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184 the pearling industry and has some trade in tin, but is otherwise undistinguished. Notwithstanding its natural advantages, its value as a port is small as it leads nowhither and has no hinterland.

Thatôn. Thatôn (15,091), an inland town in the Tenasserim division, was formerly a Talaing capital and also a seaport. Anawrata destoyed it in the 11th century, and the retrogression of the sea has long left it high and dry. It is on the railway line between Rangoon and Martaban.

Insein. Insein (14,308) is a flourishing and rising railway town, ten miles from Rangoon. Near it are the golf links of Mingaladôn, said to be almost the best course in the East.

Yandoon. Yandoon (12,500), at the junction of the Irrawaddy and the Panlang creek, 60 miles from Rangoon, was formerly a trading town of some importance. It is now one of the few towns with a dwindling population.

Paungdè. Paungdè (14,154) is a railway town in the Prome district, 130 miles from Rangoon.

Thayetmyo. Thayetmyo (10,768), "the city of slaughter," is on the Irrawaddy, a few miles below the old frontier of Upper Burma. Formerly, it was strongly garrisoned, but since the annexation it has sunk into comparative insignificance.

Syriam. Syriam (15,193), not far from Rangoon, was once a provincial capital and, as already noted, the seat of the earliest commercial settlements. It has grown rapidly in recent years, its population in 1891 being under 2000. Now it is the centre of a thriving oil-refining industry.

Mandalay. In the year 1857, Mindôn Min, following the traditional custom of his House when the throne was filled otherwise than by regular succession, decreed the removal of his court from Amarapura to Mandalay where, in consequence, a populous town arose. The new capital was