the usual
form. The country adjoining Bamo is flat, dry, and I should think
unproductive; it is intersected by low swampy ravines, one or two of
which extend into the town. To the south there is an extensive marsh,
partially used for rice-cultivation.

The population of Bamo including the suburbs, may be estimated at about
4500, of whom 4 or 500 are Chinese. The governor is a bigoted Burman, of
disagreeable manners; he expends much money in the erection of Pagodas,
while he leaves the streets, roads and bridges by which the ravines are
passed, in a ruinous and disgraceful state.

The Bazaar of Bamo is generally well supplied: British piece goods and
woollen cloths are procurable, but at a high price: the show of Chinese
manufactures is much better, particularly on the arrival of a caravan;
considerable quantities of Tea are likewise brought in the shape of flat
cakes, of the size of a dessert plate, and about two inches thick. This
tea is of the black sort, and although very inferior to the Chinese case
teas, is a far better article than that of Pollong. In addition to this,
warm jackets lined with fur, straw hats, silk robes, skull-caps, and
sugar-candy are procurable; pork of course is plentiful, and is
excessively fat; grain, vegetables and fish are plentiful. On the whole
Bamo is a busy and rather flourishing place: it derives its consequence
entirely from its being a great emporium of trade with the Chinese, who
come here annually in large numbers; for the accommodation of these
people and their caravans, two or three squares, fenced in with bamboos,
are allotted.

The principal article of Burmese export is cotton, and this I believe is
produced for the most part lower down the Irrawaddi.

The climate of Bamo is in April dry and sultry: the range of the
thermometer being from 66 degrees or 68 degrees to 94 degrees or 96
degrees. North-westers are of common occurrence in this month, and are
frequently of extreme severity. I saw very little cultivation about
Bamo, some of the ravines alluded to had lately been under rice-culture;
the chief part of the cultivation for vegetables, etc. is confined to the
sandy islands, which occur here and there.

Of the numerous villages passed between Bamo and Ava not one deserves
especial notice, nor is there one, with the exception of Umeerapoora, the
former capital, which contains 500 houses. Shewegyoo, which formerly
occupied a considerable extent of the left bank n