Turning to the eastward over a few small hills intersected by ravines and covered wirh jungle, the road leads to Rambreengheh*, Kyout-nemo and Singhunnethe. I observed some very beautiful creepers as I passed over these hills. The leaves, which were very small and delicate, were of a pink colour, and at a distance had the appearance of clusters of lilac blossoms. Of the animal tribe I saw nothing deserving of notice, save a solitary Ghi and a flying squirrel; (termed Tshen by the Mughs.) It is a very handsome creature, and larger than the squirrel of Europe. The head, back, and tail are covered with a rich coat of dark-brown fur; the under part of the chin, neck, belly and legs being of a bright yellow colour. The skin about the sides and forelegs is loose, and capable of being so much extended, that in making its prodigious spring from tree to tree it appears rather to fly than leap. It is said to be very destructive to gardens; if taken young it may be rendered perfectly tame.

Entering upon the plain, the village of Rambreengheh, with its surrounding hills covered with gardens of plantain trees, meets the traveller's view. A few well built Kioums are seen resting upon the side of these hills, which are, in some instances, crowned with glittering temples built over the ashes of the departed priests. The village is large and remarkably neat. The soil in its vicinity, a rich yellow clay, taken up with plots of indigo, tobacco, and pepper plants. Bricks manufactured from this clay, and reserved for the erection of temples, were piled up in several places outside the village. Beyond Rambreengheh, and to the right of my path, lay the large village of Kyouk-nemo†, almost concealed from view by the forest of plantain trees with which it is surrounded. Kyouk-nemo is accessible to the sea by a large creek, and was at one time much infested with dacoits; through the exertions of the magistrate at Rambree the reign of terror is now at an end, and the village is apparently in a thriving condition. Approaching the creek, which is at some little distance from Kyouk-nemo, I was fortu. nate in finding two Godoohs with their small boats at anchor; otherwise as there is no ferry at this place, I must have gone round much out of my way; the merchants kindly consented to take me and my followers over for a small consideration, and the mahouts prepared to swim their elephants across. The shore on the opposite side consisted of a deep clay, which made the progress of the elephants after landing a matter of considerable difficulty. So heavy was the soil, that I was unable to make my way through it unassisted by the boatmen, who in * Little Rambree: it resembles not a little the town of Rambree, and thence its

name.

+ Red stones. I saw none of them in my path.

their turn depended for support upon the young mangroves and other marine plants that grew upon it. After some little exertion both elephants and men succeeded in reaching the Terra Firma of a stubble field. I here met the Soogree of the district, who had in some way been apprized of my arrival, and came out for the purpose of conducting me to the village of Singhunnethe. It was at no great distance from the creek, so that I was soon there, and in possession of the house that had been allotted for my accommodation. Singhunnethe, as was the case with all the villages that I had seen on the southern side of the island, is surrounded with plantain trees, which not only afford a wholesome and favourite article of food, but are in constant request for the production of a solution of potash* used in the preparation of dyes, more especially in those derived from indigo. The mode in which the potash is obtained from the plantain trees is similar to that followed in other parts of the world in its extraction from the different vegetable substances that produce it, with this exception, that it is held in solution by the water, which is not suffered to evaporate. The stem and branches of the plantain tree are divested of the outer rind, and then broken up into small pieces, which are laid upon the fire and slowly consumed; the ashes are lixiviated with water which is strained off, and reserved for mixture with the dyes. In front of the Soogree's house, and in the centre of the village, a nice tank had been dug; the only one I had hitherto met with, tanks being seldom seen except in the neighbourhood of large towns. The houses were neat and built with more attention to comfort and order than is general in the villages of Rambree. I remarked a hideous representation of the human countenance drawn with lime upon several of the door-posts. I was told, it is put up to deter the demon of sickness from entering the dwelling. Much sickness had been experienced of late, and this was one of the many absurd customs resorted to, with the view of ridding the neighbourhood of its presence. I further learned that when any one of a family has been a long time sick, and recovery appears doubtful, the inmates of the house assemble and make a tremendous noise with drums and gongs, at the same time beating the roof and walls with sticks to expel the evil spirit who is supposed to have taken possession of the dwelling. One door alone is left open for his escape, all the others being closed. While this is going on a Phoon

* During the time that Government held the monopoly of salt in Arracan, the plantain trees frequently afforded to the poor a substitute for the common sea salt. So strictly were the Government rights protected, that a poor woman was actually prosecuted in one of the courts for collecting a little sea salt off a rock on which it had been deposited on the evaporation of the water left by the tide!

gree stands upon the road, opposite to the house, reading a portion of the Khubbo-wah, a book that is held in particular veneration. A further ceremony is sometimes observed by the invalid as an additional security for a complete restoration to health; but it is only performed by those who feel themselves, as it is termed, possessed, and called to the exercise of the duty required of them, as a propitiatory sacrifice to the malignant spirit from whose ill will their sickness is supposed to originate. This ceremony, which is called Náth-Kadéy, very much reminds me of the antics played by the dancing Dervises of old. A brass dish, or any piece of metal highly burnished, is put up in a frame, and in front of this are laid offerings of fruit, flowers, and sweetmeats. When every thing has been properly arranged, the invalid commences dancing, throwing the body into the most ludicrous attitudes; and pretending to see the object of worship reflected upon the plate of metal makes still greater exertions, until the limbs are overpowered, and the dancer sinks exhausted upon the ground. Should the sick person be so weak as to render such assistance necessary, he, (or she,) is supported by a friend placed on each side during the whole of the ceremony. It is by no means improbable that this violent exertion has on many occasions proved highly beneficial, realizing the most sanguine expectations of the people. In cases of ague or rheumatism, where a profuse perspiration, and a more general circulation of the blood throughout the human frame is required, there is perhaps no other mode of treatment more likely to produce the desired effect; and could some proper substitute be found for a piece of metal, the Náth-Kadey might be introduced with advantage into our own hospitals.

