Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 4).djvu/54



who speak and write of Burma as a rule get their impressions from the most highly developed, and therefore most easily accessible, deltaic region and Irrawaddy valley. But the land of plains and swamps is but a fraction of Burma which is mainly a country of rugged hills and mountains. Though the topmost heights are far below the towering peaks of central Asia, there are many mountains of quite respectable eminence.

East of the Irrawaddy, starting from the north, the Eastern Kachin Hills run southward from Tibet occupying the eastern part of Putao, Myitkina and Bhamo and dividing those districts from China, a maze of hills and mountains some 30 to 35 miles in breadth, with peaks 3000, 7000 and 11,000 feet in height. South of these are the hills of the Ruby Mines, with the outstanding peaks of Taungme (7544 feet) and Shwe-u-daung (6231 feet). Bernardmyo, hard by, is on a height of nearly 6000 feet and Mogók, the centre of the ruby-mining industry, is about 4000 feet above the sea. The hills dividing Burma proper from the Shan States rise to heights of 4700 feet in Mandalay, 5000 feet at Nat-teik in Kyauksè, and 6000 feet in Yamèthin. Rising from the plains of Myingyan are isolated groups of hills. Popa (5000 feet) in the south-west of the district, a double peak of volcanic origin, has already been mentioned as a conspicuous landmark. It is also famous as the haunt of nats of great repute.

In Yamèthin rises the Pegu Yoma, running thence southward approximately through the middle of Lower Burma and forming the watershed between the Irrawaddy