1034 The Mergui Coast-line and Islands. [Dec. 



The innumerable islands fronting this coast, and extending to the 

 distance of 70 miles from it, exhibit a great variety of picturesque and 

 wild scenery, the large ones rising in successive ranges of hills thickly 

 wooded to their tops, with trees of a rich and varied foliage, present a 

 most imposing and pleasing effect, whilst the small rocky ones, or 

 birds' nest islands, with their rugged inaccessible sides, and irregular 

 fantastic outlines, form a most remarkable yet not disagreeable contrast ; 

 the beauty of the whole being very much heightened during the rains by 

 the numerous cascades and waterfalls that are interspersed amongst them. 



Of the large islands forming a portion of the archipelago, those of 

 St. Matthews and King's Island, situated near the two extremes, and 

 remarkable for possessing excellent harbours, have been noticed by Cap- 

 tain Ross, and their locality is described by him : both these islands are 

 mountainous, and of considerable elevation, being nearly 3000 feet 

 high, but rising with a quick ascent from the sea, they present but 

 little surface fit for cultivation. 



Of the other large islands, those which have come more particularly 

 within my observation, and which seem deserving of any notice, are 

 Sellore, Domel, Kesseraing, and Sullivans Island, the Lampee of 

 the Burmese. 



The two first are much the same in general character and feature, 

 as King's Island and St. Matthews, but not so elevated, and inside 

 both of these islands there is good anchorage for vessels, the one 

 under Sellore would be very convenient for communicating with Mergui 

 from the southward, or with Tenasserim by the Thuh-wa. This I have 

 taken the liberty of calling " Auckland" bay. Sellore is about fifteen 

 miles long by two to four in breadth and extends from latitude 1 1° 52' 

 to 12 ?! N. 



Domel is situated more to the westward, between the parallels of 

 11° 25' and 11° 50' N. and is twenty-five miles long by four broad ; and 

 on the eastern side of three moderate-sized islands extending from the 

 north end of it, there is another safe anchorage {Morrison bay) which 

 might be resorted to if necessary, though not quite so convenient for 

 communicating with Mergui. " Kesseraing' and " Lampee" both merit 

 minute examination, which I was not enabled to give them. Off the latter, 

 there is said to be a pearl bank, and the former is spoken of by the Bur- 

 mese in high terms of praise, for the fertility of its soil : they have a tradi- 

 tion amongst them, of its having once been thickly populated, and it is 

 said that there is still to be seen in the interior the ruins of an old town. 

 I had no opportunity of ascertaining the truth of this, and although the 

 face of the island does not corroborate the assertion, there appears sa 





