On the Irrawaddy: A Story of the First Burmese War

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 10: The Advance.

  But while the preparations for the advance were being made, thegeneral's aides-de-camp had been kept at work from morning untilnight. There were constant communications between the military andnaval authorities, for the expedition was to be a mixed one.Transports were daily arriving with troops and stores; innumerablematters connected with the organization, both of the land and watertransport, required to be arranged; and the general himself wasindefatigable in superintending every detail of the work. It hadbeen settled that the advance could not take place until the secondweek in February, as the roads would be impassable until that time,and the 11th was fixed for the commencement of operations.

  Upon the day after his arrival at Rangoon, Stanley had written aletter to his uncle; giving him a brief account of his adventures,and stating that he had been appointed one of the general'saides-de-camp. He said that he should, of course, be guided by hisuncle's wishes; but that now that he had entered on the campaign asan officer, he should certainly like to remain till the end, whenhe would at once resign his commission and rejoin him.

  He sent this to his uncle's agent at Calcutta, but received noanswer until the end of December. After expressing his delight athearing that Stanley had not, as he had supposed, been killed atRamoo, but was now safe and well in the British camp, he went on:

  "I only received your letter this morning, for I have been movingabout from point to point and, owing to the falling off of trade,had no occasion to go to Calcutta, until now; and was, indeed,astounded at finding your letter lying for me here, as they had notforwarded it, having no idea where I was, and knowing that thechance of any letter sent on reaching me was extremely small.

  "By all means, lad, stop where you are. Trade is improving againfor, now that Bandoola's army has marched away from Ramoo, thescare among the natives has pretty well subsided. Still, I canmanage very well without you, and it will certainly be a greatadvantage to you to serve for a year in the army; and to have beenone of Campbell's aides-de-camp will be a feather in your cap, andwill give you a good position at all the military stations.

  "I am very glad, now, that I abstained from writing to your motherafter the battle at Ramoo. I thought it over and over, andconcluded that it was just as well to leave the matter alone for atime; not that I had the slightest idea, or even a hope, that youwere alive, but because I thought that the cessation of lettersfrom you would, to some extent, prepare her mind for the blow, whenit came. It would be very improbable that she would see thegazette, with the list of killed and wounded at Ramoo and, even ifshe did so, she would not associate the death of Ensign Brooke inany way with you. When we have been trading up country, there havebeen, once or twice, no means of sending off a letter for a coupleof months and, therefore, she could not have begun to feelseriously anxious about you before she received your letter fromRangoon.

  "Everyone says that you will not be able to advance until February;so that, no doubt, this letter will reach you long before youleave. I hear the losses have been very heavy, from fever; but I amnot anxious about you on that score, for I think that you arethoroughly acclimatised. I am trying to get a contract for thesupply of a couple of thousand bullocks, for the use of the army;and as I know all the country so well, from Chittagong to Sylhet,and can buy below Indian prices, I think that I shall not only getthe contract, but make a very good thing of it, and it may lead toother matters."

  After this, Stanley was hardly surprised when, in the last week ofJanuary, his uncle walked into his quarters. After the firstpleasure of meeting was over, Stanley said:

  "I suppose you have got the contract, uncle?"

  "I have, lad. I have come down from Ramgur with six dhows, packedfull. I have brought a thousand head down and, directly I landthem, am going back for the remainder; which will be ready for meby the time I get there.

  "I have got hold of an uncommonly good fellow. He was establishedas a small trader at Chittagong. His business was ruined there, andhe was glad to accept my offer of a berth; and he has turned out avery energetic and pushing fellow. He will come down with the nextconsignment.

  "I myself am going to work my way up along the edge of the Tipperahforest; and shall pick up another thousand head, by the time that Iget to the Goomtee, and shall send them by water up to Sylhet; andthen go up by land, picking up more on the way. I have a contractfor five thousand to be sent in, a thousand a month, for the forcethat is to move against Manipur; while Johnson is to send anothertwo thousand down here. So you see, for the present the storebusiness can wait. It is a good line that I have got into. I shallmake a big profit out of it, and have hopes that it will be, tosome extent, permanent; for I can get the cattle so cheap in theinterior, on the rivers we know, that I can ship them to Calcuttaat lower terms than they can buy them in India; and I was as muchas told that, if I carried out my present contracts satisfactorily,I should get the supply of the troops there. Of course, that wouldnot be a very great thing of itself but, as I could work it withouttrouble in connection with my own business, it would make ahandsome addition to the profits."

