The New International Encyclopædia/Maulmain

MAULMAIN, ma̤l-mān′, or MOULMEIN. A seaport town, capital of the Amherst district and of the Tenasserim division of Lower Burma, at the junction of the rivers Salwin, Gyaing, and Attaran, on the Gulf of Martaban, an arm of the Bay of Bengal (Map: Burma, C 3). The town lies between the left bank of the river Salwin and a fine range of densely wooded hills which, at a distance of from one to six miles, runs parallel with the river. Maulmain is one of the most beautiful and healthful towns of India; the mean annual temperature is 78°—the highest mean for any month being 83° in April, and the lowest 75° in January. The principal street extends for four miles along the river, and other streets shaded with acacia and jack trees branch off from it toward the hills, on which arc the pretty residences of Europeans and wealthy Burmese and numerous pagodas with gilded spires. The hills command an extensive view of beautiful and varied scenery. Martaban lies on the opposite river bank to the north. Maulmain is divided into five districts under the superintendence of a goung, or native head of police. The native houses, built of bamboo and thatched with palm leaves, are raised on piles 10 or 12 feet from the ground. The principal buildings, besides several pagodas, include a public library, a general hospital, and substantial barracks. There are several educational and charitable institutions, missionary establishments, and churches. Vessels of 10 feet draught reach the wharves and jetties at all states of the tide; at spring tide, when the rise and fall is from 20 to 23 feet, the town is accessible to vessels of the largest tonnage. A considerable export and import trade is carried on, chiefly with Calcutta, Madras, Rangoon, and Penang. The principal exports are timber, rice, cotton, horns, hides, ivory, wax, gums, drugs, lead, and copper; the imports are chiefly cotton and woolen piece goods, hardware, provisions, general merchandise, and—omitting timber, which is obtained from the neighboring teak forests—all the materials required for shipbuilding, which is an important industry. The United States is represented by a consular agent. The town dates from the British occupation of Tenasserim in 1826. The heterogeneous and polyglot population in 1891 numbered 55,785; in 1901, 58,446, consisting besides Burmese, of Hindus, Malays, Europeans, Eurasians, Chinese, Armenians, and Jews.