1836.] Notes on the Geology, &c. of Maulamyeng. 269 



IV. — Notes on the Geology, fyc. of the Country in the Neighbourhood of 



Maulamyeng (vulg. Moulmein). By Capt. W. Foley. 



[Submitted at the meeting of the 6th May.] 



The town of Maulamyeng is situated on the left bank of the Martaban 

 river, the channel by which the Than-lweng, Gyeng, and Attayen dis- 

 charge themselves into the sea. Properly speaking, Maulamyeng 

 may be said to mark the junction of these three rivers, as the N. E. 

 extremity of the town approaches to within a very short distance of 

 the confluence of the Attayen with the Gyeng and Than-lweng ; it 

 would also be more in accordance with usage, if in the room of " Mar- 

 taban river" (the name by which it has been hitherto known to the 

 British,) the designation of " Than-lweng river" was given to the 

 channel above-mentioned ; the Than-lweng , being the largest of the 

 three rivers, is entitled to the pre-eminence of holding an uninter- 

 rupted course to the Gulf of Martaban. 



Immediately opposite to Maulamyeng, and separated from it by the 

 Martaban river, (in this place about \\ mile wide,) are the northern 

 end of Phullughewn Island and the town of Mowtumma, backed by a 

 bold and interesting chain of mountains ; to the north are the Than- 

 lweng river and Joe-ka-beng range of limestone ; while on the eastern 

 and southern sides, the town and cantonment of Maulamyeng are 

 bounded by the Attayen river, and a long line of sandstone hills, a 

 continuation of the Mowtumma chain, which, leaving a passage for 

 the river, re-appears at the Kyeit-san-lan Phyd*, and is seen taking 

 its course to the south to the right of Gnang-dey and Gneedone. 



The general aspect of the country is mountainous, the mountains 

 taking a N. N. W. and S. S. E. directionf. The most conspicuous 

 of these, from its superior elevation, is the Zingyet Thowng, situated to 

 the N. W. of Mowtumma ; it attains an elevation of 3000 feet above 

 the level of the plain, and is seen at a considerable distance by vessels 

 approaching the coast ; as might have been expected, the Gulf of 

 Martaban, with the country in the neighbourhood of the Sitang river, 

 were visible from a pagoda placed upon a pinnacle of the mountain, and 

 to which I had ascended on a clear day. Great labour has been 

 expended on this quarter of the Zingyet Thowng, with the view of 

 making it more attractive, and rendering the ascent less irksome, than 

 it would naturally have been from the precipitous nature of the rock : 

 steps have been cut into the mountain, and the several projections 



* Maulamyeng pagoda. 



f The direction is exceedingly variable ; it is sometimes N. W. and S. E., 

 making a corresponding difference in the inclination of the strata. 



