dred-and-fifty sick European soldiers in hospital. What must have been the agony of these men whilst this revolting massacre was taking place? Left unprotected, in a hostile country, by their commanding officer, whose duty it was to have provided for their safeguard, prostrated by sickness or wounds they had received whilst fighting under their country's banner, and in her monarch's cause, unprovided with arms, prostrated by bodily infirmity, prevented thus from availing themselves of the means of self-defence, with which nature had provided them, their mental sufferings must, indeed, have been most terrible. Nor can we be surprised, if, in their dying agony, they forgot their duty as Christians, and cursed the man whose cowardice, want of firmness, and inhumanity, had left them to meet death, inflicted by the hands of barbarous enemies.

It is the bounden duty of an historian to be impartial, and draw notice to the conduct of those placed in responsible positions; therefore we deem it necessary to animadvert upon the line of policy adopted by General Macdowall. In the first place, it was a decided breach of faith, and violation of our treaty with Mootoo Sawme, the monarch whom we had crowned, to enter into a negotiation with Pilimi Talawe, and agree that he should be the viceroy of Kandy, thereby deposing Mootoo Sawme, and agreeing that he should retire to Jaffnapatam. The overtures of the crafty Pilimi Talawe had not the excuse of being made in the name of the king, whom he acknowledged, and whose prime minister he was, namely, Sri Wikrama, but were made in his own name and for his own benefit, as he consented to deliver the per son of his monarch into the hands of the British. General Macdowall evinced but an imperfect knowledge of human nature, even in listening to, much more in acceding to, the propositions of a man who was alike a rebel and a traitor to his king and country. He who was faithless.to the country which gave him birth, and the monarch whose confidential servant he was, could not be relied upon, or be expected to keep faith with the British, whom he only availed himself of to use as a step in ascending the ladder of his ambition. In the second place, General Macdowall is to be censured, for prematurely withdrawing

so large a body of troops from Kandy, leaving only one thousand men in garrison, in the midst of a hostile, treacherous nation, who could, from the natural defence of the country, cut off all communication and supplies; added to which, this small body of men was left under the command of an officer totally incapable and unfit to have so important a trust reposed in him. The fearful consequences attendant upon the whole of the mistaken line of policy pursued by General Macdowall in this disastrous business, has been seen in the fatal results recorded in previous pages. No attempt at palliation can be made for Major Davie's misconduct; and, for the credit of Great Britain, such transgressions of the laws of honour and humanity are rare. The result of Davie's pusillanimous cowardice, in acceding to all the unconscionable demands of his Kandian enemies, met with awful retribution in his own person, and those of his brother-officers; but their sufferings could not restore to life the hundreds of slaughtered men who had fallen victims to the savage brutality of the Kandians. To a well-regulated mind, death is always preferable to dishonour, and this feeling is generally deeply imprinted on the heart of the British defender of his country; and fortunate it is that the contrary sentiment is rarely met with among Britain's sons; for, were it otherwise, and conduct such as Major Davie's of frequent recurrence, we should become a byword among the nations of the earth, instead of being honoured and respected where the name of England is known.

We expressed our intention of noticing the heroic conduct of Captain Nouradeen, whose life was spared at Wattapolowa by the Kandians. This officer was a Malay, then commanding the Malay regiment; and Pilimi Talawe had used every persuasion during the period our troops occupied Kandy, to induce Captain Nouradeen to leave our service, and enter that of the Kandian, promising him high rank and riches. All these offers were steadfastly refused; and when he was made prisoner, Pilimi Talawe renewed them, tempting Captain Nouradeen with life, rank, and riches, if he would serve Sri Wikrama; but the answer he received was, "that he (Captain

Nouradeen) was already the servant of a mighty king, whose uniform he wore, and that he could not serve two masters." Finding all entreaty and persuasion useless, threats and tortures were essayed; but these proved alike futile, in inducing Captain Nouradeen to become traitor to the country which he served; and this noble, heroic fellow was put to death by Pi limi Talawe. The contrast presented in the character and conduct of Nouradeen and Davie need no concluding

comment.

In August, desultory warfare and ravage commenced between the British and Kandians, when Sri Wikrama, stimulated and intoxicated by his late successes, threatened to attack Colombo, but refrained from doing so; and in September, he besieged Hangwelle, a fort of little importance, in our possession, and suffered a severe defeat.

At the commencement of the year 1804, the Kandians prepared and attempted a general invasion of the British settlements, but were repulsed on all sides; great havoc was made among their troops, and the losses they sustained were considerable. Shortly after this, Pilini Talawe again made overtures of an amicable nature to our government; but the severe punishment the British had met with previously, after listening to his treacherous propositions in 1803, were too vividly impressed on their minds to permit them to hold further intercourse of a friendly description with so treacherous a man; and, therefore, the overtures made by Pilimi Talawe were rejected with the contempt they called for.

In the month of February of the year 1805, the Kandians again invaded the British territories; but the result was the same as that which they experienced the preceding year, viz., that of loss and defeat. A body of our troops, consisting only of three hundred men, followed by numerous

coolees and servants, and commanded by Major Johnson, were ordered to the interior. This brave officer fought his way from Batticaloa to Kandy, and was there surrounded by the troops of Sri Wikrama. Nothing daunted, he cut his way through them, and proceeded in his road to Trincomalee, although constantly harassed by the Kandian troops, who opposed the progress of this undaunted body of men. This small army, headed by Major Johnson, reached their destination with comparatively small loss, having had to pass through a hostile country, and constant skirmishes having taken place between them and the Kandian troops-thus showing what energy and bravery could perform when commanded by an officer possessing firmness and valour. The war was carried on with much determination and bravery on both sides; and the king of Kandy proposed a cessation of hostilities, which was agreed to by the British, although no formal treaty was entered into, and peace continued till 1814.

In July of this year, 1805, Governor North was relieved by Sir Thomas Maitland, who succeeded to the appointment of Governor of Ceylon. Governor North returned to Eugland with the good wishes of all the native British subjects of that island; and certes, Great Britain is indebted to the abilities of the Hon. Frederick North, the first English Governor of Ceylon, for retaining this bright colonial gem in the British diadem. Governor North left the colony in a comparative state of tranquillity, no fresh hostilities having been renewed with the Kandians until 1814; and he found it a scene of disorder, warfare, and bloodshed. Mr. North left Lanka-Diva's verdant shores with the satisfactory conviction, that he had done much to ameliorate the condition, physically and morally, of the benighted inhabitants of Ceylon.