CHAPTER V
The Burmese War: the Defence of Rangoon
and Conquest of Arakan
Rangoon had been built by the mighty hunter Alompra, in part to commemorate his victories in Pegu, but mainly with a prescient desire to secure for Burma the advantage of foreign trade. The town lay on the left bank of the river; on the other three sides it was protected by a wet ditch. The four main streets were lined with huts of bamboo and matting, raised on piles, for the site of Rangoon was then a swamp. A few brick houses, of the poorest construction, attested the presence of the motley foreign element. Some of these strangers were in the employ of the native government. The day of the arrival of the English about 40,000 people were dwelling in the place, of whom 1,500 were priests and acolytes, attached to the neighbouring pagodas. Between it and the sea was a dead flat, of swampy jungle, varied by paddy fields. But on a low range of hills two miles to the north showed grandly the Holy Place of the Burmese—the great Pagoda of Shwe Dagon Prah. To this a road leads from the town, shaded by splendid
