Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 4).djvu/63

CH. VI] In the Shan State of Yawnghwe is the large and famous Inle lake. Here are lake-dwellers, amphibious progeny of captive Tavoyans, who practise the curious art of paddling, by holding the paddles with their legs.

Other lakes of note are Indaw (60 square miles) in Katha; Shwepyi and Taungthaman in Mandalay; Mahananda, Halin, Kadu and Thamantha in Shwebo; Ye-myet in Sagaing (10 miles by 3); the large artificial lake of Meiktila, constructed under the orders and immediate supervision of King Bodawpaya rather more than a hundred years ago; Inma in Prome (10 miles by 4); Inye in Bassein (7 miles in circuit). In Rangoon, the Royal Lakes in Dalhousie Park, memorable for beauty and association, and the Victoria Lake, a fine stretch of water, were both made by hands. The Royal Lakes were made after the acquisition of Pegu in 1852. The Victoria Lake, completed in 1884, had the utilitarian object of providing the water-supply of Rangoon. This does not render it less picturesque.

In most districts are to be found shallow meres, teeming in due season with water-fowl.