Leaving the stream where it forked near some _euphorbia_ trees more than 40 feet high, which resembled gigantic cacti, we ascended the intermediate spur, and passed through a gap in the crest, 20 feet deep, which had been worn down by elephants and cattle in the course of centuries. Our ascent along the spur was fraught with peril, as the hill was composed of friable earth, and great slips had occurred on either slope, frequently leaving a very narrow track, with precipices 80 and 100 feet deep close to its edge. Often there was only room for the elephants’ feet placed one before the other, and deep holes had been worn by their following each other in the same foot-tracks for generations. Whilst on this narrow path we had to give way for cattle caravans to pass us, and at one time we were nearly precipitated down a great slip by a caravan of forty laden cattle meeting at a bend in the track. There was room for neither to turn back; but, fortunately, we were on a ledge in the slope of the hill, and our great beasts managed to scramble up the side, although it seemed nearly impossible for them to mount it. On our way we met two Chinamen on ponies, accompanied by four porters; and shortly afterwards 151 laden cattle on their way to Lakon. The summit of the pass lies 28 miles from Zimmé, and 2136 feet above the level of the sea. Our descent to the plain of the Meh Ta lay down the narrow valley of the Meh Sow, a stream that rises near the summit, and is bounded on either side by hill-spurs, having their crests about two miles apart, and sloping nearly to the stream-bed. For the first two miles the track led, for the sake of shortness, over several cross-spurs, and then descended to the Meh Sow, where the torrent was 40 feet wide and 2 feet deep, and flowing down its granite bed in a series of beautiful cascades. The air was scented with the fragrant yellow blossoms of the padouk trees, and teak crested the spurs where the Meh Sow debouches on the plain. Leaving the stream near its exit from the hills, we continued through a forest of _eng_ and _thyt-ya_ (the Indian Sal tree), until we reached the Meh Ta. This river is 200 feet broad, 9 feet deep, with 6 inches of water, and enters the Meh Hkuang a few miles above its junction with the Meh Ping. Having crossed the Meh Ta, we halted for the night at a couple of _salas_ close to the bank, and to Ban Meh Ta. Leaving the next day, we marched through a gap between the sandstone hillocks; near which the direct road to Zimmé leaves our route. Here we met twenty-four laden oxen. Two miles farther we commenced the ascent of the spur that divides the affluents of the Meh Ta from those of the Meh Hkuang. The ascent and descent were steep for some little distance from the crest. A tunnel through the spur would only need to be a few hundred yards long.