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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 13, p. 102.

102 HENZADA DISTRICT waddy Division of Lower Burma, lying between 17° 20′ and 18° 31′ N. and 94° 48′ and 95° 47′ E., in the plain of the Irrawaddy, with an area of 2,870 square miles. It is irregularly triangular in shape, with its apex in the north at Akauktaung, a spur of the Arakan Yoma, touching the Irrawaddy 24 miles above Myanaung, and its base along the northern edges of Bassein and Ma-ubin. The Irrawaddy forms nearly the whole of its eastern border. Its western boundary is the forest- clad watershed of the Arakan Yoma, running north and south, which separates it from Sandoway and the coast. To the south of the District lie Bassein and Ma-ubin ; to the north Prome. The District is in fact, with the exception of one circle in the south-eastern corner, contained between the Irrawaddy on the east and the barrier of the Arakan Yoma on the west. In the :latitude of Myanaung the Physical aspects Arakan range exceeds 4,000 feet in altitude, but from . this point southwards it rapidly diminishes in height. From the main ridge spurs run eastwards towards the Irrawaddy, one, in the extreme north of the District, ending; in a conspicuous bluff about 300 feet in height, and washed at its base by the stream. As the river pursues its southerly course to the sera it bears away from the hills, leaving between its banks and the uplands the vast stretch of paddy-fields, 6o miles broad in the south, which forms one of the main features of the District. The hilly tract in the west, is to 2o miles in width, is characterized by steep slopes and dense tree-jungle. All the plains were up to modern times annually inundated by the river, but the greater portion of this area is now protected by an extensive system of' embankments. The Irrawaddy, bounding the District on the east, sets in a general south-south-east: course, and is navigable at all seasons by the largest river steamers. Numerous streams flow from the Yoma eastwards towards the Irrawaddy ; most of them are entirely dry in the hot season, and nearly all are marked by precipi- tous banks and tortuous channels. During the rains, however, boats can ply on the lower reaches of their courses in the plains. Of these watercourses the Patashin is the only one of importance that joins the Irrawaddy itself, which it does just below Kyangin in the extreme north of the District. The rest drain into the Bassein (or Ngawun) river, which leaves the Irrawaddy about 9 miles above Henzada, and flows in a general south-westerly direction into Bassein District. The entrance, about 300 yards wide, is choked by a sandbank, which rises above the low-water level of the Irrawaddy. In the rains, however, the largest boats can cross this obstruction. Thirteen miles below this point the Bassein river is joined from the west by the Okpo or Kanyin stream, which rises in the Yoma and runs for about 6o miles through the Okpo township. This river is connected with the Irrawaddy by a channel known as the Thanbayadaing creek. A short distance below