CHAPTER II. 



PHYSICAL GEOLOGY. 



Nearly the whole area of the Northern Shan States is com- 

 position and extent P r i se( i m sheet 4 S. W. of the quarter inch 

 map of the Burma Topographical Survey, lying 

 between Lat. 22° and 23° N., and Long. 96° and 98° E. Along 

 the western edge of the plateau a portion lies in the Mandalay 

 Division, but the rest is occupied by the Native State of Hsipaw 

 with its dependencies Tawng-peng and Mong Long on the north, 

 and Mong Tung on the south, and by North and South Hsenwi. 



Over the greater portion of this area the plateau-like character 

 of the country is well marked. On the west 



The plateau. ... . * , ... _ 



the hills rise boldly from the plains of the 

 Irrawaddy, forming, as seen from Mandalay, an almost unbroken line 

 of jungle- covered scarps extending, as far as the eye can see, from 

 north to south and reaching, in the neighbourhood of Maymyo, that 

 is, in a distance of about 23 miles as the crow flies, an elevation 

 of about 4,000 feet above the sea. It will be noticed, on making the 

 journey between the two places by railway, that the ascent is not 

 altogether abrupt, but proceeds by a series of steps, of which the 

 most conspicuous is that between Zebingyi and Thondaung stations. 

 The more or less level stretches of ground between these various ascents, 

 such as the one on which Zebingyi station stands, are, as will be 

 seen in the sequel, portions of the main plateau that have been let 

 down by a succession of parallel faults, running in a north and 

 south direction. 



Beyond Maymyo, although the word plateau is generally used 

 General features to designate tne aspect of the country, it is 

 by no means a dead level, in fact there is 

 very little really level ground over the whole area. The surface may 

 be more correctly described as undulating, not unlike that of the 

 ' downs ' of Southern Eng'and, with a tendency to the formation of more 

 or less gently sloping expanses of even ground, but seldom actually 

 level for any considerable distance. From Maymyo eastwards the 



