//

■m

7®

iv-

a

m

*k

■

*:>>.«v

*">"

NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF BURMAH.

THE

OR

NOTES

ON THE

FAUNA, FLORA, AND MINERALS

OF

THE TENASSERIM PROVINCES,

AND

THE BURMAN EMPIRE

? ii «

BY

REV. FRANCIS MASON, A. M.,

» i i

COKKEtPONDIXG MEMBER OF THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY
AND OF THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK.

MAUL M AIN:

AMERICAN MISSION PRESS.

TH05. S. RANNEY.

1850.

,rhs?

MWtARY
•v W YO*K
BOTANICAL

PREFACE

This work owes its origin to the wants experienced by
a translator of the Bible.

Ever since the day that man was sent to dress the
garden of Eden, and to give " names to all cattle, and to
the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field," he
has in every age, and in every clime, been a lover of na-
ture. It has been remarked of the Hebrews especially,
* that "they make such frequent recurrence for metapho-
rical expressions to natural objects, and particularly to
plants and trees, that their poetry may almost be termed
the botanical poetry." The Hebrew and Greek Testa-
ments contain between seven and eight hundred names
of natural productions, found in the countries where the
books were written ; and Michaelis says " there are
upwards of two hundred and fifty botanical terms."
These names, and terms enter into many thousands of
verses, the proper rendering of which defends upon
a correct knowledge of the things designated.
And how much more lucid and interesting will appear the
Book of God, if these terms be rightly translated !

Throughout the inspired writings of the Ancient Scrip-
tures, and in all the teachings of the Apostles, we find
constant allusion to the works of nature. And our Sa-
viour in his parables and similitudes continually draws
from the natural scenes of earth which his almighty
hand had fashioned, that " the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world might be clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made."
But had his hearers been unacquainted with the parti-
J2 cular names and properties of the plants or animals to
cr> which he referred, they could never have felt as they did,
the overwhelming power of his arguments and illustrations.
And yet, by some translators, a verv considerable propor
^ 1

PREFACE.

tion of the botanical, and zoological names that occur in
the Bible are unnecessarily transferred ! " Not being a
zoologist, botanist, or mineralogist," wrote a distinguish-
ed translator, " I have not unfrequently, in disposing of
technical terms whose meaning I could not satisfactorily
settle, gone the whole animal, plant, or mineral, as the
case might be, and transferred it."

In this way many words are transferred for which there
are good vernacular names, and a native has in his Bible
a barbarous word that conveys no idea, while it may be
the original designates a flower, that is wafting its frag-
rance within the lattice where he sits reading. This is
no fancy sketch. The camphire of the English Bible,
the exquisitely fragrant Lawsonia biennis, or henna, is ren-
dered in one Indian version by camphor, and in another the
name is transferred, while the shrub itself is growing by
the doors of myriads of native houses in both Indias, and
for which there are established vernacular names in every
Indian language to which I can refer.

Such transfers always cast a deep shadow over the sig-
nification of the passage in which they occur, and some-
times wrap it in impenetrable darkness. For instance ;
Christ says to the Scribes and Pharisees : "Ye pay tithe of
mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weigh-
tier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith."
Here the antithesis can only be seen by a knowledge of
the trifling character of mint, anise, and cummin ; yet
in two Indian versions every one of these names is trans-
ferred, which renders the clause, without a paraphrase,
as unintelligible as the English Bible would be with as
many Choctaw words in their place. Still, nothing could
be more unnecessary, for the readers of the versions^ are
nearly as familiar with mint, anise, and cummin, as the
people of Europe, and have as well established names
for them in their language.

In two versions, made several thousand miles apart, the
translators, transferred the original word for wood-aloes,
although the people for whom they wrote were well ac-
quainted with it, and there were good terms in the lan-
guages in which they were translating by which to render

PREFACE.

the word, but of both facts the translators were manifest-
ly ignorant.

These examples, which might be easily multiplied,
illustrate the advantages which a translator with some
knowledge of the natural sciences, possesses in dealing
with the Word of God. But the reader asks, " why need
he enter scientifically into these studies? Why does he
not take the lexicons, and other helps prepared for him?"

Many are the admirers of nature, but let it not be sup-
posed that all are her observing students. The pages of
learned men in Europe and America, who have inci-
dentally written upon natural history, prove that they are
not.

Rosenmuller is the author of the best work extant on
the botany of the Bible, yet his unskillful treatment of the
subject sufficiently attests his slight knowledge of the
science. His descriptions are usually ill written, and
bring before the eye of the reader no definite picture.
They are often moreover very defective, giving popular
names, as beans and lentils, which are indefinite and ap-
plicable to different species and even to different gen-
era, without the systematic names, which alone are deter-
minate and enable a translator to render accurately. Oc-
casionally his statements are erroneous. Of agallochum
or wood-aloes he says : " There is a species of this tree
that grows in the Moluccas, called garo, Linnaeus has de-
scribed it as Exceca?-ia agallocha." It would perhaps
be difficult to find two trees in the whole vegetable king-
dom with more opposite properties, than these two spe-
cies. The Burmese are well aquanted with both. Mr.
O'Riley observed correctly that, " Akyau is a very fra-
grant, and a very scarce wood of high value with the na-
tives." This is agallochum or wood-aloes.* The other
is a tree that the Burmese call ta-yau,i abundant near
the sea, the juice of which is said to produce the most
intense pain, and often blindness if it enters the eye.
From its power to produce blindness the Karens call it
the " blind tree ; " and the natives are all of them so

-09G^q|S« fcokCpn ODQGpi

PREFACE.

much afraid of it, that I have sometimes found it difficult
to induce my boatmen to pull up beneath its shade.

In Carpenter's Natural History of the Bible, a popular
English work, reprinted by Abbott in America, a descrip-
tion of the gecko is given worthy of the days of King
Arthur. " It is thus described," says the author, " by
Cepede : ' Of all the oviparous quadrupeds whose history
we are publishing, this is the first that contains a deadly
poison. This deadly lizard, which deserves all our atten-
tion by his dangerous properties, has some resemblance to
the chameleon. The name gecko, imitates the cry of
this animal, which is heard especially before rain. It is
found in Egypt, India, Amboyna, &,c. It inhabits by
choice the crannies of half rotton trees, as well as humid
places. It is sometimes met with in houses, where it
occasions great alarm, and where every exertion is used
to destroy it speedily. Bontius states, that its bite is so
venomous, that if the part bitten be not cut away or burn-
ed, death ensues in a few hours.' "

It is well known in India that the gecko is as harmless
as the cricket. I have had them drop from the ceiling
upon my naked hand, and hang suspended by the feet
from my fingers without the slightest pain or inflammation
ensuing.

Stuart on Rev. 21 : 18, says : " The bottom row of
foundation stones was jasper — which is of a green trans-
parent colour, streaked with red veins." Such a defini-
tion of jasper I have never been able to find in any
work on mineralogy ; and Webster, following Dana, de'
fines it : "An opake impure variety of quartz, of red,
yellow, and also of some dull colours." The distinctive
character of jasper from other minerals that resemble it, is
" its opacity." The Greek word as used by the Apostle,
undoubtedly designated the stone now called heliotrope
or blood-stone — a mineral of a remarkably deep, rich,
green; and translucent, but spotted with opake red spots,
supposed to be red jasper. There is in it something
peculiarly agreeable to the eye above all other precious
stones I ever saw, or that probably exist ; and were he-
liotrope inserted in the version; the imagination of ev-

PREFACE.

ery reader would picture to himself a foundation for tiic
Heavenly Jerusalem of the plcasantest stone for the eye
to gaze upon, that earth can produce.

Murray, in his Encyclopedia of Geography, tli3 first
work of its class, says : "To the fig tribe belongs the
famous banyan of India, commonly called peepul tree,
and constantly planted about Hindoo temples (Ficus rdi-
giosa.Jt' But the famous banyan is not commonly called
peepul, but bir ; and the peepul is not the banyan, and
the tree which is usually planted about Hindu temples
is not the banyan, but the peepul, and the banyan is not
Ficus religiosa, but Ficus indicus. Again, he remarks :
"Far superior to this [the cocoa] in the magnitude of its
leaves, of which a single one will shelter twelve men, is
the palmyra palm (Boi'assus jlabdliformis ,) which some-
times attains to one hundred feet, while its trunk yields
abundantly toddy or palm wine."

It is true the palmyra produces toddy, not however
from the trunk, but from the spathes that bear the flow-
ers and fruit, but the leaf of the palmyra is not much
larger than a larae cabbage leaf, and the reference to
the leaf should have been to the great fan palm of Cey-
lon, Corypha umbraculifcra, a palm not of the same
genus with the palmyra.

In a little work published by the American Tract Socie-
ty, it is written : " In some hot countries where water is
scarce, travellers obtain a supply from tlie palm tree ;"
and the statement is illustrated by a very good represen-
tation of the common plantain tree, with a fine stream of
water gushing from an incision that has been made in the
trunk !

The writer had probably some confused ideas of the
palm producing toddy, or the traveller's tree, handsome
urania, which produces water when a leaf is broken off;
or of the water-vine, phytocrene, an immense creeper that
grows on our thirsty mountain sides, which when dis-
severed discharges a large quantity of water, that is a most
grateful beverage in a hot day, when far above the streams
of the vallies.

PREFACE.

In one of the elaborate volumes of the United States
Exploring Expedition it is said : "In its wild state the pea-
cock is peculiar to Hindustan ;" while they are roving
wild all over these Provinces, Arracan, and the Burman
Empire. Webster. defines dammer as " a resinous sub-
stance, obtained from a species of agathis or dammara, a
tree allied to the pines," while here it is obtained from
the wood-oil tree family ;* and a considerable proportion
of what Europeans often call dammer, is a hard kind of
bees' wax, produced by a bee that builds in hollow trees. t

With teachers like these Europeans and Americans
come to India, and find themselves in the midst of a fau-
na and flora with which they are utterly unacquainted.
In sections where there are lexicons that define correctly
the vernacular names, the difficulty is scarcely felt. In
Wilson's Sanscrit Dictionary, for instance, the systematic
name of nearly every plant and animal known to the lan-
guage, can be found at once ; but if, as in Farther India,
the lexicographers are as much in the dark as the inqui-
rer who consults them, he has no alternative but to re-
main in darkness, or sit down to the patient study of the
objects themselves. And to this toil the translator of the
Scriptures must address himself, for it is not optional with
him, but is a part of his professional duty to render, if
possible, every word of the original by its corresponding
word in the vernacular, and he is so far wanting in the
trust committed to him by the churches or societies whose
ambassador he is, ii he shrinks from any study requisite to
qualify him for the accurate performance of his work.

In ordinary circumstances, the professional duties of
most men preclude them from bestowing the time and at-
tention to the natural sciences, necessary to enable them to
determine accurately the character of the objects of nature
with which they are unacquainted. It is not remarkable
then that our Chin-Indian literature abounds in errors.
Throughout India, wherever there is European society,
there is found a numerous class of English names incor-
rectly applied to Indian productions, which almost unavoid-

PREFACE.

ably lead the translator, or author astray, when unable to
make a scientific examination for himself. On this Coast,
for instance, it has passed from conversation to books,
published within the last ten years, that turmeric is saf-
fron; the flower of the thorn-apple, the trumpet flower ; the
tamarind tree, the tamarisk, and its timber, iron wood ;
the ebony tree is the cabbage tree of one author, and the
fig tree of another ; while ebony not being supposed to
exist, though abundant throughout the Provinces, is de-
fined " a kind of a tree." The fennel flower is " a kind
of rice ;" nettles, " a kind of thorn ;" sweet flag, sugar
cane; and the date tree is the palmyra palm. Mica is
talc ; serpentine, jasper : the carnelian, a garnet or ruby ;
gamboge, realgar the red sulphuret of arsenic ; natron, the
carbonate of soda, is saltpetre the nitrate of potash ; and
antimony is bismuth, according to one authority, and
James' powder, according to another. The porcupine is
a hedge-hog ; the hedge-hog, a pangolin ; the shrew-mouse
a musk-rat; the sand-badger or arctonix, a hyena; bark-
ing deer, porcine deer; the monitor, a guana; and the
blood-sucker, a chameleon. The adjutant is a gull ; the
eagle, a swan ; the hornbill, a crane; the sun-bird, a sky-
lark ; and the grey heron, a water-hen.

In a work translated from the Burmese into English,
and printed at the expense of Government, the Burmese
name of the common wild ox, Bos sondaicus, is translated
bison ; the sambur, or rusa deer, is elk ; barking deer,
spotted deer ; the eagle is an adjutant ; cranes are called
cyrusses ; sun-birds, hnan-sok ; a coluber is translated a
hng snake; a crocodile, an alligator ; the toad, " a rouah
frog;" tin in one place is lead ; and pewter, or a mixed
metal resembling it, is translated "white copper;" the
Bengal quince is rendered okshcct ; one species of millet,
sap ; another species of millet, barley ; barley is trans-
lated mayau, in one place, and mace in another; arum is
"ping (root)," a species of yam, thadce ; and the corypha
palm, the palmyra palm.

This last error may be supposed to be of little conse-
quence, and yet through it, the whole paragraph in which
it occurs becomes false : and illustrates a precisely opposite

PREFACE.

argument from that tor which it is brought. The author
is made to say : " As regards the inheritance like a palmyra
tree ; it is the nature of this tree not to grow from cuttings
or shoots; having lived its time, it flowers and bears fruit ;
when the fruit has fallen off, the parent tree dies; after its
death, each fruit becomes a tree and continues the family.
Whilst the tree was alive, no other tree could be pro-
duced ; so only on the death of their parents do children
inherit." The palmyra tree produces its fruit annually, as
regularly as the apple tree, and young trees may be raised
from it as easily as from apple seeds, while the parent tree
is still living ; so if the comparison prove any thing, it
proves that children may inherit before the death of the
parent, just the converse of that for which the comparison
was made. Lef, however, the original word be correctly
translated, and no simile can be more striking, and ap-
propriate. A corvpha palm after it has borne fruit, lifts
its blackened leafless head above all the other trees of the
forest, like the dead father of the woods struck by light-
ning.

Where two or more systematic names are attached to
an article in this work, they are, unless the contrary be
indicated, the different names by which the same object
is designated by different writers. In zoology these syno-
nymes have been selected principally from articles pub-
lished in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, by Dr, Cantor
and Mr. Blyth. In botany the first name is the one un-
der which the article will be found in Voigt's Catalogue,
if in that work, and in other modern writers; while the
second is the Linnsean name, or the one by which it was
described by Roxburgh and by other authors of the old
school.

The utility of these synonymes will be best understood
by an example. Gesenius, Rosenmuller, Harris, and other
Biblical writers, tell their readers that cophcr designates
Lawsonia inermis ; and Dr. Wight in his Illustrations of
Indian Botany, gives a handsome coloured figure of Lmc-
sonia alba. To a person not read in botany these will
be regarded as different specie?, but on turning to my

I'UUFACfc.

article, the reader wiil learn at a glance, that they are
different names given by different writers to the same
plant. Thus it will be seen that our common barking-
deer lies scattered over the pages of natural history under
twelve different names, and without the synonymes it
might be taken for twelve different species. In like man-
ner, when objects have several native names, as they often
have, I give all that I have heard.

Still the investigator will not always obtain at once
the object he seeks from the native name ; and this is a
difficulty which no author can obviate, as it exists in the
language. Different objects sometimes have the same
name, as for instance, the goat-sucker and the snipe.
The Burmese call both rayc-wote* from their habit of
dwelling on the earth. Sometimes a slight distinction is
supposed to exist between different things, which is not
always observed. The Amherstia and the Jonesia are
both athauka trees, but the Amherstia is regarded as the
female, and the Jonesia as the male tree, which is there-
fore denominated athauka-phoA So the male of the
fagraea, is the gordonia, or anan-plio.% The same object is
often known by different names. Our knowledge of the
existence of platina in Burmah was first furnished by
Mr. Lane, who said the Burmese called it sheen-than, but
in his Dictionary he defines it shwe-phu s § or white gold.
Some persons make distinctions which others neglect.
The water-lily and the nelumbium are both call kya ;|| or
the kya is restricted to the water-lilies, aud the nelumbi-
um called pa-dung-ma.^ Add to which, for many ob-
scure species in every department of the natural kingdom,
the natives have no definite names, on which they can
agree among themselves.

* cgooS" f 03GOo5o^oSfl

fao^oSu and not 3Q^y« as printed by mistake
on page 70.

2

PREFACE,

The local names used in Tavoy and Arracan are given
where known ; the latter on the authority of Capt.
Phayre ; from whom also were first derived some of the
Burmese name3 for birds, and the smaller mammalia.
It is only within the last two years that the proper Bur-
man name for eagle has found its way into books, though
it was communicated first by Capt. Phayre, some eight or
ten years ago.

Ths present work does not explain mere technicalities
for the naturalist, but brings to light in the department in
which it enters, a host of common English words that have
hitherto been left, in this country, like uselesss lumber
in the shade. To illustrate this position, take a single ex-
ample from the ichthyology, in which for the first time
the correct native names are furnished of the following
fish known to English readers : River perch, cockup,
band fish, umber or sea perch, Indian whiting, mullet,*
mango-fish, climbing perch, snake-head, ophidian, long-
snout, doree, pomphret, ribband-fish, goby, carp, barbel,
gudgeon, bream, white fish, loach, flat-bellied herring,
thryssa-anchovy, bristle-finned sprat, fresh-water herring,
flying-fish, gar-fish, half-billed gar-fish, plagusia-sole,
brachirus-turbot, adipose cat-fish, short-headed cat-fish,
eight bar buled cat-fish, long-finned cat-fish, two barbuled
cat-fish, fork-tailed cat-fish, barbuleless cat-fish, plotosus
cat-fish, clarias cat-fish, long-headed cat-fish, hammer-
headed shark, saw-fish, scate or ray, sea-porcupine, or
square fish, fishing frog, common eel, serpent-hearted
eel, and conger eel.

Still no pretensions are made in this work to complete-
ness. It is not a book composed in the luxury of literary
leisure, but a collection of notes which I have been making
during the twenty years of my residence in this country,
in the corners of my time that would otherwise have been
wasted. Often to forget my weariness when travelling,
where it has been necessary to bivouac in the jungles ; while
the Karens have been seeking fuel for their night fires,
or angling for their suppers in the streams, I have occu-

•There are three species of mullet with three distinct native names, one of which
has been correctly defined before.

PREFACE.

pied myself with analyzing the flowers that were blooming
around my couch, or examining the fish that were caught ;
or an occasional reptile, insect, or bird that attracted my
attention. Such occupations have brightened many a
solitary hour ; and often has the most unpromising situa-
tion, proved most fruitful in interest ; for " the barren
heath, with its mosses, lichens, and insects, its stunted
shrubs and pale flowers, becomes a paradise under the
eye of observation ; and to the genuine thinker, the sandy
beach and the arid wild are full of wonders."

Without books and without means to convey away spe-
cimens, my plan was to note down just such characteris-
tics in the objects that I observed, as secured most of my
attention ; but when I came to compare my notes with
descriptions in books, they would often be found to con-
tain insufficient data to determine the species, and some-
times even the genus, but perhaps enough for the tribe or
family. In botany this was necessarily not unusual, be-
cause I frequently met with a plant in flower without
the fruit, or in fruit without the flower ; where both flow-
er and fruit were necessary to determine the genus. Often
again, never contemplating publication, when I had no
use for the article in translation, and no object in being
precise, I was content, as with fish for instance, to satisfy
myself that it was a cat-fish, a member of the carp family,
or an eel as the case might be, without making observa-
tions which would enable me to distinguish the species.

These notes would probably have remained in manu-
script, as they have done for many years, had it not been
for the liberal patronage of our Commissioner Major Bogle,
and a few other kind friends who interested themselves in
their publication ; the former subscribing for fifty copies,
and the latter for proportionately large numbers.

Future investigation will supply many deficiences, and
correct many errors that are inseparable from a first at-
tempt like the present, which involves the observation of
so many objects, in so many different departments of na-
tural science, and their names in so many languages.
Still, it is confidently believed, that no one can longer
say of Farther India, as does Murray in his Encyclopedia

PREFACE.

of Geography . "There are no materials on which we
can attempt a botanical, or geological delineation of this
territory. The zoology also of these immense and luxu-
riant regions is scarcely known."

It will therefore be seen that a work of this kind was
demanded, and I trust it will commend itself not only to
the Biblical student, but to authors in the vernacular lan-
guages, especially to such as shall hereafter prepare native
works on natural history. It will also be serviceable to
those who translate from the Burmese or Karen into En-
glish, and to all natives who read English, and particu-
larly to every one who desires to write on these Provinces
either in India., England, or America.

Such is my reply to those " machines for eating and
drinking, digging and working, hoarding and spending,"
who ask : " what's the use of it ? They cannot well
see the use of studying the stars, observing the stratifica-
tion of rocks, or being curious about shells, minerals, and
plants, birds, beasts and insects."

INTRODUCTION.

NATURAL SCENERY.

— " Fern, flowers, and grasses creep,
Fantastically tangled : the green paths
Are clothed with early blossoms, through the gra«
The quick eyed lizard rustles, and the "bills
Of summer birds sing welcome as ye pass ;
Flowers fresh in hue, and many in their class,
Implore the pausin? step, and with their dyes,
Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass ;
At every door the odorous jasmines rise.
Kissed by the breath of heaven, see')* fragrant from the skies."— Byron.

" It is a beautiful country," wrote one of our Bengal visitors ;
" here, there are views and patches of scenery, green fields
and green lanes that lead back the mind to one's own loved
land." No contrast can be more striking than the scenery of
the Salvven, and that of the Hoogly, the last often that the eye
rests upon before reaching this coast. The interminable level
plains of Bengal, without the semblance of a hill for hundreds
of miles, are changed for mountains and valleys, cloud-capped
crags, and frowning precipices ; and green fields with immense
grotesque masses of mural limestone starting up in their midst,
like the gigantic spectres of an antediluvian world. — The dull-
est of all landscapes is exchanged for the most sublime and
picturesque.

" It is a beautiful land" when seen on the coast, but it is
still more beautiful when seen amid its mountain streams ;
streams that cannot be surpassed in romantic beauty, even in
the annals of poetry itself. In some places they are seen leap-
ing in cascades over precipices from fifty to one hundred feet
high; in others, spreading out into deep, quiet lakes. In
some places, they run purling over pebbles of milk-white quartz,
or grass-green prase, or yellow jasper, or sky-blue slate, or
variegated porphyry ; in others, they glide like arrows over
rounded masses of granite, or smooth angular pieces of green
stone. In some places, nought can be heard but the stunning
sounds of" deep calling unto deep ;" in others, the mind is led
to musing by the quiet murmur of the brook, that falls upon

il liSTRODUCTiO]*.

the ear, like distant music. The traveller's path often leads
up the middle of one of these streams, and every turn, like a
turn in the kaleidescope, reveals something new and pleasing
to the eye. Here, a daisy-like flower nods over the margin, as
if to look at her modest face in the reflecting waters ; there,
the lotus-leafed wild arum stands knee deep in water, shaking
around with the motion of the stream, the dew drops on its
peltate bosom, like drops of glittering quicksilver. Here, the
bare fantastic rocts of a willow, sprinkled with its woolly cap-
sules, come down to the water's edge, or it may be an eugenia
tree, with its fragrant white corymbs, or a water dillenia, with
its brick-red scaly trunk, and green, apple-like fruit, occupies
its place ; there, the long drooping red tassels of the barring-
tonia hang far over the bank, dropping its blossoms on the
water, food for numerous members of the Carp family congre-
gated below. On the islets are seen a dwarf species of wild
fig, and the bare rocks on which vegetation has not yet squat-
ted are often the watch-tower of the king-fisher, with her wings
of blue, and breast of red. Now we come on a little patch of
impenetrable reeds, a Mississippian cane brake in miniature ;
and anon the pink corymbs of a shrubby species of Ixora looks
down upon us from a steep bank. In place of the reed, we
have sometimes a thicket of the curious half-anthered Phryni-
um, and instead of the Ixora, we have often large clusters of a
fragrant clerodendron, of which our forests produce three or
four different species. Often the waters breathe the odor of
the lily from the water Crinums that float their large blossoms
on the surface, while on the margin, the glowing red flowers
of the amonum peep up from the base of their green stems ;
or a creeping species of acacia entwines its globular scentless
flowers with the fragrant one sided spikes of the Hopea, high
in the lofty tree tops. Here an ebony tree droops beneath
the weight of its persimmon-like fruit, and there a gamboge
tree lifts its graceful head, with its delicate little mangosteens
in miniature ; or the large creeping oleastor swings from the
forest tree to which it clings its rich bunches of sour scarlet
plums.

Some pages in our natural scenery are quite unique. Take
one for illustration, that is constantly open before the face of
Maulmain.

INTRODUCTION, 111

THE NATURAL FORTRESS OF DONGYANG.

On looking abroad from the pagoda hills of Maulmain, an
unbroken range of primitive mountains, four or five thousand
feet high, are seen on the margin of the eastern horizon, sweep-
ing around to ihe north west like an amphitheatre, where they
are lost in the misty distance. From Martaban Point another
range extends directly north, parallel with the west bank of
the Salwen. In the space between these mountains, bounded
by the Salwen river on the west, and the Gyaing on the south
and east, is an immense alluvial plain, resembling the prairie-
lands of Illinois and Missouri. In the midst of this plain,
twenty miles north of Maulmain, and six or eight east of the
Salwen, the attention of the spectator is arrested by a pile of
the most picturesque mountain limestone that ever adorned a
landscape. Rising abruptly, in the most fantastic shapes, from
the level of tide-water to nodding precipices two thousand feet
high at a single leap, they seem to shake their hoary-lichen
faces and fern-fringed foreheads at the passing traveller, and
threaten him with instant destruction. The whole range is not
more than eight miles long, and at twenty miles distance its
numerous grotesque peaks give it no very dissimilar resem-
blance to a Gothic cathedral ; and the illusion is made the
more real by the spire of a small white pagoda being distin-
guished with some difficulty in the distance, on the very top-
most summit of the highest point of the range, and on the mar-
gin of an abrupt precipice.

On a near approach the range loses the continuous appear-
ance which it possesses in the distance, and assumes an undu-
lating aspect, like the waves of an angry ocean. A precipice,
near two thousand feet high on the north west extremity, sinks
to the south east to within a short distance from the ground,
then rises abruptly again to nearly its former height, present-
ing an unbroken precipitous front for three or four miles.
In one place the precipice is not more than five or six hundred
feet high, and at this spot a cool crystal stream, several yards
wide, and two or .three feet deep, gushes out of a purple grot at
the base A writer in the Maulmain Chronicle, describing this
stream several years ago, remarked, M It was in the hottest part of
the y«ar that I went to the spot, accompanied by several Karen*

IV INTRODUCTION.

The heat at the time was truly oppressive until we came with-
in thirty or forty rods of the mountain, when the tempera-
ture very sensibly changed, and a delightfully cool current of
air was felt setting from the mountain. As we advanced, we
saw quite a large stream of water issuing from a cavity in the
perpendicular rocks which rose above us to a great height.
This stream was clear as crystal and cold as ice water. The
temperature of the air here forcibly reminded me of a cool
October day at home. On examination, I found the cold air
proceeded from a variety of air holes on the side of the moun-
tain. It was a luxury to see so clear a stream of water after
having for a long time seen only the muddy waters of the river.
It was a luxury to taste water which so exactly resembled the
cold wells at home. It was also a luxury to find a little spot
in the hottest season and the hottest part of the day, which
defied the scorching rays of a vertical sun, and made one fan-
cy that he had been transported to his own climate and was
breathing his own pure air."

This writer's emotions would have chastened had he known
that that stream, " clear as crystal and cold as ice water," had
been the theatre of more agonizing scenes than the muddiest
and hottest stream in the Provinces ; scenes that had won for it
the name of " Teeyang" — the Brook of Weeping.

With some difficulty a man may enter the cave and follow
up the stream a few yards, but the only path is the bed of the
brook, and the glittering stalactites hang so low from the roof
that a passage is not easy. A more interesting scene awaits
the lover ofnature without. Immediately above the mouth of
this cave and stream the rocks rise as abruptly as in any other
locality, but the limestone has been worn by the waters of ages
unequally, and many masses of rock have been detached from
its face and fallen to the base, leaving numerous jutting pro-
minences, some of which are loosely held by the arms of the
parasitical Ficus, whose roots find a passage into every crevice,
and often bind together the broken iragments. With a steady
head, and with fingers and toes accustomed to climbing, a per-
son, by pursuing a zigzag course, may reach the summit at this
point. The fallen rocks piled up from the base, afford a very
practicable flight of steps above the highest tops of the gor-
geous red-flowered Coral trees, that throw their shadowi

IN'IRODUCIION.

over the mouth of the cave, and crowd the banks of the brook.
Above, the precipice has a slight declination, and a rough,
uneven surface, so that naked feet and hands with care may
ascend it to a narrow ledge, .and this ledge, though in
some places less than the width of a man's foot, serves as a
path to a natural parapet, in which one armed man might con-
ceal himself and defend the ascent against an army. By a
path with like various alternations the margin of the summit
is reached, where a full view of the region below is spread out
before the eye of the spectator. At the base of the western
mountains the Salwen is seen plunging down its micrhty waters
to iVIartaban and Maul main, where they are joined by the
Gyaing, that bounds the prospect on the south and east ; while
little islands of forest trees, each concealing beneath its shade
a quiet hamlet, dimple the whole plain ; and babbling brooks
thread their wandering ways like veins of silver, or mark
the courses of their hidden waters by the emerald hue of
their banks.

Turning from the prospect below, and climbing upward on
men's shoulders, a gap in the rocks above is reached ; then
descending a few yards, the spectator is astonished to find him-
self on the edge of a large basin, like the crater of an extinct
volcano. Around, and beyond, on the opposite side of the
gulph, for miles in extent, dark precipitous crags, of every ima-
ginable and unimaginable form, fling down their tall shadows
a thousand feet about the place of entrance, enclosing an area
of several square miles.

" It was a tranquil spot, that seemed to smil^
Even in the lap of horror ; ficus clasped
The fissured stones with its entwining feet,
And did embower with leaves for ever green,
And berries dark the smooth and cup-like spac«
Of its inviolated floor — 'tis the haunt
Of every gentle wind whose breath can teach
The wilds to love tranquility."

Down a steep descent of one or two hundred feet, an un-
•ev^n plain is reached, covered with a luxuriant forest. This
impregnable natural fortress has been a place of refuge for
the Karens during many generations. While the Burmans,
the Siamese, and Talaings, were contending in the plains
below, the Karens, in this eyrie home, peeped out on the belli-
gerents from behind their battlements in perfect security ;

VI INTRODUCTION.

for besides the place where I ascended, there is only one
other possible place of ascent, and that still more difficult, so
that half a dozen men could always defend it from any force
that could be brought against it. The Karen guide said that
none but Karens had ever before ascended the precipice, or en*
tered within its precincts. Indeed, that there was here one of
the largest, strongest, and most remarkable castles that nature
ever built, had never been imagined. Its chief weakness is the
lack of water, yet it is far from being wholly destitute of that.
About a mile from the entrance, a gradual ascent of an hund-
red feet leads to the summit of a precipitous glen, and on des-
cending it about two hundred feet by natural steps in the
craggy rocks, a small stream of water is seen gushing from the
face of a precipice, which the guide said he thought resembled
the rock struck by Moses in the Arabian desert. This affords
a never failing supply of several quarts, and sometimes gallons
of pure water, every hour in the year ; but as this is the only
spring as yet discovered, the place does not afford a sufficient
supply for a large body of people. The arts of civilization
could, however, overcome this difficulty by sinking a shaft to
the subterranean brook that flows out beneath.

In the days of the Burman emperor Alompra, before his
successes in these provinces, a large number ofKarens were
besieged here by the Siamese, and tradition says that nearly
the whole perished for the want of food and water. From the
sufferings of that period, or a previous one, the place has ac-
quired the name of " Dongyang" — the Weeping City.

The whole range is named " Zwa-kabin" — the Mooring of
the Ship, from a tradition, which says that in ancient times the
whole world was covered with water, and the only survivors of
the human race were in a ship which floated hither, where the
highest point of the range, being above water, the ship was
moored to it.

Since the reign of Alompra. the Karens seem to have made
special efforts to plant fruit trees in this their last refuge fr5m
an invading army. Jack, and mango trees abound, and pine
apples are numerous. The opposite-leafed mango which bears
a fruit like a plum, the Heritiera, whose agreeable sub-acid
fruit is borne in bunches like large grapes, and the edible
Malacca, with its bunches of red echinated fruit, are also com-

INTRODUCTION. VI i

mon, and a few trees are seen of the Indian Sandoricum,
which bears a fruit valued by the natives, as large as an apple,
but internally more like a mangosteen, and is often called by
Europeans the wild mangosteen. The Karens have also been
mindful to make provision for their betel, an article regarded
by them almost as essential as food. There are two species of
areca-nuts, and the piper betel-vine is scattered every where.

They have also provided materials for mats, having planted
in large quantities a species of Pandanus, screw-pine, the
leaves of which are used to make mats throughout the Pro-
vinces. Nor is the place destitute of large timber trees, ap-
parently indigenous. There are one or two species of acacia,
Boodh's cocoanut, and two species of Wood-oil trees, one of
which produces the oil from which torches are manufactured.
Ratans are indigenous and abundant, and there are numerous
little forests of the gigantic bamboo, the largest species known,
and peculiar to this country. Here too is game for the sports-
man, and meat for the hunter. In short, Dongyang is the
most delightful place for ^n anchorite that ever was formed,
and one can scarcely visit it without wishing himself a dervise
or a monk.

During the rains the whole plain is under water, excepting
a small sprinkling of islands on which the villages are located ;
and boats can sail from Maulmain to the very foot of the
precipice ; and as if formed by some genii-architect for the pur-
pose of seclusion and defence, this castellated pile, though
forming to the eye in the distance a part of a continuous range,
is really for all purposes of access quite isolated. On the north,
as adverted to above, it is connected by a low ledge to the
north-west portion of the range, and on the south and east a
long narrow ravine is interposed between it and the southern
section, through which a path is trodden by the Karens to the
villages beyond the mountains.

Its form appears to the eye nearly like that of an equilateral
trfangle, with its sides about two miles long ; and on a chart
that was made by Lieut. Nalloth, of the Childers, that survey-
ed this part of the country seven or eight years ago, the base
of this site is represented as of a triangular shape, with sides
of from two to three miles long, but the whole space inclosed,
is there depicted as a vast succession of limestone peaks.

Vlll INTRODUCTION.

SIAM HILL.

There is some magnificent scenery in the Southern Pro-
vinces.

Tavoy stands in an alluvial bottom, and is hidden in the
distance by the tall palms, and glossy-green jacks, and yellow-
flowered cassias, and twenty other flowering trees unknown
to song, which overshadow its humble dwellings ; but Siam
Hill is a conspicuous knoll, a hundred feet high, six miles
long by half a mile wide, in the paddy fields half a mile east
of Tavoy.

Here, after emerging from the shrubbery that obstructs the
view, there suddenly opens out before the spectator a pros-
pect of indescribable beauty, " like a sleeping child too
blessed to wake." At his feet lie spread out the level paddy
fields, divided into numerous one-acre lots by little mounds
raised around them to retain the water, so as to suggest a gi-
gantic chess board. On the south a silver stream, fringed with
the dark foliage of wild fig trees, and the thick straggling
bushes of a species of Hibiscus, covered with large yellow
and red flowers, is seen pursuing its tortuous course beneath
the shadows of Mount Burney, which rises twelve hundred
feet above its southern bank. On the east, " hills peep o'er
hills," like the seats of avast amphitheatre, bounded by Ox's
Hump, rising in a most picturesque outline four thousand
feet above the plains. Yonder, at the distance of fourteen
miles, is seen a foaming cascade making a fearful leap from a
gorge halfway up the highest mountains. Green forests are
diversified with white lichen-covered precipices, while here and
there a whitened pagoda lifts its conical head above the sum-
mit of an isolated hill, or the smoke of a solitary hamlet is
seen curling up in the midst of Wood-oil tree forests or Liquid
meber groves.

" The Palm-tree vvaveth high.

And fair the Betel springs ;
And, to the Indian maid.

The Eulbul sweetly sings.
But I dinna see the broom

Wi' its tassels on the lea,
Nor hear the Lintie's sang,

O' my ain countrie !"

GEOLOGY.

Crawford collected, and Buckland examined, a series of geo-
logical specimens of every rock seen from the delta of the Ir-
rawaddy to the mountains north of Sagaing ; from which it
appears that the Tertiary formation rests upon the transition,
or mountain limestone, and the intervening cod measures of
Europe are wanting. So far as the geoloay of these provinces
is known, there is an exact correspondence on this point.
We have Alluvium, Diluvium, Tertiary, transition or moun-
tain limestone, the Grauwacke formation, and Primitive, as in
Burmah ; and to complete the correspondence, we have a cal-
carious sandstone, which appears to be of the same age with
a sandstone, that Prof. Buckland referred with doubt to the
New R,ed Sandstone formation.

UJSSTRATIFIED HOCKS.

GRANITE.

We step on shore at Amherst on granite, we meet with it on
Double Island, Callagouk, and the islands opposite Yay, and
from the mouth of Yay river to Tavoy Point the coast is one
unbroken chain of granite. Beyond the Point this rock again
appears, but is lost on the main land below the mouth of^Pai
-river. There is also granite on King's Island, and prebably
on some of the islands north of it. This granite wherever I
have observed it, is composed of quartz, mica, and felspar, the
latter usually white ; and sometimes in crystals an inch long,
constituting porphyritic granite.

On traversing the provinces in the latitude of Tavoy, an-
other granite range is seen about fifteen miles east of Tavoy
river, which rises in some places two or three thousand feet
high, and which J have traced in a S. S. E. direction to the
vicinity of Mergui, and to the N. N. W. beyond the Burman
villages, where granite appears crossing the river. This, how-
ever, is rarely, if ever, porphyritic, but the crystals of mica
are often of considerable size, and the felspar frequently soft,

X GEOLOGY.

and decaying. It is in this range that the tin of Tavoy pro-
vince is chief found.

The dangerous reef called the ' Cows,' near where Tavoy
river disembogues itself, is formed of porphyritic granite, con-
taining large crystals of flesh-colored felspar. This variety
has acquired the local name of

go8©oqpo8» Nwa-gyouk.

coriSiSs. loGdiicn.

• o

It is probably so called from its resemblance to the color of
a red cow ; but tradition says that these rocks were originally
a drove of cows which opposed Boodhism, and attempted to
cross the river to beat down the pagoda opposite, on Tavoy
Point, but the divinity looking out from the pagoda exclaimed,
<; Those are not cows, they are rocks;" when they were all
immediately changed to stone.

It is a curious fact that while these ledges, which are con-
stantly exposed to the water and the weather, are remarkable
for their hardness, rocks of the same composition, at a locali-
ty not a mile distant on the shore, are in a complete state of
disintegration, so that the crystals composing them may be
picked out by the fingers. This fact tends to show that the
disintegration of granite, is attributable to other causes than
exposure to the weather.

Passing still farther east and down the Tenasserim, in about
lattitude lo* 40', the river runs over a broad belt of granite,,
which has the same general features as the preceding. This
is the most eastern granite that I have met with in the province.

On proceeding up the river from Amherst to the head-
waters of the Dahgyaing, no indication of granite occurs from
Amherst Point to the base of the eastern mountains, where
granite boulders appear in the brooks. This granite contains
numerous crystals, of schorl but is apparently destitute of tin ;
for it is not known that tin has ever been worked in Amherst
province.

Mr. Lonsdale, the editor of the Maulmain Chronicle, says,
" Granite is to be seen in abundance on the crest of that high
range of mountains which runs nearly parallel with the
Thoung-yin river, on the Shan or right bank. In the creeks,

GEOLOGX. $

which take their rise in those mountains, and feed the Thoung*
)in, it is to be found in a highly decomposed state."

©oQpo5|ooo5n kyouk-hnan-bat.

GRANITE VEINS.

In a sandstone hill near Mergui is a vein of granite, three
feet thick, as described by Captain Tremenheere, which is a
great repository of tin. Granite veins are seen in granite near
Tavoy point ; and there is a narrow vein of granite on the
summit of the mountain range, that bounds the valley of Ta-
voy river on its east side. At Amherst, granite veins are nu-
merous, mixed with greenstone dykes,

SYENITE.

Referring to the mountainous range in the north-east part of
Amherst Province, Dr. Heifer says, " In some parts occurs
syenite, and only in one place granite." I have seen no sye-
nite in the provinces, yet it may possibly exist in those moun-
tains, though not probable. Granite boulders with schorl, that
I collected at the base of those mountains, have been some-
times erroneously termed syenite.

GREENSTONE.

At Amherst point the rocks are principally greenstone, with
veins of granite and quartz. It has never been analyzed, but
its mineral contents are manifestly different from the common
greenstone of Europe and America. It has no indications of
felspar, but contains considerable silex. It probably con-
sists of Hornblende, and quartz. Mr. Crawford enumerates
all the other rocks at Amherst correctly, but does not men-
tion greenstone. He has quartz rock in his list, in which he
may have included the greenstone.

GREENSTONE SLATE.

Greenstone slate, or diorite slate, forms large dykes in all
the three belts of granite in the southern Provinces. Baron
des Granges, to whom I submitted specimens, said that the
greenstone slate in the granite range nearest the sea was
composed of " flint (silicum) and hornblende." The quan-
tity of hornblende must however be small, for it has the appear-
ance of a silicious rock. It is very hard, but has often a trap-

4 GEOLOGY.

pous structure, falling into angular pieces. To this rock we
are indebted for nearly all our cascades- It often forms preci-
pices, over which the mountain streams leap, and foam with
great beauty. Katay river descends several hundred feet over
a succession of these precipices ; and on the east side of the
mountains, nearly in the latitude of Tavoy, is the finest fall
I have seen in the provinces. At this place Hidu river falls
into a chasm some seventy feet deep, with banks for several
hundred yards, as high and precipitous as the wall over which
the stream plunges.

IGNEOUS DYKES.

Igneous dykes are not uncommon, but they bear very lit-
tle resemblance in their mineral contents to the ordinary trap
rocks of Europe and America. Some resemble quartz rock,
others appear like altered rocks, and many look like sand-
stone, which has been subjected to the action of fire. That
they have been ejected in a soft state is clear from their sides,
which in some places abound with hemispherical cavities, into
which the soft shales have been pressed, and their pressure
probably produced the cavities. The shales are sometimes
seen pressed upwards many degrees on the upper side of the
dyke.

A remarkable dyke is seen in the upper part of the Tenas-
serim river. It runs like a wall nearly half way across the
stream, and is called by the natives the "Giant's dam." It is
about twenty feet high above the water, five or six feet thick,
with perfect parallel sides, and is inclined some ten or fifteen
degrees from a perpendicular. It is a silicious rock, with no
traces of hornblende in its composition.

Some of these igneous rocks appear in hand-specimens to
resemble grauwacke ; and they have been confidently pro-
nounced to be grauwacke, but when viewed in connection
with other rocks in situ, their igneous origin is quite appa-
rent.

claystone porphyry.

Among the sla es and sandstones of Tavoy, claystone por-
phyry is often seen, but I have never met with it at Maulmain,
nor any where in Province Amherst. Excepting the mural
masses of limestone, that province is an immense flat east-

GEOLOGY. &

ward from Maulmain up to the base of ihe granite mountains,
from which the Gyaing descends, except a low range or two
of sandstone and clay slate ridges.

Tavoy, on the contrary, from Siam hill, on its eastern sub-
burb, has precisely the opposite feature of being a continuous
succession of hills and valleys up to the granite mountains.
It is an interesting fact that this great difference in the natu-
ral scenery of the two provinces is almost wholly owing to the
presence or absence of claystone porphyry. At Tavoy, most
of the picturesque little hills are formed of claystone porphyry,
and were those hills melted down again into the bowels of the
earth, whence they probably came in a melted state, Tavoy
would offer nearly the same natural features to the eye that
Maulmain now does, excepting that one of the clay slate
ridges is a little higher than those at Maulmain.

There is a conglomerate on the islands opposite to Pal aw,
and in several places on the banks of t lie Tenasserira, which
seems like claystone porphyry studded with fragments of other
rocks. It is sometimes a breccia, the fragments being angu-
lar bits of slate apparently of the beds below. This is most
usually the character of the rock on the Tenasserim ; but on
the islands opposite Palaw, rounded pebbles are most numer-
ous. In both localities the paste in which the fragments are
imbedded, forms the largest proportion of the rocks.
STRATIFIED ROCKS.

It is worthy of remark that, beginning at Mergui, the line of
stratification gradually turns to the west on proceeding north,
like the line of the coast. At Mergui the strike of the strata
is about two points east of north and west of south ; at Ta-
voy it is two or three points west of north and east of south ;
at Maulmain three or four, and up the Dahgyaing five or six.

GNEISS.

I have seen no well marked gneiss in the provinces, but the
granite is in some places gneissoid.

GoqpoSioooSii — Kyouk-hnan-bat.

QUARTZ ROCK.

Specimens of what most geologists have characterized as
greenstone, or greenstone slate, Dr. M c Clelland called " grey

GEOLOGY.

quartz rock ;" and where it appears in strata passing into in-
durated clayslate, it is nearly all silex.

CLAY SLATE.

Clay slate is usually the first stratified rock that rests on the
granite. In the province of Tavoy it is indurated in some
places so as to loose its slaty structure, and is a fine compact
rock, resembling blue limestone.

MICA SLATE.

Mica slate is seen at Amherst resting on the clay slate ; and
at Palaw, where the beds are much contorted, characteristic
of this rock, no clay slate was observed between it and the
granite ; but the point of contact was not seen. East of Tavoy,
thin beds of clay slate and mica slate alternate near the granite.

PUDD1NGSTONE.

On the banks of the Tenasserim, near the eastern base of
the mountains, in about latitude 13° 50 ; are immense masses of
puddingstone, consisting of water-worn boulders from a few
inches to a foot in diameter, firmly united together ; and form*
ino- what is often called transition puddingstone.

Qcqoc£\ d — Kyouk-phong.

SANDSTONE.

Sandstone most frequently appears next above the primitive
slates, and then alternates with clayslate several times before
the limestone appears. In one place, however, a few miles
south of Toung-byouk river, red sandstone is seen resting on
the granite, no slate being present.

When the stone contains red ochre, as on Siam hill near
Tavoy, the Burmese call it

G 93?" — Kwe-nee.

LATERITE,

Laterite is seen lying above the slate at Amherst, and is
spread over the sea-coast nearly down to Yay, when the granite
appears again, and so far as my observation extends, it is seen
no more on the sea-board. In the interior of the southern
provinces some portion of the sandstone beds partake of the
laterite character; but it is not developed there as in An>

GEOLOGY.

herst province. After leaving Amherst point, laterite appears
at Maulmain alternating with sandstone, and it is seen dis-
tinctly stratified at the base of the eastern mountains, at the
head of the Dahgyaing.

This rock seems to be peculiarly Indian. Its name even is
not found in European and American works on geology.
When not exposed to the weather it has the appearance of a
porous iron clay, somtimes including fragments of other rocks;
and from its quality of hardening when exposed to the atmos-
phere, it has been used extensively for bricks for pagodas and
other purposes, and has hence been named Laterite, from
Later — a brick.

Geologists are much divided in opinion whether to regard
it as a trap rock, or as a stratified one. In these provinces, it
appears to be more of a conglomerate than any thing else.
In some localities, as at Maulmain, it includes large fragments
of sandstone, several inches in diameter. The geological po-
sition of the laterite at Amherst and Maulmain, is precisely
that of decided beds of conglomerate near Tavoy, which
lies immediately above the slate strata that rests on the gfanite.

The Tavoy conglomerate consists mainly of quartz pebbles,
or angular fragments of quartz united by oxide of iron, which
soils The fingers. Some parts of the strata are so fine that Dr.
M c Clelland pronounced specimens that were sent him to be
" sandstone, old." Other parts are coarse, with pebbles half
an inch in diameter, and in some parts the rock is slightly
amygdaloidal, approaching laterite; while on the other hand,
there are portions of the laterite at Amherst and Maulmain
which are considerably compact, with quartz fragments ; and
specimens might be selected with ease which could not be
distinguished from the Tavoy conglomerate.

I never met with any rock even resembling laterite in the
valley of the Tenasserim ; and prof. Buckland does not appear
to have had any in Mr. Crawford's specimens from the valley
of the Irrawaddy. *

coocrepcSu — Ga-won-gyouk.

LIMESTONE.

The limestone of the provinces wherever it has been traced,
is found resting on a thick succession of slate and sandstone

GEOLOGY.

strata, between it and the granite. On the Sal wen it contains
Jead ore, like the metalliferous limestone of England and
America, and it is not wholly destitute of fossils, although
they are verv rare. Captain Tremenheere found a species of
Terebratulain the Tavoy limestone, which is characteristic
of the English mountain limestone ; and it may therefore be
regarded as identical with the carboniferous limestone of the
coal formation.

MILLSTONE GRIT.

Beds of conglomerate or breccia appear above the lime-
stone in Tavoy province, where they occupy the place of the
millstone grit in England. They appear, however, to belong to
a more recent formation above the coal measures.

1ERTIARY.

The Tertiary formation is fully developed in the valley of
the Tenasserim. There are found beds of pebbles and sand
partialy consolidated; plastic clay containing lignite; soft
shales, with impressions of recent plants; and in some places,
calcareous srrit and gypsum, with conglomerates composed of
enormous masses from the adjoining rocks.

Whether some of these belong to the tertiary or the new red
sandstone formation may admit of doubt. Such products are
found in both, and until they are ascertained to contain organic
remains decisive of the latter, to separate them from the former
is to make an arbitrary and unnecessary division.

» A red sandstone from the neighbourhood of Pagan is im-
ported into the provinces, for the use of Burmese women,
to srind up their odoriferous woods upon, of which Dr. Buck-
land says : " It may with more probability be referred to the
new red sandstone than to any other formation.' 5 The stone
umbrella of the image at Amherst point affords a specimen of
this rock.

ccn:>S§?coqpo5.i — Toung-oo-kyouk.

DILUVIUM.

The richest tin locality in the. province of Tavoy is at the
base of the eastern mountains, where the vallies are covered
with a thick bed of diluvial pebbles and boulders, eight or
ten feet thick, below which no tin is found.

GEOLOGY".

CROSS SECTIONS.

FROM MONMAGON TO THE TF.Sf ASSERIItf.

Were a person to land at Monmagon, opposite the middle
IVJoscos, and proceed across the province of Tavoy to the Te-
nasserim, and down that river to the highest point where
Dr. Heifer found coal, he would see on the way nearly every
rock that has been discovered in the Provinces. At Monma-
gon granite rocks appear below high water mark, and thence
to the base of the range of hills that separates the valley of
Tavoy river from the sea, is a sandy plain a mile across, which
seems to have been originally covered by the ocean. The
hills from the base to the summit arc granite, rising at the
right of the road to fourteen hundred i'eet high, as measured
by Capt. Glover.

On the eastern declivity greenstone slate shows itself, and
thirty miles further south, there are granite and greenstone down
to the bank of the river. On descending the hill however
from Monmagon, a well has been dug at its base, and from
the bottom of the well a soft friable white stone brought up,
which Baron des Granges said was " green sandstone, much
decomposed — cretaceous group." The accuracy of this state-
ment may be well doubted from the Geological position of the
rock, but it is quite a peculiar sandstone, and I have not seen
any thing exactly like it in any other place in the provinces.
It bears some resemblance to very fine granular quartz. •

Clayslate next appears, and continues to the banks of Tavoy
river. In some places a kind of iron stone is seen, and a
short distance noith of the road there is a hill composed al-
most entirely of magnetic iron ore, while the bottom of a
well in the vicinity, is floored with Tremenheerite.

After crossing Tavoy river there is an. alluvial plain, one or
two miles broad to Siam Hill, where a red conglomerate ap-
pears, bearing a strong resemblance to the laterite of Am her si
province, and on its eastern margin is an igneous or altered
rock, abounding in amygdaloidal cavities and pyrites A pre-
cisely similar rock, but with less iron pyrites, is seen in the la-
terite at Moopoon This i? succeeded by an alluvia! plain, bur

10 GEOLOGY.

the banks of Pagaya river which crosses it, show clayslate crop-
ping out below the alluvium which is remarkable for contain-
ing a large quantity of small iron pyrites. Specimens of this
slate after being in the cabinet one rains, were covered with
a thick efflorescense of sulphate of iron, or copperas, from
the decomposition of the pyrites. The hill at the village of
Salung* which bounds this plain, is formed of claystone por-
phyry, soft, and of a bluish color, where not exposed to the
weather. The little knoll a mile further east, on which the
village of Ta-laing-doungf stands, appears to be formed of clay-
stone. Soon after this white sandstone appears, and half a mile
beyond, Nga-than-kyoungf is seen running over a ledge of
white sandstone rocks. The same rock appears at intervals
for two miles farther to a little distance east of the village of
Pyee-doung,§ where an igneous dyke crops out of the bank of
the river that has been called, but it is believed erroneously,
grauwacke.

The hill east of Pyee-doung is formed of claystone porphy-
ry of a reddish color, and more indurated than that at Salung.
A small hill beyond has slate clay, and furnishes all that is
seen in Tavoy bazar ; and a hill east of this, shows claystone
porphyry again near the mouth of Bya-hung-khyoung.|| Be-
yond this, a micaceous-slaty sandstone is seen cropping up a-
cross the road, and a few hundred yards farther east, common
white sandstone is seen in the banks of Pagaya river. These
sandstones appear near the base of a range of hills from five to
eight hundred feet high, that reach Pagaya river at its forks
aj!x)ut nine miles from Tavoy. This range seems to be wholly
composed of thin lamina of slate, principally clayslate, in some
places much contorted. Dr. M'Clelland designated one speci-
men that was sent him as " chlorite slate." The strata make
an angle with the horizon of about 30°. East of this range, clay-
stone porphyry appears again, and beyond this in the bed of a
little stream, limestone apparently stratified shows itself, the
beds making an angle of from 20° to 30° with the horizon.

*©cfyi fooc^£Gcoo£'i fcHo6es|jo5»

GEOLOGT. II

This is the locality from which Captain Tremenheere obtained
specimens containing casts of a species of terebratula, which
identifies it with the English mountain limestone.

In a small brook descending from a hill east of the limestone,
are seen numerous beds of breccia, containing angular pieces
of sandstone and quartz pebbles. They make an angle of 30°
or 40° with the horizon dipping to the east, and leaning to-
wards the granite west of Tavoy river as an anticlinal axis; as
do all the other stratified rock that have been passed over, but
th»s is the uppermost in the series ; for the next that are reach-
ed a mile farther east are found dipping to the west, and lean-
ing to the eastern belt of granite. The strike of the strata in
all these rocks where observed, was from two to three points
west of north and east of south.

The highest beds in the next series of rocks, appear in a
range of hills back of the Karen village of Thaluor Lung-lung.*
They consist of clay slate with sandstone alternating, some of
them might be denominated colored shales. The strata are
much contorted, and though in some places they make a small
angle with the horizon, in others they appear to be. nearly
standing on their edges. Old red sandstone much indurated
next appears, and beyond this in Khat brookt what Dr. M'Clel-
land called, " a finely laminated mica slate'coarsely'laminated
with layers of clayslate." The strata are nearly perpendicular.

This is succeeded by M'Clelland's grey quartz rock, the
greenstone slate of others ; and hard clayslate with imperfect
crystals of andalusite made or chiastolite follows. Where the
clayslate shows itself five miles north of this locality, it is filled
with crystals of made that are perfect. The next beds ap-
pear like graphic slate. — " Dark blue, uniformly mottled on
the cleavage with dull specks of mica — soil and write ; " says
a correspondent. The " dull specks of mica, " it is believed,
are disintegrated, or imperfectly formed crystals of mackle. It
is certain that perfect crystals of this mineral are found among
them. Clay slate with layers of mica slate follow, arid in leav-
ing this rock near the mouth of Nyoungf lu^ck : and ascending

*oqo5'i f3c/5G-sp£o

12 GEOLOGY.

the mountains, claystone porphyry in a very indurated state, is
found more than a thousand feet above the valley below. This
is succeeded by clay state, and grey quartz rock, or green-
stone slate, and then granite i3 again seen at perhaps two
thousand feet above Hhe sea.

After leaving the granite on the northern route by Lokekhyen,
the first rocks that appear are different varieties of indurated
or silicious slate. On the summit of the ridge which divides
the waters that fall into the sea from those that pour into the
Tenasserim, greenstone slate appears again, weathered on the
outside for nearly an inch deep into a rock resembling red
sandstone, or some varieties of laterite. On the summit of
this ridge, which has a little table land, a narrow vein of
granite obtrudes in a fine grained porphyrinic rock. The
vein is not more than half an inch wide and consists prin-
cipally, if not altogether of mica and quartz, the former in the
greatest abundance ; and the rock which the vein pierces, seems
to consist of the same minerals but contains numerous crystals
of mica diffused throughout, that appear to have been formed
there when the vein was ejected, for they are most numerous
nearest the vein.

On descending the mountains into the valley of the Tenas-
acrim, indurated clay slate, and quartz rock are repeatedly seen,
and on these rests a white sandstone. At the foot of the
mountains for a space of about six or eight miles long by three
or four miles wide, is a diluvial deposit six or eight feet deep, rich
in tin, and containing a little gold.

When the banks of the Tenasserim are reached a few miles
east of the diluvium, a succession of beds of conglomerate or
pudding stone are seen, consisting principally of rounded
pebbles cemented by the hydrate of iron. They are inclined
at a small angle with the horizon, and dipping towards the
west and north, lean towards an anticlinal axis east and south.
A few miles north of this locality, and lying above the con-
glomerate are beds of clay containing lignite.

Descending the river to the high banks at the forks of the Ten-
asserim, beds of indurated sand are seen cropping out beneath
the conglomerate, which abound in impressions of leaves of
dicotyledonous plants resembling the leaves of existing species,
and below these, down to the water's edge are beds of shale

GEOLOGY. 13

containing the carbonized stems of plants, and casts of small
shells, some of which bear a strong resemblance to shells of
the genus onchus. In the river a«d on the banks below, a
breccia appears, which in some part3 is a hard rock with nu-
merous crystals of lime inclosing angular bits of shale; in
others, it is a loose conglomerate with rounded pebbles of
quartz, angular bits of white quartz, grains of mica, bits of
decomposing felspar, large pieces of shale that seem to have
been united with the mass in the form of clay, and numerous
small rounded pebbles of chlorite, a rock which I have no
where seen in situ in the Provinces. Below this conglomer-
ate are the thick beds of shale, which have furnished the
conglomerate with its fragments.

The river after leaving these shales, passes out of the open
country, in which it has been rushing, into a hilly region, and
the character of the rocks is immediately changed. Green-
stone slate appears, and that is followed by a rock which some
geologists have called an altered rock, but which corresponds
almost precisely to a variety of claystone porphyry from Hun-
gary, which I saw in the museum of the Asiatic Society. A
few yards from the bank of the river, just below these rocks,
are sulphureous hot springs.

For several miles further down, there is a succession of clay
slate and sandstone strata, and they are followed by a conglo-
merate or breccia or grauwacke or claystone prophyry, for it
admits of all these names. It is formed of a paste of claystone
porphyry, imbedding more or less fragments of the clay slate
on which it lies, and the fragments are usually angular. On the
islands opposite Palau, a similar rock is found with rounded
quartz pebbles. Resting on this rock in one place near the
bank of the river, is a large mass of white limestone with
veins of red oxide of iron running through it, that give it a
fantastic appearance ; and the Karens call it the " Giant's
scull." It lies at the base of a high hill, from the summit cf
which it appears to have fallen, and where the limestone is
doubtless in situ. This conglomerate continues for several
miles, farther down, when clay slate re-appears, and after a few
miles, it is followed by a basin covered with tertiary beds similar
to those seen above.

Just above the mouth of Moung khyoung, from one to two

14 GEOLOGY.

hundred feet of the beds are seen on the side of a precipice,
the lowest of which is one of indurated slate clay, and above
that, a very thick bed of conglomerate composed of angular
fragments, as I judged, of the slate formation next below.
Some of the fragments of slate are several feet, not to say yards,
in cubic contents with their angles as sharp as if just bro-
ken from the rock to which they originally belonged. It should
be observed however, that while some of the fragments appear-
ed to be hard blue slate, many others were soft colored shales,
apparently of the same age as the formation itself. It contains
no boulders or fragments, so far as I could discover, older than
the slate.

At the mouth of Moung khyoung there appears to be a fault.
A few hundred yards above the mouth of the stream, a hill
some two hundred feet high suddenly appears on the alluvial
bank of the river, with precipitous sides to the north and wc*t,
in which the strata are seen dipping down to the south. On
reaching the mouth of the stream the river is very deep, broad,
and fctilJ, and forms a small lake, and the strata again appear
in the side of a precipitins hill below the mouth of the stream,
dipping in precisely the opposite direction from that above, and
at a considerably higher angle, while a short distance below, the
hill disappears, and the strata are seen in the deep bank dip-
ping in the same direction, but in a much smaller angle, and in
the same direction, that all the strata below dip until reaching
the granite. A fault at the mouth of the stream might produce
these irregularities, by throwing down the ends of the strata on
both sides of it, but most on the northern side. Slate clay
containing alum, and granular gypsum are both found in this
neighborhood.

On passing out of this basin, the claystone porphyry conglo-
merate is again observable for several miles ; then clay slate,
and that is succeeded for several miles by tertiary conglome-
rate, like indurated gravel, until granite is reached again in
about latitude 13° 40'. Clay slate is seen resting on the gra-
nite on the south side, and that is followed by a succession of
precisely similar rocks to those, that have been passed between
the forks at Mata and the granite.

In about Latitude 13° 20', are some curious piles of limestone
resting on the claystone porphyry conglomerate, beneath which

GEOLOGY. 15

clayslate crops out several hundred yards in thickness, and
dipping at an angle of about 45°. The limestone appears in two
or three isolated masses more than a thousand feet high with
perpendicular sides, and apparently quite inaccessible. They
resemble the limestone cliffs of Maulmain, but differ from them
in being distinctly stratified in beds of a few feet in thickness.
Though in sight of the river they are several miles from its
banks, and only a very short distance above the highest point
where Dr Heifer found coal. The coal lies above the lime-
stone, and that is the place to look for true bituminous coal,
but this is unquestionably wood coal or lignite, which shows
that the coal measures are wanting in this place.

The geology of the valley of the Tenasserim below this point
to Mergui, is only a repetition of what has been seen above.

FROM AMHERST TO THE THOUNGYEEN.

A trip across the Province of Amherst is of far less interest
to the geologist, the rocks being seen in much less variety.
At Amherst, granite and greenstone are succeeded by clay
slate, mica slate, and laterite. At Moopoon, the laterite is seen
again, and at Maulmain, sandstone, laterite, shales, and slate
clay constitute the rocks, so far as they appear. At the mouth
of the river Gyaing, where the white Pagoda stands, is sand-
stone ; and from that point to the old city of Gyaing, the only
rock seen is limestone.

The hills back of Gyaing are composed of sandstone and
shale; the strike of the strata being north north-west and south
south-east, with a dip of about 45° to the east, leaning like the
strata at Maulmain towards the granite at Amherst as an anti-
clinal axis, which shows that the limestone on the plain lies
above the strata at Maulmain, and below that at Gyaing. On
proceeding up the Dahgyaing, tertiary beds of a soft con-
glomerate resembling indurated gravel, are seen; and the
lignite, which Mr. O'Riley says has been found on this river,
probably exists in this formation.

In one or two places the river runs over banks of shale, dip-
ping like the preceeding strata to the east ; the highest being
within eight miles of the head of boat navigation, and this is
the last rock seen dipping to the east.

When within eiffht miles of the eastern mountains, strata

10 GEOLOGY.

appear dipping to the west and leaning towards the granite in
those mountains. Laterite, clayslate, mica slate, and granite
are found on rising the mountain, and thence to the banks of
the Thoungyeen, the boundary of the Province, a gentleman,
who collected specimens for me, found nothing but limestone.
Capt« Latter mentions sandstone as being abundant in the val-
ley of the Thoungyeen, and Mr. Lonsdale says that the valley
is bounded on the eastern side by granite mountains.

THERMAL, SPRINGS.

