hy. Although
for some little distance round the cattle had been driven off, and
the villages destroyed; it was certain that flying columns would be
able to bring in any amount of cattle, before the wet season began.

For a short time, it was thought that the occupation of Prome would
show the king and court that it was useless to continue the
struggle, any longer; but these hopes were dissipated when it was
known that a further levy of 30,000 men had been called out. The
court, however, was apparently conscious that its commands would no
longer be obeyed with the alacrity before manifested. The early
levies had obeyed the call with cheerfulness; believing in their
invincibility, and confident that they would return home laden with
spoil after driving, without difficulty, the audacious strangers
into the sea. Things, however, had not turned out so. The troops
that had left Ava in high spirits had been routed, with very heavy
losses. Their great general, Bandoola, had been killed; and
fugitives from the army were scattered over the land, bearing with
them reports of the extraordinary fighting powers of these white
enemies, and of the hopelessness of attempting to resist them. The
consequence was that in issuing the order for the new levy a bounty
of twenty pounds, which to the Burmans was a very large sum, was
offered to each man who obeyed the call.

The first step, on the part of the British general, was to send
proclamations through the country; guaranteeing protection to all,
and inviting the population to return to their towns and villages.
The troops were employed in erecting, with the assistance of as
much native labour as could be procured, comfortable huts outside
the town; so that the natives, on returning should find their homes
unoccupied and untouched. It was not long before this excellent
policy had its due effect. As soon as those who first returned sent
the news to their friends, the fugitives came out from their hiding
places in the forests, in great numbers, and returned to the city.
Those whose homes were still standing settled down in them and
resumed their ordinary avocations, just as if their native rulers
were still in authority; while those whose houses had been burned
set to work, with a cheerfulness characteristic of their race, to
re-erect their light wooden dwellings.

So favourable were the reports spread through the country of our
conduct that, in a short time, the population of Prome was