iG INDIA BEYOND THE GANGES. 



rwafters, xhe Buyaghmahs^^ixe liker to the Arabs in their features, 



and of a darker complexion than the Feguers ; they are much 



addi(5led to commerce, and fo numerous, even in Pegu, as to ex~ 



ceed the natives as ico to i. They tattow themfelves, and by 



rubbing in gunpowder, the marks become. permanent : the men 



are flout made ; they paint their thighs in graceful flouriflies. 



Lower Siam. The lower Sitiju^ part of tlie great kingdom oi Siam^ begins 



Town of j[-j l^^j^ j .o ro'. The town of Mermi ftands on an ifland in the 



JVIergui. ^ -' ^ 



mouth of the iixcx Tenajferim^ in Lat. 12° 12'; it was once a 

 mod flourifliing emporium, till it was, by the tyranny of the go- 

 vernment, almoft totally deferted, and the \\ hole neighborhood 

 became the habitation of wild beafts. Mergui was, at the clofe 

 of the laft century, much frequented by the EngliJJj free mer- 

 chants ; but they were recalled by the Eajl India company. 

 They likewife had a fort here, now in ruins. During the inun- 

 dations, there is a palTage from Mergui to Juthia, or the capital 

 oi Siam, which may at that feafon be performed the greateft part 

 of the way on rafts in three weeks, but in the dry feafon the paf- 

 fage takes twice the time. The river runs feveral leagues due 

 eaft, and after it has pafled the city of TenaJJerim^ turns to the 

 north, and keeps for a vaft length of way towards its origin, 

 which is faid to be in China. The river, and the town of Mergui, 

 were the Daona of Ptolemy^ and the city of Tenajferim the 

 Berobe* 



A GREAT chain of mountains divides the kingdom oi Siam in 

 two ; it begins to the eaft of 'Tenajferinty and pointing north 

 palles through the kingdom of Jva, continues its courfe 

 through China, and probably unites with thofe oiTbibet and even 

 Tartary. 



Mergui, 



