ter. At daybreak they came in sight of the stockade, and
a few shots were at once fired upon the advanced guard by the
Burmese. A portion of their force was lying in a village hard by.

Major Newton at once divided his command into two bodies. One of
these was led by Captain Johnston against the front of the
stockade. The other, under Captain Rowe, attacked the village
adjoining. The Burmese stationed there gave way, after a very faint
resistance. They were accustomed to rely always on stockades; and
this attack upon them, when not so protected, shook them at once.
Those in the stockade, however, made a resolute resistance.

Captain Rowe, after gaining possession of the village, and seeing
the occupants in full flight, moved his force to aid the other
division; and the Burmese, dispirited by the defeat of their
countrymen, and finding themselves attacked on two sides, gave way
and fled, leaving a hundred dead behind them; while on the British
side but six sepoys were killed.

The Burmese fled to the hills, at a speed that rendered pursuit
hopeless by the more heavily-armed troops; and the fugitives soon
rallied, and effected their junction with the division advancing
from Manipur. After the action Major Newton returned to Sylhet, and
a few days later Mr. Scott, who had been appointed commissioner,
arrived there and, advancing to Bhadrapur, opened communications
with the Burmese. As, however, it became evident that the latter
were only negotiating in order to gain time to intrench themselves
near Jatrapur, to which they had returned, he again placed the
matter in the hands of the military commanders.

The Burmese force amounted to about six thousand men. They had
erected strong stockades on each bank of the river Surma, and had
thrown a bridge across to connect them. Captain Johnston advanced
with a wing of the 10th Native Infantry, a company of the 23rd
Native Infantry, and a small party of men of a local corps. Small
as was this force, he divided it into two parties. One of these,
under Captain Rowe, crossed the river; and then both moved against
the enemy. The Burmese opened fire as they advanced, but the sepoys
marched gallantly forward, and drove the enemy out of their
unfinished intrenchments at the point of the bayonet. The Assam
division retreated hastily to the Bhortoka Pass, while the Manipur
force stockaded itself at Doodpatnee.

The Assam division was first attacked, and the stockade carried at
the poi