﻿24 
  THEOBALD 
  : 
  GEOLOGY 
  OF 
  PEGU. 
  

  

  hills 
  to 
  the 
  eastward, 
  and 
  sloping- 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  swampy 
  basin 
  of 
  the 
  

   Myit-ma-kha, 
  stands 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Mosa, 
  with 
  a 
  flat 
  champagne 
  conn- 
  

   try 
  in 
  front 
  of 
  it, 
  partly 
  swamp, 
  partly 
  paddy-field, 
  and 
  diversified 
  only 
  

   by 
  groves 
  or 
  clumps 
  of 
  Borassus 
  Palm, 
  which 
  thrives 
  wonderfully 
  in 
  this 
  

   district, 
  and 
  is 
  an 
  important 
  source 
  not 
  only 
  of 
  toddy, 
  but 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  

   coarse 
  sugar, 
  or 
  jaggery, 
  for 
  which 
  the 
  district 
  is 
  famous. 
  In 
  front 
  of 
  

   Mosa 
  is 
  a 
  swamp, 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  which 
  discharge 
  into 
  the 
  Naweng, 
  a 
  

   large 
  stream 
  in 
  the 
  rains, 
  with 
  a 
  course 
  about 
  South-west-by-west, 
  and 
  

   falling 
  into 
  the 
  Irrawadi 
  two 
  miles 
  above 
  Prome. 
  Two 
  miles 
  South-east 
  

   of 
  Mosa 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  many 
  small 
  feeders 
  of 
  the 
  swamp 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   Myit-ma-kha 
  rises 
  ; 
  though 
  this 
  feeder 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  any 
  

   regular 
  bed 
  till 
  it 
  issues 
  into 
  the 
  plain 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  below 
  the 
  villages 
  of 
  

   Zyit 
  and 
  Toa-hpangain, 
  situated 
  11 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  Eastward. 
  Looking 
  on 
  

   the 
  map, 
  or 
  even 
  when 
  standing 
  on 
  this 
  flat 
  ground, 
  it 
  seems 
  that 
  very 
  

   little 
  is 
  required 
  to 
  deflect 
  the 
  Naweng 
  into 
  the 
  Myit-ma-kha; 
  and 
  

   one 
  is 
  tempted 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  regard 
  that 
  stream 
  as 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  escape-channel 
  

   for 
  the 
  flood-water 
  of 
  the 
  Naweng, 
  when 
  ponded 
  back 
  by 
  an 
  unusual 
  

   rise 
  in 
  the 
  Irrawadi. 
  From 
  this 
  view 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  step 
  to 
  look 
  

   on 
  the 
  Myit-ma-kha 
  as 
  an 
  old 
  channel 
  of 
  the 
  Irrawadi 
  itself, 
  now 
  cut 
  

   off 
  by 
  an 
  alluvial 
  bar, 
  or 
  shallow 
  opposite 
  Mosa, 
  but 
  formerly 
  an 
  

   occasional 
  channel 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  river. 
  I 
  believe 
  both 
  views 
  to 
  be 
  

   without 
  foundation, 
  and 
  that, 
  flat 
  plain 
  as 
  it 
  seems, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  sufficient 
  

   rise 
  in 
  the 
  general 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  to 
  constitute 
  an 
  actual 
  water- 
  

   shed 
  between 
  the 
  head-waters 
  of 
  the 
  sluggish 
  Myit-ma-kha 
  and 
  the 
  

   eddying 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  Naweng 
  in 
  flood, 
  which 
  sweeps 
  past 
  it 
  but 
  a 
  

   few 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  North. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  far 
  more 
  open 
  question, 
  however, 
  if 
  a 
  

   canal 
  might 
  not 
  be 
  easily 
  cut, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  deflect 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  of 
  the 
  

   Naweng 
  into 
  the 
  Myit-ma-kha, 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  improving 
  this 
  as 
  a 
  

   navigable 
  channel, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  great 
  highway 
  down 
  which 
  all 
  the 
  timber 
  

   from 
  the 
  forests 
  to 
  the 
  Eastward 
  finds 
  its 
  way 
  to 
  Rangoon 
  ; 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  

   an 
  engineering 
  question 
  easily 
  determinable 
  by 
  a 
  few 
  cross-levels 
  from 
  

   one 
  stream 
  to 
  the 
  other. 
  

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