1839.] Mission to the Court of Siam. 1019 



except when here and there, for a short space, some of the numerous 

 wild elephant tracks with which the whole forest is intersected, took 

 the direction we wished to travel. No teak throughout the march. 

 Soil as yesterday firm, and mixed with small stones, but of considerable 

 depth, as seen in the banks of the small streams, of which we crossed 

 three or four in the course of the march. The path, but for the jungle, 

 would have been good, and was dry throughout ; our detention this 

 morning enabled the traders and our people (who went in search of the 

 guide, and who were unsuccessful) to overtake us before we started. 



December 25th. — Meetakut, 7h., fourteen miles. The whole cha- 

 racter of the march and country the same as yesterday, excepting that 

 at 9h. 40m., an hour and a half after leaving the last ground, we found 

 ourselves on the top of a small hill, from which we saw that we were 

 surrounded by low hills, giving an undulating character to the coun- 

 try ; and the latter part of the march has been a little less level than 

 for the last two or three days ; a few of the teak trees of more consider- 

 able size than any we have before seen; crossed during the march 

 five small runs of water, all tributary to the Zimee, and saw in the 

 jungle, marks of all the larger inhabitants of the forest, bison, buffalo, 

 cow, elephant, hog, elk, deer, &c, jungle and pea-fowl, all along the 

 line of our march. 



December 26th. — Meetakut river, lh. 40m., five miles. Were 

 again detained by the straying of one of the elephants in the night, till 

 12h. 45m. Twenty minutes after starting entered the teak forest from 

 which much of the timber in the Maulmain market has hitherto been 

 supplied, and came on a wide and good road by which it has been 

 dragged to the river, partly by main force by the elephants, and partly 

 on trucks. The teak at first scattered wide apart in single trees, 

 becomes a little more numerous as we approach the river; but they 

 still form a very small part of the forest ; the timber larger and finer 

 than we have hitherto seen. At lh. 40m. reach the river, running in a 

 deep bed in rich soil ; though there is a considerable depth of water in 

 many parts of the river, the bottom is so uneven as to prevent the 

 timber being floated down, except in the rains. From this we march in 

 an easterly direction, come again on the river at3h. 10m. when we cross 

 and halt on its banks, being a considerable distance from any other 

 water. We have been fortunate in obtaining a basket and a half of rice 

 from some wood cutters, at three rupees a basket. The Kareens who 

 still accompany us know the road for the next two days; we shall 

 then for one day have, as in the last few days, to take the best direc- 

 tion we can ; when several of the people know the road to Kataintsein, 



