1839.] Mission to the Court of Siam. 1029 



kanoon and took him with provisions as far as the Meeka-that. There 

 are forty men liable to be called on for the public service, and thirty 

 exempt from youth, age, or other disability. Pra-soo-one receives 60 

 rupees, each of the Thooghees 1 2, anji one or two Key-danghees 6 per 

 annum from government ; the Thooghees and Tsokay are excused the 

 tax. Every Kareen I have asked, and I have asked a great many, 

 have come from the Martaban district, at some period or other, to 

 escape from the Birmans; all the grown men and some of the lads 

 speak Talines fluently. Three of the people ill with fever to-day from 

 the night dews and cold. 



January Wth. — Jungle, small streams, 3h. 20m., nine miles. Left 

 Sa-di-diong's village at 9 a. m. and crossing the stream, proceed till 9h. 

 30m. when we ascend a rather steep hill for eight or ten minutes ; at lOh. 

 20m. lOh. 40m. and 1 1 o'clock cross three small clearings and a village, 

 and three small streams; at llh. 40m., after another ascent, saw to the 

 N. a range of high hills running E. and W., halted here at 12h. 30m. ; 

 road generally good but must be now at some elevation ,• passed at a 

 "call" distance from a lake of two gun-shots long, said to be full of 

 particularly large alligators. 



January 12/^.—Oulaung 3h. 30m., eleven miles, started at 8 a. m. 

 and march along the somewhat level top of a hill for half an 

 hour, with hills (which we can see from this elevation) on all 

 sides, at 8h. 30m. descend for ten minutes, when we enter a narrow 

 valley or rather ravine, along which the path lies in high tree 

 jungle and bamboos; crossing four or five small streams, at 9h. 20m. 

 ravine opens a little, and we pass an old clearing; at lOh. cross the 

 Taung-Kapauny, a stream of about half a leg deep, then march twenty 

 minutes or half an hour in a ravine, in its bed or close to the brink ; at 

 lOh. 50m. pass an old village, and an extensive clearing ; at llh. again 

 enter the ravine, which continues to near this Kareen village of 

 Oulaung, so called from a small mountain torrent of that name, and on 

 the bank of which we are encamped. The path is good at this season, 

 and well frequented ; in the rains it must be soft and muddy in some 

 places, but perfectly passable, and the Kareens say it is used at all 

 seasons. The guides from the first village of Neaung-ben left us at 

 Sa-di-diong, and those from that place left us here ; the inhabitants of 

 this village also speak Talines, and most of them are from the Mar- 

 taban province. The Thooghee is from the old city of Haundro ; the 

 tax is the same as that of Pra-soo-one (to whom they are not sub- 

 ject) but I could get no account of the numbers, the Thooghee says 

 four or five families; but from the extensive clearing, there are proba- 



6 Q 



