1138 Report on a, Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 132. 



and it must have been by a band of these marauders that the outrage 

 was committed. 



The country round Sembeghewn is an open plain, very fertile and 

 highly cultivated, principally with paddy; and in the neighbourhood 

 of the town are many small gardens planted with plantain, mangoe 

 and other fruit trees. Through the town runs the Cholain river, a 

 stream, which during the rainy season, is of considerable size. 



On the 16th, we marched to Cholain Mew, on a capital road made 

 by the orders of Menderagie Praw; a brick wall about three feet 

 high marked the breadth for a considerable distance, and over every 

 ravine, however small, a bridge has been erected. The country on 

 both sides was laid out in rice fields as far as the eye could reach, and 

 thickly interspersed with inhabited villages ; it is irrigated by means 

 of the Cholain river, which the inhabitants dam up and cause to flow 

 over the adjoining fields. Wells also are to be met with in great abun- 

 dance, and sacred groves with superb kioums* and pagodas, are seen 

 all along the road. 



The suburbs of Cholain Mew had fallen a prey to the flames, as also 

 the city itself, and the only buildings saved from the conflagration 

 were the kioums, and other edifices appropriated to the purposes of 

 religion. This wanton act is said to have been committed without 

 the knowledge of the chieftains, by some of the disorganized bands of 

 the Burman army. Round Cholain Mew, are the remains of a lofty 

 brick wall, and in those places where it has fallen to decay, a capital 

 teak wood stockade was erected at the commencement of the war. 

 The situation of the work is very strong, and on two sides completely 

 defended by large jheels, whence by cutting a small bund, sufficient 

 water might be procured to form a wet ditch round the fortifications. 

 The brick portion of the latter is well worthy of remark, as offering a 

 more perfect specimen of ancient fortification in this country than any 

 other of the forts we have passed. One part of the wall, which seem- 

 ed to have suffered less from the ravages of time than the remainder, 

 particularly attracted my attention. Its outer height was fifty feet, 

 and inside it rose about thirty feet above the level of the town ; and 

 this must be about six feet below the original elevation, the turrets 



* Monasteries. 