  "But how about money, uncle?"

  "That is all right, lad. I had no difficulty, whatever, in gettingan advance at Calcutta, on the strength of my contract and upon theguarantee of my agents; so that I am all right, in that respect."

  "I asked, uncle, because I can let you have eighteen hundredpounds, if you want them."

  Tom Pearson looked at him in astonishment.

  "Why, what on earth have you been doing--robbing the treasury ofthe King of Ava?"

  "No, uncle. I had a bag of gems given me, by some Burmese bandits.When I got down here, I took a few of them to a merchant. Headvanced fifteen hundred rupees on them, and sent them to Burragee,the jeweller at Madras and, six weeks afterwards, he paid meanother three thousand five hundred. I sent up another batch and,last week, I got an order from the jewellers for fifteen hundredpounds; so that I have more than eighteen hundred in hand now, andI don't think that I have sent more than a third of the gems away."

  "Well, that is a piece of luck, Stanley! Why on earth did thebrigands give you the gems?"

  "Well, uncle, they are things that, from what they told me, thereis great difficulty and risk in trying to dispose of. They are aroyal monopoly, and nobody dare buy them or, if they do, will givenext to nothing for them; because of the risk of the transaction,and because they know that the vendors are in a fix, and must sell.Besides, there is a strong chance of their handing over anyone whooffers such things to the authorities. That was one reason why theygave them to me. Then, too, they had made a good haul ofmerchandise which was, to them, a great deal more valuable, asthere was no difficulty in disposing of it. Lastly, they had takena fancy to me, because I saved one of their comrade's lives--theman who showed you up here."

  "Well, lad, you shall tell me all about it, this evening. I must begoing down to the commissariat yard, to arrange the landing of mybeasts. I came straight to see you, directly I landed. We droppedanchor here at daybreak."

  "I will go with you, uncle. I will run in and see the chief, first,and get leave off for the day. I have earned a holiday, for I havebeen at work pretty well morning, noon, and night for the last twomonths. You see, I have not only the duties of aide-de-camp, but ofinterpreter; and have helped both the quartermaster's departmentand the commissariat in making their arrangements with the natives.I daresay I shall be able to help to hurry your business on,quicker than you would be able to get it done, alone."

  The general at once granted Stanley leave, and he went with hisuncle down to the commissariat office, and introduced him to thesenior officer.

  "We shall be glad to do all in our power to help you, Mr. Pearson,"the officer said. "We have been expecting your arrival for the lastweek. Of course, we heard from Calcutta that you had the contractfor two thousand head; at least half of these were to be deliveredby the tenth of February. We were getting rather anxious about it.The force will probably want to start, before that time; a
nd weshall have to victual both the land and water columns. Of course, Idid not know that you were a relation of Mr. Brooke, or I shouldhave mentioned to him that you were likely to come."

  "I should like to get off as soon as possible," Tom Pearson said;"for by the time that I get back to Ramgur, the rest of the cattlewill be in readiness for me."

  "I will write you an order for four large boats, at once. If youhad come three weeks sooner, you might have been kept waiting somedays; but such a number of native craft have, of late, come downthe rivers that we are enabled to get sufficient for our work."

  The officer gave him a note to the one in charge of the landingarrangements.

  "It is lucky that you have come just at this moment," the lattersaid. "We have just made our last trip with the baggage of the47th, and I have six boats disengaged. You may as well take themall."

  The craft in question were some of those that had beencaptured--unwieldy craft, that took fish and salt up the river.They were almost as large as the dhows in which the cattle had beenbrought down, but drew very much less water. They were towed off tothe dhows, one by one, by two captured war canoes, each havingthirty rowers. One was taken to each dhow, and the work oftranshipping the cattle began at once. These were in good conditionfor, although closely packed, they had been well supplied with foodand water on the way down; and a herdsman with four men under himhad been sent, in each boat, to take care of them, as Tom Pearsonwas very anxious that his first consignment should be reported uponfavourably. The animals were all landed in the course of theafternoon and, with the acknowledgment of their receipt, inexcellent order, in his pocket, the contractor went off again, withStanley, to his own dhow.

