1836.] Notes on the Geology, &c. of Maulamyeng . 277 



panied with steatite, a mineral not unfrequently found associated with 

 this clay in other parts of the coast. This range is less wooded than 

 the sandstone to the southward, and has the ferruginous appearance 

 peculiar to the soil. 



Approaching to the village of " Hmeebong," one cannot but b e 

 struck with the singular appearance of the limestone rock on the right 

 bank of the Than-lweng : the limestone appears, as usual, in large 

 isolated masses ; but the form assumed by some of these is remark- 

 ably grotesque, at the same time, that the stratification of the lime- 

 stone is more perceptible at this place than it has hitherto been. The 

 following may be taken as a tolerably correct representation of these 

 rocks, as seen from the neighbourhood of Hmeebong. (See fig. 2.J 



Still ascending the Than-lweng, and passing the island of Colon by 

 either channel, the river becomes more rapid, owing to the rise of its 

 bed and the limestone reefs that cross it for several miles to the north ; 

 the eastern channel is that generally navigated : its left bank is high 

 and precipitous, abounding with the cellular red iron clay so plentiful 

 at Maulamyeng and Kyekmi : from its position, the clay appears to 

 have been transported to its present site at a comparatively recent 

 period, and subsequently to a change in the course of the Than-lweng ; 

 for it not only reposes horizontally upon the limestone rocks, but is 

 found reclining upon a thick stratum of round pebbles and coarse 

 gravel, in every respect similar to that found in the bed of the river at 

 the conclusion of the rainy season*. This conglomerate is perhaps 

 best viewed at an escarpment of the bank a little beyond Chamyah, 

 and the great probability of its containing organic remains merits for 

 it the particular attention of the geologist. 



The limestone rock had been hitherto observed in broken but elevated 

 chains on either bank of the Than-lweng, and with the exception of 

 the few reefs before alluded to, seldom seen to stretch across and 

 disturb the river in its progress to the south : leaving Colon Island 

 and proceeding towards the Yengbieng Kyowng the case is far different ; 

 the country becomes more mountainous, at the same time that the 

 rocks appear distorted and thrown about in the utmost disorder : it 

 seems as if a chasm had been suddenly formed in the mountains, and 

 a passage thus opened to the Than-lweng. Piled upon each other in 

 the utmost confusion, the limestone rocks not only form a wall on 

 either side of the river, narrowing its bed, and thereby adding to the 



* This change of course might have been produced by the sudden deposit of 

 the clay ; and which accumulation and deposit can only be accounted for in 

 the same manner as reasons are assigned for the singular appearance of the 

 limestone rocks. 



