TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
71 
of August and September. This implies heavy 
falls of rain in the upper country at considera¬ 
ble intervals, and would seem also to indicate 
that the source of the Irawadi is not very dis¬ 
tant, nor the body of water, that is affected by 
such temporary or local causes, very great. 
At half-past three yesterday afternoon we 
quitted Prome. Although many of the inha¬ 
bitants had seen the steam-vessel during the 
war, a more lively curiosity was evinced now, 
to view her under weigh, than I had ever be¬ 
fore observed in any eastern people upon any 
occasion. The banks of the river, the boats, 
which were moored to the shore, the verandahs of 
houses, their tops, and many parts of the stock¬ 
ade, were crowded with people, anxious to see the 
spectacle. We soon passed the stockade, which, 
besides the ordinary wooden palisades, has two 
brick bastions of a rude form, and in a dilapi¬ 
dated state. One angle of the stockade is upon 
a high point of land jutting a considerable way 
into the river. On the opposite shore, a hill 
projects into the river also, leaving the breadth 
of the stream not above eight hundred yards. 
This was a strong position; but the Burmans 
were panic-struck after the affair of Donabew, 
and permitted Sir A. Campbell to occupy 
Prome without opposition. 
