On the Irrawaddy: A Story of the First Burmese War

  Chapter 5: With Brigands.

  Stanley uttered an involuntary hurrah as the leopard expired; andat the sound the Burman, who had been lying motionless, leapt tohis feet. He looked at the leopard, and then at his rescuer, andexclaimed in a tone of astonishment:

  "You have slain the beast alone, and with no weapon but yourknife!"

  "No," Stanley replied; "I began the fight with my knife, only; butcaught up one of those guns when I wounded him, and fired as hecharged me. Then I finished him with the other."

  "Comrade," the Burman said, "you have done a great deed, withcourage. I, who am esteemed no coward, would never even havethought of attacking that great leopard with but a knife, and thatto save the life of a stranger."

  "I saw the guns lying on the ground. Had it not been for that, Ishould not have dared to attack the leopard, for it would have beencertain death."

  "Certain death, indeed. But tell me, first, how you did it. Itseems to me well nigh a miracle."

  "I was passing along, not far distant, when I heard your cry,"Stanley said. "Thinking that it was some person in distress, I ranhither, and saw you both lying, with the leopard's forepaws uponyou. The beast's back was turned to me and, as it was growling, ithad not heard my approach. Seeing the guns lying there--and havingno doubt that they were loaded--I stole up, sprang suddenly on theleopard, and drove my knife into it behind the shoulder. The blowrolled it over, and gave me time to pick up the gun. The rest waseasy."

  The man, without a word, examined the body of the leopard.

  "It is as you say," he said. "It was well struck, and wouldprobably have been fatal; but the animal would have torn you inpieces before he died, but for the guns.

  "Well, comrade, you have saved my life; and I am your servant, solong as I live. I thought all was over with me. The leopard, as itsprang, threw its full weight on my comrade, here. We had justrisen to our feet; and the blow struck me, also, to the ground. Iraised that cry as I fell. I lay there, immovable. I felt theleopard's paw between my shoulders, and heard its angry growlings;and I held my breath, expecting every moment to feel its teeth inmy neck.

  "I had but one hope, namely, that the beast would carry off mycomrade--who, I was well assured, was dead--to the jungle to devourhim, and would then come back to fetch me. I managed to breatheonce, very quietly, when I felt a movement of the leopard and,hearing a low sound, guessed that he was licking my comrade'sblood; but slightly as I moved, the leopard noticed it, and stoodstraight up again over me. I dared not breathe again, but the timehad come when I felt that I must do so, though I was sure that itwould be the signal for my death.

  "Then I knew not what had happened. There was a sharp pain as theleopard's claws contracted, and then there was a loud roar, and itsweight was removed from me. Then I heard it snarl, as if about tospring. Then came the sound of a gun, a fall, and a struggle; andthen the sound of another gun. Then I heard your shout, and knewthe beast was dead.

  "Now, sir, what can I do for you? Shall I first skin the leopard?"

  "I care not for the skin," Stanley said. "It would be of no use tome."

  "Then, with your permission, I will take it off, and keep it aslong as I live, as a remembrance of the narrowest escape that Iever had."

  "Is your comrade dead?"

  "Yes," the man replied. "The leopard struck him between theshoulders as you see; and the force of the blow, and the weight ofthe spring, must have killed him instantaneously."

  "Then I will take his sword, gun, and cartridges."

  So Stanley undid the sword belt, and buckled it round him; put thebandolier of cartridges over his shoulders; and took up the gun andreloaded it, while the man was at work skinning the leopard. Thisoperation the man performed with great speed. It was evidently onethat he had done before. As soon as the beast was flayed, he rolledup the skin and placed it on his shoulder.

  "You are an officer, sir?" he asked.

  "No; I am a fugitive."

  While he had been watching the man, Stanley had debated overwhether he should confide in him; and thought that, after theservice he had rendered him, he could do so with safety.

  "I am an Englishman--I was captured by Bandoola, at Ramoo, and senta prisoner to Ava. I have escaped, and want to make my way down toRangoon; but I heard that orders had been sent along the river toarrest me, and I do not, at present, know how to make my way down."

  "Come with me," the man said. "I have friends in the forest, somedistance from here. They will receive you gladly, when I tell themwhat you have done for me; and you will be safe until you choose togo. We are outlaws but, at present, we are masters of the forest.The government has its hands full, and there is no fear of theirdisturbing us."

  Stanley thought over the matter, for a minute or two. Doubtless itwas a robber band that he was asked to join, but the offer seemedto promise safety, for a time.

