62 
Dr Hamilton‘’s Account of two Maps 
that the river of Pegu is small, and rises but a short way from 
the sea ; from which he concludes, that these travellers undoubt- 
edly mean some small stream which falls into the Pegu river of 
d’Anville. Farther, we are informed, that M. d’Anviile, in as- 
signing the course of the Nookian (Loukiang), which comes 
from Thibet through China, to the river of Pegu, and I, in 
giving that course to the Saluaen (Thalusen), or river of Marta- 
ban, have told precisely the same thing. No person has a 
greater respect for the authority of M. d’Anville than the author.' 
I look upon him as the greatest of geographers, and am happy 
to shelter myself under his authority, in bringing jhe Nookian 
of Thibet to the sea at Martaban ; and it is to be regretted, that 
M. Make Brun should have ventured on departing altogether 
from M. d’Anville’s opinion, and have carried the Nookian to 
Siam (1. i. p. 333). If this compiler had taken the pains to read 
the account of C. Symes, he would have seen, that, from Kan- 
goun, on a branch of the river of Ava, the British Embassy pro- 
ceeded up the river of Pegu to that city, and that, therefore, the 
river of Pegu falls into the river of Ava, v/hile a very large river, 
the Zittaun or Paunlaun, is interposed between it and the Sa- 
luaen at Martaban. Even if the river, passing Pegu, had fallen 
into the Saluaen, it would have been a strange kind of nomen- 
clature to have called the latter the river of Pegu. What would 
M. Make Brun think of an Englishman, who chose to Call the 
Loire the river of Poictiers, because this city stands on one of its 
small branches ? To be sure, the calling the Salusen the river 
of Pegu is still more extraordinary, and could only be equalled 
by any one who should choose to call the Loire the river of 
Paris, because the river passes through the dominions of a Prince 
who resides in that city. M. d’Anville would never have ima- 
gined such a nomenclature, and was led into the mistake by sup- 
posing, from the imperfect materials in his possession, that the 
Nookian divided into two branches ; on one of which stood Pegu, 
and on the other Martaban. But this is entirely contradicted 
by every information that I received in Ava. It must be farther 
observed, that this error, respecting the river of Pegu, did not 
originate with M. d’Anville, but was that then commonly re- 
ceived ; especially by the very learned compilers of the Univer- 
sal History, as I have mentiojied in this Journal, (vol. v. p. 80). 
