northern boundary of British Burma, the valley of the Irrawaddy opens out again, and at Yegin Mingyi near Myanaung the influence of the tide is first felt, and the delta may be said to begin. The so-called rivers of the delta, the Ngawun, Pyamalaw, Panmawaddy, Pyinzalu and Pantanaw, are simply the larger mouths of the Irrawaddy, and the whole country towards the sea is a close network of creeks where there are few or no roads and boats take the place of carts for every purpose. There is, however, one true river of some size, the Hlaing, which rises near Prome, flows southwards and meets the Pegu river and the Pazundaung creek near Rangoon, and thus forms the estuary which is known as the Rangoon river and constitutes the harbour of Rangoon. East of the Rangoon river and still within the deltaic area, though cut off from the main delta by the southern end of the Pegu Yomas, lies the mouth of the Sittang. This river, rising in the Sham-Karen hills, flows first due north and then southward through the Kyauksè, Yamèthin and Toungoo districts, its line being followed by the Mandalay-Rangoon railway as far south as Nyaunglèbin in the Pegu district. At Toungoo it is narrow, but below Shwegyin it widens, and at Sittang it is half a mile broad. It flows into the Gulf of Martaban, and near its mouth its course is constantly changing owing to erosion and corresponding accretions. The second river in the province in point of size is the Salween, a huge river, believed from the volume of its waters to rise in the Tibetan mountains to the north of Lhasa. It is in all probability actually longer than the Irrawaddy, but it is not to be compared to that river in importance. It is, in fact, walled in on either side, with banks varying in British territory from 3000 to 6000 ft. high and at present unnavigable owing to serious rapids in Lower Burma and at one or two places in the Shan States, but quite open to traffic for considerable reaches in its middle course. The Gyaing and the Attaran rivers meet the Salween at its mouth, and the three rivers form the harbour of Moulmein, the second seaport of Burma.
Lakes.—The largest lake in the province is Indawgyi in the Myitkyina district. It has an area of nearly 100 sq. m. and is surrounded on three sides by ranges of hills, but is open to the north where it has an outlet in the Indaw river. In the highlands of the Shan hills there are the Inle lakes near Yawnghwe, and in the Katha district also there is another Indaw which covers some 60 sq. m. Other lakes are the Paunglin lake in Minbu district, the Inma lake in Prome, the Tu and Duya in Henzada, the Shahkègyi and the Inyègyi in Bassein, the sacred lake at Ye in Tenasserim, and the Nagamauk, Panzemyaung and Walonbyan in Arakan. The Meiktila lake covers an area of some 5 sq. m., but it is to some extent at least an artificial reservoir. In the heart of the delta numerous large lakes or marshes abounding in fish are formed by the overflow of the Irrawaddy river during the rainy season, but these either assume very diminutive proportions or disappear altogether in the dry season.
Climate.—The climate of the delta is cooler and more temperate than in Upper Burma, and this is shown in the fairer complexion and stouter physique of the people of the lower province as compared with the inhabitants of the drier and hotter upper districts as far as Bhamo, where there is a great infusion of other types of the Tibeto-Burman family. North of the apex of the delta and the boundary between the deltaic and inland tracts, the rainfall gradually lessens as far as Minbu, where what was formerly called the rainless zone commences and extends as far as Katha. The rainfall in the coast districts varies from about 200 in. in the Arakan and Tenasserim divisions to an average of 90 in Rangoon and the adjoining portion of the Irrawaddy delta. In the extreme north of Upper Burma the rainfall is rather less than in the country adjoining Rangoon, and in the dry zone the annual average falls as low as 20 and 30 in.
The temperature varies almost as much as the rainfall. It is highest in the central zone, the mean of the maximum readings in such districts as Magwe, Myingyan, Kyauksè, Mandalay and Shwebo in the month of May being close on 100° F., while in the littoral and sub-montane districts it is nearly ten degrees less. The mean of the minimum readings in December in the central zone districts is a few degrees under 60° F. and in the littoral districts a few degrees over that figure. In the hilly district of Mogôk (Ruby Mines) the December mean minimum is 36.8° and the mean maximum 79°. The climate of the Chin and Kachin hills and also of the Shan States is temperate. In the shade and off the ground the thermometer rarely rises above 80° F. or falls below 25° F. In the hot season and in the sun as much as 150° F. is registered, and on the grass in the cold weather ten degrees of frost are not uncommon. Snow is seldom seen either in the Chin or Shan hills, but there are snow-clad ranges in the extreme north of the Kachin country. In the narrow valleys of the Shan hills, and especially in the Salween valley, the shade maximum reaches 100° F. regularly for several weeks in April. The rainfall in the hills varies very considerably, but seems to range from about 60 in. in the broader valleys to about 300 in. on the higher forest-clad ranges.
