As it appears generally incumbent on those who offer information to the
public, to explain the sources from whence they have derived their
knowledge, it may not be improper to state the circumstances under
which my experience on Ceylon was acquired.
In 1800 I commanded a corps of pioneers, which opened a road for
General Macdowal's embassy to Candy. After that period, till the
commencement of the Candian war, I was chiefly entrusted with the
command of remote districts, uniting in my own person the civil and
military authorities. On the breaking out of that war, in 1803, I was
appointed to command a _free corps_, composed principally of Malays,
and was generally employed in escorting supplies to and from the
different depôts; a service which led to frequent skirmishes with the
enemy.
When the army returned to Columbo and Trincomalé, after having seated
Boodoo Sawmy (the prince whose cause the English espoused) on the
throne of Candy, I was appointed first commissioner for regulating the
affairs of the provinces ceded by that prince to the British
Government. Illness, however, obliging me to repair to the sea-coast
for the benefit of a change of air, I thus fortunately escaped the
massacre which shortly after took place in the capital.
On the re-establishment of my health, I was appointed to command the
district of Batticolo, which, in common with most of our other
provinces, was invaded by the enemy, who was not driven out till after
repeated skirmishes.
I continued at Batticolo till September 1804, when I received the
instructions, in my conception of which originated the expedition to
Candy, and which General Wemyss has obligingly permitted me to publish.
On my return to Columbo, I was nominated to the command of Hambingtotte,
into which the enemy had penetrated, under the Desave[1] of Ouva, and
from whence I was so fortunate as to expel them, with little loss on
our side.
[1] Chief.
Thus, during a residence of nearly twelve years in Ceylon, the greater
part of that time employed either in active military scenes, or in the
discharge of civil duties, I had frequent opportunities of observing
the nature of the country, and making myself acquainted with the
character and customs of its inhabitants, and their mode of warfare.
Having been led, since my return to Europe, to consider the importance
of the Island of Ceylon as a colony, which, I trust, will never again
revert to the enemies of Britain, I have been induced to commit to the
press what occurred to my observation during my continuance there, in
the hope of promoting the benefit of His Majesty's service; by giving
to officers, who may hereafter be employed in the interior of the
island, that information which they may not have had the means of
obtaining, in regard to a species of warfare peculiar to it, and which
has not, to my knowledge, been noticed in any former work.
In publishing this Narrative I aspire to no literary fame, having
joined the army at the age of fifteen--too young to have made any
considerable proficiency in letters--and at an age when men are even
apt to lose what they may have already acquired.
I trust these circumstances will bespeak the indulgence of the candid
reader, for occasional inaccuracies of style and manner, from which I
cannot presume to suppose this little work exempt.