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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 8, p. 46.

46 BHAHO DISTXIC2' into the main stream at Hngetpyawdaw about 8 miles above Bhamo. Next below it is the TAPING, an ungovernable waterway which quits the hills at Myothit in the north-east of the District, and flows more or less parallel to the Mole into the Irrawaddy almost immediately above Bhamo. Numerous villages stand on ifs banks, but its course is described by the people themselves as like that of a drunken man; and some years ago it destroyed nearly all of these hamlets. South of the Taping are shorter streams, flowing more or less westwards-the Nansari and the Thinlin, along whose banks are dotted small Shan-Burmese villages. South of these again is the Moyu ; and lastly, flowing in a north-westerly direction to join the Irrawaddy just above the second defile, is the Sinkan, which drains all the southern part of the plain. Deserted paddy-fields on its banks show that they must have been culti- vated before the inhabitants were driven out by the Kachins, and it may yet, like the Taping, flow past prosperous villages; but at present the riches of the Sinkan valley lie in its forests. The plain between these several streams is mostly uncultivable, for it is high-lying and cut up in all. directions by nullahs, and will long remain under thick tree-jungle or forest. The rivers entering the Irrawaddy on its right bank are less numerous than those on its left. A considerable portion of the western border is marked by the Kaukkwe, flowing southwards into the main stream a few miles west of Shwegu. The only other important water- way on this side is the Mosit, which empties :itself into the Irrawaddy a little to the east of Shwegu. A large portion of the District is covered by the alluvium of the Irrawaddy and its tributaries. The mountains on the east are formed of crystalline rocks, gneisses, schists, and crystalline limestones, with intrusive dikes of basic igneous rocks. Patches of Tertiary sandstones occur here and there, surrounded by the alluvium. The country has not yet, however, been examined carefully from a geological point of view. . The botany has not been studied as a whole, but the vegetation is rich and the flora varied. Bamboos and canes abound, and in the hills orchids are common. Large stretches of the plain land near the rivers are covered with thick elephant-grass. The elephant, tiger, and sdmbar are met with in the wilder parts of the District, while hog deer and barking-deer abound everywhere. The leopard is ubiquitous, and at the foot of the hills wild hog are common. It is doubtful whether there are any real wild buffaloes, those met with being probably the progeny of the domestic animal. Snipe are com- paratively scarce, but duck can be shot in many places, and partridge and jungle-fowl everywhere. In the plains the cold-season months are cool, though near the rivers thick mists lie well into the morning, impeding traffic, and making the