The Provinces are well supplied with hot springs ; and some
of them are probably not inferior in their medicinal qualities
to the fashionable Spas of Europe and America. Though
their waters have never been subjected to any minute analy-
sis, yet we know there is a great variety in the properties of
different springs. They may be arranged in three different
classes, — carbonated, sulphureous, and saline.

CARBONATED THERMAL SPRINGS.

The hot springs on the Ataran, according to Dr. Heifer's
description, belong to the carbonated class. They are situated
within two miles of the old town of Ataran, and Dr. Heifer
writes : " There are ten hot springs or rather hot water ponds,
of which 1 could only examine the nearest, as the access to the
others was through deep water at 130° Farenheit. This one
was a semicircular pond about fifty feet in circumferance. In
one place it was thirty five feet deep. The quantity of car-
bonic acid which the springs evolve, seems to render the neigh-
borhood peculiary adapted to support vegetable life. — The
ground around the spring is strongly impregnated with iron,
and the water which runs over the ochre mud has a strong styp-
tic taste. The springs on the Ataran approach in their com-
position nearest to the celebrated waters of Tccplitz."

" Their medicai properties would render them excellent
remedies in a number of diseases, liver complaints would find a
powerful remedy in them. If Amherst should be selected as
a resort for invalids, the hot springs on the Ataran could easi-
ly* be turned to advantage. In a direct line, they would be
only four or five hours distant, and a road could be cut

GEOLOGY. 17

through the country without difficulty, so that patients
could he removed there and bathe in loco."

Dr. Morton found on analysis, that the waters contain
a considerable quantity of calcareous matter, and that the
tufa which it deposits on the border of the springs, is a
carbonate of lime. They appear to arise from the moun-
tain limestone, and thus to hold a geological position sim-
ilar to that of the hot springs of Great Britain, most of
which rise from strata below the coal, and hence from, r
through the limestone.

SULPHUREOUS THERMAL SPRINGS.

About four miles below Matah at the forks of the Te>
hasserim, and a few miles north of the latitude of Tavoy,
n-e hot springs highly charged with sulphuretted
hydrogen gas, so readily recognized by its smell which is
precisely that of the washings of a gun barrel ; the odor
in both instances being produced by this same gas. AJJ
the stones in the springs are of a bright brass color, pro-
duced apparently by the deposition of the sulphur; and
although the virtues of these waters are hidden from man,
they appear to be well known to the beasts of the forest.
To jud^e from the tracks around in tie morning, the most
rruous parties are held here every night. The deli-
cate little tread of the chevrotain and barking deer, are
seen side by side with the massive steps of the elephant
and rhinoceros; and the tiger, and the leopard seem to
side their fierceness, and peaceably walk away satis-
fled with a draught of the much coveted beverage.

Dr. Heifer said these springs belonged to " the class of
sulphun >us mineral waters, tinged slightly with chaly-
beate, like the water of Brighton." Their heat above the
acre is not great. IVlr. Bennelt at a recent visit,
found the thermometer to rise in the hottest spring to on-
ly 119°. They rise from the slate rocks, like the warm
gs of a considerable part of Germany.

SALINE THERMAL SPRINGS.

On the margin of the granite range east of Tavoy,
either near the junction of the slate and granite, or in the

18 GEOLOGY,

granite itself, is a series of the hottest springs in the Prov-
inces. I have visited four of five in a line of fifty or sixty
miles, and found them uniformly of a saline character,
Around one nearly east of Tavoy, the stones are covered
tvith an efflorescence resembling ep^som or glauber salt.
Mr. Bennett found the Thermometer in this spring, to rise
to 144°. Major McLeod visited one of the series at
Palouk, and writes : " There are two spots where the
springs show themselves. One immediately in the right
bank of the river, and another two or three minutes walk
to the northeast inland. — There must be 30 or 40 bubbling
up along a line of about 50 feet by 20. — The hottest was
196° another 194°. No disagreeable smell or taste."

The hottest springs are at Pai, ten or fifteen miles
north of those visited by Major McLeod, and according
to Phillips they are hotter than any on record out of vol-
canic regions, with the questionable exception of three
springs in China, which, " probably exceeded the tem-
perature of the air from 70 to 120 degrees." The prin-
cipal spring at Pai, — for there are several, is in a little
sandy basin in the midst of granite rocks on the margin
of a cold-water stream, where it bubbles up from three or
four vents, and on immersing the thermometer into one,
the mercury rises to 198°, within fourteen degrees of
boiling water. Its location is rather peculiar, not being
in a valley like the others 1 have seen, bust on the side of
a hill more than a thousand feet above the level of the
sea, and surrounded by large masses of coarse grained
granite rocks, which seem to have been detached from
the summit above.

MINER SlLOGY.

Our knowledge of the mineralogy of the Provinces has
been increasing with each successive year, and will pro-
bably contiue to do so for many years to come. Lead
rich in silver, copper, manganese, Tremenheerite a new
mineral, chiastolite, chalcedony, carnelian, and agate have
ail been discovered within the last ten years ; and we have
every reason to believe, that the n«xt ten will not be less
fruitful in discovery.

EARTHY MINERALS,

COMMON QUARTZ.

Common quartz is one of the most abundant minerals
in the Provinces.

coTc6«

CRYSTALLIZED QUARTZ.

Small crystals of quartz are common in the Provinces,
and large specimens of rock crystal are sometimes brought
from the Siamese frontier. Some of the " Ceylon dia-
monds " which the Ceylonese offer for sale, are made of
rock crystal ; and many of the " rubies," and other pre-
cious stones, that the Shans bring with them in their an-
nual caravan from the north of Burmah, are made of rock
crystal colored artificially. They are heated and plunged
into colored solutions. A gentleman of my acquaintance
being about to visit Calcutta a few years ago, purchased a
few of these " jewels," a great bargain, of a Shan who
was anxious to return home, and therefore sold for fifteen
rupees what, he said, was worth a hundred. On being
subjected to the examination of a jeweler in Calcutta,,
they were found to be all either colored quartz, or paste^
and not worth fifteen pice !

§S8fi ofcoqpoSi. 8§ucq<5.

20 MINERALOGY.

GREFN QUARTZ.

Green quartz, or prase, is sometimes found in the form
of pebbles in our mountain streams, but it is not very
abundant.

MILKY QUARTZ.

Milky quartz is occasionally found in the Mergui awd
Tavoy provinces.

AMETHYST.

Pebbles of amethyst, or violet quartz, are brought fr< >ra
the rivers in Burmah, where they are regarded as a varie-
ty of the sapphire; the Burmese name signifying " Egg-
plant sapphire," or, as they are sometimes called, " Egg-
plant flower stone," from the blue flower of the egg-plant-

YELLOW QUARTZ.

I have met with dull specimens of yellow quartz, or
citrine, on the Tenasserim ; but it is not common.

GRANULAR QUARTZ.

The laterite often incloses fragments of a granular
quartz rock, which crumbles to pieces in the lingers into
a fine quartz sand.

cat's eye.

The cat's eye, a gem, which gives out a pearly reflec-
tion resembling the eye of a cat, is often seen set in rings.,
and is brought from Burmah. Comstock says: "It is in
great request as a gem, and bears a high price ;" but
those seen in Maulmain market are not much valtfed. A
small one may be purchased for two rupees, and one of
ordinary size for five ; while ten rupees is the highest
price given for the best.

FLINT.

Flint does not appear to be found either in the Provin-

SI1NERAL0GY. 21

ces, or Burmah; alKthe flints that are used being imported
from Bengal.

COMMON CHALCEDONY.

Chalcedony, both white and yellow, has been discover-
ed at Moopoon near Maulmain, and is very abundant in
Burmah. " Chalcedony passes insensibly into agate, and
carnelian, and perhaps into hornstone."

Qo^cpJ^n white. Gc^Gpolu yellow

CACHOLONG,

Streaks of cacholong, or milk white chalcedony, are
seen on some of the agates.

SARD.

" This is of a deep rich, reddish brown color, probably
a variety of carnelian," but by some regarded as a variety
of chalcedony, and is seen occasionally as constituting a
part of some of the agates offered for sale-

ONYX.

Mineralogists are not agreed in the definition of onyx.
According to Comstock, it is a 'variety of chalcedony,
" consisting of alternate layers of opake milk-white chal-
cedony, or cacholong, and of the bluish translucent chal-
cedony," — the chalcedonyx of Jameson. Such are found
at Moopoon.

o cq cp Q coqp So 6 n

Aiken says : " Two or more plates of any of the varieties
of the chalcedony form the onyx." Such are found in
Burmah, if not in the Provinces.

oo^cpGoqp£oSn *

SARDONYX.

According to Comstock, sardonyx consists of stripes of

22 MINERALOGY.

" onyx and sard," or sard and chalcedony ; and sttda
stones are occasionally seen in the hands of the natives.

CARNELIAN.

Camelian is very common in Burmah, and has been
found at Moopoon and Mergui. " Its principal color, : '_
says Jameson, " is blood red" of all degrees of intensity. 1 '
One of its Burman names is, " Fowl's blood. "

" It also occurs sometimes milk-white, and in some
specimens it is difficult to decide whether it belongs
chalcedony, agate, jasper, or camelian." Some ? arij
are yellow.

BLOODSTONE Or HELIOTROPE.

The green stone with red or yellowish d I
bloodstone, or heliotrope, is not rare ; but whether found
jn Burmah or not, is uncertain. The native
same name that they do green jasper.

AGATE.

Agate is found at Moopoon near Maul main, and
say at Mergui also.

goo son Common agate.

oo^Gp©Qo8o6u Striped age ■

lr the stripes are chalcedony and. cacholong, I
stone thus designated will be the onyx Una]
camelian, agate, and onyx, are all
qo^Gpii

t EL BOW JASPER.

I have met with yellow jasper on the T.enasseri
)\ i? not'oi* common occurrence.

M1N3RAL0GY. 23

GREEN JASPER.

A soft green jasper of which I have specimens, said to
be found in the Provinces, the Burmese call,

co£c^8|Goqpo5»

Precious green jasper, including striped jasper, is call-
ed by the Burmese,

|ol^«

FRDCIOUS GARNET, or ALMANDINE.

Precious garnets in the form of pebbles, are often seen
for sale among the Burmese ; but it is not certain that
any are found in the Provinces. Mineralogists say, the
most beautiful come from Sirian the capital of Pegu. It
is the carbuncle of the ancients.

" In a creek on the Siamese side SJ of the Tenasserim
valley, Dr. Heifer says " rubies are found. They are
however of a very inferior description" — probably garnets.
Goqpo6|a

o^qgS* a variety with a violet tinge.
8(c|[cr^ inferior varieties.

COMMON GARNET,

The common garnet is occasionally seen in the sands
of our rivers, but it is not abundant.

PYROPE.

A variety of the garnet, either identical or nearly resem-
bling the pyrope garnet, is brought from Burmah. It is
characterised by giving to transmitted light a yellow tinge,
or as the natives say, the the color of the ox's gall ; and
hence the Burmese name, which in Fall signifies ox-gall.
goIqoSh goIqIqh IFali.)

CLAYSLATE#

Clayslate is a very abundant mineral throughout the
Provinces, and is found in numerous varieties, soft shales,

24 MINERALOGY,

and hard indurated slate abounding in siiex ; roof-slate,
and a variety that soils and writes like graphic slate.

ROOFSLATE.

In some localities, especially in one near the head waters
of a branch of Toung-byouk river, .he clay si ate cleaves
into large thin plates that would serve for roof slates, or for
slates to write upon.

SHALE.

Shale characterized as in " layers often uneven, pro-
tuberant, or knobby — often disintegrates and falls to
pieces," is abundant in the neighborhood of Maulmain,
and near the forks of the Tenasserim.

BITUMINOUS SHALcI.

Shale containing vegetable impressions, and carbonized
stems of plants, is found at the forks of the Tenasserim,
and perhaps belongs to the class of bituminous shales,
though it does not appear to contain much bitumen.

GRAPHI* SLATE.

A slate that " soils and writes, " as Dr. M'Clelland
described it, is found east of Tavoy, and another and softer
variety is found in Maulmain near Tremenheerite. They
may be justly regarded as varieties of graphic slate.

SILICIOUS SLATE.

Silicious slate is found near the granite mountains east
of Tavoy. By some it is denominated indurated slate.

CLAYSTONE.

There is a thick bed of reddish claystone, a few miles
east of Tavoy, that cannot be distinguished in hand
specimens from Scotch claystone.

IRON CLAY.

Iron clay is very abundant in the laterite, which is often
wholly composed of iron clay.

MINERALOGY. 25

PORCELAIN CLAY.

The clays have not been analyzed, but there are clays at
the bases of some of the granite mountains, where the
felspar has decomposed so much, that the paths ai'e thick
with a course quartzose sand, and a few grains of mica that
remain. As porcelain clay is produced by the decomposi-
tion of felspar, such is probably the clay in the localities
to which reference has been made.

potter's clay.

The clay in which the petrified trees are found has the
appearance of fine potter's clay ; and' clays from the banks
of the Ataran and Gyaing rivers were found, Mr. O'lliley
says, " after several trials at the Calcutta mint, to possess
every good property of the best English fire clays."

LOAM, Or BRICK EARTH.

The alluvial beds within the reach of tide waters, con-
tain numerous strata from which bricks are made.

REDDLE.

Reddle, or red chalk is seen in the bazar, bu.t it is im-
ported, though it probably exists in the provinces.

AUGITE.

On the banks of the rivers near Maul main and Tavoy,
masses of dolerite are found which contain augite. They
are not however found in situ in the Provinces, and have
probably been brought from the Isle of France.

HORNBLENDE.

I have met with hornblende as a constituent of green-
stone ; but never in the Provinces in any other connection,

LABRADOR HORNBLENDE, Or HYPERSTHENE.

Baron des Granges, to whom was sent specimens of the
greenstone east of Tavoy, said that the hornblende it con-
tained was Labrador hornblende.

26 MINERALOGY.

BLUE SAPPHIRE.

Blue sapphires are brought from Burmali, and Dr. Hei-
fer writing from Mergui says : "A Karen informed me,
there are precious blue stones to be had, which the Shans
collect and carry to Bangkok. He described the place as
eight days distant, and did not know whether it was Bri-
tish or Siamese."

RED SAPPHIRE, Or ORIENTAL RUBY.

The red sapphire, or ruby, is brought from Burmah,
where it is found with the common blue sapphire, probably
in the valley of the Salwen. The Burmese call it by the
same name that they do the precious garnet, and do not
appear to be always able to distinguish them.

VIOLET SAPPHIRE.

The \iolet sapphire, or Oriental amethyst; is found in
the same localities as the common sapphire.

YELLOW SAPPHIRE.

The most valuable topaz in Burmah, is the yellow sap-
phire, or Oriental topaz.

g[Ococscpsu

GREEN SAPPHIRE, or ORIENTAL EMERALD.

A green gem is often teen for sale among the Burmese,
brought from Burmah, which Europeans usually call emer-
ald ; but it is probably a blue sapphire. The true emerald
may however be among them.

0'

CORUNDUM.

Corundum pebbles are found in " the gem-sand of Ava
river ; " and they probably exist in the sands of some of

MINERALOGY. 27

the rivers in these provinces. The common emery is a
yariety of this species.

8$©CglGOqpfiSi CQGCglGOpoS*
SPINELLE RUBY.

By far the larger proportion of the rubies offered for sale,
are, it is believed, spinelle rubies. I have a small specimen
which every native, who has seen it, regards as one of the
best kind of rubies, or red sapphire, but its natural crystal-
line form is easily recognised, as a regular octahedron ;
while that of the oriental ruby is a six sided figure, or some
of its modifications. They are seen of all shades. Blood
red, the proper spinelle ruby ; rose red, the balas ruby,
orange red, or rubicelle ; and violet colored or almandine
ruby. It is no easy task to distinguish, accurately, the true
character of the different stones offered for sale as rubies.
Both Europeans and natives often make great mistakes.
An English officer bought a " ruby " in Maulmain a few
years ago for fifteen rupees, his friend bought one foi five
rupees ; and the rubies were thought to be of nearly equal
value ; but on walking into a jeweler's shop in Calcutta, a
year or two afterwards, the jeweler offered four hundred
ViW&jifty rupees for the one, but refused to give two rupees
for the other, characterizing it as " a worthless garnet."
coqpo5^» u 8oS 01 '

\w the inferior varieties.

CEYLAN1TE.

The dark blue, or blackish varieties of spinelle, called
Ceylanite or pleonaste,are often offered for sale by the Sharis
under the same name as the sapphire*

fcOQM
AVA GEM — SAND.

Gem sand from the neighborhood of Ava, is sometimes
one of the Shan articles of merchandize. It consists of
small fragments of nearly all the precious stones found in
the country, but garnet, beryl, and spinelle are its principal
constituents, more especially the last, which seems to

28

MINERALOGY.

constitute more than three fourths of the whole mass. A
single handful will contain specimens of every shade, black,
blue, violet, scarlet, rose, orange, amber yellow, wine
yellow, brown, and %'hite. Many retain their original
crystaline forms, some have the fundamental form of the
species, a perfect octahedron ; but many others have some
of the secondary forms, among which it is not uncommon
to see twin crystals with three re-entering angles, formpd
by two segments of the tetrahedron truncated on the
angles, and joined together by their bases.

COMMON SERPENTINE.

Dr. Heifer found serpentine on the islands of the Mergui
Archipelago, and Dr. Morton picked up a boulder near
Amherst, containing a small vein of common serpentine ;
which indicate its existence in the Provinces, although no
definite locality where it exists, is known.

PRECIOUS SERPENTINE.

Precious serpentine exists int he Ilookhoong valley, north-
west of Ava, whence it is exported to China, and brought
into the southern parts of the empire, but it has not yet
been discovered in these provinces.

ZIRCON.

Some of the best of the Ceylon jewels are probably
zircon, the pale variety of which supplies the diamonds
used in the jeweling of watches ; and Jameson savs, it is
often sold as an inferior kind of diamond.

BERYL.

Beryls are found in the sands of the Irrawaddy ; and
may probably be found in some of the rivers, that descend
From the granite mountains in these provinces.

8S.

MINERALOGY. 29

ACIDIFEROUS EARTHY MINERALS.

CARBONATE OF LIME.

This is a very abundant mineral in the Provinces and
embraces several varieties.

STALACTICAL CARBONATE OF LIME.

All the limestone caves have stalactites hanging from
their roofs ; and stalagmites rai-sed on their floors. The
Siamese Karens often bring over bits of limestone of the
shape of a shell, and when broken, a shell usually of the
genus melania appears, that has been encrusted with car~
bonate of lime. Much of the alabaster of which ornaments
are made is stalagmite ; but all the alabaster images of
this coast are made of marble ; and not of compaci
gypsum, which they much resemble.

GOtpcSooSu lOQ^llGl. CCl^cSi^iii

GRANULAR LIMESTONE.

This is the marble of which the images of Gaudama
are formed, which are usually called alabaster images
It is a primitive limestone which has not hitherto been
iound in the provinces ; but is abundant near Ava

COMMON LIMESTONE,

All the limestone of the provinces that I have met with,
belongs to the older secondary formation ; which pro-
duces what is usually denominated common limestone.

Of the specimens sent to Dr. Ure by Mr. Blundell, he
said : " The limestone from Tavoy has a specific gravity oi
2-7, and is a perfectly pure, semi-crystaline carbonate
of lime, akin to statuary marble. It is well adapted to act
as a flux in the melting of iron. The limestone of Mer-
gui has a specific gravity of 2-7 ; it is a pure calcareous
carbonate."

C§Goqpo5n lobdiiibtTilc. ogjkoAcoifcg^

,30 MINERALOGY.

CALCAREOUS GRIT.

There is a calcareous grit apparently of the tertiary
formation, found on the Tenasserim in about latitude 14°
20'. It is composed of grains of sand united by a calca-
reous cement. It is of a uniform grey color, and makes
the best whetstones that are found in the provinces.

CHALK-

Chalk is seen in the bazars, but it does not appear to be
a production of this country, being imported from Ben-
gal.

cggo ojaojgi. c££8£o1-

MAUL.

The soil may be characterised as marly in the neigh-
borhood of some of the limestone ranges, but no beds of
marl have yet been discovered.

CALCAREOUS TUFA.

Several varieties of calcareous tufa are found in the
vicinity of the limestone rocks, formed by the deposition
of the waters that run over them. They often contain
shells belonging to existing species ; especially Helix
angu ina, and Cyclostoma tuba.

A RR ACONITE.

Some of the caves on the Sahven furnish a species of
double refractive spar, which I judge to be Arragonite.

DOLOMITE, OR MAGNESIAN CARBONATE OF LIME.

A few of the limestones in the east part of Amherst Pro-
vince, Mr. O'Riley found to be magnesian carbonates .
and Prof. Mitchell in his analysis of the lead ore from the
Salwen-limestone found m p gnesia among its consti-
tuents.

A limestone in Arracan, Mr.Stilson has used as a litho-
graphic stone in a small way ; but it does not do well.

MINERALOGY. 31

FLUOR SPAR.

I have a small specimen of bluish crystals of fluor spar,
which the Burman, who brought it, said was found in
the northern part of Province Amherst. As the mineral
is often found in connection with lead, it is probable they
will be found together in these Provinces.
Filiate of lime,

SELENITE.

A fine transparent crystal of selenite in the shape of
a parallelopipid was brought me by a Burman, who said
it was found in Amherst Province.

Crystallized sulphate of lime.

Foliated

Qcqp oS 00 CO 6 Gdl CO n

FIBROL'S GYPSUM.

A fine variety of fibrous gypsum is seen in some of
the China shops ; but it is brought, the Chinese say, from
China. They use it in medicine, and say " it is very
cooling" !

Sulphate of lime.

Sha-koung. (Chinese.)

GRANULAR GYPSUM,

Gypsum is found near the banks of the Tenasserim in
about latitude 13° 40' N. It is granular and friable, and
does not correspond in appearance to ordinary specimens;
but Dr Morton who analyzed it, pronounced it a decider 1
sulphate of lime.

32 MINERALOGY

ACIDIFEROUS ALKALINE MINERALS.

SALTPETRE.

Saltpetre is found in some of the caves and is imported
from Rangoon.
Nitre*

Nitrate of potash.
Prismatic nitre.

q^sS^r qjsL ^^r

NATRON.

Natron is abundant in the vicinity of Ava, where it i»
used by the Burmese instead of soap, and they call it "earth
soap."

Carbonate of soda.

BORAX.

Borax is seen in the bazar but it is imported

Borate of soda.
Tincal, (unpurified.)

ROCK SALT.

Rock salt is also seen among the drugs, being used by
the natives in medicine.

Chloride of sodium.
Muriate of soda.

SAL AMMONIAC.

Sal ammoniac is not a product of the Provinces, but it
is sold by the druggists.

Muriate of ammonia.

OOc£o008» ooSioj. ©^sooS*

MINERALOGY. 33

&CIBIFSROUS AI^AUNO-EAIITHY ZSEINEBALS*

ALUM.

Alum is found in a reddish slate clay, or soft clayslate
in the valley of the Tenasserim, about forty miles below
Matah at the forks; this, with an indurated sand from a
neighboring locality that also contains it, is the only alum
that has been yet met with in the Provinces.
Sulphate of diamine and potash.

A LKALINO EARTHY MINERALS,

MICA.

Mica is found in the mica slate and granite, but has
^iot been met with in large plates on this coast, though
such are sometimes seen for sale in the bazar. It is usu-
ally white, but black mica occurs in the granite of Double
Island. It is often by a misnomer called talc.
coeggn

FELSPAR.

Crystals of felspar abound in the granite, and where it
is porphyritic as on Double Island, and on the islands op-
posite Yay, they are sometimes quite large. It is usually
white, but the granite at the mouth of Tavoy river, on
the east side, is studded with beautiful crystals of flesh-
colored felspar.

MOON-STONE.

Some of the '• cat's eyes" that are brought for sale by
the Ceylonese, are made of adularia or moon-stone, a va-
riety of felspar found in Ceylon resembling opal. In
Europe it is often sold for opal.

34 MINERALOGF.

SOAPSTONE.

Soapstone, potstone, or steatite, is constantly for sale in
the stalls, being used by the Burmese to write with on
their blackboards, as Europeans use chalk. It is not.
however a production of the Provinces but is imported
from Burmah, where it is abundant,

CHLOPaTE.

Grains, or lamina of chlorite are found in connection
with tin ; and portions of the beds of clayslate east of
Tavoy, contain chlorite slate.
©oqpo8o&«

SCHORL.

Schorl, or black tourmaline, is found in quartz near the
mouth of Tavoy river on the east side, and also at the
foot of the eastern mountains, near the head waters of the
Dahgyaine, north east of Maulmain. These are the only
localities where I have met with this mineral. In both,
the crystals are numerous, and in Tavoy they are large,
but not so handsome as seen in foreign specimens.

GREEN TOURMALINE.

\ green jew< I that cannot be distinguished by the eye
from beryl, is brought with the Ceylon diamonds ; it is
however, green tourmaline ; as may be ascertained by a
very simple test, for beryl scratches quartz, but tourmaline
is scratched by quartz.
d8c^cS8f tt

CEYLON DIAMONDS.

White jewels of an inferior quality are often offered
for sale in Maulmain under the name of Ceylon diamonds,
but they are usually made from green tourmaline. White
tourmaline, is a rare mineral, but the green variety being-
common, the jewelers by exposing it to heat expel its
color and it becomes while.

MINERALOGV. 3»5

YELLOW TOURMALINE.

Among the Ceylon diamonds that are seen lor sale in
Maulmain, is a yellow jewel resembling a topaz ; but
which I find on examination to be yellow tourmaline.

WHITE TOURMALINE.

An occasional crystal of white tourmaline is seen
among the crystals of the black variety in specimens from
the Shan states ; but I have never met with it in the
Provinces.

Inditolite, white variety.

RED TOURMALINE,

Red tourmaline is found in Burmah, though it is not
seen here, Jameson says the king of Ava gave a spe-
cimen to Symes which was valued at five hundred pounds
in England.

Rubditc.
Tourmaline rubelite,

MACLE.

In the slate strata near the granite east of Tavoy, are
numerous crystals of what Hitchcock calls andalusite
made ; because with many other mineralogists he thinks
andalusite, and chiastolite or made, one species. The
crystals are very small, but exceedingly numerous. Oc-
casionally their rectangular ends are marked with the
Greek Chi, or English X, from which they are called chias-
tolite; but more frequently the X is wanting. It is
much softer than either andalusite, or chiostalite, as de-
scribed in works on mineralogy, but it is quite as hard ag-
ate specimens which I have received from America-

tt must be a very rare mineral in India ; for the Curator
of Mineralogy and Geology, of the Asiatic Society's Mu-
seum did not recognize it as any mineral with which he
vyas acquainted ; and other Indian geologists 7 and miner-

36 MINERALOGY.

alogists have been equally puzzled with it. There can be
no mistake however, in the identification, for I have spe-
cimens before me, labelled by one of the first mineralogists
in America, differing in no important respect from the
Tavoy mineral.

METALIFEROUS MINERALS.

FLATINA.

Dr. Royle says that platina is found in Burmah ; but on
what authority '? Captain Glover had a specimen which
he obtained from a priest in Tavoy, that he thought re«
sembled platina more than any ether metal ; and I had a
specimen of a Tavoy mineral with the general aspect of
platina, which occasioned me no little perplexity, until
I found that it was a mixed metal formed of silver, bis-
muth, zinc, and some other things to aid the alchemists
in their search for " the philosopher's stone."

GOLD.

Though not quite so abundant as in California, yet
there is perhaps, no mineral except iron, more universally
diffused over the Provinces, than gold. It is found in the
lead near their northern boundary, it is washed from the
sands of the Tenasserim on the south, and the streams,
that tumble from the high granite mountains between Yay
and Monmagon, are constantly 'rolling down their golden
sands' into the valleys around. It has been collected, in
small quantities in the tin deposits east of Tavoy, Mr.
O' Riley found gold in the tin from Henzai, half a degree
south of Yai, and " almost all the creeks, " says Dr. Hei-
fer, " coming from the eastern or Siamese side of the
Tenasserim river, contain gold. The greatest quantity
is obtained close to the old town of Tenasserim where
people wash it, and obtain sometimes one anna's weight
each, during the rainy season."

The richest deposit of gold in the Provinces, is however,
at the head waters of Tavoy river, where it is found in an
alluvial or diluvial formation of red earth and pebbles,very

MINERALOGY. Si

similar to that in which gold is found in North Carolina.
On the east side of the mountains at the base of which
this deposit rests, " the Siamese Government," says Dr
Morton, " have several hundred men permanently occupi-
ed, each of whom it is said, is expected to deliver one tickal
(about one rupee and a quarter) weight of gold dust per
annum. — The Burmese authorities in former times also
employed people in this work at the streams on our side
of the boundary, but though the quantity then procured
was greater than at present, this does not appear to have
ever been considerable. The method adopted is that of
digging a longitudinal excavation in the sand, and wash-
ing from time to time the deposit found therein."

Three or four years ago, the head native officer in Tavoy
made an experiment at " the diggings " on Tavoy river,
and by the washings of nine days, obtained gold to the
value of about ten rupees. This gold appears to contain
a considerable proportion of silver. Mr O'Riley says that
the Assay Master at the Mint in Calcutta reported it

Gold. 87-895

Silver. 9.241

Base metal. 2-864

100-000

5a 11 ^i <$"

MERCURY.

Quicksilver, or native mercury, is imported from Bur-
in ah ; and it is said to be brought to Ava from China.
go) 8<« OOl. ooo^i ulq3>. (Pali)

CINNABAR.

Manufactured cinnabar is found in all the bazars,
but it is imported. The native doctors use considerable
to salivate their patients, which they do most effectually
by causing them to inhale its fumes. The Barman name
appears to be derived from the Sanscrit.

Vermilion.

Sulphur et of mercury.

cooSoodls^Ss" cogooqI" (Sanscrit )

38 MINERALOGY.

SILVER.

In the lead ore of the Salwen valley, which Dr. Morton
sent Professor Mitchell for analysis, " the quantity of sil-
ver appeared to be considerable ;" and in the mines north
of the provinces, silver is said to be found mixed with lead.
Mr. O'Riley had a specimen of an ore of silver, antimony,
copper, and sulphur brought him, which produced thirty-
five per cent of silver; and the Tavoy gold, it would ap-
pear, contains nearly ten per cent of the same metal.

Gg» 0D1. ©■«

goo5o pure silver.

c^ooBdiccolgcocpoSn silver.

1 O U

COPPER.

Dr. Heifer says : " The existence of copper on the
Lampei Islands, the very first I suppose in this part of
India as yet traced, is worthy of attention, and may lead
to farther discovery of extensive veins of this ore."

Mr. O'Riley states, " that specimens of copper ore have
been brought from several islands of the Mergui Archipel-
ago, and all obtained appears to be of the same character,
viz the grey copper ore, containing from forty to fifty parts
of the metal in combination with antimony, iron, and
sulphur." He has also " traced the existence of the su!-
phuret of copper " on the Ataran ; and I had a fine speci-
men of the green carbonate, or malachite, brought me by
a Burman who said he received it from a Karen, who
represented that it was found near the head waters of
the Ataran ; and other natives have assured me, that the
same mineral exists up the Salwen.

eoi£gfi. 06091. Sffiu

Gy6q8o^c^foosGcqpo5ti copper ore.
ooocosjggoa green carbonate of copper, or
malachite.

BLUE CARBONATE OF COPPER.

The blue carbonate of copper 13 seen in the same

MINERALOGY. 30

specimen united with the green carbonate. The natives
say it is found in Province Amherst, but I have seen it
only in specimens from Cheduba near the coast of Arra-
can.

BLUE VITRIOL, or BLDKSTONE.

Blue vitriol is imported from Burmah, and seen in all the
bazars, but is not a production of the Provinces.
Sulphate of copper.

HBP*

LEaD.

The limestone of the Provinces probably contains large
quantities of lead. In the valley of the Salwen, there is a
rich vein of argentiferous galena, which is reported to
appear on the surface. A specimen that Dr. Morton sent
to England for analysis, was said to be a very valuable
mineral, and destined to make a fortune for some one.
Professor Mitchell in the certificate that he furnished Dr
Morton of the analysis, says : " It contains

Lead,

Sulphur,

Silver,

Gold, (traces,)

m„„™;« £ Carbonic acid,

Magnesia, )

Iron,

Silica.
It is a sulphuret of lead or galena. The quantity of
lead and silver appears to be considerable, but there was
not sufficient of the mineral to estimate either." The ore
is seen in the limstone, precisely as galena is found in the
limestone of the Mississipi, one of the richest known depo-
sits of lead in the world.

Mr. O' Riley states that the carbonate of lead exists near
the head waters of the Ploungdarau.

*9<Sn bvySi SLOdl. y$c^»

40 MINERALOGY.

MINIUM.

Manufactured minium is seen in the bazars, but it is not
made in the Provinces.

Red oxide of lead.

BISMUTH.

Mr.Piddington the Mineralogical Curator of the Asiat'c
Society's Museum, mentions in his reports, that he found
bismuth in one of the ores sent him from " the antimony
mines" near Maulmain ; and it is found in connection with
silver in Burmah.

IRON.

There is a large variety of ores of iron in the iProvmces,
:>ome of which are uncommonly rich in metal.

COMMON PYRITES.

Iron pyrites are very abundant in the Provinces. In
some places they contain arsenic, and constitute arsenical
sulphuret of iron. The Burmese names though usually
applied to iron, are generic, and might be applied to any
pyrites.

Sulphuret of iron,
oco^GoqpcS'i o5c£jcScocjpc"£"
j'jo^cgdl yellow pyrites.
coqpo5(c3®)ii globular masses containing

pyrites in the centre.
oood c6 coy £gqog£ii u

olo^RoSgs-h small iron pyrites.

LOADSTONE.

About three miles north west of Tavoy, is a hill upwards
oi' a hundred feet high which appears to consist almost
wholly of magnetic oxide of iron. A large rock near its

MINERALOGY. 4 f

summit is highly magnetic, and constitutes a magnificent
loadstone.

Dr. Ure to whom Mr. Blundei! sent specimens of this
ore reported :

" 1st Compact magnetic iron ore. — Tavoy, No. 1.
" Colour iron black with a metallic glimmer, fracture fine
grained, possesses magnetic polarity, specific gravity 3-51 1 .
compared to water= 1,000.

w It yields in analysis the following constituents :

Peroxide of iron 865 equivalent tc

00-55 rrfetal.

Silica with a trace of phosphate ) «,.-

of lime. }

Water, — ... 10-0

100-0
It contains no manganese or titanium.
" 2d Compact magnetic iron ore. — Tavoy, No. 4.
External and Magnetic characters as above.
Specific gravity, 3*462.
It yields in analysis :

Peroxide of iron ••• ••• •■= 86*0 equal to 60,2 metal.

Silica with a trace of ) «.«

phosphate of lime, $

Water, 13 1

1000

It contains neither manganese nor titanium.

" 3d Tavoy ore, No. 2. — External characters as above.
Specific gravity, <• ■.. 4369.

" 4th Tavoy ore, No. 3. — Characters as above, as to
aspect and magnetism.

Specific gravity, • 4-100.

"The two latter samples are even richer than the former,
as is evinced by the specific gravity, but they are all quite
rich enough and pure enough for making the best quality
of bar-iron and steel.

" I instituted two elaborate sets of experiments in search
of titanium, which when present in any notable quantity

42 MINERALOGY.

in iron ores, renders the iron made from them red-short,
but I found none in the above ores."

Octahedral iron ore.

Magnetic oxide of iron.

SPECULAR OXIDE OF IRON.

y There is a very rich ore of this species on one of the
branches of Palouk river. The natives think it an ore of
silver, and call it " the silver stone."

GCGnqocSn 1 o3*\. - GDiW

DROWN OXIDE OF IRON.

Iron ore is very abundant near Mergui, and according
to Dr. Ure is brown hematite. Of the specimens that
Mr. Blundell sent him, he wrote :

" The three samples of iron ores from Mergui, are brown
hematites, and from their density, will afford good iron in
the smelting furnace.

Mergui iron stone No. 1 specific gravity 3.37.

Ditto. Ditto. 2 Ditto. 3.18

Ditto. Ditto. 3 Ditto. 3.32."

OoeoqpcSu

RED OCHRE.

There is a fine bank of red ochre near Kallioung on
Tavoy river. It might perhaps, be turned to account in
a commercial speculation. Comstock says : " It is some-
times employed as a pigment, under the name of Indian
red ; but more commonly, it is believed, under that of
Spanish brown."

O cliery red oxide of iron.

CLAY IRON STONE.'

Several varieties of clay iron stone are seen in the Pro-
vinces, among which, the nodular variety is common.
Argillaceous oxide of iron.

CQGDqpo8u

MINERALOGY. 43

BOG IRON ORE.

Bog iron ore is very abundant in the Provinces, and in
many places is quite rich in metal. It occasionally con-
tains vegetable petrefactions, some of which have the form
of branches of trees, but are wholly composed of iron ore,
and which the Burmese call

COPPERAS.

Copperas, or sulphate of iron, is often formed from the
decomposition of pyrites or sulphuret of iron, forming an
efflorescence on the rock that contains them.
Sulphate of iron.

TIN.

Tin is abundant in the Provinces, commencing from the
mountains in which Tavoy and Henzai rivers have their
rise, the northern limit of tin in the Provinces, to the
Southern boundary of Mergui, Pakchan river. The rich-
est locality in the province of Tavoy. is nearly opposite
the city of Tavoy on the eastern side of the mountains.

That large quantities of tin must have been found in
Tavoy three hundred years ago, we have evidence in an
incidental remark from Mr. Ralph Fitch ; who, says
Mr. Hough in the Maulmain Chronicle, " travelled in this
part of the world in about the year 1586, or 1587." He
says : " I went from Pegu to Malacca passing many of
the sea ports of Pegu as Martaban, the Island of Tavi
whence all India is supplied with tin, Tenasserim, the
island of Junkselon, and many others-'

Captain Tremenheere found the richest deposit of tin
in the Provinces, at Kalian on Mergui Island, about
eleven miles above the town, and mear the Tenasserim
river. " Kahan itself," he writes, " is the highest por-
tion of a low ridge of hills, not more than 200 feet above
the level of the river : it is composed of a soft friable
white sandstone rock, the upper portions of which are
decomposed and irregular. The surface gravel does not
contain tin. It is found in the crystallized form inter-

MINERALOGY

1 in decomposed granite, forming a vein about three
feet wide, which is enclosed by the white sandstone rock,
dips down at a high angle with the horizon.
" Large scales of chlorite occur with it, which, as they
■nerally found where the tin is most abundant, is
natives ' the mother of tin.' The face of the
spot scattered over with these, which appear
to have been brought down from the vein with other mat-
ter from which the tin has been separated by the usual
of washing. It will be noticed, that the granite is
completely decomposed, and that the crystals would be
•rated by washing. No tin has been raised
nice the country carr.e into our possession, but the

s been known. It was worked during the
rule, and valued as supplying the richest ore of tin.
A Burmese residing near the spot, pointed out the place
where lus operations had ceased. He had followed the
i vein alluded to, as well as he was able,
and had driven a gallery under ground in an inclined di-
= ards, till the bank above fell in, when the
.bandoned. He stated that he had procured
- iideral entities of tin daily, and that he often

it in large masses mixed with yellow ground. Ar-
. here his work had terminated, I set
ate and find, if possible, the vein which had
h was reached after about two hours'
ig, at the depth of five feet from the surface of the
the hill in which we stood. In about a quarter cf
lour, a few baskets of the decomposed granite were
removed down the hill, lrom which an amount of the crys-
tallized peroxide of tin, equal to 63.176 grains of pure tin,
were collected.

' The crystallized form in which the ore is here found
venders its separation extremely easy, and the whole pro-
cesses of strnnping and dressing, which in England are
tedious and expensive operations, can thus be dispensed
with. No arsenic or sulphur being mixed with the ore,
it need not be roasted before it is placed in the furnace."
This ore he adds, as quoted by Mr. O'Riley, " contains
specimens of macled crystals, which in weight and size

MINERALOGY. 45

surpass any thing I have ever seen in Cornwall, or in cab*
inet specimens. Specimens have been extracted of great
weight and richness, consisting of large inacled crystals
of tin on quartz, and contain more tin in proportion to
the bulk than any specimens 1 have before seen. The
largest, which measured about fourteen inches square by
twelve deep, was so heavy, as to require some exertion to
hold it steadily in both hands."

In another report, Captain Tremenhere writes : " With
the view of ascertaining its value in the home market,
I transmitted, a box of average samples of the ore, to a
smelting establishment in Cornwall, (Messrs. Bolitho
& Co.) having extensive connection with the tin mines
of that country. In April 1843, Mr. Thomas Bolitho in-
formed me that—' The samples of once-washed ore pro-
duce about 70 per cent, of tin, and the twice-washed
yields nearly 75 per cent. The metal is very good, being
nl most free from alloy ; some of the samples which have
been sent to me from the Malayan peninsula contain
titanium. The ore appears to separate from the matrix very
easily.

1 The consumption of tin throughout the world increases
so slowly, and the supply at present being more than equal
to the demand, there is little inducement to speculate in
tin mines.

' The produce of Cornwall is G,000 tons per annum,
and we calculate that the quantity produced at Java to-
gether with what is raised in the Malayan peninsula, will
rather exceed the produce of Cornwall. The average price
of tin in Cornwall has been about 72s. per cwt, but it is
now as low as 565., which is the present price of the be=t
Straits tin, and tin mines are suffering greatly from the
depreciation in the value of their metai.

' It may serve for your guidance to know, that at this
moment tin ore of the description of the sample twice-
washed, would fetch in England about £ 46 per ton.'

" The following calculations of the probable result of a
shipment of tin ore, and of the metal, have been obligingly
made for me by two mercantile gentlemen of Maulmain.
They are based on the lowest prices which, according te

46 MINERALOGY.

Mr. Bolitho, were obtainable in the market in April fS43',
and show a probable profit on tin ore of 7s. 8d. per cwt. ;
but a loss on shipment of the metal of 12s. 4d. per cwt. in
one case, and 4s. 9d. per cwt. in the other.

" July 1843. Tin ore from Mauhnain purchased at 45
rupees per hundred viss, equal to 365 lbs.

£. s. d.

45 Rs. per °/o riss=pet cwt. 14 rupees, or 28
Charges. £. s. d.

Duty, • ••• 3

Stout boxes and shipping charges ) 10

in Maulmain, S

Freight home £ 2 per ton,

Insurance 2£ °/o on 40s.

Commission and London charges )

r.i o/ i

Interest commission 5 °/ on pur- if
chase, *

Sale price per Mr. Bolitho,

Leaves a profit per cwt. ••• 7 8

July 1843. Tin from Maulmain purchased at 77 rupees
per hundred viss.

£. s, d.
77 Rs. per °/ viss.=23Rs. 14

annas or per cwt ...... 47 9-

Charges. £. s. d.

Duty, 10

In Maulmain shipping, &c. per ) 6

cwt. • ••• I

Insurance 2| °/ or 6 °/ ■•• 16

London charges, viz. commis-~) c C

sion 2| °/ Ware-house and 1^1 o 3 3

Dock dues 1-|- °/ other inci- [ H» j

dental expences 1| °/o "*i L

2

o i o

2 2

1 2

10 4

38 4

46

MINERALOGY, 4&

Interest on Purchase. £ s. d. £ s. d.

Six months© 5 per cent. ••• 2 4

Freight % £ 3 per ton, 3 20 ?

68 4

Sale price per Mr. Bolitho, «•• 56

Leaves a loss of per cwt. ••• 12 4

Another calculation of November 1844.

R. A. P.

Usual cost of tin in Maulmain, Rs. ) OQ - n

ww o o/-- ik v> } 4o 5 2 per cw$.

77-8 per 36o lbs., or Rf. ••• J ^

Freight to England % £ 1-10 per \ q ,^

ton, I

Duty, @ 10s. 5

Shipping charges here and in Lon- ) 8

don, )

Commission in London @ £ 2k

per cent.

'Z]

13

30

6

2

£. s-
60
56

d.
9

Or, ••• ...

Assumed price in London.

Leaves a loss per cwt. of ••• 4 9

" The assumed rate for the ore at Maulmain, 45 rupees
per 365 lbs., would be I think subject to a reduction ; but
that for the metal, is probably the lowest average. It will
be observed also, that the London price of 56s. per cwt.
is taken at a period of great depression in the value of the
article which had averaged 72s. per cwt.' ; but it would
nevertheless appear, that to send it to England in the state
^f clean ore would be by far the safest investment, "

c (3 8 § an y m i xe d metal resembling tin?

— as tin and sine.
3i>(^n tinned iron plates.

48 mineralogy:.

ZINC.

In a broken boulder that a native brought me at Tavoy,
was a large vein of some ore, that I judged to be black
blende, or black sulphuret of zinc. I was never able
however to ascertain the locality whence it was brought.
Dr. Heifer reported the existance of ores of zinc on the
Mergui Islands. He says : " The other ores discover-
ed are of less importance. They are arsenic and zinc.
The latter may contain some silver."

sgS.

MANGANESE.

Captain Tremenheere has given a full report on the
manganese of Mergui, on the Tenasserim ; and I have
seen specimens of manganese mixed with iron from one of
the islands south of Mergui.

Captain Tremenheere wrote : " During my stay at the
Tenasserim coal basin, a piece of manganese ore, (black
wad),of good quality, was brought to me by a Karen, who
stated, that it had been found accidentally in the bank of
a stream called the Thuggoo, which enters the Great
Tenasserim, seventeen miles below the coal site. Subse-
quently, several other pieces of the same ore were brought
to Mr. T. A Corbin, Assistant to the Commissioner from
the Therabuen river, five miles above the Thuggoo, and
from an intermediate spot, the locality of which had been
previously known, and had been, I believe, originally
pointed out by Lieutenant Glover of the Madras Army.

" In proceeding down the river, I visited these spots,and
found at each, that a valuable bed of manganese ore ex-
isted close to the surface of the country. It had been ap-
parently cut through by the action of the stream and river
before mentioned, leaving a section of the bed of ore in
their banks, covered only by the debris of the banks
themselves. Large quantities might have been carried
away, but a few hand specimens only were taken, which
sufficiently shew the nature of the deposit, and are fair
samples of what might be easily collected.

" Of the extent of these manganese beds it is difficult to
pronounce. The face of the country in which they are

MlfCERALOOY. 4 |

Situated is Mai, thickly overspread with soil, and with the
densest jungle. It is not, as far I could perceive, inter-
sected by many streams which would afford the means cS
tracing the mineral deposit. The Great Tenasserim ri-
ver has passed through the manganese bed in cue spot,
2^ miles removed from two other points at which it oc-
curs to the north and south, at both of which it is like-
wise discovered near the surface by the action of the

ms Thuggoo and Therabuen. The
therefore, is, that it is an horizontal deposit covering ma-
:are miles. But without indulging in conjecture,
there is sufficient at the localities referred to, to indicate
large quantities of manganese ore which could be collect-
ed by penetrating through the soil lying above it, ah
media. the spots in. which it is now exposed to

the day.

<( It occurs in the form of the black oxide, and is the
i mese of commerce. It is largely consumed in 1

in the preparation of bleaching compounds, and
when pure, is valuable to the manufacturer of glass.

' The soft black ore, No.l, is a hydrate of the peroxide
of manganese, known under the name of wad. It cou-
nter two equivalents, or 29 per cent.
Iron, 1.96 grains by analysis; its specific gravity is 1.47.
The specific gravity of the grey peroxide, No. 4, is 1.46."

MOLYBDENA.

Mr. Piddington, in analyzing the ores of antim j
and " in one instance a trace of molybdena."

ANTIMONY.

The -l of antimony, appears to be a very abun-

dant mineral in Province Amherst. It is reported as
being often met with on the mountains, that bound the
valley of the Thoungyeen, Mr. O'Riley found it at the
sources of the Ataran, and large quantities of the ore have
been dug up in the neighborhood of Maulmain ; but there
was no demand for it in Calcutta whither it was sent, and
operations have been suspended.

Mr. Piddington made the following report on speci-
mens of the ore that were sent hi ji : " We received

50 MINERALOGY.

some time ago from Messrs. Fowle and Lonstiale of
Pvlaulmain, a box containing upwards of thirty specimens
of Ores from the Antimony Mines near that place,
with a request that they might be examined, their desire
being of course to ascertain carefully and certainly, if
they contained any, and what, proportion of the precious
metals. One of the Ores sent up was indeed a ' supposed
antimonial silver,'

" Now, in complicated ores of this description, this sort
of examination requires great care, time, and often repeat-
ed analysis, before a negative can safely be pronounced
from a small specimen, to assure the miner or smelter who
works on a larcre scale that nothing of value exists in his
ores, and these references have thus occupied a very con-
siderable portion of time and labor, and as is often the
case in such investigations, have proved wholly unfruitful.
Antimony, iron, arsenic, and sulphur with bismuth, and
in one instance a trace of molybdena being all which can
be discovered in them. The results have been sent to
Messrs. Brightman, but are not worth detailing or printing.
" I have suggested however, to these gentlemen that they
may find it well worth their while to sink a shaft ' for a
change of ores.' As I now understand their operations,
they seem to be occupied with what one might call mere
surface-digging rather than mining, and the pronouncing,
as we must now do, that these ores contain nothing of
value, is not to be understood as saying that the locality
contains nothing, but merely that the ores at 'the surface
have not been found valuable ; which in Cornwall, and I
think in Germany, is often thought to be a favorable in-
dication."

godocogQooSu

ARSENIC.

Dr Heifer reported the existance of ores of arsenic on
the Mergui Islands, Mr. Piddington found it in the
antimony ores, and Professor Mitchell also found arsenic
in the lead ore that he analyzed.

MINERALOGY. 51

OXIDE OF ARSENIC.

This is the common arsenic of the shops, and is import'
ed from Bengal.

8?d 8f[g a o3l. ©^o

RED ORPIMENT.

Red orpiment, or realger, is found in great quantites
in Burmah, and is constantly seen in the bazars.
Red sulphuret of arsenic*

iCCOB

g5go3(

YELLOW ORPIMENT.

This is also a production imported from Burmah,
which has not been found in the Provinces.
Yellow sulphuret of arsenic.

2CC?of8a 00080^0^01"

TUNGSTEN.

The tungstate of iron, or wolfram sand, much resembles
tin, and it is found in most neighborhoods where that ore
js obtained, and for which it is often mistaken. One of the
Assistant Commissioners at Mergui a few years ago, re-
ported several valuable deposits of tin, not before known,
and he raised furnaces on the ground to smelt the ore ;
but although he tried hard, and increased the heat to the
highest point he was capable of doing ; still the ore re-
mained refractory, and would not turn into tin. He attri-
buted the fault to his furnaces, and came away with large
specimens of his tin ore, which proved on examination to
be tungsten, or wolfram sand. A magnet will distin-
guish the two ores at once, for the iron in the tungstate of
iron is attracted by the magnet, while the tin is not.

&3G00M

53

MINERALOGY

COMBUSTIBLE MINERALS.

SULPHUR.

Sulphur exists in the ores that are found in the forms of
sulphurets: as the sulphuret of iron, the sulphuret of anti-
mony, the sulphuret of lead, and the sulphuret of copper ;
but native sulphur has not been found in the Provinces,
cola 09 3d I.

cnt*

cS^OOl^l

DIAMOND.

Although the diamond is not found in Burmah yet it
iorms one of the nine gems, which worn together in a
ring, are supposed to protect the wearer from evil. They

are

o

o

•8

or
o

i

g[oo:c3qps«

diamond,

emerald,

coral,

sapphire,

topaz,

pyrope,

cat's-eye,

pearl,

ruby.

TREMENHEERITE

According to the analysis of Mr. Piddington, Curator of
the Museum of Economic Geology in Calcutta, these Pro-
vinces contain a new carbonaceous mineral, which he has
named Tremenheerite. In his report, he writes :

" This substance was sent to the Museum from Tenas-
serim by Captain Tremenheere, as black wad, but it
contains no trace of manganese

MINERALOGY, 53

M It is, when fresh, in masses of a scaly structure and
of a deep black colour, with a highly metallic lustre, much
resembling coarsely foliated graphite ; after a few months
it partly falls to powder, or rather into scaly flakes, evi-
dently from the decomposition of pyrites, of which it con-
tains three per cent. It powders easily, but the powder is
always scaly, soiling, greasy, and glittering, like graphite.
If the pulverised part be washed and ground, the tougher
metallic looking scales remain as a black micaceous resi-
duum, and it is oniy after long rubbing and washing that
they also are pulverised, showing great toughness in the
compacter and larger scales of the mineral. It soils much,
but is too soft to mark with, nor can any very determined
streak be made ; what is so, is of a deep black. When
heated a little sulphur sublimes ; the mass burns but very
slowly indeed, reddening only at first and for a long time
like some varieties of graphite, and requiring a good sup-
ply of air to the crucible and constant stirring to effect its
combustion.

" With patient attention the whole is burnt, with the
exception of a small residuum of a very light, and bright
fawn-coloured powder, which is a mixture of oxide of iron
and silex.

Its composition is found to be in 100 parts.

Carbon, ••• ••• ••• ••• 85-70

Water and sulphur, ••• ••• 400

Peroxide iron, ••• ••• ■•• 250

Earth, chiefly silica, ••• ••• 7-50

99-70
Water and loss, ••• ••• •« 30

100 00
1 This mineral then, differs from the anthracites in its
high lustre, scaly structure, and ready pulverisation, by
which it approaches the graphites ; as well as by its iron
and very slow combustion ; but then from these it differs
by its streak, and high combustibility with nitre; for, like
coal and the anthracites, when projected upon melted nitre it
deflagrates, heating the crucible instantly to redness, while
<he graphites not only boil but heat the crucible also, and

G

54 mineralogV.

seem but partly and very slowly to part with their carbon
till a much higher heat is given.

" This distinction I have not yet found noticed in any
chemical or mineralogical work, but it seems to me to be
no bad test by which to separate the graphites from the
anthracites ; namely, that with nitre, at a heat a little
above its melting point only, the former melt and are con-
sumed, while the latter, deflagrate and almost explode,
My trials were made with graphite, from Borrowdale from
Cochin, and from the Himalaya, all of which, as above
stated, diffused themselves over the nitre and were con-
sumed gradually, while Newcastle coal, American anthra-
cite, and our present mineral deflagrate smartly.

11 It is usually taken, on the authority of Berzelius,
founded on Karsten's researches, that the iron in graphite
is a mere fortuitous mixture ; but Beudant acutely says,
alluding to this, that ' when the iron is wanting we have
no graphite, and when this substance is found in our
furnaces, the proportions are sensibly the same,' i. e. about
S per cent, which he seems to think may be the true pro-
portion. I do not advert to Kir wall's experiments, which
were merely relating to coal, and not to coal and graphite
in comparison with each other.

" In Professor Vanuxem's experiments (Phil. Mag. for
September 1845) the quantity of manganese and iron in
anthracites is stated to be from 0-2 to 7-10 per cent, and
the water from 190 to 0-70. In the graphites he found
from 1-40 to 3'60 per cent, of oxide of iron and manga-
nese in the pure, and 20-00 per cent, in the impure kinds ;
and of water from 060 to 1 23 in the pure, and 533 per
cent in the impure kinds.

" It mav then be a mooted point to which of these two
classes of the anthracinoe our mineral belongs, but as I
have found nothing of the kind described before, I have
given it a distinguishing name to be adopted or rejected,
as better authorities shall determine."

It appears to be an abundant mineral in the Provinces,
there being several localities where it is found in the vicin-
ity of both Tavoy and Maulmain. The Burmese often
mistake it for coal.

MINERALOGY, 55

ANTHRACITE.

No indications of bituminous coal have been found in
Maulmain Province, but there is reason to believe that
anthraci:3 exists under the town of Maulmain itself. In
digging a well on one of the Baptist Mission compounds,
beneath several alternating beds of sandstone and slate,
or shale, more than twenty feet below the surface, beds of
carbonaceous matter were reached. One thin bed contain-
ed Tremenheerite, which, from Mr. Piddington's analysis
is nearly allied to anthracite.

Another thin stratum consisted principally of sand and
carbonaceous matter, and similar beds are said to accom-
pany the anthracite of America. Below this, is a stratum
of shale and carbon containing fossil plants. One was
decidedly an impression of a part of a leaf belonging to
the palm tribe ; and others unquestionably fern leaves
such as indicate the anthracite coal formation in Ameri-
ca, One of the ferns, and apparently the most numerous
one, cannot be distinguished from specimens of Ncuropte-
ris Scheuchzeri from the anthracite coal mines of Rhode
Island, and Massachussetts in my possession ; and others
bare a strong resemblance to Neuropteris and Odontopteris
of the American anthracite coal fields that have been fi-
gured, but not described.

These are the only impressions of ferns that have ever
been discovered in the Provinces ; but from the bottom
of a well deepened last dry season on the margin of the
north west corner of Mr. Paterson's compound, an abun-
dance of Tremenheerite was brought up, and it is very pro-
bable that the fossiliferous strata are below it ; though
not the same' as those on my compound, the inclination of
the strata showing that they are above them.

I have also noticed indications of Tremenheerite in the
old piles of rocks brought up from a well within Mr. Pat-
erson's grounds at the same corner ; and from Mr.
Hough's description it would seem that he came to simi-
lar strata at the bottom of his well.

MINERALOGY.

MINERAL COAL.

The Mergui coal is regarded by the Coal Committee
as true mineral coal, but of inferior quality. A similar
coal is found on the banks of the Tenasserim north of the
latitude of Tavoy ; but Capt. Tremenheere regards both
as superior varieties of lignite, and it is believed correctly.

" Lignite or brown coal r " says Hitchcock, " appears to
be peat which has long been buried in the earth, and has
undergone certain chemical changes, whereby bitumen
has been produced. Bituminous coal is probably the
same substance, which has been longer buried in the
earth, and has undergone stilL further changes." The
coal of the great Tenasserim valley appears to have been
so long buried in the earth, that the best parts of it are
better than ordinary lignite and equal to the inferior por-
tions of bituminous coal, which is true of beds of lignite
in other parts of the world.

On the banks of the Little Tenasserim, coal of a superi-
or quality is said to exist, and in that direction further
examination ought to be made. Of that section of coun-
try I have no knowledge from personal observation, but
the Coal Committee say : " Eighty miles from Mergui in-
exhaustible beds of coal of an uniformly good quality oc-
cur on the Thian Khan, one of the main branches of the
Little Tenasserim. The various beds appear to be what
is called cannel coal, remarkable for consisting of up-
wards of 50 per cent of bitumen, which, to use the words
of Mr. James Princep, shews it to be a superior blazing
material, which is the main point in getting up steam."

Coal has also been found on the banks of the Lenhea
river, south of Mergui ; but of this nothing is known.
It is a field fcr examination.

coqpoSSccgsu I5gj09 — log). cot^c£{5cosu

LIGNITE.

Lignite, or brown coal, has been found in several locali-
ties. On the banks of a small tributary of the Tenasse-
rim, in about ten miles of latitude north of Tavoy, trunks
of trees changed to lignite may be seen in the stiff clay,

MINERALOGY. 5*/

and near them the trunks of other trees completely silici*
fied, and turned to stone.

There is a great variety in this wood coal, both in its
appearance and chemical analysis. Dn Good all, to
whom I subjected spec im ens for analysis, wrote: "100
parts contain, , carbon,

^9 bitumen*

19 ashes.

100

The specimen was not good. Is it wood coal!" When
Mr. Blundell saw several baskets of the coal that he had
had brought in, he said it looked exactly like the first that
was brought him from the Mergui coal field. This must be
the coal referred to by the Coal Committee in their report
for 1841, in which they say : " More recently, excellent
specimens of coal have been presented to the Committee
by Mr. Blundell, the Commissioner of these Provinces, as
found somewhere on Tavoy river." No Coal has been
found on Tavoy river, and as this was the time when Mr.
Blundell obtained the specimens of this lignite from the
Tenasserim, there is doubtless an error in the reference
to the locality. The Committee Call it " Cannel coal,"
which only proves that lignite is sometimes " a perfect
mineral coal ; " for that this coal is lignite, no one will
question who has visited the locality.

The Committee also reported on a specimen of coal
from Maulmain as " Cannel coal," but Mr. O'Riley who
visited the locality whence it was said to have been
brought, says that if found in that neighbourhood, it must
be lignite.

Dr. Morton recently furnished me with specimens of
lignite collected by the commander of the surveying ves-
sel on the coast, below Amherst. As the shore there for
many miles is covered with laterite, it is probably found
in that rock. Lignite occurs in laterite on the other
coast.

Mr. O'Riley found lignite near the head waters of the
Ataran. He says : " Approaching the head waters of the
Ataran River where the strata are considerably elevated.

53 MINERALOGY.

with the dip at an angle of 38° two separate lines of
lignite occur in a coarse sandstone conglomerate with
shale and a serai-indurated blue clay containing limestone
pebbles. This lignite is highly pyritous, its decomposi-
tion affording a copious deposit of sulphate of iron which
covers the exposed surface with a dirty-colored efflores-
cence. Some of the pieces taken from the deposit retain
their original characteristics, do not fracture, and may be
sawn through in sections across the grain, the same as
wood imperfectly carbonized. Other deposits of wood less
charged than the foregoing are found in the banks of the
rivers Dahgyaine and Gyaine, some 20 to 30 miles to the
north east of Maulmain, covered with the same blue clay
as that already noticed, but none possess any useful qua-
lity as a combustible material."

PETROLEUM.

Petroleum is always for sale in the bazars, it is net
however a production of the Provinces, but is imported
from Biirraah. At one locality near the banks of the
Irrawaddy there are said to be more than five hundred pro-
ductive wells.

cqfi ^loni. — OJS0JO0J.

AMBER.

Amber, though universally used for ear knobs, is not
found in the Provinces, but Dr. Bayfield described the
amber mines that he visited north of Ava as being in a lig-
nite formation. The amber, he said, was always found
amorig the lignite ; and, as there are numerous localities
of lignite in these Provinces, some of them, if explored,
migln be found as rich in amber as they are in Burmak

tSuccin.

Sue ci num.

BOTANY.

Haifa century ago, Dr. Buchanan, who accompanied
Symes in his embassy to Ava, made a large collection of
plants from the banks of the Irrawaddy. A dozen years
afterwards, Felix Carey, an English missionary, collected
many curious and new plants indigenous in Burmah, and
sent them up to Roxburgh at the Botanical Garden near
Calcutta, who described them in his " Flora Indica."
After the Burmese war, Dr. Wallich visited this Coast
and went with Crawfurd in his embassy to Ava ; and his
catalogue of plants collected on this visit contains 1650
species. Eight or ten years subsequent to Dr. Wallich's
visit, Dr. Griffith came to the Coast, and during a residence
of fourteen months collected specimens of 1700 species of
plants, growing in these Provinces.

It is not probable then, that many conspicuous plants
have escaped the notice of these indefatigable botanists ;
and yet, nothing was known of the pice until it was de-
scribed in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, less than two
years ago ; and no work to which I can refer, mentions
that very elegant flowering shrub, the nodding cleroden-
dron in our indigenous flora, nor the large pink-flowered
knotty cassia, nor the splendid orange-flowered buteas,
nor the white-flowered drooping barringtonia with its
spikes a yard long, nor the fragrant recurved tabernce-
montana, nor the curious gloriosa, nor the large blue-flow-
ered thunbergia.

Our plants however, are better known than their pro*
perties. Wallich collected specimens of a species of blu-
mia from Tavoy, and De Candolle described the species
as B. grandis, but neither of them were aware that the
weed produced an abundance of camphor, not inferior to
the best camphor of the shops. Dr. Wight described

60 BOTANV.

Pterocarpus Wallichii ; but did not suspect that the ex-
udation of the tree was good gum kino ; and Dr. Grif-
fith collected specimens of Garcinia elliptica with his own
hand in the province of Mergui ; and yet remained ignor-
ant that the tree produced gamboge, which cannot be
distinguished from the best gamboge of commerce.

When more attention has been paid to the geographical
distribution of plants, the Tenasserim flora will probably
show, that the climate of the plains on this Coast corres-
ponds to one on the hills several thousand feet high on
the other Coast.

