Page:The empire and the century.djvu/759

 SIR F. W. R. FRYER, K.C.S.I.

Burma is the easternmost province of British India. It is also the most recently acquired province of that empire. It is bounded on the east and north-east by China. The eastern boundary touches, besides China, the French province of Indo-China, the Siamese Shan States, and Siam proper, and finally runs down to the Bay of Bengal On the north-west it is bounded by Bengal, Assam, and the feudatory State of Manipur, and on the west and south by the sea.

The total area of the province has been estimated at 288,788 square miles. The extreme length of the province is 1,200 miles, and its extreme width is 575 miles.

Burma is watered by five great rivers: the Irawadi, the Chindwin, the Panlang or Sittang, the Salween, and the Myitnge. There are also numerous minor rivers or streams.

There are walls of mountains on three sides of the province: the Arakan Hills, the Chin Hills, the Kachiu, Shan, and Karen Hills. The lower province, which consists of rich alluvial plains, is far more fertile than the upper province, and has a much more plentiful rainfall. The extension of canal irrigation will much increase the fertility of the upper province.

The races who inhabit Burma consist of Mongoloid tribes, and are by no means homogeneous. Besides Burmans proper, there are Takings, Karens, Chins, 716