---

Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 10, p. 280.

280 PAKOKKU CHIN HILLS District, Burma, lying between 20° 4o' and 2r° 45' N. and 93° 3o' and 94' 9' E., with an area of about 2,250 square miles, and inhabited by Chins. There is no distinctive native name for the tract. On its east is Pakokku District; on its north-east the Chin Hills; on its south-east and south Minbu District; on the south-west for a length of about 14 miles the tract borders on Akyab; thence westward and north- westward it is bounded by unadministered Chin country, from which, however, it is distinctly marked off by the Arakan Yoma in the south, and by a spur from that range farther north. This spur is the back- bone of the Pakokku Chin Hills. It branches off Physical aspects. from the Yoma at about 2I° 45' N., at a peak called . Aisatung, and ends in the south-east corner of the tract. It is 2,000 to 3,000 feet higher than the main range, which reaches an elevation of about 5,000 to 7,000 feet along the country now being described. The several offshoots from, this spur and the deep valleys between form the hill tract. There is no flat country anywhere. Of the subsidiary spurs the most prominent is that which cuts the tract laterally into two almost equal parts, and rising to 10,400 feet in MOUNT VICTORIA, possesses the highest peak in all the Chin country. Lower down on this offshoot, at an elevation of 6,500 feet, is Kanpetlet, the bead-quarters of the tract. The chief rivers are the Maw, Yaw, and Mon. The first runs northwards into the Myittha, and belongs to the drainage of the Chindwin, while the others have a generally southerly course and empty themselves into the Irrawaddy. The Mon is the largest ; it rises under Aisatung, skirts the northern half, and flows through the southern half of the tract, finally entering Minbu District. So far as is known, the geology and botany of the tract differ in no essential particulars from those of the CHIN HILLS. In addition to the ordinary kinds of wild beasts found in Upper Burma (the tiger, the elephant, &c.), the only noteworthy animals are the goral (Cemas goral) and the screw (Nemorhaedus bubalinus). Different kinds of monkeys and flying squirrels abound. Till recently no observations of rainfall have been taken, but it is estimated that about roe inches of rain fall in the year. At Kanpetlet the average is about 120 inches. From June to November the climate is very humid and depressing, a day of uninterrupted sunshine being rare; and even when it is not raining heavy mists usually envelop the whole country. From the middle of December to the end of March the climate is cold, but dry and altogether enjoyable. The day tempera ture is then about 75°, and the night temperature 35° to 40°. Frost is constantly experienced at the higher levels, and in exposed spots the mercury has been found to register 27° at the coldest time of the year. High winds about the end of March and the beginning of April are followed by the early rains, which fall intermittently in April and May.