Roxburgh says that a species of oak, Quer cits fenestra,
is a native of the mountain! in the vicinity of Silhet ; on
this Coast the same species grows indigenous not fifty feet
above the level of the sea. A gamboge tree, Garcinia
yictoria, grows, he says, " on the highest parts of Wyn-
aad," but the same tree grows at the foot of the hills in
Tavoy, which border on tide waters. A species of willow,
he describes as " a native of banks of rivulets and moist
places among the Circar mountains," but we have a spe-
cies of willow on this Coast which is met on every stream
before the influences of the tide ceases to be felt. The
chestnut, Castanea indie a, he writes, " is a native of the
hilly frontier of Bengal ; " but the chestnut of this coun-
try, Castanea martabanica, grows nearly down to the sea
shore. Speaking of the wood-oil trees, Dr. Wight re-
marks : " In this neighbourhood, Madras, several species
are found, but all natives of hilly tracts forming the Bala*
ghaut. In Pegu, where they abound, they occupy the
plains." He refers all the species of Vatica to the
mountains, but we have one that drops its curious winged
frait from cliffs that overhang the sea.

Ardcsia humilis is a common shrub at Tavoy growing
down to the plains ; but its habitat on the other coast is
"the eastern slopes of the Neilghef ies in subalpine jungle."

IVrightca Wallichii, Wight states, is found on " the
slope of the Neilgheries from about the middle of the
ascent to the elevation of between 4000 and 5000 feet ;"
but "the original specimens of this species were collected
in the Tenasserim Provinces."

BOTANY.

61

Of the rose tribe, which includes the apples, cherries,
and plums, Wight says there is not a single indigenous
species on the plains of India, and that the species are
" peculiarly extra tropical, a very few only being found
within the tropics, and these at considerable elevations ; "
but on this Coast we have one indigenous species of rubus
or bramble, another of cerasus or cherry, observed by Grif-
fith ; another of pyrus or pear, found by Wallich on the Irra-
waddy, and if I am not mistaken I have seen a species of
pygeum on a branch of the Tenasserim within a short
distance of tide waters.

Many more similar facts could be easily put on record,
but enough has been written, to prove that asanatarium on
Ox's Hump, a mountain four thousand feet high, fifteen
miles east of Tavoy, would enjoy a climate corresponding
to one six or seven thousand feet high on the other Coast.
The path to its base is overshadowed by some of the most
ornamental trees in the Provinces, and strown with many
of our prettiest annuals, whose flowers baptize the breez-
es with their fragrance,

SELECT ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUB3.

Perhaps no region in the world, of the same size con-
tains a greater variety of ornamental trees and shrubs than
the Tenasserim Provinces. The following selection of
one hundred with a dozen palms is perhaps sufficiently
numerous, yet it might be easily enlarged.

AMHERSTIA.

This is the finest indigenous tree in Chin India. It is
of low stature, with slender pendulous branches clustered
under its tufted summit of lively green, and draperied
with large pea blossom shaped flowers of brilliant red and
yellow, which hang down from its graceful arches in tas-
sels more then a yard long.

It was discovered by Dr. Wallich on the Salwen near
Trockla, and named by him after the Governor General's
Lady— the Noble Amherstia. It has been introduced into
England where every tree is said to be worth fifty pounds.

62 BOTANY.

When one flowers, it produces quite a sensation from
the Thames to the Tweed. Since the above was in type
a botanical correspondent in the North of England writes :
" I dont hear whether the Amherstia which flowered near
London last year is going to do so again this, but doubtless
it will, and we shall soon hear of it."

" Ho, Trockla ! thy tide

Hath a beautiful bride,
The child of an iris- wreathed shower ;

With vails flowing down

From her emerald crown,

Whose fringes unfold

In scarlet and gold,

A glorious sight,

Ever graceful and bright—
1 he Queen of proud Ava's wild bower.

Tall sweet-blossomed trees

Are wooing the breeze
: cr highland, and dingle, and glade,

But though they allure

With their fragrance so pure,

The Amherstia is fairest,

The noblest, the rarest j

Nor all the rich flowers

Of Albion's bowers
Can vie with its purpling shade." •

Amherstia nobilis.

CCo8<~)On 031 QJ. cSoOSl
MESUA.

The mesua, which in Ceylon is called " iron wood tree,"
though not large, has an erect symetrical figure, whose
deep evergreen foliage, flowing downward from its cone-
shaped crest quite conceals its bowering branches, so
that when covered with its rich blossoms, with ivory-white
petals, and deep yellow stamens, it looks like the royal
umbrella bespangled with gold ; and the Burmese say that
their next Buidha, Aree-ma-taya, will enter the divine life
while musing beneath its hallowed shades, hence it is a
favorite tree with the priests who plant it around their
monasteries. In Sanscrit it is called nagakeshura, and
Sir William Jones remarks of it : " This tree is one of
the most delightful on earth ; and the delicious odor of
its blossoms justly gives them a place in the quiver of
Camadeva, the Hindoo god of love."

• EUen H. B. Mason.

fiOTAKft. 63

To this Moore alludes in the following stanza.

" Then rapidly with foot as light
Aa the young music roe's, out she flew
To cull each shining leaf that grew,
Beneath the moonlight's hallowing beams
For this enchanted wreath of dreams;
Anemones, and seas of fold,

And new-blown lilies of the river,
And those sweet flowrets that unfold

Their buds on Camadeva's quiver.''

There are at least two different species in the Provinces,
31. pedunculata and M.ferrea^ Much confusion exists in
our standand works on botany in relation to this last
species. The Mesua ferrea of Roxburgh is the 31. Rozbur-
ghii of Wight's Illustrations ; the mesua tree of Calcutta,
Serarnpore, and neighborhood. — The M.ferrea of Wight's
Prodromus is the 31. coromaiidelina of Wight's Icones,
and Illustrations — The 3l.ferrea i of Wight's Illustrations,
is the 3l. riagaha of Gardener, the mesua tree of Ceylon ;
while the M.ferrea originally described by Linneus is pro-
bably the species found on this coast ; but for the lack of
books which contain the description of Linnaeus, it cannot
be affirmed with certainty.

odgo55o OnS l. OOgSr.

NODDING CLERODENDRON.

The Karen mountain glens of Tavoy and Mergui are
embellished with one of the most elegant flowering shrubs
that ever beautified a landscape — it is the nodding cle-
rodendron. The flowers are tinged with rose, but nearly
white, growing in long panicles at the extremities of the
branches from which they make a graceful curve, and hang
down perpendicularly from ten to fifteen inches, like an
inverted cone, so that the soft greening foliage seems can-
opied with rosy-white vails. The flowerets are few, the
divisions of the panicle being remote, and each bearing
onjy three or five flowers. The divisions and subdivisions
being all rectangular, and each blossom hanging from its
pedicel like an ear drop, order and beauty are inseparable
associations with this rare plant. It deserves a place in
every conservatory, yet from Loudon's Enclyclopedia of
plants before me, it had not reached England when that

64 BOTANY.

was printed ; and it is not in Wright and Eaton's Botany
of North American plants, indigenous and cultivated.
The shrub blooms in the dry season, and rarely exceeds
in its native soil, more then ten feet in height.

ClerGdendron nutans.

cg|oc9» C5910J1011. 8ei*>o5u

CHAMPAC.

The streets of our towns and villages are often shaded
with the lofty distinguished champac, one of our few trees
embalmed in song, of which the poet sings :

"The maid of India blest again to hold
In her full lap the Champac's leaves of gold,
Thinks of the time when by the Ganges' flood
Her little playmates scattered many a bud
Upon her long dark hair."

The tree is in flower or fruit a great part of the year,
and its rich orange blossoms, which are exquisitely fra-
gant, are also used by Burmese maidens to adorn their
"long black hair."

It is the only representative we have on the Coast of that
" Glory of America" — the magnolia tribe.
Michdia champaca.

coft. (Tavoy.)

8|Wlt« aqsScli

JON ESI A.

When Dr. Wallich found the Amherstia, it was grow-
ing beside a Jonesia, and though it be but little diffused
over our garden plots, yet its symetry, and numerous
bunches of red and orange flowers certainly entitle it to
companionship with that celebrated tree. Roxburgh says :
■"« When this tree is in full blossom* I do not think the
whole vegetable kingdom, affords a more beautiful object."

Gaudama, it is said, was born under this tree; and
within the fall of its shadow, he delivered his first harangue.
" At the instant of his birth," say the Barman sacred
books, " he walked seven steps, and with a voice like the
roaring of the king of lions he exclaimed. ' I am the

BOTANY. 65

most excellent of men. I am the most famous of men.
I am the most victorious of men."
Jonesia asoca.

KNOTTED CASSIA.

This species of cassia is remarkable for its large pink-
colored flowers, and is seen tinting the Tavoy forests al-
most as beautifully as the calico tree does the steeps of
the Apalachian Mountains. It is highly esteemed in Ben-
gal, but I have seen no one cultivate it in these Provinces
except Major Macfarquhar, and he. told me his plants were
sent him from the Botanical Garden near Calcutta !

Cathartocarpus nodosus.
Cassia nodosa.

SWEET-FRUITED CASSIA.

" This tree," says Roxburgh, "is uncommonly beautiful
when in flower, few surpassing it in the elegance of its
numerous, long, pendulous racemes of large, bright yellow
flowers, intermixed with the young lively green foliage."
ft bears a striking resemblance to the laburnum.

Cathartocarpus Fistula.
Cassia Fistula.

FLOWERY CASSIA.

Though not so handsome as either of the preceding
species, the flowery cassia is extensively multiplied on
this Coast. It is a slender, graceful tree, " every branch
terminating in a large panicle of deep yellow blossoms ; "
and when several are clustered together, waving their
radiant glories in the floods of a noon-tide sun, they look
-ike illumined hills on the eve of a Burman Carnival.
Cassia fiorida,
^ccSa (Bur.) ^<Ss8o (Tavoy.)

VO BOTANY.

MIMUSOPS.

A species of mimusops, a rare ornamental tree, is much
valued by Burmese ladies for its small delicate sweet-scent-
ed blossoms, which they string in chaplets for the head.
Mimusops Elengi,

BUTEA.

There is a species ofbuteavery abundant in Province
Amherst which is a most magnificent tree. The Pwo
Karens plant it in their sacred groves, where the deep rich
orange blossoms seen under a tropic sun in the dry season
enveloping their almost leafless trunks and branches, give
the copse the appearance of a burning jungle. The Bur-
ooks describe the Himalaya forest, as shining with
the flowers of the butea " like a flame of fire."
Butea frondosa,
co)o8h OaiOOJ^OJ. 8c8j3r8sx>|>t

EEPING BUTEA.

is an immense creeper with flowers resembling
the preceding species, and is not uncommon in the pro-
vinces of Tavoy and Mergui.
Butea superba.

GUM KINO TREE,

The gum kino tree is a majestic evergreen, whose yellow
papilionaceous flowers clustering amid the bright droop-
ing foliage, scent the air, like the large magnolias, for sev-
eral hundred yards around. It is propagated by simply
planting large branches in the ground at the commence-
ment of the rains. There are, however, two species, the
r ed, and the white, as distinguished by Burmese — the red

BOTANY. 07

^producing the finest timber, but the white padouk i
far the finest ornamental tree.
Ptcrocarpus indicus.
OGCODoSgn q'iq5j. ^qSp"

WHITE BAUHINIA.

This is a handsome shrub, with large blue-white flow-
ers. It grows rapidly from seeds, and flowers in the
second or third year.

Bauliin ia acuminata.

cjoolGogoolggi oaics3i§i. 88?coon> 801 oln

PURPLE BAUHINIA.

When in blossom this is a very handsome tree, bearing-
large purple flowers.

IB avli in ia variegata,
" purpurea,

qooogc^odos^ii 081031091. 8018111

yellow bauhinia.

This shrub bears a large sulphur-coloured flower, and
the upper petal has usually a deep purple spot on the in-
side.

Bauli in ia tomen tosa.

Q'jooGeqooosolii C50io3lbl. 8oic6n

CREEPING BAUHINIA.

There is a scandent species of bauhinia that creeps up
to the tops of the highest trees which has very large
leaves, and whose flowers have the fragrance of migno-
nette. It approaches Vahl's bauhinia in size and habit,
but its petals are red and yellow, while in that they are
said to be white. It is probably one of the species named
by W allien of which I have no description.

3o5'coo5« 09io3ionjgnj. 8oi8^«

63 BOTANY.

ESCULAPIAN-ROD BAUHIN1A.

I have never seen the flowers of this species but they
are mentioned as small. The tree is remarkable for its
contorted stem, and " it is said to have been," remarks
Louden, " the origin of Esculapius' snaken rod^which he
brought from India."

Bauhinia scandcns,

CHINA CHAMPAC.

This is a small South American tree, called by the
Burmese, china champac, whose straggling, and often
leafless branches shoot out from their extremities delicate
orange-colored blossoms, tinged with red, and of sweetest
fragrance.

Plumiera acuminata.

o-j^ocoisu oocoSoeooosi 09109101. 8a8J5i

CUM ARABIC TREE.

The pretty, tall shrub sometimes called gum arabic tree
in Calcutta, though not the true gum arabic plant, is a fa-
vorite with the natives on this Coast, and it grows rapidly
from seeds. The flowers are deep yellow, small, in glob-
ular heads, like the mimosa, and powerfully fragrant.
Vachellia Farncsiana.

QUEEN LAGERSTRCEMIA,

When cultivated in England the queen lagerstrcemia is
a small shrub, but here in its native soil it is a large tim-
ber tree, and when in flower is one of the most conspicu-
ous trees in the Provinces. A tree in full blossom looks
in the morning as if mantled with roses, but the flowers
change through the day to a beautiful purple, making it
appear at evening, if seen from a short distance, like a
bower of English lilacs.

Lagerstrcemia rcgina.

ocaoSfn (Tavoy)

BOTANY. 69

SMALL LAGERSTRCEMIA.

The Tavoy forests are adorned with a smaller species
oflagerstroemia than the preceding, but the flowers are
equally elegant and quite as large.

Lagerstrcemia.

INDIAN LAGERSTRCEMIA.

This is a small pretty shrub, common in gardens in
Maulmain, and of easy cultivation.

Lagerstrcemia indica.

HENNA TREE.

This is the camphire of the English Bible, and the cy-
press shrub of the Greeks and Romans. " The cypress
plant," says Rosenmuller, "is held in particularly high es-
teem by the Greeks, the Arabs, and the Turks ; and they
think that they make an agreeable present when they of-
fer a person a posy of its flowers. In reality, this plant is,
as Sonnini observes, one of those which are .particularly
agreeable to the eye and the olfactory organs. The flow-
ers, of which the coloring is so soft, spread the most de-
lightful fragrance to a great distance, and fill with balsa-
mic odour the gardens and rooms which they adorn." It
is extensively cultivated by the Burmese, and hedges
formed of it are common in Bengal.

The fresh leaves beat up with catechu,

•' 'Imbue

The fingers ends with a bright roseate hue,
So bright that in the mirror's depth they seem
Like tips of coral branches in the stream."

This use of the leaves is as old as the Egyptian mum-
mies, and is still practiced by Burman females.

Lawsonit

i alba,
inermis.

oSt

03j09103JQ3j.

Mendi Y

(B

engali. )

zc

£8iffp

70 BOTANY,

SWEET SCENTED UVARIA.

Native cottages on the Coast are often overshadowed
by the sweet uvaria, whose yellow-green petals almost
blend their colouring with that of the leaves,

Uvaria odorata.

U36cS'i

GORDONIA.

A species of gordonia is a conspicuous tree in Maul-
main. It belongs to the same family as the tea plant,
and the camelias of which the japonicas are such favo-
rites, and is a member of the same genus as the American
loblolly bay, and Franklinia, to which the flower bears
a stroYig resemblance. Wallich has named our tree the
abundant flowering gordonia, but there is some differ-
ence between the Tavoy and Maulmain trees; whether
enough however to constitute different species, isdoubtful-
Tiic Maulmain tree 1 as leaves precisely like O, obtusa
u with shallow serratures ; " but the leaves of the Tavoy
tree are quite entire. The Burmese have different names
for them.

Gordonia fioribunda .
023. Sou (Maulmain.)

coScpgu (Tavoy.)

es 2 3J. ooc8ioo?u

ORNAMENTAL DILLENIA.

When a stranger debarks at Maulmain in February, ins
attention is arrested by a tree without a leaf, but covered
with large gaudy yellow flowers, it is the ornamental dil-
lenia. Several other species of the genus are indigenous
in the Provinces.

Dillcnia ornata.

BOTANY. *1

WHITE FLOWERED BARRINGTONIA.

There is a species of barringtonia in the Tavoy and
Mergui jungles with drooping spikes of white flowers
three or four feet long; and which would be much ad-
mired if introduced into the cities. The leaves are very
large and lyre-shaped, and both flowers and foliage
would contrast well with the other trees around it. The
species is not described in any of the books to which I
can refer.

Barringtonia.

SCARLET FLOWETir

This tree bears long pe ous of scarlet flow-

ers, and is very abundui.. in the forests to which it is a
great ornament.

Barringtonia acutangula.

ARABIAN JASMINE.

This jasmine is probably more universally cultivated
than any other flower. The comm:n double variety is
more generally seen, but the single flowered, with a twi-
ning habit is not infrequent.
J as m in u m Sam bac.
©ooSnccSii

Great double Arabian jasmine,
The rich robed branches of this variety are studded all
over like the snow-drop tree with lovely white flowers,
the size of small roses, and delightfully fragrant.
Jasminum Sambac, plenum.
coso5dqc8»

catalonian ,or spanish jasmine.
This is the most exquisitely fragrant specie3 of the '
genus, and is very generally cultivated by both Burmans
and Europeans.

Jasminum grandifiorzim,

BOTANY.

WILD JASMINE.

There is a wild climbing jasmine seen throughout the
Provinces festooning the forests, and arching the path-
ways with its delicate flowers, like a wreath of snow flakes
flung over the arms of a Canada spruce.
Jasminum syring&folium.

CoScgr

TREE OF MC

The iree of mourning, sometimes called ni at-blooming
flower, is as great a faforite in inuia as in the Southern
States of America. Its delicate orange and white blossoms
pour the most delicious fragrance on the evening air, and
then fall in showers, bedewing the earth's cold bosom with
sweetness

Nyctanthes Arbor tristis,
SScocqw

PERIWINCLE TREE.

This is a handsome shrub almost constantly covered
with blossoms, that can scarcely be distinguished from the
flowers of the rosy-periwincle, though of a different genus.
It was iirst discovered in Burmah, and Roxburgh, who
introduced it into the Botanical Garden, said in his des-
cription : " The flower is like those of Vinca rosea, but
larger and faintly fragrant ; it is in fact one of the most
ornamental shrubs in the garden. "

Calpicarpum Koxburghii.

Cerbera fructicosa.

OCoSb

ROSA.

The rose is quite naturalized on the Coast, and is one
of the abundant flowers in the European gardens. It is
cultivated by the natives also to a small extent, and the
flowers sold in bazar.
Rosa.
|Ss8i OSlGdGSJ. 8ooiaji|S»

BOTANY.

SWEET BRIAR.

73

Our English residences are often filled with sweet odours
from the g°rateful eglantine, or sweet briar, but the plant
is kept alive with difficulty when exposed to the south-
west monsoon.

Rosa rubiginosa.

PERSIAN LILAC

This beautiful tree whose lilac clusters perfume alike
the mansion of the American Planter, the saloon of the
Frenchman, and the palace of the Syro-muhammedan is
here also occasionally found shedding its sweetness around
our Indian bungalows, and embellishing their environs.
It is called in England the bead-tree, and in the United
States the pride of China, or pride of India.
Melia azedarach.

INDIAN TRUMPET FLOWER.

The large terminal erect racemes of a species of bignonia
or trumpet flower, are often seen near the dwellings of the
natives ; and its seeds are frequently noticed on account
of the large membraneous wing with which they are sur-
rounded.

Calosanthes indica.

Bignotiia "

cocpSgpn O1GSjG01. SsOoSq

STIPULED TRUMPET FLOWER TREE.

A common flowering tree throughout the Provinces is a
species of bignonia that bears a long twisted pod. It is
common at Maulmain : and the flowers are often seen in
bazar where they are sold for food. The tree enters the
native materia medica as affording a cure for psora.

Bignonia stipulata.

Spathoclea stipulata.

74 BOTANY.

FRAGRANT CAL9FHYLLUM.

Near the Burman monasteries, a fragrant flowered species
of calophyllum is occasionally seen in cultivation, and is
a remarkably handscme tree. The beauty of the leaves
has given name both to the genus and species — calophylum,
handsome leaf, and Inophyllutn, fibre leaf,- " because the
middle nerve of the leaf seems to ramify into a multitude
of fibres ; " while the flowers are in elegant white bunches,
and very sweet scented.

Calop hy llu m In ophy U

^ggofr

ROYAL POINCIANA.

This gorgeous shrub winch has been introduced from
Madagascar into India, bears a most magnificent, and
graceful flower ; and as it flourishes well in these Provinces,
if it were generally planted in our gardens, it would add
much to their beauty.

Poind an a regia.

FLOWER FENCE.

/This is a gaudy ever-flowering shrub planted in Barba-
does for hedges ; it is much cultivated by the Burmese,
and the variety with yellow blossoms is occasionally seen
in their gardens. It belongs to the same genus as the
preceding, and is sometimes called peacock's pride, and
Spanish carnation.

Poindana pulcherrima.
G3)8cS\\ ocoSoScoon (Tavoy.)

DARK-PURPLE PONGAMIA.

This tree is very common about Maulmain and though
vastly inferior to a multitude of others, Wallich thought it
of sufficient beauty, to give it a place among his splendid
engravings of rare Indian plants.
Pongamia atropurpurea

BOTANY. 75

CLITORIA.

The clitoria, with its deep blue flowers, is seen tangled
with other climbers wandering over trees, and arbors, in
all parts of the country.

Clitoria ternatea

G33o68^@a bibj&bj. c8cDJ3cx>d3u

GARLAND TABER3LEMONTANA.

The foliage of this tree very beautifully contrasts with
its large blue-white double flowers ; which are often im-
properly called on this Coast, " wax flowers." The wax-
flower of Bengal is a trailing creeper, Hoy a carnosa, which
has been recently introduced into European gardens.

The single flowered variety is seen occasionally but not
often.

Tabcrncemontana ccronaria, flora plena.

RECURVED TABERN .E MONT A S,\ .

This is a low shrub indigenous about Maulmain, re-
markable for its recurved peduncles and fragrant flowers.
Tabernamiontana recurva.

GOCOOCO&i

ALI/AMANDA.

Tins is a climbing shrub, a native of South America,
which produces a great profusion of yellow bell flowers.
Xt differs in some respects from Voigt's description, and by
some would perhaps be referred to a different species, but
it accords very well with Lindley's in his Flora Medica.
.4 Ham anda cat hart ica .

CSGGp&O^fl

SCARLET CLERODENDRON.

The Burmese compounds are ornamented with this
species of clerodendron, which bears a large cone of su-
perb scarlet flowers, and, although said to be originally
from China, it appears to be naturalized on this Coast.
Clerodendron squamatum.

76 BOTANY,

FRAGRANT CLERODENDRON.

In the most arid parts of the forests, during the hottest
months of the dry season, the path of the traveller is per-
fumed by the fragrant flowers of a large leaved species of
clerodendron. Major Macfarquhar sent specimens to the
Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Calcutta a few
years ago, but they were unable to determine the species
satisfactorily.

Clerodendron.

DOUBLE FLOWERED CLERODENDRON.

The Burmese cultivate a fragrant double clerodendron,
which appears to be a variety of the last species.
Clerodendron.

CHANG ABLE LA NT ANA

This straggling shrub appears to be quite naturalized

in the neighborhood of Maulmain ; though rarely seen in

other parts of the Provinces. The flowers are yellow when

they first open out, but afterwards change to a rose color.

L ant ana niuea, mutabilis,

OOGp@o5a

CHASTE TREE.

Tins is a shrub much cultivated by the Burrnans that
bears a handsome little blue flower. Both leaves and flow-
ers are " rather agreeably heavy scented."
Vitex trifolia.

STROPHANTHUS.

There js a shrub about Amherst that bears a flower
resembling the nerium, but with very long linear filaments
to the end of each segment of the corolla. It is a specie?
•)f strophantus and well deserving of cultivation
Strophantkus,

BOTANY. 77

FICTURE PLANT.

The justicia, one variety of whicli has variegated leaves,
and the other deep purple, is multiplied throughout the
Provinces.

GraptopJri/Uum hortense.

Justicia picta.

cco^u variegated leaf.

oo<£5§j3coc8-ioli Ci gnj©jl§lei§"u "

ecoSf* blood-red leaf.

oo^SS^cocSiSin <: gnjojl §191031.

CAPE JASMINE.

Most Tenasserim gardens, as well as many European,
and American, are graced with this tasteful shrub, which
does not belong to the jasmine tribe, but is a species of
gardenia. Its pure snowy blossoms, strongly fragrant, Lou-
don says, smell " like the narcissus ; " and they contrast
delightfully with the thick jo'cep green foliage in which
they are set.

Gardenia floridu.

o^sdSo^sp O31^J©01. OOco^Qln

GARLAND GARDENIA.

This is an indigenous tree, which produces a profusion
of flowers that are white in the morning, when they first
open out, but which, on exposure to the sun, become quite
yellow.

Gardenia cor on aria.

MUSSJENDA.

A species of musssenda with corymbs of orange-colored
flowers, and a single sepal expanded into a large white
leaf, is not the least interesting shrub to the eye of the
curious. In Calcutta an allied species is cultivated in the
gardens, but its abundance in our forests prevents its intro-
duction into European gardens on this Coast.
Musscenda Wallichii.

/8 BOTANt. ■

PSYCHOTRIA.

The genus psychotria furnishes a handsome shrub,
whose small white flowers throw a delightful fragrance on
the path during a morning walk.
Psychotria.
oboSsn (JSgau.)

CRIMSON IXORA,

This species of ixora is very common in front plots, and
fs sometimes called by the European residents, " the
country geranium."

Ixora coccinea.

^©^<Sn Wi&G'"). 8oocj^»

WILD IXORA.

An indigenous species of ixora is frequently met with
in mountains and plains whose flowers are of a much paler
hue than the preceding species.
Ixora pollens ?
<2COD'J$©£jSa O9"V60 r V. §06'-

WHITB IXORA.

A white-flowered ixora is another of our wild flowers
that ought to be brought into cultivation.
Ixora alba.

PAVETTA.

An indigenous species of pavetta, with Mowers resem-
bling a white ixora is found at Tavoy,
Pavetta tomentosa.

<$i85g8-t.. (Sgau.)

NAUCLEA.

A fragrant orange-flowered species of nauclea rs -
times cultivated by the natives. Its large glossy leaves
afford a thick and beautiful shade : and, in Indian Mytho-
logy, it is one of the four shadow-giving trees that grow
on mount meru — the eugenia, the nauclea cadamba, the
banyan, and the peepul.

Nauclea Cadamba.

BOTANY. 79

HEDYOTIS.

An attractive purple-flowered shrub, a species of hedyc-
lis is multiplied in some sections of the country.
Hedyotis.

SAMADERA.

The low grounds near the sea coast are ornamented
with a handsome shrub which is a species of samadera,
and bears a rather curious flower. Like the quassia of
the same tribe, its leaves are most intensely bitter, and
may perhaps possess the virtues of quassia. Wight says
it is cultivated in the gardens about Batavia ; but I have
never seen it out of its native jungles on this Coast.
Samadera lucida.
ODobn ODobSl.)

THREE-LEAVED CAPER.

The three-leaved caper tree produces large handsome
terminal heads of flowers with numerous purple stamens
and white clawed petals that change to cream color.

Cratava Roxburghii.

Capparis trifoliata.

CO OO08 ii OOCoSn c85c02n

SHOE FLOWER.

This bold, flaming flower is extensively cultivated, and
is a very good substitute for " Day and Martin's black-
ing."

Hibiscus Rosa sinensis.

CHANGABLE HIBISCUS.

The double rose hibiscus whose white flowers deepen
into red, are sometimes seen in the front plots of Europe-
an residences.

Hibiscus mutabilis.

POPLAR HIBISCUS-

A yellow-flowered species has been introduced from
the Madras Coast, which is quite an ornamental tree.

80 BOTANY.

Linnoeus very appropriately named it the poplar hibiscus,
for it has the leaves of the poplar with the flower of the
hibiscus.

Thespesia populnea.

Hibiscus populneus.

TORTUOUS HIBISCUS.

The banks of our tide-water streams are often damask-
ed with the changable red and yellow flowers of this
large luxuriant bush, whose crooked wandering branches,
crossed and locked with each other, spread along the
ground heaping the earth with its evergreen foliage.

P aritium t iliaceum.

Hibiscus tiliaccus.

co^£)OG5)5ii oo£ofn 09JO^. d^>c6;i

FRAGRANT SCREWPINE.

The male flowers of the fragrant pandanus or screw-
pine, are exceedingly fragrant, and great favourites with
the Burmese. The palm-like shrub that bears them,
dropping roots from its branches, like the banyan, is a
very curious plant, and not inelegant.
Pandanus ocloratissimus.

SWEET-SCENTED OLEANDER.

This well known fragrant flower adorns a few of the
gardens in Maulmain, but it has not yet come into general
cultivation.

Ncrium odorum.

SCARLET NERIUM.

European compounds are occasionally scented with this
useful shrub, whose orange-red flowers have the grateful
fragrance of the pine apple.
Wrightia coccinea.
Ncrium. "

LAUREL-LEAVED PASSION FLOWER.

Numerous species of passion flower are seen wandering
over the arbors and trellises of our sunny greens, but none

60TANV. 81

exceed in beauty, and fragrance the laurel-leaved passion
flower, called in the West Indies, water lemon vine, which
appears to have been the first of the tribe introduced into
Burmah.

Passiflora laurifolia,

230ODDOc8b

FOETID PASSION FLOWER.

A species of passion flower with foetid flowers, but ve*
ry elegant moss-like involucres, though rarely noticed in
gardens, may be often seen creeping over the hedges in
Maulmain like an indigenous plant,
Passiflora fcetida.

MUSK PLANT.

One oi the most gaudy flowering shrubs in the country
is the musk plant, whose large yellow blossoms with
blood colored eyes are sometimes seen bedecking Euro*
pean grounds, and whose seeds have been said to be an
antidote to snake bites.

Abelmoschus moschatus.

ELCEOCARPUS.

At Maulmain there is seen a small tree whose hand-
some summit is whitened over with a profusion of white
flowers, it is a species of elceocarpus, the genus which fur-
nishes by its tuberculed seeds, beads for the Hindoo Fa*
keers.

Elceocarpus longifolius*

MONOCERA.

In the southern provinces there is a species of mono--
cera which bears flowers similar to the eloeocarpus.
Monocera Grijjlthii.

g2 DOTANV,

ARDISIA.

There are two or more indigenous species of ardisia
that are handsome flowering shrubs. One, A. kumilis, I
saw in Dr. Carey's garden at Serampore, and another I
have seen in European grounds on the Coast.
Ardisia humilis.

" Amherstiana
cqctiaxfi* ldTOOJqj. co8jB8pa

ROUREA.

The rourea abounds in the environs of Tavoy, where
the air is often filled with fragrance from its thick snow-
white flowers.

Rourea Soohirthoontec.
Cncstis monadelpha.

e °
MEMECYLON.

A small blue-flowered species of memecylon bearing its
flowers in compound corymbs, which contrast favourably
with its shining green leaves, is interesting to the florist
in this country, where blue flowers are so rare.
Memecylon tinctorium.

GREWIA.

Perhaps there is no tree more generally diffused
throughout the Provinces than a species of grewia, whose
terminal bunches of flowers may be seen on almost every
knoll in the country.

Grewia.

goSooos fySgoooooBu (Tavoy.)

qp c8i<g^a

COMBRETUM.

A fragrant flowered species of combretum is common
on the hills near Maulmain. — A straggling shrub, with
winged fruit.

Combretum Wightiana.

BOTANY. £3

CONGE A.

In the neighborhood of Maulmain and Amherst, but rarely
in the southern provinces, the forest scenery is often orna-
mented with the numerous large purple bracts surround-
ing the small inconspicuous flowers of a species of congea.
In the distance it bears a strong resemblance to the dog-
wood tree of he Ohio valley when in flower. There are
three different species in the Provinces, but they are all
called by the same native names.
Congea azurca.

" tomentosa.

" veluti;a.

COQUODH OOOOI^H

CEYLONESE NARAVEL1A.

In the southern provinces a handsome flowered climb-
ing plant of the genus naravelia, belonging to the ranun-
culus tribe, is occasionly seen.
Naravelia zcylanica.

virgin's bower.

Griffith says there is one species of this northern genus
in the Provinces " with simple fleshy leaves. 5 '
Clematis.

PRICKLY PEAR.

The hedge prickly pear is often seen in gardens, and
its large yellow flowers are quite ornamental. The na-
tives regard it as a species of euphorbia.

Opuntia Dilhnii.

Cactus indicus.

cjpsGOjSscooS^jfii gpge©5scoo5o"«

WEEPING SONNERATIA.

There is a species of sonneratia in the low wet lands
near the mouths of some of the rivers, well deserving of a
place in our cities. It bears a strong resemblance to the

84 BOTANV.

weeping willow and is one of the most graceful trees in
the country. The casuarina has been removed from the
coast to our compounds, and the sonneratia is quite as
deserving.

Sonneratia apetala.

cc£oco»

DRAGON TREE.

Two or more species of the dragon tree, resembling
small areca palms are seen in Burmese compounds, but
the most common is the one with dark purple leaves,
Dracama atropurpurea.

>co5a e33 ooobin

cg<S(

FRAGRANT MORINDA.

The most agreeably fragrant flowered shrub with which
I ever met in the Karen forests, is a species of morinda,
that has not yet found its way into cultivation. The
flowers are small, in dense heads, like other members of
the genus, azure purple externally, but white within :
and have only four anthers, like a species described by
Jack which he found on the Malay Islands
Morinda,

FRAGRANT LIMOMIA.

On all the lands near the mouths of the rivers that are
occasionally overflowed by tide waters, a very handsome
Bhrub of the orange family, with a fragrant white flower,
and a small fruit like a lemon in miniature, is quite com-
mon ; and ought to have a place in our garden plots
Limonia.

TARIEGATED CROTON.

This shrub with handsome variegated leaves as some-
times seen in gardens.

Codlamm chrysosticton*
Croton variegatum*

BOTANY.

CORAL PLANT.

85

Though a native of America, the coral plant, with its
brilliant carmine corymbs is considerably diffused in
Maulmain grounds.

Jatropha multifield.

bojer's euphorbia.
This large scarlet-flowered species of euphorbia from
Madagascar is very common in gardens.
Euphorbia Bojerii.

POINSETTIA.

This plant has been recently introduced into the gar-
dens in Maulmain ; and its large vermillion-colored floral
leaves render it, when in flower, a very ornamental plant.
Poinsettia pulckerrima.

RANGOON CREEPER.

This elegant scandent shrub is seen trailing its long
arms around our bowers and verandahs, buried in thick
lively foliage, and gracefully flinging out its thousands
of sweet-scented flowers which change their tint from
white to rose, and with the clouds at sunset, deepen into
richest crimson.

Quisgualis indica
GDSOo5§£gll

FRAGRANT PERGULARIA.

In the gardens in Maulmain, this fragrant flowered
creeper is often cultivated.

Pergularia odoratissima.

MALPIGHIA.

A handsome shrub of the genus malpighia, with leaves
like the holly, and nearly related to the Barbadoes cherry,
is occasionally cultivated in European gardens.
Malpighia hetcr anther a.

jEGICERAS.

This large shrub when in bloom is covered with small
white flowers, which seem to have great attractions for the

rG BOTANY-.

fire-flies. In moving up the streams near the sea-board
on a dark night, these trees are often seen illumined with
myriads of waving brightening wings :

"Retreating, chasing, sinking, soaring,
The darkness of the copse exploring,"

And making them look in the deep gloom, like superb
candelabra hung with living lamps.
JSgiceras fragrajis ?

HANDSOME URANIA.

The yard of a Burmese merchant in Tavoy, is often visited
by Europeans to look at what is deemed the most curious
tree in the Provinces. It is frequently amusing to listen to
the observations of the spectators that may not unfrequently
be seen gathered around it on a fine evening. " It is a kind
of a palm, " says one, " do you not see that its trunk is
precisely that of a palm ?" This settles the question so long
as the eyes are kept on the trunk ; but another looks up
and cries out, " No such thing ! Look at its leaves.
They cannot be distinguished from the leaves of a plantain
tree." It belongs to the natural family of the plantain,
but it has the trunk of a palm, and the leaves are not ar-
ranged around the stem like those of the plantain, but in
two opposite rows, so that the whole head has the form of a
gigantic fan. It is the only tree of the species that 1 have
seen on the Coast, and it was brought up by its owner from
Penang. It is well worthy of cultivation for a curiosity.

Ravenala madagascariensis.

Urania spcciosa.

CASUARINA.

The casuarinas, called beef-woods, form imposing bow-
ers, and are the very pictures of drooping beauty. There
is but one species indigenous to this Coast, which is the
one that has been diffused over Bengal, but the species in-
troduced into England is the one common to the Indian
Archipelago, and the South Sea Islands, called in the
latter place ironwood. The wood is very hard and dura-
ble, and the Tahitians in their war-days chose it for the

BOTANV.

SI

manufacture of their formidable, ingeniously carved war-
clubs, hence they term it the club-wood. They also fash-
ioned valuable fishing hooks from its roots. The casuarina
of our Provinces is found inhabiting only the loose, sandy
soil of the sea-board, and never inland. In general outline
it resembles the pine, but it is of a more slender figure,
and more elegant in appearance. Ft is a remarkable tree,
growing eighty feet high, and spreading out without a leaf
of covering; but its numerous fine knotted branchiets,
mantled with brilliant green, and hanging in drooping
bunches, or floating out lightly upon the breeze like long
skeins of green silk, adorn it with the most graceful drapery;
and make it one of the most desirable trees for embellish-
ing a Tenasserim park.

Casuarina muricata.

co£$s« SOI- £§<i

TENASSERIM BANYAN.

Few persons are aware that we have a species of ficus in
the Provinces which has the habit of dropping roots from
its branches that root in the ground, and become trunks
as large as the parent tree, to an extent nearly equal to
the famous banyan. It escapes notice because it developes
itself in the greatest perfection near the mangrove swamps,
and some who see it call it a mangrove ; and it never grows
spontaneously except on the banks of tide water streams.
It is not found however, in the mangrove lands which are
under water every tide, but abo*e that belt where heritiera
trees, and their associates show themselves, on land that
is inundated by the spring tides only. Specimens are seen
farther toward the interior, as on the banks of the Gyaine.
but on the low banks near the sea between Tavoy and
Mergui, the trees often form labyrinths from which I ha\e
more than once found it difficult to extricate myself. Ir
is rather remarkable that the tree has never been introduc-
ed into our towns, where it would be quite an ornament to
the sides of our public walks. In a few instances I have seen
the tree planted on high ground, one at a village near the
sea-coast west of Tavoy, where it appears to grow very well.
A very nearly allied species Wight says, is "much used a*

S3 BOTANY.

an avenue tree " in southern India. Perhaps our tree will
be referred to the same species, F. Benjamina ; but though
much resembling it, there is still a difference that appears
to be constant, and therefore specific. The Benjamina has
the fruit smooth on short stems, while the Tenasserim tree
has rougli fruit and stemless. There is a difference too "in
the leaves, but it is only slight, and not alone sufficient to
establish a species. Wight, in uniting F. nitida with
F. Benjamina, characterizes the united species thus :

11 Ficus Benjamina, Leaves oval and obovate, obtuse,
polished : fruit axilliary, paired, smooth."

The Tenasserim tree may be thus characterized :
Ficus Bcnjaminoides. Leaves oval, suddenly acuminate,
smooth, polished above ; fruit axilliary, paired, sessile,
rough.

Q£03£cqjccooc6i G^o8o^tSfl cgoo£co£>i

ASPEN-LEAVED PEEPUL.

The peepul is quite an ornamental tree but very scarce
in these Provinces, though usually supposed to be one of
the most abundant. The peepul of the residents, but not
of the Burmese who recognize the distinction, is an allied
but different species of ficus. It is the most sacred of
trees with the Buddhists, for it was under this tree that
Gaudama slept, and dreamed that his bed was the vast
earth, and the Himalaya mountains his pillow, while his
left arm reached to the eastern ocean, his right to the
western ocean, and his feet to the great south sea. This
dream he interpreted to mean that he would soon become
a Buddha ; and it was while seated beneath the same tree,
that his dream was verified. — He vanquished the forces of
Mara,* the Indian Cupid, and became divine.
Ficus rcligiosa.

#,v

ij^oSt

BOTANY. *$

HEART-LEAVED FTG,

This is the tree which usually supplies the place of the
peepul in the public places, and in the neighborhood of
religious edifices. " It approaches," says Roxburgh, "near-
est to F. religibsa, of any species I know, yet it is easily
distinguished from it by the leaves being narrower in pro-
portion to the length, with much shorter points, and instead
of the lobes forming a sinus at the base there is a small de-
gree of projection at the insertion of the petiole. And in
the second place by the fruit being perfectly round and
not, as in religiosa, vertically compressed."
Ficus fordifolia.

CYCAS.

There is a very ornamental species of cycas in the Ka*
ren forests resembling a low palm, but which has never
yet been introduced around our European seats.
Cycas cir emails. ?

PALMYRA PALM.

The palms undoubtedly constitute the noblest tribe of
plants in the whole vegetable kingdom ; and there is a
large number of species indigenous, and cultivated in the
Provinces. Excepting the areca and cocoanut, the palmyra
palm, is more generally diffused than any other-.
Borassus fiahdliformis.

WILD PALMYRA.

The Provinces yield an indigenous palm which the na*
lives call the wild palmyra. It has the fruit of the pal-
myra, but the leaf differs from it sufficiently to constitute
it another species.

Borassus.

exsco'Sn 0\o3l. c8£icoj5gP»

90

BOTANY,

TALIPaT OR LARGE FAN-PALM.

Griffith met with trees in flower at Mergui, which he
thought belonged to this species, but " not having access
to a complete copy of Martins' Palms,'' lie could not speak
with certainty. For the same reason, other trees that I
saw in Tavoy, must be slated as probably talipat palms.

Corypha umbraculifci a.

GUI Gjdl. ofia

BOOK PALM.

is of the palm, the leaves of which are com-
t 10 write on instead of paper, arc not infrequent
i»i the neighborhood of religious edifices. I think there
o species in the Provinces.
Corypha Tali era.
data.

GJdl. oSn

date ?:.

1 have seen young date trees raised from the seeds of
the dried dates that are imported, and there is no appa-
rent reason why the tree might not be cultivated.
Phoenix dactylifi

gSoo^u ©eider S£oc8£« |Sc^j^5«

WILD DATE PALM.

Capt. Phayre informed me that he saw a wild date
palm near one of the kyoungs in Amherst province ; but
h so abundant on the Hoogly, this is the only one I
ever. in the Provinces.

Phoenix sylvt

THE MARSH-DATE PALM.

On the low islands in the rivers, and on the shores
which are inundated with the highest tides, the marsh-
date palm abounds, a small tree about twenty feet high,
no thicker than a walking cane ; whose fruit looks pre-
cisely like a bunch of dates, but it is not edible.

BOTANY. 91

Griffith says : " It is well worth cultivating on account
of its elegance, and its being adapted for bank scenery. "
Phoenix paliulosa.
co8gooo£h ooc^Su (Tavoy)

WILD PALM.

There is a large stately palm very abundant in th
ren jungles, the leaves of which the Karens use for
thatch.

Livistona.

CoScftpoSoqn lCJ. c8

KAREN CABBAGE PALM.

A wild palm is found in many parts of tl
which the Karens often cut down for the unexpanded
bunches of young leaves found in its summit, and which
hits the taste of cabbage. The tree does not however, bc-
long to the same genus as t;he cabbage tree of America, but
from the imperfect specimens of its fructification
have seen, appears nearly related to Griffith's gem
Macrodaduz.

r

qSo-jSn^GooSs't Q9J c8j

WALKIN G-CANE PALM.

The islands of the Mergui Archipelago yield a small
palm, the stems of which are used for walking-sticks, like
" Penang Lawyers " ; and is probably a species of the
same genus that produces those famous canes.
Licuala. 1

STEMLESS LICUALA.

This is a nearly stemless palm described by Griffith as
remarkable for its dark green foliage. He met with it in
the forests south of Mergui.

Licuala longipes.

32 BOTANT.

TREE RATAN.

An arboreas species of ratan common in the jungles
Griffith justly terms : " a very elegant palm."

Calamus arborescens.

oD cvlu

o$&

RATAN SAGO TALM.

The sago palm has not been discovered in these Pro-
vinces, but Griffith describes a palm from the Mergui
Islands, which he named the ratan sago palm. " It ap-
pears," he says, " to be osculant, between calamus, sagus,
and zalacca, having the habit of the former, the inflores-
cence of the second, and in some measure tiic seed of the
last genus ;" so that while it resembles a ratan, it has flow-
ers like the sago palm.

Calamosagus lacinioius.

BETEL PALMS.

The palm which produces the betelnut is extensively
cultivated by the Burmese, and to a small extent by the
Karens It thrives luxuriantly on our Coast, and a grove
of hotel palms, with their slender, cylindrical stems peer-
ing fifty or sixty feet upward, waving their green plumes,
and fragrant flowers, presents a scene of sylvan beauty
Yarely to be excelled under our tropic sky.

" Thus winds our path through many a bower

Of fragrant tree «rer—

While o'er the brake so wild and fair

The betel waves hb crest i

Yet who ir» Indian bowers has stood

But thought on England's ! good greenwood : '

And blessed beneath her palmy

The hazel and her hawthorn £ I

And breathed a prayer, (how oft in vain ■)

To gaze upon her oaks again."

Areca Catechu.

BOTANY. 03

SELECT ORAMENTAL HERBACEOUS PLANTS.

The number of annuals and herbaceous flowering
plants in the Provinces, though considerable, is not pro*
portionate to the number of trees and shrubs. For the
accompanying notices, I have selected fifty of those pos-
sessing most interest to the florist.

ELEGANT KCEMPFERA.

Under every shady tree in Maulmain may be seen dur-
ing the rains, a pretty little pink flower resting on broad
green leaves, which W allien appropriately named "the
elegant koempfera." Though so abundant at Maulmain ;
it is scarcely seen in the southern provinces.

Monolophus ehga?is,

Kampfera clegans.

cg'SoodfJsi

WHITE KCEMPFERA.

During the dry season, a white-flowered species of
koempfera with a yellowish limb, is often seen lifting its
crocus-like flowers without a single leaf, on the most arid
spots in the jungles.

Kmmpfcra Candida.

FRAGRANT KCEMPFERA.

This is the finest species of the genus, and is cultivated
by amateurs for its beautiful sweet-scented blossomes. A
nearly related species is indigenous in the Karen jungles.

Kcempfera rotunda.

Ggu|socooo5ii oeiO^OU SojBojSugsjgQ -5,.

MELASTOMA.

A species of melastoma with large gaudy purple petals,
and long yellow stamens, is a common weed. Its calyx
opens like a lid, and bears a fruit which in taste and
flavour strongly resembles the blackberry of temperate

94 BOTANY.

regions. In Bengal the same plant is cultivated as a gar*
den flower, but it does net compare with our wild plant.
3IeIastoma malahathricum*

c^ntyi o3jo<nqj3i. coSSesi.

OSBECKIA.

A pretty species of osbeckia having the general appea-
rance of the above, except that the stamens are all of equal
length, is in flower on the Maulmain hilis in August.
Osbeckia.

SONERILA.

Perhaps the prettiest little annual in the neighborhood
of Tavoy is a species of sonerila. Its bright purple
blossoms peeping up in the grass attract the attention of
the most casual observer.

Sonerila.

S^iojo (Sgau.)

carey's globba.

On shady banks in these Provinces where violets are
seen in England, the pretty orange-flowered globba is not
uncommon.

Globba Carcyana.

gloriosa.

One of the most curious flowers in the country is the
gloriosa. " Gloriosa," says Louden, " on account of the
glorious colours of its flowers, and the elegance of their
form. This is a splendid and curious genus." The
flower, as large as a lily, hangs down, and the petals
stamens and style all turn and grow up like a flower
turned inside out. Then lo complete the oddity, the
leaves prolong their extremities into tendrils, and the
plant walks on its toes.

Gloriosa supeiba.

BOTANY. 95

TUBEROSE.

" The tuberose with her silvery light," a plant of the lily
tribe, which has been introduced into India from Mexico
or South America, is cultivated very extensively by the
Burmans and in many English gardens. The flower has
a delightful fragrance, and throws out its odours stronoest
at evening.

Polianthcs tubcrcia.

$S*o£n 8oSt«

GARLAND FLOWER.

The garland flower, a species of hedychium, but regard-
ed by Europeans as a lily, is much cultivated by both natives
and foreigners. The yellow and white varieties are both
common. " This to rae, ,; says Roxburgh, " is the most
charming of all the plants of this natural order that I have
met with, the great length of time it continues to throw
out a profusion of large, beautiful, fragrant blossoms, makes
it particularly desirable."

Hedjchium coronarium.

coScossa ooiohiopoj. 85o)i5c8S8Sr!
85c8io£.

NARROW PETALLED GARLAND FLOWER.

A very fragrant species of hedychium with long narrow
petals, and an epiphytic habit is often seen in Tavoy. The
species is not described in any books to which I have
access.

Hedychium.

co8do5coSgcosh eoiolqio3^£rh. SSc^Soo^-

water Lily.

Griffith says, there are two different species of water lilv
in the Provinces.

Nymphmai

98 BOTANf.

SACRED BEAN PLANT.

The flower of this plant being much like a water lily,
it is usually regarded as one, but the fruit is so different
that botanists have placed them in different natural fanilies.
Nelumbium speciosum.
cap* OR61. ooc8»

ORNAMENTAL CRINUM.

We have no lilies in the country, but they are well re-
presented by thecrinums, which Europeans usually denom-
inate lilies. A very large petalled species, of which there
are two varieties is much cultivated in gardens, and is quite
an interesting plant.

Crinum or nation.

LARGE FRUITED CRINUM.

There are two gigantic species of crinum indigenous
in the low grounds near the sea coast, one of which is the
large fruited crinum, and the other, which is nearly related
to it, bears a large bunch of fragrant flowers and has been
recently introduced into our gardens.
Crinum macrocarpon.
u^cggs. (301W1C5JOOJ. 8g^£Dlos3^..

WATER CRINUM.

Many of the clear mountain streams, where they rest
their waters in little crystal lakes, are covered with a fra-
grant and beautiful species of crinum with long narrow
leaves.

Crinum.

TIGER LILY.

A showy yellow and orange flower, whose petals are
-potted like a leopard's skin, and belonging to the iris

BOTANY. Vi

tribe, is very commonly cultivated by the Burmese as well
as by Europeans.

Pardanthus chincnsis.

EURYCLES.

A fragrant white flowering bulb of the amaryl
and of the genus curycles, is not uncommon in native
gardens.

Euryclcs a?;:

ZEPHYRANTHES.

One or two species of zephyranthes of the amarylis tribe
which I introduced from Dr. Carey's garden at Serampore
grow very well, and form handsome border flowers.
Zephyranthes tubispatlia.

GLOBE AMARANTHUS.

The globe amaranthus is often cultivated by Karens and
Burmans, as well as by Europeans.
Gomphrena globosa.

cock's c.

This common annual all over the world, is often zeen
in European gardens ; and is sometimes cultivated by the
natives. The Burman name signfies cock's comb, like
the English.

Celosia cristata.
QoScoDoSg 88lo8S8Sn

PRINCE'S FEATlIEJt.

This is the most elegant plant, when cultivated by the
ns, that 1 ever saw of the amaranth tribe. It is not the
prince's feather of English writers Amaranthus hypochon-
driasis, but a species of celosia which bears a long pen-
dulous drooping panicle or plume like Roxburgh's C

i)b BOTANY.

ce -nua, but it is a different species. There are two varie-
ties, one with bright yellow flowers, the ether with red.

Celosia.

go5cp5dl8B oe^.bl. (flower yellow.) 8c8«

gr/SqoSfn (501061. (flower reel)

88ie8lVu

SENSITIVE PLANT.

Where " garden flowers grow wild," near deserted
iions the pink globular heads of the sensitive plant
may he often seen peeping through the grass. It is cul-
tivated by the Burmese, and is quite naturalized.

Mi mora.

cBco^Sh SSo8Scoj5o

CHRISTMAS DAISY.

A species of aster, or Christmas daisy, is seen occasion-
ally in European gardens.

FEVERFEW.

Feverfew a gaudy flowered annual, usually denominated
santhemum, but which the botanists have removed to
another genus, is often seen in gardens in Maulmain.

COREOPSIS.

The bright yellow flowered coreopsis, of the same tribe
as the above, which derives its name from the resemblance
of its seeds to an insect, is not uncommon in gardens.
Coreopsis.

PERIWINCLE.

Periwineles, both the red and white varieties, are fre-
quently cultivated by natives as well as Europeans.
Vine a rosea.

OOGo5oG£§So^8a Gg'j|gn G£O|SspGO0 L)Sn
PLUMBAGO.

Three different species of plun~:bago, the red, the white,
and the blue flowered, are common in gardens ; and the

BOTANY. 99

first two are cultivated by the Burmese for the vesicatory
power of their roots.

Plumbago rosea (flower red.)

Plumbago zeylanica (flower white.)
Plumbago capensis (flower blue.)

FOUR O'CLOCK.

The red, white, and yellow varieties of this pretty annu-
al are all cultivated by the Burmese as well as by Europeans,
who often call it the jalap plant. The true jalap, is how-
ever quite a different plant, a species of ipomsea.
Mirabilis Jalapa.

COSTUS.

An indigenous species of the spirical costus is very
abundant, but I do not find it described in the books to
which I can refer.

Costus argyrophyllus ?

c^SgoodS^h ocqqcooSqom Gals'). CO 031 h

BALSAM.

The common balsam, or touch-me-not, Noli me tangere
is very common both wild and cultivated.
Impaticns Balsamina.
o|g)8iio|ocoo5.t 091©3J03j. Si^opjgSio

NEILGIIERRY GRASS.

This is a .species of lobelia, which is unknown on the
NeilgherrieSj its name notwithstanding, and probably came
from Java. Wight, writing on the lobelias says : " There
is a small cespitose species much cultivated in pots, by
amateurs, under the strange name of Neilgherry grass. I
suspect the Lobelia succitlcnta of Blume, a Java plant,"

100 BOTANY.

GENDARUSSA.

An indigenous species of gendarussa is often planted for
borders around our gardens.

Gendarussa vulgaris.

ocf;&r£» oljOcH. O0CO80D18C")ii

I o »L

BRYOPHYLLUM.

This curious flowered plant with a leaf like the house-
leek was introduced into Indi Clive, from the
Moluccas, and has been - this Coast, that
it may be sometimes sect rowing a] ndold pagodas like
a wild plant.

P>njop1ujUum calycinum.

gc^oqpSGoloSii CTJOOOOl. ooooJScSSsSSb

INDIAN SHOT.

B''th the red and yellow varieties of indian shot are

often seen in gardens, and the first is much cultivated by
the Burmese for the seeds which they use for sacred herds.
Canna indie a.

HOLLY LEAYEO ACANTHUS.

Every muddy bank is relieved by crowds of a handsome

blue flowered plant with leaves like a holly, and hence
called the holly-leaved acanthus. The Burmans say its

.
Acanth us illicifoli us.

DSpSB

.

The mar/, ;le streams are pimpled

with a small species of the pontedera.

<: T

Wb.i

leaves of a beautiful blue.''

Pontedera vaginalis,

CDoSogooscSb OI1DOJ«3o O^Spapa

BOTANY. 101

A much larger species is found in the neighborhood of
Rangoon, and may exist in these Provinces.
Pontedera dilatata.

LUDWIGIA

In stagnate water, a species of ludwigia which bears a
pretty flower, is quite common.
Ludwigia parviflora.

begonia.
A pretty little annual, a species of begonia is common
in the neighborhood of both Tavoy and Maulmain.
Begonia.

XYRIS.

A species of xyris with conspicuous yellow flowers on
imbricated scaly heads, is often seen in the paddy fields.
Xyris indica.

SPIDER-W'ORTS.

Several species of spider-worts are abundant One, a
creeping species of commelyna may be often seen trailing
up the sides offences. Another with blue flowers like
the former but with a different habit, is sprinkled among the
grasses at almost every door. It belongs to the genus
aneilema. There are also one or two ether species com-
mon, but I do not find them described.

Commelyna c&spitosa.

Aneilema kerbaccum.

flagellars.
A species of flagellaria is often seen, and is easily recoo--
ni zed by the tendril it puts forth at the end of its leaves. &
Flagellaria indica.

LOR A NTH US.

Many of the trees are covered with different species of
the parasitical genus loranthus, so abundant in most tro-
pical climates ; and the numerous small red flowers of one
or two species in our forests are quite ornamental.
Loranthus.

102 ROTA NY.

SUNDEW.

There is frequently seen a delicate flower, so small that
it is passed unnoticed by most observers, which is a species
of drosera, that curious genus of the sundew tribe, which
produces Venus' fly-trap. There are two different spe-
cies at Tavoy.

Drosera indica.
11 pelt at a.

THE FRAGRANT ARUM.

This is a most singular plant. It has a stem one or
(wo feet high and six inches in diameter resembling a
low palm, while its leaves are gigantic cabbage leaves
ihree or four feet long by two or three wide. The flow-
ers are said to be fragrant. The natives cultivate it not
for food, like the other species of arum, but, as they say 7
for medicine.

Arum odor um.

IUEBON-LLAVED PINE APPLE.

This is a very ornamental variety of the pine apple that
has been introduced from Malacca.
Ananas striatifolia.

PARASITICAL INCARVILLIA.

This is an epiphytical plant with flowers resembling
the foxglove ; and when in bloom it is a great ornament
to the trees on which it grows, putting forth large, pen-
dulous brilliant blossoms. It is common at Tavoy, but
Was not known in Maulmain until I introduced it a few
years ago.

sE salty nanthus parasiticus.

lncarvillia. "

CINNABAR COLOURED ERANTHEMUM.

On the sides of some of the limestone cliffs in Amherst
Province this bright orange-scarlet flower is often seen ;
*nd it would be quite an addition to our gardens, in

BOTANY. IO3

which it has not yet found a place, although it is repre-
sented in Wallich's rare Indian plants.
Eranthemum c innabarinum.

GOAT-FOOTED 1POMJEA.

On the sands of the sea shore, this large red-purple'
flowered species of ipomsea is abundant.
Ipom&a Pes caprte.
Convolvulus "

o6coo5o2g$8o n§JQglOjl§j. cgODcoSfru

TIGER-FOOTED IPOMEEA.

This species of ipomsea with large palmated leaves is
not uncommon.

Tpomaa Pes tigridis.

ARROW-HEADED IPOM.EA.

There is an elegant little twining species of Ipomasa
with arrow-headed shaped leaves. The corolla is cream-
coloured with a purple eye. It is in bloom in the hedges of
Maul main at the close of the rains.
Ipomcea.

BONNET IPOMiEA.

In October, as soon as the rains close, a pretty little
twining species of ipomsea is seen blushing through every
hedge and bush. It is peculiar for its concave bonnet
shaped involucre, in the midst of which half a dozen
tiny blossoms hide their rosy lips.
IponuBa pileata.

MOON FLOWER.

A large flowered species of ipomea whose snowy blos-
soms open at sunset and shut at daylight is sometimes
seen carried over arbours and pandols on this coast. It is

"the white moon-flower, such as shows

On Serendib's high crags to those
Who near the isle at evening sail,
Scenting her clove trees in the gale."

Calonyction Rozburghii.
Ipom/za grandijlora.

104 BOTANY.

Another species with the same English name is occa-
sionally seen in European gardens.
Calonyction speciosum.

JASMINE ROUGE.

This beautiful little creeper which the French and
Burmese call red jasmine, the English China creeper, and
the botanists quamoclit or dwarf bean, is quite naturaliz-
ed throughout the Provinces. I have adopted the French
name as being both more descriptive and euphonious than
either of the others.

Quamoclit pe?inatum.
Ipomaa quamoclit.

HAIRY LETSOMIA.

A large red flowered creeper of the convolvulus tribe,
and genus letsornia is seen during the rainy season on al-
most every hedge.

Letsornia sctosa.

THUNBERGIA.

A large creeper with azure flowers belonging to the
genus thunbergia is a conspicuous plant in the forests.
1 do not rind the species described in any of the books
to which I can refer.
Thunbergia.

UOLY BASIL.

The basil tuft so often seen about the temples of Hin-

du:

that waves

Its fragrant blossoms o'er their.graves.'-'

has been so generally introduced that it is not less com-
mon in the neighborhood of Karen houses.
Ocimum sanctum.

fcOTANt. 105

AIR PLANTS,

The Tenasserim Provinces abound in air plants, or
orchids, most of which grow on trees and are epiphytes,
but not parasites as they are often, by a misnomer, deno-
minated. More than fifty different species have been
described, and there are probably as many more unknown
to science. The flowers of some of the species are great
favorites with the natives, and are sought after to adorn
the hair. The Burman books say that the trees around
King Wathandria's bermitaore were covered with orchids,
and that after being plucked they would retain their fra-
grance seven days.

Nearly every species is worth more in England than its
freight overland ; and they are often exported. It is usu-
ally supposed that the plants require air on their passage,
consequently the boxes in which they are packed are of-
ten perforated, or they are sent in baskets. But this is
an errour. The closer they are confined, the better will
be their condition on reaching the place of destination.

A gentleman in England to whom I sent a box of or-
chids a few years ago, remarked : " The plants were in
as good condition, as any I ever had from the east, in fact
had it been the dry season when you packed them, F
doubt not all would have come in full health, and you
cannot possibly do better in future than pack them in
a precisely similar manner. Their excellent condition
convinces me that a great many of my losses amongst
those I have had from the Botanical Garden at Calcutta,
have been caused by the fact of their being packed in
bamboo baskets instead of close boxes, — a close box seems
essential."

There is no good reason why this noble, graceful tribe
of plants should be so much excluded from our coim
pounds, and left to fling their beauty upon their native
wilderness of flowers, and "waste their sweetness on the
desert air." If generally introduced, they might be a rict>
acquisition to our tropical parterres.

100 BOtANt.

CHARMING DENDROBIUM.

The genus dendrobium furnishes fifteen or more
known species of air plants on this Coast. The one con-
sidered most interesting, botanists have named the
l< charming dendrobium," the flowers of which are white,
with a yellow lip, three or four inches in diameter, and
exquisitely fragrant. It is a choice flower with the Bur-
mese, and grows naturally and luxuriantly in the environs
of Maulmain. Roxburgh mentions April and May as the
time of flowering, but I Lave observed the plant blossom-
ing in March, and the flowers are brought into town
throughout the whole rains down to the close of October.
Indeed it may be seen whitening under the emerald foli-
age of the groves nearly six months of the year. The
Burmese call it the " silver flower."
Dendrobium formosum .
eg -j §8n -90J991. 8c8sc8a »

PURPLE DENDROBIUM.

A species of dendrobium with small purple flowers, the
Up tinged with orange, is seen garnishing the mango trees
in the neighbor hood of Maulmain. The flowers are pe-
culiar, being in long racemes all on one side of the stalk,
Lindley was not aware of its existence in these Provinces,
and only quotes it as found in the straits of Malacca and
the neighboring islands. He also says, that it flowers in
June and July ; but on this Coast, March and April are
the month? in which it is in full bloom.
Dendrobium secundem.

YELLQW DENDROBIUM.

Two pretty yellow flowered species of dendrobium are
more rare then the' purple, but they are not uncommon h?
the Karen jungles.

Dendrobium Picrardi.
Dendrobium aggregation.

BOTANY. 107

WHITE DENDKOBIUM.

A species with a small snowy flower is very abundant,
but has less to recommend it then either of the preceding,
Dendrobium crctaccum.

TAPER-LEAVED DENDROBIUM.

An orchid with a filiform tapering leaf is frequent in
the suburbs of Maulmain, and though I have never met with
it in blossom, an English botanist says it is the taper-leav-
ed dendrobium, which Lindley knew only as a New Holland
plant.

Dendrobium terct [folium.

SPOTTED SACCOLABIUM.

