1835.] Island of Rambree on the Arracan Coast. 23 



Still following the sea-shore, at the base of a long sandstone 

 range, whose utmost elevation above the plain cannot exceed 

 300 feet, I passed the village of Membraan, the locality of some 

 old Petroleum wells, which I am told no longer afford a sufficient 

 supply of oil to induce the working of them. From Membraan 

 to Kyouprath, the road lay along a beautiful beach, covered with a 

 fine yellow sand and shingle. I observed the prints of tigers' feet 

 in several places on the route, and in this place they were particularly 

 numerous. From the circuits the animals had made on the beach, 

 they would seem to have been sporting with each other by the moon- 

 light ; a thing not unusual with the male and female of the Feline 

 species during the season of love. The ground on the left was higher 

 and more open than it had hitherto been on the road, and covered with 

 a fine green sward. Beyond me was the village of Kyouprath, pret- 

 tily situated on an eminence over the sea-shore, and at no great dis- 

 tance in its rear, the range of sandstone hills, between which and the 

 village I observed a few acres of paddy ground. The hills were in 

 some few places cleared of the forest and underwood, and presented 

 small patches of open ground devoted to the cultivation of cotton. 

 It was near 10 o'clock when I reached Kyouprath, and as my elephants 

 were tired, and it was getting warm, I was not unwilling to make a 

 halt at the place for the remainder of the day. After selecting a spot 

 for the elephants, my next care was to seek quarters for myself ; and 

 for this purpose, I requested the villagers, who had already assembled 

 to have a near view of the Inglee*, to direct me to the house of the 

 Rovagony, or head-man of the village. After my request had been 

 several times repeated, before it was understood, I at length found my- 

 self seated in his house. The Rovagony was at work in the field, but 

 his wife, a cheerful-looking woman, was present, and very kindly gave 

 me a mat to lie down upon, some fire for my cheroot, and a fowl 

 for my curry, on the assurance that full payment should be made for 

 every thing received. I fell asleep upon the mat, and did not rise 

 until the sun was nearly down, when I took a stroll upon the beach, 

 and bathed in the sea. A few blocks of sandstone, and a conglome- 

 rate, consisting of a paste of sandstone, with enclosed nodules of a 

 calcareous earth, lay upon the beach ; some of these rocks had a sco- 

 riaceous appearance, were encrusted with crystals of iron pyrites, and 

 bore evident marks of igneous origin. Returning to the village, I sat 

 down on the green, to witness a wrestling match between two young 

 Mughs. This is a game that they are very fond of, and I have never 

 seen better wrestlers among any race of people. The vigorous frame 

 * Inglee, Englishmen, general term for an European, 



