94 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
and its dimensions about four feet to a side. 
It was formed by sinking a frame of wood, 
composed of beams of the Mimosa catechu , 
which affords a durable timber. Our conduc¬ 
tor, the son of the Myosugi of the village, 
informed us that the wells were commonly 
from one hundred and forty to one hundred 
and sixty cubits deep, and that their greatest 
depth in any case was two hundred. He in¬ 
formed us that the one we were examining, 
was the private property of his father—that it 
was considered very productive, and that its 
exact depth was one hundred and forty cubits. 
We measured it with a good lead-line, and as¬ 
certained its depth to be two hundred and ten 
feet; thus corresponding exactly with the report 
of our conductor—a matter which we did not 
look for, considering the extraordinary careless¬ 
ness of the Burmans in all matters of this de¬ 
scription. A pot of the oil was taken up, and 
a good thermometer being immediately plung¬ 
ed into it, indicated a temperature of ninety 
degrees. That of the air, when we left the ship 
an hour before, was eighty-two degrees. To 
make the experiment perfectly accurate, we 
ought to have brought a second thermometer 
along with us; but this was neglected. We 
looked into one or two of the wells, and could 