One of the noblest orchids in the Provinces belongs to
the saccolabium, or bag-lipped genus ; the lip forming a
bag, or spur. The flowers are numerous, white, spotted
with rose-violet, and stand on little pedicils ail around the
stalk so as to form an elegant plume sometimes a foot lonn-,
which give the trees on which they grow a most princely
appearance. They are profusely multiplied in the neigh*
borhood of Maulmain, and are highly valued in England.
Saccolabium rctusum.

" guttctum,

Aerides guttatum.

RED SACCOLABIUM.

Another species of the same genus with rosy flowers, is
also very handsome and quite abundant.
sEceocladcs ampullacea.
Saccolabium rubrum.
Aerides ampullaccum.
Lindley says it can scarcely be distinguished from &
ampullaccum of Wallich's catalogue;

FRAGRANT AERIDES.

The genus aerides furnishes one of the most fragrant of
orchids, but it is not very abundant in our forests,
Aerides odoratum,

108 BGTAN*.

FRAGRANT BOLBOPHYLLtJM.

Perhaps the most highly valued of the orchid order
amonfT the Burmese and Karens, is the sweet-scented
bolbophyllum, which Karen youths wear in the lobes of
the ear, and maidens in their hair. It abounds in almost
every part of the jungles, throwing down delicate straw
coloured racemes over the rough gray bark of old lager-
stroemias — emblems of childhood in the arms of age.
Bolbophyllum.

CAREY-DOLBOPHYLLUM,

This is a very common orchid in the vicinity of Maul-
main, easily recognized by a long leaf at the apex of a false*
bulb, aud by its small purplish flower.
Bolb op h y flu m Cany an u m .

ERlA.

A specis of eria is also one of the most abundant of our
epiphytes, but the dowers are small, and have little to re*
commend them.

Eria obcsa.

PHOLIDOTA.

In the suburbs of Maulmain, a white flowered species
of pholidota is not rare.

P hoi i dot a articulaia.

TRIAS.

Many of the mango trees have a species of trias grow-
ing on them, the smallest plant of the orchid tribe that I
haVe seen in the Provinces.
Trias oblong a.

HABENARIA.

There is an elegant species of habenaria in the Tavoy
Forests; and several other species of the same genus are
scattered over the Provinces.
Habenaria acuifera,

BOTANY. 109

PERISTYLUS.

Aii elegant terrestrial orchid with snowy blossoms is
occasionally seen, which belongs to the genus peristylus.
Peristylus.

GEODORUM.

Two other terrestrial species are members of the genus
geodorum.

Geodorum candidum.
" pallidum.

VANILLA.

Dr. Falconer discovered, while on his visit to the
Provinces in 1S49, a new species of vanilla, but its speci-
fic name and description have not yet transpired.
Vanilla.

FERNS.

The ferns are among the most curious objects in the
vegetable kingdom, and numerous species are indigen-
ous in these Provinces.

TREE FERN.

A tree fern is very rare but is occasionally seen in the
southern Provinces, resembling a small palm. Griffith
found the same species in Assam.

The natives have but one name for both the cycas and
tree fern.

Potypodium gigantcum.

CLIMBING FERN.

One of the most elegant climbers on the Coast is a
terrestrial species of fern, easily recognized by its habit
of running over other plants, and by the fringed margin
of its leaflets, from which it is sometimes called " fringed
fern." An allied species is found in the United States.

Lyg odium scandens.

Ophiglossum "

3$qSGc»Dc£i Q$3CcloSn (Tavoy.)

10 BOTANY.

OAK-LEAVED POLYPOD.

In some parts of the forests, the trunks of almost every
tenth tree have a great abundance of a large species of
polypod growing upon them. The barren fronds are cor-
date, and stemless ; but the fertile ones stand on long
slightly winged stems, and are gashed like the leaves of
an English oak.

Poly podium qucrcijolium.

GQDC^jo^ScqSu e33 0S r lQ]J'. U£?§ u

PITTED POLYPOD.

This fern is often found in company with the preceding
species; and may be easily recognized by its creeping
habit, and by the margins of the upper parts of its fronds
being rolled together when in fructification.
Poli/podium pcrtusum.

REED FERN.

There is a large terrestial fern with hollow stems like
a reed, which are often used by the natives instead of
quills for pens.

Polypodium.

COOqO$(c§8§^n 00. C8n

STIPE-CLASPING BRAKE.

A large brake is common at Tavoy with pinnate fronds,
whose leaflets have two lobes at the base which clasp
their stipe.

Pteris amphxicaulis .

GRASS FERN.

The trunks of our forest trees are often clothed with the
green drapery of the grass fern, which grows upon them
precisely like bunches of long grass. It belongs to the
same genus as the common brake.

Pteris graminifolia.

SOTAttV. HI

DAVALLIA.

An elegant fern of the genus davallia characterised by
the fructifications being " in roundish separate spots, near
the margin, " is very plentiful in the neighborhood of
Maulmain.

Davallia.

MULE FERN.

Near the sea shore a species of mule fern with cordate
fronds is sometimes seen.

Hemionitis cordifolia.

SCAXDENT LOMARIA.

The low lands near the mouths of our rivers and nullahs,
are often fantastically dressed with a species of lomaria
which creeps up to the tops of the tallest trees*
Lonfaria scandcns.

TAPEWORM FERN*

The tapeworm fern, so called from the resemblance of
the line of sori to a tape worm, is not infrequent.
Tcsnis blcchnoidcs ?

MAIDENHAIR.

A small handsome fern is seen in the crevices of old
ruins and walls every where, of the same genus and nearly
resembling the English maidenhair — " the prettiest of all
ferns/'

Adiantum.

CLUB MOSS.

The green woods of our southern provinces are often
carpeted with the club moss, or ground pine, of which we
have one or two handsome species.
Lycopodium.

SALVINIA.

A curious little floating plant, related to the ferns, of
the genus salvinia is often seen on the surface of old tanks
and stagnate waters.

Salvinia cuzullata.

112 BOTANY,

TABLE FRUITS.

There 19 a great variety of fruits indigenous and exotic
in this part of the British Territories, and to a native, who
while a child eats a raw sweet potatoe with as much zest
as a European would an apple, they are no doubt consi-
dered unsurpassable. The ancient Celts eat acorns, and
the modern Californians still use acorn bread, and the
Burmese and Karens eat fruits which are but little superi*
or to an acorn. Some however, are thought to be delici-
ous and are held in high repute ; but in general they are
much inferior to the fruits of temperate climates.

MANGOSTEEN.

" Malaya's nectared mangosteen " is truly a deliciou3
fruit, and by many esteemed as " the most palatable of
known fruits," but" though very delicate it is not to be
compared to an American peach. It is cultivated to a
considerable extent in Mergui, but is rarely seen in the
northern Provinces.

Garcinia mangostana.

DOR J AN.

The dorian holds an important place among the fruits
of this country being regarded by the voluptuous natives
as second to none. It is probably the most fceted fruit
in existence. Wight speaks of" the dorian so celebrated
on account of its fine flavored but excessively foetid fruit ;"
and adds : " It is said by Rumphius to be of a very heat-
ing quality, liable to excite inflamatory derangements of
the system."

Durio zibethinus.

^qgSi oojql Gojql ojj^u

MANGO.

The Mango deserves the first place among the indigent
ous fruits, being, as Dr. Lindley truly says : " To the inha*
bitants of India what the peach is to Europeans ; the

BOTANY. 113

most grateful of all fruits. Its flesh is filled with a rich
luscious juice ; but the inferior kinds have also so much
turpentine flavour as to be uneatable." Unfortunately,
our Mangoes are notoriously inferior ; and to say no*
thing of the turpentine flavor that some of them occa-
sionally have, half, if not three fourths of all that are sold
in the bazar, are worm eaten, though that is not at all
apparent when they are bought.

Ther". are two different species, both of which the na-
tives say grow wild, and several varieties are cultivated in
the Provinces. The finest is a variety from Siam, which
produces a large fruit with a very thin stone.

Mangiferu indica.
" sylvatica.

coqr£i OOif. ©8sn

HORSE MANGO.

This is a large mango multiplied at Mergui, and is
quite a favorite with the natives. It has an odour resem-
bling the dorian, and like that has been introduced from
*he Straits.

Mangifcra fcetida.

cogoSi 0031. os^so

OPPOSITE-LEAVED MANGO.

This indigenous tree produces a fruit much like a plum.
There are two varieties, — one bearing an intensely sour
fruit, and the other, one as insipidly sweet.

Cambessedea oppositifolia.
Mangifera "

Licni.

The lichi, originally from China, is a favorite fruit in
Bengal, but did not succeed on this a Coast until recently*
The trees bore their first fruit last year.
Nephtlium Lichi.

11 4 BoTANf.

PAWPAW.

The first fruit that I saw on the table in Burmah, was
an American pawpaw, not the pawpaw of the Mississippi
t alley, Porcelia triloba ; but the pawpaw of South America
and the West Indies. Europeans call it papaya, from the
Portuguese papayo ; and by the Portuguese it was pro*
bably introduced into India. The fruit resembles a melon
in appearance, and often tastes no better than a good
English turnip.

Carica Papaya.

cDcoSocSii c£(S3c8u (Tuvoy.)

SO ion. r8©n oongco^o

GUAVA.

The guava, another American tree is planted perhaps
mere extensively than any other fruit tree in the country.
Loudon has the most correct notion of the fruit that l
have seen. He says : " Most of the species are cultivated
in the tropics for their fruit, which also ripens freely in
this country, but is of little merit."

The while guava is the species most usually cultivated ;
but the red is not uncommon.

Psidium pyriferum (white.)
" pomifefum (red.)

GDCOOOD3 3GQ0£gCOo£» {ToVOl/.\
FINE APPLE.

Another of the most abundant fruits in the Provinces is
the pine apple, also an American production. With the
plant, the native American name appears to have been in-
troduced into Burmah, for nanas is said to be the name it
had among the Peruvians where it was originally found,
and the Burman name is nanat ; which the Sgaus have
abbreviated to nay.

Ananas sativus.

Bromdia Ananas.

BOTANY. 115

PLANTAIN.

The plantain or banana, though a far less palatable fruit,
holds the same place in this country that the apple does in
England, and the United States. It is used cs a vegetable as
well as an article for the dessert, the great proportion being
eaten with rice and meat in the place of potatoes.

There is perhaps no plant of which so many preposterous
things have been carelessly written in books of travels,
and then copied into works of graver character, than
this. Among other things equally veritable, it is said, *
" Three dozen plantains are sufficient to serve one man
for a week instead of bread, and will support him much
better." A Karen by me says he often eats ten at a time,
and a hundred would not be sufficient for a man one day if
be had nothing else, unless they were very large.

Like the mango, the tree is indigenous, but the wild
fruit is too full of Leeds to be eatable. The plantain and
banana, winch were formerly regarded as distinct, are now
considered by botanists as one species, but it embraces
tnany varieties; I have the Burman names of twenty-Jive
before me. " The numerous varieties," writes Voigt " we
have in vain tried to put in some order. The attempt made
for this purpose, in Schultens, appears to us to have only
increased the confusion." The Manila hemp, from which
a fabric of the finest texture is prepared, is made from the
leaves of a species of plantain tree, M. textilis. Another
distinct species of this genus grows wild in our jungles, and
is rather an ornamental plant, which is all that it has to
recommend it. Unlike the common plantain it never
throws up shoots from its roots.

The name of the plantain in Pali is mauza, which is its
Arabic name, mauz, with a final vowel added, to pronounce
the last consonant, no words in Pali, ending in any con-
sonant excepting n. Now if its Arabic name be so widely
diffused, it seems quite certain that had the plant been
known to the Hebrews, the Hebrew being cognate with
Arabic, it would have had a similar name. This fact is a
sufficient refutation of the conjectural interpretations of

See Loudon's Encyclopedia cf Plants, under M. paradisiaca,

116 BOTANY

certain passages of Scripture that we meet with from time
to time. Thus : " Loudolfs conjecture that dudaim (mand-
rakes) were the fruit of Musaparadisiaca, (plantain-tree,)"
which has been recently revived in a modern work, can-
not stand, on account of its name. For the same reason,
the conjecture that the grapes which the spies brought
from Canaan, were plantains, cannot be sustained. The
plantain seems a favorite plant to build fancies upon.
Gesenius in denning tecnah, the fig tree, refers to Gen. 3:7,
"Where," he says, " the Ficus indiea or Musa paradisiaca,
plantain tree, Engl, with very large leaves seems to be
meant.' 1 This is perfectly conjectural and is wholly un-
sustained by the usage of the word, as well as that it bears
no resemblance to its Arabic name.

Musa paradisiaca.

goSccpi OJgTl. oocgii

OLEASTER PLUM.

This sour red plum makes very good tarts and jellies,
and abounds in some parts of the jungle.
Elaagnus confcrta.

«£qi! 051. 0000"

MALAY APPLE.

This tree thrives luxuriantly at Mergui, and bears some
resemblance in taste to a juicy apple, but it is a very in-
different fruit.

Eugenia malacccnsis.

Jambosa malacccnsis.

CogoDQgo

ROSE APPLE.

The rose apple described, as " tasting iike the smell
of a rose," is cultivated to a small extent in European
gardens.

Eugeir.a Jambos.
Jambosa vulgaris,

JAMEO FRUIT.

A small black plum is often seen in bazar which is
produced by a species of eugenia. According to Burman

BOTANY. 1 IT

geography there is a eugenia tree on the great island or
continent which we inhabit, that is twelve hundred miles
high, one hundred and eighty six in circumferance, with
five principal branches each six hundred miles long.
From this tree, the island derives its name Sambu-dcba,
Eugenia Island. *

Eugenia.

oD©(gc3o^cqjcS« ctfllo': co©icoi^»

1IER1TIERA FRUIT.

One of the best and most plentiful of the jungle fruits
is the heritiera, It grows in bunches resembling large
grapes, is agreeably sub-acid, and when ripe, of a yellow-
ish hue. The tree is small, and when arrayed with these
long golden bunches it is very beautiful. It would
be quite an acquisition to our gardens both for ornament
and utility.

Ihrithra attenuata.

co^su oogodii {Tavoy.)

CUSTARD APPLE.

The custard apple, an American fruit, is cultivated by
the Burmans in these Provinces occasionally, and quite
extensively in Burmah Proper. The pulp is very agreea-
ble, and has much the appearance of custard.
Anona squamosa.

Son,.

@c

SOUR SOP.

This fruit, resembling tha custard apple, is sometime*
cultivated by Europeans.
Anona muricata,

From ogjui— a eugenia tree (Pali.)
« §cl.t — a7i island, w

118 BOTANY,

BULLOCK S HEART.

Of the same genus as the custard apple is the bullock's
heart, which I have occasionally found in native gardens.
Anona reticulata.

UVARIA FRUIT.

This fruit has the taste and appearance of the North
America paw paw, and they are members of the same natural
family. It is the produce of a scandent shrub abounding
in the jungles.

Uvaria grandiflora!

oc^oS« oojoesoi. co£S§5uo8§o£8n

ORANGE.

Oranges are quite abundant, but for the want of proper
attention they are much inferior to the West India or-
anges, and to those cultivated in the South of Europe.
The trees are often exceedingly prolific. A seedling that
I planted, produced in the ninth year more than two thou-
sand oranges.

Citrus aurantium.

c8(Sgo6u *}<$©£» (Tavoy.)

lTioei. gS65u coScoii

SWEET LIME*.

A considerable proportion of the fruit sold for oranges
are sweet limes. Dr. Pickering of the American Explor-
ing Expedition, remarks : " I did not meet with the true
orange, either in Hindostan or the East Indies." The
tree may be often distinguished by its leaf which is usually
slightly winged, and smaller than the orange.
Citrus timet t a.

SHADDOCK.

The shaddock or pumplemuss may be often procured
in market, but the fruit is decidedly inferior to the Bengal
pumplemuss.

Citrus decumana.

BOTANT. 119

THREE-LEAVED TRIPHASIA.

The three-leaved triphasia which bears a small berry
like an orange in minature, often found in Chinese pre-
serves, is raised in European gardens.
Triphasia trifoliata.

BENGAL QUINCE,

The Bengal quince is grown by the Burmese to a small
extent.

AZgle mar melon .

WOOD APPLE.

Captain Phayre told me that he had seen the wood ap-
ple in cultivation by the Burmese in Amherst Province,
but I have never observed it.
Feronia elephantum.

3?"

CITRON.

The citron is cultivated, and I have met with citron
trees in the jungles apparently indigenous. The fruit
however, is much inferior to the Bengal citron.

GpoSccgig" uqdjosni. Gi§3nooScon

SMALL LIME. '

The small acid lime is seen almost every where in
abundance.

Citrus bergamia.
" acida.

LARGE LIME.

Large varieties of the acid lime are diffused all over
the Provinces ; and Europeans usually call them citrons ;
but the trees are easily distinguished by their leaves, as
the leaf of the citron is simple, while that of the large
lime is winged.

Citrus bergamia.
gjoc6» oqdj 1 . Qisuoo^cgB

120 BOTANY.

DOUBLE*LEAVED CITRON.

There is a species of citrus at Tavoy with a leaf that
looks like two leaves joined together, the wings on the
petiole being as broad, on even broader, than the leaf it-
self. The fruit is small and there are two varieties, one
with a smooth, and another with a rough skin. I do not
find it noticed in any of our Indian Floras, but Dr. Pic-
kering met with a similar tree on the Samoan Isladns, a
member of the Philippine Flora.
Citrus torosa ?

POMEGRANATE.

The pomegranate is cultivated to a very small extent in
gardens by both Burmese and Europeans.
Punica granatum.

WFLD UAMBOUTAN.

One of our indigenous trees bears a fruit whose sub-
acid aril is very agreeable to the palate, and much resem-
bles that of the ramboutan so famous at Malacca Ma-
lays to whom I have shown the fruit, say it is the wild
ramboutan, and the tree certainly belongs to the same
genus ; but never having met with it in flower. I cannot
determine the species,
Nephelium.
o3c£c«on5B oDjooioDj. ooScoonoSo

l o o tor

SCHLEICHERA.

The fruit of this tree resembles the wild ramboutan in
every thing except that it is covered with prickles half an
inch lonnf. It is rarely seen in market but would be a
valuable addition to the dessert. The tree grows among
the hills of Tavoy.

Schleicher a.

BOTANY.

OTAHEITE GOOSEBERRY.

121

This tree, which is larger than the jujube, is planted by
the Burmese all over the Provinces, who value its fruit
highly. It bears some resemblance to a gooseberry both
in appearance and taste ; and I have heard it called
" the Otaheite gooseberry." The tree here is dioecious,

Cicca disticha.
Phyllanthus longifolius.

CARAMBOLA.

The carambola tree bears a sour fruit which makes a
good tart, and there is a variety which bears a sweet fruit.
The tree, though originally, it is said, from the Moluccas,
flourishes well on this Coast, and is quite naturalized.

Averrhoa Carambola.

cGo£ooos'i C£oo£cfl8» (Tavoy.) O^JOfJ.

BIL1MBI.

The bilimbi.tree, another species of the same genus, has
been introduced into a few of our gardens, where it bears
profusely, and its fruit is used like that of the carambola.
Averrhoa Bilimbi.

BRAZIL GOOSEBERRY.

A species of physalis which bears a berry, sometimes
called the " Brazil gooseberry," is occasionally seen in
gardens, and the fruit in tarts has much the taste of the
gooseberry.

Physalis peruviana.

SAPODILLX PLUM.

In a few European gardens may be found the tree
which produces the sapodilla plum ; whose " fruit, in
appearance like an old decayed potatoe, is yet the most
luscious in the West Indies."
Achras Sapota.

122 BOTANY.

CHOCOLATE-NIT TREE.

The chocolate-nut tree is seen ill Tavoy gardens, and
it brings its fruit to perfection.
Theobroma Cacao.

BENGAL CURRANTS.

In some of the European gardens a species of carissa
is cultivated for its berries, which taste when stewed like
currants.

Carissa Care:

GRANAD1LLA.

This luxuriant exotic from the Jamaica passion flowers,
flourishes well on the Coast, and is very prolific. The
smooth oblong fruit grows nearly as large as a cucumber,
and contains a succulent pulp, which makes a cooling
delicious dish, and when prepared in tarts, can scarcely be
distinguished from green apple. The Rev. Mr. Bennett
of Tavoy, has recently introduced it among the Karens, by
whom it is highly esteemed, and much sought for. It will
no doubt soon be generally diffused through the Provinces,
as it possesses all the attractive qualities of fine fruit,
handsome fragrant blossoms, and when trailed over an
arbor, a rich pleasing shade.

Passiflora q uadrangularis.

MULBERRY.

There is a species of mulberry from China sparcely
diffused throughout the Provinces, which produces a very
agreeable black berry in great quantities and is a valua-
ble fruit.

Morus atropurpitrea.
^solu 00 3^. COc8ic8£b

STRAWBERRY.

I have raised very fine strawberries in my garden at
Tavoy, but the plants require considerable care.
Fragaria.

BOTANY. 123

WILD RASPBERRY.

Griffith says there is a species of ritbus in the Provin*
ces, and Wallich found one on the Irrawaddy ; but whe-
ther either produces an edible fruit or not, I am unable
to say. The existence of an indigenous species, though
worthless itself, is however, interesting ■ as it indicates
that the true raspberry might be propagated with success.
Rubus Gowreephul.

ROSELLE.

The roselle plant, the red sorrel of the West Indies^
is very widely diffused and its red sour calyx makes a fine
flavored jelly, and preserve, which is a good substitute for
cranberries.

II ibis ens Sabdariffa,

siScooSu bSlQ3j. c&ooSa

U o

WATER MELON.

Both Burmese and Karens raise water melons, but they
are neither so large nor so sweet as those of America.
Cit) ullus Cucurbita.

MUSK MELON.

A very indifferent musk melon is cultivated by the na»
the? generally.

Cucut.is Mela.

ODgoscgn copoSg (Tavoy) OntC^J. q^JJb

CHESTNUT.

There is an indigenous chestnut tree growing on the

uplands which yields abundantly, and whose fruit is sold

in bazar, but they will not compare with the French chest*

nuts, nor even with the American chincapins.

Castanea martabanica.

ccSsfa co6oo» (Tavoy) Ojjsj. oodSJSo

i'24 BOTANY.

F<ETID STERCULIA.

The foeted sterculia is not uncommon in the forests, and
its seeds are eaten like filberts.
St e re u lia fie t id a .

boodh's cocoa nut.

A. handsome tree bearing a large fruit, called Boodh's
cocoanut is met with in the Provinces, whose winged seeds
are sometimes eaten by the natives.
Sterculia alatt.

PEA NUT.

Ground nuts are abundant in the bazars, and are con-
sumed in large quantities by the natives. The plant is
occasionally seen growing, but the nuts are principally
imported from Pinang and Rangoon.
Arcchis hypoge.a.
egbn C0JS)%)h. cdBs$Sc8in

SANDORICUM.

The sandoricum tree bears a fruit the size of an orange,
occasionally called the wild mangosteen, to which it
bears some resemblance. It has a fleshy acid pulp and
makes a very good jelly, but has a peculiar odour. The
natives eat the fruit raw, and esteem it excellent.
Sandoricum indicum.
coSc^" G3"l. 03 ^n

WILLUGHBEIA.

There is a species of willughbeia in the forests that pro*
duces a fruit as large as an apple, which Europeans some*
times call " a kind of a fig.''* It has an agreeable taste
but abounds in a milky juice.

Willughbeia mariabanica,

BOTANY.

RED NEPHELIUM.

125

This is a small inferior fruit, eaten by the natives only,
though belonging to the same genus which produces the
famous lichi, and bearing its fruit in bunches like that.
Nephelium.
d85ca}» ^ly* 1, c8i8i«

TAMARIND.

The tamarind is a large handsome tree, with spreading
branches, and is worthy of care for its light beautiful green
foliage, and profuse yellowish blossoms with veins of red,
as well as for its fruit. It is an exotic on this Coast, but is
planted by natives around their dwellings for the leaves,
which being slightly acid, afford an agreeable condiment to
their curries. I have seen the tree bearing richly in
Mergui, but have rarely observed it yielding fruit abundantly
in the*northern provinces. The dried fruit is imported in
large quantities from Burmah, and is constantly for sale in
the bazar.

Tamarindns indica,

ucqjgSn o£roobn (Tavoy) y ^t-

CASHEW-NUT.

The cashew tree bears an agreeable fruit, to which is
attached the nut, both of which are common in the
market.

Anacardium Occident ale.

c8c^oog|o5ii 5)o5oocc8n (Tavoy.)

JUJUBE.

The jujube from which the famous jujube lozenges are
made, is a small sour berry, a great favorite with the Bur-
mese and Karens. The tree is of middle stature, and is
often found apparently growing wild-
Zizyphus Jujuba.
d8a «103. OoS^cSl'iUScS^

126 BOTANY.

PHYLLANTHUS.

There is a small tree very abundant at Maulmain, and
in many other localities on the Coast, belonging to the ge-
nus phyllanthus which bears a small intensely sour fruit,
that is valued by the natives.

Phyllanthus.

d8§a cc§psi (Tavoy.) ll. 0300m

1NGA.

Native gardens are often ornamented with a species of
inga which affords a thick beautiful shade, and when in
flower its tufted boughs seem to bend under their bur-
dens of sweet-scented blossoms. It is a leguminous plant,
whose seeds are poisonous, and when taken into the stom-
ach sometimes produce disastrous consequences, yet the
Burmese and Karens are extravagantly fond of them, as a
condiment to their preserved fish, and they bring a high
price in the bazars.

fng a bigemina.

oo;xSi. onSi. co| o u

EDIBLE Z ALA CCA..

A red scaly fruit produced by a species of zalacca may
be often seen in bazar, but it is eaten by the natives only.
Zalacca cdulis.
C|Soo£u QG1. ©So

FIG-TREE.

A stunted fig-tree or two may be seen in a few Europe-
an gardens, but the- fruit rarely comes to perfection ; al-
though there are perhaps more indigenous trees in the
jungles belonging to the fig genus, than to any other in
the whole vegetable kingdom.
Ficus Carica,

INDIAN GRAPE.

There are three or four species of grapes in the Prov-
inces. One is seen creeping over every hedge and bush,
which has sometimes been mistaken by Europeans for the

BOTANY.

121

true grape vine; but the fruit is acrid, like ail the indigen-
ous species, and not edible even to a native.
Vitis indica.

GRAPE VINE.

The grape vine many be seen in many of our gar-
dens, but it very rarely produces fruit. I once saw a
vine in Mergui, however, which had on it several fine
bunches of grapes ; and I have heard of grapes being oc-
casionally brought to perfection in Maulmain.
Vitis vinifera.

©cgSn ooi; ©o8u

CHERRY.

Voigt says there is a species of cerasus. or cherry
" a native of Maulmain," but I have never happened to
meet with it. He had however good authority for the
statement ; and Griffith remarks that there is in the Pro-
vinces one species of the almond tribe, " which abounds
in prussic acid."
Cerasus.

WALNUTS,

Walnuts are occasionally brought from Rangoon ; but
it is not certain that they are the produce of the indigen-
ous walnut tree.

Jug Ian s arguta,

hog's plum.
This is an intensely astringent fruit very appropriately
named. The Karens have a tradition that in those Gold-
en Days when God dwelt with men, all nations came be-
fore him on a certain day, each with an offering from the
fruits of their land, and the Karens selected the hog's
plum for their oblation; which gave such offence, that God
cursed the Karen nation and placed it lowest among all
the nations by whom they are surrounded.

Spondias mangifera.

©oggD ^Gol6« (Tavoy.) oh. co&st

128 BOTANY

COCOANUT.

The cocoanut is one of the most valuable of tropic
fruits and the milk of the young nuts is a very grateful be-
verage.

Cocos nucifera

o^Si qje\ a8i.i

LOQUET.

The loquet is sometimes seen in flower around our
bungalows, but I have never met with it in fruit.
Eribotryajaponica.

FEAR TREE.

W allien found a species of pear tree growing on lime-
stone mountains, near the Irrawaddy ; and it may exist in
these Provinces, though I have never met with it.
Pyrus .

jack.

The jack is perhaps more abundant than any other fruit,
except the plantain. It is invaluable to the natives, but
is an indifferent fruit to Europeans. The tree is large
and affords a very dark grateful shade, and when the
fruit, which is often as large as a man's head, is hang-
ing all around its branches it is a grand object.
Artocarpus integrifolius.

BREAD-NUT.

The bread-fruit tree is cultivated in a few gardens at
Tavoy and Maulmain, and bears very well ; but the fruit
is of that variety which is full of seeds and is of no value.
Artocarpus incisus.

BREAD-FRUIT.

The true seedless bread-fruit tree is cultivated at
Penang, and has recently been introduced into Mergui,
where it is said to flourish.

Artocarpus communis,

BOTANY. 1*20

MOUNTAIN JACK.

There is an echinated, agreeably acid fruit produced
by a large tree, which the Burmese call the mountain
jack. The leaves of the young trees are gashed like
some species of oak. One of our Tavoy surgeons trans-
planted a tree to his own garden, under the impression thai
it was A. incisa, the breadfruit tree, not being aware that
in old trees the leaves are entire.
Artocarpus echirtatus.

LAt'OOCHA BREAD-FRUIT.

This fruit is usually designated by Europeans " a kind
of a fig ; ' ; but it is a species of artocarpus ; occasionally
SraiseVI near native houses.

rha.

ego o5 cc S i\ O 1 9 J . COO "?? n

HAIR? BREAD-FRUIT.

This indigenous fruit resembles the preceding, in every
et. except that it is covered with soft, weak hairs.
Artocarpus hirsutus .

SMALL BREAD-FRUIT.

This is an orange-colored fruit resembling in taste a
custard apple, and in appearance a ng, but it is a speci s
of artocarpus. which 1 cannot find any where describ r 5
though not scarce in our forests.
Artor arpus.
c(3or£c\q<Sco5« C^OJOJJ. 030i^o!>S|q >

MORINDA FRUIT.

A species of morinda is often seen growing near
Burman houses, which produces a "fruit as large as a
pullet's egg- It is a great favorite with the Burmese, and
is served up in their curries.
Morinda,

130 HOT AN*

HOC-CHESTNUT-

Every one has heard of the horse-chestnut, but few are
probably aware that in these Provinces the hog-chestnut is
indigenous. Such is a literal rendering of the Burmese
name, and the tree is certainly a species of chestnut, but
it i? not described in any of the books to which I can refer.
Castanca.
oo$co%.. OftoOJSJ. cocBsola

CHINESE DATES.

'• The Burmese/ 5 says a correspondent who resided
several years in Ava, " call the Chinese fig, which is
brought in great quantities overland to Ava, tec-thee or
tay~thee*" This is the same fruit which in England is
called Chinese date ; but is neither a fig nor a date, bwt
the fruit of a species of ebony ; and a more appropriate
name would be the Chinese persimon, the persimon tree
being also a species of ebony, and there is a consider
ble resemblance in the fruit.

The tree which produces this " Chinese date, " is occa-
sionally cultivated by the Burmese, but it bears fruit very
.sparingly, and I think with Roxburgh, that it is " by no
means equal to a good apple."
Diospyros Kati.
cooSi' ocgSi c%co» (Pali.)

MINUS OPS FRUIT.

A dried fruit is occasionally seen among the Chinese,
brought from Singapore, and some of the seeds produce
trees" which, judging from their leaves, can be no othe*
than

Mimvsops Kauki.

*oc^c8w or oooSgos

iOTAN*. 131

VEGETABLES.

c-o

'There is a great variety of vegetables indigehous or CuU
tivated in the Provinces ; but the best are scarce, and
rarely for sale in the bazars. Nearly every plant produces a
vegetable for the native?. The Burman books say, there
are ten kinds of vegetables, or potherbs, corresponding to
the parts of a plant that furnish them.

f 03§Sh — the root cjcon (Pali.)

ss>gjn5» — the leaf ogg;« <e

£Q(?qdo5o — the sprout aocoq« "

^63?" — the shoot oQ^a rc

osqou — the tuber co§a "

op j D3|8» — Me /*ear£ 8^» {c

g I D5c8gi. — the fruit oco« "

j 3QGSio8i — Me 6ar& co©» f <

2Q 8?" — Me blossom cfgii "

^§ ,! — mushroom sog^H <(

KAREN POTAtf OE.

This is a small yam not much larger than a kidney
potatoe, which it much resembles both in appearance and
taste. It is cultivated extensively by the Karens, and being
more like a potatoe than a yam, has acquired the name of
the Karen potatoe, and is sometimes called the Tavoy
potatoe. It is the best vegetable we have, but unfortunately
it can be obtained during a few months only in the year,
I am not aware that it is ever found wild on the Coast 3
and it appears to me to'be either identical, or nearly related
to Roxburgh's

Dioscorcafasciculdta,

ODCggn son. ^r>©£ B

ELEPHANT-FOOT YAM.

A yam with a tuber about the size and shape of an
elephant's foot, ranks next to the preceding species. It i?

132 B0TAN*.

white, and often as light and agreeable as a potatoe. It
abounds in Karen gardens but is rarely seen among the
Burmese, or in the market.
Dioscorea.

cgooSn nSj^enQjlj. 1£rod88pcSS

LARGE WHITE YAM.

There are several different species and varieties of white
yams in cultivation. The one most in repute has arrow-
headed cordate leaves.

Dioscorea globosa.

DARK PURPLE YAM.

A yam with a dark purple root is one of our best yams,
and is extensively cultivated both by Karens and Burmese.
Dioscorea atropurpurea.

WILD YAM.

There are several indigenous species of yams, which are
eaten by the Karens in times of scarcity, though very acrid.
One is remarkable for its large ternate leaves, of which its
leaflets are sometimes nearly a foot long, and six inches
Wide.

Dioscorea chrmona.

SWEET POTATOE,

The sweet potatoe is very abundant but it is vastly in-
ferior both in size and quality to the sweet potatoe of the
Southern States of America.

Batatas e chilis.

Convolvulus batatas.

oogfgi. cosdbcgocSu n3J0gl.

BOTANY. 133

TELINGA POTATOE.

This is a plant of the arum tribe which produces tubers
like a yam, much esteemed by the natives ; and is very
generally raised by Burmese and Karens.

Amorpkophallus campanulatus.

Arum campanulatum.

Oil 9OI. CD! 11

COLOCASIA.

This is another plant of the arum tribe which is grown
by the natives for its tubers, that supply the place of po-
tatoes.

Colocasia antiquorum.

o£» O3JO01. <j>j53-p>

COMMON POTATOE.

The potatoe is of easy culture but the tubers are very
small, and it is not an object of cultivation-,- though with
a little attention, it might possibly be made one.
Solarium tuberosum.

PEA.

The pea is seen in European gardens, and produces
very well in some localities.
Pisum sativum.

GOA BEAN.

There is a variety of the Goa bean which produces
esculent roots that are eaten like potatoes, and are a very
tolerable vegetable. The young pods are also eaten like
French beans.

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus.
Dolichos

6gsoo6o1u ^Sl-^SaoloJ". o^aJcooSstf

134 BOTANY.

SWORD BEAN.

The sword bean is planted to a small extent, and its
young pods are used as a vegetable.
Canavalia gladiata.
Dolichus gladiatus.

INDIAN KIDNEY BEAN.

Burmese and Karens grow several varieties of one or
two species of lablab, which occupy the place of kidney
beans in Europe.

Lablab vulgar e.

Dolichos lablab.

b* bibj. c8oo£«

NATIVE BEAN.

The natives cultivate another bean which resembles
the common European bean, and is esteemed by them a
good vegetable.

Cyamopsis psoraloides .

Dolichos fabccformis.

>>ogf« bibjoai. c8coSco6Sa

BLACK GRAM.

Crawfurd says that one of the most common pulses seen
in Burmah is the Phaseolus max ; which is the plant that
produces the black gram of India.

Phaseolus Mungo, melanospermus.
Max.

MELILOT.

Griffith saw large fields of melilot in the neighborhood
of Ava, but I have not seen it in these Provinces.
Me It lotus.

BOTAKY. 135

AGATI.

The legumes of the agati are a favorite vegetable with
the natives, and the trees, which grow very rapidly, may be
seen in perhaps every town and village in the Provinces.
Agati grandifllorum.
ColoSof.. 0d8*0D£8c8{5c88..

CHICKPEA.

The chickpea, or gram, is grown extensively by the
Burmese, especially in Burmah, and large quantities are
imported into the Provinces from Rangoon.
Cicer arietinum.

cqcoozbw OOJOOlll. qc8sc&icox»

DOLL.

The doll bean is raised to a small extent, but the doll
sold in market is principally imported.
Cajanus indicus.

WILD FRENCH BEAN.

A species of phaseolus, the genus which furnishes the
common French bean, grows spontaneously everywhere in
the Provinces. Roxburgh describing the species says, that
he never found it " but in its wild state ; ' 7 while Voigt
is made to say, by a mistake of the printer no doubt,
" Cultivated, in which state only it was found by Dr,
Roxburgh."

Phaseolus trilobus.

WILD DOLICHOS.

An indigenous specie* of dolichos with downy leaves
and pods, abounds in some sections of the country.
Dolichos pilosus.

Qcoobt blbjttJl. c8coSqxb

136 B0TAKY,

WILD SWORD BEAN.

On the sea shore a wild species of sword bean is found
growing in great profusion.
Canavalia virosa.

HORSE-RADDISH-TREE.

The horse-raddish-tree is propagated by the Burmese
for its pods, which are eaten in curries ; but it is chiefly
valued by Europeans for its roots which cannot be distin-
guished when eaten with roast beef, from the common
horse-raddish, Cochlcaria Armor acia.
Moringa ptcrygospernia.

ojjOOCgi: OQJOh. odBsCO^a

ASPARAGUS.

The common English asparagus is sometimes seen in
European gardens, but it is very unproductive.
Asparagus officinalis.

WILD ASPARAGUS.

There is an indigenous species of asparagus, which
produces a passable substitute for the English vegetable,
to which however, it is much inferior. It bears a sweet-
smelling flower, and is deserving of cultivation as an or-
namental plant.

Asparagus acerosus.

5jS»oor6« net. ^Su

CABBAGE.

One of the most highly esteemed vegetables of European
gardens is the cabbage, which is raised from imported seed,
and fine plants are sometimes produced, but they are sel«
dom in the market.

Brassica okracece.

BOTANt. 137

TURNIPS.

Turnips are occasionally grown, but they do not re-
Ward the cultivator so well as cabbages.
Brasica Rapa.

RADDISH.

Raddishes abound in vegetable gardens, and are almost
always in the bazars.

Raphanus sativus.

^COOfl bjOOJ. ODCO^SjSi!

MUSTARD.

I have seen a species of mustard on the banks of the
Tenasserim, several days journey from any human habita-
tion, and which the Karens regarded as growing spontan-
eously, but it did not appear to differ from the species in
common culture on the Coast, and the seeds had probably
been dropped there by the passing traveller-
Sin apis.

^gDSsu bjooj\ coco£»

WATER CRESS.

Griffith says he found an indigenous species of nasturtium
in the Provinces, but he does not appear to have descri-
bed it.

Nasturtium.

GARDEN CRESS.

Among the dried seeds sold in bazar for medicinal pur-
poses, are the seeds of the common garden cress.
Lepidum sativum.

RED GOURD, OR SQUASH GOURD^

A species of large pumpkin or gourd, is a common vege-
table seen on the tables of Europeans. " When boiled,'*
says Wight, " it resembles in taste a fine tender carrel. 5 '
Cucurbita maxima*

g§o$£i l^oSi. coSo«

t<$& BOTANf.

WHITE GOURD, OR PUMPKIN.

The Karens and Burmese cultivate a species of pump-
kin or gourd, never eaten by Europeans, which they esteem
a valuable addition to their curries.
Benincasa cerifera-

SNAKE GOURD.

A curious contorted gourd, peculiar to India, is in very
general demand for vegetable curries. The plant is of
easy culture on trellises around the doors of the native
cabins, and the fruit often grows two feet long, beautifully
striped, small, and tapering, so that streaming down from
the trellis, they immediately remind one of striped snakes
suspended from the foliage of trees.

Trichosanthcs anguina.

bcoSoftw ftO^hole*}. goocoi»ooc8q^r

BITTER GOURD.

This is a very bitter gourd of the same genus as the
preceding, but unlike that, this is eaten by the natives only
Trichosanthcs cucumcrina.

ODcgoSslgn O^OISJ. coc8o3»

BOTTLE GOURD, OR WHITE PUMPKIN.

The bottle gourd grows luxuriantly, and several varie-
ties may be seen about our Indian cabins.
Lagcnwia vulgaris.

PENTANDROUS LUFFA.

This is a long gourd with a striped skin, considered
by the natives a delicious vegetable.
Luffa pentandra.

BOTANY. 139

ANGULAR LUFFA.

Thisiuffa gourd has ten sharp ridges by which it may be
easily recognized, and Roxburgh says that with a little
butter, pepper and salt, " it is little inferior to green peas,"

Luff a fat i da.

Luffa acutangula

MOMORDICA.

Two or three varieties of momordica, a fruit the size
of a cucumber covered with tubercles, are used in curries.
Momordica Charantia.
cqjoScoSssflg q£s>l8n (Tavoy) oi-Oi. §38*

DICECIOUS MOMORDICA.

A species of momordica with small rauricated fruit, is
occasionally eaten by the natives.
Momordica diaeca.

CUCUMBER.

Cucumbers are consumed in immense quantities, but the
Karens and Burmans seem to prefer them when large and
yellow, rather then pluck them when green and tender.

Cucumis sativus-
" utilissimus.

BRINJAL.

The vegetable egg, or brinjal, is one of the best vege-
tables in India. Several varieties are extensively cultiva-
led and eaten by all classes.

Solarium Melongena.

3C$o Ol. OD&\'

140 BOTANY

TOMATO.

The tomato or love apple, another of our delicious ve-
getables, abounds in Ava, and is cultivated to a limited
extent in many of our gardens.

Ly coper sicum esculentum.

3G$e(§<$H oorBicSm

OKRA.

The okra plant of the Southern States of America, as
universally abounds in these Provinces, and all over the
East, as it does in the West Indies.
Abclmoschus escuhnfus.
Hibiscus "

MALABAR NIGHTSHADE.

This is a twining plant, with succulent stems and leaves,
that the Burmese cultivate for spinage ; and it is said to
be not inferior to the common English spinage, which
belongs to the same natural family.

Basclla alba.

q]£c^6o

NEPAUL SPINAGE.

Several varieties of the edible amarantus are cultivat-
ed and eaten like spinage, and are sometimes denominated
Nepaul spinage. Roxburgh says of one variety : " The
tender succulent tops of the stems and branches, are
sometimes served up on our tables, as a substitute for
asparagus."

Amarantus oleraceus.

cc£o3§o5« QSjll. oo»tc8"

SPINOUS AMARANTUS.

A spiny species of amarantus grows spontaneously and
is a common weed in some parts of the Provinces, which
the natives use for a pot-herb.
Amarantus spinosus.

BOTANY. 141

ONION.

The common English onion is sometimes cultivated,
but the principal part of the onions seen in the bazars are
brought from Rangoon, and it is believed are of a differ-
ent species.

Allium ascalonicum?

cqjoScg^u OcnO0JOJ3O91. OQDl8i*

LEEKS.

The native inhabitants of Tenasserim are as much at-
tached to leeks, as the Israelites were to the leeks and
onions of Egypt, and they abound in their gardens.

Allium Porrum.

cocooqioScg^q 0=1*101. OO^io

PURSLANE.

Purslane is as common a weed in these Provinces as it is
in America, and is used by the natives for a pot-herb.
Portulaca ohracea.
egqjnSi Oj>q}0Q3j. od$ic8b

WATER DILLENIA.

A species of dillenia always found on the borders of
streams, hence called water dillenia by the Karens, produces
a large fruit, which is brought to bazar green, and consi-
dered a favorite vegetable with the natives.
D Mini a.

coQ* oysj. aS^oc*

BAMBOO SHOOT.

The young shoots of some species of bamboo are sold
in market for a vegetable. They are also used by Euro-
peans for a pickle, and a preserve.
Bambusa.

142 BOTANT.

SEDGE ROOT,

The roots of a species of sedge are found among the ve-
getables, though they taste like filberts.
Cyperus.

LETTUCE.

Lettuce is cultivated to a limited extent by Europeans.
Lactuca sativa.

MUSHROOM.

Mushrooms are often seen in the bazar, and the Karens
have names for sixty-four different species of mushrooms
and the allied fungi. They distinguish the edible from
the poisonous kinds, they say, by touching them with the
lime that they eat with the betel. If the fungus turn red
when touched, it is regarded as poisonous. But they are
so careless or ignorant, that sickness and death often
ensue after eating them.
Fung ales.

SPATHIUM ROOT.

There are one 01 two species of spathium, plants that
grow in the water ; one < f which Voigt says, is found on
the banks of the Irrawaddy, and has roots " nearly as good
as potatoes."

Spathium chinensc.

capsicum.

Large quantities of Cayenne-pepper, or chillies, of which
we have two or three species, enter into all the native dishes;
not in the form of pepper, but the fruit stewed or roasted
rs eaten with the food.
Capsicum.

BOTANY. 143

CEREALS.

The cereal grasses commonly grown within the tro-
pics, do not appear to be as nutritious as those of tempe-
rate climates. Rice and millet are not equal to wheat and
oats. The Burman books say, there are seven kinds of
saba, or cereals, in which they include pai or beans.

coodoSh rice 988B" (Pali.)

CD3COSII " oooc8i < l

ojs^oScooonSo wheat col^ou cc

cjcoDon barley uoou < c

g^o8u millet oqoo« cf

qj?i millet-paspalum co(g[a>» "

so5« millet -panicum coo5[o <c

hi beans and peas oQoGjOQa ' f

RICE.

Rice is universaiiy cultivated, and cultivation has pro-
duced many varieties. The Karens have distinctive
names for more than forty, and Karen mountain rice is
preferred by many to that which is raised by the Burmese
on the low lands ; yet it is s?.id not to be so nutritions, and
on this account bears a less p. ice in bazar. It is of all
colors from ivory-white to coal-black.

Of the black rice the Karens prepare a kind of bread,
which to them supplies the place of gingerbread. A por-
tion of seethed rice is poured into a large mortar with a
prodigious quantity of sesamum seeds. Two women then
take their strong ebony'pestles and pound it, striking alter-
nately until it becomes a light bounding mass. It is then
thrown upon the eating stand, when the whole family seat
themselves around it in oriental style, and dissever it with
their sabres.

The Karens have another mode of preparing this kind
of rice, which is particularly convenient for travellers. A
quantity unboiled is thrust into joints of small bamboo., a

144 BOTANY.

little water added, and the orifice closed up. It is then
roasted, and if eaten with a little butter and salt it is most
delicious. The Karens select only two varieties of bam-
boo for this purpose, and these impart to the rice a sweet
delicate flavor.

Oriza sativa.

GOCOc8©d)u Coin ODGCO* t^J. Op"

HOLCUS MILLET.

A species of millet of the Linnean genus holcus, is often
rrrown by the Karens, and occasionally by the Burmese.
This is the millet designated in Ezekiel 4 : 9.

Sorghum vulgar e.

Holcus Sorghum.

cQoSn §)8§i (Tavoy.) gnn. cgu

PANIC CM MILLET.

One or more species of millet belonging to the genus
panicum, are raised to a limited extent.
Panicum.

SORGHUM MILLET.

A millet plant is ocasionally seen, which in the United
States is called " broom-corn," it being there manufac-
tured into brooms.

Sorghum saccharatum.

COIX MILLET.

A species of coix, Job's tears, has large esculent seeds
which are parched, like Indian corn in America, and.
they are often for sale in the bazars.
Coix indical

BOTANY. 145

MAIZE.

Maize, or Indian corn is more generally grown than mil"
let, and " green corn " is a common article in market,
but it is hard and insipid, decidedly inferior to Americ an
corn.

Zea Mays.

WHEAT.

Wheat is grown largely in Burmah, but I have never
seen it under culture in these Provinces, although Com-
missioner Durand made an attempt to introduce it. I
have no doubt, however, but on the Karen mountains the
cultivator would reap an ample harvest.
Triticum vulgare.

c^sfoScooooSo (Classic name.)

o^coosoulgB {Vulgar (C )

qj[oul8« (Bengali " )

BARLEY.

" This last grain," says Crawfurd, speaking of barley,
" is not known to the natives, and when we pointed it out,
they imagined it to be unripe grains of wheat." Notwith-
standing this testimony, the Burmese have a name for
barley which frequently occur sin their books. It consti-
tutes one of their seven kinds of saba or cereal grasses, and
its corresponding Pali name is identical with the Sanscrit
name of barley.

Hordeum hexastichon.

BAMBOO SEED.

In times of scarcity the seeds of the bamboo have often
been used by the Karens as a substitute for rice.
Bambusa.
o1s« OJ. O^i

146 BOTANY

GRASSES.

Griffith collected nearly one hundred different grasses in
the Provinces, but I am not aware that the description of
a single species has ever been published.

CHRYSOPOGON.

The most common grass on the Coast is a species of the
modern genus chrysopogon, concerning which, Roxburgh
well remarks : " Its seeds are exceedingly troublesome
to those who walk where it grows, as they stick in the
stockings, and produce a disagreeable itching."
Chrysopogoji acicularis.
Andropogon, "

PANIC GRASS.

Several very common grasses belong to the genus pani-
cum. One species grows about three feet high, and after
a field has been subdued, it will often spring up so thick
that every thing else is destroyed. Cattle eat it both dry
and green.

Panicum.

CREEPING PANICUM.

A creeping species of panicum is one of the most abun-
dant grasses on the Coast, but it is much less conspicuous
than many others.

Cynodon Dactylont

Panicum. "

GUINEA GRASS.

Guinea grass is grown by a few Europeans, and it does
as well as the indigenous species.
Panicum jumentosum

ANDROPOGON.

Several species of andropogon, as the genus is described
by Roxburgh, are among our most abundant grasses
Andrcpogon.

KoTAMir. 14?

SETARIA

A species of setaria, which the Karens call "horsetail
grass" is scattered all over the Provinces.
Setaria.

ELEUSINE.

Tufts of eleusine are conspicuous every where among
other grasses.

Eleusine indica ?
scS^oSn 6oob?u

MEADOW GRASS.

Meadow grass has one or two representatives among
our most conspicuous grasses.
Poa.

PASPALUM.

One or more species of paspalum are products of our
fields.

Paspalum.

ANTHISTIRIA.

In the Karen jungles I have noticed a large grass with
lax panicles and very long awns belonging to this genus.
Anthistiria.

INDIA CLOVER.

The most valuable grass in the country is not a proper
grass, but, like the English clover, is a leguminous plant.
It is a species of hedysarum, " which in India," says Dr.
Wight, " supplies the place of the species of Trifolium
and Mcdicago in Europe." In other words, the farmer
rinds it a good substitute for clover and lucerne ; and there
as another leguminous plant at Tavoy, Smitkia sensitiva,
which is said to make " excellent hay."

148 BOTANts

MEDICINAL PLANTS,

The Provinces are rich in medicinal plants, both in
number and quality. Lindley's Flora Medica contains
descriptions of all the known medicinal plants in the
world, and more than a tithe of the whole number may
be seen growing on the Tenasserim coast. Were we de-
prived of European drugs, and left to our own resources,
we could find good substitutes for almost every article in
the Medical Flora.

Besides those to which separate paragraphs have been
allotted, the bark root of the red cotton tree, and the foots
of the clitoria are emetic ; and the root of Tylophora vomi-
toria has been pronounced by Indian practitioners not
inferior to ipecacuanha for any of the purposes to which
that medicine is applied. Cassia fistula pods, the chebula
fruit, the root of the heart seed, the seeds of the sapodilla,
Otaheite gooseberry, and physic nut are aperient or pur-
gative. The gum of the white cotton tree, the bark of
\Vrightia antidy sent erica, and the peel of the mangosteen
are prescribed in bowel complaints. The green fruit of
the papaya, the root ol the Persian lilac, and the fruit of
the Rangoon creeper are vermifuges. The bitter roots
of Sida acuta, and Tephroia purpurea, and the seeds of
the musk-mallow or musk plant, are deemed cordial and
stomachic, and the bark of Guilandina Bonduc, is con-
sidered a good substitute for cinchona where that cannot
be had. The decocted leaves of the goat* footed ipomo3 a
are used as an external application in cholic. The leaves
of Vitex trifolia are applied in diseases of the spleen.
The bark of the white plumbago root will raise a blister, it
is said, almost as quickly as cantharides.

The oil of the cashew nut " has been used successfully
in eating off ring-worms, cancerous ulcers and corns/'
The mango tree exudes a large quantity of gum-resin
resembling bdellium, and our indigenous pine can furnish
any quantity of turpentine. The bark of the root, the
leaves, and the fruit of the Bengal quince, are as popular

60TANV. 149

with the natives, as the root, bark, flower, and fruit of the
pomegranate, which have been famous for their medicinal
properties ever since the days of Celsiis.

GAMIiOGE*

Three works in my possession describe gamboge, each
as the product of a different tree ; a fourth represents all
to be wrong, and a fifth suggests a different plant still.
One refers it to Cambogia gutta, a plant which, as de-
scribed by Linnaeus, has probably no existence. He de-
scribed a Ceylon plant, " and it is now quite evident, 1 ' says
Dr. Wight, " that the character of the flower and ovary is
taken from one specimen, and that of the fruit from a dif-
ferent one, owing to the imperfection of his specimens, and
his not being aware, that the lobes of the stigma afford a
sure indication of the number of cells of the fruit.''

Another, refers it to Garcinia Cambogia, but Dr. Wight
says, that the exudation of this tree is ' ; wholly incapable
of forming an emulsion with the wet finger," a statement
known to be correct. The tree is very common in the
Tenasserim Provinces, but the bright yellow exudation it
produces, is certainly not gamboge.

A third, refers it to Stalagmiiis Cambogioidcs. but Dr,
Wight remarks : " The juice of this tree differs so very
widely in its qualities from good gamboge, that it can
never be expected to prove valuable as a pigment.' :

Dr. Graham has described a Ceylon tree under the
name of Hebradcndron Cambogioidcs , which is said to
produce good gamboge ; but no gamboge has ever been
exported into the English market from Ceylon. Thus it
would appear, to use the language of Dr. Wight, that
" the tree, or trees, which produce the gamboge of com-
merce, is not yet known."

Dr. Heifer, who was employed by government as a sci-
entific naturalist in these Provinces, reported : " The
gamboge of this country dissolves very little with water,
and consequently does not yield a yellow emulsion a3
the common guttifcrce. It will never serve as a colour,

• Extracted from an article communicated by the author, in the Journal of'th*
Asiatic Society for July 1347.

O

150 EOTANY.

hut promises to give a very beautiful varnish. 1 ' This
statement was controverted by a writer in our local peri-
odical at the time, who said he had obtained " fine gam-
boge of the very best description " from our jungles ; in
which he was no doubt correct, but he erred when he
added, that it came from the "true Stalagmitis Cambogioid-
es ;" for that plant has a quinary arrangement of its flow-
ers, while the arrangement of the flowers in those that
produce gamboge, in these Provinces, is quaternary.

The hills that bound the valley of the Tavoy river, on
both sides, from their bases to their summits, abound
with a tree which produces a bright gamboge. It is Rox-
burgh's Garcinia pictoria, which he knew produced gam-
boge, but which he said was liable to fade. As soon as I
had satisfied myself of the identity of the trees by an exam-
ination of the inflorescence of our plant, compared with
Roxburgh's description ; I coloured a piece of paper, one
band with this gamboge, and another with the gamboge
of commerce ; and subsequently exposed both to the
weather equally for more than twelve months, but with-
out being able to discover that one faded any more than
the other.

South of the mouth of Tavoy river, and throughout the
province of Mergui, there is found on the low plains at the
foot of the hills, and on the banks of the rivers, almost
down to tide waters, another species of garcinia that also
produces good gamboge. I have no doubt but it is the tree
from which Dr. Griffith furnished Dr. Wight with speci-
mens, and of which, the latter says, " I refer doubtfully to
•h's G. elliptical We will call it then G. elliptica, a,
species which Dr. Wight has on his list of " species im-
periecu) known." The foliation and female flowers are,
however, very well described, and to complete the descrip-
tion, 1 may add, the male flowers are pedunculated, but the
peduncles are short, and they might be characterized as
sub-sessile. The anthers, like those of the female flowers,
are sessile, depressed or flattened above, and dehisce cir-
cularly. The ripe fruit is globose, and not furrowed.

Neither Wallich, Wight, nor Griffith appear to have
been at all aware that gamboge was a product of this tree.

LOTA NY.

151

Dr. Wight, in a recent number of his Neilgherry Plants.,
*ays : " Two species of the genus garcinia are known to
produce gamboge, most of the others yield a yellow juice,
but not gamboge, as it will not mix with water." The
species which he has described as producing gamboge,
and to which I suppose he refers, are G. gutter, or H.
Cambogioides, (Graham,) and G. pictoria, (Roxburgh.)

In its appearance to the eye, and in its properties as a
pigment, I have failed to discover the slightest difference
between the exudation of this tree, and the gamboge of
commerce The Burmese priests use it occasionally to
dye their robes, the Karens their thread, and it serves
equally well in colouring drawings. It is also used by the
native doctors in medicine, but not extensively.

Dr. Lind-ley,in his new work the Vegetable Kingdom,
says : "The best gamboge comes in the form of pipes from
Siam,and this is conjectured to be the produce of Garcinia
Cochinchinmsis." Now as G. ettiptica is spread all over the
province of Mergui, is it not.probable that it also extends
jnto Siam, and that the Siamese gamboge is the product,
a part at least, of this tree ?

Specimens of the gamboge were sent up with the above
communication to Calcutta, and the Secretary of the
Asiatic Society wrote in reply : " Our best botanists
here, consider that you have hit upon the true tree at
last."

Garcinia elliptica.

cx^oSccoSii cOj'biysj. obscS^jJegSjJn
Garcinia pictoria.

CAMPHOR.

One of the most abundant weeds throughout the Pro-
vinces is a species of Blumea, that grows six or eight feet
high with leaves like mullen, which, when bruised, emit a
strong odour of camphor. Many years ago the Tavoyers
informed me, that they were in the habit of making an
impure camphor from the weed by a very simple process ;
but Mr. O'Riley of Amherst was the first to make a good

\b-z

BOTANY

article from it, and to bring it to public notice. He made
more than a hundred pounds, and the specimens which he
sent to Calcutta were reported : " In its refined form, it
is identical in all its properties with Chinese camphor."

The plant is so abundant, that these Provinces might
supply half the world with camphor. Wherever the trees
are cut down, this weed springs up, and often to the ex-
clusion of almost every thing else ; so that an old clearing
looks like a field under cultivation.

Mr. O'Riley sent flowering specimens of the plant to Dr.
M'Clelland for identification, who forwarded them to Dr.
Voigt of Serampore, and subsequently reported: " Dr. Voigt
states that it belongs to De Candolle's genus Blumea, and
is so far as he can see, a new species." It is without
doubt the same plant as that which appeared in Wallich's
Catalogue a quarter of a century ago, as Conyza grandis,
and which De Candolle subsequently described as Blumea
grandis. Wallich's specimens were from Tavoy, without
flowers, and DeCandolle describes the leaf as nine inches
long with the petiole, by three wide, (" cum pctiolo 9 poll,
longa, 3 poll, lata,) serrated, and bearing on the petiole
live or six remote linear acute lobes, (" pctiolo lobulos
5 — 6 distantcs lincarcs acu'&s gcrcrrfibus,) which corres-
ponds very accurately with some specimens of our cam-
phor plant, but it does not correspond to any other species
of Blumea in the Provinces with which I am acquainted.
Blumea grandis.
y<S^c8'Sii o2co<5oqj6nqij<Si' {Tavoy.)

u<T)£'i Camphor coo^u {Pali) G])?-' y9J.

Dr. Royle, in a valuable article on gum kino, ostensi-
bly enumerates all the various regions from which it has
been imported into England ; but does not mention it as
being a product of the Tenasserim Coast. Yet long before
Dr. Royle compiled that communication, more than one

• Extracted from an article communicated bv the author, in the Journal of the

Astatic Society for August 1S4S.

BOTANY. 1515

consignment had been made by parties in Maulmain, to
houses in London, of gum kino to the amount of a thou-
sand pounds.

It was brought to Maulmain by an English merchant
from the Shan States, and stated by him, as our Commis-
sioner at the time informed me, to be the production of
the pa-douk, the same tree as the one in Maulmain thus
denominated by the Burmans. Several years before, I
had directed attention to this tree as producing an astrin-
gent gum resembling gum kino, bv.i the medical officer, to
whom I submitted specimens, said it was "a kind of dragon's
blood." However, after Dr. Morton came to the Provinces,
he tried it in his practice, and found it, in its medicinal vir-
tues, identical with the gum kino ot the druggists..

The next inquiry that arises is, for the genus and species
of the pa-douk. When I first came to the Coast, all the
English residents of my acquaintance called it " Bur man
senna," and the surgeon of the station told me that
he believed it was a species of senna. Dr. Malcom,
in his Travels, writes : " Pa-douk, or Mahogany, (Swic-
tenia Mahogani) is plenty in the upper provinces, es-
pecially round Ava, found occasionally in Pegu." In a
native Pali dictionary, found in the Burmese monasteries,
pa-douk stands as the definition of pr.-ta-tha-la, and the
corresponding Sanscrit word in Wilson's dictionary, is
defined pentaptera; but the pa-douk does not belong to
that genus. In Pid<lington's Index, however, pectshala
stands as the Hindee name, and in Voigt's Catalogue,
peef-sal as the Bengalee name of Pterocarpus marsupium ;
and this brings us nearer the truth, for pa-douk is a name
common to two different species of pterocarpus, but which
look so much alike that they are usually regarded as one
species.

One has " long, waving branches, with their extremi-
ties generally much drooping, racemes axillary, flowers
numerous, deep orange yellow, and very fragrant, fila-
ments ten [often] united into two equal distinct bodies
office each ; stile rather shorter than the stamina; and
stigma acute;" which is the description of P. indicus :
but on full examination I think it is the species

151 not as v.

described by Dr. Wight as P. Wallichii that was
marked in Wal'ich's Catalogue as P. dalbergioidcs.
There are, however, several points of difference, but not
more than there are between Wight's description, and the
coloured drawing that he gives of this same species. In
the drawing, the leaflets are pointed wholly unlike our plant,
but in the letter-press description there is an exact corres-
pondence — in the drawing, the stamens are represented as
divided one way, in the description another, and both mQdes
of division, with some others, are seen here on the same
tree. This loose way of describing and figuring plants
makes it exceedingly difficult for an out-door botanist to
identify nearly allied species with book descriptions, made
perhaps originally from isolated dried specimens.

The other species has leaflets which correspond both
to Roxburgh's description, and to Wight's .figure of P.
dalbergioidcs ; and though it differs in some other respects,
yet I think it is the same tree.

Both these species produce an astringent gum, but which,
his been exported for gum kino, or whether a mixture
of both, which is most probable, I am notable to say ;
possibly neither. It may be that P. marsupium is found
in the Shan states, for it grows in Assam, where it would
doubtlessly he called pa-douk by a Burman. Be that as
it may, it is certain th.t these Provinces can furnish the
commercial world with a large quantity of gum kino. The
exudation of our pa-douk, one of the most abundant forest
trees, has been proved by experiment, to possess all the
properties of gum kino, while the product of the neigh-
boring provinces, whose only avenue to market is through
our territories, has been bought by the London druggist?
foi the gum kino of the Pharmacopoeia
Ptcrocarpus Wallichii.

" dalbergioidcs.

ogooooSi fti^Sj. ^'^Sj. ^^p"

PILAS KINO.

The exudation of the butea tree, or pulas kino, when
exported to England a few years ago was recognized " as
being the gummi rubrum aslringes" of the old druggists.

BOTANY. 155

M. Guibourt of Paris, to whom some of it had been sent,
states his opinion in his work on drugs, that it is the origi-
nal " kino which had entirely disappeared from commerce,
and was once so much valued, as to be sold for nearly a
guinea a pound." Amherst Province can furnish almost
any quantity of the article, the tree which produces it
being one of the most common denizens of our forests.
Butea frondosa.

dragon's blood.

There is a species of ratan in the forests, which the
natives call " Red ratan," that produces a red exudation
like dragon's blood.

Calamus Draco ?

