TO THE COURT OF AYA. 25 5 
than seven miles broad. The northern channel is 
said to be still wider; but it is full of shoals, and 
impracticable for shipping. The Saluen river, 
notwithstanding the length of its course, cannot 
rank, for size or utility, with many of the greater 
Asiatic rivers. It is, indeed, of sufficient breadth ; 
but its channel is generally shallow, and so ob¬ 
structed by islands, shoals, and rapids, that, with 
the exception of probably about an hundred miles 
from its mouth, it is not navigable for any descrip¬ 
tion of vessels, and its mouth alone is navigable 
for shipping of burthen. 
The Gain falls into the Saluen at the town of 
Martaban, and is supposed to have its origin in 
the chain of hills which divides the province of 
Martaban from the Siamese territory. Its course 
is south-west. It is a stream of considerable 
breadth, but little depth; its channel being a good 
deal obstructed by islands and sand-banks. 
The Ataran, like the Gain, has its source in the 
hilly region dividing our territory from that of 
Siam. This is a narrow, deep, and sluggish 
stream : its whole course, until it falls into the 
Saluen, like the Gain, a little above the town of 
Martaban, may be about one hundred miles. I 
went above seventy miles up in the steam-vessel 
Diana, when the water was at the lowest, with¬ 
out experiencing the least difficulty. The river, 
above that distance, became suddenly a mere 
mountain brook. The tide in all these rivers 
