432 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5. 



February Will. — Left at 6h. 45m. a. m. Course S. E. by S. 

 distance eight miles to Poonkhau. Latitude 15° 32' 58" N. ; Lon- 

 gitude 9S° 20' E. It is a picturesque little clearing with one 

 or two houses on the junction of the Kyoon and Meetaget. Here 

 we had breakfast, and after taking a meridian observation left at 

 25m. p. m. and reached Meetabivee at 2h. 45m. Distance about 

 seven miles S. S. E. The march lay through a dense forest and 

 along the roots and spurs of a chain of limestone rocks which ran 

 along to our Eastward in a vast wall, with a fantastic castellated 

 ridge, shooting up to 2,000 and 2,500 feet. This is part of the great 

 barrier between the Zummee and Houngthrau, which I have already 

 alluded to. But it is only during this march that it comes skirting 

 the road so near, and shows itself in its vast proportions. We en- 

 camped in a most romantic dell, close to the rocks. At night I 

 heard singularly wild and to me new cries from the direction of the 

 latter : but strange to say, nothing of interest in Zoology has yet 

 been met with, except perhaps to-day, when we captured a most 

 beautiful snake which had climbed up a bush. It was black, banded 

 with zigzags of bright vermillion, with drops in the interspaces of 

 pure white. It was harmless, having teeth along the maxillary or 

 upper jaw bones. 



February 12th. — Left at 6h. 40m. a. m. We have descended sen- 

 sibly and left the dry stony jungle for a rich moist soil, the nullahs 

 (small streams) we cross being muddy and boggy. Our course was 

 S. S. E. and Southerly, through profound forests, in some places 

 dark with shade : and always looming over our heads to our left 

 hand (Eastward) the monstrous rocks ran along like an enormous 

 wall. Here and there near swampy places the ground was thickly 

 marked with the traces of deer and pigs ; and peafowl were calling 

 all around, but we could see nothing worth shooting ! At lOh. 

 15m. reached Kroontau, a spot at the junction of a stream of that 

 name with the Meykatha — which comes tumbling in from the East- 

 ward through an interruption or gorge in the limestone wall. The 

 Zummee here therefore ceases, according to the Karens : but in 

 truth the Kroontau is nothing but the Zummee followed higher up. 



Took Observation at Kroontau— Latitude 15° 22' 49" JST. and 

 Longitude 98° 20' 30'' E. — and proceeded on our journey. Course 



