8 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
the Irawadi, is about sixty miles in length; has 
a very tortuous course, and varies in breadth 
from eighty to one hundred and fifty yards. 
For about half its course, or to the village of 
Panlang, the influence of the tides is felt dur¬ 
ing the freshes, but in the dry season as far as 
the Irawadi itself. The water, however, at all 
times is fresh and potable even at Panlang. 
The least depth which we had, in passing 
through, was two and a half fathoms, and 
this was only upon some sand-banks near the 
point where it issues from the Irawadi. Gene¬ 
rally we had from three to four fathoms. In 
the dry season, the least water upon the sand¬ 
banks now mentioned is five feet. This shows 
that the rise and fall of the river, in this part 
of its course, is ten feet. The country from 
Rangoon throughout is a low champaign. As 
far as the tide reaches, it is covered with a 
thick forest of moderate-sized trees, among 
which the most frequent and remarkable are 
the Sonneratia Apetala , and Heritiera Fames. 
Here and there, there were a few grassy plains. 
As soon as the influence of the tides ceased, 
the character of the vegetation altered very 
greatly. The country was then generally co¬ 
vered with a tall, rushy grass, a species of 
Saccharum , among which were scattered trees 
