250 Captain Hannay's Route [April, 



than the adventure of the following morning 1 , when Captain Hannay 

 "was awoke by the boatmen calling to the fish to participate in 

 their meal." 



On the 1 st of December the expedition arrived at Tsampaynago, 

 which has been before mentioned as the limit, beyond which, even na- 

 tives of the country are not permitted to proceed without an express 

 order from the Government. The custom-house or thana is on the 

 right bank of the river, and Mule myu which is close to it, con- 

 tains about 800 houses with many very handsome gilded temples. 



The Myothagyi or deputy governor of the town, is also the cus- 

 tom officer, and a tax of 15 ticals per boat is levied on the Chinese 

 coming from Bamo. Old Tsampaynago myo is situated at the mouth 

 of a small river which flows from Mogout and Kyatpen, and falls into 

 the Irawatsi immediately opposite the modern choki of that name. 

 The sites of Mogout and Kyatpen, where some of the finest rubies of the 

 kingdom are obtained, were pointed out to Captain Hannay as lying 

 in a direction N. 80° E. of Tsampaynago, and about 30 or 40 

 miles distant, immediately behind a very conspicuous peak called 

 Shueu Toung, which he estimated at 3,000 feet high. The Madara 

 river, as well as that of Tsampaynago, flows from the same mine- 

 ral distiict which must greatly facilitate communication with it. The 

 inhabitants of the country were unwilling or afraid to communicate any 

 information regarding these secluded spots, and their exact locality is 

 still a subject of conjecture. The mines are described as in a very 

 swampy situation, and surrounded at a trifling distance by lofty hills. 

 The three places at which the gems are principally sought, are 

 Mogout, Kyatpen and Loungthe, and the principal miners are Kathays or 

 Manipuris, with a few Chinese and Shans. The other most celebrat- 

 ed spot is Momeit, the site of which Buchanan found some difficulty 

 in determining, but which Captain Hannay learnt was not more 

 than two or three days' journey, or between 20 or 30 miles north 

 of Mogout and Kyatpen. While at this place Captain Hannay says, 

 " they heard the people who were cutting bambvis in the hills, roll- 

 ing bundles of them dowm the face of the steep. Having made a road 

 by felling the trees, the woodmen allow bundles of 150 and 200 bam- 

 biis to find their way to the bottom, which they do with a noise that 

 is heard at the distance of eight miles. They are then floated down 

 the small river into the Irawadi, but this operation can only be 

 effected during the rains." The party now began to feel the cold 

 excessively, and its severity was greatly heightened by a strong 

 northerly wind, which seldom subsided until the afternoon, and was 

 particularly keen in the narrow passes or kyouk-dwens. 



