1024 Mission to the Court of Siam. [Dec. 



Thaung-kala into the gulf of Siam, and on the western, or (now) 

 British side, by the Zimee and Attran into the gulf of Martaban. The 

 ground is rocky and barren, only a few stunted trees, some bamboos, 

 and long grass ; under a belief that no water was to be found here, 

 we had halted in the afternoon to make our miserable meal, had 

 in consequence been benighted, and tumbled about amongst the sharp, 

 broken, rocky ground near the halting place, where on arrival we found 

 an abundance of good water for a much larger party than ours, which 

 will probably not be dried up for the next two months. 



January 4th — Thaung-kala, 3h. 10m., nine miles. Waited this 

 morning at the three Pagodahs till past nine, when the moon went 

 down, in hopes of getting a distance between the sun and moon, but 

 anxious as I was to do so, I was defeated in my object by a thick fog 

 which rose just before the sun, and continued till after the moon had 

 set. It was impossible to make a day's halt, as the people had already 

 been three days without food, except what they picked up in the jun- 

 gle, and I did not know when I might expect the party despatched for 

 rice, as we passed their previous night's halting place about noon, the 

 day before yesterday. At 9h. 20m. we started, the elephants having 

 gone an hour or so before ; at lOh. 45m. heard some one in apparent dis- 

 tress calling out to the right of the road, and on going to see what was 

 the matter, found a young elephant had taken fright, at some of the 

 people running up behind him, and broken away into the jungle, 

 knocked off his rider, and breaking his howdah and all its fastenings 

 against the branches, had escaped. I sent all the people who could be 

 spared from the other elephants after him, they picked up all his 

 load, consisting of a large carpet (part of the presents) and some mus- 

 kets, but being unable to see him, we left the things in the jungle, and 

 started at lh. 25m., intending to make all haste to the halting place, and 

 send the elephants back to look for their lost companion ; but we lost the 

 road at lh. 50m. and we did not find it again till 3h. 20m., when we 

 continued our march, and crossing two or three runs of water came to 

 this ground, on a beautiful mountain stream about knee-deep, and a 

 stone's throw across, running here south-west, and falling into the gulf 

 of Siam, and were much disappointed at not finding the people with the 

 rice ; the elephants from the thickness of the jungle in one or two places, 

 and from some fallen trees over a ravine in which they had to march, did 

 not arrive till 8 p. m., when it had been quite dark in the jungle for 

 nearly three hours ; they were enabled to find their way (fortunately 

 the path was pretty well marked towards the end of the march) by 

 the mahouts carrying in front immense torches of blazing bamboos in 



