book, which was carefully wrapped up and carried in a
basket. On having the book handed to him Mr. Boardman saw that it was
a Church of England Prayer-book. He told the Karens that although it
was a very good book it was not intended to be worshipped, and they
consented to give it to him in exchange for some portions of Scripture
in a language they could read. It was never discovered who gave the
Prayer-book to the Karens, but it may be taken for granted that they
misunderstood the donor's meaning. This book was afterwards sent home
to the American Baptist Missionary Society.

On July 8, 1829, Mrs. Boardman was plunged into grief by the death of
her little daughter, aged two years and eight months. Other troubles
followed quickly. One night Mrs. Boardman was awakened by hearing some
native Christians shouting, 'Teacher, teacher, Tavoy rebels!' The
inhabitants of Tavoy had revolted against the British Government, and
had attempted to seize the powder magazine and armoury. The Sepoys had
driven off the rebels, who were, however, far from being disheartened.
They burst open the prison, set free the prisoners, and began firing on
the mission house. Bullets passed through the fragile little
dwelling-place, and the Boardmans would soon have been killed had not
some Sepoys fought their way to their assistance, with orders to remove
them to Government House. As Mrs. Boardman with her baby boy in her
arms hurried through the howling mob of rebels she had several narrow
escapes from being shot, but fortunately the whole of the little party
from the mission house reached Government House in safety. The
Governor of Tavoy was away when the rebellion broke out, and as the
steamer in which he had departed was the only means of rapid
communication between Tavoy and Moulmein, the little British force
settled down to act on the defensive until reinforcements arrived.
Soon it was found that Government House would have to be evacuated, and
eventually the British and Americans took shelter in a six-room house
on the wharf. In this small house the whole of the white population,
the soldiers, and the native Christians were sheltered. The rebels,
strongly reinforced, attempted to burn them out, but a heavy downfall
of rain extinguished the flames before much harm had been done.

At last, to the great relief of the defenders, the governor's steamer
was seen approaching. The governor was considerably surprised to find
the natives