1836.] lying north of the Tenasserim Provinces. 609 



" 9. 30 a. m. Marched through a beautiful forest of teak and thenghan trees, 

 on both banks of the river, which we crossed no less than nineteen times, occa- 

 sionally following a path, more frequently without any, and the river in many 

 places just fordable by the elephants ; the whole of the baggage and most of the 

 people were conveyed either on the elephants or on the bamboo rafts.— 3 p. m. 

 Halted on the east bank of the Moy-Gnow, having crossed one or two trifling 

 hills in the course of the day, but the march was on the whole a slight descent, 

 as we followed the course of the stream through the hills towards its mouth ; 

 the country was entirely uncultivated, and destitute of any sign of inhabitants. 

 The wild elephants are much more scarce on this than on the western side of 

 the Moy-Gnow, and even there much less numerous than on the British side of 

 the Thaung-Ein. Tigers, deer, wild cows, &c. &c. are, however, numerous here. 

 The Shans march without tents or coverings of any desoription, and make little 

 huts of branches after each march in the same manner as the Burmese. 



" 2%th. Direction North, 30 West. Time, 4 hours, 15 minutes ; distance, 

 12 miles. 



"11 a. m. Crossed the river ten times, and proceeded along the banks 

 through a country of the same character as yesterday, with scarcely a sign of a 

 path, and learned that this road is never travelled except by the chiefs when 

 collecting the tribute from the Careens, who, in the neighbourhood, are tributary 

 to Ponya 29 or Benya-tche, the principal of the four little chiefs who came to 

 meet me. — 3. 15. Halted on the east bank of the rivei, about the same width 

 as when we first came on its bank. 



" 29th. Direction North, 25 West. Time, 2 hours ; distance, G miles. 

 " 9 a. m. Continued our march along the banks of the Moy-Gnow till about 

 10 a. si. when we left it to the westward, and, crossing a rather steep hill, came 

 at 1 1 o'clock on the banks of the Mein-lun-ghe.e (running to the southward ; wide 



about 120 feet) a short way above where it is joined by the Moy-Gnow. 11 



a. m. Crossed and halted. Saw numerous marks of elephants, deer, elk, and hog, 

 in a soft part of the jungle to-day : the Shans say that they all eat that sort of 

 mud, a kind of black stiff (probably saline) loam or rather clay ; — killed a small 

 animal to-day called by the Burmans Poe 30 , and of which I do not recollect to 

 have seen any description. The head is large and round, like an otter ; the cut- 

 ting teeth like a rat, and feet slightly webbed, somewhat resembling in appearance, 

 though inferior in strength, to the moles. The fur exactly like that animal, but 

 larger in the staple, and, I think, even finer — it is little larger than a common 

 English mole, and burrows with great rapidity. There are two kinds of the same 

 animal ; the other differs in being much larger, and the hair coarse and harsh, 

 like the bandicoot. I regret that the specimens I obtained were both lost. 

 " 30th. Direction North, 30 West. Time, 4 hours ; distance, 12 miles. 

 " 10. 20. Continued to march along the Mein-lun-ghee in the same way as we 

 had done along the Moy-Gnow. Crossed twelve times to-day. Its average breadth 

 130 or 140 feet, and depth about six feet. Its course continues amongst the 

 hills, which are covered with teak and that-tse trees, as those of the Moy-Gnow.^ 

 At 2. 20 halted on the western bank of the river in a small patch of paddy 

 in a plain of few miles extent; the first lowland paddy we have seen since leav- 

 ing the Thahveen, and the first of any cultivation since joined by the Shans. 



"31s/. Direction North, 20 West. Time, 4 hours, 10 minutes ; distance, 

 12 miles. 



4 K 



