eastern boundary, and hemp grows wild on some of the river 

 islands. Large tracts are covered with bamboo-jungle. 

 and bamboo begins to be exported, having been found of 

 a superior quality to that grown in the neighbouring coun- 

 tries. On the Sam-roi-yot range there is an aromatic 

 wood, called by the natives callaine, which is brought 

 down to Mergui, and there shipped for Rangoon. 



Domestic animals are not numerous, with the 

 of buffaloes, which are large. As to wild animals, Heifer 

 observes that as Tenawerim constitutes as it were the 

 bridge by which the continent of Asia is united to the' 

 Indian Archipelago, its aoology possesses several spi 

 peculiar to these two great natural divisions of Southern 

 Asia. The number of species common to Bengal and 

 Hindustan is comparatively small, but in the northern 

 districts of Tenasserim there are many species which are 

 peculiar to the countries east of the Brahmapootra, and 

 even several of Bootan and Nepaul ; and in the southern, 

 others which have hitherto been exclusively found in the 

 Indian Archipelago. 



There arc five different kinds of quadrumana: a sp. 

 of ccrcopithccus belongs to the rarest animals of this class ; 



