Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/130

122 to prosecute the war, saying that we were exhausted in men and money. He recommended their armies never to hazard a battle, but to harass us by night in jungles, and swamps, and above all to interrupt our convoys. So the news continues changing from day to day; we hear of the steady advance of the English, the shifty subterfuges of the Burmese. Two of the English prisoners were sent back to treat with Sir Archibald, who had now nearly doubled the terms he had originally asked.

While the prospect of an honourable peace in Burma grows more and more remote, Lord Amherst is harassed by news from England of his intended recall. Happily the demonstrations of local respect were more than a solace for the passing displeasure of the home authorities.

We are now in April, 1826. On the 5th, just as Lord and Lady Amherst were starting for their early ride in the cool morning, a messenger hurried up with the news that the Enterprise had anchored above Kedgeree. Before seven o'clock the letter arrived bringing the joyful intelligence of peace. It had been signed at a place only four marches from the capital of Burma. The faithful missionaries who had returned to the king, as they promised to do, now brought the treaty signed by him, and twenty-five lacs of rupees besides.

The Conquering Hero was, in fact, almost the herald of his own triumph. 'Before ten o'clock,' says Lady Amherst, 'Sir Archibald, Mr. Robertson, and Mr. Mangles arrived at Barrackpur; the joy on