  "I agree," he said, "so that you do not ask me to take part in anydeeds of violence."

  "About that, you shall do as you like," the man said; "but I cantell you that we make good hauls, sometimes. Our difficulty is notto capture booty, but to dispose of it.

  "Have you a turban? For that helmet of yours is out of place, inthe woods. The rest of your dress has nothing peculiar about it,and would attract no attention."

  "I have a turban. I have been, lately, in the dress of a peasant.The cloth I wore lies fifty yards away; I dropped it as I ran. Itwill be useful to cover me at night, if for nothing else."

  Stanley exchanged the helmet for the turban that he had beforeworn, and fetched the cloth.

  "Will you bury your companion?" he said.

  "It would be useless. He will sleep above ground, as well as belowand, if we are to reach my comrades tonight, it is time for us tobe moving."

  They at once set out. After five hours' walking, they came upon theriver Myitnge, the tributary that falls into the Irrawaddy at Ava.It was some four hundred yards across. The Burman walked along itsbanks for a short distance, and then pulled from a clump of bushesa small boat, that was just capable of carrying two. He put it inthe water. They took their seats, and paddled across to the otherside; where he carefully concealed it, as before.

  "That is our ferry boat," he said. "It is not often used, for ourheadquarters are in the great forest we shall presently come to;but it is as well when, occasionally, parties are sent out to huntus, to have the means of crossing to the other side."

  Another two hours' walking, through cultivated fields, brought themto the edge of the forest.

  "Here you are as safe as if you were in Rangoon," the Burman said."In another hour we shall reach my comrades. As a rule, we changeour headquarters frequently. At present there is no question of ourbeing disturbed; so we have settled ourselves, for a time."

  "Why were you and your comrade on the other side of the river?

  "His village lies five miles beyond that forest," the man said. "Atordinary times, he dared not venture there; but he thought that, atpresent, most of the able men would be away, and so he could pay avisit to his friends. He asked me to accompany him and, as I hadnothing better to do, I agreed to go. A convoy of traders, toostrong to be attacked, had passed down from the hill country themorning before we started. There was not much probability thatanyone would come again, for a few days."

  "They bring down rubies from there, do they not?"

  "The mines are the property of the emperor," the man said, "and thegems are sent down, once every two months, under a strong guard;but for all that, many of the traders bring rubies down fromthere--of course, secretly. The men who work the mines oftenconceal stones that they come upon, and sell them for a small sumto the traders; besides, sometimes the peasants pick them upelsewhere--and these, too, make haste to sell them for anythingthat they can get. We do not care for them much, for it is a riskybusiness going down to Ava to sell them; and the traders there,knowing that, at a word from them, we should be arrested and mostlikely executed, will give us next to nothing for them. We prefersilver and lead
for money; and garments, arms, and set jewels.

  "Each man takes his share of what is captured and, when we haveenough, we go home to our villages. A pound of silver, or two orthree pounds of lead, are generally quite enough to buy thegoodwill of the head man of the village. We give out that we havebeen working on the river, or in Ava, since we left; and everyoneknows better than to ask questions."

  In another hour, they reached the encampment. It was now dusk, andsome five-and-twenty men were sitting round a great fire. A numberof leafy arbours had been constructed in a circle beyond them.

  "What, returned so soon!" one of the men said, as Stanley's guidecame near enough for the firelight to fall on his face; "but whereis Ranji, and whom have you brought here--a new recruit?"

  "Not exactly, Parnik, but one to whom I have promised shelter, fora while. Ranji is dead. I should have been dead, too, and eaten;had it not been for my comrade, here. Here is the skin of the beastwho slew Ranji and, when I tell you that the leopard stood with onepaw on me, you may guess that my escape was a narrow one."

  "The brute was a large one," one of the other men said, asMeinik--for such was the name of Stanley's companion--unrolled andheld the skin up. "I see it had a bullet between the eyes, andanother just behind the ear; and there is a knife cut behind theshoulder. It must have been hot work, when it came to knives, witha beast of that size."

  "Give us some food, and cocoa; we have eaten nothing today, andhave walked far. When we have fed, I will tell you my story."

  The Burman's recital of the adventure with the leopard excitedgreat applause, and admiration, from his comrades.

  "'Tis wonderful," one said, "not so much that our new comradeshould have killed the leopard, though that was a great feat; butthat, armed only with a knife, he should attack a beast like this,to save the life of a stranger. Truly I never heard of such athing. Has he all his senses?"

