2 Mission to the Court of Siam. [No. 97. 



dignified with the name, have only lately had any territory 

 assigned them, as the province of Dayiek formerly reached from 

 the Pon river, near Takanom, north, to a stream near Camboorie, 

 and form the district of Dwong-ka-dhot, or Moimg-Ontai, east, 

 to the three pagodas on the Tavoy frontier, west. At 12h. 25m. 

 pass a third small stream of water, and at lh. 20m. halt here 

 on the banks of another, in which the water is standing in small 

 pools in the deepest parts of the bed, with an underground 

 current through the sand. We are not more than two miles 

 from Long-tsong stockade, but to allow the elephants to come 

 up with day-light we were obliged to halt here. The path to- 

 day has upon the whole been good for a hill country, and the 

 water scarce, taking the same circumstance into consideration ; 

 but as this is the most precipitous side of the hills the larger 

 portion of the water probably finds its way by the Tenasserim 

 river into the Bay of Bengal. The number of Kareens Who 

 pay tribute through Camboorie, mentioned yesterday, is, as I 

 suppose, exaggerated, Dayiek and Taung-ka-paung being the 

 places ; Mung-keik^s (present chief of the Talines in Siam) father 

 took up his abode on coming over from the Birmans, though 

 the largest number of that people dependant on them have 

 only about 100 each ; Tatakan has only thirty, and Pra-sao-one 

 seventy ; the average of these two would give fifty for the smaller 

 towns, or a total of about 550. Nine Kareens and fifteen 

 Talines are free from tax, as garrison, if I may call them so, 

 of each of the frontier posts along the river, but they have in 

 lieu to furnish guides and provisions to public officers passing 

 through the country. The elephants came up at 6h. 10m. and 

 it was dark before the tent was pitched. 



January 23rd. — 4h. 10m., thirteen miles. Start at 8 a. m., 

 and at 8h. 50m. pass the road leading to Long-tsong, about a mile 

 from the river on which that post is situated ; from hence we 

 had a cart road throughout the rest of the day, the jungle thin, 

 the trees stunted and scanty of foliage, the country sterile or 

 covered with strong rank grass, the sandstone work protruding 

 through the surface at intervals, without other mark of culti- 

 vation or sign of inhabitants, except the good level cart road by 

 which we travelled. 9h. We ^pass the stream of Long-tsong with 



