246 Captain Hannays Route [April, 



tant from the meridian on which the labors of the Jesuit Mission- 

 aries in Yunan had been abruptly terminated, the intervening space, 

 and great valley of the Irawadi still remained closed against them, 

 and every attempt to enter either, from Assam or Mam'pur, was 

 defeated by the jealous vigilance of the Burmese authorities. 



It is generally known that the course of the lower portion of the 

 Irawadi river, or that part extending from Rangtin to Ava, had been 

 delineated by Lieut. Wood of the Engineers, who accompanied Cap- 

 tain Symes on his embassy to that Court ; and that the features of 

 the surrounding country, the size of the towns, its natural produc- 

 tions and population, had at the same time been investigated by the 

 accurate Buchanan. Charts of this portion of the river, extending 

 to Monchabu, the capital of the great Alompra, had at a far earlier 

 period been constructed, but the surveys were avowedly made in a 

 manner not calculated to inspire much confidence in their accuracv ; 

 and the attention of Europe was first extensively drawn to this field 

 of inquiry by the publication of Symes, whose exaggerated views of 

 the civilization, power and resources of the Burmese empire were 

 generally adopted, while the more accurate estimates of his successor 

 Coxe were treated with comparative disregard. 



In the very infancy of our intercourse with the Burman empire, 

 and when the most persevering attempts were made to obtain settle- 

 ments at various points of the coast, the more remote stations on the 

 upper portion of the Irawadi river were not forgotten ; and Bamu 

 or Bamo was even then known as the emporium of a trade between 

 the Burmese and Chinese, in which our aspiring merchants were 

 most anxious to share. It is asserted that, at the commencement of 

 the 17 th century, factories were established in that neighborhood, 

 but the permission to remain was shortly afterwards withdrawn, and 

 the information which it is supposed was then obtained of the sur- 

 rounding country has never been rescued from oblivion : — this is the 

 less to be regretted as the loss has been fully compensated by the 

 results of recent research ; and the journey of Captain Hannay, of 

 the 40th Regiment Native Infantry, from Ava up the Irawadi river, 

 to the frontier towns of Bamo and Mogaung, has at length rendered 

 this hitherto inaccessible region almost as well known to us as the 

 more southern districts, through which this noble river directs its 

 course. Many geographical points of extreme interest have been 

 determined by the personal observation and inquiries of this merito- 

 rious officer. Bamo has for the first time become accurately known 

 from the same source — much valuable information has been gained 