LIQUID AMBER.*

"Did you ever see in this country the tree which produces
the balsam of Tolii ? " a gentleman once asked me.
" No," I replied, " I never did." " I have one in my com-
pound," he continued ; but unfortunately his compound
was two hundred miles distant. Years passed away, and
I found myself beneath this tree in flower, and soon dis-
covered that it was not Myrospermum toluiferum, but
Liquidamhcr Altingia; and that it produced not balsam of
Tolu, but liquid storax.

The tree is indigenous on the Coast, and in some sec-
tions is quite abundant. A considerable stream in the
province of Mergui derives its name from this tree, in
consequence of its growing so thick on its banks. It
seems to have escaped the notice of Dr. Heifer, for, if I
recollect right, it is not once alluded to in any of his re-
ports, nor has it ever been brought to notice by any one ;
if we except a Catholic priest, a resident of Rangoon,
who has introduced it in a little Burmese medical treatise,
that was lithographed a few years ago by Col. Bumey,
who took a lithographic press with him into Burmah.

• Extracted from an article communicated by the author, in the Journal of the
Asiatic Society for Tune 1848.

156 BOTANY.

This gentleman, however, seems to have mistaken the
tree, for he describes it as the one that produces the balsam
of Peru, Myrospermum peruiferum, and which belongs to
a different natural family. The medicinal properties of
their exudations too, are materially different. Liquid
storax, the production of (his tree, is described by Lindley,
merely as " a stimulating expectorant substance — influ-
encing the mucus membranes, especially that which lines
the air passages." The writer of the Burmese medical
treatise recommends the exudation of the tree for the usual
purposes to which the balsam of Peru is applied, under
the illusion that it is the same substance !

Here is a fine illustration of the fallacies of medicine.
It is probable that this balsam has been used in all the
various cases many times by the author, and quite as
much good done, and as wonderful cures effected, as if
he had used the veritable balsam of Peru. And the
same glorious effects are still being produced, for the
book is in the hands of many natives, and is highly valu-
ed : but no part more so than this, because it points them
to a production of the country, while most of the medi-
cines mentioned are foreign products.
liiquidamber Altingia.

INDIAN GUM ANIME.

In Hindustan, Valeria indica produces a resin which is
sometimes called copal in India, and gum anime in Eng-
land ; but it does not appear to be known that in these
Provinces, another species of the same genus yields
almost a precisely similar resin.

When in bloom the tree is quite ornamental, and dif-
fuses the fragrance of its flowers for a great distance
around.

Valeria Rozburghii.
coo5goooo5»

AMERICAN CUM ANFME.

The gum anime, or Courbaril locust tree, was introdu-
ced by Major Alacfarquhar, and is easily propagated.
Hymcnata Com baril.

BOTANY.

15:

ALOES.

A species of aloes is often seen growing in gardens,
and the drug is also' imported from Hindustan.
Aloe soccotrina.

ASAFGETTD4.

Asafoetiria is much used by the Burmese doctors, but
the gum is imported.

Ferula Asafatida.

§$. est. aS8p.o5£8jS,

MANNA.

There is a tree scattered on the Karen mountains, which
in the dry season exudes a sweet substance resembling
the manna of the shops. I have observed it, in some in-
stances, where it had dropped from the branches all around
the base of a large tree like rain ; and again, where it had
gushed out of the trunk like a large mass of gum arabic.
I have never seen the tree either in flower, or fruit, but
think it belongs to the myrtle 'ribe, a family that produces
manna in New Holland.

cinnamon.
The mountains that separate the valley of the Tenas-
serim from the waters that fall into the Meinam produce
a species of cinnamon, the bark of which is equal to some
of the inferior kinds of cinnamon, or cassia bark, that is
sold in the shops. The Karens in Tavoy sometimes col-
lect it, and chew it with betel.
Cinnamon iners.
coSgfy OQTGp ooolspu

CLOVES.

The clove tree may be seen in a few gardens on the
Coast, and cloves are abundant in the bazars.
Eugenia caryophyllata.
Caryophyllus aromaticus.
GcosgSsySn COO& (Pali.) Q9i03ftbl-

lo£ BOTANY.

ALL-SPICE ?

On the sides of some of the highest mountains in the
province of Tavoy, I have repeatedly met with a tree,
but never saw it either in fruit or flower, which the Bur-
mese call " wild clove tree." The young branches and
the leaves taste very strongly of all-spice.
Eugenia. ( Pimento?-)
ccosa>£§§£s<! fl9JcS. cfib^u

NUTMEG TREE.

Within a dozen years, the culture of the nutmeg tree
has been sucessfullv commenced both at Mergui and
Maulmain. There are two or three large nurseries be-
longing to natives behind the hill at Maulmain, where the
trees appear to thrive; and there is a plantation contain-
ing some thousands of trees at Mergui belonging to Baron
des Granges, where the trees were beginning to bear
several years ago : but the nutmegs can be imported from
Penang cheaper than they can be sold at a remunerative
price in these Provinces, so there is little prospect of the
sj^ice plantation increasing.

Myristica moschata.

GoS8[o5n &c8oo5" (Pa!i.\

©:qnit3en 7 ejBcosgjSi!

MACE.

Mace, which is the aril of the nutmeg, appears to have
been originally regarded by the natives as its flower, for
its Burman name signifies " nutmeg flower. 1

I

LIGN-ALOES.

The fragrant substance called lign-aloes, or wood-aloes,
is offered for sale in all the bazars on the Coast, and
is the produce of a tree that grows on the Mergui Islands.
It is imported into Mergui by the Selungs, who, as they
profit from the trade, endeavour to keep all in ignorance
of the tree from which they obtain it.

^ii ^ 1

BOTANY. 159

Gesenias says the Hebrew and Greek names are "de-
rived from the Indian name of the tree, agil, Sanscrit
agaru and aguru." Had he read Pali he would have been
able to approach the word nearer than he has done,
through the Sanscrit, for there besides agaru*, the San-
scrit word, we have again and aggalu,i which come suf-
ficiently near the " Indian name agil," and the Greek ag-
gollochoni; ; but it would take a pretty thorough Etymolo-
gist to get aloee, the New Testament word, out of any of
them. There is, however, another Sanscrit and Pali word
with which Gesenius does not appear to have met, lauha.^
This is manifestly the parent of aloee, and by transposi-
tion, not uncommon in Hebrew, of the Hebrew name also.
Although rendered aloes in the English version, no two
plants are more dissimilar than this, and the common aloes.

Aquilaria Agallocha ?

Aloexylon Aggallochum ?

SOGOqjSn 3 99 J. GSC^Sn

SANDAL WOOD.

Sandal wood imported from Hindustan is constantly
for sale in the bazars, being a favorite cosmetic with
Burmese ladies.

S ant alum album.

©&°i S3 ™<$« c^a (Pali)

WILD SANDAL WOOD.

An inferior kind of sandal wood is produced by a tree
in the southern part of Mergui Province, and forms an
irticle of commerce.
Santalum.

coefii

* 320^0 f SQooqn and oc^c^b

t Thisjjoes to show with other things, that the Greeks were connected in India
with those that spoke Pah rather than Sanscrit.

$ CC02C0"

160 BOTANY,

COSMETIC BARK,

The fragrant bark of a tree which is indigenous in
Burmah above Rangoon, is more universally used for a
cosmetic than sandal wood. A single specimen has been
shown me in Maulmain, which is a very ornamental fra-
grant flowering shrub of the citron tribe.
Murray a paniculata.
OO^OODS OnjQI OO^sflil

COSMETIC TUBERCLES.

An inferior cosmetic wood is seen in market, which is
the tubercle of some plant. The Burmese appear, from
their name, to regard them as produced by a species of
erythrina, for they call them " erythrina thorns ;" but I
know the plant to be a creeper, and suspect that it is
Toddalia aculeata.

" floribunda.

ooooSo^o

CRINUM BULBS.

A dried fragrant substance is seen among the native drugs
which is imported. No one seems able to tell what it is,
but on tracing its Burman name through the Pali into the
Sanscrit, I find Prof. Wilson defines it, with some doubt,
as the bulb of a species of crinum.
Crinum*

00 £L CO i 8 2» 8 p ii

BIERGUI COSMETIC WOOD.

There is a fragrant cosmetic wood sold iu bazar, which
is said to come from Mergui, but I never saw the tree.
Xanlhoxylacca ?
gooo£oo^(c§8»

OPIUM.

I have never seen the poppy under culture, but opium
is eaten to a very considerable extent by the Burmese, and
the drug is easily procured.

Papavf.r somniferum*

c6?sh b3j. o5«

ViOTANY.

BHANG.

161

It is a singular fact that the hemp-piant in tropical
countries exudes a gum, that is" a very powerful stimula-
ting narcotic," which it does not produce in cold coun-
tries. The dried leaves under the name of bhang, partak-
ing of this narcotic principle, are used all over India as a
substitute, for opium, to produce intoxicating effects.
Under the Burmese government at Tavoy, no one was al-
lowed to cultivate the plant without a licence from Gov-
ernment. Sometimes a general permission was given,
and at other times a general prohibition would be issued.
Cannabis saliva*
co£»

1 OBACCO.

Tobacco, which was introduced from America within a
few centuries, is now more universally used in Burmah,
than it perhaps ever was in its native country. The Ka-
rens raise it for their own consumption, and the Burmese
both cultivate it, and import it from Rangoon.
Nicotiana Tabacum.
030JM (L9D09J. oooo[5iiOOo5|3n

THE WHITE THORN APPLE.

The white datura has little to recommend it in point
of beauty, or pleasantness of association, yet we find it
celebrated by Heber in his " Walk in Bengal."

• While to the cooler air confest
The broad datura bares her breast,
Of fragrant scent, and virgin white,
A pearl around the locks of night/'

It is often seen blooming around native dwellings, and
may possibly be used in Tenasserim for the same bloody
purposes as in India. The common stramonium of Eu-
rope and America " is perhaps only a variety."
Datura Metel.
Datura alba.
y^SgoSoDoii u^g* oSSoIm (Tavoy.)

162 BOtANf.

PURPLE FLOWERED TtiORN APPLE.

Both the single and double flowered varieties of this
3pecies may be often seen near Burman houses, and chil-
dren not knowing its poisonous character, sometimes eat
the fruit with very serious effects.
Datura fastuosa.

NUX VOMICA-

A Medical Botany before me says, the Nux vomica, or
poison nut, grows " chiefly in Ceylon and Malabar, occupy-
ing sandy situations." It is a very common tree on the
rocky sides of the hill back of Maulmain. The reputed
property of the wood to cure the bite of venomous snakes,
as stated by Lindley, is never heard of here, and is doubts
less quite apocryphal.

Strychnos Nux vomica.

COCCULUS INDICUS.

This twining shrub, well known for its poisonous seeds*
Dr. Heifer reports as indigenous in the Provinces, but I
have never observed it.

Anamirta Cocculus.

SENNA.

I have never seen the true senna under culture, but the
dried leaves are constantly for sale.
Cassia rlongata.

FCETID CASSIA.

The foetid cassia is one of the most abundant weeds
in this country, and it has a place in the Materia Medica,
because its leaves are used to adulterate Aleppo senna,
and are said to be cathartic.
Cassia Tor a.

BOTANY. 163

WINGED CASSIA.

This species bears a profusion of gaudy, yellow flowers,
and is much cultivated by the natives for its medicinal
properties in diseases of the skin.
Cassia alata.

£©c8(r§s O1QO10JGQJ. 01JQJS61.

WESTERN CASSIA.

There is a small species of cassia that I have occasion-
ally noticed in native cultivation for medicinal uses,
which was originally introduced into India from the West
Indies.

Cassia occidentalism

ODCCOOfl

COW-ITCH.

The covvhage, or cow-itch, with its stinging pods is very
common in the Karen jungles. I believe it is the common
species, but I never met with the plant in flower.
Mucuna pruritus.

&cb8« cgGco«D qjeioa. Gd39j>c3Qj09a. ^iojSb

MYROBALANS.

Myrobalan fruit is esteemed medicinal by the Burmese,
and is dried and sold among the drugs. The tree is indi-
genous, but not very abundant.
Terminalia Btllerica.

30§Sl8H Q$SSfl*« 03J<W. wl^fii'OOJScQB

BAMBOO-FUNGUS.

There is a fungus like a mushroom that grows at the
root of the bamboo in these Provinces, hence called the
bamboo-fungus, which is regarded by the natives as quite
a specific for worms. It has also been introduced into
European practice, and is regarded by some physicians as
superior to any anthelmintic in the Materia Medica.
o5§» ol§'» Cdl DTQO i.

164 BOTANY

IPECACUANHA.

A pretty little annual, with a small saffron and orange-
coloured flower, is quite common, and is characterized as
the " ipecacuanha-plant." It is not the true ipecacuanha-
plant, but the root is emetic, and is used by the negroes
of the West Tndies.

Asclep ias airassavica .

JEW bush.

This American plant, which is used in the West Indies
as a substitute for ipecacuanha, is seen in cultivation occa-
sionally, and in the neighborhood of Calcutta it is as
abundant as a wild plant.

Pedilanthus tithymaloidef.

MUDAR PLANT.

The mudar plant is propagated for its medicinal pro-
perties, which are said to be very numerous, and Europe-
an practitioners recommend the juice of the plant in
cases of leprosy above all other preparations. We have
two varieties, one with a cream-coloured flower, and ano-
ther with a black and purple tinge.
Calotropis gig ante a.

CAJ UP IT-OIL.

An elegant little tree, with birch-like bark that pro-
duces cajuput-oil, is indigenous in the Karen forests of
the southern provinces, but I have not observed it north
of the valley of Palouk river, in latitude about 13°.
Melaleuca Cajuputi.

castor-oil.

The Palma Christi, or castor -oil plant, is very extensive-
ly propagated by the Karens, who have two or three va-
rieties. Until they were informed, however, by the mis-
sionaries, they were not at all aware of the medicinal pro-
perties of the plant; their object in planting the tree be-
ing, to obtain the seeds to mix with their dves, and fix their

BOTANY.

165

colours. Dr. Heifer says : " The country produces, spon-
taneously growing, the ricinus or castor-oil plant/' but
this is quite erroneous.

Ricinus communis.

a.

CROTON-OIL.

The croton-oil plant is frequently seen under culture,
and the seeds are administered by native doctors. When
the operation is excessive, they give the patient the juice
of the sour lime, which is said to counteract the effect of
the croton seeds. All the plants that I have examined
belong to the exotic species.
Croton Tiglium.

AVA CROTON.

Lindley says that there is an indigenous, and allied species
to the preceding at Ava, which is decandrous, while C.
Tiglium has fifteen stamens,
Croton Pavancu

MANY-STAMENED CROTON,

The Burmese cultivate another species of croton, which
grows into a thick bush, and whose seeds are also a strong
purgative.

Croton polyandra.

WILU CROTON.

A species of croton, whose roots are used by the na-
tives for a cathartic, abounds in some parts, especially on
the Maulmain hifls. This species is not described in
Roxburgh.

Croton.
a3a5qSsf>i glCGI. ooo58iy

RANGOON CROTON.

The natives describe another species of croton, common
in the neighborhood of Rangoon, and occasionally found

16<3 DOTANV,

in the Provinces, which is a shrub, three or four feet high,
with properties similar to the preceding.
Croton.

o>o5q8sooGoo5»

WOOD-OIL COPAIVA.

Wood-oil is one of the most valuable products of the
Tenasserim Provinces j and the tree which produces the
best quality is one of the most widely diffused of our
forest trees. It yields too, very abundantly. Dr. Heifer
wrote, that 0118 trunk would produce thirty or forty gal-
lons each season without injury to the tree. In the re-
ports of the Agricultural and Horticultural Societies of
India, it is said : " The wood-oil, properly speaking, is a
balsam, obtained from several species of dipterocarpus
common in many parts of India. By distillation this bal-
sam yields volatile oil, a resin being left behind. This
o'l, Dr. O'Shaughnessy found to be identical in chemical
composition with that of the balsam of copaiva, and he
had accordingly used it extensively in his hospital, with
exactly the same medicinal effects." " Nor is this arti-
cle," continues the report, " likely to become of impor
tance in medicine only ; but also in the arts, in many of
which copaiva is now used, Copaiva, by the latest ' dry
price current,' was at five shillings and six pence the
pound, while twenty pounds of the essential oil of wood
may be obtained, of the very best quality, for about ten
shillings."

Di [iter or.ar pus IcFvis.

NEEM TREE.

This tree Linnaeus placed in the same genus as the
pride of India, which it much resembles, but the leaves
are more intensely bitter. It is cultivated by the Bur-
mese for its medicinal qualities, for which it is famous
ail over India. The bark has been successfully used in
India as a substitute for cinchona ; the bitter oil of the
fruit is a valuable anthelmintic; the seeds are used in the
destruction of insects ; and "the leaves," remarks Dr.

BOTANY. 167

Wight, " beaten into a pulp, and thus externally applied,
act as a charm in removing the most intractable forms of
psora, and other pustula eruptions.
Azadirachta indica.

go go5o cowing ii wiojftba. oouftaSoocQu

PENTAPTERA-BARK.

A very bitter bark is sold in market, which the natives
eat with their betel. I have never seen the tree, but the
fruit of it which was brought me, proved it to belong to
Roxburgh's genus pentaptera.
Termirialia.
Pentaptera.

ooSsluooooSsU 03j0j(31J. oocSdbso

CMIRATA.

This well known Indian bitter is a common Burman
medicine, but I have never seen the plant growing. It is
considered a good substitute for cinchona, but it fre-
quently acts as an aperient as well as a tonic. It is often
confounded with another bitter, kreet, — Justicia pani-
cidata.

Agathotcs Chcrayta-

Gaosl(c§si OTJOJ. ooooSaS"

WILLOW.

A species of willow is one of the most abundant forest
trees on the banks of inland streams; and as many of the
willows are medicinal, it is very probable that this also pos-
sesses medicinal properties, but they are as yet unknown.
Saliz.

>us««i COOT. 6^00o8n

^e>S(

SOUTHERNWOOD.

This plant, of the same genus as wormwood, is seen
in European gardens.

Artemisia Abrotanum.

10S BOTANV

CUTCH.

Cutch, the produce of a species of acacia, indigenous in
Burmah, is an article of merchandise, and large quanti-
ties of it are consumed by the natives with their betel.
Acacia Catechu.

5)08" OljOj. 008^i

SEA-COCOANUT.

This is not the famous Cocos des mer of the Seychelles,
so long the wonder of the world ; but a tree very common
in the mangrove swamps; and growing near the shore, its
fruit falls into the water and floats out upon the sea, which
gives rise to its name. The fruit is not edible, but is
exceedingly astringent, and regarded by the natives as a
specific in cholera.

Xylocarpus Granatum.

BLACK-PEPPER.

The black pepper \ine is often seen creeping up the
trees, but it is not indigenous.
Piper nigrum.

LONG-PEPPER.

Long-pepper is in the bazars, but I have never noticed
it growing.

Piper Ion gum.

GINGEli.

Ginger is cultivated to a small extent, and some of the
Chinese make a ginger preserve of the green roots, in
imitation of that which comes from China.
Zingiber officinale.
sf)5s8fii g) 8 ii (Tavoy.) 33l. odoou

BOTANY.

FENNEL-FLOWER.

1C9

The seeds of this plant, which were formerly used for
pepper, are valued by the inhabitants for their carminative
properties, but the plant is rarely seen in cultivation.
The Hebrew word, which in Isaiah is rendered fitches
designates this plant ; but not in Ezekiel, where the origi-
nal word for fitches signifies spelt, a species of wheat.
Nigtlla sativa.

BETEL-LEAF.

The betel-leaf is an article of commerce, being
universally chewed by the Asiatic population with areca nut
and lime, to strengthen the stomach. Karens plant
the vines on their uplands, where there are tall forest trees.
The branches of the trunks are lopped off, leaving only
the topmost boughs, and the vines readily climb up and
weave their dark, glossy leaves all over the summits, mak-
ing a betel-vine farm a most beautiful object. Karen
boys and maidens engage in these leaf harvests with great
zest, and it is not uncommon for young men, in seeking
companions, to inquhe who are the most agile climbers of
poo-lah, or betel-leaf trees.
Piper Betel.
cgcSgjoSn C33l J- COCXg]|_^

WILD BETEL-LEAF.

The Karen forests produce a wild species of piper, the
leaf of which is used as a substitute for the common
betel-leaf.

Piper.

Gooocg6n qidi. ©n

SPILANTHES.

A species of spilanthes is planted by the natives for its
medicinal properties.

Spilanthes acmclla.

co£scocoo» CJc^JGOl. Scooohs-ii

170 BOTANY.

• CORIANDER.

Coriander seeds are used as a condiment for curries, as
well as for medicine, and the plant is often cultivated by
the Burmese.

Coriandrum sativum.

ANISE.

Anise seeds are much used by the native doctors, but 1
have never seen the plant under culture.
Pimpinella A nisum .

DILL.

Dill is occasionally seen, and the seeds are constantly
for sale in the bazars. This plant is the aneethon of
Dioscorides ; and Mathew's gospel, rendered in the receiv-
ed version anise. The Burmese do not distinguish it
from carravvay.

Anethum graveolens.
©go5" OQ3J. ©ftSs

SOWA.

This is an East Indian species of anethum, possessing
similar aromatic, and carminative properties to the preced-
ing. It is often planted by the Burmese.
Anethum Sowa.
©goSn

CUMIN.

Cumin seeds are a common article in the markets,
and the plant, I am told, is occasionally cultivated.
Cuminum Cyminum.

Sooo" Sq« (Sanscrit.) cm en. ©cm*

CARDAMUM.

The Karen forests of Tavoy, and Mergui abound with
cardamum plants ; and while subject to the Burmese
Government, the Karens were required to collect the seed^
and pay them in as tribute ; but they gather very few now.

BOTANV. It!

as they can employ their time more profitably; and when
they did collect, they were in the practice of mixing a
"spurious kind of cardamum with the true, the produce of
a plant belonging to the genus amomum, believed to have
been A- Cardamomum.

Elettaria Cardamomum*

Alpinia Cardamomum.

coocoo* «l3T"t. «5o&8«

SWEET CANE.

The sweet cane, or sweet flag, is cultivated by the Bur-
mese to a small extent for its medicinal properties, which
some writers say are not duly appreciated. This is the
sweet cane of the Scriptures, and not sugar-cane, as
some have supposed.

Acorus Calamus.

coScgoh ljq3j. c8Soof>«

SASSAFRAS.

A species of sassafras abounds in the jungles, which

seems to possess all the properties of the sassafras of

America. I have never met with the tree in fruit or flower,

but the leaf shows that it is not the Sassafras afficinarum.

Sassafras.

g^ooSgi Q0J13. cSsco^n

MINT.

Mint is sometimes cultivated by Europeans, but it does
hot flourish so well as in Europe,
Mentha nitidis.

WILD MINT.

There is a species of wild mint in Tavoy, of which Rox-
burgh wrote : " This plant is very fragrant, not less so
than our garden mint in Europe."
Dysophylla quadrifolia.
Men' ha "

e>S8fgi eeibsj.

8oDo8sb

W2 BOTANY.

GALANGA K.EMPFERA.

The roots of this plant may be often seen attached to
the necklaces of Karen females, for the sake of their per-
fume. They also put them with their clothes, and use them
to a small extent medicinally.

Kampfcra Galanga.

KHUSKHUS-GKASS.

Both Karens and Burmese cultivate little bunches of
a large grass belonging to the genus andrcpogon, for its
fragrant roots.

Andropogon muricatus.
o^So QOQ^. Sofi* rS^n

SWEET BASIL.

Common sweet basil is not rare in gardens, but I have
not met with it indigenous.
Ociniuni Basilicum.

LEMON-GRASS.

Lemon -grass is cultivated by the natives all over the
Provinces, and a decoction made from the leaves is deem-
ed by them of much efficacy in cholic, and similar com-
plaints

Andropogon Schananthus.

oolcoSu o8oocci' (Tavoy)

WILD SARSA PAUILLA.

Thpre are two or more species of smilax in our jungles,
one of which is u-ed by tl e n itives as medicine, to sup-
ply the place of a species i earsaparilla, whose dried
roots are sold in the baz irs.
Smilax ovalifolia.

GINSENG.

The Chinese shops have the famous ginseng always on
hand, but the plant is not cultivated.
Panax quinquefolia.

BOTANY. 173

LIQUORICE.

Dried liquorice is found among native drugs, but I have
never seen the plant growing.
Glycyrrhiza glabra.

WILD LIQUORICE.

There is an indigenous plant in the forests, the bark of
whoss roots have the taste of liquorice, but it does not
belong to the same genus, though often supposed to be the
same tree. I have not seen the flower, but the leaf and
fruit would indicate it to be a species of acacia.
Acacia.

$o5s$i o3jgnj§njooj. oape5p6£d8i

HEART-SEED.

The heart-seed, which has an aperient root, is raised in
great quantities by the natives, but more as a vegetable
than a medicine.

Cardiospermum Halicacabum.

GARLIC.

Garlic bulbs are always for sale, but they are imported
principally from Rangoon. The natives use them both for
food and medicine.

Allium sativum.

oqp5cg§(g« Dcjq OOJOJgl. oooiolc

GUM-ARABIC

The true gum-arabic tree is not in the Provinces, but
the vachellia-tree produces a gum with all the properties
of the gum-arabic of commerce ; and the cashew-tree,
which grows all over the Provinces, " annually exudes/'
says Voigt, " from 5 — 12 pounds weight, of a fine white
transparent gum, like gum-arabic, and not inferior to it in
virtue or quality."

174 BOTANY.

POLAMSIA.

The leaves of a very common weed belonging to the ge-
nus polanisia, when bruised, are said to act as a sinapism,
Polanisia icosandra.

HELICTERES.

The dried, twisted fruit of a species ofhelicteres is seen
among the native drugs in bazar, and is used by Burmese
doctors.

Is or a cor yli folia.

Helicteres Isora.

oocoS

G V

DESMODIUM.

The root of a species of desmodium is valued for iis
medicinal properties.

Desmodium triquetrum.

tjoSd^cgfoH nJoojbnJ. oooojSoj"

PARATROPIA.

The Karens make an infusion of the leaves of a species
of paratropia, a plant of the ivy family, which they use
for many internal diseases.

Paratropia digitata.

Parairopia venulosa.

cdc^scooSoI" GcW.sn. OOCjl^a

ENTADA.

This magnificent creeper is occasionally seen lending
its light verdure to lofty forest trees, and throwing down
immense pods, often more than a yard long. These pods
are filled with numerous large dark brown seeds, from one
to two inches in diameter.

Though not in Lindley, yet the seeds of this plant enter
into the native Materia Medica as an anti-febrifuge.

Entada Puscetha.

BOTANY.

AGYNEIA.

175

The roots of this curious flowered plant are used medi-
cinally by the Karens.

Agyneia coccinea.

LEEA.

A curious looking herbaceous plant, with a leaf larger
than a cabbage leaf, is sometimes cultivated for the astrin-
gent properties of its roots- It is the large-leaved leea.
The Burmans use it to stop the effusion of blood in
wounds ; but in Hindustan it is said to be a remedy for
the Guinea-worm.

Leca macrophylla.

TABASHEER.

Some of our bamboos secrete a silicious substance
called tabasheer, which has a place among native medi-
cinal substances.

olcboDCoqpcSu 0110 J Q8 J. ooq*«

OFFICINAL POTHOS.

This creeper, as I judge, is not uncommon on the for-
est trees, but I have never seen the plant in flower.
This also enters into the native Materia Medica, but it is
not used in European practice, although it has a place in
Lindley's Flora Medica.

Scindapsus officinalis.

Pothos

obeio3i. ods8o685h

:Gp(c§t

CYNOMORIUM.

Dr. Wallich says there is a species of this fungus-like
genus, which is parasitical on the roots of trees in the Pro-
vinces, and valuable as a styptic; but I have not observed it.
Cynonwrium.

176 BOTANY

SESAMUM.

The sesamum plant is largely cultivated by the Ka-
rens, who bring the seeds to market and sell them
to the Burmese, and they express the oil. The seeds are
said to have the same property as linseed, and the oil
to be a good substitute for olive oil. The natives use it
in curries, and also burn it for lights.
Sesamum indicum.

j T *. o3j. |*5o8i

OLIVE.

Wallich found a species of olive tree on the banks of
the Salwen, but from which no oil is made, that he called
Olea attenuata.

karung.

According to Wallich, the karung oil tree is indigen-
ous in Amherst Province. The Burmese make an oii
from a tree with which 1 have never met, that may be the
tree referred to by Wallich.
Pongamia glabra.

COUNTRY MALLOW-LEAF.

The Burmese raise a species of abutilon, which is con-
sidered all over India a very good substitute for marsh-
mallows.

Abutilon indicum.

SESBANIA.

A species of sesbania may be seen in culture for the
sake of its leaves, which the Burmese use for poultices to
promote suppuration. Owing to this characteristic they
call the tree " water-chief.
Sesbania agyptiaca.

BOTANY. 177

SUGAR-CANE.

That these Provinces ate well adapted for the cultivation
of sugar-cane, has been well tested by Mr. O'Riley, who
made many tons of very excellent sugar from cane that was
raised at Amherst. In Hindustan the mucilage of the
musk-mallow, AbtlmoscJms moschatus is used to clarify
sugar, and it is one of our most common indigenous plants;
Both the Burmese and Karens grow sugar-cane, which
they chew for its juice, and from which they make cake-
sugar.

Saccharum officinarum.

cqn 3 ,s h(3Ql. oo85<

NIPA.

The nipa is very extensively cultivated in the province
of Tavoy. From incisions in the stem of the fruit, toddy
is extracted, which has very much the flavour of mead,
and this extract when boiled down becomes sugar. In
Burmah, where the palmyra abounds, an extract from that
tree is made to supply its place.
Nipa fruticans.

COFFEE.

Coffee not inferior to the best from Mocha, I have rais*
ed in my own garden at Tavoy, but the plants do not
flourish after the fourth or fifth year.
Coffea arabica.

MERGCI SAGO.

Sago may be seen in every bazar in the Provinces, but
it is not generally known what plant produces it, many
having the erroneous impression that it is made from
manihot. It is the produce of an indigenous plant abound-
in(T along the sea shore,the islands, and especially at Mergui
— a species of tacca, the same plant that is common in the
South Sea Islands, whose tubers there supply to the inha-
bitants the place of bread. Considerable quantities of

178 BOTANY.

sago are made at Mergui, yet Lindley in his Medical Bo*
tany, makes no reference to tacca as yielding sago.

Tacca pinnatifida.

6Da)a5i'Ga>ocScoDi> cqoq« common sago,

^oScSk large sago-

MERGUI ARROW ROOT.

A spurious kind of arrow root has long been made at
Mergui from the same plant as that which yields the sago.
But medical men have decided that it contains properties
which render it unsuitable for the sick, and chemical ana-
lysis has developed that it contains only half the nutritious
qualities of the genuine arrow root.

TRUE ARROW ROOT

The true arrow root plant was introduced several yearn
ago by Mr. O'Riley, and is beginning to be largely culti-
vated. The arrow root made is not inferior in quality to
any imported ; while it is sold for half the price, at a good
profit. A gentleman at Tavoy has sold a considerable
quantity for exportation this year, and has orders for more
than a thousand pounds of the next crop.
Mar ant a arundinacea.

o£yosM ojyn. o^g^

TAPIOCA TREE,

1 am not aware that either tapioca, or cassava is manu-
factured on this Coast, but manihot, the plant which pro-
duces both, is frequently seen in culture. The natives boil
the root, and eat it like a yam, though severe sickness it*
cften induced by the use of it. The Karen name signifies;
" tree yam," and in Burmese it is called the " Penang
yam," which shows whence it was imported. Malays
have told me that much of the sago, and arrow root
which comes from Penang and Singapore, is made from
this plant, though the former is usually supposed to be pre-
pared from the sago palm ; and Mr. Ranney informs me
that arrow root is made from it at the Mauritius. It is said
tfiat an acre of ground, planted with the cassava tree

BOTANY. 179

yields nourishment to more persons than six acres cultiva-
ted with wheat.

Jan iph a Man ih o t .

Jatropha "

EDIBLE MOSS.

This is a sea weed, abundant on the Coast, and exceed-
ingly valuable for its nutritious and medicinal properties
for invalids. It was first brought to public notice by Dr.
O'Shaughnessy, as " The edible moss of the Eastern
Archipelago," who referred it to the genus fucus.
The fructifications, however, being in small tubercles, I
should consider it a species of Agardh's genus, spheerococ-
cus ; but that genus having been broken up, it now con-
stitutes a member of the genus plocaria. It is an allied
species with the Ceylon moss, P. lichenoides, with a spe-
cies found on the coast of Devonshire in England.. P.
compressa; with the Corsican moss of the Mediterranean,
P, Hriminthochorton ; and with a species used in China
as a substitute for glue and gum-arabic, P. teriax ; but
differs generically from the Irish, or Carrageen moss,
Chondrus crispus ; and is not of the same natural family
with the Iceland moss, Cetraria islandica, which is neither
a moss nor a sea weed, but a lichen.

The Tenasserim moss is said to be superior to all others,
as it is wholly free from the bitter principle, which renders
other fuci so objectionable. It contains a considerable
proportion of starch, and was hence named by Dr.
O'Shaughnessy, the starch fucus, F. amylaccus ; but his
specific name has since been changed to Candida, white,
probably from a mistaken idea that the substance is natu-
rally white, whereas it becomes so only by bleaching in
the sun ; its natural tint being a shade between olive and
purple, such as the natives designate red.

According to Dr. O'Shaughnessy's analysis it contain?
as follows :

Vegetable jelly, 54-5

True starch, 15-0

Wax, a trace, 05?

180 BOTANY.

Ligneous fibre, •• 18.0

Gum, 40

Sulphate and muriate of soda, ... 6-5

Sulphate and phosphate of lime, ••• 10

Iron, a trace, 0-4?

100.0
On the best mode of preparing it for use he adds :
" In the first place, from the tendency of pectin or veget-
able jelly to form insoluble compounds with saline and
earthy bases, it is necessary to steep this fucus for a few
hours in cold rain water as the first step in its preparation.
This removes a large portion, if not the entire, of the sul-
phate of soda, leaving all the gelatine, and starch. It should
next be dried by the sun's rays, and ground to a fine pow-
der ; I say ground, for cutting or pounding, however dili-
gently or minutely performed, still leaves the amylaceous
globules so mechanically protected, and so closely involved
in an external sheath of tough ligneous fibre, that scarcely
a particle of the starch can be extracted by boiling, even
though the decoction is prolonged for several hours. When
ground, boiling for 25 minutes or half an hour dissolves
all the starch and gelatine. The solution while hot should
be passed through muslin or calico, and thus the ligneous
fibre is removed ; lastly, the strained fluid should be boiled
down till a drop placed on a cold surface gelatinizes suf-
ficiently.

11 With milk and sugar, and flavoured with lemon juice
or sherry, this substance, when prepared as I direct, would
afford the invalid a pleasant article of diet, especially at
sea, where other jellies or their materials cannot be so
easily preserved. As I am informed that this fucus is found
abundantly on the eastern coast of Bengal, I entertain
considerable hopes of its being hereafter found available
also in several processes of art and in various manufactures."
Plocaria Candida.
Fucus amylaccus.

Goqpo8y§B

BOTANY. 181

PLANTS PERTAINING TO ECONOMICS.

There are numerous plants used for dyes, for tanning,
for clothing, for cordage, for building, and for other eco-
nomic purposes, which admit of being grouped together.

VARIOUS BLACK-DYE PLANTS.

The blossoms of the shoe-flower plant are used by the
Chinese to dye leather black, the juice of the cashew-tree
gives a black to linen, and the fruit of the melastoma af-
fords a black dye.

SHAN BLACK DYE.

This celebrated vegetable dye is made from the
fruit of a species of ebony, which is said to grow on the
mountains that separate the Province of Tavoy from the
Siamese territories. Isolated plants may be seen in the
gardens of Tavoy, and Maulmain, but I have never seen
one in flower, or fruit.

Diospyros mollis.

ttSonpn — ma-kleu. (Sgau.)

CI1EBULA.

The fruit of the chebula mixed with an iron clay is in
common use to form a black dye, which is said to be very
good. All the native ink is made from this fruit, but
although black when used, in the course of a dozen years
it sometimes fades so that the writing is scarcely legible.
The tree is found throughout the Provinces, but is not
very abundant.

Terminalia Chebula.
rqjqu uq« (Tavoy.) oDjQ3/. °?ft8j5 B

PHYSIC-NUT.

The physic-nut tree is often seen in cultivation, and its
juice dyes linen black. Lindley says : " The oil boiled
with oxide of iron forms a varnish used by the Chinese
for covering boxes." The Hindus use the oil to burn
in lamps.

Jatropha Curcas.

182 BOTANY.

MARKING NUT.

This fruit produces an indelible ink which is used for
marking, and for other purposes. The dried nuts are
constantly for sale, but I have never met with the tree
growing.

Semecarpus Anacardium.

OAK GALLS.

Oak galls can always be obtained of the native drug-
gists, but I think they are all imported, although we have
several species of oak indigenous in the Provinces.
Qucrcus.

RUELLIA.

The Burmese cultivate a low plant as a substitute for
indigo which is the room of Assam, from which country
it has probably been introduced. It forms a blue dye not
inferior to that produced by the true indigo plant.
Rudlia indigofcra.

&(r§8» esjljoH- esjboDjooj. oDgjScojBSii

ASCLEPIAS BLUE DYE.

The Karens, and sometimes the Burmese, plant a
creeper that is indigenous in some sections, and which
makes quite a good indigo blue, though not equal to the
ruellia dye.

Marsdenia tinctoria.
Aschpias "

INDIGO.

The true indigo plant is grown occasionally by both Ka-
rens and Burmese, but less extensively than either of the
preceding.

Indigoftra tinctoria.

BOTANY. 1S3

WILD INDIGO.

An indigenous shrub, a species of indigo, is sometimes
used in forming a blue dye.
Indigofera.

JAMBO MORDANT.

The bark of a species of eugenia is used as a mordant
for blue and black dyes.

Eugenia Jambolana ?

VARIOUS RED-DYE PLANTS,

The rose-coloured fruit of the tamarind " yields a beau-
tiful deep red-colour, approaching purple"; the wood of the
Adenanthcra pavonia dyes red, and the wood of the black
varnish tree affords a red dje.

SAPPAN WOOD.

In the valley of the Tenasserim, between the latitudes
of Tavoy city and the mouth of Tavoy river, the
hills that border the valley on the eastern side abound
in sappan wood, which is used extensively as a red dye.
Considerable quantities are exported every year from
Mergui, and that province is usually supposed to contain
the tree, though it is really within the province of Tavoy ;
but the facility of water communication from the interior
to Mergui, makes that the only port to which the wood is
conveyed. It is rather singular that this narrow locality
is the only one in the Provinces, so far as I am aware, in
which the tree is found. The tree has a much wider
range, the Karens inform me, on the Meinam side of the
mountains in Siam. More than five hundred thousand
pounds have been exported from Mergui during some
years between 1830 and 1840 ; but latterly the forests
have not been so productive.

Ccesalpinia Sappan.

c8^£Do5n

184 BOTANY.

LOG-WOOD.

The log-wood tree is cultivated in a few gardens, and
appears to flourish as well as an indigenous plant.
H&matoxylon campechianum.

ARNOTTO.

The arnotto tree, though an American plant, is propa-
gated extensively by the Burmese, who prepare a red dye
from its fruit.

Bixa Orellana.

d3oD5si o$i (Tavoy.) Q\aj\. «5oSn

MORINDA.

The Karens prepare their red dyes most usually from
the roots of the morinda tree, of which at least two or
three species are used for this purpose. One, M. citrifo-
lia, is also cultivated by the Burmese for a dye, but the
Karens more commonly use the indigenous species.
Morinda citrifolia.

Morinda exserta.

<?£>:». t)0JO3j-QqJ. *3*OO^o

Morinda.

C£CDB O0JC30J. $388"

INDIAN MADDER. .

Indian madder, though not seen in the Provinces, is
found in Bur m ah.

Rubia cordifolia.

MANGROVE MORDANT.

The bark of a small tree from the mangrove swamps is
used by the Tavoy women in dying red, but I think as a
mordant.

Kandclia Rhcedii ?

BOTANY. 185

VARIOUS YELLOW-DYE TLANTS.

The wood of the jack, the root of the pyschotria, the
bark of the gamboge trees, the flowers of the buteas, the
rind of the Bengal quince, and the leaves of the memecy-
!on and the touk-yat, all produce bright yellow dyes.

SAFFLOWER.

The .saffiower is widely grown on the banks of the Ir-
rawaddy, and may be occasionally seen en the banks of
the Salwen. Its flowers furnish the best yellow dye in
the country, and mixed with other ingredients they are
used to dye red, and to give a variety of tints.
Cartkamus tinctorius. ■

TURMERIC.

Besides using turmeric for both food and medicine, the
Burmese and Karens dye with it a bright yellow, but it
is not very permanent.

Curcuma longa.

QD$Sa pibl. COoSd

t

VARIOUS ORANGE-DYE PLANTS.

The flowers of the buteas with an alkali, the corolla
tubes of the tree of mourning, and the leaves of the henna
tree, yield beautiful orange dyes. The latter are used in
India to dye skins a " reddish-yellow."

MERGUI RED-WOOD.

Mergui red-wood is a valuable dye wood for both black
and red, but more especially for orange* From an article
in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, it appears that
" a number of experiments, made at the request of Mr. G.
Swinton, by Mr. Thomas Speir, upon (lie Mergui dye
wood, prove that it affords, with the mordants commonly
used by dyers, c equally bright, and of a more per-

manent nature th . ose of most other dye woods. The
colour? imparted to silk with different mordants were as
follows ;

186 BOTANY.

1. — Muriate of tin. Three shades of orange, varying
with the temperature of the bath, and the time of immer-
sion.

2. — Acetate of alumina. Two shades of flame colour.

3. — Acetate of iron. Two shades of drab.

4. — Ditto, with a weak decoction of galls. A fine
black, two shades.

5. — Mixed with manjit, a variety of red and pinks are
obtained, but not perhaps equal in intensity to those of
the manjit alone. The chief attraction of this wood as a
dye, is the orange colour which it yields with the aid of
muriate of tin and acetate of alumina, of a great variety
of shades.

These results shew that the Mergui wood is deserving
of further attention, and that it may become eventually an
important article of commerce with our possessions on the
Tenasserim Coast."

It is not quite certain what tree produces the Mergui
red-wood. The flowers which accompanied the speci-
mens of the wood sent to Calcutta, belonged to the Bur-
man black varnish tree, yet Mr. Maingay who sent them,
thought it a different tree. I imagine there was some
mistake, and that the Mergui red-wood is identical with
the Tavoy red-wood.

desmis Tawyana.

GREEN-DYE PLANTS.

Turmeric, and the leaves of the soap-acacia afford a
beautiful green dye.

Acacia rugata.

rx>£ySu WIG5J. Soo^h

BLACK VARNISH TREE.

The celebrated Burmese black varnish tree, which is
used to lacquer boxes, is cultivated in the Provinces, but I
never saw it growing spontaneously.
Melanorrhcea usitatissima.

oz

ScOn £T. OJ!

BOTANY. 187

WILD BLACK VARNISH TREE.

There are two indigenous species of the same genus
that produces the common black varnish ; but I am not
aware that the exudation which they yield is applied to any
economical purpose.

MclanorrhcBa glabra.
" visitata.

co8go§8o oossSi

HOLIGARNA.

There is another black varnish tree in the forests, be-
longing to a different genus ; and on the other Coast,
where the tree grows, its exudation is used by the natives
to varnish shields, and for other purposes.
Holigarna longifolia.

YELLOW VARNISH TREE.

A species of garcinia that has often been mistaken for
the tree which produces gamboge, is very abundant
throughout the Provinces, and the gum-resin which it
yields when dissolved in spirits of turpentine, affords a
beautiful permanent yellow varnish for metallic surfaces.
Garcinia Cambogicu
GoooSocobu onqjoSg)8n (Tavoy.)

fWioe. — %s &h

»co«

P1NEY VARNISH TREE.

Trees which yield this beautiful varnish so extensively
used in Hindustan, are very common about Maulmain,
yet I am not aware that the varnish is collected.
Vateria Rozhu r ghiana.
cocScooonSa

TANNIN TREES.

The Provinces are rich in materials for tanning. The
bark of the Careya, and of half a dozen different species

188 BOTANY.

of mangrove, the fruit of the sea-cocoanut, and the peel
of a species of ebony, all abound in tannic acid.

Carallia lucida.
go1£b

Rhizoplwra conjugate.

Rhizoplwra gymnorhiza. j Kandelia Rhecdii.

Bruguiera Rhecdii. cec^8n GCj}c£j£ti oooilii

Ei 1

criopeiala.
parvifora.

?

COCOA NUT.

The Burmese express large quantities of cocoanut oil,
but use it principally to burn.
Locos nucifera.
o^Sii qiei. c8i«

CERBERA.

In many places on the banks of tide-water streams, the
most remarkable tree in sight is a species of cerbera, whose
fruit is used very extensively by the Burmese to make an
oil which they burn in their lamps, and use to anoint their
heads ; a use not mentioned in the books. Lindley de-
scribes i f as emetic and poisonous, of which there can be
no doubt. " The milky sap," he continues, "is employed
as a purgative. The leaves and bark are so similar to
senna in their action that they are substituted for it in
Java." These are properties which are unknown here,
and their existence may be doubted. If the statement be
correct, these Provinces might supply all India with senna ;
for the tree abounds from the mangrove swamps on the sea-
shore, to the boundaries of tide-water on almost every
stream, and any quantity of leaves may be obtained for the
trouble of gathering.

Cerbera Manghaz.

oocgou O^JOOJ. OOjScS"

WOOD OIL TREE.

Dr. Heifer says that the oil of wood " laid upon paint-
ings covers them with a transparent fine coating, not liable
to turn yellow, and dries quickly."

BOTANY. i89

A few years ago Mr. Laidlay, the Secretary of the
Asiatic Society, discovered that the oil of wood will dis-
solve caoutchouc. " The process adopted was simply to
cut the caoutchouc into small pieces, and then drop a
sufficiency into a bottle of the oil. In the course of a
few hours the caoutchouc swells, and must then be fre-
quently stirred to facilitate the process. If heat be appli-
ed, complete solution is speedily effected, but several days
are required at the ordinary temperature of the atmos-
phere. The solution thus prepared may be spread on
cloth, which is thereby rendered water-proof." Wood oil
has been found to answer as a good substitute for nsh oil
in currying leather; and it is used for house varnish.

Large quantities of this oil are used in these Provinces
in the manufacture of torches, which emit a brilliant and
durable light. A half dozen of these torches planted on
an eminence make a splendid cresset, illuminating far
over the plains.

Dipterncarpus Icsvis

" turbinatus.

Oil. OF BEN TP.EE.

The tree which yields the celebrated oil of ben is very
abundant, though I am not aware that any oil is pressed
from the seeds in these Provinces. But in the West Indies
the oil of this tree is used for salad oil, and " because it
does not congeal or turn rancid, employed by watchmakers,
and for retaining the aroma of delicate flowers. 1 '

Moving a ptcrygosperm a.

Hyper anther a Moringa.

30DCg« OOJOjJ. OcSsoOjSk

ILLIEPIE OIL TREE.

In the southern part of the Provinces a large timber
tree is indigenous, from the seeds of which the natives ex-
press an oil which they eat with their food, and use for
other purposes. It is a species of bassia, and does not

190 not a Nf.

differ sufficiently from the tree which produces the if
liepie oil of Hindustan to constitute a new species.
Bassia longifolia.

od5go5» ftJQ9\. <8j36f>o

CAOUTCHOUC

Within a dozen years the true caoutchouc tree of
Assam has been introduced into the Provinces, and appears
to grow as well as an indigenous plant.
Ficus c last lea.

TENASSERIM CAOUTCHOUC.

An indigenous creeper yields caoutchouc not at all in-
erior to that which is obtained from the elastic fig tree.
The Agricultural and Horticultural Society, in reporting
on a specimen sent them by Major Macfarquhar of Tavoy,
observed : "With care in preparing, it would be equal to the
best South American." I have never seen the plant in
flower, but to judge from the fruit, it belongs to the dogbane
tribe, and echites group, for its seeds are comose above.

Echites.

TO-,o5co n .6u 5)6g©d6h (Tavoy.)

DAMME R.

Damnier in India supplies the place of pitch and rosin,
and in these Provinces is the product of three different
genera belonging to the wood oil tree family — the sho*
rea, the hopea, and the dipterocarpus.

SOAP-NUT.

The soap-nut tree has been introduced, and appears to
flourish.

Sapindus ana rgint. tus .

&OAP ACACIA.

The dry pods of a species of acacia are sold in the
bazars, which are used as a substitute for soap in cleans-
ing the hair.

Acacia rvgata.
tt)Sg<5n C3cnG§J. 8ao£'>

GOTANV. 191

FLAX.

The flax-plant is not, so far as I know, cultivated either
in these Provinces or Burmah, but the Burmese are ac-
quainted with linen from their books in which it is fre-
quently mentioned.

The lake or tank near king Wathandria's hermitage, is
described as being covered with water lilies, that anpear
like garments made of thread of flax bark ; and linen gar-
ments are mentioned among those which priests are pe re-
mitted to wear.

Liinum usitatissimam.
Gsjiwn Kshauma (Sanscrit.) Q9"iyj. Sou

NATIVE COTTON.

The Karens usually grow cotton enough to make their
own fabrics, and on the Salwen and Tenasserim it is some-
times raised in considerable quantities ; but its market
price is little more than a fourth of the best American
cotton ; yet with improved modes of culture, and frequent
changes of seed, its value would undoubtedly be greatly
increased.

Gossi/[)ium herbaceum.

din b5l. obii

PERNAMBUCO COTTON.

Mr. Blundell introduced the plant which produces the
Pemambuco, Peruvian, Bahia, or South Sea Island cotton ;
and Capt. Macfarquhar raised such a fine article at Tavoy
from it, that the Committee of the Agricultural and Hor-
ticultural Society of Calcutta were unwilling to be-
lieve it the production of that species. They reported :
" The sample sent by Capt. Macfarquhar appears to be
of a quality resembling the Sea Island, but finer and
more silky, and the fibre not so strong, its value is not so
easy to determine, but the Committee are of opinion that
it would sell for a high price. The Pernambuco cotton,
which it is believed, is the same as the South Sea Island
cotton, is an inferior staple to that of the N. American
$ea Island, and they have a sample of cotton submitted.

192 EOT AN V.

which in point of fineness surpasses the genuine Sea Is-
land cotton of N. America.

"This improvement on the general staple of Pemambu-
co cotton might be reconciled had it been produced at a
distance from the sea, since it has been ascertained, that
this description of cotton deteriorates by proximity to the
sea ; whence your Committee are disposed to think that
Captain Macfarquhar has been led into errour in calling
it South sea Island instead of Sea Island."

Admitting that Captain Macfarquhar was in errour,
which it is believed he was not, the report proves that an
article " finer and more silky," than the best American
cotton has been raised in these Provinces. The princi-
pal difficulty to the introduction of this species into ge-
neral cultivation was, as Mr. Blundell told me, that the
trees did not produce abundantly.
Goss i/pium acuminatum.
olcqcoDn bSlQOill. cWKcom

SEA ISLAND COTTON.

Sea Island cotton has been raised in these Provinces
by amateur cultivators, but I have never seen any report.
on the article obtained. " Bourbon cotton of Indian
growth," says Wight, " has sold in the London markets
for the 'highest prices going; " and, as the Bourbon plant
is the original Sea Island acclimatized to the East, the
cultivator 3 would have a stronger probability of success by
obtaining his seed from Bourbon, than from America.
Much attention should also be given to the selection of a
proper soil. Analysis has shown that all the lands on which
cotton is orown in India, differ widely in their constituent
parts from the best cotton lands of America. The
subject is still in its infancy, more extensive ana-
lysis being required; "but it seems at present," ob-
serves Mr. Piddington, " that the abundance and fineness
of good cottons depend on the quantity of carbon in the
soif, and the solubility of that carbon. If therefore, you
can obtain a soil approaching the American soils, that is,
containing peaty matter, lignite, and colouring cold
water, this will no doubt be the best ; because it contains

BOTANY. 193

carbon, and probably hydrogen combined with it, suitable
tor the food of the plant. And the next best soil is one
containing carbonate of lime."
Gossyp ium b arbadcnse.
Var. (a) 13 arb aches, or Bourbon cotton.
" (b) Sea Island, or long stapled "
il (c) Upland Georgia, cr slwrt stapled "

HEMP.

Near the Burmese villages large fields of a yellow-flowered
plant, as tall as wheat, may be often seen, which is called
hemp. In Hindustan it is called Bengal flax. Although
the stems of the plant produce a substance analagous to
flax or hemp, it bears no relation to those plants, but is a
species of crotalaria, a leguminous plant. The true hemp
though occasionally grown to a small extent, is never
fabricated into cloth.

Crotalaria jun cea-

NETTLE HEMP.

In the neighborhood of Ava a substitute for hemp is
diffused, belonging to the genus urtica, which was cul-
tivated for several years by Major Macfarquhar at Tavoy,
who endeavoured to induce the natives to foster it, but it
has not yet been brought into general culture. Colonel
Burney said that the Burmese at Ava called it goun.
Urtica tenacissima.
g-Sa

SIDA HEMP.

The most troublesome weed in Tavoy produces a very
fine hemp or flax. There are two species, but they are
not usually distinguished.

Sida acuta.

q)£o§ccoSn ooj5&io8»_

Sida stipulata.

qjSo^ccoSoQyii coS&ioSii

URENA HEMP.

Another weed which abounds all over the Coast serves

194 BOTANY.

in the place of hemp in Amherst Province, and appears to
afford a valuable article.

Urcna lobata.

coSgos^u ooScsgo^n Ggo5o^Sgi: c8ooiol«

CORDAGE PLANTS.

As in other parts of India, cordage is made of coir, the
outside shell of the cocoanut, but ropes are more frequent-
ly made from the bark of three different trees belonging to
the genera hibiscus, paritium, and sterculia.

Paritium macrophyllum.

Hibiscus macrophyllus.

cooSs^Sa O-JOO.

Paritium tiliaceum.

C^gS{Xp<?5)5n C06o|n 09.CW. d3£o5ii

Sterculia guttata ?
" ornata ?

C5)5?« s§p8»

r::d cotton tree.
The red cotton tree is one of our most abundant forest
trees, and the silky down that envelopes the seed is used
to stuff mattresses and pillows ; and it has occasionally
been made into cloth. There appear to be two species, but
I can refer to the description of one only.

Salm cilia m alabarica.

Bombax malabaricum.

Salm alia insignis.

cooSon 6VU. (cgsu

& i z3 a

WRITE COTTON TREE.

The white cotton tree does not grow spontaneously, but
is often planted, and the floss, which it yields abundantly,
is preferred to the product of the red cotton tree.

Gossampinus Rumphii.

Eriodendron anfractuosum.

coccfocb* 5)£n (Tavoy) &*S«

BOTANY. 195

PAPYRUS.

Many of the mats sold in bazar are imported from Cal-
cutta, where they are made of a species of papyrus that
grows in Bengal.

Papyrus Pangorci.

Cypcrus tegetum.

oc6cod'.i C'Sj. £}"

MARANTA.

Some of our mats are made from the split stems
of a species of maranta, but they are all imported from
Rangoon, although the plant from which they are made,
or an allied species, is abundant in our own forests.
Maranta dichotoma.
Thalia cannaformis.

co6n ooScScSn (Tavoy) ndibsi. ^ic8n

LOWLAND SCREW-PINE.

The large coarse mats in universal use are made from
the leaf of a species of screw-pine, that grows abundantly
on the lowlands near tide-waters.
Pandanus furcatus ?

ODGCOOu Gil 3 J. IsOO'i

T

HIGHLAND SCREW-PINE.

Smaller and finer mats in common use are fabricated
from the leaves of another species of screw-pine, that grows
on the highlands above tide-waters.
Pandanus.

SAIL-LEAF.

On many of the Burmese boats, sails are seen made of
large narrow leaves, sewed together. They are the leaves
of a species of screw-pine that has a trunk like a palm,
which is very abundant and usually grows near the sea.
The fruit is used by the Karens to hackle their thread.
Pandanus.

soEcgo B lajgll. ^8g»

196 BOTANY.

PAPER PLANT.

The Burmese make a coarse paper from the bark of a
large creeper that is found in the forests. The paper is
as thick as paste board, and the surface is blackened and
writtenupon with a steatite pencil. I have never seen
the plant in flower, but it is probably a species of daphne.
Daphne.

GSCGCOii OOin 9"l. COGOgfill

PALM-LEAF.

All the Burman books are made of the leaf of a species
of corypha, but the orders that are issued from the Bur-
mese courts are written on strips of palmyra palm-leaf.

ABRUS.

The jewellers use the seed of a species of abrus, red,
with a black eye, or black with a white eye, for small
weights. It is a popular belief that they almost " uniform-
ly weigh exactly one grain, troy ;" but I have weighed
many and found them to vary from one to two grains.
The Burmese use them within a fraction for two grain
weights. One hundred and twenty, by one mode of reck-
oning, and one hundred and twenty eight by another,
make one tick al, which weighs according to Capt. Low
253' 75 grains troy.

Abrus precatorius.

Ggj8CoSnsj|8Ggj8M gooS^coSo (Tavoy)

13cei. oocopBm

ADEN ANTH ERA.

Another seed which the books represent as usually
weighing four grains, is in common use by the Burmese,
as equivalent to two of the preceding, which is about four
grains. The seeds, however, have to be selected for the
purpose; many of them not weighing more than two, or
three grains each

A den anther a pavonin a,
Ggs(c§8!i GQoSojc§gfl (Tavoy)

BOTANV. 197

BEAD PLANTS.

The Karens in the southern provinces cultivate one cr
two species of Job's tears for the seed. The Pvvos plant
a species with round seeds which are used to ornament
the borders of their tunics, but they are never seen on a
woman's gown. The Sgaus on the contrary, cultivate a
species bearing an oval seed, and use them merely for
embroidering female dresses. In Amherst Province, the
Pwos seldom appear in their native costume, and many
deny that their tribe ever had any other than that which
they now wear, which is Burmese.
Coix.
cocSo (30. COlSa

THATCH LEAF.

In some sections of the country the Karens thatch their
houses with large palmated leaves of a tall wild palm, pro-
bably a species of livistona ; sometimes the leaves of a
species of ratan are used ; but the Burmese and Europeans
almost universally thatch their houses with the leaves of
the nipa.

THATCH GRASS-

The Karens in Amherst Province cover their houses
with the tall grasses which are so abundant on the Coast,
and a few Europeans prefer this thatch to that made from
the nipa. Two different species of grass are used for
this purpose, both of which were formerly referred to
the genus which produces sugar cane.

The sugar grass seen in Mauimain, which flowers
two or three feet high, has been removed since Roxburgh
wrote, into the genus imperata. This is one of the grasses
used for thatch, and is often mistaken for Saccharum
spontantum, which is the other.
Imperata cylindrica.
Saccharum cylinAricum.

Saccharum spontaneum.

G3o5rc>o5(c§S» WED. ODCoS^rt

193 EOTAN*.

CANE.

Cane or ratan is used extensively by the natives instead
ef cordage. The stays of the masts in native boats are
usually made of ratans, and they are split up into strings
for innumerable purposes to which cord and twine are
usually applied. All that gives stability to bamboo houses,
is the ratan which ties them together. There are numer-
ous species indigenous in the forest, and the Karens have
different names for seventeen species or varieties.
Calamus.

ofj!$.. ol oS

BAMBOO.

The bamboo is used for all purposes to which timber is
usually applied. Most of the native houses in the Provin-
ces are built principally of bamboos tied together with
ratans. Cots, seats, and tables are often formed of the
same material. The Karens have names for seventeen
species or varieties, one of the strongest of which is
covered with large thorns, and makes an impenetrable
fence ; but the China bamboo, which has been introduced
f:om Penang, makes the closest and prettiest hedge, and
when cut annually, looks like an English quick-set hedge.
The gigantic bamboo, the largest bamboo in the world,
is indigenous, but in the southern provinces is seen only in
cultivation.

Bambusa spinosa, (thorny bamboo.)

olcsj^n OSjjS" CJG3J. °-r?S? B

Bambusa gigantea, (gigantic bamboo.)

di^i ojg^j. £?flf " °r cr 31P !l

Bambusa nana. (Penang, or China bamboo.)

COT A NY.

TIMBER TREES,

199

The yellow wood of the jack affords beautiful timber
for furniture, and in some parts of India it is high-
ly valued. The heart of old tamarind trees furnishes
a hard, dark-coloured wood, resembling ebony, Rox-
burgh says the wood is "durable and beautifully veined."
Cassia florida has wood "not inferior to ebony." Ponga-
mia glabra, and Wrightia coccinea have light fine wood.
The Ce^lonese iron wood tree, Adenanthera pavonina,
Vachellia Farnesiana, Acacia Catechu, and the jujube tree
furnish hard, tough wood. Cassia fistula, Cassia nodosa,
the chestnut tree, Sandoricum indicum, Navclca Ca~
damba, and one or two species of eugenia afford good
timber.

These are among more than a hundred trees in the
Provinces that furnish valuable woods, of which the follow-
ing selection of fifty or sixty embraces the most useful.

TEAK.

Teak is the staple timber of the Tenasserim Provin-
ces, and from its abundance in Province Amherst, and
its valuable property of being impervious to the white
ants, it is used in Maulmain almost exclusively both for
building purposes, and for furniture. In 1848 eighteen
thousand tons of this timber were exported, and Mr.
O'Riley estimated that more than three thousand tons
were used for home consumption ; the total value of the
whole falling little short of a million of rupees.
Tectona grandis.
cg$n oesij. oo&jJu

HAMILTON TEAK-

This is an inferior species of teak that grows on the
banks of the Irrawaddy ; and from native descriptions, I
imagine it is found in the province of Yay.
Tectona Hamiltonia.

" ternifolia.

COCOC005« COOOoSn

'-•;: BOTANY.

BASSIA.

In the southern Provinces, the bassia tree is quite
abundant in a few localities ; and it is said to afford a tim-
ber in no way inferior to teak.
Bassia longifoUa.

ootScoSg fiJ09i. c8S?j5ii

IRON WOOD TREE.

Tins is a species of the old genus acacia, and the tim-
ber is usually denominated iron wood in Arracan, and is
sometimes so called in these Provinces. The hard wood
is as impervious to white ants as teak, and is even more
durable in the ground. Natives have assured me that
they have seen house posts of this wood taken up
after having stood forty years, and that the part which
had been buried was as sound as new timber. The trees
abound in the province of Tavoy, especially near the
forks of the Tenasserim.

Inga xy hear Da.

Acacia "

FAGRiEA.

The fagrrea yields a very hard and excellent timber,
which Mr. O' Riley says the teredo will not attack. The
Burmese regard it as too good for the laity, and say it
ought to be confined to sacerdotal purposes. At Tavoy
it is used principally for the posts of Buddhist edifices.
Fagrcca fragrans.

EBONY.

The Karens have distinctive names for four different
species of ebony trees. The salt water swamp ebony, the
water ebony, the yellow ebony, and the true ebony. T
have never met with the trees in flower, so as to be able
to distinguish the species ; but I have seen specimens of

BOTANY. 201

the wood in the southern provinces, not inferior to the
ebony of commerce.
Diospyros.

cc^o oooS« yc8* (Tavoy,) l«8i. oSco^Su

MAULMA1N EBONY.

There is an inferior kind of ebony often seen at Maul-
main, which the natives do not call by the same name
that they do the trees which produce the good ebony,
though evidently a product of the same genus. A similar
wood at Tavoy is oiten denominated iron wood.
Diospyrus.

q68c^D5ii o3jem. ^o" 1 "

MOUNTAIN EBONY.

Loudon calls bauhinia, mountain ebony, and the wood,
though not much like ebony, is quite hard, and might be
applied to many useful purposes. To the five species
which are enumerated among the flowering plants, may
be added a small timber tree bearing a sour leaf, and a
pod containing sweet pulp, like the honey locust of Ame-
rica. I have not seen the flower, but the twin leaf is that
of a bauhinia.

Bauhinia.

gg§q}o3i C5e"io3iG5j. odoisoS»

MAHOGANY.

The genuine mahogany tree may be seen in some of
our gardens, where it appears to flourish.
Swietenia Mahagoni.

