a place called Donabew, on the river. A force
of about six hundred men was ordered to get ready to attack the daring
chieftain; about half were soldiers, the remainder seamen and marines,
with their officers. Jack and I had the luck to be chosen, and we
expected to see something of a new style of fighting, and to enjoy a
tramp of twenty miles or more through the country. The expedition was
placed under the command of Captain Loch, whom we all knew to be as good
an officer as any in the service. We carried with us two three-pound
field-guns, and on reaching Donabew landed, and began our march without
encountering an enemy. We were fortunate enough to get hold of some
natives who were willing to act as our guides; for you will understand
that the natives everywhere were friendly to the English, and the troops
only were our enemies.

"We started early on the 3rd of February, the natives drawing our guns
along the pathway, which lay through a thick jungle of tall trees and
brushwood. It was not the pleasantest style of country to traverse,
seeing that a tiger might spring out and carry off a fellow, and that
the enemy, if they had had the wits to do it, might have placed an
ambush, and shot us down without our being able to see one of them.
However, after marching about fifteen miles, we arrived at an open
valley, where we bivouacked. We could hear the enemy all night long
popping away ahead of us pretty smartly. I suppose it was under the
idea they should frighten us barbarians, and prevent our advancing.
However, in that they were mistaken. We lighted our fires and cooked
our suppers, and pretty hungry we were. We then lay down to sleep,
thinking of the work before us on the morrow, and we were of course all
very jolly, expecting to get hold of Mr Mya Toon, and to carry him back
with us in triumph. Little did many of the poor fellows who lay down
that night suppose that it was to be their last on earth.

"The bugle sounded at daybreak, and, springing up, we breakfasted and
recommenced our march, moving along the same sort of path as before,
till it suddenly terminated on the side of a broad nullah, a sort of
natural ditch. The bank on the opposite side was much higher than the
ground we stood on, and we soon saw that it was strongly fortified,
after the Burmese fashion, with sharp-pointed bamboos, over which it was
as difficult to leap as it was to force our way through. The path, too,
was here narrowed by