318 MEMOIR OF A SURVEY OF 



till it reaches the lowest range of mountains,* (Lieutenant Burlton 

 could see the range, and supposed it to be about fifty miles distant,) 

 where it falls from a perpendicular height of about one hundred and 

 twenty feet, and forms a large bottomless bay, which is called the Brahma 

 Kund." Above the low range are some high mountains, which are 

 covered with snow, and from the narrowness of the water he imagined, 

 that the source of the Brahmaputra must be there, as it seemed very 

 improbable such a small body of water could run the distance it is repre- 

 sented or supposed to do. 



From what the Natives said respecting the Siri Sirhit,[ or Irawadi, 

 Lieutenant Burlton was inclined to think that that river rises at the 

 same place. 



The impression made by the foregoing account is apparent in the 

 remarks made upon it by the Editor of the Government Gazette. Dis- 

 cussing Rennell's inference of the connexion of the Sanpu and Brahma- 

 putra rivers, he says, " The Sanpu Avhere left by the Chinese is called 

 a very large river, and the name itself Sanpu, is said to imply the river par 

 excellence. How happens it then upon entering Asam to have lost all 

 claim to such a character, and to be little more than a hill torrent, with only 

 three or four feet water in its greatest depth." Had Lieutenant Burlton 

 added an account of the discharge of the river, according to the sections 

 he took below the Buri Dihong mouth, and near Sadiya, this idea of the 

 character of the river could never have been formed. For the quantity of 

 water discharged per second in the former place, was found to be 86,727 



* It is hardly necessary to observe, that Lieut. Burlton means from the East, or from the 

 lowest range of mountains westerly. 



f It was so printed, but Lieut. Burlton must have printed and probably wrote the Seeree 

 Lohit, or Sri Lohit. 



