Rangoon River. The Rangoon river is important solely on account of the port after which it is called. Rising in the Prome district some 150 miles from its mouth, under the name of Myitmaka it flows through Prome and Tharrawaddy, taking further down the name of Hlaing, and passes Rangoon, twenty-one miles from the sea. Not far below Rangoon it is joined by the Pegu river which flows for 180 miles, past the historic town of Pegu; and by the Pazundaung river. The Panlang creek above Rangoon has already been mentioned. A little below the town, a serious obstacle to deep draught steamers, is the Hastings Shoal which seems to resist the efforts of dredgers.
Bassein River. The Bassein or Ngawun river has been mentioned as a branch of the Irrawaddy. Leaving the main stream above Henzada, it flows for 200 miles, past Nga-thaing-gyaung and Bassein to the sea at Diamond Island. It is navigable for sea-going steamers as far as Bassein. Its affluents are the Daga above, the Panmawadi below, Bassein.
Salween. Almost parallel with the Irrawaddy and exceeding it in length is the Salween. Rising in remote unvisited hills in China, it emerges in the Shan States which it traverses for many miles, receiving among other tributaries, the Nam-ting, Nam-kha, Nam-bin, on the left, the Nampaung, Namtung (250 miles), Nam-pawn (300 miles), on the right bank. Thence it enters and intersects Karenni and flows past the hill district of Papun or Salween which it separates from Siam. On the edge of the Thaton district the Thaungyin, rising in the Dawna hills, joins it from the south-east. Crossing Thatôn and Amherst, after receiving the waters of its main tributaries the Yônzalin from the north and the Gyaing (formed by the union of the Hlaingbwe and Haungtharaw) and Ataran from the south-east, the Salween enters the Gulf of Martaban, 28 miles below Moulmein, after a course of about 650 miles in British territory. The Salween is a swift stream flowing for great
