418 



Captain Hannay' s Route 



[Oct. 



been made on their independence. They are in constant communica- 

 tion with the Khunungs, a wild tribe inhabiting the mountains to the 

 north and east, from whom they procure silver and iron. " The former 

 is found in a mine, said to be situated on the northern side of the 

 mountains, to the north-east of Khanti" All the information Captain 

 Hannay could obtain led him to suppose that this mine was worked 

 by people subject to China, and from the description given, he thinks 

 they are Lamas, or people of Thibet. The part of the Chinese terri- 

 tories north-east of Khanti is known at Hukong by the name of 

 Mungfan*, and the Khantis have no communication with it but through 

 the Khunungs. 



From Meingkhwon, Captain Hannay obtained a view of the hill, 

 near which lie the sources of the Uru river, one of the principal afflu- 

 ents of the Ningthi or Khyendwen: it bore south 35° west from 

 Meingkhwon, and was about 25 miles distant. It is in the vicinity oi 

 this spot that the most celebrated mines of serpentine are situated, 

 and their position is thus described by Captain Hannay. 



" A line drawn from Mogaung'm a direction of N. 55 W. and another 

 from Meingkhwon N. 25 W. will give the position of the serpentine 

 mine district. The Chinese frequently proceed to the mines by water 

 for two days' journey up the Mogaung river, to a village called Kam- 

 mein, at which place a small stream called Engdau-khyoung, falls into 

 the Mogaung river. From thence a road leads along the Engdau- 

 khyoung to a lake several miles in circumference called Engdau-gyi, 

 and to the north of this lake eight or nine miles distant are the ser- 

 pentine mines. The tract of country in which the serpentine is found 

 extending 18 or 20 miles." There is, however, another more direct 

 route from Kam-mien which runs in a north-westerly direction. The 

 whole tract of country is hilly, and several hot and salt springs are re- 

 ported to exist near the Engdau-gyi lake, which is said to cover what 

 ■was once the site of a large Shan town called Tumansye. The natives 

 affirm that it was destroyed by an earthquake, and from the descrip- 

 tion given of a hill in the vicinity, the catastrophe may have been pro- 

 duced by the immediate agency of volcanic action. 



On the 21st of March, Captain Hannay visited the amber mines, 



* In the second volume of Du Halde's " China," p. 385, the Pere Regis thus de- 

 scribes the tribe by which this tract of country is inhabited, and its geographical site : 



" The most powerful among the Tartar Lamas are those called by the Chinese Moong* 

 fan, who possess a wide territory in Tibet, north of Li Kyang-lu-fu, between the rivers 

 Kincha-kyang and Vu-lyangho. This country was ceded to them by Usanghey (whom 

 the Manchews made king of Yunan) to engage them in his interest."— R. B. P. 



