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 Kyaukse, Yamethin and Toungoo districts, its line
being followed by the Mandalay-Rangoon railway as far south as Nyaunglebin
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,