The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.41

v1.c15.41

The valley of the Salween is less deeply trenched between its bounding ranges than are the other two, and therefore has a steeply descending course broken by rapids, and is of small value for navigation. At its mouth is the port of Moulmein. The valley of the Sittang, which is a relatively short river, prolongs the upper valley of the Irrawaddy, for the latter stream makes a westward bend at Mandalay, and passes by a transverse gap through one of the parallel ridges. Beyond this gap it bends southward again, accepting the direction of its tributary, the Chindwin. The railway from Rangoon to Mandalay runs through the Sittang valley and does not follow the Irrawaddy.