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140
BIRMAH.
Panlang (by Captain Cox written Pau-layn), the
first station above Rangoon, has once been a town of
considerable magnitude, and the number of boats
generally moored near ft, indicate that it is still a
place of some importance. Here, the Rangoon river,
which is frequently called the Panlang-mioup, separates
from the great stream in the same manner as
the Hoogley does from the Ganges. The principal
branch, which is about 700 yards in width at this
junction, pursuing a southerly course, divides, as it
approaches the sea, into a number of channels, which
are filled by the tide, and are for the most part navigable.
The eastern bank is in the viceroyalty of Pegu,
but the opposite country is included in the province of
Dalla. The great delta of the Irrawaddy, extending
from the western mountains of Cape Negrais to Sirian
or Syriam, is about 110 geographical miles in length,
and is divided into the governments of Negrais Bassien
(or Persaim), Dalla, Rangoon, and Syriam. The
district of Dalla extends westward to Mainda, the
residence of the governor of the district ; a town con-
sisting of one long street, at the east end of which is a
creek, which extends all the way to Bassien, and has
twelve feet of water at high tide. The city of Dalla,
from which the district takes its name, is said to be on
the western bank of an arm of the Irrawaddy, called
the Chinabucker, and was formerly a place of importance.
The jurisdiction is entirely distinct from that
of Rangoon, which is vested in the viceroy of Henza-
the Pegu maywoon cannot interfere with a
waddy :
criminal on the Dalla side of the river.
Bassein (properly Persaim) is seated on the river to
which it gives name, called also the Negrais river, the
westernmost branch of the Irrawaddy, which falls into
the Indian Ocean at Cape Negrais. The harbour is