  "I have told them to have everything in readiness to drop down theriver with the tide, tomorrow morning. It will turn just aboutsunrise. That is a rare bit of business, Stanley; and I doubt if acontractor ever got his work through so quickly, before. Of course,it is principally due to you. They would never have pushed thingsthrough so quickly, had you not gone with me. I thought that verylikely I might be detained here a week, before I could get all thecattle on shore--and by that time, if all goes well, I shall be atRamgur again.

  "Now we can have a comfortable evening's talk, which is very muchbetter than my going to dine with you at mess; for there is a greatdeal to hear about, and I daresay that I can give you as good adinner as we should have had, on shore."

  "A good deal better," Stanley said. "Things have improvedimmensely, during the last month; still our mess cook is certainlynot so good as your man and, at any rate, the quiet of your cabinmakes a very pleasant change, after always sitting down with alarge party."

  After dinner was over, Stanley gave a full account of hisadventures, from the time that he was taken prisoner.

  "You have done wonderfully well for yourself, lad; wonderfullywell. Certainly when you picked up Burmese from my man, we had noidea that it was ever likely to turn out so useful. I thought thatit would have been an assistance among the Mugs on the coast; and Ihad, too, some idea that the war might lead to the opening of atrade up the Irrawaddy; but it has turned out infinitely moreuseful than that. If you could not have spoken Burmese, Bandoolawould never have thought of asking for you to be spared as aninterpreter and, if he had not done so, you would have had yourhead chopped off, at Ava.

  "Of course that leopard business was the turning point of yourfortunes but, though it has turned out so well, I must say that Ihardly think that you were justified in risking your life in such adesperate act for a native; who might, for aught you know, bealready dead. Of course, it was a most gallant action; but thebetting was ten to one against your succeeding. However, as itturned out, it was a fortunate business, altogether. I don't saythat you might not have made your way down to Rangoon, unaided; butthe odds would have been very heavily against it. However, theserubies were a windfall, indeed."

  "Will you take the rest of them, uncle, and sell them atCalcutta--or shall I send them to Madras, or home to England?"

  "I will take them with me to Calcutta, if you like, Stanley. Idon't say that there are better men there than the one you sent to,at Madras; but I think some of them do a larger business up-countrywith the native princes, who don't care what they give for goodgems. At any rate, I will take them there and get them valued by anexpert; and then try two or three of the leading firms, and gettheir offers. If these are as high as the value put on them by theexpert, I would send them to England, through my agents, who woulddo the best they could for you."

  "For us, uncle. Of course, it is all in the partnership business.You have just got some contracts that will pay well and, while youhave been doing that, I have been getting hold of these rubies."

  "I don't think that that is fair, Stanley," his uncle said,gravely.

  "It seems to me perfectly fair; and besides, the money put into thebusiness will make a lot of difference, and will certainly pay me agreat deal better than it would in any other way. I sent home 100pounds for my mother, directly the money came from Calcutta; andtold her that I hoped to be able to send home at least as much,every year."

  "A good deal more, lad, if you like. I calculate these contractsthat I have got will bring in a pound a head so that, by the timethat the war is over, I hope to have cleared 8000 pounds, whichwill be about what you will make by your rubies; and when tradebegins again, we shall be in a position to do it on a big scale.But I still think that it will not be fair to take that money."

  "Well, uncle, if you won't take it, I certainly won't have anythingto do with the money that you make, while I am away; so pleasedon't let us say anything more about it. Shall I give you thateighteen hundred now; or will you have an order upon the paymaster,in Calcutta?"

  "That would be the best way, if you will have it so, lad. I haveleft money with Johnson, at Ramgur, for the next herd that is tocome down here; and have orders from my agent on their agents, atDalla, for those that I am going to buy for the Manipur column. SoI don't want the money now and, suppose the dhow were to be lostgoing up, the cash might go with it. So, do you get the order. Youhad better send it straight to Bothron; and tell him to collect it,and credit it to my account.

  "How long do you think that this business is going to last?"

  "It depends how far we have to go before the Burmese decide thatthey have had enough of it. At present, the general hope is that,as soon as we arrive at Prome, they will give in. If they don't wemay have to go up to Ava and, in that case, we may not finish ituntil this time next year; for I suppose operations will have tocome to a stop, when the wet season begins again, and we couldhardly reach Ava before that."

