---

Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 23, p. 267.

TATlOY TOWN z6q mostly of timber, with roofs of dani, the leaf of the Nipa palm. The large open square which formerly existed in the centre of the town has been built over, and there are no tkaces of the old fort. The present town of Tavoy was'' founded in r75r, brrt it is probable that the province had earlier capitals. The remains of what must have been important cities have been fdund in various parts of the District, and the ruined site of Old Tavoy'or Myohaung has been traced a few miles to the north of the existing', town. Comparatively early in the first Burmese War a force was dispatched to seize the southern portion of Tenasserim; and in r8z4 Tavoy was occupied without resistance, and has never since passed out of the possession of the British. The town attained its existing dimensions in r8g6, when the Letwegyun and Kyaukmaw circles of the Tavoy township were transferred to the Tavoy municipality. Its present area is about 8 square miles. The population of Tavoy town iy r8gz was x4,469. In r88r it had fallen to r3,3gz, in r8gr it was r5,ogg, and by rgor It had risen to zz,37r persons. The increase during the past decade (numerically greater than that of any other town in the Province except Rangoon) is somewhat remarkable, in views of the fact that there has been nothing in the shape of railway ent'~erprise to promote trade and attract the rural population into municipal limits. Between r8gz and r88r there was a decrease in population of over a thousand; but since r88r the prosperity of the town has, if growth of population is any real guide, been steadily on the increase. The zz,3gr persons enumerated in rgor consisted of z3r Christians, 375 Hindus, 88r Musalmāns, rrc Animists, and zo,gq4 Buddhsts. There has been an increase under each religion since r8gr, fairly evenly divided. In the steady growth of its Buddhist population' Tavoy differs from all the larger towns of Burma. The trade of Tavoy, which is nōt of great importance, is carried on chiefly with the ports of Rangoon, !, Mergui, and Calcutta, and with 'the Straits Settlements: The principal', exports in rgo3-4 were rice, valued at 8 lakhs, sent for the most part 'i to the Straits, and silk waistcloths, valued at 3 lakhs, to Rangoon. Other goods were salt (Rs. 6z,ooo), timber (Rs. 58,000), and dani leases for thatch (Rs. 39,000). The principal imports, mainly from Rangoon, were raw silk, valued at z~ lakhs; tobacco and piece-goods;, each a lakh and a half; and sugar, kerosene oil, twist and yarn, and t'l seed, each about a lakh in value. It is interesting to note that the trāde of the port, though not large, is growing. The total value of im~orts and exports of foreign and coasting trade, which in r89o-r was x54 lakhs, had risen in rgoo-r to zoā lakhs, and in rgo3-4 to 36 lakhs. Silk-weaving is the main industry of the town, and there were 995 looms in Tavoy iri rgo3. The manufacture of pottery, cotton-weaving, VOL. XXIII. s