TENASSERIM MAHOGANY.

The gum kino tree, pterocarpus, or padouk, producer
a timber which in its finest specimens bears so strong a
resemblance to mahogany that a visitor mistook it for ma-
hogany, and recorded it as such in the book of his travels.
At Maulmain, it is called red-wood, and one of the trees,
for there are two species, differs very slightly from the
tree which yields the Andaman red-wood, of which Rox-

s*

202 a ota St.

burgh wrote: " Wood not unlike mahogany, but more
heavy, red, and coarse in the grain. That of the raot
beautifully variegated, closer grained, and darker col-
oured."

Ptcrocarpus Wallichii.
" dalbcrgioidcs.

TAVOY RED- WOOD.

Tavoy red-wood makes handsome furniture, and is used
in Tavoy for the same purposes to which gum kino wood
is applied at Maulmain. When the wood is steeped in
ferruginous mud, it turns jet black, and looks like ebony.
The large cylinder knobs, one or two inches in diameter,
so often noticed in the ears of Karen women at Tavoy,
are made of this wood after the colour has been
changed.

Syndcsmis Tavoyana.

SHORE A ROBUST A.

This tree I have never seen, but the Burman books say
that Gaudama died in a grove of engyen trees; and the
Pali name of engyen is thala, the Sanscrit sal, the name
of the Shorea robust a. It not improbably exists in the
Provinces, but the trees of the dipterocarpus tribe are so
large that, to use the language of Griffith, "the flowers
are frequently inaccessible*" On one of the islands near
Mergui I found an enormous tree, whose dry fruit, with
ihe calyx enlarged into five long wings, proved that it. was
at least a species of shorea, and on the Karen mountains
I have gathered a similar fruit. The natives say that a
part of the petrified wood found in the valley of the Irra-
waddy belongs to this tree, and the Burman books that
Gaudama was born under on j of them; although the
savans state that he was born under a Jonesia.

Shcrca robusta " is probably the best timber tree in
India," according to Captain Munro ; and every specie?

BOTANY. 203

of the natural family that produces it, affords valuable
timber.

Vatica robust a.

Shorea "

oq6§8«ii (sSabSn A species of shorea.)

LARD SHOREA.

On the mountains in the interior is a species of shorea
which produces an oil of the consistence of lard, and has
been hence named by the Karens " the hog's lard tree."
The books say that the shoreas produce resin, and dipter-
ocarpus oil, but the fine long scarious wings of the dried
calyx afford incontrovertible evidence that it is a specie?
of shorea.

Vatica, v el Shorea.

DOUBTFUL SHOREA.

The largest tree in the Provinces of the wood oil tree
family, yieds no oil, and is probably a species of sho-
rea; but I have never seen it either in flower or fruit.
It is principally used for making large boats, but its
places of growth are usually of difficult access by water,
and it is not in very general use. Mr. O'Riley says ;
" It is well adapted for spars for vessels."
Shorea ?

cocoSs^h 03J. aSoTi

HOPEA.*

The hopea is considered the most valuable indigenous
timber tree in the southern provinces ; and at Tavoy and
JMergui it is sawn up for building purposes. The best
canoes are made of hopea, and it is used extensively in
native boat building.

Hopea odoraia-

Q^SoO^ll O0JO3. SXjJg^ II §300^1!

* In America often erroneously allied hopia,

204 BOTANY,

VATERIA.

A species of vateria is a common timber tree in the
Provinces of Tavoy and Mergui. The timber is whiter
than hopea, and equally good. Indeed, it is often call-
ed white thengan, or white hopea, the woods being only
distinguished in commerce by their colour. Wallich in
his list of Indian woods mentions Hopea jloribunda as
known at Tavoy by the Burmese name of tantheya.
This tree is called at Tavoy pantheya, but it is certainly
not a species of hopea. Its flowers, in white fragrant pa-
nicles, are often seen in the Tavoy bazar, and are very un-
like the yellow secund flowers of the hopea.
Vateria lanceolata ?

ofoo8uooo opjien. ofooooi<> cood^S*

WOOD OIL TREE.

The common wood oil tree produces a very useful tim-
ber, which is sawn into boards at Tavoy and Mergui, and
used in house building. Where not exposed to the wet,
they answer as well as teak, and are sold at half the price ;
but they are not impervious to white ants.
Dipterocarpus lozvis.

LARGE-FLOWERED DIPTEROCARPUS.

This is a species of wood oil tree which grows on the
sandy plains near the sea-shore, and on a similar soil in
the interior.

Dipterocarpus grandifiora.

SOUR WOOD OIL TREE.

This is the name which the Karens give a large tree
that grows on their mountains, but which produces com-
paratively very little wood oil.
Diptei ocarpus.

dBao{>« (Sgau.) €fiQ 5j.

BOTANY.

205

BITTER WOOD.

The bitter wood a small tree used for boats in the neigh-
borhood of Amherst, is particularly desirable for being,
as Mr. O' Riley states, " exempt from the attack of the te-
redo." I have never seen the tree, but its leaves and
fruit were furnished me by Mr. O' Riley, and they indi-
cate it to be a species of "terminalia, and of the section
pentaptera. The good timber, and bitter bark assimilate
it to Roxburgh's P. Arjuna, but the foliation is different.
Terminalia ( Pentaptera. )

o-Sslsn rocoSslsu 5)83 n .8a (Tavoy)

TERMINALIA.

I believe every member of the genus terminalia yields
useful timber, and besides the preceding species, two
others, the chebula, and bellerica have been noticed as
indigenous in another part of this work. A still larger
timber tree is common in the interior, whose winged fruit
indicate its connection with Roxburgh's genus pentaptera.
Terminalia (Pentaptera.)

©8s§i (Sgau.)

CHASTE TREE.

This is a species of vitex very common at Maulmain,
which produces a valuable small timber. Roxburgh says :
" Wood when old, chocolate coloured, very hard, and
durable."

Vitex arborea.

GCODoS^OS

GMEL1NA ARBOREA.

Wallich met with this tree on the Salwen, but it has
never fallen under my observation, and I am unacquainted
with its native name. It produces, however, a useful tim-
ber, " not readily attacked by insects."
Gmelina arbor oa.

206 BOTANY.

TOON WOOD.

Lieut. Nuthall, as quoted by Captain Munro, men-
tions toon as one of the woods of Arracan, under the
name of " thit-ka-do." We hare, however, the authori-
ty of Wallich for saying that thit-ka-do is a species of
sterculia, a genus that produces no valuable timber.
Still, as it is possible that there may be only a mistake in
the name while the thing itself exists, the remark is
worth putting on record.
Cedrela Toona.
c:'Soc.c£jgii

ACACIA.

Sirissa acacia is found on the Irrawaddy, and may exist
in these Provinces. It is a large tree, and its wood is
"dark coloured, and very hard." The fragrant acacia is
indigenous in the Provinces, and is said to yield " a hard
and strong timber." The largest timber tree belonging
to the genus with which lam acquainted, is a common
forest tree, and from the character of the genus would no
doubt furnish valuable timber.
Acacia Sirissa.

" odoratissima.

" st'pulata.

0611 G3ibi. ©c8»

DALBERGIA.

There is a large timber tree found throughout the Pro-
vinces, sometimes wrought into canoes, which I think is
a species of dalbergia, but 1 have never seen it in flower.
It is the tree of which, according to Burman geography.
there is an immense specimen growing on the Great East-
ern Island.

Dalbergia ?

CHISEL-HANDLE TREE.

A common forest tree produces a hard, fine-grain-
ed wood which the Karens call the egg tree, and the
Burmese the chisel-handle tree, its wood being much
used for chisel handles. I have not seen the flower,

but the fruit identifies it with Roxburgh's genus dalbergia,
Dalbergia.

od6gsodo5§i» O^jQIOnJ. cc^cSqS"

MAULMATN LANCE-WOOD.

There is a tree found all over the Provinces which yields
a wood that the residents at Maulmain sometimes call
lance- wood. The Karens make bows of it, but prefer
Cassia fistula. I have never met with the tree in flower,
but think it a species of dalbergia, though it may possi-
bly be a cassia.

Dalbergia 1

Q3jgih. od<5o1c8b

OAK.

Wallich found seven different species of oak growing
in Burmah and on this Coast. Three or four are natives
of the Provinces, and all afford useful timber, though in-
ferior to the English oak.

Quercus fenestrata.

turhinata (?)

" tina.

co8o5o o3j. C£l>

Quercus Amherstianus Wall

Tirbbce.

JAROOL.

The queen la^erstrcemia, or jarool, is an abundant tim-
ber tree in these Provinces, though very scarce on ihe
other Coast. The posts of an old wharf at Tavoy which
were of this wcod, stood erect for twenty or thirty
years; but house posts often decay in the ground in a
much shorter period. It is considered a valuable timber
in ship building. There is a smaller species of iagerstrae-
mia in our jungles whose wood is inferior, but it is some-
times confounded with the other.
Lager strcemia Regince.

c^Sigh ssoo&Qn §1080. c§§1» (Inferior timber.)

298 BOfAN*.

GREWIA.

At Tavoy, when vessels require spars they are usually
furnished from a small tree which grows on the sea-board,
belonging to the genus grewia. r

Grewia.

CALOPHYLLUM.

House carpenters often use the timber of a species of
calcphyllum, and this tree also furnishes spars.
Calophyllum.
~oqc8>> «Jg8o (Tavoy) cooSol"

GARCINIA.

A timber tree, the largest that I have seen of the genus
garcinia, is in frequent demand for house posts in Tavoy,
Garcinia.
oqclo U03. oO^u

GORDONIA.

Gordonia is called " itch-wood" by the Tavoyers, from
the itching which its chips or bark occasion when brought
in contact with the skin. I have often seen its compact,
timber" used for house posts, and for rice mortars.
Gordonia fioribunda.
" intcgrifoJia.

MANGROVE.

The species of mangrove most abundant along ouf
shores furnishes a hard and durable timber. The tree is
easily distinguished from its associates, for it drops no roots
from its branches, but the trunk is divided into numerous
roots for half its height, like a small bamboo pavilion.

Bruguicra Rheedit.

R hizophora gymnorrhiza.

BOTANY. 209

CAREYA.

An arboreous species of careya, a genus named after
Dr. Carey, furnishes a useful timber for house building.
In some parts of India matchlocks are made from a spe-
cies of careya-

Careya arborea.

oajjccgsa coggn (Tavoy.) ugi.

MOUNTAIN JACK.

The mountain jack is deemed* a valuable timber by the
natives, especially for canoes. Wallich says: "It pro-
duces a sort of caoutchouc, with which the Burmese pay
their boats." I imagine this is a mistake. The Bur-
mese almost universally pay their boats with a substance
that is produced by a bee, mixed sometimes with dammer.
Artocarpus echinatus.

<sa3o£S<S» coooSS^n (Tavoy.) C3l. ol«

WILD NUTMEG TREE.

There are one or two trees, which I have noticed in
the southern provinces, belonging to the genus which
contains the nutmeg. The fruit has none of the aroma
of the nutmeg, but the timber which is large, is used by
the natives in house carpentry. Griffith found only one
species, "apparently," he says, "referable to Lourier's ge-
nus knerna." Wallich, however, met with two, and refer-
red both to myristica.

Myristica amygdai'na 1
" spcerocarpa 1

c?cx>56noD?a oDjhOJ. aj*8cln 9

BIGNONIA.

The Karens often build their boats rvith the wood of a
species of bignonia, as the genus is defined by Roxburgn. ;

210 BOTANY.

and the timber which is sometimes large is frequently
used in joinery.

Bignonia.

SOUR SONNERATIA.

A species of sonneratia abounds in the mangrove
swamps, and on the banks of almost every stream on the
coast as far as tide-waters reach, which the natives use
for various economical purposes, and it is said to be "a
better substitute for coal in steamers than any other kind
of wood."

Sonneratia acida.

LAURUS.

A solitary post of a species of laurus is often found in
Tavoy houses. There was one in mine, which the white
ants selected in preference to all others; and as long
as left undisturbed, they never wandered from home It
may be an advantage to have one post in a house of this
timber, but one is quite sufficient.
Laurus.

KYANAN.

On the low lands near the sea-coast there is a large tree
of which canoes are occasionally made, that is much
used for sandals. The wood is red, but turns black on
being anointed with petroleum. I have never seen the
tree either in flower, or fruit ; but it has pinnate leaves^
with two pairs of oval leathery leaflets, and is, I imagine,
a leguminous tree.

MAYBYOUNG.

This is a hard, tough, knotty wood, which the Tavoyers
select for anchors to their large boats, wooden anchors
laden with stones constituting the greater part in use. I
have never seen the tree.

BOTANY. 211

BEEF-WOOD.

Beef-wood is imported into the United States in consider-
able quantities, for various purposes where a hard heavy
wood is required, and the casuarina on our Coast can
furnish almost any quantity of this timber, but it is very
little used. Roxburgh says it resembles toon in appear-
ance. The natives call it by the same name as the pine.
Casuarina muricala.
co&flg" SOT — G3J»on!h. S§"

SOONDREE.

The soondree is a gloomy looking tree that may be dis-
tinguished from all others for many miles distant. It is
remarkably characteristic of a peculiar soil. Wherever
the tides occasionally rise and inundate the land, this tree
is sure to be found throughout the whole Coast, but it is
never found at home, either on the high dry lands on the
one hand, nor in the wet mangrove swamps on the other.
It is the tree which was described by Dr. Buchanan
Hamilton, who accompanied Symnies' embassy, as Htri-
tiera Fomes. It is the toughest wood that has been tested
in India. When Rangoon teak broke with a weight of
870 pounds, soondree sustained 1312 pounds. It is not a
very durable wood, but stands without a rival in strength,
although so common on the other Coast, as to give name,
as Captain Munro thinks, to the Soonderbunds, yet the
tree grows much larger in these Provinces, and affords
finer timber.

Heriticra minor.
" Fumes.
cofjju oocoob (Tavoy.) od£[S§[S« oqojOQJ.

TRINCOMALEE WOOD.

Dr. Heifer mentions the tree which produces the Trin-
comalee wood as growing on King's Island opposite
Mergui. It is a light, strong, valuable wood.
Berrya Ammonilla.

martaban camphor wood.
This is a very large tree, scattered sparsely throughout
the Provinces. Wallich wrote that it was very like Lau-

212 BOTANY.

rus glandulifera, which furnishes the sassafras, and cam-
phor wood of Nepaul. The Karens call it the " tree gal-
anga," from its fragrance.

Laurus. (Sassafras.)

coQgz« oJjGOn. o^aj»

SASSAFRAS.

A species of laurus with the odour of sassafras, is often
used in house carpentry.

Laurus. (Sassafras.)
g§oo£i cco6go^8o CoQslX cBsc^S"

OD1NA.

At Maulmain a species of odina is quite common,
which produces a valuable wood.
Odina IVodier.

job. c8^o hcsfc.

MOOTCHEE WOOD.

A species of erythrina supplies a soft, white wood, as
easily worked as the pine, which might be made available
for many economical purposes.
Erythrina indica.
OOOoSo G0T9TI. £0ic6n

o

MOUNTAIN CORAL TREE.

A fine looking timber tree of the same genus as the
preceding, but producing a reddish wood, is not uncom-
mon in the interior. The Karens select the tree in pre-
ference to all others on which to train their betel vines,
Erythrina.

GCOo£oOOo8o gSTQ&H. SOlSn

c e

KYAIZAI.

A species of laurus producing a hard wood used in car-
pentry, is seen in Tavoy, where it is called kyaizai.
Laurus.

otflbi OOJOJOIOJOOJ. odoo^oosS^"

feotANV. 213

YAM A NEE.

There is a tree on the hills which furnishes a remarka-
bly light, white timber, resembling mootchee wood, of
which the natives often make canoes. I have never seen
the tree, but the Karens say it bears a yellow flower, and
a small plumb which is a favorite food with the barking
deer.

ELOSOCARPUS.

A hard valuable timber tree is very abundant in the
neighbourhood of Rangoon, and not uncommon in some
parts of these Provinces, belonging to the genus eloeo-
carpus. Carts are sometimes constructed of it, and it is
used in house and boat building.
Elct»carpus.

GOOOQCO^Sn COS;

iod;

SALWEN.

The river salwen derives its name from a tree that
grows on its banks of that name. I have never seen
it, but from the fruit that has been brought me, I am ena-
bled to state that it is a species of eiceocarpus, and from
the character of the genus, would probably yield useful
wood.

JElceocarpus.

BLACK WOOD.

Under the Burman name of yendaik, the wood of two
different trees is sometimes seen. One, a species of ebo-
ny, and the other a leguminous tree which, according to
the descriptions of the Karens, is a species of dalbergia .
and the wood resembles the black wood of Hindustan.
Dalbergia latifolia ?
q£c£ja5o oo8cc^^u ( Tavoy.)

214 BOTANY.

TENASSERIM LANCE-WOOD.

A tree which produces a timber possessing the proper-
ties of lance-wood is not uncommon in the Provinces, but
it belongs to the dog-bane tribe, and is not at all related
to Guattcria virgata, the lance-wood of commerce.
Apocynace<B.

BURMAN BOX-WOOD.

The Karens have sometimes furnished me with speci-
mens of a wood that can scarcely be distinguished from
the box-wood of Europe, but I have never seen the tree
Wallich found Nauclea cordifolia on the banks of the
Irrawaddy, which has ' ; wood coloured like that of the box
tree, but much lighter, and at the same time very close
grained." It may possibly be the same tree, although
the Tenasseriin wood is not light ; or it may be a Tavoy
tree, which he says has " a strong tough wood, in grain
like box."

Murray a.

SELUNG BOAT TIMBER.

The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago shoot over
their waters with remarkably light boats, and they owe
their buoyancy to the materials that form their sides,
which are the stems of the edible zalacca. These stems
are as light, and of the consistency of cork, for which
they are often substituted ; and the Selungs are skilful
in uniting them together to serve instead of planks,
so as to make an unequalled sea boat, that floats on the
waves like a swan.

Zalacca edulis.

qSoo<S» oen. ©Su

DAMMER PINE

Griffith mentions Agathis loranthiflora, or the dammer

pine, as a member of the Tenasserim Flora, and I have

seen the young plants of the tree to which he must re-

The leaf is precisely that of the dammer pine, bat

COT AN V. '215

it is not known to yield any dammer. The wood is
white, rather light, and bears considerable resemblance
to some kinds of pine. It is used by native carpenters
for various purposes, and the Burmese have a superstition
that the beams or balances of their scales ought to be
formed of this wood. They call it tkect-mai, the tree-go-
vernor.

Agathis loranthifolia.

FINE.*

Some twenty years ago the residents of Maulmain were
not a little surprised to find, among the drift wood of the
Sal wen, a log of some coniferous tree. This was the first
intimation that any tree of the pine tribe grew on the
borders of these Provinces, but whether it were of the
o'enus pinus, or abies, or larix— apme, a fir, or a larch,
did not appear. It was several years after this occur-
rence, thai one of our former commissioners told me
he had offered a hundred rupees to any of the for-
esters who would bring down a spar of this tree. Spars
have been since brought down, but it is believed that
i 'apt. Latter was the first European to visit the locality
where the tree is indigenous, and from specimens of the
foliage and fruit, which he brought away, it appears to be a
newspecies of pine that maybe characterized thus:

P. Latteri. Arbor 50 — 69 pedalis, cortice scabro,
foliis geminis 7 — S uncialibus caniculatis serratisf scab-
briosculo, strobilis 4 uncialibus ovato — conicis, squamis
rombeis inermis.

Flab, In provincia Amherst: in convalli fluvii TJioung-
yeen.

Dcscr. A tree of from 50 to 60 feet high, or more,
and from 1^ to 2 feet or more in diameter. Sheaths of
the leaves arranged spirally, tubular, membranous, six

. Extracted from an article comnuh.icatfcd by the author, in the Journal of thr
Asiatic Society for January 1849.

t Lindley says 01 the order, leaves — entire at the margins;" but these arc
feertainly finely serrated ; and I find P. cxceUa described with leaves "ttftftb

VUed."

216 BOfANY.

lines long. Leaves two from each sheath, equal, from
7 to 8 inches long, acute with a sharp point, convex on
the back, slightly scabrous with eight rows, in pairs, of
very minute thorns which produce a striated appearance,
hollow on the under surface, serrated, Cones ovate-coni-
cal, nearly four inches long. Scales rhomboid, unarmed.

The flower is unknown. A single ripe cone that had
cast its seeds, and a branch, being all the materials
furnished for description. Specimens of the wood that
have been brought in contain more resinous matter
than any other species of coniferse I ever saw. It
appears like woody fibre immersed in resin. The Karens
make tar from the wood, by a very simple process; and
large quantities of both tar and pitch might be manufac-
tured in the forests, if a remunerative price could be
obtained for the article.

The tree is not found west of the Donaw mountains,
a part of an unbroken granite range that runs down from
the falls of the Salwen to the old city of Tenasserim, and
which here separates the valley of the Thoungyeen from
the region watered by the Gyaing and its tributaries.

This pine is not among the twenty four species described
by Loudon as the denizens of Great Britain, nor among the
twelve species described, and figured by Michaux in his
"North American Sylva"; yet it may after all, prove to
be a variety of P. longi/alia, which it more closely resem-
bles than any other species, but from which it differs,
among other things, in having only two leaves to each
sheath in the specimens I have examined, while that has
three. Previous to publishing the above communication,
a friend, Mr. Laidlay the Secretary of the Asiatic Society,
submitted it to Dr. Ai'Clelland, while he was in charge
of the Botanical Garden, and that gentleman, with
P. longifulia growing in the garden before him, gave it as
his opinion that the Tenasserim tree was a new species.
If I have erred, therefore, in regarding it as such, I have
done so with the highest official botanical authority in
India.

Pinus Latteri.

MAMMALIA,

Few persons are aware of the great difficulty that exists
in ascertaining the species, and sometimes the genera of
animals in an unexplored country, as these Provinces were
some twenty years ago. At that time the rusa deer was,
according to some authorities, a wild cow, and according
to others, an elk ; the gaur was a bison ; the paradoxure,
a racoon ; the bamboo rat, a mole ; the wild hog, a bar-
byrussa ; the gymnura, an oppossum ; the wild dog, a wolf ;
the leopard, a cheetah ; a deer the nylghau ; the goat-
antelope, a wild sheep ; and we had " a goat with one
horn resembling the celebrated unicorn," and twenty
other animals which are now as really extinct in the
Provinces as the mammoth and the megatherium, and
for which one would no more think of looking than for
the Dean of Westminster's pet, which he describes as

" O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And swims, or sinks, or wadea, or creeps, or flies."*

In those days the jungle traveller was entertained at
evening by the natives around the brush fire, with won-
derful descriptions of the extraordinary animals, that peo-
pled the surrounding forests. One was found exactly like
an elephant, but never had tusks, and was banded across
the body with white This proved to be the tapir. Ano-
ther had a skin like a cow, a mane like a horse, and
horns like a goat — the goat antelope. The third was half
a dog and half a hog — the sand-badger. And a fourth
was represented as in a transition state towards a mon-
key, just such an animal as would certainly become a
monkey in the next state ; this was the loris.

Since Mr. Blyth became Curator ©f the Museum of the
Asiatic Society, by far the greater proportion of the mam-
malia of these Provinces and Arracan has passed under his
eye ; and to him we are principally indebted for our know-
ledge of species.

• The Pterodactyle.

21 S MAMMALIA.

MONKEY TRIBE-

Five species of Quadrumana, the monkey tribe, have
been found in these Provinces, and the Karens have names
for two others, a small grey white-eyelid monkey,* and a
red-rumped pig-tailed monkey ;t but these may prove to be
varieties of the other species. Arracan has two species
that have not been seen in these Provinces.

WHITE-HANDED GIBBON, Or LONG-ARMED APE.

The first sounds that usher in the morning in the Karen
mountain glens, are the wailing cries of the gibbons on
the hill sides around. The whole of the interior of the
Provinces is alive with them ; and their habit of scream-
ing as soon as the day dawns is celebrated in Karen poetry.
There are all varieties of shade in their colouring, from
tawny white to jet black.

Hylobates Lar, Ogilby.

Grand Gibbon, Buffon

Homo Lar, Linne, Mantiss.

$imia longimana, Schreber.

Simia Lar, Linne Syst.

Pithecus Lar, Desmarest.

Simia albimana, Vigors and Horsfield.

Hylobates Lar, Lesson, apud Martin.

Hylobates albimanus, Schinz.

LIGHT-COLOURED VARIETY.

Petit Gibbon, Buffon.

Hylobates variegatus, Ogilby.

Hylobates leuciscus, Cantor.

CQpoSc^ccc^u ( g^8c^gsj]scdoii Arracan.)

HOOLOCK GIBBON.

The long armed ape of Arracan is a different species
from the preceding, which is the only one that has

MAMMALIA.

219

been found in these Provinces. Both are called by the
same native names.

Hylobates hoolock.

WHITE-EYELID MONKEY.

This black monkey has a white ring around the eyes,
which gives it a peculiar appearance, and is probably the
negro monkey of Pennant. It is found in considerable
numbers in the interior, but is not so numerous as the
other monkeys, and the gibbons* Though heretofore re-
garded by Mr. Blyth himself, as identical with S. obscurus,
he has recently written me that he now considers it the
same as S. Phayrei, a new species, which he described
originally from Arracan specimens.

ScmnopitliL'cus obscurus, Reid.
" Uucomystax, Temm.

" summatranus, Muller.

" halonifera, Cantor.

Stmia maura 1 Lin.

Presbytts obscurus, Gray.

Phayrei, Blyth.

copr&g&E* (c^oSgn Tavoy. Arracan.)

barbe's white-eyelid monkey.

This monkey abounds in the forests of Yay, and is
nearly allied to the preceding species. Mr. Blyth says:
"It is' intermediate between P. Phayrei and P. obscurus;
but seemingly, distinct from both. There is no vertical
crest, as in the former; nor is the occipital hair length-
ened and conspicuously much paler, as invariably in the
latter species : but the shoulders and outride of the arm
are silvered in both specimens; and the under parts re-
semble those of P. obscurus. The tail is very slightly
paler than the body ; whereas in twelve adults of P.
obscurus (lying together before me, at the time of drawing
up this description), the tail is in every one much paler
than the body."

Presbytes Barbel.

220 MAMMALIA.

FISHER MONKEV.

Thi3 monkey is more numerous in individuals than any
other species in the Provinces. It abounds on the sea*
shores, and on the banks of inland streams, especially
on tide-waters, where it appears to draw a large portion
of its sustenance from the crabs, and shell-fish found on
the banks. Hence the Burmese have named it the " fish-
er monkey," and when the tide is out, a whole troop
is often seen issuing from the jungle to conchologize.
Some are observed turning over stones in diligent
search of shelUfish, others breaking up the shells they
have found to get at the animals within ; but most seem
to be in search of small crabs, and wherever the trace of
one appears, a monkey will thrust down his arm up to the
shoulder, if necessary > to draw it out of its hole. Fruits,
however, are as acceptable to them as shell-fish. On one
occasion, coming down close in-shore at the mouth of the
Tenasserim, a troop of them followed my boat for a con*
siderable distance, being attracted by the plantains that
we threw out, which they picked up and ate with great
avidity.

The apes, that Solomon's fleet brought from Ophir,
Were probably monkeys of the genus to which this species
belongs. They abound in Hindustan, and their San-
scrit name is kapc. The Hebrews and Greeks appear
to have adopted the name by which the animals were
known in their native country, for they were called in
Hebrew koph, and in Greek kcephos, and kerbos, which
Scapula says, was an animal of the genus simia, " hav-
ing a tail — caudem habens ;" so they were not apes, as
the word is used in zoology, but monkeys.

Cercopithecus cynomolgus, Ogilby.

Simia cynomolgus, Linne-

Simia aygula, Linne.

Simia attys, Schreber.

Macacus cynomolgus, Desmarest.

Simia fascicularis, Raffles.

Cercocebus aygula, Geoff, apud Horsfield,

Inuus cercopithecus, Blyth.

ctgooSoocln GdSSJOII. cosg^sco"

MAMMALIA,

■m

COALY-MONKEY.

The coaly-monkey is common in Arracan, where it has
the same vernacular names as the preceding species,
which it much resembles.
Macacus carhonarius.

cancrivorus, Blyth.

LONG-HAIRED PIG-TAILED MONKEY.

This monkey is least common of all the species in the
Provinces, but it is most frequently seen in confinement
It is found inland, but rarely if ever on the banks of
streams.

Jnuiis arctoides, Blyth.

Macacus "
It has been referred to the following allied species !
P-apio nemestrinus, Ogilby.

Simla nemestrinus, Linne.

• Imia Platypygos, Schreber

iafusca, Shaw,

Macacus nemestrinus, Desmarest.

la carpolegus, Raffles.

Inuus nemestrinus) Blyth.

Gc$pr£oe8su (g^qoScoc^Si Arracan)

G^3SSCh> cC8G^sc8s»

LEMUR, OR BENGAL SLOTH,

The lemur, Bengal sloth, or slow loris, as it is various-
named, is found in the Provinces, but is not abundant.
The Karens say that were it to enter a town, that town
would assuredly be destroyed.

JVycticebus tardigrad Watetfhouse, Cat.

Lemur tardigradus, Linne apud R-affles,

Nycticebus bengalensis, Geofc
ticebusjavanit Geoff

Loris tardigradus, Geoff.

Stenops javanicus, Van der Hoeven.

\8tenops tardigrad Wagner, apud Schinz.

c^dc£s«oSs»« (ctjipoSccgoSn Tavoy.)

223 MAMMALIA

BAT TRIBE.

The Cheiroptera, or bats, are numefously represented \ti
these Provinces and Arracan ; but little progress however
has been made in the identification of species. Four are
known, but they are not probably a moiety of the number
that exists.

FLYING FOX.

This large bat has been very appropriately named, for
it bears a strong resemblance to a small fox in every thing
but its wings. Nor is it very small. Adults measure
from three to four feet across the wings from tip to tip.
They abound on the Coast, and it is quite impossi-
ble to keep ripe fruit from their depredations, without
inclosing it in basket work. When guava trees are bear-
ing, half devoured fruit will be found under them every
morning, which the flying foxes have rejected. In some
sections they may be seen in great numbers hanging by
their heels in the tops of palmyra palms.
Pteropus edulis, GeofTroy.

" jav aniens, Desm. apud Horsfield.

Edwardsii, GeofTroy.

coS^'i co5or£» q]j(3JG0J. cojWS^sr

CAVE EAT.

Every one who visits the limestone caves of the Tenass-
erim coast is startled with their bat-wing music. Sud-
denly on entering these subterranean halls, thousands of
bats rush from their dark recesses, and wheel over the
traveller's head with the deep whizzing sounds of a passing
water-spout. And then they han£ trembling and rustling
their wings in the lofty black galleries above, like a choir
of wind harmonies muffled in the mountains.

The large quantities of guano accumulated in the caves-
inhabited by these bats, might be turned to a profitable
account by our horticulturists.

Scotophilus Temminckii, Gray.

Vespertilie Temminckii, Horsfield.

Vesptrtilio Bcla:igcrii } Isid. GeofT.

MAMMALIA. 223

Vespertilio noctulinus, lsid. Geoff.

Scotophilus castancus, Gray.

Nycticeius Tcmminckii, Schinz.

Nycticcius Bclangerii, Temminck, apud Schinz.

Nycticeius noctulinus, Temminck, apud Schinz.

coSjfi qjjesaoen. 03)8..

HORSESHOE, Or LEAF-NOSED BAT.

This bat has an appendage on the nose, which is either
a horse-shoe- or a leaf, at the pleasure of the observer. It
is not to be confounded, however, with the phyllostoma, an
American genus. The Karens call it the broken-nosed
bat. I think there arc. two species ; one is of a yellowish
colour. Mr. Blyth has received the two following from
Arracan :

Hipposideros vulgaris, Gray.

Rhinolop'ius " Horsfield.

" insignis, Tern in.

Hipposideros larvatus, Horsfield.

SMALL I!AT.

The smallest species of bat in the Provinces differs
from all the preceding, both in form and habit. It ought
to be called the domestic bat. I had one quite domiciled
in my house, where it would hang by its heels all day, un-
der the bedstead, without creating the least disturbance.
But when night came on it would make a few evolutions
round the room, and then fly away. It was always, how-
ever, home again by daylight in the morning.

On anolher occasion, a whole family took up their abode
in a small space between a post in the house and a parti-
tion ; and they are often found in the hollow ends of bam-
boos in the roof. In an old brick building that Dr. Judson
occupied in Rangoon, they were so numerous in the up-
per story, that he killed two hundred and fifty in one day.
co6|« CJJOOJ. ojpyoSi

224 MAMMALIA.

IXSECT-EATERS.

Three genera of Insectivcra. or insect-eaters, have been
discovered in the Provinces.

JAVANESE TUPAIA.

The tupaia is a small animal resembling a squirrel, but
with a longer head. It was first discovered in Java, where
it is considered by the natives as a species o! squirrel
In dentition it resembles the hedgehog.

The Karens describe a striped species as inhabiting
their forests, larger than the above.

Tupaia javcvi'ca, Horsf.

peg van a, Lesson.

jb« neigjl. &>" ek^fl« (cbcofcj^i Striped.)

MUSK SHREW.

The musk shrew is usually called in India the musk
rat: but it is a very different animal from the musk rat of
America. We have at least two species, both of which
emit an offensive odour, so much so that when put together
with a cat in the same box, the cat will not touch them.
They are readily distinguished when in a house from the
common rat, by a peculiar shrill squeel which they fre-
quently utter.

I sent Mr. Blyth a specimen of the smallest species, and
he wrote : "Mr. Gray identifies this minute shrew with S.
pusillus, S. G. Gmelin, Raise III, 499, t. 75, f. 1 , and sug-
gests it to be the 8. pygmaius, Pallas, 8. exilis, Gm. Sysi.
Nat., and 8. cacutiens v. minutus, Laxm."
Sorcz Peyrotettii, Guerin.

" pygmaus, Hodgson.

GYM NUB. A.

Mr. Blyth says : " The genus gymnura has been
tained to exist in the Provinces, being probably the oppds?
sum of Capt. Low: if not also the marsupial adverted ti
by Dr. Heifer."

Gymnura Raffle sii 9

MAMMALIA. 225

CARNIVEROUS ANIMALS.

The Carnivora, or carnivorous animals, count between
twenty and twenty five species in these Provinces; and
two or three others in Arracan.

MALAY BEAR.

The Malay black bear, much resembling the black bear
of America, is not uncommon in the interior. On one
occasion, while sleeping in a Karen field that had been re-
cently harvested, I was disturbed all night by a drove of
them digging up the roots of the sugar cane that had been
left in the field. They will occasionally attack a man when
alone. On descending the Tenasserim a few years ago
on rafts, the foremost raft passed over a rapid, and made a
short turn into a little cove below, when a bear from the
shore made a plunge at the raft, and threw the two Ka-
rens on it into the water. At this moment the other rafts
came in sight, and the bear retreated. On another occa-
sion 1 met with a Barman and a bear that he had just
shot, and the Burman assured me that he shot the bear
in the very act of running upon him.

The Kemees and Karens describe a smaller species, yel-
low on the breast, for which they have a distinctive name :
but 1 imagine it is a variety of the above. The Burmese
and the northern Karens say there is a species with feet
and hands like a man, which they call man-bear. This I
suspect to be a fabulous animal, founded on reports of the
orang-outang.

Ursus malayanus.

oo56« csno ,. ooiojncS^o

CS^onySj. c8aj£n [Karen small species.)
c^cu ooiojoogS'i ( man-bear. \

PIG-BE \R.

The pig-bear, or sand hog, or Indian badger, or sand
badger, as it is variously named, is not rare, especially in
the southern provinces. It has the general appearance of
a hog, with claws like a bear, but the Burmans say it is
half hog and half dog.

Arctonyx collaris.
£ggcooo5 ioo6oooo5'« GgSC^lOoSc^H Gd^ojn:, <$"

,.*

£26 MAMMALIA.

MONKEY-TIGER.

This animal was first discoverd in Malacca a few year?
aero, and it is not known to exist north of these Provinces,
though it is probably found to some extent in Bur m ah
Proper. Monkey-tiger is a translation of its Burmese
name, and is somewhat descriptive of its character. It is
about the size of a small monkey, with a long retractile
tail, and is both arboreal and terrestrial in its habits,

Arctictis Binturong, Fischer.

Viverra? Binturong, Raffles.

Paradozurus albifrons, F. Cuvier.

Ictides ater, F. Cuvier.

Arctictis penicillata, Temminck.

ctpnSjngojn c(rypc38secoDo5s G ). OD©1»

WEASEL.

Capt Phayre met with an animal of the weasel tribe in
Arracan, and it probably exists in these Provinces, though
il has not yet been discovered.
The Hebrew word rendered weasel, in Leviticus, is iden
with the Arabic khnlad, which signifies a mole,
Helictes Nipalensis^ Hodg.

Gulo orientates, Horsf

OTTER

Otters abound in some of the streams. In the upper

pa of the Tenasserim, a dozen at a time may be occa-

lly seen 1*11 the rocks in the river. The Burmese

*limes domesticate them, when they will follow a man

log.
Lutra hptongi Blyth.

Lutra Barang y Raffles,

" Barang JBarang" or Ambrang" Raffles.
Lutfa Simutig, Schinz?

e Arracanese otter ia a different species.

VSntr, Fred, Cuvier,

/ a indica y Gray.

MAMMALIA. 9&i

DOMESTIC DOG.

Among the introduced animals, is the domestic dog.
Canis familiar is.

Gg8 . glj. C§£.

WILD DOG.

Tliere is a wild dog in the Provinces which Mr.Blyth re*
gards as a distinct species ; and the Karens have described
to me an animal that makes his kennel in the ground like a
fox. or a jackal, which they say is found in the Shan coun-
try. The fox of the English bible is probably the jackal.
The Hebrew word is shugal, the Persian name of the
jackal is shaghal and shakal, and the Pali* is thengala or
shengala, from the same root, which the Bur man book?
render " earth-dog."t
Canis rutilis.

GOOD Cgg H gOJ«3 / l. CO S QIC
MALACCA CIVET.

The Indian civet-cats secrete an odoriferous substance
identical with civet, though not the civet of commerce.
This species is not infrequently found in the villages, and
its secretion enters into the Burmese Materia Medica,
Viverricula m alaccensis.
Viverra malaccensis i Gmelin.

" Rasse, Horsneld.

11 Gunda, Buchanan Hamilton MSSs

" indica, Geoffroy.

" bengahnsis.) Gray : lllustr.

" pallida, Gray : Illustr.

Oenetta manilhnsis, Eydoux.

«QoSooc£}g» (oguod6gQo6g(§oo5i: Arrucan.)

O0JO301. OoSflSftl" c8*0J» 6bl083j$R

d85osa f G S G §'

22« MAMMALIA.

ZIBETH CIVET.

This is another species of civet-cat, not so abundant as
the preceding, which the Burmese call " the horse-cat,"
from the mane on its neck.

Viverra Zibctha, Linne.

" undulata, Gray.

" mclanurus, Hodgson.

" orientaJis,
" rivettoidcs,
cQo£|gc?8"

THREE-STRIPED PAGUMA.

This animal is very common, and occasionally enters
houses in the towns in pursuit of rats. When young it is
easily domesticated, and valuable as a rat-catcher. It does
not appear to have been seen in Arracan.
Paguma trivirgata t Gray.

Viverra " Reinwardt, Mus. Leyd.

Paradoiurus trivirgatus, Gray.
GJrgoSfolsn O0JOS1C30J. cBscSlSn

COMMON PARADOXURE.

This paradoxure inhabits the Provinces, but I have ne-
ver examined the species. It is probably identical with
the one in Arracan.

Paradozurus Musanga, Gray.
Viverra hermaphrodita, Pallas, apud Schinz.
" fasciata, Gmelin?

" Musanga, Marsden, Raffles.

Musang bulan, Raffles.

ichneumon prehensilis, Buchanan Halmilton.

Platyschistahermaphrodita, Otto ~)
Paradozurus Pallasil, Gray I . gchinz>

" Crossii, r

dubius, " J

" Musangoides, Gray

" typus, apud Schlegel. .

" fclinus, Wagner, apud Sching*

egoSo^cSn O0JO91. cSscSt"

MAMMALIA.

•i-J.

WHITE-EARED FARADOXURE.

A paradoxure distinguished by white-tipped ear.- is
not very rare in the Provinces.

Paradoxurus lencorhinus, Blyth.

UNDESCRIBEU PARADOXL'RF.

An undescribed species has been sent up to Calcutta
from two of these Provinces, and from Arracan, but it
has not yet received a name. The natives do not distin-
guish it from the common pnradoxure.

TENASSERIM ICHNEUMON.

This animal is not the genuine ichneumon, but it be-
longs to the same family, and has its habits, it is remark-
able for devouring snakes.

Urva cancrivora, Blyth.

©(Sain img3i«os:i. cS°o55n

ROYAL TIGER.

Tigers are sufficiently abundant in the Provinces, al-
most everywhere. Twice during my residence at Tavoy
they came into the gate of my compound, broke open the
c or of the goat-house, and succeeded in killing a goat
each time before they could be routed. On another oc-
casion, while sleeping in a jungle hamlet, a tiger leaped
into a buffalo pen cjose by the house, and killed a bui-
falo. They appear to be afraid to encounter a man until
they have once entered the contest with him, when all
fear ceases ever after. I have encamped in the jungles
of: en, where the tracks of tigers were seen all around in
the morning within a few yards of where myself and peo-
ple had bivouacked, yet they never ventured an attack
whenever a tiger has once tasted human blood it ever
after seeks it in preference to all other.

A Burman was struck down by a tiger at the head of
Tavov river, and he was seen by his companions to in-
flict a severe wound on his antagonist with his knife, but

2->0 MAMMALIA.

was carried off. A few months afterwards, a Karen was
killed by a tiger in a village twenty miles distant; and
when the villagers subsequently succeeded in killing
the animal, it was found to have been wounded as des-
cribed by the Burmans. A Karen was killed by a tiger
near a village a dozen miles east of Tavoy, supposed to be
the same beast that had devoured a man ten miles distant
a short time previous. This Karen was carried off after
breakfast in the morning while going out alone to his
work in the field ; and in less then a week from that time
a Burman was struck down by a tiger in the middle of the
day, not six miles distant, and when there were eight
other men in company.

A Karen who was killed by a tiger near the forks of
the Tenasserim, was walking with three others in com-
pany a couple of hours before sunset, and had a gun on
his shoulder. The Karens that lived nearest immediately
set traps in the paths that led to their villages, and the
animal was soon caught near one of their houses.

On one occasion 1 reached a lone Karen cabin at dusk,
and was surprised to find it barricaded all around to pre-
vent access. On inquiry I found that two men had been
devoured by a tiger the day before in the neighborhood
close by. It appeared that one man had been carried off,
and five others then armed themselves and went in pursuit.
After half a day's starch, and while on the track, the
beast came out boldly on the plain and succeeded in
carrying off one of the armed Karens that had engaged
in the pursuit.

A few years ago a little. body of Karens removed from
Yay, and settled on the upper part of Tavoy river ; but af-
ter loosing four or five men in as many different years by
the tigers, they have been compelled to descend into the
more populous pari of the valley.

These few facts, which might easily be multiplied, have
been mentioned, because the opinion has gone^ abroad
that Tenasserim tigers are not dangerous. Dr. Heifer
wrote : "They are of quite a different nature from those in
Bengal, and probably more afraid of men, than men of
them. Accidents very seldom happen to natives, who

Mammalia, 23 1

penetrate daily into untrodden jungle 1 , sometimes quittJ
alone. : '

Such representations may prove fatal to strangers and
persons new in the country, as they already have in the case
of Dr. Woodford, who lost his life by a tiger on the
Ataran a few years ago, wholly owing to his want of
suitable precaution in going away from the boat near
evening to shoot a peacock.

Felis tigris, Linne.

Tigris regalis, Gray.

LEOPARD.

Leopards are probably more numerous than tigers, and
they will sometimes attack man, though he seek refuge in
the tree tops. Two Karens were travelling on one occa-
sion in the forests of Maulmain, and when daylight de-
parted, they made little bamboo platforms to sleep on dur-
ing the night in the branches of a large tree, one on a lower
main branch, and the other on an upper large branch.
During the night, the man on the lower branch was a^
waked by what he thought to be a tiger, but it must have
been a leopard^ creeping up the body of the tree above him.
It had passed his branch, and was climbing up to where
the other man slept. He called out — the man answer-
ed, and the leopard was still — not a claw moved ; but
the sleeping man could not rouse, himself, and in a few
minuter the leopard rushed up, seized the man in his
sleep, and jumping down with him, devoured him at the
foot of the tree, regardless of all tjie noise the narrator of
the story could make in the tree above him.
Felis fcopardus, Schreber.

•' Pr.rdus, Linne, ?

" varia, Schreber.

" Panthcra, Erxleben.

" chalybeata, Hermann. f List

dhtiquorum, Fischer.

" fuse a, Meyer.

" JSimr, Ehrenberg, J

Leopardus varius, Gray : List.

A pud Gray

&J2 MAMMALIA.

BLACK LEOPARD.

Black leopards, commonly called black tigers, are fre-
quently met with in Tavoy province. They are danger-
ous beasts. A few years ago a Burman was devoured
by one not eight miles distant from Tavoy city.
Felis mela:\ Gray.

Felis Icopardus, var. mclas, (Blyth.)

LEOPARD-CAT.

This is the handsomest animal of the tiger tribe in the
Province?. It is spotted with black, like a leopard, on a
yellowish ground, and is as large as a small dog. It
is very fierce. A Karen whom I knew was attacked by
one and his arm shockingly lacerated ; but he was saved
by his dog, which seized the cat when it attacked his mas-
ter, and the man and dog together proved too much for

TIGER-CAT

This animal is about the size of a cat, but its colour
and markings are exactly that of a tiger. These cats are
very abundant in the jungles, and occasionally venture into
towns, where they make great havoc among the poultry.
Capt. Low called it the " fox-cat."

goo3gQo8b O0J6H. c8?sS*j

BENGAL TIGER-CAT.

This is an entirely distinct species from either of the
preceding, all of which I have seen, and is much less com-
mon.

Felis Bengalensis.

gotog@d8«i ooiem. cSscSia

NE.PAUL TIGER-CAT.

This animal Capt. Phayre found in Arracan, and Mr.
Blyth writes me, "add Felis macrocelis, from Arracan t

MAMMALIA. 233

he thinks that the above, with the preceding three cats, are
probably all varieties of the Javanese tiger cat.
Felis nepalensis.

OD§gQo£b CoSo^oS" cqpgf£5|o5u

The following names, then > may be regarded as desig-
nating the same species.

Felis javanensis. Desmarest.

" minuta, Temminck.

" bengalensis.
" nepalensis.

CHAUS.

There is an animal of the tiger tribe which the Karens
call the fire-tiger, from the colour of its skin, which is of
an uniform red. It is probably the chaus, a large wild cat,
sometimes denominated a lynx, that Capt. Phayre found
in Arracan.

Felis chaus.

DOMESTIC CAT.

Sir Stamford Raffles says: "Some of the Maylayan, like
the Madagascar domestic cats, have a short twisted or
knobbed tail" This is a peculiarity that characterizes
the cats on this Coast.

Felis domesiica.

GNAWING ANIMALS

Fifteen species of Rodentia, or gnawing animals, are
known to exist in the Provinces, and four others in
Arracan ; while, owing to their small size, it is highly pro-
bable that there remain other species to be discovered.

TWO-COLOURED SQUIRREL.

The two-coloured squirrel has been appropriately named
the giant squirrel, for it is as large as a cat. It h
deep black on the back, and whitish yellow below. Its
Karen name signifies the yellow-neck, being more par-
ticularly yellow on the Uoni part oi' the neck.

734 AiAimALtA.

Sciurus bicolor, Sparrmann,

" gig ant ens, M'Clelland MS&.

« madagascariensis ) A ' g

" macruroides, Hodgson. ) r *

GOLDEN-BACKED SQUIRREL.

The golden-backed squirrel which bears a considerable
resemblance to the American gray squirrel, is peculiar to
the Tenasserim Provinces, and like that is considered
very good eating. Tts general colour is gray, with a tinge
of yellow on the back,

It is described by Mr. Blyth, as "the size of Sc.Rafflesii,
or measuring about 20 in. long, of which the tail is half,
its hair reaching 2 in. or 2£ in. further. General colour
grizzled fulvous above, the limbs and tail grizzled ashy
(from each hair being annulated with black and pale ful-
vescent), with an abruptly defined black tip to the latter :
under-parts and inside of limbs pale grizzled ashy : in
bright specimens, the nape, shoulders, and upper-part of
The back, are vivid light ferruginous or golden-fulvous,
sometimes continued to the tail, more generally shading
niT gradually towards the rump, and in some but slightly
developed even upon the nape and shoulders : whiskers
ioncr arid black; and slight albescent pencils to the ears,
more or less developed."

Sciurus chrysonotus.

BLACK-BACKED SQUIRREL.

This is an ordinary-sized squirrel, the upper parts griz-
zled with black, on a golden ground, with a superb bushy
tail.

Sciurus atrodorsalis.

5)8 » In j. c35i

RUSTY SQUIRREL.

The rusty squirrel, first found in Pegu, is met with in
these Provinces, but is not abundant. Blyth describes it as
according in size " with Sc. vittatus, except that the tail
js longer and more bushy. Entire upper-parts uniformly
grizzled, much as in that species, or more especially a*

MAMMALIA. 235

in the tail of that species — the tip of the tail being black :
under-parts, inside of limbs, fore-paws above, and almost
the entire hind limbs exteriorly, together with a broad
median line to the tail underneath continued to its black
tip, bright ferruginous-chesnut ; that of the belly bordered
laterally with black : whiskers black. Specimen a, as-
signed Sc. erythrceus in Mr. Gray's catalogue of the mam-
malia in the British Museum, seems referrible to this.'
Sciurus pygerythrus.

barbe's squirrel.
This is a beautiful little squirrel, striped with nine alter-
nate lines of black and rusty white, and somewhat resem-
bling the American ground squirrel. It is, however, a
new species, abounding in the Provinces of Yay, Tavoy,,
and Mergui.

Sciurus Barbei.

g§» R)ol3i. cojScbu

berdmore's squirrel.
This is a large striped squirrel, often seen m the south-
ern Provinces.

Sciurus Berdmorei-

5)S„ lnjle. cojSoj^.

red squirrel.
The red squirrel has not yet been seen in the Provin-
ces, but Capt. Phayre found it in Arracan. It is" entire-
ly of a deep rufo-ferruginous colour, rather darker above
than below — toes of all the feet blackish, " tip of the tail
yellowish white."

Sciurus Keraudrenii, Lesson.

" ferrugineus, Cuvier.

ASSAMESE SQUIRREL.

Capt. Phayre met with this species also in Arracan,
but no one has yet found it in the Provinces. It is de-
scribed as being more or less rufescent all over.
Sciurus lokroides, Hodgson

u assamensis, M'CIelland.

236 MAMMALIA.

YELLOW-BELLIED SQUIRREL.

This is another species which Blyth says inhabits
Arracan, but which is unknown in these Provinces.
Sciurus loki'iah, Hodgson.

" subflaviventris. M'Clelland.

LARGE FLYING SQUIRREL.

We have one or two species of that jjraceful, elegant
group, the flying squirrels. The largest Blyth regards as
a variety of Pteromys petaurista, " but the whitish tips to
the fur more predominating, imparting a hoary-grey ap-
pearance to the whole upper surface, and continued along
the tail, the extreme tip only of which is blackish ; under
parts pure white, or nearly so, in different specimens ;
and the rest of the colouring much as in the preceding
variety. (?) In both, the white tips to the fur predominate
in the newly put forth pelage, and disappear to a great ex-
tent as the fur becomes old and worn. In the young of
the Arracan race, the black extreme points of the fur arr
much developed."

In the specimens that I have examined in these Pro-
vinces the ears are tipped with white.
Pteromys petaurista.

oral,

philippensis,
Taguan,

Tickell.

Gray.

Buffon, from Malabar

5)§c|i. qpa.

ft 5 "

SMALL FLYING SQUIRREL.

The small species inhabits the southern provinces, but
no one seems to have obtained specimens. I judge it,
however, to be identical with the small flying squirrel of
Arracan. "A diminutive species about 5 inch, in length,
minus the tail, which measures 4| inch. ; tarse to end of
claws \\ inch. Upper surface bright ferruginous-bay
in old specimens, with the membrane, limbs and tail,
dusky, and the basal fourth of the latter pale rufous un-
derneath : under-parts dull white, with fur of a somewhat
woolly texture : that of the upper-parts dusky except at tip,"
Pteromys spadiceus, Blyth.

MAMMALIA. 23?

BANDICOOT RAT.

The bandicoot rat is abundant, and its nocturnal depre-
dations in our fowl-houses are very frequent. It bur-
row* in the earth, and rarely appears in the interior of a
duelling house.

Mus bandicota, Bechstein,

giganteus, Hardwicke.

malabaricus t Shaw.

pcrchal, Shaw.

Icria, Buchan. Ham. MS.

nemorivagus, Hodgson,

cg^go&ii e39C3JG0J. OjWSjB"

BROWN RAT.

This species usually makes its home in the roofs of
houses, and is one of the greatest pests in the country.
They will eat into teak drawers, boxes, book-cases, and
will try their teeth on almost any thing.
Mus rufescens, Gray.

" jlavescens, Elliot.

" rufus, Elliot.

(goSotSg.. e33. oj^-i

WATER RAT.

There is a water rat in the jungles which appears to
have the habits of the European water rat ; but Mr
Blyth writes me that he doubts our having a species of
Ar cicala.

FIELD MOUSE.

The Karens describe a field mouse with the same
habits as the field mouse of Europe. According to Karen
astronomy, the north star is a mouse, creeping into the
proboscis of the elephant, as they call the constellation of
the Great Bear.

The mouse of our English Bible was probably the jer-
boa, an animal with the habits of our bamboo rat, and
like that eaten by the inhabitants of the country where it
is found.

238 MAMMALIA.

BAMBOO RAT.

This animal, which burrows under old bamboo roots,
resembles a marmot more than a rat, yet it has much of
the rat in its habits. I one night caught a specimen
gnawing a cocoanut, while camping out in the jungles.
The Karens say there are two species, but 1 have met with
only one.

Rhizomys, siunatrcnsis, Gray.
Mus sumatrensis, Raffles.

Hypudcus de Sumatra, Temm.

Nyctoclrptes Dckan, Temm.

Spalaxjavanus, Cuvier.

Rhizomys chinmsis, Gray, apud Schinz.

" cinereus, M'Clelland.

" Decan, Schinz.

©ygii on. §»

LARGE PORCUPINE.

A large porcupine is not uncommon, but the precise
species is not known. It is probably identical with
one of the Malay species. The one found in Arracan
is the common Indian species, and ours may possibly be
the same.

Histrix leucurus. {Arracan )

g» GdO0lG3J. 00S«

SMALL PORCUPINE.

There is a small porcupine in the Provinces, which
does not appear to have been discovered in Arracan. Ac-
cording to native description, it best accords with the
small species described by Hodgson.
Hystrix alopkas ?

HARE.

Hares are said to have been seen on the northern
borders of the Provinces, and Mr. Blyth is acquainted with
one from Pegu, which is the same species without doubt.
Lepus avfcaudatuz, Blyth.

MAMMALIA. 239

RABBIT.

Rabbits have been introduced, and when well tended,
they breed very abundantly.
Lepus cuniculus.

TOOTHLESS ANIMALS-

The Edentata, or toothless animals, have only one re-
presentative in these Provinces, and another in Arracan.

PANGOLIN.

The scaly ant-eater is not very rare here, and so far as
I can judge, it is the same species as the one found in Ma-
lacca, though there is not a perfect correspondence. It
has not the difference in colour at the end of the tail
which is characteristic of the Arracan species.
Manis javanica Desmarest.

" pentadactyla, Lin. apud Raffles.

11 aspera, Sundeval.

" quinquedactyla, Raffles, apud Gray : List.

ooSGgsgSn esqv-esoiOTi. c8ic8S»

ARRACAN PANGOLIN.

The scaly ant-eater of Arracan is another species, but
called by the same native names.
Manis leucura.

THICK SKINNED ANIMAL?.

Six species of Pachydermata, or thick-skinned animals,
inhabit our forests.

ELEPHANT.

Wild elephants are numerous in the interior, and their
haunts readily traced by the mutilations of the bamboos
and young trees ; but they usually avoid settlements. I
have often come upon them on the wild, lone banks of the
Tenasserim, and have heard their blowing and heavy
tramp around my booth by the head waters of Tavoy ri-
ver. They seem uniformly to avoid the face of man,
unless wounded by him, but an enraged elephant is a

240 MAMMALIA,

most formidable foe, from which in an open country it
is almost impossible to escape. Karens tell us that if one
be wounded and not killed, he immediately retreats, but
as soon as he feels the smart of his wound, he turns and
rushes upon his antagonist with terrible fury. One of the
best Karen marksmen I ever knew perished in this way.
He shot and wounded but did not kill the elephant, which
immediately ran away. His companions, knowing the
habits of the animal, scattered themselves ; but this man
kept his ground in confidence that he would be able to
reload, and renew the attack when it returned ; but be*
fore his gun was loaded, the enraged elephant was upon
him, and instantly trampled him to death.

JElr.phas in dicu s.

aoSi qqi. oosS'i

o
WILD HOG.

Whole droves of wild hogs come down upon the Karen
paddy fields, and were they not guarded night and day,
they would destroy every thing before them. It is a
small blackish species, exceedingly numerous.
Sus indicus, Schinz.

Sus Scrofa, Linne, apud Elliot.

Sus vittatus, Schlegel.

Sus cristatus, Wagner, apud Schinz.

gcooooSo 90/. COgu

SINGLL-HORNEO RHINOCEROS.

The common single-horned rhinoceros is very abun-
dant. Though often seen on the uninhabited banks of
large rivers, as the Tenasserim, they are fond of rang-
ing the mountains, and I have frequently met with their
wallowing places on the banks of mountain streams, two
or three thousand feet above the plains. They are as
fond of rolling themselves in mud as a hog, or a buffalo.
The Karens when travelling have quite as much fear of
a rhinoceros as they have of a tiger. When provoked, the
rhinoceros, they say, pursues his enemy most unrelentingly,
and with indomitable perseverance. If to escape his rage
the huntsman retreats to a tree, the beast, it is said.

MAMMALIA.

24

will take his stand beneath the tree, for three or four
days in succession, without once leaving his antagonist.
There are seasons when the rhinoceros is very dangerous
and ferocious, attacking every thing that comes near its
haunts, yet it is believed the stories related of them are
exagerated.

On one occasion while descending the upper Tenasse-
rim on small rafts, a rhinoceros was started on the river
bank, which ran down the side of the river at a buffalo
gallop for about a quarter of a mile, to a ford, with which
it appeared to be well aquainted, where it crossed over.
Just as it reached the opposite bank, a Karen on a raft
near shot at it, and apparently hit the animal, but it rush-
ed into the jungle and was seen no more, though we en-
camped for the night a short distance below, on a small
island that was manifestly the resort of the rhinoceros.

A gentleman in Arracan procured a single-horned
rhinoceros from the Arracan jungles, and presented it to a
friend in Calcutta. In the course of events it passed out
of that gentleman's hands, and was ultimately sold to the
Zoological Gardens for the sum of one thousand pounds
sterling, where it still lives. Rhinoceros trapping, then,
might prove no bad speculation.

In the Latin Vulgate the Rhinoceros is put where
unicorn is read in the English Bible; and a similar ren-
dering has been adopted in several Indian versions,
though unsupported by any philological considerations.
The Hebrew name rexm bears no resemblance to the
name of the rhinoceros in any of the countries adjacent
to Judea. In Persian it is called karg.
Rhinoceros unicornis, Linn.

" indicus, Cuvier.

" asiaticus, Blumen.

" incrmis, Lesson.

gso£» GdOOJSgSj'. ooiSjSS^esSsc^

DOUBLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS.

The double-horned rhinoceros is not uncommon in the
southern provinces. It differs from the other species
not in its horns only, but also in its skin, which is as

242 MAMMALIA.

smooth as a buffalo's, while in the single-horned it it dis-
posed in immense folds all over its neck, shoulders,
haunches, and thighs ; so that it looks as if harnessed in
its own natural tackling ; and the Karens call it the " coat
of mail rhinoceros.''* The horns of both species are
bought by the Chinese for medicine. " From the earli-
est times," says a recent writer, " the horn of the Indian
rhinoceros has been regarded either as an antidote
against poison, or as efficacious in detecting its presence,
as well as useful in curing diseases ;" and the Chinese
seem to retain the ideas of antiquity on this subject, as
they do on every other.

JAVANESE RHINOCEROS.

The southern Karens say there is a third species of
rhinoceros in the jungles, which is distinguished from
both the others by its skin being covered with small
tubercles; and above all by its eating fire! Wherever
it sees fire, it runs up, and devours it immediately !

I once lost my way amid the hills and valleys of Palavv
and Katay ; and on obtaining a Karen who lived in that
region for a guide, he laid special charges on every mem-
ber of the party to follow him in silence, for a fire-eating
rhinoceros had been recently seen, and it always came
to noises, instead of fleeing from them as most animals do.
It is further described as excavating a habitation for itself
on the mountain side, in which it remains during the
principal part of the dry season, and wanders about during
the rains. Amid the marvelous there is sufficient truth
in this description to enable us to recognize it as the
Javanese rhinoceros, and its supposed fire-eating pro-
pensity brings to mind a striking resemblance to the blaek
African rhinoceros. Rh. Africanus. "This animal ap-
pears to be excited by the glow of a fire, towards which it
rushes with fury, overturning every obstacle. It has been
known to rush with such rapidity upon a military par-
ty lodged among the bush covering the banks of the Great
Fish river, that before the men could be aroused, it had
severely injured two of them, tossed about, and broke

mammalia, 243

several guns, and completely scattered the burning
wood."

Rhinoceros Sondaicus, Cuvier.

" javanensis.

" javanus,

@« GdG0J<3l). OOl8^8^o^«

MALAY TAPIR.

The tapir has been long known to exist in the south*
em provinces, but has never been heard of north of the
valley of Tavoy river. It has been known, however, prin-
cipally from native description that the animal could be
no other than the tapir. It is believed that none have
ever been killed or captured in the Provinces, except one
that was procured from a Karen by a writer of the late
Major Macfarquhar at Tavoy. It was a very inoffensive
animal, and became as much domesticated as a cat.
It followed its master around the compound like a dog,
but looked as unseemly as a hog. It differs in no re-
spect from the descriptions of the Malay tapir, has the
same white blanket-like appearance on its back, and like
that, frequents the uplands. Though seen so rarely, the
tapir is by no means uncommon in the interior of Tavoy
and Mergui provinces ; I have frequently come on its
recent foot-marks, but it avoids the inhabited parts of the
country.

Tapirus malayanus,
indicus,
sumairanus,
bicolor,

Raffles.
F. Cuvier.
Gray.
Wagner.

coq$n GdgV

ooirgiB

SOLID-HOOFED ANIBIALS.

Two species of Solidwigida, animals with undivided
hoofs, have been introduced-

The horses of Burmah and the Shan country, which
ate imported into the Provinces, are small ponies, resem*

244 MAMMALIA,

b ling the little Spanish horses that run wild in Missouri,
and the other western parts of America.
Equus caballus.

ASS.

Asses are said to be common at Ava, where they are
introduced from the north, and a solitary specimen is oc-
casionally seen in these Provinces.
Equus Asinu:,.

(§«§(£*» ftoJjwe^. coojjScSii

RUMINATING ANIMALS.

Eleven species of Ruminantia, animals that chew the
Cud, are known in the Provinces; and it is not probable
that any remain to be discoverd.

CHEVROTAIN.

This little deer, about the size of a large hare, is often
seen crossing the traveller's path in the interior ; but it
is by no means so abundant as at Penang, where a dozen
may be obtained for a dollar. According to Linnaeus, it
is a species of the same genus as the musk deer, but it is
not known to produce musk.

Tragulus Kanchil, Gray : List.

Chevrotain adultc, Buffon.

Chevrotain de Java, "

Javan Mnsk, Shaw.

Moschus Palanoky Marsden.

Moschus Kanchil, Raffles.

