168 BROWN & HERON. GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF TAVOY. 



of wind and rain, and about the beginning of May violent electric 

 disturbances usher in the south-west monsoon, which lasts until 

 October. The rainfall is a very heavy one and, for the four years 

 ending 1917, averaged 214 inches in Tavoy town. Much greater 

 falls than this have been recorded from mines situated at high 

 elevations on the Central Range. 



The district has at various times formed part of the dominions 

 of the Kings of Siam, Pegu, and Ava, but its early history is obscure. 

 In 1757 it was a province of Siam, but in 1769 it was conquered 

 by the Emperor Alaungpaya. From that time until 1824, when 

 it was handed over to British troops, the country was torn by 

 internal strife and raided by the Siamese. The total population 

 at the census of 1911 was 135,293 souls, of whom 120,000 were 

 Burmese and 11,000 Karens, but largely owing to the mining boom 

 during the war, helped by the natural growth of the population, the 

 figures rapidly increased and it has been unofficially estimated at 

 about 200,000 in 1918. 



The only permanently cultivated land is on the coastal strip 

 and in the valley of the Tavoy river and its tributaries. Elsewhere 

 the Karens and others practise " taung-ya," a system in which 

 the forest is burnt, crops grown for a season or two and the ground 

 then abandoned for a new location. The total land under culti- 

 vation is probably less than 300 square miles, which gives some 

 idea of the extent of the forests which cover the district. The 

 population is to all intents and purposes confined to the cultivated 

 valley of the Tavoy river and to the mining camps and the roads 

 leading to them. 1 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



In the following list, which is arranged in chronological order, 

 except as regards recent papers, an attempt has been made to 

 include every work of importance dealing with the geology or ore 

 deposits of the Tavoy district. As regards the latter a few papers 

 dealing with the mineral occurrences of the adjoining Mergui district 

 are also included. 



The date of the commencement of tin mining in Tavoy 

 is unknown, but judging from the extent and character of the 

 ancient workings, it must have been carried on for a very long 



1 F ° T * fpUer account of Tavoy, the article in the Gazetteer of British India may be 

 oonsulted with advantage. The details given here are taken from it. 



