tJw Vicinity of Pauhgcm or Pagan, > 239 
at a depth of more than two or three feet. Its masses are some- 
times three or four feet long, and eight or nine inches in diame- 
ter, but such are rare. 
In the vicinity of Gnaunu I observed also lying on the surface, 
masses of the common sand of the soil, which had the form 
of branches of trees or corals ; but, except the general cylindri- 
cal and branched form, these masses had nothing to indicate 
that they ever had been endowed with either vegetable or ani- 
mal life, or owed their form to bodies of these natures. 
This sandy territory, extending from Paukgan to Lunghii, 
has Renanghiaun and its petroleum wells in the centre, and there 
it is more broken, rocky and barren than any where else; but, 
except in narrow bottoms, winding among the sandy hills and 
swelling grounds, and these nowhere of considerable extent, it 
does not admit of the cultivation of rice. Nor, except in such 
bottoms, do trees grow to a considerable size. Near some con- 
vents, indeed, in such situations I observed many stately Mango 
and Tamarind trees, and the palm called Borassus in a most 
flourishing state ; but the waste sandy lands are covered with 
stunted trees or bushes of the genera called Acacia, Cassia, 
Zizyphus and Cissus, and, besides, produce more pasture than 
I expected ; for we saw many cattle, and these not in very bad 
condition. Where the soil, although sandy, is level enough for 
the plough, there is a good deal of cultivation, and the crops of 
various kinds of pulse, of maize, of Holcus sorghum of Cro- 
tolaria juncea, of Sesamum, and above all, of cotton, were much 
better than the appearance of the soil might seem to promise. 
Much cotton is reared here, and forms a considerable article of 
commerce with the Chinese province of Y unan. 
Art. IX. — Abstract of a Paper on the Anomalcms Magnetic Ac- 
tion Ipot Irmy between the White omd Blood-red Heat 
By Peter Barlow, Esq. of the Royal Military Academy, 
Xn a preceding volume^, we have already given a brief notice 
of the curious discoveries of Mr Barlow, respecting the magne- 
See Volume vi. p. 360. 