  "I expect, some day, we shall have to take the whole country,Stanley. You may frighten the court into submission, when youapproach the capital; but I fancy they will never keep to the termsthat we shall insist upon, and that there will have to be anotherexpedition. That is generally our way--it was so at Mysore, it hasbeen so in a dozen other places. When we have done all the work,and have got them at our mercy, we give them comparatively easyterms. As soon as they recover from the effects of their defeat,they set to work again to prepare for another tussle; and then wehave all the expense and loss of life to incur, again, and then endby annexing their territory, which we might just as well have donein the first place. It may be all very well to be lenient, when oneis dealing with a European enemy; but magnanimity does not pay whenyou have to do with Orientals, who don't care a rap for treatyengagements, and who always regard concessions as being simply aproof of weakness.

  "There would not be half the difficulty in annexing Burma thatthere would be, in the case of a large province in India; for allthe towns, and most even of their villages, lie on rivers, and acouple of dozen gunboats would suffice to keep the whole country inorder. You will see that that is what we shall have to do, someday; but it will cost us two or three expeditions to do what mightjust as well be done, now."

  "Well, uncle, it is nearly twelve o'clock and, as I shall be onduty at six, I think I had better be
going. I wish that you couldhave stayed for another two or three days, and paid a visit to thepagoda and camps. I am very glad that I have had a sight of youagain, though it's a very short one."

  "I should be glad to stay another day or two, Stanley; but it isreally of importance for me to get down to Ramgur, as soon as Ican, and send Johnson off with the cattle; for I want to set aboutbuying the herds for the other column, as quickly as possible. Ithink I have left myself a fair margin of time, but there isnothing like promptitude in delivery, and I want to get a goodname, for future business; and if this affair here is going to lastanother twelve-month, regular supplies must be sent up for, as beefis forbidden by the Burmese religion, they keep no cattle exceptfor draught purposes, and the army must get their bullocks by sea."

  Five minutes later Stanley was rowed ashore. The next morning heaccompanied the general, and went down to inspect the newly-arrivedcattle.

  "They are a capital lot," he said to Stanley, "decidedly the bestthat we have had, yet. You see, it is a good deal shorter voyage,from Ramgur, than from either Calcutta or Madras; and the animalsprobably had a much shorter land journey before they were shipped.Then, too, as your uncle came down himself they were, no doubt,much better looked after than usual on the voyage. However, I willtake care to mention, when I write next to Calcutta, that thecattle are far above the average; and I shall be glad if they willarrange for such further supplies as we may require from the samesource."

  "Thank you, sir; that will be a great help to my uncle. Hitherto hehas had very uphill work of it; though he was beginning to get onvery well, when the war put a stop to trade. He knows the wholecountry so thoroughly that he can certainly buy up cattle at manyplaces where no European trader, save himself, has everpenetrated."

  "No doubt, Brooke; and I hope, for your sake, that he will succeedwell in this contracting business. He has certainly made anexcellent start and, as he is first in the field in the countrybetween Assam and Ramgur, he ought to make a good thing of thisopportunity that has fallen in his way. I know that it takes a longtime to build up a business but, when the foundation is laid, and aman is quick in taking advantage of an opportunity, he can do asmuch in a year as he might do in twenty, without it.

  "Now, I am going over to the lines of the 47th, to see how theyhave shaken down into them."

  This regiment had brought out tents for, as every building wasalready occupied, it was necessary that they should be put undercanvas. The general found that everything was arranged in order,and the encampment certainly presented a pleasing contrast to theirregular, and often crowded quarters of the troops who had passedthe wet season there. The colonel and three of his officers dinedwith the general, that evening; the party being made up of themilitary staff, including the two aides-de-camp.

  Two days later Stanley, with some of the other members of thestaff, dined at the 47th mess. Stanley was introduced to several ofthe officers; and these were specially desirous of making hisacquaintance, as they had learned that he had been a prisoner atAva, and could therefore tell them much more than they had hithertolearned of the country into which they were about to advance.

  Among them was a young lieutenant, also of the name of Brooke.Stanley had, three weeks before, attained the same rank. At thetime that he was appointed to the 83rd, there were already severaldeath vacancies in the regiment, and disease and fighting hadcarried off six more officers. The whole of the ensigns hadconsequently obtained their step. At dinner he found himself placednext to his namesake.

  "It is curious, our having the same name," the other remarked, ashe sat down. "It is not a very common one."

  "No, I have not met anyone of the same name, before," Stanley said."Indeed, until the affair at Ramoo I was nearly three years tradingwith an uncle of mine, up the rivers; and was not much in the wayof falling in with white men. But, before that, I had been with myfather in a good many stations in India; but I do not, as far as Ican remember, recollect meeting anyone of the same name."

