Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 4).djvu/27

I] In this tract are the city of Mandalay and the towns of Pakôkku and Myingyan. Here also are the famous oil wells of Yenangyaung. Of note for other reasons are the multitudinous pagodas of Pagan, most renowned in this land of Pagodas. Here the villages are more compact, each surrounded by a stout fence, sometimes of bamboo, sometimes of stiff cactus.

Though there are long dull stretches of river, with flat banks, there are also scenes of singular beauty. In the

midst, the conspicuous double peaks of Popa are picturesquely visible from the Irrawaddy for many miles. On the western and eastern borders the hills are marshalled in bold outline.

North of the dry zone lies a land of mountains and hills. Upper Chindwin on the west, with the Shan States of Hsawnghsup and Singaling Hkamti, bordering on the Chin Hills and Assam, bestriding the Chindwin river, is a mass of forest clad hills. Parallel with it, on either side of the Irrawaddy are Katha, Bhamo and Myitkyina, with Putao