362 TEE INDIAN EMPIRE [CHAP.
and by smaller craft as far as Kyaukse. Farther east again
are the Sittang and the Salween rivers, both of which discharge
into the Gulf of Martaban. The former of these is navigable
by small steamers during the monsoon as far as Toungoo, and
for small craft as far as Pyinmana in Upper Burma. All these
rivers have numerous navigable affluents, and branches or
mouths which spread fanlike over their deltas and are in
navigable communication with each other. There are also, all
round the Burma coast, innumerable creeks and backwaters
open to steamers or smaller craft.
Navigation The tolls charged for navigation vary very much on different
dues. works, and cannot be easily compared. In the United
Provinces and the Punjab monthly or quarterly charges are
made according to the size of the boat, which is then free of
the canal during the period for which the pass is given. On
the Fuleli Canal in Sind the same system is adopted. In
Bengal the charge depends on the maundage, which is taken
roughly as half the displacement measured in cubic feet.
There are fixed rates per Ioo maunds for different reaches,
which vary with the length and other circumstances. In
Madras the Bengal system of distance-tolls on all vessels
plying between certain stations was originally in force; but
has been replaced by a system of annual and short-term
(6 weeks) licences, for which moderate fees are charged, and
which leave the holders free to navigate all parts of the con-
nected waterway systems. In Burma navigation tolls are
levied only on the Pegu-Sittang Canal, where they are charged
on the carrying capacity of the boats expressed in baskets of
paddy ('unhusked rice'), and on the Shwetachaung Canal in
Mandalay District, which is navigable for about 13 miles.
Conservancy or registration fees are sometimes charged on
vessels navigating the large rivers. On the Indus the charge
is at the rate of Rs. 4 per annum per maund of registered
burden for native craft, while steamers which pay no port dues
are charged three times this amount.
Navigable The comparative merits of railways and navigable canals as
canalscom- means of communication have sometimes been discussed.
railways. The principal argument in favour of the latter is that the cost
of haulage or transport is less. On the other hand, canal
routes are more devious; cross-communications or connexions
between different systems are more difficult; feeder canals
cannot be taken into new areas of supply with the same
facility as feeder railways; the time occupied in transport on
canals is much greater; and, lastly, there are many tracts in
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