  "Then your father was in the service, too?"

  "Yes. He was a captain in the 15th Native Infantry."

  "Indeed," the other said in surprise, "then we are connections. ButI had no idea that Captain Brooke was ever married."

  "He was married just after he came out to India," Stanley said; "soit is likely enough that you would never have heard of it. He diedthree years ago, and my mother and sisters are now in England. Whatis the connection between us? I have never heard my father speakmuch of his family."

  "Your father was a cousin of mine--second cousin, I think. I fancythere was some row between your grandfather and the rest of thefamily. I don't know anything about the right or wrongs of it; forit was, of course, many years before we were born; and I neverheard of your father's existence, until a fortnight before I leftEngland. Then there were some inquiries made about the family,owing to various deaths that took place in it. Do you know thatyour father was related--distantly of course--to the Earl ofNetherly?"

  "I do remember his mentioning it, once. I know he said that it wasa distant connection; and that he knew nothing, whatever, about theearl or his family."

  "Well, curiously enough, it is not so distant, now," the othersaid. "I was a pretty distant connection of his. He was childless;and the family, generally, don't seem to have been prolific. A goodmany of them died; and the result was that, the year before I leftEngland, an uncle of mine succeeded to the title. He has no son,and my father was his next brother. My father died, two years ago;and the result is that, to my astonishment, I found that I was nextheir to the title. They wanted me to leave the army, when myregiment was ordered out to India; but of course I was not going todo that, for my aunt may die, and my uncle marry again and havechildren. Besides, I was not going to leave, anyhow, just as theregiment was ordered abroad, and might see service.

  "However, there was a great hunting by the lawyers in thegenealogical tree; and I know it was decided that, in case anythinghappened to me, your father would have been the next heir, had hebeen alive. I don't know whether any further inquiries were made,or whether they ever ascertained that he had married. I don'tsuppose there were for, of course, as long as I live the matter isof no importance.

  "So that, as things stand now, if a Burmese bullet puts an end tomy career, you are the next heir to the title."

  "You surprise me, indeed," Stanley said. "From the way my fatherspoke of the matter, I am sure that he had not the slightest ideathere was any likelihood, whatever, that he would have any chanceof succeeding to the title."

  "That I can well imagine, for it was not until a few years ago,when the deaths of several who stood between him and the successionoccurred, that my uncle regarded his coming into it as a matterworth thinking about; and of course all our family stood between itand your father. However, as you see we have dwindled away and, ifI do not get safely through this business, you are the next heir."

  "It is curious news to hear, at a dinner in Burma," Stanley said,thoughtfully. "At any rate, I can assure you honestly that the newsgives me no particular satisfaction. I suppose it would be a nicething, to come in for a peerage; but my prospects out here aregood. I have no intention of staying in the army, after the end ofthe war; and am really in partnership with my uncle, with whom Ihave been for the last three years in business, which is turningout very well. I like the life, and have every chance of makingenough to retire on, with ample means. Certainly, I should not liketo come into the title by the death of anyone that I knew."

  "That is the fortune of war," the other said, smiling. "We get oursteps by death vacancies. We are sorry for the deaths, but thesteps are not unwelcome.

  "By the way, my name is Harry. I know that yours is Stanley. I votethat we call each other by them. We are cousins, you know, and Isuppose that as you are my heir, you must be my nearest malerelation, at present; so I vote that we call each other by ourChristian names, instead of Brookeing each other, always."

  "I shall be very glad to do so," Stanley said, cordially. "I ho
pethat we shall be close friends, as well as distant relations."

  Then, as there was a momentary lull in the conversation, Harryraised his voice and said to the colonel:

  "A very curious thing has just happened, Colonel. Brooke and myselfhave just discovered that we are cousins and, what is still morecurious, that if anything happens to me, he takes my place as nextheir to my uncle, a fact of which he was entirely ignorant."

  "That is certainly a very curious coincidence, Brooke; verysingular. Then you have not met before?"

  "I did not even know of his existence, Colonel; and had, indeed, noidea that Captain Brooke, his father, had been married. Thecousinship is a distant one; but there is no question, whatever, asto his being next in succession to myself to the peerage."

  The discovery excited general interest; and quite turned theconversation, for the time, from the subject of the war and oftheir approaching advance. After dinner was finished, many of theofficers gathered round Stanley, asking him questions about thenature of the country, and his experiences as a captive in thehands of the Burmese. Presently Colonel Adair, who had also dinedat the mess, joined the group.

