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BIRMAHi 151
quay, all provided with good roofs, and masted after
the country manner. The neighbourhood is uncom-
monly fruitful in rice, and a large quantity is annually
exported to the capital. Here are capacious granaries
belonging to the king, built of wood, and covered with
thatch; these are kept filled with grain, ready to be
transported to any part of the empire in which there
happens to be a scarcity. During this day's voyage,
the Anou-pec-tou-miou, or great western chain of
mountains, was distinctly visible. The particular
mountains in sight are named Taungzo. The districts
passed through seemed exceedingly populous, and in
most parts cultivated.
As they advanced, the next day, towards the town
of Peing-ghee (or Pohem-ghee), the western range of
hills closed upon the river, and displayed in some
places very beautiful scenery. The rocky banks rise
abruptly to the height of two or three hundred feet,
richly clothed with hanging trees of variegated foliage.*
*
Captain Cox, describing apparently the same part of this
voyage, but at a different " :
season, (Dec.) says About noon," on
the fifteenth day, " as we approached the mountains on the
western shore, a beautiful view opened to us. To the west was a
to
margin of bright sand, backed by a green bank and woody hill ;
the northward, high and distant mountains, covered with foresttrees
to their very summits; to the eastward, a high bank, with
large trees and huts scattered below them, ending in an abrupt
point, which closes the reach, so as to give the river here the appearance
of a fine lake chequered with the boats of our fleet. As
we advanced, the scene varied ; many sandy islands divided the
stream, some of them barren sand, others high and covered with
lofty trees and cultivated ground. We advanced by the western
channel, where a precipitous hill about 150 feet high, covered with
trees and bushes, comes down abruptly to the river, and forms its
western boundary. The basis of this hill is a crumbling rock of
the superstratum, an immense bed of rich
yellow, coarse grit sand ;
sandy loam. The stream here is about a quarter of a mile wide,
and pretty rapid. When we had passed these cliffs, we came to a
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