  Meinik nodded. He had received permission from Stanley to say whohe was. Stanley had consented with some reluctance, but the manassured him that he could trust his companions, as well as himself;and that it was much better to tell the truth, as it would soon beseen that his features differed altogether from their own and that,therefore, he was some strange person in disguise.

  "He is in his senses," he said, "but he does not see things as wedo. He is one of those English barbarians who have taken Rangoon,and against whom our armies are marching. He was captured at Ramoo;and sent by Bandoola, as a prisoner, to Ava. He has made his escapeand will, in a short time, go down the river; but at present thesearch is too hot for him. So you see that he is, like ourselves, afugitive."

  "What is his age?" one of the men asked, after a silence, duringwhich they all gazed at the newcomer.

  "He is but a lad, being as he tells me between sixteen andseventeen; but you see his skin is stained, and his face marked, soas to give him the appearance of age."

  "If the men of his race are as brave as he is, Meinik, our troopswill truly have harder work than they think to drive them into thesea. Does he speak our tongue?"

  "Yes," Stanley answered for himself. "I have been more than twoyears in the province of Chittagong, and learned it from one whowas in our service."

  "And would many of your people risk their lives in the way you did,for a stranger?"

  "Certainly. Many men constantly run risks as great to save others."

  "One life is all a man has," the Burman said. "Why should he giveit for a stranger?"

  "I don't think that we stop to think of that," Stanley said. "Itseems to us natural that if we see another in danger of his life,we should try to save it; whether it is a man or woman, whether itbe from fire or from any other fate."

  "You must be a strange people," the Burman said gravely, "and Ishould scarce have credited it, had I not heard that you had doneit, yourself. But it is wonderful; and you, too, a lad who has notyet come to his full strength.

  "We should be glad to have such a man for our comrade, my friends.Whether he be Burman or English matters little. He has risked hislife for one of us; and he is our brother as long as he likes tostay with us."

  There was a warm exclamation of assent, round the circle; andStanley felt that he had no cause for uneasiness, as long as heremained with them. In the evening the men sang many songs and, attheir request, Stanley sang some English ones, choosing some withlively airs. The Burmese were much pleased and surprised at these,and joined merrily in the chorus.

  Half a dozen of them then set to work with their knives, cut downsome saplings and boughs, and constructed for Stanley an arboursimilar to the others; and he lay down well satisfied with theresults of his adventure, and feeling that he could remain withthese merry fellows, criminals though they might be, until it wouldbe safe to make his way down the river.

  In the morning the men started early, leaving him in charge of thefire. They went off in parties of four or five, to watch thevarious roads leading to the capital; two or three of them, dressedas peasants, going to towns where travellers would halt, so as togain information as to any party coming down. When they gatheredagain, at dusk, one party only had had any success. They had metsix merchants coming down with horses laden with spices, indigo,and cotton. These had offered no resistance, and they had taken asmuch as they could carry, and then allowed them to go on with therest of their goods. There was a general feeling of regret that theparty had not been more numerous; and some expressions of anger, atthe spies on the road by which the traders had come, for notletting them know beforehand, so that they could have placed theirwhole force there and carried away all the goods.

  "These are the things that suit us best," Meinik said to Stanley."You see, one can go down with a parcel of cinnamon or pepper, or abag of dyes, or fifty pounds of cotton into the town; and sell itin the market, at a fair and proper price. Of course, one dressesone's self as a small cultivator; and there is no suspicion,whatever, that all is not right.

  "We shall keep a sharp lookout for the men, as they come backagain, and relieve them of the silver or goods they may have takenin exchange; that is, if they come by the same road--but it is morelikely that, after their adventure today, they will choose someother, or take a guide and travel by village tracks. No doubt theythink that they have got off easily, for they have not lost morethan a quarter of their goods. It is war time now, and there is nofear of a force being sent against us; but usually we do not takeso much as a quarter of the merchandise. Were they to loseeverything, they would make complaints; and then we should have aforce sent up against us, and be obliged to move away, for a time.But as it is, they are so pleased with getting the greater part oftheir goods safe to market that they do not care to make a fussabout it; for they might have to pay the court officials, andothers, more than the value of the goods lost."

  "They do not often resist, then?"

  "Not often. If a man loses his goods, he can gather more again; butwhen his life has gone, everything has gone. Besides, as a rule wetake care that we are so strong that they see, at once, thatresistance would be hopeless. Sometimes they bring armed guardswith them. These are men who make it their business to convoytraders down, when the times are troubled. Sometimes we have fightswith these but, as a rule, we seldom attack them unless we are sostrong that they do not dare to oppose us. Still, we do have fightssometimes, for these Shan guards are brave fellows. Their convoysare generally rich ones, for it would not pay small traders to hiremen to protect them.

