At the time of the occupation of Mandalay by the British, Saw Möng was Sawbwa. He had gone down to Mandalay in 1885 to see King Thebaw. It is said that he brought back with him to Yawnghwè the Legya Queen, one of King Mindon's wives, and her son, whose standard he set up, calling on all the chiefs to aid him to fight the British and retake Mandalay. A combination of small States was formed against him, and he was wounded in both legs and obliged to retire. Being thus incapacitated, he sent for his half-brother, Saw Ôn, and handed the conduct of affairs to him while he went to Mandalay to recover from his hurt. Saw Ôn defeated the hostile party, and having established his authority, took possession of the State and told Saw Möng he need not return. Meanwhile the Limbin confederacy had been formed, and Saw Ôn was called upon to join it. He refused, and shrewdly proclaimed himself an adherent of the British Government and appealed to the Chief Commissioner for aid. [Illustration: SAW MAUNG, SAWBWA OF YAWNGHWÈ, AND HIS CONSORT.] In order to explain the appearance of the Limbin confederacy, we must now go eastward of the Salween to the State of Kengtung. This chieftainship is one of the largest of the States, and comprises about twelve thousand square miles. It lies between the Salween and the Mekong, touching both rivers. Owing to its distance from Mandalay and the very rugged and mountainous nature of the country between the two rivers, Kengtung of late years had been left to itself by the Burman Government. Soon after Thebaw's accession to the Kingdom of Ava, many of the Shan States revolted against him, and Kengtung took a conspicuous part in the rebellion. The Sawbwa seized the Burmese Resident and his escort and put them to death. He attacked the adjacent and smaller State of Kengcheng and turned out the chief, installing in his room a man of his own. It so happened that the Chinese had occasion about this time to strengthen their forces in Southern Yunnan, probably as a precaution against French aggression. Hearing of the action taken by Kengtung against Kengcheng, a large part of which lay east of the Mekong, the Chinese general sent a force to Kengtung. It was agreed to submit the dispute between the claimants to the Sawbwaship of Kengcheng to the Chinese commander. He installed one of the claimants, and provided against a revival of the quarrel by decapitating the other. After these events the authority of the Burman Government ceased to exist in Kengtung.