Only one village, Tapan, is met with; this is small, and is situated on the right bank; with the exception of its river face it is stockaded.  At this place the Shan-Chinese leave the river, striking off in an E. direction towards the Irrawaddi, which they reach in one day.  We observed a small Kukkeen village on some hills near Tapan; with these exceptions no sign of inhabitants occurred until we reached the Irrawaddi.  On the hills above alluded to, the bitter Tea is reported to exist.  The Mogoung river at its mouth is about 70 yards across.  The Irrawaddi even at the mouth of the Mogoung river, and at a distance of nearly 800 miles from the sea, keeps up its magnificent character.  At this point it is 900 or 1,000 yards across; when we reached it, it had risen considerably, and the appearance of this vast sheet of water was really grand.  Its characters are very different from the Ganges and Burrumpooter, its waters being much more confined to one bed, and comparatively speaking becoming seldom spread out.  Generally speaking it is deep and the stream is not violent.  It appears to me to afford every facility for navigation; in one or two places troublesome shallows are met with, and in several places the channel near the banks is impeded by rocks.  It is only in the upper defile, or Kioukdweng, that the navigation is during the rises of the river dangerous, and at times impracticable.  On our reaching Tsenbo, which is about 12 miles below the junction of the Mogoung river with the Irrawaddi, the river continued to rise in a most rapid degree, Mr. Bayfield ascertaining by measurement that it rose 16 inches an hour.  We were consequently compelled to push on, as we were informed that the next day the defile would be impassable.  The Kioukdweng alluded to commences about two miles below Tsenbo, the river becoming constricted from 1000 to 150 yards.  The rush of water was great, and was rendered fierce by rocks which exist in the midst of the river.  Still further within the defile the difficulties were increased; at one place the whole of the enormous body of water rushes through a passage, and it is the only one, certainly not exceeding 50 yards in width.  The passage of this was really fearful, for on clearing it we were encountered by strong eddies, backwaters and whirlpools, which rendered the boat nearly unmanageable.  These scenes continued, varied every now and then by an expanded and consequently more tranquil stream, until a gorge is passed, well known by the name of the “Elephant and Cow,” two rocks which are fancifully supposed to resemble the above named animals; the defile then becomes much wider, and the waters flow in a tranquil and rather sluggish manner.  The depth of the river in this defile is, as may be supposed, immense; Mr. Bayfield ascertained during his passage up, at a season when the waters were low, that in many places no bottom was to be found at a depth of 45 fathoms.  The necessity of this enormous depth is at once evident, and is pointed out by the configuration of the banks, which are in many places sheer precipices.  Two other defiles exist between Bamo and Ava, of these the middle or second is the shortest, in both the stream flows sluggishly, and there is no impediment whatever to navigation.  In these the depth is great, but owing to their greater width, much less so than in the upper.