  "In times of peace, we seldom stop long in one neighbourhood for,when it once becomes known what road we are lying near, they comealong in parties too strong to be attacked and, as it matterslittle to us where we live, we move away perhaps a hundred miles,and then settle on another line of traffic. We have not been herelong; we were last down by Tannoo, and did well for a long timethere; until at last the governor raised all the villagers, andhunted the woods, and we found that we had to leave. I expect weshall stay here some time, now. There is no fear of troops beingsent out, and we can afford not to press too har
dly on travellers;for we have done so well, of late, that we could separate andreturn to our homes, each with a good store of booty. Half ournumber did leave, when we came up from the south; and more of uswould go, if it were not for this order that everyone shall jointhe army. It is much pleasanter to live here, free to do as welike, than to be driven down like a herd of beasts, to fight.Besides, we have no quarrel with your people. It was the officialsat Aracan who began it; let them fight, if they like."

  Stanley remained a fortnight with the band. At the end of thattime, they heard that a party of thirty traders were coming downtogether, and that they had with them ten armed guards. This, theyno doubt supposed, was ample protection for, as the band generallyworked in such small parties, it was believed that there were but afew outlaws in the forest. All the band went out, and returned inthe evening, laden with spoil. Two or three of them were wounded,but not severely.

  "So you had resistance today, Meinik."

  "It lasted only for a minute," the man said. "As soon as they sawhow strong we were, the guard were glad enough to put up theirswords and let us bind them hand and foot, while we searched themerchants. As you see, we have made a good capture, though we havenot seized more than a fifth of what they brought down with them;but it will take them some time to pack their bales again, for wesearched everything thoroughly, and made all the merchants strip,and searched their clothes and their hair."

  "What did you do that for?"

  "Well, it was this way. I said to my comrades, as we went alongthis morning:

  "'The Englishman is going to leave us, in a day or two. I have notforgotten what I owe him, and should like to make him a present. Ipropose that we search all the party thoroughly, today. From whatwe heard, some of them come from the ruby country, and are prettysure to have gems concealed about them, or in their baggage. Ipropose that all the stones we find we will give to our friend.'

  "They all agreed at once for, as you know, they all like you; andrubies, as I told you, are of little use to us, for we cannotdispose of them without great risk. So they did as I proposed, andhad good fortune. Twelve out of the number had gems hidden aboutthem, and some of them a good lot. You need not hesitate to takethem, for you may be sure that they bought them, for next tonothing, from poor fellows who had risked their lives to hide them.

  "There they are. We have not looked at them, but just emptied theparcels into this bag, as we found them. Of course, they are allrough stones. You must take them as a present, from all of us; andas a proof that a Burman, even if he is but a robber, is gratefulfor such a service as that you rendered him."

  Stanley felt that he could not refuse a gift so offered, eventhough the goods were stolen. As Meinik said, the gems were oflittle use to the robbers, since they were afraid to try anddispose of them; and their owners had themselves broken the law inhaving purchased them, and had doubtless given sums bearing noproportion to their real value. Therefore he thanked Meinik veryheartily; and also, after they had had their meal, the rest of theband, who made very light of the matter.

  The things were useless to them, they said. If it had been silver,or even lead, it would have been different; but to endeavour tosell rubies they had to risk their lives. The goods that they hadgot that day would fetch them far more money than the rubies, andcould be sold without difficulty and, as soon as the war was overand they could go down to their villages, the band would break up.They had enough silver and lead hidden away to keep them for years,even if they never did any work, whatever.

  "What do you do with it, when you get back?"

  "We hide it. It would never do to enter a village with ten ortwelve pounds' weight of silver, and three or four times as muchlead, for the headman might take it into his head to have ussearched. So we generally dig a hole at the foot of a tree, in somequiet spot; and take, perhaps, a pound of silver and two or threeof lead with us. A gift of half that silver is enough to convincethe headman that we are honest fellows, who have been working hardsince we went away; and from time to time we can go to our storeand get what we want from it, and can build a house and marry, andtake up a field or two, and perhaps become headmen ourselves,before very long."

  "Well, I am sure I wish you all well," Stanley said. "You have allbeen very kind to me, since I joined you; and I shall be glad tothink of you all as settled quietly down in your villages, ratherthan as remaining here when, some day or other, you might all becaptured and harm come to you."

