846 Report on the Tin of the Province of Mergui. [No. 1 19. 



the line of valleys through which they flow, appears to be in active 

 operation at the present day. Crystals of the peroxide of tin washed 

 down by the rivers, and deposited with sand gravel in their beds, 

 may, by changes of the river's course during the freshes, be quickly 

 covered with a few feet of gravel and soil. The older deposits have, 

 as far as my observation extends at present, the same alluvial 

 character, and it would be well in future operations to have regard 

 to the levels in which the streams may have formerly run. 



The first of these localities which attracted my attention, was the 

 Thengdon river, issuing from the primitive mountains in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of the coal mine on the Great Tenasserim river. 

 I visited this river in the course of my survey of the coal basin, and 

 found pits in great number along its banks, of the existence of which 

 I had been previously informed, though the object for which they 

 had been dug was not known to my informant. On washing some 

 of the gravel from the bottom of one of the pits, a small quantity 

 of tin was found. 



3. A Shan was subsequently sent there, and collected 11,889 grains 

 of tin of the native peroxide in the course of an hour and half. Speci- 

 men No. 1, which is equivalent to 19 ounces and 198 grains of pure 

 tin. 



4. After leaving the vicinity of the coal mine, I proceeded down 

 the river, and was accompanied by the Shan, who had been employed 

 in tin works in the Straits, and to whom several tin streams in the 

 Mergui province were known. These are situated chiefly on the Little 

 Tenasserim river, into which they empty themselves. The first and 

 most accessible is the Thabawlick, which unites with the Thakiet three 

 miles above the junction of the latter with the Little Tenasserim. The 

 mouth of the Thakiet is eleven miles from the town of Tenasserim. 



5. The access to this tin ground is by land in the dry season. 

 Landing at the village of Thakiet, I proceeded on foot eight miles, and 

 reached the Thabawlick, at the point indicated in the accompanying 

 sketch. 



6. The intervening ground is for the most part flat. After passing 

 a marsh of some extent, there is a low ridge of hills, which presents, 

 however, no obstacle to land carriage of any description. The face 

 of the country is, as usual, except in marshy places, thickly covered 



