y at us with musketry and several
heavy guns. We returned the compliment pretty briskly, till they,
getting the worst of it, as usual, showed their discretion by scampering
off, and not stopping till they thought our shot would not reach them.

"As we were in a hurry to be at Prome, we didn't stop till they came
back, but steamed on till sunset, when we anchored off the town of
Meaoung. We found that the river divided just ahead of us into two
streams, the western and deepest being the only navigable channel for
the greater part of the year. We had arrived, however, at a time when
the eastern channel had plenty of water in it, as we learned from the
pilots. This was a fortunate circumstance, as you shall hear. When we
got near the western channel, we found an immensely strong fort at the
end of a range of hills which completely overlooked the river,
garrisoned by a force of not less than ten thousand men, under a certain
General Bundoolah, the most celebrated warrior in the Burmese army, so
the pilots told us. Though his troops were only armed with matchlocks,
and might have been bad shots, they would have committed a good deal of
mischief by peppering down on our decks; not to speak of what the heavy
guns might have done, placed in a position to rake us as we steamed up.
Had it been necessary, I have no doubt Captain Tarleton would have stood
on; but as there was no object in running the risk if it could be
avoided, just as we came close to the works, and the enemy had begun to
pepper us, he put his helm to port, and, greatly to their
disappointment, steered away up the eastern channel, where not one of
their shot could reach us. We kept the lead going, every moment fearing
that we might get aground, when we should have been somewhat in a mess.
We never had less than two fathoms of water, and sometimes more, so that
we got through without accident; and by steaming on all night, the next
morning at daylight came off Prome.

"At the south end of the city we made out four heavy guns, but the
troops, every man Jack of them, had gone off with General Bundoolah, and
left not one behind to fight them. We therefore brought up abreast of
the spot, and hove them off, spiking the iron guns, and carrying the
brass ones on board, twenty-three in all. Higher up we found between
twenty and thirty more.

"This done, we again got up steam, and paddled ten miles higher. We
were now within four days' steaming of Ava, with a b