  The next morning Stanley started with Meinik, who was a native of asmall village on the river, some forty miles below Ava, and who hadresolved to accompany him down to Rangoon.

  "I shall be able to get a boat and some nets, for a pound or two oflead. If we are hailed, I can do the talking; and can land and buyprovisions, if wanted. I have arranged with my comrades to take myshare of the silver and lead we have stored up, at once; for it islikely that they will also have gone to their homes before I shallhave returned, and we have changed everything into money, exceptwhat we took yesterday."

  Before starting Stanley was again dyed, and the tattoo marksimitated--far more carefully than before, three or four of the menoperating upon him, at once. His face was almost entirely coveredwith these marks. Some liquid was applied that extracted the colourfrom his eyebrows, and left them snow white. Some of his hair wassimilarly treated and, looking at himself in a pool of water,Stanley did not in the slightest degree recognize himself; and feltcertain that no one would suspect him of being the young Englishcaptive.

  Resuming his peasant's cloth, he took a hearty farewell of the bandand started with Meinik. The latter carried a bundle, slung on hisgun. It contained some clothes, and did not look heavy; but in thecentre were two parcels that weighed some forty pounds. Stanleycarried a bundle with his other clothes, and several pounds ofrice.

  Two days' walking took them to Meinik's village. Once out of theforest they travelled at night, and reached the village just as thepeople were astir. The place consisted of ten or twelve huts, andMeinik created quite an excitement among the few people whoinhabited it. These consisted of two or three old men, some women,and children.

  "Where have you been for the last year and half, Meinik, if I mayask?"

  "Working near Ava," he said; "but as I should have to go to war ifI had remained there, I thought that I would come back, and see howyou all were. I have saved a little money, and may settle down; butwhether here or elsewhere I have not yet made up my mind."

  "You will have to go to the war," one of the old men said. "Thereis scarce a day that one of the war canoes does not stop here, tosee if there are any able-bodied men. They have taken eight, andthey will assuredly take you."

  "Then I shall get a boat," he said, "and take to fishing. The warcannot last long, and I shall do my best to keep out of the way ofthe war canoes, until it is over. If any of you have a boat tosell, I will buy it."

  "I will sell you mine," the old man said. "Both of my sons havebeen taken to the war, and I am too old to work it myself. It is agood one; my sons made it only last year.

  "Whom have you with you?"

  Stanley had remained a short distance off, while Meinik was talkingto his friends.

  "He is an old man I joined along the road," he said. "He is askilful fisherman; and he has agreed to go with me, if I can get aboat.

  "Is there an empty hut?"

  "Yes, six of them. Of course, when the men were taken they carriedoff the wives and children, as usual, as hostages for theirconduct."

  Meinik nodded. He felt no surprise, as it was the custom in Burmato hold the women and children of all the men going to the war, asguarantees that their husbands would not desert or show cowardicein battle. In either event their relatives would be, at once, putto death.

  "My companion is tired," he said. "We walked all night, so we willcook some food and he will sleep."

  They at once took possession of one of the empty huts, which wasjust as it was left by its proprietor. One of the women brought abrand or two from her hearth. An ear
then cooking pot was filledwith water and placed above it, and a few handfuls of rice droppedin. Two or three snakes, cut up into small pieces, and some pepperpods were added; and then Meinik went out, talked to hisacquaintances, and arranged for the purchase of the boat. Stanleywatched the fire.

  In an hour, Meinik returned.

  "The boat is a good one," he said, "and the nets in fair order. Ihave bought them for two pounds of lead; and have promised that,when the war is over and the man's sons return, it is to be free tothem to buy it back, at the same price."

  After eating their meal, they both lay down and slept until late inthe afternoon. Then Meinik bought an earthenware pot, and a flatslab of the same material for making a fire on; some peppers andcapsicums, and a little cinnamon and nutmeg; a basket of mangoes,and some tobacco. As soon as it became dusk, they took their placesin the boat, Meinik carrying down two or three faggots of wood.

  The boat was a canoe, hewn out of a pine log. It would have carriedfour people comfortably, and there was plenty of room for them bothto lie down at full length. It was very light, the wood having beencut away until it was little thicker than cardboard. This was thealmost universal method of construction: even the war canoes, thatwould carry sixty paddlers--sitting two by two on a bench--andthirty soldiers, being hewn from great single logs of teak. Thenets were stowed one, at each end. In the middle was the fireplace,on which the brands of the fire had already been laid. Near it werethe faggots and stores.

