LND0-C11INA. 



Above Bhnmu the Trmmttibj fork* off into two head'Otrnamw, tlic 

 My It Guey { M Little River") to the east, and the Myit Gyi ("Great 

 River") t<i tin- west, Ijotli flowing from tho still unexplorr-d region ahont 

 tlio Tihelo-L'hinese frontier. But so great is the volume of water it 

 Bluimo (24* N, lat.) tJint the western branch was long supposed by Klines 

 Hechw, ltf>fx rt Gordon, and others to lie identical with the great Saupo 

 river of Tibet* This important hydrogrnphie. ^upstioii, however, has at 

 La.it been settled hy the Indian pandit known as A. K. T who has shown 

 that the Saiijio cotmot poittilily flow to the Irawaddy, and Mr, J. F. 

 K <f>i thnii i"s still more recent exploration flSSfl) lias identified it beyond aB 



the Irawaitdy is already 00(1 yard* across* so that one or other of them, ns 



lunii Uke, In any ' in :lu! Ir.iwuildy i.i om- of tin- finest streams in tho 

 world, unvigahh- for steamers of rot^tdurahle utae from il« delta in tho 

 *'--u\ i.f M.n i.i'l. in \\>r t.vi r ^iHt ualrs to HhimiM, ui-«r the Chinese frontier. 

 But iii Mint 20 miles higher up it pause* through a dangerous defile, where 

 the stream, suddenly narrowing from 1000 to 150 yard*, main-* with 

 great velocity between sheer rocky walls, and where the whirl |»ools and 

 Vu kwuti r* render all navigation impossible except for very small enift. 

 The Irawaddy has a pro! aide length of 1000 miles, witli a mean discharge 

 of 490,000 cubic feet per second in the delta, rising during the floods to 

 nr-nrlv 2,0<HU'00 ral i ■ ■ feet. 



The SittMjf. which drains an area of over 20,000 square miles in the 

 ojuadrnngular distriet formed hy the IVgii Yoma and Fuughiug Hills, 

 belongs, strictly speaking, to the Irawaddy hasiu* It flows iu exaetly tho 

 same direction as the main stream Ik* ween Bhamd and M ant Inlay, and 

 after a course of some 830 miles unites with it in • common delta. During 

 tho rainy leasou this low-lying watery region present 1 ? on intricate maw of 

 channels and hackwriters stretching round the Gulf of Martaban from Cains 

 Negrais to Muulmniti, and here intermingling with the waters of the 

 S.ilv. in. 



Although containing a mnch smaller volume, the Saltrin has a far 

 longer course than the Irawaddy, It has Won clearly identified with thu 

 Lii-ITinufj (Lutzr-JLiatig), which rises on the Tibetan plnleau, probably 

 about 34 s N. hit. R. long., flowing thence for hundreds or miles in its 

 cbeji and narrow reeky valley between the Irawaddy nnd Alekhong basins 

 tii>t south-east, then due south through eastern Bunnah to its mouth at 

 Maul main on the Gulf of Martaban. Below the Thu ng- Yang confluence, 

 its lower course is obstructed by dangerous rapids, practically barring all 

 navigation for the greater part of the yenr. Henec, notwithstanding 

 its great length ami depth, the Sal win \h of lilth- «w :w. writer high- 

 way. It has a mean discharge of fioiu 3011,000 to 40r>,000 cubic feet per 

 second. 



Tin- }f'-i\tun, or ".Mother of Waters," stands in the same important 

 relation to Sinm that tho Irawaddy does to Bunnah. Throughout the 

 great ur tmrt of its course from tlie Lao uiilaiuls to its mouth at the head of 

 the Gull* of Siarn it its navigable for small craft, while steamers ascend the 

 main channel with (hi 1 tide ox far as Bangkok. 1 Hiring the rains the 

 Jlesntm ttord« its hanks for milefl in ail dirir lions, ever {lu]»o«iiing fresh 

 al hi vial soil, irrigating the rnh paddy fields c«u the surrounding (■hnin-. 

 and affording a lurge ntivignble arri for native craft throughout tlie flooded 

 tracts. The flfdiim-nlary run'trr thus washed dnwn has aln-ady ad vnueed 

 tlie shore- line many miles seawards, olid is still continually eiieronching 