Geology.—Geologically, British Burma consists of two divisions, an eastern and a western. The dividing line runs from the mouth of the Sittang river along the railway to Mandalay, and thence continues northward, with the same general direction but curving slightly towards the east. West of this line the rocks are chiefly Tertiary and Quaternary; east of it they are mostly Palaeozoic or gneissic. In the western mountain ranges the beds are thrown into a series of folds which form a gentle curve running from south to north with its convexity facing westward. There is an axial zone of Cretaceous and Lower Eocene, and this is flanked on each side by the Upper Eocene and the Miocene, while the valley of the Irrawaddy is occupied chiefly by the Pliocene. Along the southern part of the Arakan coast the sea spreads over the western Miocene zone. The Cretaceous beds have not yet been separated from the overlying Eocene, and the identification of the system rests on the discovery of a single Cenomanian ammonite. The Eocene beds are marine and contain nummulites. The Miocene beds are also marine and are characterized by an abundant molluscan fauna. The Pliocene, on the other hand, is of freshwater origin, and contains silicified wood and numerous remains of Mammalia. Flint chips, which appear to have been fashioned by hand, are said to have been found in the Miocene beds, but to prove the existence of man at so early a period would require stronger evidence than has yet been brought forward.
The older rocks of eastern Burma are very imperfectly known. Gneiss and granite occur; Ordovician fossils have been found in the Upper Shan States, and Carboniferous fossils in Tenasserim and near Moulmein. Volcanic rocks are not common in any part of Burma, but about 50 m. north-north-east of Yenangyaung the extinct volcano of Popa rises to a height of 3000 ft. above the surrounding Pliocene plain. Intrusions of a serpentine-like rock break through the Miocene strata north of Bhamo, and similar intrusions occur in the western ranges. Whether the mud “volcanoes” of the Irrawaddy valley have any connexion with volcanic activity may be doubted. The petroleum of Burma occurs in the Miocene beds, one of the best-known fields being that of Yenangyaung. Coal is found in the Tertiary deposits in the valley of the Irrawaddy and in Tenasserim. Tin is abundant in Tenasserim, and lead and silver have been worked extensively in the Shan States. The famous ruby mines of Upper Burma are in metamorphic rock, while the jadeite of the Bhamo neighbourhood is associated with the Tertiary intrusions of serpentine-like rock already noticed.[1]
Population.—The total population of Burma in 1901 was 10,490,624 as against 7,722,053 in 1891; but a considerable portion of this large increase was due to the inclusion of the Shan States and the Chin hills in the census area. Even in Burma proper, however, there was an increase during the decade of 1,530,822, or 19.8%. The density of population per square mile is 44 as compared with 167 for the whole of India and 552 for the Bengal Delta. England and Wales have a population more than twelve times as dense as that of Burma, so there is still room for expansion. The chief races of Burma are Burmese (6,508,682), Arakanese (405,143), Karens (717,859), Shans (787,087), Chins (179,292), Kachins (64,405) and Talaings (321,898); but these totals do not include the Shan States and Chin hills. The Burmese in person have the Mongoloid characteristics common to the Indo-Chinese races, the Tibetans and tribes of the Eastern Himalaya. They may be generally described as of a stout, active, well-proportioned form; of a brown but never of an intensely dark complexion, with black, coarse, lank and abundant hair, and a little more beard than is possessed by the Siamese. Owing to their gay and lively disposition the Burmese have been called “the Irish of the East,” and like the Irish they are somewhat inclined to laziness. Since the advent of the British power, the immigration of Hindus with a lower standard of comfort and of Chinamen with a keener business instinct has threatened the economic independence of the Burmese in their own country. As compared with the Hindu, the Burmese wear silk instead of cotton, and eat rice instead of the cheaper grains; they are of an altogether freer and less servile, but also of a less practical character. The Burmese women have a keener business instinct than the men, and serve in some degree to redress the balance. The Burmese children are adored by their parents, and are said to be the happiest and merriest children in the world.
Language and Literature.—The Burmese are supposed by modern philologists to have come, as joint members of a vast Indo-Chinese immigration swarm, from western China to the head waters of the Irrawaddy and then separated, some to people Tibet and Assam, the others to press southwards into the
- ↑ See also, for geology, W. Theobald, “On the Geology of Pegu,” Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol. x. pt. ii. (1874); F. Noetling, “The Development and Subdivision of the Tertiary System in Burma,” Rec. Geol. Sun. India, vol. xxviii. (1895), pp. 59-86, pl. ii.; F. Noetling, “The Occurrence of Petroleum in Burma, and its Technical Exploitation,” Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol. xxvii. pt. ii. (1898).