Superstition, the companion of ignorance, is a part and parcel of this benighted land. Was I to credit all that is said of ghosts and goblins, it would appear wonderful how this poor people contrived to pass through life unscathed. Every tree or rock that has any singularity of appearance is said to be the nightly residence of some hobgoblin or departed spirit. Yet with all this absurdity, some of the opinions held by the Mughs with regard to a future state of existence are by no means unfavourable to the cultivation of virtuous habits. It is their belief that there are many worlds, and that the earth has been subject to the several and repeated actions of fire and water. (A fact that will not perhaps be disputed by some of the most celebrated geologists of the present day.) The soul, they affirm, may pass through many stages of existence, either in this or another world; the nature of each change depending upon its moral condition. For instance, a person of virtuous habits may aspire to a state of being far more elevated than that before enjoyed: if on the contrary, he shall have been of a

vicious disposition, his future state will be that of an evil spirit, or some grovelling and pernicious animal, such as a hog, toad, serpent, &c. A gentleman residing at Rambree has made me acquainted with a singular instance of the firm belief entertained by the Mughs in the transmigration of souls. A young woman who lives at Rambree, in very good circumstances, declares that she is the mother of a man much older than herself; this she accounts for by saying, that he was born to her during a former life. She has a scar under the left ear produced, as she affirms, by a cut from her husband's dhao. She further states that she died of grief, in consequence of the partiality shewn by that cruel husband for his elder wife. This story is not only credited by the neighbours, but its truth is assented to by the individual whom she calls her son. The idea was probably produced, in the first instance, by the circumstance of her having been born with that curious mark under the ear, and afterwards confirmed by a dream or some other cause favouring the publicity of a tale that owes its popularity to a belief in the transmigration of souls.

January 16th.-As the morning was very cold, I did not leave Sing hunnethe before the sun had well risen, and the fog that hovered round the mountains had been somewhat dispelled. The route at first lay over patches of rice-stubble, and then took a direction across several small ranges of hills, the most elevated of which was covered with a red iron clay similar to that on the "red hill" near the town of Rambree. From the summit of this hill, I enjoyed a fine prospect of the channel that divides the eastern side of the island from the district of Sandoway. The hills of Lamoo and Kalynedong rose on the opposite shore, and the distant mountains of Yoomadong were faintly visible amidst the clouds that surrounded them. Descending this range I approached the village of Saain-kyong, celebrated for its lime. The limestone is found at the foot of a high hill to the left of the road. This was the first limestone that I had seen on Rambree Island; and it is so concealed by the jungle, that had I not been previously made aware of its existence and inquired for its site, I should have proceeded on my journey unconscious that such a rock was in my neighbourhood. From its appearance and more particularly from the rocks with which it is associated, 1 am inclined to class it with the " upper freshwater limestone" found in tertiary formations; it is of a greyish whitecolour; of a fine compact texture, but very brittle. It occurs in several detached masses of a globular or columnar form, and although I made every possible search along the ravines in its neighbourhood, I could discover nothing that would indicate the slightest approach to a stratification; nor has this species of limestone been discovered in

any other part of the island. There were no appearance of the fossil remains sometimes found in this rock, such as fresh-water shells, &c. The limestone is split into several large fragments by means of fire; these are again broken into smaller pieces, and the whole conveyed in baskets to the lime-kilns constructed on the banks of the Saayre-kyong creek, which at full tide has sufficient depth of water to admit of the approach of large boats. The whole of the lime used in Rambree Island, either for architectural purposes, or for the preparation of the edible chunam, is obtained from this rock. I was told that the lime, if taken in large quantities, was sold on the spot for 3 maunds per rupee, and that there were generally from 100 to 200 maunds collected. Crossing the creek at low water, I observed a few boulders of lias clay and calc spar imbedded in its banks. Proceeding from thence by a neat Kioum and grove of mangoe trees, I arrived at Seppo-towng, a village situated at the foot of a high hill covered with forest trees, and diversified with a few spots of ground cleared for the cultivation of the plantain tree. The tall Girjuns, with their white trunks divested of branches, were eminently conspicuous amidst their more graceful but probably less serviceable neighbours. The Girjun yields the oil that bears its name, and is used for combustion as well as for admixture with paints, varnishes, &c. (See Jour. As. Soc. II. 93.)

These trees are very abundant upon the island, and are farmed by Government. The mode of extracting the oil would appear to be as follows: a deep notch is cut in the trunk of the tree by means of a dhao or other instrument, and to this fire is applied until the wood becomes heated, and oil is seen to exude upon the surface. In the course of three or four days perhaps as much as a seer or a seer and a half of oil is collected within the cavity, and the tree will continue to afford a certain quantity of oil for five months or more, the collections being generally made every fifth day. When the oil has ceased to flow the tree is again cut in the same place, so that the whole of the wood which had been consumed or scorched is removed; fire is once more applied, and the oil collected as before. The notch has after repeated cuttings become so deep as would render any further attack upon the trunk, in this particular spot, destructive to the tree; in which case the dhao is laid upon another part of the trunk, and the same process observed as before mentioned. The tree is said to yield oil at all seasons of the year, precautions being taken during the rains to exclude the water. A large Girjun tree has been known to produce oil for 12 successive years, and as others are constantly supplying the place of those destroyed, there is no falling off in the amount of the several years' collections. The oil is sold in Rambree at the