TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
53 
Almost all the houses of Rangoon are com¬ 
posed of the cheapest and frailest materials, and 
are peculiarly liable to destruction by lire. In 
March 1826, I saw the whole suburb of Taklay 
burned to the ground in a few hours, from the 
accident of a pot of oil boiling over. In less than 
a month it was not only reconstructed, but, from 
the circumstance of many of the inhabitants hav¬ 
ing returned after the peace, the houses were far 
more numerous than before the accident. 
Rangoon is written, in the Burman language, 
Rankong, and pronounced Yangong, which is a 
compound epithet meaning “ peace effected.” This 
name was given to it by Alompra, who made it 
the capital of Pegu and the principal sea-port of 
his dominions, after the destruction of Pegu and 
Syrian in 1755. Before that time, it was a petty 
village, and was called Dagong, after the great 
Pagoda, or Shwe Dagong (Golden Dagong). In¬ 
considerable as its population is, it is at present the 
second city in the Burman dominions. 
The environs of Rangoon are sterile, unculti¬ 
vated, and not very interesting ; although the si¬ 
tuation, under institutions more favourable to in¬ 
dustry, possesses capabilities of great improve¬ 
ment. The ground from the river face continues 
to rise gradually for two miles, until reaching the 
great Dagong Pagoda, where it appears to be se¬ 
venty or eighty feet above the level of the Ira- 
wadi. In the vicinity of this temple, the ground 
