B8 Dr Hamilton on a Map (^tfie ^oute between 
Tchoiidsong. The former, which is by far the largest, Major 
Ilennell, our illustrious geographer, conjectured to be the ri- 
ver of Arakan; but I am confident, that in this he was mista- 
ken, for all the native authorities agree in stating, that no great 
river falls into those salt-water channels, on one of which the ci- 
ty of Arakan stands, and that the largest stream joining these 
has its source south from the country of Kasi Cassay or Meck- 
ley. Mr Arrow smith, therefore, in compiling the map of Asia, 
conjectured, with doubt however, the Kempou to be the same 
with tlie Khimndusen, or western branch of the Erawadi, and 
has thus been reduced to the necessity of representing the river 
of Tchoudsong as the great or eastern branch of the Erawadi, 
while the Kenpou and Loukiang, two very inferior streams, 
have much longer courses ; and I have strong reason to sup- 
pose, that the Kenpou receives a portion of the Brahmaputra, 
very much increasing its size, although the greater portion, no 
doubt, runs through Asam to Bengal. Such anastomoses of 
great rivers have been doubted by geographers ; but the exis- 
tence of the Casiquiari, connecting the Orinoco and Amazons, 
seems to be now fully established. I do not, therefore, think 
the conjecture of Mr Arrowsmith well founded, as it would re- 
quire the western branch of Erawadi to be larger than the 
eastern, which is not the case. 
On this point two hypotheses may be formed. The one 
which I adopted, when I delivered the geographical materials 
to the Governor-General, was as follows. I thought it highly 
probable, owing to the death of the P. Bonjour, who was em- 
ployed to survey Yunnan, and the sickness of his companion 
the P. Fridelli, (Duhalde, folio edition, tome i. preface, p. 35.), 
and this while they were on the frontier of Ava, that some 
mistake had crept into the map of the western part of the 
province of Yunnan, and that the P. Kegis, who formed 
the materials into a map, finding the large river Naukiang 
coming south in Thibet, and another river running nearly in 
the same direction through Yunnan, and called Loukiang, took 
them to be the same; and any person who is acquainted with 
the Chinese habit of converting N in foreign words into L, 
• v/ould. readily form, such an opinion. He therefore, I tliought, 
made the , Naukiang in SO' N . take a turn to- the east- 