Pelandok, Raffles,

Moschus fulviventcr, Gray.

ul}" oo5i. O^i

BARKING DEER.

The barking deer is more abundant and more univers-
ally diffused over the Provinces than any other species
It is seen occasionally on the hill back of Maulmain, and
often in the suburbs of Tavoy. It is very appropriately
named, for its bleat, which is constantly heard in the jun^
gles after night fall, is very like the barking of a dog.

MAMMALIA.

S45

It uses its horns with great effect when brought to bay,
and according to a Karen fable, the tiger will not attack
it. In ancient times, the story goes, when all animals
had the power of speech, the tiger said to the barking
deer, " O ! barking deer, what is the use of thy horns f
It seems to me they would be in my way." The barking
deer answered : "A single push of my horns will make the
eye of my antagonist start from its socket." On hearing
this the tiger was afraid, and never after attempted to de-
vour the barking deer.

Styloceros Muntjak,

Chcvreuil des Indes,

Cervus Muntjak,

" vaginalis,

" moschatus,

" subcornuius.

moschus,
" Philippinus
" aureus
" albipes,
Katwa,
Munljacvs vaginalis,

II. Smith.
All am and.
Zimmerman,
Boddaert,
Blainville,

Desmarest,
Ham. Smith.

Fred. Cuvier.
Hodgson.
Gray : List.

ooagSS^iooicBi

apud Horsf.

HOG DEER,

This species appears to be confined to the plains. It
abounds north and east ofMaulmam, and on the large
islands south of Tavoy ; but it is not found north of the
city, nor eastward among the hills, nor in the valley of
the Tenasserim.

They are often hunted by persons in companies after
dark, who go into the plains where they are found, beating
tin kettles, and ringing bells, and gongs, which is said to
bring ihe animals to a stand with astonishment, so that the
huntsman can walk up, and shoot them at bis conveni-
ence.

Ctrvus porcinus.

aqoc

5.

OOIOJ

Tl

0^5.

246 MAMMALIA.

RUSA DEER.

The rusa deer is the one which Europeans call elk.
It is usually found among the hills, and is quite abundant
in the interior.

Rusa Equina,
Cervus cquinus,
Rusa,

Hamilton Smith.

Cuvier.

Raffles.

scoS" GdCGI.

ooiaSi" dE§£»

BROW-ANTLERED RUSA.

This species has not been seen south of Maulmain,
but it not improbably exists in Tavoy Province, for the
Karens say there are two species of rusa, and I have seen
on the mountains parts of horns that appear to belong to
this species. Mr. Blyth thought, from the accounts fur-
nished him, that this was an undescribed species, but
Capt. Phayre told me that he had satisfactorily identified
it by its horns with the brow-antlered rusa of Assam.

Panolia acuticornis t Gray : List?

Cervus frontalis, M'Clelland?

Cervus lyratus, Schinz?

ooo8«

GOAT'ANTELOPE.

The goat-antelope is confined to the mountains, and
was formerly characterized as " a wild sheep, or goat."
Capt. Phayre, who first obtained it in Arracan, procured
two skulls and skins while here a year or two ago, by
paying twenty rupees for them, and sent them to Mr.
Blyth, who said they were of the same species as the speci-
mens he had received from Arracan.

Namorhcdus sumatrcnsis, Hamilton Smith.

Kambing utan, ' Marsden.

Antilope sumatrcnsis, Pennant, apud Raffles.

Cambtan, Fred. Cuvier.

Antilope inter scapular is Lichtenstein, Schinz.

aoo3s8o5» (5P i Arracan) GdC/. ooien

MAMMALIA,

247

SHEEP.

Sheep hare been introduced, but they do not thrive on
this Coast. Major Macfarquhar, who formerly owned the
only sheep in the province of Tavoy, during one rainy sea-
son, lost forty out of an hundred and fifty. At Maulmain
they appear to do a little better, but the five or six months
continued rain must always operate unfavorably to their
growth in Further India.
Ovis arics.

C&V OOJ. oSfl

Goats thrive well, and are valuable stock in this country,
both for their milk, and for the flesh of their young kids.
Capra flircus.

£o5n b3j." *5&scb8:«

GAUR.

This is a fine, large animal, with a bison-like appear-
ance, a wild, fierce beast of which the natives are much
afraid. It never approaches human habitations, but I
once came on a large drove descending the Tenasserim,
that had come down to the water for drink. They gazed
a minute at the rafts, and then turned rapidly into the
jungle.

Bos gaurus. Ham. Smith.

" gour, Trail.

Bison gaurus, Ham. Smith.

Bos aculeatus, Wagler.

Bison, Low.

Bos {Bibos) cavifrons, Hodgson, apud Elliot.

"frontalis, Lambert, apud Gray.

egoSu QdbinOT. C01&8U ooic8fii»
wild ox.

A wild ox, or wild cow, as it is often called, is frequent-
ly seen in large droves all over the uninhabited regions of
the Provinces. It bears a considerable resemblance to
ihe gaval in shape, but diners from it in colour, being red

24$ MAMMALIA.

and white. At a distance a herd looks very much like a
drove of English cattle. Once on coming out of a thick
jungle into the open ground, I found myself in the midsr
of a hundred of them, and they appeared so tame, that my
first impression was they were domestic cows ; but they
soon bounded away like deer, and dissolved the. illusion
Mr. Blyth writes me that it is
Bos sandaicus.

$]£« SiSsoia Gdndn«3i-oeab3ju5v

ZEBU OX.

The zebu, or Indian ox, with the large hump on its
shoulders, appears to have been the most usually domesti-
cated ox before the English took possession ol the Pro-
vinces.

Bos indicus.

#o8u oeibDj. 8i<l*»

ENGLISH OX.

Europeans have introduced the English breed of oxen
into the Provinces
Bos taurus.

SHAN OX.

A small ox from the Shan country is brought down some
times in great numbers, which resembles in its form, the
English rather than the Indian ox, but is probably de-
rived from the wild race. Occasionally a young wild ox
in the Provinces is domesticated, and brought under the
yoke.

Bos sondaicus 1

BUFFALO.

There are great numbers of wild buffaloes in the jun-
gles, which are supposed by the natives to be indigenous;
but they are more probably of the domestic race that have
run wild, like the wild horses of America.

There is perhaps no domesticated animal in the world,
concerning which learned men, in Europe and America.
are sc profoundly ignorant, as the buffalo From rai-ru>

MAMMALIA. 249

prehension of the character of the animal, they have very
generally concluded that the unicorn of the English
scriptures was the buffalo. Gesenius, Hengstenburgh,
and De Wette, in Germany, render the word by " der
Buffel ;" and Stuart, Robinson, and Noyes, in America,
say buffalo. " The oriental buffalo," observes one, " ap-
pears to be so closely allied to our common ox that, with-
out attentive examination, it might be easily mistaken for
a variety of that animal." The Karens say, a sheep is "a
kind of a goat ;" and by a parity of reasoning, a buffalo is a
kind of an ox ; but in no other way. The buffalo, with
its black and almost hairless skin, " huge horns," and
clumsy body, affords a strong contrast to the red hairy
skin, short horns and more elegant appearance of the com-
mon ox.

Barnes says, it is " an animal which differs from
the American buffalo only in the shape of the horns and
the absence of the dewlap." It is well known that the
American buffalo is not a buffalo, but a bison, and the two
differ from each other much more than either from the
common ox ; and according to modern naturalists, the
difference between them is not merely specific, but gener-
ic — the buffaloes forming one genus, and the bisons anoth-
er. According to Swainson, the buffaloes have " a small
dewlap on the breast," but they differ from the bisons a-
mong other things in having " no hunch on the back." no
very " long hair under the jaw and throat," and no mane
upon the shoulders. The buffalo too, has one pair of ribs
less than the bison, and is altogether a widely different
animal.

Barnes remarks again of the buffalo, that it " has beeR
recently domesticated;" but in the laws of Menoo, the great
Hindu legislator, who is supposed to have written about
the time of David, domesticated buffaloes are often men-
tioned. It would appear that in his days, they were used
to draw carts; for in one place he says : " It a man shall
be driving a cart, and his bullocks or buffaloes start and
run against a house, he shall not be held in fault. If he
run against the steps, let him put up new ones. If he run
-against the balustrades, let him replace them ; there is no

250 MAMMALIA.

fine. If the cart shall not run against the house, but the
bullocks, the buffaloes, the yoke, or other things belong-
ing to the cart, there is no fine, nor if a plough shall run
against a house."

Bubalus Arnee, Hamilton Smith.

Bos indicus, Plinius.

" bubalus, Brisson, Linn.

Bubalus fer us indicus, Hodgson, apud Gray. List,
Buffelus, Gray -.List.

c^j-j on 5. OfS«

WHALE TRIBE.

Two species of Cctacea, animals of the whale family, are
found on our coasts.

porpoise.

A species of porpoise is very abundant along our shores,
and in the rivers, occasionally, as high as tide-waters reach.
It is probably the same porpoise as the one in the Malay
waters, for that species extends to the Malabar coast.
Dclphinus plumbeus, Dussumier.

" malayanus, Lesson.

coc^8i> e5jloi30J-esjcpij3iQ9J.

WHALE.

The whale is found south of Mergui, and Capt. Lloyd
named a bay a few miles south of the parallel of 12° N.
''Whale Bay" — from the circumstance, he says, " of its
being resorted to by numerous whales, and its being the
only part of the coast where 1 have seen them."

Balazna ?

Balcenoptera ?

ORNITHOLOGY.

" The dodo may possibly be found there — and the cas*
sowary may perhaps be met with," observed Dr. Pearson
in his official charge to Dr. Heifer, when the latter was
about to proceed on his scientific mission to these Provin-
ces. The dodo and cassowary were about as probably
inhabitants of this Coast, as the phcenix and ostrich : but
the remark shows how little was known of our ornitholo-
gy a dozen years ago. Indeed it remained quite a blank
until Mr. Blyth was appointed Curator of the Asiatic So-
ciety's Museum. He examined and named the collec-
tions made by Heifer and others in these Provinces, and
those gathered by Captains Phayre and Abbott in Arracan,
so that by far the greater proportion of our birds are now
known. Still, there undoubtedly remain many new
species to be discovered ; for often birds that frequented
my compound in Maulmain, one proved to be a new
species.

RAPACIOUS BIRDS.
The RaptoreS) or rapacious birds, are numerously re-
presented in these Provinces. We have about thirty spe-
cies of vultures, eagles, kites, buzzards, harriers, falcons,
hawks, goshawks, fish-hawks, and owls.

CHINESE VULTURE.

The Chinese vulture, of a brownish black colour, is of-
ten seen in great numbers, even in the suburbs of our
largest towns.

Vulture huconotus.

coSscou ll^Oi. cSiooSn

PONDICHERRY VULTURE.

This is called by the natives the red-headed vulture,
from the flesh-coloured skin on the sides of its head and
neck. It is not so abundant as the preceding species.
Vulture yondicerianas.

252 ORNITttOLOUV.

A white vulture with a little black on the wings is de*
signated in the Hebrew Scriptures, where gier-eagle is
read in the English version ; and the word rendered vul-
ture in Job, is more correctly translated in Leviticus and
Deuteronomy by kite. It was probably a generic term
like the Burman zune* embracing several species of fal-
cons and kites. In Persian the kestril is called yuh, no
doubt a word of common origin with the Hebrew name
ayah.

OSPREY.

The common osprey, or fisher-eagle, is often seen on
the sea-coast. The Karen name of this bird at Tavoy,
is, at Maulmain, applied to a large owl.

Pandion haliastus.

ocoob'n HlGdnj. coSooi^lu (Tavoy.)

EAGLE.

Eagles are in the interior only, and they soar so high,
that they are not often noticed by travellers in the deep
forest. The Karens describe two or three different
species. One, they call the peacock-eagle, from its habit
of selecting peacocks for its prey. The Burmese appear
to have only one name for three species.

Aquila bijasciata, (Arracan.)

Itioojsi. c65c8£cj>5"

KITES.

The common Bengal kite abounds in the neighborhood
of Maulmain.

Milvus ater,

g^Sfl lni9J. c65aDsti

BUZZARDS.

Blyth says that " the smallest species of the true buz*
zard " inhabits the Tenasserim Provinces.
Buteo pygmceus.

gfn In i. o55n

ORNITHOLOGY. — >»

HARRIER.

A black and white bird of the buzzard tribe, a species
of harrier, is not uncommon.
Circus mclanolciicos,

THE KESTR1L.

The kestril of Europe is an inhabitant both of these
Provinces and Arracan.

Falco tinninculus.

c^scSfs.. lnio3n. WihoSv o5S8£coi c35c9i^i«

SMALL FALCON.

A small falcon is found 111 Arracan, which I have not
met with in these Provinces.
Terax Bengalensis.

cdl£s§cfOfi8n

HAWK

A common hawk 111 Maulmam, of which I sent a speci-
men to Mr. Blyth, is,

Nisaster badius,
Accipiter Dussumieri.

dS5i (d8§goSoi Arracan:) Vnoh- c65co-.

TEESA HAWK.

Mr. O'Riley sent a teesa hawk from Amherst, of which,
Mr- Blyth remarked : " It seems to be

Poliornis faciatus, Lord Hay.

teesa ? : '

GOSHAWK.

A crested goshawk was shot by Mr. Bar be at Yay, and
doubtlessly exists in other parts of the Provinces.
Astur trivirgatus.

" indie us, Hod?

11 palumbarius. Jerd.

«04 ORNITHOLOGY,

FISHER-KAWK.

There are three or four different species of fisher-hawks
in the Provinces, but I am unable to distinguish the spe-
cies. Capt. Phayre found two in Arracan.
Halimtus 31acei, (Arracan.)

" hlagrus, "

6coo5.i oq6cc@8.i lniesj39v-lnL*)c!id.
coSoBclii coScSsoou coSrS^s-i

BRAHMINEE-KITE.

A white headed fish-hawk, which I judge to be the
Brahminee-kite of Hindustan, abounds at Tavoy.
Halifr.tus pondicerianus.

g$G3i£(2» In l giso J- c65o18^»

WHITE-HANDED FALCON.

A small bird of the falcon tribe, with a band of white
around its neck, but black on the head and back, is seen
in the Tavoy forests.

SMALL HAWK.

A diminutive hawk, the smallest of the tribe, grey on
the back and white on the head, is common at Tavoy, that
the Burmans call doung-sune, a name which in Arracan is
given to a large kite, Hcematornus undulatus, or faho
bido ; while the small hawk there has a different name.

Gdi6g|n lntnjcsoj. c558n

SMALL REDDISH HAWK.

A small hawk of a reddish colour is met with occasion-
ally in the Karen jungles.

l'ltenoGi. c658iu

LONG-TAILED HAWK.

A bird about the size of a crow, resembling a hawk,
with bands of white and black on its long tail, is found in
the interior.

lniaei. c658s©eS^c

ORNITHOLOGY. ~DO

SPARROW-HAWK.

A hawk with a forked tail, like the sparrow-hawk, 9
not rare.

BARN OWL.

The common English barn owl is perhaps more abund-
ant in these Provinces than in Great Britain,
Strix jlammea.
goSJ^s*' OO J Q03 J. 80008"

COMMON OWL.

Capt. Abbott furnished Mr. Biyth with an ordinary
sized owl from Ramree, of the same genus as the barn owl,
which 1 think inhabits these Provinces.
Strix badia.

aS^aS" 009J. 8co$« ?

HORNED OWL.

This is a large horned owl which the Karens say is
sometimes as large as a hornbill. The cuckoo of Leviti*
cus in ou rEnglish version, is supposed to be a species of
horned owl.

Bubo macroccphala.

cSscooSo oojooajoiooj. §ooc8e83j5n c8£8§$.coSi

NAKED-LEGGED OWL.

A large horned owl, with naked legs, often lifts up its
mournful voice at midnight even in towns. Karens call
the horned owl, mookaulaimr, or the devil, and seem to
look upon its large goggle eyes with the same sort of re*
verential horror, that the Western Indians do the Virginia
horned owl. Like the ancient Romans too, its appear-
ance in a town or hamlet is regarded as the harbinger of
evil. Nor is this strange, for they send forth such deep
muffled sounds as heard in the dark still night, seem like
tones from a charnel house.

Ketupa Lcschcnaultii, Lesson.

Strix Hardivickii, Gray.

256 ORNITHOLOGY.

SCOPS OWL.

A small owl of the genus scops Mr. BIyth says inhabits
Arracan, and, may not improbably be found in these Pro-
vinces.

Scops Icttia.

^8C£o5i

ATHENC OWL.

Two different species of small owls, belonging to the
crenus athene, inhabit the Provinces. The first is of a
more uniform rufous colour than the other members of
the tribe.

.•1 thene castanopterus.

" cucu bides,
Snctucu
SscgoSn O0JOO9JC30J. SodcSSu

TOOTH-BILLED BIRDS.

Of the Dentirostres, birds with a notch in the bill, the
Provinces furnish numerous species of shrikes, bulbouls,
thrushes, babblers, orioles, stonechats, warblers, wagtails,
fruit-eaters, fly-catchers, and broad-bills.

WHITE-BELLIED SHRIKE.

This is a new species of shrike, of which I sent Mr.
Blyth his only specimen. He describes it as "very closely
allied to L. Hardwickii, Vigors: from which it differs —
1, in having the entire crown nigrescent, passing gradual-
ly from the black of the forehead to dark ashy on the
nape ; the ear-coverts being uniformly coloured with the
feathers superiorly adjacent : — 2, in having the rump and
upper tail-coverts of the same deep maronne colour as the
back and scapularies : — 3, in the much greater develop-
ment of the ferruginous margins of the great wing-
coverts and tertiaries : — and 4, in having the under-parts
uniformly white, a little subdued, and tinged with a very
faint blush, but having no trace of rufous on the flanks
and elsewhere."

Lanius hypokucos, Blyth.

ORNITHOLOGY. 257

RED-HEADED SHRIKE.

A brown shrike with a reddish head is common through-
out the Provinces.

Lanius phamicurus,

Pallas.

cristatus^

Linneus.

" rutilus,

Latham.

superciliosus,

H

melamtis^

Valenciennes.

ferrugiceps ,

Hodgson.

TIGER SHRIKE.

Mr. Blyth mentions the tiger shrike as being found on
this Coast.

Lanius tigrinus.

" magnirostris, Lesson.

" strigatusy Eyton.

PEGU SHRIKE.

Another shrike is described in Belanger's voyage from
Pegu.

Lanius collurioides.

INDIAN SHRIKE.

This shrike has a black head, and though received by
Mr. Blyth from Arracan only^ I think I have seen it in
these Provinces.

Lanius nigriceps, Franklin.

" nasutus, Scopoli.

" antiguanus, Latham.

,( tricolor, Hodgson.

GREY-BACKED SHRIKE.

A grey shrike is common in Arracan of the same size
as the preceding, but differing in colour.
Lanius tephronotus, Vigors.

" nipalensis, Hodgson.

RED-BACKED SHRIKE.

A small shrike with a rufous back is also found in Ar-
racan.

Lanius caniceps, Blyth,

erytkronotus, Jerdon.

258 ORNITHOLOGY.

DRONGO SHRIKE.

A species of drongo shrike inhabits Arracan, and per*
haps these Provinces.

Tephrodornis pelvica.

Tenthaca Hodgson.

PARADISE EDOLIUS.

The loud, flute-toned edolius might be termed the Ten-
asserim nightingale, for it is considered by the Karens as
the sweetest singer of their forests, and it seems to de-
light in cheering them at eventide. There was an old
friend that used to come at sunset every evening, and
perch upon a guava bough near my dwelling in Dong-
yan ; and there it would sit and pour forth one incessant
stream of melody for a half hour at a time. This bird
has a glossy, jet black dress, with two remarkably long
shafts to its tail-feathers, " broadly barbed on the
inner side towards the extremity ; the stem however, giv-
ing one twist, so that the inner part appears to be the
outer one."

Edolius paradiseus.

" retifer, Temm.

cristatcllus > Blyth.

intermedius, Lesson.

Dicrurus platurus, Vieillot.

Cuculus paradiseus, Linn.

cjoSgooSh ooj^jij. c8j5^j]5i

MALABAR EDOLIUS.

A second species from the Provinces is thus distinguish-
ed : " In this species, the frontal plumes attain a length
of two inches and a half, and flow backward over and be-
yond the occiput. The hackles of the neck are also
decidedly more elongated than in the others."
Chibia malabaroides, Hodgson.

Edolius "

grandis, Blyth.

Lanius malabaricus, Latham, not Sonnerat.

ARRACAN EDOLIUS.

Capt Phayre found another species of edolius in Arra-

ORNITHOLOGY. 259

can, called by the same Burmese name, which I have not
met with in these Provinces. It has the long tail feathers
of the preceding species, but the stem takes only half a
turn, so that " the barbed tips remain vertical to the axis
of the body."

Bhringa remifer, Temm.

tectirostris, Hodgson.

Edolius rangonensis, Horsfield.

Edolius remifer.

LARGE-CRESTED EDOLIUS.

Mr. Blyth mentions another species from Arracan, d ; s-
tinguished by its crest-feathers attaining to an inch and
a half in length.

Edolius grandis Gould.

bengale?isis, Hay.

king crow.
The king crow is a small black bird, resembling the
preceding, but without the tail feathers. It derives its
English name from its bravery in chasing away the crows.
Both the Burmese and Karens often call the edolius
by the same name that they do this bird. A specimen
that I sent Mr. Blyth, he wrote was

Dicrurus macrocercus. Vieillot.

" indicus. Hodg. Stevens.

forjicatus, Horsfield.

" fi n g a h, Blyth.

" balicassius, Sykes, Jerdon.

Bhuchanga albirictus, Hodg.

gcSccoSu oojenjg3i. oojoijoei. cS^©^i«

SMALL KING CROW.

There is also a smaller species of king crow in the
Provinces.

Dicrurus intermedins, Blyth.

ARRACAN KING CROW.

Arracan has another king crow with " its outermost
tail feathers very much twisted o\er, forming a singular
ornament"

260

ORNITHOLOGY.

Edolius barbatus

Gray.

Chibia hottentota,

Hodg.

" casia,

a

Corvus hottentotus ,

Linn.

Edolius crishna,

Gould.

Criniger splendent,

Tickell.

ROSY-kED

BIRD

The male rsd bird is a beautiful little creature, with s
black head, and is usually seen in company with the fe-
male, which has yellow on her feathers wherever the
male has red.

Pericrocoius roseus,
Phcenicornis "
Muscicapa "

PTNK-EARED BULBOUL.

Bulbouls, so often celebrated in Persian and Hindu
poetry, are numerous on this Coast. The pink-eared
bulboul is one of the moat common birds in the Pro-
vinces, especially in the neighborhood of Tavoy. It is
crested like the American cedar bird, which it resembles
in habit, for it is an inveterate fruit eater, but has a little
crimson tuft over the eye, from which it derives its specific
name. Large flocks tenant the shrubbery in the suburbs
of Tavoy, and may be 6een coming into town early
every morning in little armies ; and whatever garden con-
tains a berry-bearing tree, is sure to be the residence
throughout many hours of the day of a few pink-eared
bulbouls.

Pycnonotus* jocasus.

Gracula cristata, Scopoli.

Lanius cmeria, Shaw.

cfc6o£^» (Arracan.) <fc5s8ojM (Tavoy.)

O0J30JCX1JO0J. c8a>c8«<.

This genus includes Swainson's Hoerr.atornis .

ORNITHOLOGY. 261

BLACK-EARED BULBOUL.

There is another bulboul here with the head wholly
black, but crimson under the tail, like the preceding
species. The natives do not distinguish them.
Pycnonotus atricapillus ?

YELLOW AND GREEN BULBOUL.

This is a very common bird in Maulmain, and in the
dry season its musical, though little varied notes, are often
heard. It is rarely seen in Tavoy.
Pycnonotus Finlaysoni,

t^oSdln £>0jbl(30J. c8£cS8»

YELLOW BULBOUL.

The yellow bulboul differs very slightly in its general ap-
pearance from the preceding. Mr. Blyth received it from
Arracan, but I believe it also frequents our groves.
Pycnonotus JIavescens.

cmSoU oojbicsoj. cB^cSSb

BROWN-BREASTED BULBOUL,

A bulboul, nearly related to the pink-eared species, but
with a brown breast, inhabits the Provinces.
Pycnonotus nigropileus, Blyth.

AMHERST BULBOUL.

A bulboul, from Amherst, is said to be a representative
of the Arracan

Pycnonotus lwmorrhous.

BLACK-CRESTED BULBOUL,

Another bulboul has a black-crested head with a yellow
body, found in Arracan by Capt. Phayre.
Pycnonotus melanocephalus.
^SdlcoocSooSi

GREEN BULBOUL,

Three different species of green fbulbouls are des-
'•'ibcd from Arracan, one or more of which I have noticed

ORNITHOLOGY.

in these Provinces. They are green, with a little blue or
the breast, and wing.

Phyllornis* cochinchinensis.

u malabaricus.

Phyllornis aurifrons.

goS8<Su
Phyllornis Hardwickii.
Chloropsis curvirostus, Swainson.

cyanopterus, Hodgson.

chryso-g aster, Horsfield.

" aurive?ilris, Grnelin.

BLACK-HEADED BULBOUL.

This bird has a black but crestless head, with a yellow 1
body, common in Arracan.

Brachypodius mclanocephalus, Grnelin.

Turdoides atriceps, Temminck.

OCHRE-HEAnED BULBOUL.

The ochre-headed bulbul is occasionally seen in these
Provinces, and Mr Blyth remarks that it is " a favorite
cage bird with the Malays."

Criniger ochrocephalu: , Grnelin,

Tricophorus crispiceps, Blyth.

YELLOW-UELLIED BULBOUL.

Another bulboul is mentioned from Arracan, allied
to a yellow bellied African species.
Criniger fiaveolus.

CROWN'FEATHER-POINTED BULBOUL.

This also is an Arracan bulboul that may be found on
this Coast.

Hypsipetes psaroides.

BLACK BULBOUL,

A bulboul with a black head and back resembling the
preceding species inhabits the Provinces. •' It resem-*
bles," says Blyth, H. psaroides and II. nilgiriensis ; but is

• Chloropzis, Jardine, Selby, Swainson and Jerdoa.

ORNITHOLOGY,

263

altogether blacker, the black of the crown forming thus
no contrast with that of the rest of the upper-parts : lower-
parts, and rump dusk-cinereous, and slight edgings of the
same to the alars and caudals : upper tail-coverts black."
Hypsipetes Blyth.

ASHY BULBOUL.

Another bulboul from Arracan is of an ash colour.
Hemixas flavala, Blyth.

RED-HEADED BULBOUL.

This is a small ferruginous bird of Arracan, that Mr.
Blyth appends to the bulbouls, but of an uncertain group,
Heteromorpha nificeps.

BLUE ANT-THRUSH.

As in England and America, the thrushes of India arc
among the sweetest songsters. Two distinct species of
blue ant-thrush enliven the woods and dales of Tenasse-
rim, and a third is found in Arracan. Our ant thrushes
are splendid green birds, with crimson crowns and blue
manties, with sometimes shades of green on the breast.

Pitta Malacceusis .

Brachyurus cyanov^Hh^ Temm.

Pitta cyanea.

Paludciola nipahnsis, (Arracan ) Hodg.

G S3? flG S$" oojhcsoj. c8£co)£>sn

GREEN AND RED ANT-'IHRUSH.

This is a fine little bird with scarlet wings, and a green
robe, but when exposed to the light, Mr. Blyth says the
green turns to blue, and the red to a dull ash colour,
and that " it combines in its manners the traits of the jay
and shrike."

Cissa* vcnatorius.

THRUSH.

A thrush with " upper parts greenish olive-brown,'' and
white on the belly, is found from Arracan to the straits of
Malacca.

Turdus rufulus, Drapier.

" modestus, Eyton,

• Corapica, Lesson.

Chlorifoma, Swain^oa

264 ORNITHOLOGY,

OLIVR THRUSH.

A thrush with upper parts dull olive, and under parts
light rufescent, is described from Arracan.
Geocichla citrina, Lath.

Turdus Maceiy Vieillot.

lividus, Tickell.

" rubcculciy Horsfield.

ZOOTHERA THRUSH.

Specimens of this thrush have been furnished from
Arracan. It has a large bill, olive-brown in its whole
upper parts, with an intermixture of white on the under
parts. '' The plumage of the nestling much resembles
the garb of an English blackbird."
Zoothcra marginata.

BLACK THRUSH.

Dr. Griffith met with a thrush north of Ava, with the
back slaty-black, breast deep black, and belly dull white.
Mcrula leucog aster.

ROCK-THRUSH.

A species of rock-thrush, blue with rufous on the lower
parts, is common both in these Provinces and in Arracan.
The natives do not appear to distinguish it from the ant-
thrush.

Petrocincla affinis.

BABBLER.

A small bird, remarkable for its chattering, is often
seen in flocks near Ta*oy. It belongs to the babblers.
Garrulaz* JBcldngeri.

oeGp£sga5« eoj uoa §1 OOJ. c8£cjjio18j5«

Two other species of babblers have been found in Ar
racan.

Garrulax, Icucolophos.
l< momliger.

• Cratcropus, Swainson.

Ianthocincla, Gould.

Vutdoioma, Vigors, Hodgson in part.

ORNITHOLOGY. 265

BANDLESS BABBLER

Another species of babbler inhabits the Provinces, that
is " remarkable " " for the very slight development of the
black, pectoral band, which in one is indeed wanting
altogether.''

Garrulax pectoralis

ABBOTT S BABBLER.

This bird was found by Capt. Abbott in Arracan, and
being regarded by J\lr. Blyth as the type of a new genus
related to the babblers, he named it
Malacocincia Abbot ti.

IORA BABBLER.

Another Arracan bird belonging to the genus iora is
classed with the babblers.
Iora typhia.
Motacilla typhia. Linnn

FAN-TAILED BABBLER.

A pretty bird, with a fan-tail, related to the babblers, is
very common in the province of Tavoy.
Pomatorhinus olivaceous.

phayre's pomatorhinus.

There is another species of pomatorhinus in Arracan,
' having the crown of the same olivaceous hue as the rest
of the upper-parts, this being of a greener tinge than in
the Darjeeling birds; the feathers above the lores short
and white, like the rest of the supercilium ; and the ru-
fous of the under-parts is much weaker and more fulves-
cent."

Pomatorhinus Phayrei.

TIMALIA BABBLER.

A babbler belonging to the genus timalia, is an inhabi-
tant of the Provinces.

Timalia gularis

266 ORNITHOLOGY.

MANGO BIRD.

The mango bird, or black-headed oriole, famous in In-
dian poesy, is one of the most numerous of Tenasserim
songsters ; it comes to our gardens at early dawn, when its
rich mellow notes are heard pealing far through the man-
go bowers. It is a large yellow bird, with a black head,
easily recognized.

Oriolus mclanocephalus.

goSdlu OOJbl. d8>$c8ooa8ii

INDIAN ORIOLE.

This is another mango bird, found in the Provinces, dif-
fering slightly from the preceding, and for which the na-
tives have no name to distinguish it from the other,
though they are aware of the existance of the two species.
Oriolus indie us.

IRENA.

The irena is a bird of the oriole tribe, an inhabitant of
Arracan, with a black breast and blue back.
Irena puella.

STONECHAT.

A species of stonechat tenants the jangles of Arracan,
and is probably in these Provinces ; but I am not quite
certain that I have identified it.
Sazicnla caprata.

cooS§osti

WHITE-EYED WARBLER.

A small bird which Mr. Blyth refers to the honey-suck-
ers, but which Swainson calls the white-eyed warbler, in-
habits our jungles.

Zoatcrops palpebrosus.

TAILOR BIRD.

Tailor birds are very common at Tavoy, though rare at
Maulmain ; and they frequently adorned my garden with
their curious pendulous nests. One, selected the living

ORNITHOLOGY.

267

Gmelin.

Swainson.
Hulton.

38 CD (§8

leaves of the mulberry tree, which it sewed very cleverly ;
another, the large leaves of a Malay apple tree, and both
sewed their nests in sheltered recesses, where they were
in a great measure shielded from the rains.

Orthotonus longicaudata.

Motacilla "

" sutoria.

Orthotonus sphenurus,

Sylvia rujicappillci,

|§gS«}o5n onehooj. stfoDjcjeiH

WARBLER.

A small bird belonging to the warblers, with the general
form of the tailor bird, is very common in Tavoy shrub-
bery, but is seldom seen in Amherst Province. It has the
same native name as the tailor bird, and is probably one
of the six species of phylloscopus which have been dis-
covered in Arracan.

Phylloscopus fuscatus,

magnirostriS)

javanicuS)

viridanus,

brunneus,

schisticeps,

mochstus,

Blyth.
Horsf.

Hodgson
Gould.

ETHERIAL WARBLER.

Mr. Blyth mentions this bird as inhabiting the Tenasse-
rim Provinces. He says it is " the etherial warbler of
Latham, and the female agrees with the supposed female
of his blue Indian warbler.

Cyoniis rubeculoides, Blyth.

Niltava brevipes,

ARRACAN CREEPER.

Two small birds from Arracan are by some considered
as belonging to genera which Mr. Hodgson associates
with the creepers.

Stachyris chrysaa, Hodgson.

Ervornis zanthohuca,

26S ORNITHOLOGY.

WAGTAIL.

A species of wagtail is often seen in company with cat-
tle, " following them and gathering the insects that are
beaten up by the beasts' foot.'* It is common in the Pro-
vinces, though I am not certain of the species, but the
one Capt. Phayre found in Arracan was
Budytes leumn.

WATER-WAGTAIL.

A water-wagtail bearing considerable resemblance to
the European bird, is abundant in the neighborhood of
Maulmain. It heralds in the dry season, always leaving
the Coast in the rains, and returning again at their close.
Motacilla luzonicnsis.

od8o5c^o5i ooj ohj «ni. cS^SS^i

enicurus.
Capt. Phayre met with two species of enicurus in Ar*
racan, birds belonging to the wagtail family ; and one oth*
er species is found in these Provinces.

Enicurus schistaccous, (Tenass.)

" maculatus, (Arr.)

11 immaculatus.

o(Sq£<rp8i

TREE PIPIT.

A bird has been described from these Provinces whose
habits approach those of the tree pipits, but it is also relat-
ed to the wagtails.

Ncmnricola indica.
Motacilla. "
ouooS* (Arracan.)

Richard's pipit.
This is a small bird found in Arracan, identical with a
pipit occasionally seen in England.
Corydalla* Ricliardi.
Anthus, „

ORNITHOLOGY.
SLENDER LARK.

This bird is called the slender lark by Latham, but is
classed with the pipits by Blyth, who says it is found
in the countries eastward of the Bay of Bengal, down to
the Straits of Malacca.

Corydalla rufula
Ant hits rufulus.

ko!>5i

d8£cfr

«ROWN*WINGED CHATTERER.

A bird belonging to the group of chatterers, with
brown wings, has been described from the Provinces.
Sorvpus nipalensis.
Siva "

PARADISE FLY-CATCHER.

This is a handsome, crested, black-headed bird, with
chestnut back and wings, and a very long tail of the same
colour, a few of the tail feathers being prolonged much
beyond the others. It is quite common throughout the
Provinces, but is rarely seen in the neighborhood of large
towns.

Muscicapa paradisi.
O0JQHCS1. d8j5o8e)ii

PURPLE FLY-CATCHER.

A purple fly-catcher was found by Capt. Phayre in Ar^
racan.

Muscicapa ccerulea.

SMALL PLY-CATCHER.

A smaller fly-eatcher was also discovered in Arra-
can.

llhipidura fuscovcntris.

FLY-CATCHER.

Mr. Blyth mentions a fly-catcher from Arracan which
be called

Muscicapula melanolcuca.

2?0f ORNITHOLOGY'.

BROAD-BILL.

Foar species of manakins, or broad bills, birds frith tf
short and excessively broad bill, inhabit the Provinces,
and Capt. Phayre met with a fifth species in Arracan.
Eurylaimus javanicus.
Cymbirhynchos nasutus.

affinis, (Arracan.)
Serilophus lunatus.
Cory don sumatranus.
gcSaooSi! (Arracan.)

COMOBILLED BIRDS*

The Conirostres, or conic-billed birds, form a numer-
ous class of crows, pies, mynahs, starlings, finches, spar-
rows, buntings, larks, and hornb/lls.

CROW.

Three different crows are seen on the east side of the
Bay of Bengal, and all differ from the common European
and American crows. The " common India crow, some-
times mistaken for the jackdaw," is seen from Calcutta to
Akyab ; southward through the Provinces to Malacca,
the 1 ' common India black crow, often erroneously term-
ed raven," abounds; and in the Straits of Malacca, and 1
think in the Karen forests, the large-billed crow is com*
mon.

rvus splendcns,

Common India crow.

" culminatus,

Common India black crow.

" macrorhynch.es,

Large-billed crow.

" cor one,

European "

" amzricanus,

American "

O^JSOO^" Q)j\

880paD8n

BLUE

MAGPIE.

Mr Blyth had a species of blue magpie, which he says
inhabits the mountains between Arracan and Pegu.
Psilorhinus magnirostris, Blyth.

Pica, " Vigors and Gmelin,

ORNITHOLOGY. 271

WANDERING PIE.

This is a handsome bird with a long tail, the feathers
of which are tipped with black, while the back is of a cin-
namon colour. The Karens call it the tiger-king crow,
but naturalists class it with the wattle crows, and Wagler
places it in the same genus as the magpie.

Crypsirina vagabunda.

Cur arias "

ooj oft} oh. cB^l??

THE SATIN CROW, OR BENTEOT.

The benteot is a species of the same genus as the pre-
ceding, and has the same vernacular names. Mr. Blyth.
wrote of a specimen that I sent him: "A bird which I have
only seen from Tenasserim and Java — never from the
Malay Peninsula." It is quite common in the, neighbor-
hood of Maulmain. and its rarity in India makes it worthy
of special attention to collectors.

Crypsirina* varians, Vieillot.

Phrenotrix te?nia, Hors.

TALKING MYNAH.

This is the black mynah, with a yellow head-band, so
often seen in cages in this country, and which learns to
falk as readily as a parrot.
Gracula religwsa.

co3c8oo:)» oojlSnbinD. ogicS^a

PIED STARLING.

The pied starling abounds in the compounds and fields
ofTavoy, and is often seen perched upon the back of
the buffalo gathering insects.
Sturnus contra.

SUB-CRESTED MYNAH.

This mynah is as numerous at Maulmain as the pied
fading at Tavoy, They build their nests in the hollows

• Dendroeitia, Gould.

272 ORNITHOLOGY.

of trees near human habitations, and their clear full notes
are constantly heard in our compounds.

Acridotheres cristatellus, Blyth.

Gracula ctistatella. Lin.

\\ HITE-HEADED MYNAH.

Another common mynah at Maul main of which I sent
a specimen to the Asiatic Society's museum is
Sturnia malabarica, Blyth.

Pastor malabnricus, Jerdon.

aqo5« ooj15t§io6j. 3ol^5o18pn

BLACK MYNAH.

A species of black mynah is occasionally seen in the in-
terior.

Pastor tristis ?

BANK MYNAH.

The bank mynah, a species that builds its nests on the
banks of streams, is said to be an inhabitant of the Tenas-
serim Provinces.

Acridotheres ginginianvs .

Turdus " Latham.

CRESTED MYNAH.

This mynah is distinguished by a small crest, but it is
not common in these Provinces.

Acridotheres grissiis, Hor>field.

Pastor cristalloides, Hodgs.

YELLOW-BARKED MYNAH.

Mr. Barbe found a pretty mynah in the Yay forest?, with
a yellow neck, and yellow bars on the feathers.
Ampeliceps coronatus.

ORNITHOLOGY. 273

CALORNIS MYNAII.

Mr. Blyth describes a species of mynah from this Coast
belonging to the genus calornis ; and mentions another
starling.

Calornis cantor.

Sterna poliocerca.

YELLOW-CAPPED WEAVER BIRD.

A small finch or sparrow, with a yellow head, is very
common in Tavoy. It is remarkable for building pen-
sile nests, suspended to the branches of trees. The tall
mango trees are usually selected, but I have had their nests
in my garden on citron trees.

Enplrctes Philipensis.

ooosflSs<!go8«

(oocfoScoco&i* ODOolfigecooSn Tav. Arr.)

BLACK-HEADED FINCH.

A blacked headed finch belonging to Swainson's genus
amadina is found both in these Provinces and Arracan.
Munia rubroniger.

CHINESE SPARROW.

A species of amadina, or grosbeak, called the Chinese-
sparrow, is mentioned as an inhabitant of Arracan.
Amadina Sinensis.

FIELD SPARROW.

A small bird sometimes called a field sparrow, is not
uncommon.

Amadina striata.

Loxia striata, Latham.

Fringilla Icuconota, Temm.

INDIAN SPARROW.

The common sparrow of the Provinces so nearly re-
sembles the European sparrow, that Mr. Blyth originally
considered it the same, but he has latterly allowed it to
be a distinct species.
Pas serf indicus.

^OO is a Tavoyi.sm here., and on pages 260—262 for the Burman J5oSb
t Pijrffita. Swamson

"274 ORNITHOLOGY.

MOUNTAIN SPARROW,

This *s another European sparrow which Capt. AbboU
found on the Island of Ramree. It is the common spar-
row in Chusan.

Passer montanus.

YELLOW SPARROW.

A yellowish sparrow found in Arracan. is described
as

Passer fiaveolvs.

BUNTING.

A bunting, or ortalan, inhabits the Provinces. " It
differs from Eu. aureola of Siberia in having no black
on the chin and throat, in the well defined yellow super-
cirium, and in having the ear-coverts intermixed with yel-
low or grey."'

Euspisa flavogularis, Blyth .

Ember iza aureola.

SKY LARK.

Mr. Blyth decribes a lark from Arracan which lie says
" Very closely resembles the British sky lark in its sona
and habits." If such a bird inhabits these Provinces
it ha? quite escaped my notice.
Alauela gulgnla.

CONCAVE HORNBILL.

The hornbills are among the most remarkable birds ot
Jr;d:a. Their flight is elevated and rapid, and the sound
of their wings as they sweep through the air is like the
rash f an approaching tempest. There are four species
in these Provinces, all with bills of an enormous size,
and o le with a high concave cask. These birds are cele-
brated in Karen poetry for their conjugal affection. Their
nests are constructed in a superior manner of clay in the
stumps or hollows of old trees. After the female lias lav-
ed five or six eggs, the male bird shuts her entirely in
with mud, except a small orifice where she can only peep
out her head. Here she must sit during her incubation,
for if she breaks through the inclosure her life pays the
forfeit; but to compensate for the loss of freedom, her

ORNITHOLOGY. 275

spirited mate is ever on the alert to gratify his dainty mis-
tress, who compels him to bring all her viands unbroken,
for if a fig or any fruit be injured, she will not touch it.

Buceros cavatus.

eu3oSuo5i ooj Coos. cSScS?*

BLACK HORN BILL.

This species from its colour is called by the natives the
black hornbill.

Buceros pusaran.

cooo6uo£^nSi OOJ 03J. cfi^gpscS^ojB

SMALL HORNBILL.

Two other species are considerably smaller than the
preceding.

Buceros albirostris.

" plicatus.

c8£'3Cpj5«

CLIMBING BIRDS.

The Scansores, or climbing birds, embrace in ihese
Provinces parrakeets, lorikeets, woodpeckers, barbets,
creepers, nuthatches, and cuckoos.

BLACK-BILLED PARRAKEET.*

Immense flocks of parrakeets may he seen simultane-
ously descending upon the rice fields, where persons
have to be tti constant attendance to drive, them away
during the season of harvest. The bill of the female is
black, and the natives say, always continues so ; but Mr.
Blyth remarks : " In a presumed female observed in cap-
tivity, the upper mandible changed from black to coral
red, when the bird was about eighteen month? old."
Palaornis barbotus, Swainson.

Psittacus '* Gmelin.

pondicerianus, "

borneus, "

• The generic native names fora'.lthe parrakeets are

270

ORNITHOLOGY.

Psittacus bimaculatus, Sparrman.

" javanicusy Osbeck.

" Osbeckii, Latham.

" mystaceus Shaw.

Palmornis nigrirostris, Hodgson

" modest us, Fraser

cq*

(female.)
(female.)
§co5i

OD8I o3ie5L-o9"iwi«BJ.

BENGALEE PARRAKEET.

This species is mentioned as inhabiting the Provinces,
but I have not identified it. I think it is included under
the same native names as the black-billed parrakeet.
Palaomis cy (Otocephalus,
Psittacus " 1

flavitorquis, Shaw. I, th e female.

" annulatus,
Palaornis flaoicollaris,
Psittaca bengalensis
Psittacus erythroccphalus.
" ginginianus,
" rhodocephalus

" narcissus,
O}C003» ?

Gcq,coul« Arracan.

ROSE-WINGED PARRAKEET.

Another parrakeet that comes in smaller companies,
which has not the habit of simultaneous descent is often
seen in the rice fields.

Shaw. I

Kuhl.

Franklin, j

Brisson.

Gmelin.

Latham.

Shaw.

Latham.

PalcBornis torquatus,

Psittaca torquata,
Psittacus Alexandria

" cubicularis,

dociliSy

" steptophorus t

Sulphur Parrakeet

Blyth.

Brison.

Latham, var. B.

Hasselquist.

Vieillot.

Desmarest.

Shaw.

onqjcqioSu OOJOfubl. c8^oo^c8»

ALEXANDRINE PARRAKEET.

This soldier-like parrakeet with scarlet epaulettes, i:*
found in Provinces Amherst, Pegu, and Arracan, but I

the female

ORNITHOLOGY. 2 i 7

never saw it in Tavoy or Mergui. It is the bird that
was sent to Alexander from Ceylon; and hence its
specific name. Some critics think that parrots were
shipped by Solomon's fleet rather than peacocks ; but thev
appear to have been unknown in Europe till the days of
Alexnnder, which would hardly have been the case, had
Solomon introduced them into Judea seven centuries be-
fore.

Palmornh Alexandra nus.

Alexandri, Edwards,

Psittacus Alexandria Linn.

" eupatria, " )

Psittaca ginginiana, Brisson. )

" guinneensis, Scopoli

" Sonneratii, Gmelin.

Palaornis nipalensis, Hodgson.

eaqsccsD&olsu OQjqjOT. c8j5c8i» ocf>c3iogir85:<

REb-RUMPT LORIKEET.

This is one of the smallest birds of the parrot tribe, with
a green body and a red rump. Tts child-like notes are
among the most familiar sounds in the interior during the
declining day. Its Burman name signifies" headlong,
from its liabit of suspending itself from the tree, head-fore-
most like a bat.

Lori cuius vernalis.
Psittacus "

gnlgnlns, Horsfield.

gfge^ga (encjjscoooDsa Arracan.) OOJ^IJOSl. —

GREEN WOODPECKER.

A lame green woodpecker that inhabits the Provinces,
is described as having "the neck, breast, and under-parts
very deeply tinged with green, ear-coverts grey."
Pirns (Oecinus) viridanus, Blvth.
dimidiatus, Temm.

" affinis, Raffles,

278 ORNITHOLOGY.

BLACK-CROWNED GREEN WOODPECKER;

Another species of green woodpecker is seen on this
Coast, of which Mr. Blyth writes : " This species is about
ten or eleven inches in length, dusky-green above, with a
shade of yellow on the lower part of the back ; cinereous
or slightly ferruginous below, mixed with brown on the
abdomen. Quill-feathers brown, spotted with white. Tail-
feathers brown, pointed as usual in this genus ; the two
uppermost with a few light-coloured spots along their in-
ner margin. A gray patch encircles the eyes, bounded
below by a black stripe mixed with white spots, which
runs from behind the lower mandible. In the male the
crown of the head is red, often variegated with black,
each feather being black at the base and red at the tip ;
in the female it is entirely black.

Pints ocipitalis, Vigors.

" barbatus, Gray.

ARRACAN GREEN WOODPECKER.

Both the preceding species are found in Arracan, and
also a third.

Picus flavinucha, Gould.

" flavigula, Hodgson.

BLACK WOODPECKER.

There are numerous woodpeckers in the Provinces,
among which a black species is very abundant.
Picus ( Meiglyptes ) j ugularis.

cjo5coScoodoS« njoojoSiOdo. dBjSoocooj"

RUFOUS INDIAN WOODPECKER.

This species is known to be a native of Arracan, and
I think I have seen it in these Provinces. The fourtht oe
is small.

Picus ( Micro pternus) phccoctps, Blyth.
" rufus, Latham.

BLaCK-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

A woodpecker with the " lower-parts black, the feathers
laterally edged with dingy golden-fulvous," has recently
been described as a new species, belonging to the pied
section of the genus.

Picus (Dendrocopus) atratus.

CRNITHOLOC.f. '4 i\J

RED-PLUMED WOODPECKER.

A blackjacked woodpecker, the male distinguished
by a crimson tuft on the head, is a numerous species in
the Provinces. It differs very slightly, Mr. Blyth says,
from the Molucca woodpecker, /\ Moluccensis.
Picus (Dendrocopus) canicapillus .

OCHRACEOUS WOODPECKER.

An ochraceous woodpecker is mentioned as inhabiting
Arracan.

Picus (Microcolaptes) ochraccus.

THElEE-TOED WOODPECKER.

A species of woodpecker with three toes, instead of the
ordinary number four, is found in the Provinces.

Picus (Tiga) intermedins, Blyth.

INDIAN BARBET.

Nearly every garden in Maulmain is vocal with the
monotone of the Indian barbet, which the Burmese call
" the smith," and the Karens the " gong-ringer." It is a
beautiful bird, clothed in green, crimson, and yellow,
and is quite familiar.
Bucco indicus.
gf£fj§8c3$H O0JC301QG1. dSpSSSln

GREBN BARBET.

Another barbet resembling the above, but with more
green in its colouring, is also common in the neighbor-
hood of Maulmain : arid these are all the barbets I have
noticed ; though Dr. Heifer said there were five different
species of barbet on the Coast ; in which event three more
remain to be identified.

Bucco lineatus.

^sgoodSh oh ^01 bl. dB^cQ^cQn

ASIATIC PARBET.

A barbet with a blue breast is found in Arracan, but I
have not met with it in these Provinces.
Bucco asiaticus

Trogon " Shaw.

co<Ssqcoo5h

£60 ORNITHOLOGY;

RED-CHEEKED BARBET.

A barbet with three crimson spots on the face, which I
have not noticed here, is found in Arracan.
Bucc.o trimaculatus,

NUTHATCH.

A nuthatch with a blue back, a black forehead, and
brown under parts, is not uncommon in the suburbs of
Maul main.

Dendrophila frontalis, Swain.

Sitta " Horsfield.

ORIENTAL CUCKOO.

A black cuckoo, but of a differenX genus from the Eu»
ropean bird, is seen both in these Provinces and Arracan.
Eudynamys orientalis.
Lucuhis oritntalis, Linn.

KING-CROW CUCKOO.

A cuckoo resembling the king-crow, and another spe*
cieswitha slender bill and rufous abdomen, are men-
tioned as belonging to these Provinces
Cuculus dicruroides.
" tenuirostris,

BOTTLE-GREEN CUCKOO.

A laroe bottle-green bird with a long tail, of the cuckoo
tribe, is not uncommon.
Zanclostomus tj'istis.
Melias " Lesson.

oloccosn OOJO^OJ. §;©s8[)u SsoosSjSu

SMALL GREEN CUCKOO.

Capt Phavre met with a smaller species than the pre-
-edinor, but of the same form and colouring in Arracan.
Zanclostoma sumatranas.
Mi lias Diardi, Lesson.

Cuculus snmatraniiS) Raffles.

ORNITHOLOGY. 281

AMETHYSTINE-PURPLE CUCKOO.

This attractive little bird is a beautiful specimen of the
cuckoo tribe, distributed over some parts of our woodlands,
Chrysococcyx zanthorhynchos, Horsf.
Iampromorpha amethystina, Vigors.
Mr. Blyth had another species of the same genus from
Arracan.

Chrysococcyx lucidus.

CROW-PHEASANT.

A large brown bird, which Europeans call u crew-phea-
sant," is often seen in Tavoy gardens, and belongs to the
cuckoo tribe. The natives say that it lifts up its hoarse
voice only when the tide is turning.
Ccntropus Philliptnsis,

9o5i oojoatrn. rSiojS*

SUCTORIAL BIRDS.

The Tcnuirostres, or suctorial birds, are represented in
the Provinces by honey-suckers, sun birds, and nocpoes.

HONEY-SUCKER.

A honey-sucker, a small bird with a long bill, yellow
and olive green back, is often seen in our gardens It
corresponds very nearly to Blyth's description of
Arachnothera inornata, Temm.

Certkia affinis, Horsfield.

" longirostris, Jerdon.

GOALPARA SUN-BIRD.

We have several species of sun-birds on our Coast re-
sembling the humming birds of America, for which they
are sometimes mistaken. Their gorgeous plumage may
be often seen glistening in the sun as they drink upon the
wing the nectar of the flowers. The goalpara is one
of the largest of the class, and is sometimes called the
Goalpara creeper. It is an elegant little creature, with a
brilliant carmine breast and neck, and a splendid cap of
dark shining green.

283 ORNITHOLOGY,

Nectarinia goalpariensis, Jardine,

Certhia " Royle.

Cinnyris Vigorsii, Sykes.

Nectarinia Seheria (?), Tickell.

OLIVE-GREEN SUN BIRD.

The most abundant sun bird in the Tenasserim Pro-
vinces is perhaps this species ; which Mr.Blyth describes
thus : "Colour of the upper-parts dull olive-green, bright-
ening a little on the rump: beneath, moderately bright
king^s yellow ; and the axillary tuft intense yellow with
flame-colour anteriorly : throat and front of the neck very
dark glossy purple, margined laterally and at the gorget
with bright steel-purple, below which is a trace of a narrow
band of dark red."

Nectarinia jugularis, Vieillot.

" fiammaxillaris, Blyth.

STRAIGHT-BILLED SUN BIRD.

Another of our common sun birds has a straighter and
shorter bill than the preceding.
Anthreptcs phcenicotis.

RED-BACKED SUN BIRD.

A small black sun bird with a brilliant scarlet back is
another of our gaudy little visitors.
Dicceum crythronotum.

OTHER SUN BIRDS.

There are other species both in these Provinces and
Arracan.

Dicoeum cantillons.

Nectarinia asiatica, Latham (Arracan.)

S y N . " mahrattensis,

" Certhia

" " sacckarina, Shaw.

Nectarinia Gouldice,

" Hasseltii, Temra.

Syn " Phayrei, Blyth.

" Certhia spcrata, Pvaffles.

j&iccewn TickelHa, Blyth (Arracan.)

ORNITHOLOGY. 233

syn. DiccBitm minimum, BIyth.

" Nectarinia minima, Tickell.

" Certhia erythrorhyncha, Latham.

HOOPOE.

The hoopoe is one of the few birds that we have in
common with Europe, and which was well known to the
ancients. According to Grecian mythology, Tereus, king
of Thrace, was turned into a hoopoe, hoopoes having been
first seen on his monument ; and in some parts of Europe
it is regarded as a bird of omen. It is the lapwing of
Leviticus and Deuteronomy, in our received version. On
this Coast, as in other parts of the world, it appears to be
a bird of passage, for not one is seen in the rains, al-
though during the dry season, they show their arched,
buff-coloured crests in almost every garden in Maulmain.
Upupa epops.
cooo68«jo5'»i OOJSTi. c8i>a8£«

WIDE-MOUTHED BIRDS.

The Fissirostrcs, birds with a wide gape, embrace seve-
ral species of bee-eaters, rollers, kingfishers, trogons,
nighvjars, swallows, swifts, and swiftlets.

GREEN BEE-EATER.

The green bee-eater, a very handsome bird, is common
all oveAhe Provinces. The Karens call it the Mount
Meru bird, because it is supposed to dwell there during the
rainy season.

31 crops viridis.
goSooSsc^su ^aS^(c§« (Arracan.) O0O1J. o8co£«

LARGE BEE-EATER,

In Arracan there is a larger bee-eater.
Alcemerops Atliertonii.
cpsojagoSj

ROLLER.

The roller, often by a misnomer called the blue jay, is
diffused over all our compounds. The Burmese say that
the most precious sapphire is exactly the colour of the

284 ORNITHOLOGY.

wings of this bird ; and it is hence called the " roller sap-
phire."

Coracias affinis.
" assamieJisis.

goSsfl» OOJ^-TOG. |c^5cg5i ^lo£5og5ii

BROAD-BILLED ROLLER.

Another bird resembling a roller, but with a shorter and
broader bill, and longer wings, tenants Arracan groves.
Eurystomus orientalis.

BLUE-BACKED KINGFISHER.

A small kingfisher with a blue back that I sent Mr
Blyth, was

Alcedo bcngalensis.

LARGE KINGFISHER.

A large blue-backed kingfisher is often seen on the
banks of our rivers, whose skins are exported to China for
their elegant feathers.

Alsedo sinensis.
8?oo68@si. (oo6@8« Tavoy.) OOJ ©J OS OOJ.

HALCYON.

The halcyon said to be another of the kingfishers
on this Coast, common to India and Ceylon.
Halcyon gurial.

8f£&B sojoj. dB£§£»

OTHER KINGFISHERS.

The Karens have distinctive names for five other species
of kingfishers; and Capt. Phayre found three more in
Arracan.

Halcyon Ameuroptcrus, (broicn-witiged.)

capensis, ( blue-winged, )

oc68|gSs»
Ceyx purpurea, (small.)

ORNITHOLOGY. 2^0

TROGONS.

Some of the trogons are most magnificent birds. The
Trogon resplendent is said to have plumes three feet in
length, intensely brilliant, of metallic golden green, which
were used by the ancient Mexicans as ornaments to their
head-dresses. A green-headed trogon is found in these
Provinces, and a red-headed species in Arracan.
Harpactcs oreskios, (head green.)

11 erythrocephalus ( " red.)

cqg^n {Arracan.)

NIGHTJAR.

A nightjar, or goat-sucker, is one of our most common
nocturnal visitors, and its loud sounding note may be often
heard serenading the sleepless traveller in the stillness o f
midnight. Its monotone is so much like coke, the Karen
word for chop, that whenever noticed by the Karens they
say, " the nightjar is chopping down his trees." The
American whip-poor-will is a bird of the same genus.
Besides the common Tenasserim species, a second inhab-
its Arracan.

Cap r i»i u Ig u s mar r u r u :

•' monticolus {Arracan.)

gQgoSi) (go5g£g« Arracan.)

LYNCORNIS.

Mr. Blyth mentions another bird in the Provinces of
the nightjar tribe, which he calls a very beautiful bird.
Lyncornis cerviniceps, Gould

SWALLOW.

A swallow resembling the common English species a-
bounds over all parts of the Coast.
Hirundo.

Capt. Phayre met with two other species in Arracan.
Hirundo rustica.

Hirundo daurica.
gfego,

7*

286 . ORNITHOLOGf.

SPINY-TAILED SWIFT.

The spiny-tailed swift, a bird resembling the swallow,
tenants the groves of Sandoway.
A cdnthylis caudacuta.
HirUndo " Latliam.

EDIULL-NEST SWALLOW.

The swallows, or swiitlets which build the edible nests^
are so numerous in the limestone caves on the islets and
islands on the Tavoy coast, that the Gcvernment revenue
from the bird-nest farm in 1847 was nearly eleven thou-
sand rupees ; but in 1849, it was more than four thousand
rupees less. At Mergui they are not so numerous.

The nests an- of several qualities, the best being those
which are taken before the bird lays its eggs, and which
sell in China for about forty-five rupees the pound.

in relation to the identification of the species Mr. Blyth
suvs "As regards the Hirundo escuhnta of Linnaeus, there
is no reason to suppose that this as described, with yellow
.rides and white-tipped tail, has any prototype in nature .
the latter would be an anomaly throughout the cypselida?,
:>ut may refer perhaps to the white tail-markings of some
real hirundo, erroneously supposed to be the constructer
if the edible nests. Dr. llorsfield gives the species term-
ed Ui-i-'A by the Javanese as Hirundo escuhnta, Osbeck
stating that the specimens which he examined in Java,"
arid those which he took to England, differ from Latham's

sOTiption in beins uniformly of a blackish colour, with-

. a white extremity to the rectnees. Another species,
Lhe linchi of the Javanese, he gives as H. fuciphaga i
Thunberg stating that ' its nest is constructed of mos-
ses and lichens, connected with the same gelatinous sub-
stance which composes the edible nest of the preceding
species.' In the Journal of the Jndian Archipelago,
the same two species are distinguished by the names
lawet and Kntye, and the nest of the latter is described
to be without the least value. And it is added : ' The
residence of these swallows, or swiitlets, termed lintye in
the caves, contributes greatly to the injury of the holes,
for which reason they are destroyed as much as possible
at ^ach gathering. The nests which they make are con-

ORNITHOLOGY. 287

structed of grass-stalks. They are, however, of the same
form, and are as artfully made as the others.'

"Heef Hooyman likewise states, that besides the lawet,
other species resort to the same caverns, which are
named momomo, bocrong-itam, bocrong-zoekve, end lintjc,
' These,' he adds, ' are very similar to each other, except-
ing the second, which has the head larger; and the feath-
ers of all are entirely black. The nests which they con-
struct are black and friable, composed of a light down.'
(Agglutinated '?) ' An opinion prevails that the presence
of these birds is injurious to the caverns, on which account
they are driven away as much as possible.' Another writer
in the same volume of the Bataviaasch Genootschap, men-
tions the momos or boerongitam (thus bringing together AI.
Hooy man's first two species,) as a large kind with plumed
tarsi, indicating thus a true cypselus, which is probably the
constructer of the nests assigned by Dr Horsfield and others
to the line hi. Assuredly however, the C. fuciphaga,
(Thunberg,) linchi or lintye of the Javanese, identical upon
comparison with Javanese specimens, would appear to be
the sole producer of the numerous nests gathered on the
rocky coasts of the Bay of Bengal : and the often quoted
notice by Sir G. Staunton, in his account of the Earl of
Macartney's Embassy to China, must refer either to C.
fuciphaga, or to an entirely new species, which is hardly
to be supposed in the locality. For he remarks .
' The birds which build these nests are small grey swal-
lows, with bellies of a dirty white. The white belly is char-
acteristic of C. fuciphaga ; and this particular species
occurs abundantly on parts of the coast of the Malayan
Peninsula, in the Nicobar Islands, and the Mergui Archipel-
ago, and so high as on certain rocky islets off the southern
portion of the coast of Arracan, where the nests are annual-
ly gathered and exported to China. From all this range of
coast we have seen no other species than fuciphaga, nor
does it appear that any other has been observed ; and we
have examined a multitude both of the adults and of young
taken from the nests, collected in the Nicobars and pre-
served in spirit, all of which were of the same species.
Still, what appears to be C. nidifica inhabits the mouru

288 ORNITHOLOGY.

tains far in the interior of India, though hitherto un-
observed upon the coasts ; and it is worthy of notice
that C. fuciphaga does not appear to have been hitherto
remarked inland in this country."

It may be here added that C. fuciphaga is constantly
seen inland in these Provinces. The Karens in the valley
of the Tenasserim in the latitude of Tavoy, are well ac-
quainted with the bird, and they say it crosses the moun-
tains to and from the interior every year. That it is the
same species there can be no doubt, for the Karen name
of the bird is " the white swallow/' from its white belly.

Collocalia fuciphcsa.

J lirundu fucipka^a, Thun.

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
The Rasores, of which the domestic fowl is the type,
embrace in these Provinces peacocks, peacock-pheasants,
pheasants, wild fowls, partridges, three-toed quails, green
pigeons, rock pigeons, wood pigeons, and turtle doves.

GREEN-NECKED PEACOCK.

The handsomest peacocks perhaps in the world inhabit
our forests in great numbers. They do not usually ap-
proach the towns, though I have often seen them in the
neighborhood of Burman villages. The Burmese have a
saying, that " wherever there are peacocks, there are
tigers."

Pavo muticus.

cjSolSs" OOJSL- c8£c5<

PEACOCK-PHEASANT.

The peacock-pheis'int of Arracan is the Thibet pea-
cock-pheasant, but the natives describe a crested pea-
cock-pheasant as inhabiting this Coast, whose bril-
liant ocellated plumage equals in its play of colours the
celebrated species of the Moluccas.

Polyphctron chinguis, (Thibetian.)

