tion almost equalling the exploits of Henry VIII, married five kings in succession.
Many monasteries, built by kings, queens and courtiers, adorn the town. The best known is the Queen's Monastery, finished by Supayalat just before the Third War. At the time of the annexation its gold was fresh and gleaming. Shwenandaw, built by King Thebaw in 1880, and Salin, by Salin Supaya, a favourite child of Mindôn Min, daughter of the Limban queen, as well as the Queen's Monastery, are all remarkable for beautiful wood-carving, that on Salin being probably the finest in Burma. Sangyaung was built in 1859 by Mindôn Min. Taiktaw is the official residence of the Thathanabaing[1].
Pakôkku. Pakôkku (19,507), on the right bank of the Irrawaddy, near its junction with the Chindwin, is described by Crawfurd as
"a place of considerable extent and population. The inhabitants" he writes "poured out on the banks to see the steam-vessel, and formed such a concourse as we had nowhere seen unless at Prome. [Pakôkku] is a place of great trade, and a kind of emporium for the commerce between Ava and the lower country; many large boats which cannot proceed to the former in the dry season, taking in their cargoes at this place. We counted one hundred and fifty trading vessels, of which twenty one were of the largest size of Burman merchant-boats[2]."
But in 1889 the population was estimated at no more than 8000. Since then Pakôkku has thriven and is now again a busy industrial and trading centre and an important timber depot.
Myingyan. Myingyan (18,931), on the left bank of the Irrawaddy, about 80 miles below Mandalay, connected by a branch line from Thazi with the Rangoon-Mandalay railway, is an industrial and trading town of some note, the seat of busy cotton mills. It suffers from being cut off from the river in the dry season by sandbanks.
