Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/620

 abandoned. With the exception of an attack by the prince of Sarawadi in the end of August, the enemy allowed the British to remain unmolested during the months of July and August. This interval was employed by Sir A. Campbell in subduing the Burmese provinces of Tavoy and Mergui, and the whole coast of Tenasserim. This was an important conquest, as the country was salubrious and afforded convalescent stations to the sick, who were now so numerous in the British army that there were scarcely 3000 soldiers fit for duty. An expedition was about this time sent against the old Portuguese fort and factory of Syriam, at the mouth of the Pegu River, which was taken; and in October the province of Martaban was reduced under the authority of the British.

The rainy season terminated about the end of October; and the court of Ava, alarmed by the discomfiture of its armies, recalled the veteran legions which were employed in Arakán, under their renowned leader Maha Bandoola, in vain attempts to penetrate the British frontier. Bandoola hastened by forced marches to the defence of his country; and by the end of November an army of 60,000 men had surrounded the British position at Rangoon and Kemmendine, for the defence of which Sir Archibald Campbell had only 5000 efficient troops. The enemy in great force made repeated attacks on Kemmendine without success, and on the 7th December Bandoola was completely routed by Sir A. Campbell. The fugitives retired to a strong position on the river, which they again entrenched; and here they were attacked by the British on the 15th, and driven in complete confusion from the field.

Sir Archibald Campbell now resolved to advance on Prome, about 100 miles higher up the Irawadi River. He moved with his force on the 13th February 1825 in two divisions, one proceeding by land, and the other, under General Cotton, destined for the reduction of Donabew, being embarked on the flotilla. Taking the command of the land force he continued his advance till the 11th March, when intelligence reached him of the failure of the attack upon Donabew. He instantly commenced a retrograde march; on the 27th he effected a junction with General Cotton's force, and on the 2d April carried the entrenchments at Donabew with little resistance, Bandoola having been killed by the explosion of a bomb. The English general entered Prome on the 25th, and remained there during the rainy season. On the 17th September an armistice was concluded for one month. In the course of the summer General Morrison had conquered the province of Arakán; in the north the Burmese were expelled from Assam; and the British had made some progress in Cachar, though their advance was finally impeded by the thick forests and jungle.

The armistice having expired on the 17th October, the army of Ava, amounting to 60,000 men, advanced in three divisions against the British position at Prome, which was defended by 3000 Europeans and 2000 native troops. But the British still triumphed, and after several actions, in which the Burmese were the assailants and were partially successful, Sir A. Campbell, on the 1st December, attacked the different divisions of their army, and successively drove them from all their positions, and dispersed them in every direction. The Burmese retired on Meaday and afterwards on Mellone, along the course of the Irawadi, where they occupied, with 10,000 or 12,000 men, a series of strongly fortified heights and a formidable stockade. On the 26th they sent a flag of truce to the British camp; and a negotiation having commenced, peace was proposed to them on the following conditions:—1st, The cession of Arakán, together with the provinces of Mergui, Tavoy, and Yea; 2d, The renunciation by the Burmese sovereign of all claims upon Assam and the contiguous petty states; 3d, The

Company to be paid a crore of rupees as an indemnification for the expenses of the war; 4th, Residents from each court to be allowed, with an escort of fifty men; while it was also stipulated that British ships should no longer be obliged to unship their rudders and land their guns as formerly in the Burmese ports. This treaty was agreed to and signed, but the ratification of the king was still wanting; and it was soon apparent that the Burmese had no intention to sign it, but were preparing to renew the contest. On the 19th January, accordingly, Sir A. Campbell attacked and carried the enemy's position at Mellone. Another offer of peace was here made by the Burmese, but it was found to be insincere; and the fugitive army made at the ancient city of Pagán-Myo a final stand in defence of the capital. They were attacked and overthrown on the 9th February 1826; and the invading force being now within four days' march of Ava, Dr Price, an American missionary, who with other Europeans had been thrown into prison when the war commenced, was sent to the British camp with the treaty (known as the Treaty of Yandabo) ratified, the prisoners of war released, and an instalment of 25 lacs of rupees. The war was thus brought to a successful termination, and the British army evacuated the country.

For some years the relations of peace continued undisturbed. Probably the feeling of amity on the part of the Burmese Government was not very strong; but so long as the prince by whom the treaty was concluded continued in power, no attempt was made to depart from its main stipulations. That monarch, Phagyi-dau or Noungclaugyi, however, was obliged in 1837 to yield the throne to a usurper who appeared in the person of his brother, Kounboungmen or Tharawadi. The latter, at an early period, manifested not only that hatred of British connection which was almost universal at the Burmese court, but also the extremest contempt. For several years it had become apparent that the period was approaching when war between the British and the Burmese Governments would again become inevitable. The British resident, Major Burney, who had been appointed in 1830, finding his presence at Ava agreeable neither to the king nor to himself, removed in 1837 to Rangoon, and shortly afterwards retired from the country. Ultimately it became necessary to forego even the pretence of maintaining relations of friendship, and the British functionary at that time, Captain Macleod, was properly withdrawn, in 1840, altogether from a country where his continuance would have been but a mockery. The state of sullen dislike which followed was after a while succeeded by more active evidences of hostility. Acts of violence were committed on British ships and British seamen. Remonstrance was consequently made by the British Government, and its envoys were supported by a small naval force. The officers on whom devolved the duty of representing the wrongs of their fellow-countrymen and demanding redress, proceeded to Rangoon, the governor of which place had been a chief actor in the outrages complained of; but so far were they from meeting with any signs of regret, that they were treated with indignity and contempt, and compelled to retire without accomplishing anything beyond blockading the ports. A series of negotiations followed; nothing was demanded of the Burmese beyond a very moderate compensation for the injuries inflicted on the masters of two British vessels, an apology for the insults offered by the governor of Rangoon to the representatives of the British Government, and the re-establishment of at least the appearance of friendly relations by the reception of a British agent by the Burmese Government. But the obduracy of the king—known as the Pagán-men, who had succeeded his father in 1846—led to the refusal alike of atonement for past wrongs, of any expression of regret for the display of 