SANDOWAY  , a

town and district in the Arakan division of Lower Burma . The town (pop . 1901, 12,845) is very ancient, and is said to have been at one time the capital of Arakan . The district has an area of 3784 sq. m.; pop . (1901) 90,927, showing an increase of 16 % in the decade . The country is mountainous, the Arakan range sending out spurs which reach the coast . Some of the peaks in the N. attain 4000 and more ft . The streams are only mountain torrents to within a few miles of the coast; the mouth of the Khwa forms a good anchorage for vessels of from 9 to 10 ft. draught . The rocks in the Arakan range and its spurs are metamorphic, and comprise clay, slates, ironstone and indurated sandstone; towards the S., ironstone, trap and rocks of basaltic character are common; veins of steatite and white fibrous quartz are also found . The rainfall in 1905 was 230'49 in . Except a few acres of tobacco, all the cultivation is rice . Sandoway was ceded to the British, with the rest of Arakan, by the treaty of Yandabo in 1826 .