The Burmans used to approach, on dark nights, on their hands and
knees, and often crawled close up to the sentinels, before they were
discovered; sometimes they carried off knapsacks and arms, and went
away with their booty unperceived.
A laughable instance of their dexterity took place in the Great
Pagoda, on the night of the 2nd July. The soldiers, for several nights
previous, had missed some arms, although a sentry was before the door,
and they generally slept with their firelocks by their sides. This
evening, every one was on the alert, extra sentries were posted, and
every precaution taken to secure the marauders. When, on a sudden, the
alarm being given, the officer on duty, who was reposing in one of the
little temples, ran to the door and inquired what had occurred,--but
hearing that only a knapsack had been found in the grass, and that no
other traces existed of the depredators, he turned round to lie down
again, and, to his infinite astonishment, found his bed had vanished!
A light was in the room, and a servant sleeping near it, yet,
notwithstanding, the impudent thieves had also ransacked a basket, and
escaped with the contents! We since heard that the robbers were Burman
soldiers belonging to the camp at Kumaroot, whither they carried their
spoils. They certainly deserved infinite credit for the ingenuity they
manifested, and for the manner in which they turned the laugh against
us, by showing, that the very moment they chose for their
depredations, was one when a strict search was making after them.
_Two Years in Ava_.
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