  "I suppose, Mr. Brooke," he said, "your newly-found cousin has toldyou about his adventure with the leopard?"

  "No, Colonel, he has not said anything about a leopard."

  "He is grievously afflicted with modesty," the colonel went on;"and so I will tell it for him, for I think you ought to know thathe is not only able to speak half a dozen languages, but that he iscapable of doing deeds of exceptional gallantry.

  "You can go and chat with the colonel, Brooke. He is anxious tohear your report as to the country, and I will be your trumpeterhere."

  Stanley gladly moved away, and entered into conversation with thecolonel of the 47th; while Colonel Adair related his adventureswith the leopard to his cousin, and the officers standing round.

  "By Jove, that was a plucky thing!" Harry Brooke said, admiringly.

  "It was, indeed!" the colonel agreed, as similar exclamations wentround the circle. "I don't think one man in a hundred would haveattacked a leopard with no weapon but a knife, except to save thelife of a comrade; even then, it would be a most desperate action.I have done a good deal of big-game shooting, in India; but I amcertain that nothing but a strong affection, for a comrade in thegrasp of a leopard, would induce me to risk almost certain death inthe way your cousin did. We should never have heard of it, if wehad not got the details from the man he saved, and who has sinceattached himself to him as a servant; and is the man who, as Idaresay he did tell you, served as his companion and guide inmaking his way down here. At any rate you see, Brooke, your cousinis an uncommonly fine young fellow, and you have reason to be proudof the relationship."

  "I feel so, Colonel; and it is really a pleasure to know that, ifone does go down, a thoroughly good fellow will benefit by it,instead of some unknown person who might be a very objectionablerepresentative of the family."

  For the next three or four days, the bustle of preparations went onand, on the fifth, a detachment was sent up, with a sloop andgunboats, to attack an advanced position of the enemy on the Lyneriver. Although the 3000 Burmese, who were posted in a strongstockade, were supported by thirty-six guns; the works were carriedby storm, with little loss.

  The two branches of the Pellang (or Rangoon) river, by which theforce were to advance against Donabew were, on the following day,reconnoitred for some distance. A number of fire rafts weredestroyed, but the Burmese were too disheartened to offer anyresistance.

  To the disappointment of the troops, the general was able to takewith him only a limited force; for the difficulties of carriagewere enormous and, as experience had shown that the country waslikely to be deserted, and devastated, on their approach; it was,therefore, impossible for the bulk of the army to be taken on, byland. There were other points, however, where the troops leftbehind could be profitably employed. The capture of the importanttown of Bassein, on the main branch of the Irrawaddy, would openthe river to the passage of our ships, and put an entire stop tothe trade of Ava.

  The force told off for the advance against Donabew was divided intotwo columns. The first, 2400 strong--consisting of the 38th, 41st,and 47th Regiments, three native battalions, the troop ofbodyguard; a battery of Bengal horse artillery, and part of therocket company--was to march by land.

  The second column, which was to proceed by water, was 1169 strong;and it consisted of the 89th Regiment, the 10th Madras Europeans,and 250 of the 18th Native Infantry; a body of dismountedartillery, and the rest of the rocket company. This force wascommanded by Brigadier General Cotton. It was to be carried in aflotilla of sixty-two boats, each armed with one or two guns; andthe boats of all the ships of war at Rangoon, under the command ofCaptain Alexander, R. N.

  Major Sale was, at the same time, to advance against Bassein; with600 men of the 13th Regiment, and the 12th Madras Native infantry,with some artillery. After occupying the town, he was to cross thecountry lying between the two main arms of the Irrawaddy, and tojoin the general's force near Donabew.

  The rest of the force--nearly 4000 men, chiefly native regimentsand Europeans who had not, as yet, recovered sufficient strength totake part in field operations--was to remain at Rangoon, underBrigadier General M'Creigh; who was to form a reserve column, inreadiness to move as directed, as soon as sufficient transport wascollected.

  It was to the water force that the capture of Donabew wasintrusted, as it lay upon the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy; whilethe general's force was directed against Tharawa, at the junctionof the two main branches of the river. Here they were to be joinedby General Cotton's force, after the capture of Donabew; then,unless the court of Ava sued for peace, a united advance was to bemade on the important town of Prome.