1835.] Island of Rambree on the Arracan Coast. 83 



tance, the aspect of an isolated hill. A dense forest, with little variety 

 of shade, covers the mountain from top to bottom. The ground on the 

 summit is said to be level and clear, but it remains uncultivated, as no 

 Mugh will fix his habitation in a spot which not only abounds with 

 wild beasts*, but is, in his opinion, the abode of fairies, and evil spirits, 

 equally destructive with the former. I observed the prints of elephants' 

 and tigers' feet in several places on the road, and from the diminutive 

 size of some of the prints, it was evident that these animals had been 

 accompanied by their young. The guides remarked that a herd of ele- 

 phants may frequently be seen during the evening feeding upon the long 

 grass and underwood at the foot of the mountain. By their account, 

 the elephants were particularly troublesome in the months of October 

 and November, (when the rice crops are becoming ripe,) at which time 

 they descend into the plains and do a great deal of mischief. .Although 

 elephants are continually shot in the Sandoway district for their teeth, no 

 attempt has yet been made to catch or destroy the elephants on Mount 

 Jeeka and its neighbourhood, from the absurd opinion entertained by 

 the inhabitants, that they are not only invulnerable, but are endowed 

 with such superior sagacity as to render all endeavours to ensnare 

 them futile. 



I had hoped to find in Jeeka some departure from what had hitherto 

 been the prevailing character of the formations on this side of the island. 

 The almost impervious nature of the jungle at the base of the moun- 

 tain, and the great danger that I should have incurred in endeavouring 

 to ascend the hill on u quarter hitherto undisturbed by man, obliged 

 me to confine my observations to the ground over which my path lay, 

 and there I could find no one geological feature distinct from what I 

 had already met with. A brown ferruginous sandstone regularly 

 stratified, with an inclination to the south-west, was the only rock visi- 

 ble on the surface ; whether the sandstone appears on the summit of 

 the mountain, or is succeeded by some other rock, I was unable to 

 ascertain ; but so anxious am I to satisfy myself on this point, and to view 

 the Fairy Land above, that I shall take an early opportunity of renew- 

 ing my visit to Jeeka. At a little distance beyond the mountain, and 

 at the foot of a small range bounded by the sea, stratification of the 

 sandstone is beautifully distinct. The several layers rise from under 

 each other for a considerable extent ; exhibiting a similarity of appear- 

 ance with the sandstone that covers the lignite coal of Phooringooe, an 

 island to the east of Combermere Bay. 



* Among these, are the elephant, the tiger, and the bison ; I have in my pos- 

 session a horn of the last mentioned animal, which measures 1$ feet in circum- 

 ference. I only wait for an opportunity to present it to the Society. 

 m 2 



