capital of the above province, situated on a river of the same name, about 40 miles from the sea. The town is chiefly built of bamboo huts, and stands in a valley surrounded by hills, and covered with marshes and canals, communicating with a number of small streams, running between low muddy banks. The tide overflows to a considerable extent the flat borders of the river Arracan, and by its reflux converts these into a pestilential swamp, on which a great part of the town of Arracan is built. In such an unfavourable situation, it is necessary to drive wooden posts into the ground to obtain a foundation for the houses, under which the water flows. We need not wonder that a place so situated should be unhealthy for Europeans. The town is perpetually involved in the putrid exhalations from these swamps, which are a perpetual source of disease. Where the ground is not swampy it consists of a soft species of rock. The surrounding ground is irregularly diversified by hills, connected by narrow ridges, and separated by ravines, either occupied by a stream or a marsh. The houses are connected by wooden bridges; and in its centre is a square surrounded by a wall containing pagodas and images of Gaudia, of all sizes, from an inch to 20 feet in height. The town and fort were taken by the Burmese in 1783.

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1 *Asiatic Annual Register*, vol. I.