SHWEBO  , a

town and district in the Sagaing division of Upper Burma . The town is situated in the midst of a rice plain, 53 m. by rail N.E. from Mandalay: pop . (19o1) 9626 . It is of historic interest as the birthplace and capital of Alompra, the founder of the last Burmese dynasty . After British annexation it became an important military cantonment; but only the wing of a European regiment is now stationed here . The area of the district is 5634 sq. m.; pop . (1901) 286,891, showing an increase of 24% in the decade . It lies between the Katha, Upper and Lower Chindwin and Mandalay districts . The Irrawaddy forms the dividing line on the east . The physical features of the district vary considerably . The Minwun range runs down the whole eastern side, skirting the Irrawaddy . In the north it is a defined range, but at Sheinmaga, in the south, it sinks to an undulation .

West of the Mu river, in the centre of the district, there is a gradual ascent to the hills which divide II Sagaing from the Upper Chindwin . Between these ranges and on both sides of the Mu is a plain, unbroken except for some isolated hills in the north and north-east and the low Sadaung-gyi range in the south-east . The greater part of this plain is a rice-growing tract, but on the sloping ground maize, millets, sesamum, cotton and peas are raised . A good deal of sugar is also produced from groves of the taxi palm . The Mu river is navigable for three months in the year, from June to August, but in the dry season it can be forded almost anywhere . A good deal of salt is produced in a line which closely follows the railway . Coal has been worked at Letkokpin, near the Irrawaddy . The Ye-u reserved forests are much more valuable than those to the east on the Minwun and the Mudein . Extensive irrigation works existed in Shwebo district, but they fell into disrepair in King Thibaw's time . Chief of these was the Mahananda Lake . The old works have recently been in process of restoration, and in 1906 the main canal was formally opened . The rainfall follows the valleys of the Mu and the Irrawaddy, and leaves the rest of the district comparatively dry .

It varies from an

average of 29 to 49 in . The average temperature is 90° in the hot season, and falls to 6o° or 61° in the cold season, the maximum and minimum readings being 1040 and 56° .