Akyab, Town and Port, situated at the point of convergence of the three large rivers Myu, Koladyne, and Lemyu, 20° 9′ N. lat., and 92° 56′ E. long., is the chief town of the district of the same name, and the most flourishing city of the Arákán division. The town is regularly built, with broad streets running at right angles to each other. The port is commodious, is the seat of a large export trade in rice, and possesses steam communication direct with Calcutta once a fortnight, except during the south-west monsoon. The population in 1871–72 numbered 15,281. Akyab monopolises almost the whole sea-borne trade of the province of Arákán, amounting in 1871–72 to 1,345,417; to which the export of rice contributed £105,894. During 1871–72, 256 vessels, of a total burden of 129,061 tons, entered the port; and 262 vessels, of a burden of 130,203 tons, cleared.
ALABAMA, one of the Southern States of the North
American Union, lies between 30 13 and 35 N. lat., and
between 85 and 88 35 W. long. It is bounded by
Florida and the Gulf of Mexico on the S., Mississippi
on the W., Tennessee on the N., and Georgia on the E.
Its length is 330 miles, average breadth 154, and area
50,722 square miles. The Alleghany range stretches
into the northern portion of the state, but the elevation
is nowhere great ; the centre is also hilly and broken ; on
the south, however, for nearly 60 miles inland, the country
is very flat, and raised but little above the sea-level.
The Alabama is the chief river of the state. It is
formed by the junction of the Coosa and the Talapoosa,
which unite about 10 miles above the city of Mont
gomery. Forty-five miles above Mobile the Alabama is
joined by the Tombigbee, and from that point is known
as the Mobile River. It is navigable from Mobile to
Wetumpka, on the Coosa, some 460 miles. The Tombig
bee is navigable to Columbus, and the Black Warrior, one
of its chief tributaries, to Tuscaloosa. The Tennessee
flows through the northern portion of the state, and the
Chattahoochee forms part of its eastern boundary. The
climate of Alabama is semi-tropical. The temperature
ranges from 82 to 18 Fahr. in winter, and in summer
from 105 to 60; the mean temperature for the year being
a little over 60. The average severity of the winter
months is considered to have increased a result due, it is
said, mainly to the felling of the forests, which gives more
unrestricted scope to the cold north-west winds from the
Rocky Mountains. The uplands are healthy, but the in
habitants of the low-lying lauds are subject to attacks of
intermittent, bilious, and congestive fevers. The stratified
rocks of the state belong to the Silurian, carboniferous,
cretaceous, and tertiary systems. The silurian strata throw
up numerous mineral springs along the line of the anti
clinal axes, some of which, such as Blount Springs and
the St Clair Springs, are much resorted to for their health-
giving properties. There are also several noted springs
arising from the tertiary beds, such as those of Tallahatta
and Bladon. Alabama possesses extensive coal deposits.
Mr Tait, the state commissioner for the industrial resources
of Alabama, considers that the area of the coal-lands in
the state amounts to 5500 square miles, of which 5000
belong to the Warrior, and the remaining 500 to the
Cahawba and Coosa fields. Assuming that only one-half of
this area can be worked to advantage, Mr Tait further esti
mates the aggregate possible yield at 52,250,000,000 tons.
At present, however, the annual output probably does not
exceed 12,000 tons. In regard to iron, the natural wealth
of Alabama is also very great. Mr Tait asserts that a
ridge of iron, of an average thickness of 15 feet, runs
parallel to one of the principal railway lines for a distance
of 100 miles; and in other parts of the country there are
large deposits of ore, both red hematite and blackband.
The ores of Alabama are said to yield from 10 to 20 per
cent, more iron than those of Britain. Granite, marble,
flagstones, roofing-slate, lime, and porcelain clay, are
among the other mineral products. A little gold has
also been found in the state.
The soil of Alabama varies greatly in character, but is
for the most part productive to a greater or lesser extent,
except in the south, where there are considerable tracts of
sandy, barren, and almost worthless soil The forests are
mainly in the central and northern parts of the state, and
embrace oaks, poplars, cedars, chestnuts, pines, hickories,
nralberries, elms, and cypresses. The following table
exhibits the chief agricultural statistics of Alabama for
1870, as compared with 1860, the year before the war:
1870.
1860.
Land in
Improved, . . . acres
5,002,204
6,385,724
Farms.
Unimproved, . . ,,
9,898,974
12,718,821
! Horses,
80,770
127,063
Live Stock
Mules and Asses, .
76,675
111,687
on
Cattle,
487,163
773,396
Farms.
Sheep,
241,934
370,156
Swine,
719,757
1,748,321
/Indian Corn, . bushels
16,977,948
33,226,282
Wheat, . . .
1,055,068
1,218,444
Rye, ....
18,977
72,457
Oats, ....
770,866
682,179
Potatoes, . .
2,033,872
5,931,563
Chief /
Pease and Beans,
156,574
1,482,036
Products.
Butter, . . R>
3,213,753
6,028,478
Cotton, . . bales
429,482
989,955
Wool, ...
381,253
775,117
Eice, .... lt>
222,945
493,465
Tobacco, . . ,,
152,742
232,914
^Molasses, . . gallons
433,281
140.768
Alabama possesses comparatively few manufactures. It
is estimated that in 1870 the capital invested amounted
to 1,140,806, and the total products in the same year
were valued at 2,608,124. There were in 1870 thirteen
establishments for the manufacture of cotton goods, whose
products amounted in all to 2,843,000 Ib, including
4,518,403 yards of sheetings and shirtings, and 1,039,321