  Meinik and Stanley sat on the nets, each with a paddle. The formerhad hidden the greater portion of his store of money in the ground,before entering the village. As soon as they had fairly started,Stanley said:

  "Had we not better get rid of the fire, Meinik? Its light woulddraw attention to us."

  "That matters little," the Burman replied. "There are not likely tobe war canoes about at night, and I expect that most of them willhave gone down the river. People fish either by night or by dayand, even if a war canoe came along, they would not trouble aboutit for, of course, many men too old to go to the war remain here,and go on fishing. People cannot starve because there is fighting.The old men and women must cultivate the fields and fish, or boththey and the people of the towns would starve.

  "Many even of the young men do not go. They keep away from theirvillages during the day, and work in the fields; and the headmenshut their eyes, for they know that if the fields are notcultivated, the people cannot pay their share of the taxes.

  "Still, it is as well to be on the safe side. When the fire hasburnt low we will lay a cloth over the top of the boat, so that theglow of the embers will not be seen."

  They kept their course near the middle of the river; partly becausethe current there was stronger, partly because any war canoes thatmight be coming up would keep close to one bank or the other. Theykept on their way until there was a faint gleam of light in thesky; and then paddled into the shore, chose a spot where somebushes drooped down into the water and, forcing the canoe in behindthese, so as to be entirely concealed from the sight of any passingboat, cooked some food and, having eaten their breakfast, lay downand slept until evening.

  Illustration: They forced the canoe behind bushes, so as to beentirely concealed.

  Night after night the journey was continued. Their supply of foodwas ample to last them; and there was, therefore, no occasion tostop at any village to purchase more. The river, at the point wherethey started, was about two miles wide; but at some points it wasdouble that width, while at others it contracted to little over amile. Its level was much lower, now, than it had been when Stanleyascended it, two months before. Sometimes at night they towed oneof their nets behind them, and obtained an ample supply of fish fortheir wants.

  Each night they made, as Stanley calculated, about forty miles and,after ten days' travel, they came to the point where the greatriver divided, one small arm running down to Rangoon; anotherdescending to Bassein, and then falling into the sea at CapeNegrais; while a large proportion of the water found its way downby innumerable branches between the Rangoon and Bassein rivers.

  For the last two or three days they had been obliged to observegreat caution for, below Prome, there were numbers of boats allgoing down the river laden with men and stores. These, however,only travelled by day; and the canoe was always, at that time,either floating in the shelter of bushes, or hauled up on the bankat spots where it could be concealed from view by thick growths ofrushes.

  "We shall never be able to get down to Rangoon by water," saidMeinik. "The river will be crowded with rowboats near the town; andthere will be no chance, whatever, of making our way through them.At the next village we come to, I will go in and learn the news.Your countrymen may have been driven out by this time and, in thatcase, there will be nothing to do but to travel north on foot,until we reach Chittagong."

  "I have no fear that we shall be driven out, Meinik."

  This conversation had occurred on the night when they had passedthe point of division of the two arms of the river. They had caughta larger supply of fish than usual and, as soon as the boat waslaid up, Meinik started along the bank, with a number of them, forthe nearest village. He returned in two hours.

  "It is well I landed," he said, "for the point where the greaterportion of our people are gathered is Henzawaddy, only some fifteenmiles further on.

  "You were right; your people have not been driven out. A largenumber of our troops are down near Rangoon but, in the fightingthat has taken place, we have gained no advantage. Your peoplemarched out at the end of May, carried a stockade; and advanced toJoazoang, and attacked some villages defended by stockades andcarried them, after having killed a hundred of our men. Then agreat stockade on a hill near the river, three miles fromRangoon--which our people thought could not be taken, so stronglywas it protected--was attacked. The guns of your people made agreat gap in a stockade a mile in front of it. Two hundred men werekilled, and also the commander.

  "Then your people marched on to the great stockade at Kemmendine.Your troops, when they got there, saw how strong it was and wereafraid to attack it. They lay down all night, close to it; and wethought we should destroy them, all when they attacked in themorning; but their ships that had come up with them opened fire, atdaybreak. As the stockades were hidden from the sight of those onthe river, we had thought that the ships could do nothing; but theyshot great balls up into the air, and they came down inside thestockade, where they burst with an explosion like the noise of abig gun; and killed so many that the troops could not remain underso terrible a fire, and went away, leaving it to your people toenter the stockade, without fighting."