1837.] 



from Ava to the Frontier of Assam, 



415 



Formerly, the population was entirely Shan, and previous to the in- 

 vasion of Assam by the Burmese, the town of Meinkhwon contained 

 1500 houses, and was governed by the chief of Mogaung. From that 

 period, the exactions of the Burmese officers have led to extensive 

 emigration, and to avoid the oppression to which they were hourly 

 exposed, the Shans have sought an asylum in the remote glens and 

 valleys on the banks of the Khyendwen, and the Singphos among the 

 recesses of the mountains at the eastern extremity of the valley. This 

 state of affairs has led to general anarchy, and feuds are constantly 

 arising between the different tribes, which the quarrel of the Beesa and 

 Dupha Gaums has greatly contributed to exasperate. No circumstance 

 is more likely to check these feuds, and reclaim the scattered popula- 

 tion of the valley, than the establishment of a profitable commercial 

 intercourse with the more equitably governed valley of Assam, with 

 which communication is now becoming more intimate than at any 

 previous period. 



Of the mineral productions of the Hukong valley, enumerated by 

 Captain Hannay, the principal are salt, gold, and amber : the former, 

 he informs us, is procured " both on the north and south sides of the 

 valley, and the waters of the Namlwonkok and Edi rivers are quite 

 brackish from the numerous salt springs in their beds. Gold is found 

 in most of the rivers, both in grains and in pieces the size of a large 

 pea. The rivers which produce it in greatest quantity and of the 

 best quality are the Kapdup and the Namkwiin : the sand of the former 

 is not worked for this mineral, I am told, but large pits are dug on its 

 banks, where the gold is found, as above mentioned. Besides the 

 amber, which is found in the Payen-toung, or amber mine hills, there 

 is another place on the east side of the valley called Kotuh-bhum^ 

 where it exists in great quantities, but I am informed that the spot is 

 considered sacred by the Singphos, who will not allow the amber to 

 be taken away, although it is of an inferior description." Specimens 

 of coal, were also found by Captain Hannay in the beds of the Num- 

 bhyu and Edi rivers ; and he learnt from the natives that, in the Num* 

 tarong, a great quantity of fossil wood was procurable. 



In its relation to Assam and China, the trade of the Hukong valley 

 naturally attracted a share of Captain Hannay's attention, and from 

 his account it appears that " the only traffic of any consequence carried 

 on in this valley is with the amber, which the Singphos sell to a few 

 Chinese, Chinese-Shans, and Chinese Singphos, who find their way 

 here annually. The price of the common or mixed amber is 2| ticals 

 a vis or four rupees per one and a half seer: but the best kind and what 



