2-798-983 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Rangoon, the principal port of the Birman Empire, 1845. View of the capital city of Burma: '...the imports of British manufactures are very considerable; including piece-goods, woollens, glass-ware, &c....The town lies on the left bank of the river [Irrawaddy], from the banks of which the ground rises gradually for more than two miles to the foot of the hill on which the grand Dagong Pagoda is built, the base of which appears to be 70 or 80 feet above the level of the Irawadi. The town and suburbs extend about a mile along the bank of the river...Rangoon is very convenient for ship-building, as the tide rises from 18 to 24 feet, and the great teak forests are near it; whence the timber may be floated down the whole way...Since the time of its occupation by the British (from 1824 to 1826), its commerce with Calcutta, and other British possessions in India, has been continually increasing'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII.