Page:The Marquess of Dalhousie.djvu/123

Rh the mouths of the Irawadi. The successive capture of the weak defences of Martaban, of the almost impregnable temple-fortress of Rangoon, and of the strongly held port of Bassein, placed the whole sea-coast and lower delta of the Irawadi in the hands of the invaders.

Their most brilHant feat of arms, and indeed one of the most splendid achievements of modern warfare, was the storming of Rangoon. As Múltán, the starting-point of Lord Dalhousie's first great annexation in the Punjab, was really an enormous fortified warehouse, so the Rangoon pagoda, which formed the key to his other great annexation in Burma, was not so truly a fort as a great temple-citadel. Standing at the base of that lofty mound of earth-work and solid brick, I could not help repeating to myself the exclamation of Lord Dalhousie on visiting Rangoon at the close of the war — 'I cannot imagine, General, how your men ever got in at this place!'

They got in, too, against the overwhelming numbers of the besieged. The Burmese troops held the city and pagoda of Rangoon with 18,000 men; the English could only bring 5,700 to the attack. Among the Burmese were the picked guards known as 'The Immortals of the Golden Country,' whose discipline compelled them to die at their posts. The courage of the ordinary troops was also insured, as the king kept the wives and children of