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



were erected here by Captain (now Lieut.-Colonel) Macleod, to 

 mark the boundary between the British and the Siamese posses- 

 sions, and which the latter people have now decorated with flags, 

 &c, as places of worship ; and after taking an observation started 

 at 1 p. m. 



Thoonzoo, 15° 19' 9" N. Lat. and 98° 27' 30" E. Long.; Ther. 

 88° at noon. 



Height by Aneroid above Moulmein 701 feet. 



The remainder of our march to-day was the worst we have expe- 

 rienced. Course N. E. by E. and at about two miles entering the 

 district of Kyouk K'houng (Shan States). I rode an elephant. 

 The path lay up and along a prodigiously steep hill, and it was 

 most nervous work proceeding along the face of it, for the track 

 was just the breadth of the animal's foot and no more, and a slip 

 would have been annihilation : but these elephants never do slip — ■ 

 nobody can recollect such an accident having happened, and one 

 speedily gets to feel at ease on places which would make a stranger 

 shudder. After descending this hill, we proceeded along a muddy 

 quaggy nulla, in a deep dark gorge, which was, I think, the worst 

 part of the trip. The unfortunate elephants sunk at nearly every 

 step to their shoulders, and wrenched their bulky bodies out of the 

 tenacious mud and quicksands with wonderful strength and perse- 

 verance. To add to our comforts, we were by and bye all brought 

 up in an inextricable mob by the barricade, for the Karens who had 

 preceded and headed our column, not daring to break it down had 

 waited for our coming up. As evening was approaching and we had 

 a good deal more of the vile quagmire to pass, no time was to be 

 lost, and I commenced yelling at the people to demolish the barrier : 

 but not a soul would attempt it, till I had struggled and squeezed 

 through to the front, where my own Chuprassies and people cleared 

 the obstacle away, and handed me a gubernatorial edict which was 

 discovered suspended over the abbatis " banning and barring" fur- 

 ther progress. Beyond this spot we had about two miles more of 

 the boggy stream, in a dense ratan jungle between steep thickly 

 wooded hills, and at length at 5 p. m. we emerged into a pretty 

 cleared spot, shaded by fine timber, in which lay the village of 

 "Weytamaryng. 



