3 76 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
sealed by them, ignorant of the extent of the 
cession which they were making, the British 
Government would not be wanting in a dispo¬ 
sition to reconsider the question. But no plea 
of this nature can be urged on your part, as the 
following explanation will clear!y show. Be¬ 
tween the provinces of Ye and Martaban there 
exists no well-defined natural boundary. This 
appeared to the British commissioners at Yan- 
dabo a serious objection. They accordingly 
sought for the nearest good boundary to Ye 
that was attainable. Natives of the country 
were consulted, and they immediately pointed 
to the Saluen river. The British commissioners 
accordingly demanded that that river should be 
the boundary. A map of the country was pro¬ 
duced, and explained, and the boundary of the 
Saluen clearly pointed out to the Burman com¬ 
missioners. These officers, aware that the Sa¬ 
luen river ran through the province of Marta¬ 
ban, objected that the assumption of this line of 
boundary would amount to a cession of all that 
portion of Martaban which lay to the east of it. 
Ample explanations were given to them by the 
British commissioners, and the reasons fully ex¬ 
plained why the Saluen was chosen to be the 
limit between the two countries. After these 
full explanations, and after having had a day 
