a man, one can fancy, stricken with a new desire, and
tired of the Great River along which his progenitors had
come, took the turning up the mouth of the Mahtoon,
until he came with his people after many vicissitudes
to anchor at Mindon under the shadow of the western
hills. And so the townlet came into being. But Mindon
has not increased under British rule. A Burmese undermagistrate
presides over the township, and a small
guard of military police, constantly changed because
of the malaria, protects it against aggression from the
mountain Chins. But in former times it was the seat
of government of a wun or Provincial Governor,
and it gave to King Mindon Min his territorial title.
. I t is a long day’s journey by boat down-river to
the Irrawaddy. The scenery along the route is of great
beauty. Large quantities of the produce of the fertile
valley of the Mahtoon are sent down to Kama upon
rafts of bamboo. The current after rain is very swift,
and where it enters the Irrawaddy there is a violent
impact, fraught with grave danger to boats. At
Natmauk, where a great cliff abuts upon its waters,
the spirit of King Mindon is believed by the people
to have taken up his abode.
THE FORT AT MINH LA