Pavo thibetanus, "

Polyphctron emphanum, (crested)

colSsa OOJSLgS. dBp^ic^i

ORNITHOLOGY. 2S9

TENASSER1M PHEASANT.

A pheasant often seen in the neighborhood of tillages,
is abundant throughout all the Provinces, and in Burmah.
Euplocomus lineatus.
q8i OOJOftl. o8^65b

ARRACAN PHEASANT.

The Arracan pheasant, Mr. Blyth says, is an interme-
diate race between the Assam and Tenasserirn pheasant?.
Euplocomus Horsfitldi. (Assam.)

SILVER PHEASANT.

The Chinese, or silver pheasant, I have seen in con-
finement, and the southern provinces are said to be its
habitat, but I have never met with it in our forests.
Capt. Phayre found it in Arracan. The chaste hue
of this bird contrasts delightfully with the magnificent
colouring of the other species.
Phasianus fasciatus.

ARGUS PHEASANT.

The Karens have shown me the quill-feathers of a bird
that is found in Mergui, which I judge to belong to the
argus pheasant.

Argus giganteus. ?

TURKEY.

The turkey has been introduced, but not extensivly.
Mclcagris gallopavo.

JUNGLE FOWL-

Wild fowls are so numerous, that the crowing of cocks
at dawn of day in the deepest parts of uninhabited jungles,
is quite as loud as in the centre of villages. All our
domestic fowls are supposed to be derived from this spe-
cies, which differs from the jungle fowl of Ceylon and Hin-
dustan.

Gallus ferrugincus.
" bankivut.

290 ORNITHOLOGY.

WILD YELLOW HEN.

The southern Karens describe a gallinaceous bird
which they call the wild yellow hen, its colour being yel-
low and white. It is said to be the size of a hen, and
that the male has two spurs on its legs, but I have
never seen it.

on oil «o bi cSSaSoiSHcSo

a ° ■ r

PARTRIDGES.

I have occasionally seen a partridge resembling the En-
glish partridge, without a spur, but it is a rare bird. There
are two species in Arracan, but whether the same or not
I am unable to say, as I have their names, but not their
descriptions.

Pardix Phayrci.
" olivacea.

THREE-TOED QUAIL.

The three-toed quail is a common bird on the sea-coast.
Turnix atrogularis.
qst Ddl tj3J. c8^Cg^OOCvj5i»

RED, AND PAINTED PARTRIDGE.

On the Irrawaddy, between Ava and Rangoon, Dr. Grif-
fith met with" red and painted partridges and quails," but
he does not give the systematic names.
Perdix chukar 1

ROLLULUS.

Mr. Blyth mentions a bird related to the partridge in
these Provinces, which he calls.
Rollulus (?) ocellatus.
The corresponding race in Arracan he says is
Arboricola atrogulnris, Blyth.

YELLOW-BREASTED GREEN PIGEON.

This is the most common green pigeon in the Provin-
ces. The male is " distinguished by having a large

ORNITHOLOGY. 291

bun*-orange patch on the breast, and above this a lilack
band. 5 '

Treron bicincta, Vieillot.

Vinago " (male.) Jerdon

" unicolor, (female.) "

" vernans, Lesson*

NEPAUL GREEN PIGEON.

The Burmese and Karens have no name to distinguish
this species from the preceding, but call both by the
same name.

Treron nipalensis, Hodgson.

Toria

YELLOWISH-HEADED GREEN PIGEON.

The natives see no difference between this species and
the two preceding. " It is distinguished by having the
anterior half of the head, and the medial portion of the
tail, of the same yellowish green as the breast."
Treron viridifrons.

MALABAR GREEN PIGEON.

This bird has not been found in these Provinces, but it
has been observed in Arracan, where the Arracanese call
it gnu, as the Burmese do the other species.
Treron Malabarica

Vinago " Jerdon.

" aromatica, (male)

tm ajjinis, (female)

GAMPSORHYNCHUS.

Mr. Blyth describes a curious bird related to the greeii
pigeons, and nearly allied to Swainson's genus sphenurus,
which he received from Arracan.

Gampsorhynchus rafulus, Blyth.

FRUIT-PIGEON.

A large wild fruit-pigeon is often seen, and a second
species has been found, in Arracan,
Carpophaga sylvatica>

insignis, (Arracan.)

$9$ ornithology

ground-pigeon.
A handsome, dark-green ground-pigeon, is not uncom*
mon.

Chaleophaps indica,

Columha " Linn.

INDIAN ROCK-PICIEONo

This is the bird from which the domestic pigeons of India
are derived, and which we have tame, if not wild. The
principal difference, Mr. Blyth says, between the pigeon of
India and Europe is, that the former " has a white rump
and the latter a deep ash-coloUred rump. There appears
to be no other distinction between them ; unless it be that
the play of colours on the neck is finer in the Indian
bird."

Columha intermedia.

POMPADOUR WOOD-PIGEON.

"This is a wild pigeon whose "general colour is deep
vinaceous ruddy," that Mr. Blyth had from the island of
Ramree.

Columba punicca.

TURTLE DOVE.

The plaintive coo of this speckled turtle doVe is heard
alike in the neighborhood of our large towns, and in the
depths of our thickest forests. It is often seen in cages,
and is the turtle dove of the Bible.
Turtur suratensis.
Columba turtur, Linn.

§8coo5c@oo5» oojItsot. oojJ/isov

dBjBcgSoj. dBjScgS^i

RING-DOVE.

A turtle dove of a brick colour, with a half collar on the
neck, sometimes called the ring-dove, is not uncommon
Turtur humilis.

ORNITHOLOGY. 293

FOX-COLOURED TURTLE DOVE.

This is a brownish dove, seen occasionally, but not
often.

Turtur meena.

gsSfqon oojohj. d8£e>65«

NICOBAR PIGEON.

The Nicobar pigeon with its elegant neck-frill, is
sometimes seen in confinement, and the Burmese call it
by the same name that they do the partridge, and roller,
I have never met with it in the jungles, although some
of the natives tell me it is found there.

Calce7ias nicobarica, Blyth.

Goura

Geophilus niccbarcnsis.

WADING BIRDS.
The Grallatorts y or waders, are numerous. In these
Provinces and Arracan, there are herons, bitterns^ demi-
egrets, adjutants, cranes, ibises, open-beaks, rails or coots,
water-hens, snipes, curlews, sand-pipers, oyster-catchers,
snippets, turnstones, and plovers.

WHITE PADDY-BIRD.

Near the sea-coast, the bordering trees are often splen-
didly illumined with a beautiful heron, whose snowy plu-
mage amid the deep emerald foliage, looks in the distance
like magnificent white blossoms : it is called in this coun-
try the white paddy-bird.
Ardea alba-

<%6§o oSjlSig-i.-ohqniba. c8^cbio1no1coi s .ocfl

GREY HERON.

A species of grey heron is common at Tavoy, in the in-
terior as well as on the sea shore. The Karen name
this bird bears at Tavoy, is at Maulmain appropriated to a
species of rail or coot.
Ardea.

A I

294 ORNITHOLOGY.

NIGHT-HERON.

In the dark silent night the voyager is often startled by
the dolorous scream of the night-heron along the shores,
whose loud roar so much resembles the bellowing of a
cow, that the Burmese call it the " cow-bird," which re-
minds us of the " bull-of-the-bog," one of the names of
the bittern.

Nyctiardea, Swain.

goSc^osi

OTHER HERONS.

There are other herons on the Coast which I have not
identified. Capt. Phayre found the following in Arracan.
Ardea malaccensis.

Ardea purpurea.

Ardea schist acta t {large, slate colour.)

" fusca. (broivn.)

u ardeziaca, (small, slate colour.)

" cinerea (common British, brown.)

gc£c£08ii cco8»

Nycticorar* griseus (night-heron.)

DEMI-EGRET.

A demi-egret is met with in Arracan, but I have never
seen it in these Provinces. " Colour," says Mr. Blyth,
" uniform dark slaty throughout; some specimens having
a white line on the chin and throat. Adults have narrow
lengthened plumes on the back and breast, similar to those
of Ardea cinerea: the occipital plumes also are somewhat
lengthened, as in herons generally; but I have seen no
defined occipital crest, and doubt its ever possessing one.
Beak mingled dusky, and dull yellowish, and the legs ap-
pear to have been olive-green."
Demigretta concolor.

Nyctiardea, Swainscn.

ORNITHOLOGY. 295

TIGER BITTERN.

The Asiatic Society's Museum in Calcutta contains
specimens of a curious tiger-bittern received from Arracan.
Tigrisoma melalophos.

ADJUTANT.

Among the problems given Dr. Heifer to solve when he
visited our shores, was, to ascertain if the breeding of ad-
jutants takes place here, " as well as its manner." He
replied on returning to Calcutta : "The Ciconia argala,
or the common Calcutta adjutant, is never seen on that
Coast." Here he was mistaken. It is very common in
Province Amherst ; and it builds its nest, the Karens in-
form me, in the inaccessible summits of the mural lime-
stone rocks, and occasionally near the tops of large wood-
oil trees.

The under tail-coverts are delicate and floating, form-
ing plumes of the most exquisite texture, which, in Maul-
main command a high price. These plumes are known
in England by the term marabou, a name taken from the
African species. The natives tell me there are two species
of adjutants, one of which produces finer plumes than the
other ; but I have seen only one, and doubt the existence
of two species.

Ciconia argala, Vigors.

Leptoptilas argala.

Argala gigantea.

o^8o5n ^goSii gc£(c§sii O0JG0J. c8J585h
§*§sogc8« (with handsomest plumes.)

BLACK AND WHITE WADING-BIRD.

A bird described as a crane, or tantalus, with a white
breast, and black bill, head, and back, is found in Am-
herst province, but I have never seen it. A part of the
plumes offered for sale are said to be the under tail-coverts
of this bird, but inferior to those furnished by the adjutant.

'J96 ORNITHOLOGY.

CRANE.

A large slate-coloured crane is often seen stalking
about the paddy fields, and near the sea-shore. It is
sometimes called the adjutant without a pouch.
Grus antigone.

(c§s@or goi.-oojcoj. c8Sd3§oglfl

RED-RUMP.

A bird which I have not seen is represented to me, by
the natives, as of the heron tribe, but is said to have a red
rump. The Burmese call it by the name given to the
broad-bill in Arracan.

go5ooc£>: 90JO91S)Sn. c8*>£iS»

IBIS.

Capt. P bay re met with a white ibis in Arracan, nearly
related to the sacred ibis venerated by the Egyptians.
Ibis Macei.

OPEN-BEAK.

Another bird of the iL is tribe inhabits Arracan, whose
lower mandible is curved, and touches the upper at the
base and top only.

Anastomus cor omanrlcU anus .

RAIL OR COOT.

Iii Province Amherst, I have noticed a species of rail
or coot.

liallus, vcl Fulica.

WATER-HEN.

A species of water-hen inhabits Arracan.
Gallinula javanica.
" phcenicura

ORNITHOLOGY. 29?

SNIPE.

The snipe is a very common bird in the Provinces, but
commands a high price in bazar.

Scolopax hcteruna, (Arracan.)

©@oa5« (©Scc^n Arracan.) ooJO0inoL.-OOJOn3 33j
d8£c8^5u c8j5co8ab8u

CURLEW.

The curlew is quite abundant on the sea-shore.
Numenius arquata, (Arracan.)

SlsQConSobgoSii (oqcoosGcrocSn Arracan.)

TURNSTONE.

I think I have seen the common turnstone, on the sea-
board.

Strc2)silas interpres.

OYSTER-CATCHER.

Mr. Blyth has had specimens of the common European
oyster-catcher from Arracan, and I believe it inhabits
these Provinces. He appears to regard it as identical or
nearly so with the Australian species, so it is a very wide-
ly distributed bird.

Himantopus ostralcgus.

longirostris (Australia.)
" picatus "

SAND-PIPER, AND SNIPPET.

Sand-pipers and snippets are common in Arracan. and
if I am not mistaken on this Coast also.
Tringus , ( Sand<-piper. )

Tot anus, (Snippet.)

o6gg|5»

spur-winged plover.
A species of plover with a spur on the wing is a com
mon bird.

Pluvianus spinosus.
SScqn c8c8^w (gc8ooc^68'i Arracan.)
oojooDio3- c8|5oo65i. dB£o6S(cg , i

298 ORNITHOLOGY.

COMMON PLOVER.

A species of plover without a spur is also seen.
Pluvianus goensis, {Arracan.)

SWIMMING BIRDS.

The Natatores, or swimming birds, consist in these Pro-
vinces of wild ducks, teal, pelicans, snake-birds, cormor-
ants, sea-swallows, gulls, and scissors-bills.

WILD DUCKS.

At least one species of wild duck is common on this
Coast, and two are known in Arracan. One afternoon,
having made a sudden egress, with my Karen guide, from
a tunnel under Dongyan mountain, we raised an immense
number. Hundreds and hundreds of ducks, teal, and
other water-fowl burst from the rocks and fens, and
wheeled over our heads, forming thick clouds forty or fifty
feet above us, and all uttering one continued clang of
wild sea music.

Dcndrocygna major, [Arracan.)

Plectropterus melanotus, "

TEAL.

A species of teal is seen in great numbers on the plains,
where there are lakes and ponds of water,

Dcndrocygna arcuaia, [Arracan.)

©8oc8r oojoio'H c8SoSo6" coi8»

BLACK-BANDED TEAL.

The Karens describe a small teal with a black band
around its neck, which I have not seen, nor do I find it
described.

GOOSE.

The goose has been introduced into the Provinces
from other parts of India. All the domestic geese in
India, Mr. Blyth says, are the mixed progeny of
Anser cinereus, and

" cygnoidcs.
c^g» 90JO0L c8j3ooiu

ORNITHOLOGY. 299

PELICAN.

This princely water-bird is no where abundant in these
Provinces, yet it is seen netting fish with its capacious
pouch in our solitary lowland streams and ponds. It is a
fine swimmer, and the natives say it wheels high over the
waters, then makes a sudden graceful sweep upon the
shoals offish beneath, which it skims up in great abun-
dance.

Pelecanus rufcscens ?

SNAKE-BIRD.

On some of our inland streams the darter is common.
This bird resembles the cormorant, but has a much longer
neck, which it lifts above the water when swimming, while
its body is immersed, with a snake-like motion.
Plotus Vaillantii.

<x8c4o oojISi. c8£cbi«

CORMORANT.

The cormorant, that ominous bird so dreaded by the
Druids, has one representative on this Coast, which may
be often seen fishing on the banks of fresh-water streams
and ponds. Wordsworth, alluding to the sea-mew scream-
ing around the arch Druid's brow, adds :

" And toward the mystic ring
Where augurs stood, the future questioning.
Slowly the cormorant aims her heavy flight,
Portending ruin to each baleful rite."

This bird is a noble fisher, and trained to that business
in Holland and China. In Arracan it has the same name
as the darter, but I have never heard that name applied
to it in these Provinces.

Phalacrocorax Javanicus ?
Gcooccp" (oo6c^a Arracan.) 3q910o8.f. cB^cS^n

SEA-SWALLOW.

A species of tern, or sea-swallow, as these birds are
called in England, is often seen on the coast.
Sterna poliocerca, Gould.

Thalascus cristatus, ? Stevens.

(§Secg$«

300 ORNITHOLOGY.

OTHER SEA SWALLOWS.

Four other species of tern which are found in the Bay
of Bengal, probably visit our coast.
Thalasscus, Bcngalensis.

Melanostcrna anasthcetus, Scopoli.

syn. Sterna panaij a, Lath.

" " infuscata, Licht.

" " antarctica, Lesson.

" grisea, 1 Horsfield.
svn. Hydrochilcclon,

" " marginata, Blyth.

Anous tenuirostris, Temm.

GULL.

Gulls are common on the sea-shore, where they are
called by the natives " sea-parrokeets."
Larus fuscus ?

c8£o&£8£cb£«

SCISSORS-BILL. \

At Tavoy the sheer-water, or scissors-bill, is frequently
seen cleaving the water with its curious bill, the upper
mandible of which is much shorter than the lower. It
has never been noticed among the collections of birds
sent to Calcutta, either from these Provinces or Arracan.
A specimen that I examined differed in no important res-
pect from the European species.
Rhynchops nigra.
oScoo5©oTgc£.i O0Jbl«e. c8^S^cb^8a

TROPIC-BIRD.

A single species of tropic-bird, or boatswain-bird, with its
two long tail feathers, is known to inhabit the Bay of Ben-
gal ; and it is rather remarkable that while it differs from
the species found near the Mauritius on the west, Ph
candicus ; and from the species found towards Australia
on the east, Ph. phamicuru* ; it is identical with the
common tropic-bird in the Atlantic Ocean.
Phceton athereus.

ICHTHYOLOGY.

"Almost every reptile and fish of the Tenasserim coast
must necessarily be new," remarked a gentleman of no
ordinary scientific attainments. And it is a very com-
mon error to suppose that, because the productions of a
country are unknown, they are therefore new to science.
No one appears to have examined our fish, but a collec-
of twenty-seven species that I sent Mr. Blyth, contained
only one new species, though the principal part of them
were fresh-water fish ; and from the little attention I have
been able to bestow upon them, I judge that by far the
larger proportion of our fishes are common to other coasts
bordering the Bay of Bengal.

LARGE SCALED-FISH.

The Macroleptcs, or large-scaled fish of the order with
spinous rays in the dorsal fin, embrace on this Coast,
perch, cockup, band-fish, umber, Indian whiting, mullet,
mango-fish, king-fish, climbing perch, and snake-heads.

LARGE PERCH.

A perch which sometimes grows two feet long is often
seen in Maul main bazar, and is esteemed a valuable fish
by Europeans. The formula of the fin rays is,

D. 7,1-11: P. 15: V. 1-5 : A. 3-9 : C. 17 .*

Perca.

claoooocoSn e9jftJOQ3i. coBcosxc&it

SMALL PERCH.

A small species of perch is common in the interior of
the Provinces.

D. 7, 1-14 : P. 10 : V. 1-5 : A. 3-15 : C. IS.

Perca, Linn.

clso8oaS» (clgcgcooSu Tavoy.)

• That is D.. the dorsal has in the first fin 7 rays all spinous ; in the sacDnl fin
1 spinous, and 11 that are soft. P.. the pectoral fin. has 15 soft rays. V., the
ventral fin has 1 spinous ray, and 5 that are soft A., the anal fin has 3 spinous
and 8 soft rays 0., the caudal fin has 17 rays.

302 ICHTHYOLOGY.

cocKur.

A fish which Europeans in India call cockup, is
very common on the coast, and often ascends the large
rivers a long distance. Crawfurd found it a hundred and
twenty miles from the sea, in the Irrawaddy, and charac-
terizes it as " one of the best Indian fishes." It resem-
bles the basse, or wrasse, and I know it from examina-
tion to be of the genus lates, and I have good reason to
believe it is L. nobilis, though I am unable to speak with
certainty, for the want of books which describe that spe-
cies.*

Latcs nobiliz ?

SILAGO.

A salt-water fish less than a foot in length, with the first
ray of the two dorsal fins very long, is seen occasionally in
baznr. It belongs to Cuvier's genus silago, and Mr. Blyth,
to whom I sent a specimen, said it was
Silago acuta.
choGcgu

BAND-FISH.

At the fishing villages on the sea-coast I have noticed
a species of chaetodon, or band-fish.
Choetodon.

ELEPHANT-EAR FISH.

A fish of the chaetodon tribe, which the natives call
" elephant's ear, " from its shape, is found in great abun-
dance on the Tavoy coast. It resembles
Pomacentrus marginatus.

cHgao6^o8i esj^QinD. pD5ooa8^«

. Crawfurd gives Cais vacti as the systematic name of cockup, but that is a spe-
cies of India whiting, and I have the authority of Dr. M'Cleiland for appropriating
the name to L. nobilis.

ICHTHYOLOGY,

303

UMBER.

A species of umber, a fish resembling a perch, some-
times called sea-perch, was among the described species
that I sent Mr. Blyth.

Scicena.
o8coo5cn8e§y» QSQGQS OJlSj. gDpO^Sp&f «

INDIAN WHITING.

There are two or three species offish common in Cal-
cutta that are called whiting, from their resemblance, both
in form and flavour, to the European fish of that name.
One species is frequently seen in the Maulmain bazars,
and besides being a good fish for the table, its air-bladder
makes excellent isinglass. I think I have observed more
species than one sold under the same native name, but
the specimen I sent Mr. Blyth he said was
Corvinus editor.

This is another species of Indian whiting that also fur-
nishes isinglass, and which Mr. O'Riley sent up to Cal-
cutta from Amherst. Dr. M'Clelland wrote : " It be-
longs to the genus corvinus, closely allied to C. niger, but
of monstrous dimensions compared with the European
species."

Bolo chaptis, Buch.

Corvinus " M'Clell,

^oSoogcoSo O'Riley.

LARGE MULLET.

A species of mullet is very common, and is often seen
on the tables of Europeans, by whom it is highly esteem-
ed. Mr. Blyth, to whom I sent a specimen for the deter-
mination of the species, wrote that it was abundant in
Calcutta, but " is of a species I could never determine
from descriptions."
Mugil

clsooooc^u

304 ICHTHYOLOGY.

LARGE-EYED MULLET.

We have another mullet, equally valuable for the table
with the last, and equally common in Calcutta, but distin-
guished among other things by its small head, smaller
scales, and goggle eyes which appear to be starting out
of its head.

Mugtl ccpsalotus, Vallenciennes.

SMALL MULLET.

A small mullet is often found in great numbers in the
river near Maulmain, which many of the Burmese regard
as the young of the preceding, but it is a distinct species,
of which Mr. Blyth wrote that he had never seen it be-
fore, but had " made it out to be"

Mugil subviridis, Valenciennes.

MANGO FISH.

This is a splendid fish and a favorite with many. It is
nearly related to the mullets, and remarkable for the long
filaments to the pectoral fins.
Polyntmus paradiscus.

" Risua, Buch.

KING-FISH.

A few years ago the attention of the Commissioners of
these Provinces and Arracan was drawn to the fish that
produce isinglass; and the result was, the discovery on
our shores of the species of Indian whiting noticed above,
and Polyncmus sele, a fish that is found from Calcutta to
Otaheite. The polynemus produces isinglass of the best
quality, and Mr. O'Riley estimated that two thousand
pounds might be obtained annually off Amherst alone.
None of our merchants have yet entered into the isinglass
speculation, but the sounds are a constant article of traffic
among the Chinese.

Mr. Blundell said the largest sounds were exported from
Rangoon, and that they sell here at about half a rupee a

ICHTHYOLOGY. 305

pound ; and Major Bogle wrote, that about ten thousand
of the fishj large and small, were taken annually in Arra-
can, and that the sounds sold there for about a third of a
rupee per pound to the Chinese, who exported them to
Penang, where they are said to bring more than a rupee
a pound. The specimens that have been prepared in
India for the European market, are " complained of,"
says Dr. M'Clelland, " as being too thick, if intended to
come into competition with the superior varieties of Rus-
sian isinglass. The first quantities sent from India
brought only Is. Id., others have been sold for 3s., and a
few samples have been valued at 45. per pound."
Polynemus sele, Buch.

" plebeius, Brouss.

" lineatus, Lacep.

gelatinosus, M' CI ell.

no

<w

ka-tha {the young) O'Riley.

lukwah (ArracanJ Bogle.

r^ooSo (Tavoy.)

Emoi ( Otaheite. )

CLIMBING PERCH.

The climbing perch is a small fish, abounding in our
waters, which has the power of climbing up out of the
water on the roots of trees, and which will make its way
on land, the Karens say, a quarter of a mile. It corres-
ponds precisely to Gmelin's description oiPerca scandens
m his edition of Linnaeus, excepting in some of the fin-
rays ; more especially in the soft rays of the dorsal and
anal. It was placed by Cuvier in his genus anabas, and
to this Mr. Blyth referred a specimen I sent him ; but the
fin-rays differ sufficiently to constitute it a distinct species.

D. 17-25 : P. 12 : V. 1-6 : A. 10-18 : C. 17. P. scandens,
Gmelin.

D. 17-9 : P. 13 : V 1-5 : A. 9-12 : C. 17. The Tendssc
rim fish.

B i

BOG ICHTHYOLOGY.

AMPHIBIOUS SNaKE-HEAD.

Two or three species of ophiocephalus are very common.
They are fresh-water fish, appropriately named,? for the
head is very much like a snake's head, and they are re-
markable for the power of making their way from one pool
to another on land. One species it is said, usually lives
in hollow logs and holes, never in streams, and often a long
time in the jungle without water, It appears to be either
the same species, or a nearly related one to the bura-
chang of Boutan, which the natives believe falls from hea-
ven, from the circumstance of its being found after
rain far from the water. Some of the Karens regard these
with a superstitious awe, and abstain from eating them.
They have a legend that they were formerly men, changed
into fish for their sins ; and the Pwo Karens at Tavoy say :
" If people eat them, they will be transformed to lions."
The fame of this fish had reached Greece more than two
thousand years ago, for it is mentioned as a remarkable
Indian fish by Theophrastus.

Ophiocephalus amphibtus ?
cl8q|c3lSgc£) 8 cHsooooS esjlnj 0^301. pr£c6£u

SPOTTED SNAKE-HEAD.

A species of ophiocephalus common at Maulmain, is
remarkable for three black spots on the body just below
the lateral line, at equal distances between the termina-
tion of the pectoral fins and the base of the caudal ; and
a bright red circle on the base of the upper lobe of the
caudal fin, occupying nearly the whole breadth, with a
deep black centre. Two small black dots are seen on
the same lobe a little above the circle, and the dorsal and
anal fins are spotted with white at the base, while these
with the caudal are nearly black on the margin. In some
specimens a reddish stripe runs from the eye just above
the lateral line to the red spot on the tail. The back is
dark, and the belly of a light or whitish colour. A full
grown one is said to be a yard long. The fin-rays are,

D : 50. P. 16 : V. 5 : A. 36 : C. 12. (long rays.)
Ophiocephalus.

ICHTHYOLOGY. 307

BANDED SNAKE-HEAD.

A species of ophiocephalus with a singularly variegated
marking is occasionally brought to the bazars. The up-
per parts are dark olive green, and above the lateral line
the body is crossed with from fifteen to eighteen dark
bands. The lower parts are tinged with rose on the
sides, and banded with dark lines so as to meet the up-
per bands on the lateral line, and form an obtuse angle.
It rarely grows a foot long.

I sent Mr. Blyth a specimen of either this species or
the preceding, and he wrote : " This ophiocephalus is,
I believe, not named, but I have before had it from
Goalpara." The fin rays are,

D. 33: P. 15: V. 5: A. 25 : C. 11.

SMALL SNAKE-HEAD.

A smaller species of ophiocephalus, the natives call

At Tavoy I have noticed a fish resembling a species of
ophiocephalus, but of which I have no notes.

CIZCOQODOH ^J03JW. S^°?^°iL 8,i

SMALL-SCALED FISH,

The Microhptes, or small scaled fish, including the
other, tribes with spinous rays in the dorsal fins, do not
appear to be very numerous ; but they are represented in
our waters by Indian mackerel or tunny, ophidians, long-
snouts, dories, pomphrets, ribon-fish, flat heads, gobies,
amblyopus-suckers, and periophthalmi-

TUNNY.

A fish of the mackerel tribe, often called Indian mac-
kerel, or Indian tunny, belonging to the genus thyn-
nus, is not uncommon at Tavoy.
Thynnus.

OPHIDIAN.

This fish is often described as resembling a small eel,
but it has strong spines on the back, and before the anal
fin.

303 ICHTHYOLOGY.

Rhynchobdclla ocUlata- .

CiScgd^gn e5J 391. popoSc

BANDED OPHIDIAN.

Of another fish resembling the above inform, but of
more brilliant colours, Mr. Blyth wrote : ''The mastacem-
balus with transverse stripes is a new species." 3 A green
and yellow ground on the back and sides is crossed by a-
bout twenty five blue bands. There are 29 spines be-
fore the dorsal, and three before the anal, and there are
three on the preoperculum.
Mastacembalus.

c?.8G(gc§*u (cl8G|Soc^ Tavoy.) e3jsei. £o->g8u

LARGE-SNOUT.

A fish of the same tribe as the two preceding species is
not rare ; it is nearly related to M'Clelland's Macrog-
nathus undulatus from Chusan. Like that it has 37 spines
on the back in front ol the dorsal, and three before the
anal. The pectoral fin is also round, and contains about
20 rays. It differs however in having a truncated caudal
with about 20 rays, instead of a lanceolate one, and in
the fifrurinor on its sides.
Macrognathus.

SMALL DOREE.

A small fish of the doree tribe, common in our waters.
Mr. Blyth said was,

Equula ruconius.

u5coo5cl8o8o<Su o£coo5c)sc(cjcoc£u

o^l§je3j c^p cnJ.-oj ISj ?3j onj SfJobjBgjB^o*"

POMPHRET.

This fish is very abundant on the Tavoy coast, and in
a smooth sea may be seen deep in the water in great num-
bers, but they are very shy of the hook. They are con-
sidered one of the best fish for the table.
Stromateus ? Linn.

cl8y»clgulGyo8o

ICHTHYOLOGY.

309

RIBBON-FISH.

A species of ribbon-fish is very common at Tavoy, and
is dried in large quantities.
Gymnetres.

d8co§^« esjbSibei. £d£c£co»

FLATHEAD.

A species of flathead which I sent Mr. Blyth proved to
be

Platecephalus chaca.

GOBY.

A small fish about six inches long, with two dorsal fins
and a depressed head, the under jaw projecting, is
found in the bazars.

Gobius giuris.

POINT-TAILED GOBY.

A small goby with a lanceolate tail, and teeth on the
Front of the jaws like a pike, is sometimes seen in bazar.
The dorsal and anal fins are long, reaching nearly to the
base of the caudal.
Gobius ?

AMBLYOPUS-SUCKER.

This is an ugly looking fish, with the form of a small
eel, having the ventral fins united into a concave disk like
a sucker. The lower parts are red, and the upper lead
colour.

Amblyopus Cuv.

Psilosoma, Swain.

PERIOPHTHALMUS.

At least two different species of this genus may be
seen hopping about, in and out of the water, on every mud-
bank within the reach of tide-waters. Europeans often
call them frog-fish.

Pcriophthalmus.

chcSti (oqSSn Tavoy.)

310 ICHTHYOLOGY.

CARP FAMILY.

The carp tribe has more species in these Provinces
than any other family with which I am acquainted. It
embraces representatives of carps, cirrins, labeo, barbels,
breams, sustomus, perilamps, opsarions, bacailas, gudgeons,
white-fish, and loaches.

CARP.

Buchannan says of the catla that it " differs from the
common carp of Europe only in wanting cirri." The
carp of our waters has precisely the same number of fin
rays as the catla, and four cirri also, like the European
carp ; but M'Clelland adds : " It also differs from that
species in the want of spinous rays in the dorsal and
anal, as well as in general form. It approaches however,
much nearer the Prussian carp, C. gibelio, the general
figure, character of the fins, and number of their ray*.
being the same in both, but they differ in the size of their
scales and proportion of the head."

Our species, although it bears a strong resemblance to
the European carp, does not correspond exactly to the de-
scription of any European, or Indian species to which I
can refer. It belongs to the genus cirrinus as defined by
M'Clelland, which he says is " represented in America
by the catastomi, and in Europe by Cyprinus proprius."
The peculiar fleshy lips of this and the two or three species
following, bear a very strong resemblance to the lips of
the catastomi of the Ohio river. Unlike the catla the head
is short, forming about one fourth of the whole length
from the snout to the base of the caudal fin, and its
depth about two thirds of its length.

The back which is raised like the common carp, is of
deep lead colour, gradually growing lighter towards the
belly, which is white; but the centre of each scale all over
the body is tinged with red, of greater or less intensity
which distinguishes it at a glance from the allied species
There are forty two scales on the lateral line, and four-
teen from the ventral fin to the first ray of the dorsal*
D. 18 : P. 18 : V. 9 : A. 8 C. 19.

ICHTMtOLOGV. 311

Cyprinus, Buch.

Cirrinus, M'Clell.

CALABASU CARP.

This is a dark coloured fish with deep blue reflections,
and thick pendulous lips, like the American catastomus.
it is a common fish in Bengal, and was placed by Cuvier,
incorrectly however, among the barbels ; by Buchannan
among the carps, and by M'Clelland in his genus cirrinus,

Cirrinus calabasu, M'Clell.

Cyprinus " Buch.

Rohita " Blyth.

NANDINA CARP.

Another of Buchannan's carps called nandina in Ben-
gal, is sold in the bazars of Maulmain under the same
native names as the preceding, although the dorsal fin is
much longer. M The colour of the upper part of the body
is dark green, with coppery reflections : belo'y, it is
white; the fins are dark and the eyes red." M'Clelland
found it in the Bramaputra, but was not aware of its exis-
tence on this Coast.

Cyprinus nandina, Buch.

Cirrinus " M'Clell,

ROHITA CARP.

This species is rare in the Provinces, but large quan-
tities are imported, dried and smoked, from Burmah Prop-
er. Buchannan says : " It is a most valuable fish."

Cyprinus Rohita, Buch.

Cirrinus " M'Clell.

clgc^Sg" gDjSoooo" PBr 5 ^"

LABEO.

A small scaled fish of the carp tribe, with reddish ir-
idescent scales, and no cirri, which grows a foot and a
half long, is occasionally seen in the Maulmain bazar. It
has fifty eight scales on the lateral line, and nineteen ot

312 ICHTHYOLOGY.

twenty in a cross line from the ventral to the base of the
dorsal fin. The fin formula is,

D. 16: P. 13: V. 9 : A. 5 : C. 20.

Cyprinus, Buch.

Labeo, M'Clell.

MORTON BARBEL.

This is one of the most beautiful fish in the Provinces,
and when removed from its own element, its burnished
scales of green and yellow glisten and play in the sun-
light, like a panoply of brilliants.

Length of the head to that of the body as one to four,
twenty three scales along the lateral line, and six in an
oblique line from the base of the ventrals to the base of
the spinous ray before the dorsal. The fin rays are,
D. 10 . P. 12 : V. 8 : A. 7 : C. 20.

It appears to be a new species, for it is not described in
M'Clelland's monograph of the Indian cyprinidae, but ap-
proaches nearest B. hezagonolepus, from which it differs
materially in the scales and fin rays, and in the general
form and tints, as represented in M'Clelland's coloured
figure of that species. Though common in the southern
Provinces, I have never met with it at Maulmain.

The species has been dedicated to Dr. Morton, Civil
Surgeon to the Tenasserim Provinces, a gentleman no
less distinguished for his knowledge of the natural pro-
ductions of this Coast, than for his urbanity, skill, and be*
nevolence in his profession ; and who is well acquainted
with the haunts of this fish at the Sacred Lakes in the vi*
cinity of Tavoy.

These lakes, or reservoirs, are two small currentless
basins in Pagaya river, which sleep at the foot of pagoda-
crowned precipices from one to two hundred feet high.
The fish are held sacred by the Buddhists to those antique
pagod reliques, and come in shoals to the handfuls of rice
thrown them by the passing traveller, as fearless of man,
as of the barking deer that quaffs of their waters.
Barbus Mortonius , F. M.

ICHTHYOLOGY. 313

LONG-BEARDED BARBEL.

I have never seen the fish designated by the native
names below, since 1 received M'Clelland's work on the
cyprins, but the " peculiar appendages to the lower jaw,"
distinguishes it from all others, and there is little room
for doubting the identity of the species. It is not a very
abundant fish.

Barbus progeneius, M'Clell.

Cyprinus tor, Bucli.

cIsgjoSooSo wjooi. £2r^"

TAVOY MOUNTAIN BARBEL.

This fish does not appear to have been described, and
might be brought into the genus cyprinus, «r carp, as
described by some writers, but according to M'Clelland's
arrangement it is a species of mountain barbel. It has
two small cirri on the upper jaw, the dorsal fin is long
with sixteen rays, and the scales are small ; thirty three
on the lateral line.
Orrinus.

TENASSERIM BREAM.

I call this fish a bream, though it has a bony ray in the
dorsal, because in every other generic respect it corres-
ponds to the English bream, which it much resembles in
form. The Karens call it " the peepul leaf/' from its oval
form. The formula of the fin rays is,

D. 9: P. 15: V. 9 : A. 19: C. 19.
Abramis.

NARROW-MOUTHED CARP.

A class of small fish that were referred to the carps by
Buchannan, M'Clelland has formed into a new genus,
which he calls systomus, from their small mouths, and of
which we have several species. One is distinguished for
a yellow caudal fin,, edged with black.
Systomus.

314 ICHTHYOLOGY.

BLACK-BANDED SYSTOMUS.

Another species of systomus, with two small cirri
to the upper jaw, and blackish bands on the sides,
that grows as large as a barbel, is not uncommon at Tavoy.
The ventral and anal fins are reddish, and there are twen-
ty five scales on the lateral line.
Systomus.

cisgSscooobn *3J <2V Br^"

BLACK AND RED TAILED SYSTOMUS.

A handsome species of systomus, that I think is unde-
scribed, has the extremities of the dorsal, ventral, anal, and
caudal fins, of a bright scarlet colour ; but the external
rays of the caudal fin are deep black, contrasting boldly
with the red rays. Two small barbules are attached to
the upper jaw, inter-opercula black with a small black
spot immediately above them, and sub-opercula tinged
with red. The spinous ray of the dorsal fin is serrated,
and there are thirty one scales on the lateral line, and
thirteen on an oblique line from the base of the ventrals
to the base of the dorsal.

D.9: P. 11: V. 9 : A. 7 : C. 19.
Systomus.

cls^'oii (clscco^n Tavoy.) e5J09i«3l. gojSoo^Si..

BLACK SPOTTED SYSTOMUS.

Another species of systomus is abundant, with the ge-
neral form of the preceding, but wanting its colours,
though the gill covers are yellowish, and the ventral fin
slightly tinted with red. It has no barbules, and the dor-
sal spinal ray is not serrated. There is a black spot on
the dorsal fin, and on some specimens a black band a-
cross the caudal fin. Twenty four scales are counted on
the lateral line, and nine in an oblique direction across
the body. In general appearance it strongly resembles
M'Clelland's figure of S. ?nalacopterus, but corresponds
nearest to the description of S. sophore.

D. 9 : P. 15 : V. 10 : A. 7 : C. 20.

ichthyology. 315

Systomus sopkore, ? M'Clell.

Cyprinus " Buch.

cl^» cI^qi e$j C30J §1. gajSoo^cflu

ROSE^riNNEU SYSTOMUS.

Another species of systomus, with red-tipped fins, and
without barbules, is common.
Systomus.

BLACK-TAILED SYSTOMUS.

Another small fish, from four to six inches long, with
the caudal fin partly black, and hence called by the Bur-
mese the black tailed fish, is, T think, a species of
Systomus.

BLACK-BACKED SYSTOMUS.

One species of the genus is characterized by a black
back.

Systomus.

clgsjo^oScoon esjDjnqjO 1 ]. £o[Booj$oin

PER1LAMP.

A small fish belonging to Cuvier's genus abramis, or
bream, but which falls into M'Clelland's new genus pe-
rilampus, abounds here The mouth is placed on the up-
per part of the head, the back straight from the head to the
tail, and it appears to be nearly related to P. perseus, but
they differ in the fin rays.

Pcrilampus.

cI80'joo5goodb eSJ£)J33j.

SCARLET-F1NNED PERILAMP.

A distinct species with reddish fins, the mouth opening
upwards, and the lateral line near the edge of the belly, is
common at Tavoy.

Penlampus.

316 ICHTHYOLOGY.

OPSARION.

Among our small fish of the carp tribe, is one with a
greenish back.

D. 8 : P. 12: V. 8 : A. 19: C. 30.
Opsarius pholicephalus ?

WHITE BELLIED OPSARION.

Another opsarion, with a silvery white abdomen, and
golden green back, is nearly related to one of M'Clelland's
species.

D. 9 : P. 12 : V. 7 : A. 20 : C. 19.
Opsarius albulus, M'Clell.

Cyprinus phulo, Buch.

cHgqSccJlSgooii esj (33 .co58^»

BACAILA.

A species of opsarius resembling the preceding, with
the same native names, I sent to Mr.Blyth, who said it was
Buchannan's bacaila.

Ops-irius bacaila, M'Clell.

Cyprivus " Buch.

LARGE GUDGEON.

A species of gudgeon which grows from one to two feet
long, is often seen in the waters of Amherst Province. It
differs from all the species described by M'Clelland, but
appears to be the Tenasserim representative of the Bengal
mrigala,* or mirga. The head, eyes, and mouth, with the
upper jaw projecting over the under, two minute cirri on
the upper jaw. and head and back green, all correspond
with the Bengal fish ; but there is a material difference in
other respects. Our fish has thirty eight scales on the
lateral line and eleven in an oblique line from the base of
the ventral to the dorsal. The fin rays are,

D. 14, or 15: P. 16, or 17: V. 10 : A.7:C. 20
Gobio.

cigsjSa ejj^ei. S? ?" 23J5*Soii

• Cyprinue mrigala. Buch.

ICHTHYOLOGY. 317

i

RED-EYED GUDGEON.

A species of the same size as the preceding with red
*?yes, the back lead colour with the scales on the sides
red in the centre, is found occasionally in theSalwen. It
appears to correspond nearest to Buchannan's Cyprinus
pangusia, but differs in some respects, and the back is much
more arched than that species in M'Clelland's figure. It
is destitute of cirri, the lips are fleshy, and the intestines
very long. There are forty one scales on the lateral
line, and twelve on an oblique line from the ventrals to the
base of the dorsal. The first rays of the dorsal and anal
iins in both these species are neither flexible nor spinous,
but bony. In classing them with the gudgeons, I have
treated them as flexible, but should another observer con-
sider them spinous, he will necessarily remove them to
another genus. The fin rays of the two species do not.
differ from each other, more than individuals of each ap-
pear to differ among themselves ; so that the fin rays will
not serve to mark any specific difference.

D. 15. P. 16: V. 10: A. 7 : C. 19.

Gobio, M'Clel).

Cyprinus, Buch.

cl«sjS«qjoS8$s. eSJ091«3l. £>58i&5n

SMALL CYPRIN.

A small cyprin about five inches in length, is com-
mon in the interior. It is of a dark slate colour, with
about sixty scales on the lateral line.

D. 16: P. 16: V. 8 : A. 6 : C. 17.
Cyprinidcc.

CHELA.

A fish of Buchannan's genus chela, and M'Clelland's
opsarius, with the dorsal fin close to the caudal, and
anal fin long, is not rare.

Chela, Buch.

Opsarius, M'Clell.

G|8cyo6« rtj^lGS. ggScpsb^i

' c*l

313 ICHTHYOLOGY.

WHITE FISH.

A sptcies of white fish is brought to the bazars in
Maulmain, which has no barbules, and the dorsal fin is
exactly over the interval between the ventral and anal.
Its fin-formula does not correspond exactly to any of the
species described by M'Clelland.

D.9: P. 14: V. 9 : A. 12: C. 19.
Leuciscus.

TAVOY WHITE FISH.

I have noticed a fish in the fresh-water streams of
Tavoy, that resembles a species of
Leuciscus.

LOACH.

Two distinct species of loach in the mountain streams
of the southern Provinces, I have seen, and there are
probably others.
Colitis.

HERRING, PIKE, AND FLAT-FISH.

The herring, pike, and flat-fish tribes are represented
by, flat-bellied herrings, thryssa-anchovies, Tenasserinv
sardines bristle-finned sprats, shads, chatresi, fresh-water
herrings, flying-fish, half-billed gar-fish, pikes, plagusia^
soles, and brachirus-turbots.

flat-bellied herring.
A species of platygaster of the herring tribe, is often
seen in bazar, which resembles the common herring. The
mouth is entirely vertical, and the dorsal fin commence?
behind a very small ventral. The caudal fin is forked
and yellowish, and the opercula are yellow. The fin rays:
are,

D. 14: P. 13: V. 6 : A. 4 : C. 20=
Platygaster.

ICHTUYOLOGY.

319

cleg:

THRYSSA-ANCHOVY.

The genus thryssa, says Swainson, " has the general
aspect of the anchovy, engraulis, but the body is broader,
the mouth enormous, and opening almost vertical." The
species then that inhabits our waters may be denomi-
nated the thryssa-anchovy.
Thryssa.
clscofgaSicUgosB

BRISTLE-FINNED SPRAT.

Another small fish of the herring tribe so much resem-
bles the preceding, that the Burmese call it by the same
name. It is, however, easily distinguished by a long fila-
ment or bristle, which is attached to each pectoral fin.
Both species are often called sprats by Europeans, and
they belong to the same tribe.
Setipinna.

SARDINE.

There is a small fish of the herring family atTavoy and
Mergui, which 1 have not examined, but Dr. Morton
thinks it is identical, or nearly related to the common sar*
dine, a fish of the same genus as the anchovy.
Engraulis meletta ?

MALAY SHAD.

A fish of the herring family, with a deep notch in the
upper jaw, characteristic of the genus alosa, abounds in
the waters of Tavoy, and is often seen in the Maulmain
bazars. It is called by the Burmese the Malay fish, and
many being exported, dried, or salted from Tavoy, it ha?
received at Maulmain the name of" the Tavoy fish."
D. 14: P. 15: V. 8: A. 23: C. 20.
Alosa.

320 ICHTHYOLOGY.

RANGOON SHAD.

Another species of shad is occasionally found in the
estuary of the Sal wen, which is said to be much more abun-
dant near Rangoon.

D. 17 : P. 14 : V. 8 : A. IS : C. 18.

clsOOGCODoSn

CHATyESUS.

Some of the fish sold under the name of the Malay
shad, belong to the genus chatassus, characterized by the
last ray of the dorsal fin ''prolonged into a lengthened
filament."

Chatccsus.

FRESH-WATER HERRING.

This species the Karens call the leaf-fish, from its shape.
Swainson says : " It has the general appearance of a her-
ring, and is a rare Indian fresh-water fish, considered by
Pallas as a gymnotus, but removed by Cuvier to the herring
family." It grows much larger than a herring, and abounds
m our streams.

Notoptcrus kapirat.

clgtfuS" esjcyu. £oScoSn £B?^"

FLYING-FISH.

The flying-fish is often seen fluttering above the waves
off our coasts.

Exocetus.

dhgf>

GAR-FISH.

A handsome species of gar-fish inhabits our fresh-water
streams, which in its colouring and general appearance,
cannot be distinguished from the gar-fish of New En-
gland, but its fin-formula is materially different. It has
light green upper parts approaching to silvery white be-
neath, and the caudal fin is truncated. The Karens call
it the bird-fish, from its long bill.

D. 11: P. 9: V. 6 : A. 16 : C. 17.
Bclone.
cheefl£§8u esj O0J. gpcS^u

ICHTHYOLOGY. 321

HALF-BILLED GAR-FISH.

In smooth weather at the mouth of our rivers, the water
*• sometimes seen almost covered with a curious gar-fish,
whose upper mandible is very short, while the lower is as
long as the ordinary gar-fish. Its snout forms a perfect
counter-part to that of the scissors-bill.
Hemiramphus.

oficou5cisc»)£§*i oj ooj oj ISj. e {5c8£8pcb{5»

PIKE.

I have not met with pike in these Provinces, but it pro-
bably exists, for Capt. Phayre sent Dr. M'Clelland a spe-
cies from Arracan, and M'Clelland wrote in his Journal ;
"We have been favoured by Lieut. Phayre with two fishes
from Arracan, one a species of cyprinus from the Lemgoo
river, the other a kind of pike." But I am not aware that
it has been described.
Esox.

TENASSERIM SOLE.

A small fish of the sole family that grows to nine inch-
es or a foot long, is sometimes seen in bazar. It ha?
no pectoral fins, and the dorsal, caudal and ventral fins
are united, so it is a species of plagusia. The natives
think that two of them always swim together, with their
flat, uncoloured sides united.
Plagusia.

BRACHIRUS TURBOT.

A small flat fish with the aspect of the turbot, with two
pectorals, the dorsal, caudal and anal united, and of 3.
dark grey colour on the upper or right side, is sometimes
in market.

Brachirus, Swain.

tfiegiopi wgnjqh. £2?°8?S) 1B

322 ICHTHYOLOGY.

CAT-FISH.

The cat-fish, which Linnaeus included in the single
genus silurus, are very numerous in our waters. I have
noticed more than thirty different species, and there are
probably many others.

ADIPOSE CAT-FISH.

The cat-fish which are characterised by possessing a sec-
ond adipose dorsal fin, are quite abundant. Two or three
species are often called by the same native names.
Pimelodina.

els 00$"

SHORT-HBADED CAT-FISH.

A large cat-fish with a comparatively short head, small
second dorsal fin, and a rather long anal, is often seen in
bazar. It has two barbules on the upper jaw, and four
on the lower.

Pimelodina (Breviccps ? )

EIGHT BARBULED CAT-FISH.

A cat-fish about a cubit long, with two dorsal fins, and
four cirri on the upper and four on the lower jaw, is not
uncommon.

Pimelodince.

MAILED CAT-FISH.

A cat-fish with a long head, and mailed to the dorsal fin,
is an inhabitant of our estuaries. It has strong spines in
the dorsal and pectoral fins, which are serrated on the
inner sides only, and resembles in its general appearance
Pimclodus aspcrus. There are four cirri to the under
jaw, and two to the upper, which are united by a mem-
brane half their length to the head.

D. 1-6 : P. 1-8 : V. 6 : A. 14 : C. 16 {long rays.)
Pimelodince.

dsG£p£a e3J90J\ goj5d&

ICHTHYOLOGY. 323

SERRATE-SPINBD CAT-FIgH.

This fish resembles the preceding, but the head is less
mailed, and the spines of the dorsal and pectoral fins
are serrated on both sides. The cirri and fin-formula are
the same, but the upper cirri are not united by a mem-
brane to the head. The Burmese call both by the same
name.

PimelodincB.

cl:GGp£ii

LONG DORSAL-FINNED CAT-FISH.

Another common cat-fish belongs to the section of
pimelodus, which has the adipose or second dorsal fin "of
such considerable length as almost to fill up the interval
between the first dorsal and the caudal, while it is very
low at both extremities." The first soft ray of the dorsal
fin is prolonged much beyond the others. The muzzle
is narrow, rounded, and has four short cirri on the lower
jaw and two on the upper, equalling the length of the
whole body.

PimelodincB.

FRESH-WATER CAT-FISH.

A fresh-water cat-fish, a foot and a half long, of which
I have only brief notes, belongs to the
PimelodincB.
tfs^oSi. OJ G3J. E3?5£?" SB? 030 !'

TOPSY-TURVEY FISH.

This is an odious looking, small, fresh-water hsh, with
the general form of the river bull-head or miller's thumb,
but it appears to be a cat-fish of the tribe with a second
adipose dorsal fin. The ventral fins are placed far back
under the second dorsal, the head is mailed, with four
cirri on each jaw ; the two on the upper one are very
long, and two are very short. Its abdomen is enormous,
as large as that of a sea-porcupine, and the natives say it
always swims on its back, and hence they call it " the
back-going fish."

Pimclodince..

324 ICHTHYOLOGY.

LARGE SILURE.

The tribe of cat-fish characterized by the " tail and
anal fin very long," contributes several species. One,
which is said to grow as large as a man, has four cirri on
the upper jaw and none on the lower ; and the firtt ray
of the dorsal fin is prolonged.
Silurus.

SMALL CAT-FISH.

A small cat-fish of the same tribe, has four cirri on the
upper and four on the under jaw.

D. 1-5: P. 1-5. V. 6: A. 50 : C. 18.
Silurus.

TWO-BARBULED SILURE.

A small fresh-water cat-fish, has only two cirri, resem-
bling Lacepede's silure deux taches.
Silurus.

SMALL FRESH-WATER CAT-FISH.

A small fresh-water cat-fish of the genus silurus, from
six to nine inches long, with strong spines on the pectoral
fins, is very common.
Silurus.
clgGOCpi C3JQ1. £oj5sol«

FORK-TAILED CAT-FISH.

A small fresh-water silure, six inches long, with the
caudal fins forked, is common.

Callichrus, Buch.

cU^cg^sii esjo3i§i. £3p&5cf)H

SILVERY CAT-FISH.

A small pretty silvery cat-fish, with two long cirri to the
upper jaw, is often brought to the bazars in Maulmain,
which the natives call by the same names as the preceding.
Silurus,

cig^oo^'i ojoSigi. go5&5dli

ICHTHYOLOGY. 325

The Karens distinguish two allied species, which the
Burmese call by the same name.

esjC93LC90iooi. £>j5c!>58*>c85"

esjcsSiqjSiqjei. pdj5c>5c\£8»

LARGE BARBULELESS CAT-FISH.

A large cat-fish found in the estuaries, with two dorsal
tins and no cirri, is not rare. It is said to grow six feet
long, and weigh more than a hundred pounds. There are
two species that are called by the same name. One with
wide truncated muzzle, the other with a pointed snout.
Ageniosus.

SMALL BARBULELESS CAT-FISH.

A small species of fresh-water cat-fish is also distin-
guished by being destitute of cirri.
Ageniosus.

PLOTOSUS CAT-FISH.

There are several species of cat-fish with the dorsal,
caudal, and anal fins united, which are called by the same
Burmese names, but the Karens distinguish three species.

Plotosus.
clg^u <SJ(P OJ. gDJBcBjSi £Dj5c8£c8i g^cS^o^lN

CLARIAS CAT-FISH.

This is a small fresh-water fish, that differs from all the
preceding, by having the caudal fin distinct, characteris-
tic of the genus clarias. The Burmese do not distin-
guish it from the preceding. A specimen that I sent Mr.
Blvth he said was

Clarias magony.
clg^n esjflOJ. gScSSao^rui (Tavoy.)

LONG-HEADED CAT-FISH.

A cat-fish with a prolonged flat head, the snout very
broad, two barbules on the upper jaw which is longer
than the lower, on which there are four barbules, is called
cat-fish by the Burmese.
Sorubium.

326 ICHTHYOLOGY.

SMALL SORUBIUM.

A smaller species than the preceding, with the same
generic chracteristic, is common, and other small species
of pimelodinoe go by the same native names.
Soi ubium.

cuos§s*q ejGsoSi. e^? ? 1 "

SHARK-SNOUTED CAT-FISH.

This species has a long pointed cartilaginous snout,
with the mouth opening below it like a small shark. It
has two short cirri on the upper jaw, and four on the low-
er. There are two dorsal fins, and the dorsal and pecto-
ral spines are serrated on both sides.
Sorubium.

dhccpSa WJ90J 5 . £>ji)c8si<

LARGE CAT-FISH.

A cat-fish which is sometimes six feet long and a foot
wide, inhabits our estuaries.

OTHER CAT-FISH.

There are three or four other species, with distinct
native names, which I have not examined beyond ascer-
taining that they are cat-fish.

c1s008cgo5n (a cured cat-fish in bazar!)

c"18cocoo8b Br^^K" ( a f res ^' wnier fish.)

cUoooSo (Tavoy.) gSf i(53 (an estuary species.)

CARTILAGINOUS FISH,

We have no sturgeons among our cartilaginous fish, but
the sharks and rays are very numerous, with one or more
species of saw-fish, and torpedo.

SHARK.

Sharks are exceedingly numerous along the Coast.
Between Tavoy and Mergui I have seen them gamboling

ICHTHYOLOGY. 32/

arouftd my boat by dozens. At Mergui, large quantities
of shark's fins are exported by the Chinese as a delicacy.
There are several species, but I have not studied them.
Gigantic fossil teeth of a species of shark are found on
the Arracan coast.

Squalus, Linn.

Cl8«$8'i WJftUJ. £DJ50D§I £o|Stt>8c8§S
RHINEODON SHARK.

The natives describe to me a species like rhineodon,
" with the moulh placed at the tip of the snout.''
Rhineodon,
c1«oftc§£si

HAMMER-HEADED SHARK.

The curious shark with a head like a hammer, accor-
ding to an Englishman's imagination, but like a buffalo's
horned-head, according to the Burmese, is also abundant.
Zygana.
Clsofs^ji. WJftQJOnD. £DJ58o^«

SAW-FISH.

A species of saw-fish, with its snout " produced
into an osseous, flat, sword-shaped plate, armed with spines
on the sides, " frequents our waters. The bony snouts
are sometimes seen two feet long, and are by some sup-
posed to belong to the sword-fish.
Pristis.
clsoooSbu e3jftj>o§. od5odM»

SCATE.

There are several species of scate or rays in our waters,
and all, so far as I have observed them," belong to that
section of the tribe that has the tail armed with serrated
spines.

Trigonina.

c8o5©oqpo5« qjIoi. od*ooo1«

TORPEDO.

The torpedo, or electrical fish, is said to be found on
the Coast, but I have not met with it,
Torpedo ?

328 ICHTHYOLOGY

TORTOISE-FORMED FISHES.

Of Swainson's order the Plectognathes, or tortoise-form*
ed fishes, we have representatives, in the sea-porcupines,
and the fishing frogs.

FOUR-TOOTHED SEA^PORCUPINE.

This is an odious looking fish, that has the power of in-
flating its abdomen to an enormous size, which compels
it to turn on its back. It belongs to Linnaeus' genus te-
tradon, so named from each jaw being divided into two
parts so as to form four teeth ; and is called sea-porcupine,
because several of the species are covered with spines.
The species common off this Coast is perfectly smooth on
the back, which is covered with bright, greenish-yellow
spots, but the belly is inlaid with numerous small spines,
like the thorns of a rose-tree. Authors who restrict the
sea-porcupines to the genus diodon, would call this
species square fish. It is nearly related to the American
toad fish, which is deemed poisonous, but our fish is eaten
by the poorer natives. The fin rays are,

D. 10: P. 16: A 10: C. 7.

Lagocephalus, Swain.

cl8c^oo£sa e3J39JO0J. OOi^c85u

SMOOTH SEA-PORCUPINE.

The natives inform me that there is a smaller specie*
than the preceding, which I have not seen, in which the
(bdomen as well as the back is perfectly smooth.
Lzisomus, ? Swain.

cls^cn8scoo8ii ?3J39JO01O0J. OOi^c858"

FISHING FROG.

An ugly little fish resembling a species of lophius, the
angler, fishing frog, or sea devil, which I have not exa-
mined, frequents our Coast.
Lophins ?

ICHTHYOLOGY. 329

EEL TRIBE

The eels are not numerous in individuals, but in these
Provinces, and in Arracan there have been found nine or
ten species.

COMMON EEL.

The eel most usually seen in bazar, which belongs to
the genus anguilla, with pectoral fins, is identical with a
species described by Dr. M'Clelland, from Arracan, of
which " the colour above is dark olive-green or brown,
and white beneath."

Anguilla bicolor.

OTHER COMMON EELS.

The natives describe another species resembling the
above, but for which they have no distinctive name. It
is probably one of three other species that inhabit Arra-
can, two of which, Capt. Phayre sent Dr. M'Clelland from
Sandoway.

Anguilla arracana.
i( brevirostris

" ncbulosa.

MURyENA EEL.

Of the eels belonging to the Linmean genus mura3na,
Dr. M'Clelland received specimens of one species from
Sandoway.

Tharodontis reticulata. M'ClclI.

SERPENT-HEARTED EEL.

There is a peculiar tribe of eels in India which are
characterized by having the heart far back in the body,
like a serpent, and not near the gills, as in ordinary eels.
Their general appearance too is more that of a snake than
an eel, but a large opening for the gills under the throat
proves at a glance that it is a fish and not a serpent. The
present species was first described by Buchannan, who
said it had neither fins nor scales ; and this is the first

n 1

330 1CHTHYOL

impression, but on closer examination it will be found to
have scales, and narrow fringes may be seen near the tail,
representing the dorsal and anal fins. It corresponds in
all important respects with M'Clelland's description of
P. striatus, but the tail is rather shorter ; there are no
black spots on the back, and the under parts are or-
ange-white, interspersed with dark patches or spots, of
the same olive-green colour as the back.

Pncumabranchus striatus, M'Clell.

Unibranchapcrtura cuchia, Buchan.

cls^gu o3ioo"u ooiojicolii

PHAYRE'S SERPENT-HEARTED EEL.

This is a new species, more typical of the tribe than
the preceding, and may be regarded as the serpent-heart-
ed eel par excellence. Dr. M'Clelland received his spe-
cimens from Capt. Phayre ofArracan, and named the
species after him. I have not identified the fish in
these Provinces; but there is an eel which the natives say
differs from the preceding in having a shorter head and
being destitute of scales, which shows that it is either
this species, or a species of ophisternon. To assist in the
identification of this rare and curious species, I insert
M'Clelland's description in full.

"In this singular species the intestinal aperture is placed
at the posterior fifth of the length. The head is short,
raised and round, larger in diameter than the body, the
adjoining portion of which is, towards the head, aug-
mented ; the jaws are depressed, the upper jaw is rath-
er more prominent than the lower, the muzzle is round-
ed, having two short tubular nostrils at the extremity.

"The body is not compressed, but is slightly conical
from the head to near the vent ; the tail from thence
becomes much compressed and very narrow. The tail
is emarginated with an adipose duplicative of the skin
like the blade of an oar.

"The outer band of teeth on the upper jaw expands in
front on either side, without meeting the opposite cor-
responding band, thus leaving a narrow vacant space
ait the apex. There are three strong branchial archer

ICHTHYOLOGY. 331

with slight fleshy very short pectinated gills, like the
teeth of a saw.

"There are five branchial rays on each side, the first
larger and stronger than the others, and isolated from
them, standing considerably in front. The branchial rays
are strong and bony.

"There are no scales distinguishable in the skin, even
with the microscope.

"The colour above is dusky-brown, minutely dotted
with brownish black, the lower parts are of a somewhat
lighter shade.

"The length of the specimen is about 20 inches.

"The stomach is an expansion of the oesophagus into
a long spindle-shaped, wide tube, tapering equally at
either end, and contracting gradually behind into nar-
row intestine, which again gradually expands almost to
the size of the stomach ; the whole, including the oeso-
phagus being one continuous straight tube. There seems
to be no pyloric valve, the contraction of the first por-
tion of the intestine answering the purpose of one."
Ophicardia Phayreana.

cls^g^so ? OOlOJlSlu

SERPENT-TRUNKED EEL.

Another eel from Arracan M'Clelland placed in his
new genus ophisternon.

Ophisternon hepaticus.

CONGER EEL.

JVTClelland says there are no proper conger eels in
India, the species that was referred to that genus by Bu-
channan, forming the type of a new genus, which he has
named mureenesox, the species of which he says, n occupy
an equivalent place in the East, with the congers of the
"Western world." There are probably several species on
the Coast. Captain Lloyd met with one four feet long
ofifthe islands on the Arracan coast.
Muramcsox exodentata.
Oil u)£o5jgu]o8ii

332 ICHTHYOLOGY.

OTHER SEA-EELS.

There are several other species of sea-eels but 1 have
not investigated them. The natives regard them all as
related to the pelagic snakes, and some say their bite is
poisonous, though not fatal.

Karens in the delta of the Irrawaddy distinguish several
species.

Muramcsox. ?
28£dScoSh g8gS£Ol« ^SgSoOll 2 8 £3^^ r 2 8C l^"

ADVERTISEMENT.

In the Press, and shortly will be published,
AN APPENDIX

TO THE PRECEDING WORK.

The author has not gone- over all the ground he con-
templated, but lie has much exceeded the limits which he
had originally marked out for himself, in the size of
the book that he proposed to furnish at the subscription
price. He had therefore to choose between making the
latter part of the work a mere catalogue, which would
be to make it comparatively valueless, or to treat the sub-
jects in a manner uniform with each other, and close the
work at the end of Ichthyology. After consulting some of
the subscribers most interested in tha work, he has cho-
sen the latter alternative, but any subscriber who may be
dissatisfied with this arrangment, will not be considered
under any obligation to receive the copies for which he
has subscribed.

The writer proposes to publish the remainder of his
notes in the form of an Appendix, which will treat on Rep-
tiles, Insects, Shells, and the Native Tribes. Systematic
Catalogues will be added of the Minerals, Plants, Mamma-
lia, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, and Shells ; and
alphabetical indexes of the English, systematic, Burman,
and Karen names that occur in the work.

New York Botanical Garden Library

QH183.M38 gen

Mason, Francis/The natural productions o

5185 00014 7841

: «L^y"Y

.wST:»vi '

^

ft

■

**L

■ j.i

&

ILl