680 Account of Arakan. [No. 1 1 7. 



for 15 or 20 miles west of that range are independent, and have never 

 submitted to any regular government, neither to that of the Arakan 

 kings, the Burmese, or the British, 



The boundary above described contains about six thousand square 

 miles, of which from 12 to 1500 on the eastern side, are, from the 

 inaccessible nature of the country, under the controul of the moun- 

 tain tribes. 



In Arakan there are three principal rivers ; viz. the Mayu^ the 

 Kola-dan, and the Le-myo ; these all flow in a general north and south 

 direction, at an average distance of 15 or 20 miles apart, the Mayu 

 being to the west, the Kola-dan in the centre, and the Le-myo to the 

 east. Their channels are separated by ranges of hills running in the 

 same general direction of N. and S. ; the principal rocks are sandstone 

 and shale. 



In the upper course of these rivers, or about 150 miles from the 

 sea, the hills are lofty, and so massed together, that the direction of 

 the ranges is not discernible ; but as the rivers descend, the country 

 becomes open ; then ascend a height ; and single ranges of hills are 

 seen, with broad and fertile plains extending from their bases as far 

 as the eye can reach ; the plains, dotted here and there with villages, 

 are intersected by innumerable streams, and the bright-green rice 

 fields, alternate with dark forest tracts. The three rivers for the last 

 20 or 30 miles of their course, are connected together by a vast 

 number of creeks, through which all communication in the delta takes 

 place. The Kola-dan in the lower part of its course is called the 

 Ga-tsha-hha. The diff'erent branches of the Le-myo in its lower 

 course take various names. 



The ancient history of Arakan presents such a tangled web of 

 fiction, that I shall not attempt to give it in detail. I have not had 

 sufficient leisure to study the subject, and my object being merely 

 to give an account of the present state of the country, I shall only 

 refer to its ancient history so far as is necessary to give a general idea 

 of its condition previous to the British conquest, and to shew what 

 race the present inhabitants belong to. The inhabitants are, 



In the Plains. — 1. Ra-khoing-tha. — 2. Ko-ld. — 3. Dom. 



In the Hills. — 1. Khyoung-tha, — 2. Kume or Kwe-me, — 3. Khyeng. 

 — 4. Doing-nuky Mroong, and other tribes. 



