L
WOOD-CARVING
CH A P T E R X L
SHW E -G Y IN
BUT, in fact, Shwe-gyin as a town has for many
years been on the decline. At the outset, when
Pegu was first incorporated in the empire by Lord
Dalhousie, Shooay-gheen, as it was then spelt, was not
only the chief town of the district, but also a military
cantonment in which troops were quartered. Of that
time, although it dates back less than half a century,
there is now scarcely a trace. The barracks, that were
built on the laterite ridge which dominates the town,
have completely disappeared. Of those who occupied
them, the only-1 surviving trace is in the cemetery—
adjunct of every British settlement in the East. There
you will find the graves of that period, with the
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