But while the preparations for the advance were being made, the
general's aides-de-camp had been kept at work from morning until
night. There were constant communications between the military and
naval authorities, for the expedition was to be a mixed one.
Transports were daily arriving with troops and stores; innumerable
matters connected with the organization, both of the land and water
transport, required to be arranged; and the general himself was
indefatigable in superintending every detail of the work. It had
been settled that the advance could not take place until the second
week in February, as the roads would be impassable until that time,
and the 11th was fixed for the commencement of operations.
Upon the day after his arrival at Rangoon, Stanley had written a
letter to his uncle; giving him a brief account of his adventures,
and stating that he had been appointed one of the general's
aides-de-camp. He said that he should, of course, be guided by his
uncle's wishes; but that now that he had entered on the campaign as
an officer, he should certainly like to remain till the end, when
he would at once resign his commission and rejoin him.
He sent this to his uncle's agent at Calcutta, but received no
answer until the end of December. After expressing his delight at
hearing that Stanley had not, as he had supposed, been killed at
Ramoo, but was now safe and well in the British camp, he went on:
"I only received your letter this morning, for I have been moving
about from point to point and, owing to the falling off of trade,
had no occasion to go to Calcutta, until now; and was, indeed,
astounded at finding your letter lying for me here, as they had not
forwarded it, having no idea where I was, and knowing that the
chance of any letter sent on reaching me was extremely small.
"By all means, lad, stop where you are. Trade is improving again
for, now that Bandoola's army has marched away from Ramoo, the
scare among the natives has pretty well subsided. Still, I can
manage very well without you, and it will certainly be a great
advantage to you to serve for a year in the army; and to have been
one of Campbell's aides-de-camp will be a feather in your cap, and
will give you a good position at all the military stations.
"I am very glad, now, that I abstained from writing to your mother
after the battle at Ramoo. I thought it over and over, and
concluded that it was just as well to leave the matter alone for a
time; not that I had the slightest idea, or even a hope, that you
were alive, but because I thought that the cessation of letters
from you would, to some extent, prepare her mind for the blow, when
it came. It would be very improbable that she would see the
gazette, with the list of killed and wounded at Ramoo and, even if
she did so, she would not associate the death of Ensign Brooke in
any way with you. When we have been trading up country, there have
been, once or twice, no means of sending off a letter for a couple
of months and, therefore, she could not have begun to feel
seriously anxious about you before she received your letter from
Rangoon.
"Everyone says that you will not be able to advance until February;
so that, no doubt, this letter will reach you long before you
leave. I hear the losses have been very heavy, from fever; but I am
not anxious about you on that score, for I think that you are
thoroughly acclimatised. I am trying to get a contract for the
supply of a couple of thousand bullocks, for the use of the army;
and as I know all the country so well, from Chittagong to Sylhet,
and can buy below Indian prices, I think that I shall not only get
the contract, but make a very good thing of it, and it may lead to
other matters."
After this, Stanley was hardly surprised when, in the last week of
January, his uncle walked into his quarters. After the first
pleasure of meeting was over, Stanley said:
"I suppose you have got the contract, uncle?"
"I have, lad. I have come down from Ramgur with six dhows, packed
full. I have brought a thousand head down and, directly I land
them, am going back for the remainder; which will be ready for me
by the time I get there.
"I have got hold of an uncommonly good fellow. He was established
as a small trader at Chittagong. His business was ruined there, and
he was glad to accept my offer of a berth; and he has turned out a
very energetic and pushing fellow. He will come down with the next
consignment.
"I myself am going to work my way up along the edge of the Tipperah
forest; and shall pick up another thousand head, by the time that I
get to the Goomtee, and shall send them by water up to Sylhet; and
then go up by land, picking up more on the way. I have a contract
for five thousand to be sent in, a thousand a month, for the force
that is to move against Manipur; while Johnson is to send another
two thousand down here. So you see, for the present the store
business can wait. It is a good line that I have got into. I shall
make a big profit out of it, and have hopes that it will be, to
some extent, permanent; for I can get the cattle so cheap in the
interior, on the rivers we know, that I can ship them to Calcutta
at lower terms than they can buy them in India; and I was as much
as told that, if I carried out my present contracts satisfactorily,
I should get the supply of the troops there. Of course, that would
not be a very great thing of itself but, as I could work it without
trouble in connection with my own business, it would make a
handsome addition to the profits."
"But how about money, uncle?"
"That is all right, lad. I had no difficulty, whatever, in getting
an advance at Calcutta, on the strength of my contract and upon the
guarantee of my agents; so that I am all right, in that respect."
"I asked, uncle, because I can let you have eighteen hundred
pounds, if you want them."
Tom Pearson looked at him in astonishment.
"Why, what on earth have you been doing--robbing the treasury of
the King of Ava?"
"No, uncle. I had a bag of gems given me, by some Burmese bandits.
When I got down here, I took a few of them to a merchant. He
advanced fifteen hundred rupees on them, and sent them to Burragee,
the jeweller at Madras and, six weeks afterwards, he paid me
another three thousand five hundred. I sent up another batch and,
last week, I got an order from the jewellers for fifteen hundred
pounds; so that I have more than eighteen hundred in hand now, and
I don't think that I have sent more than a third of the gems away."
"Well, that is a piece of luck, Stanley! Why on earth did the
brigands give you the gems?"
"Well, uncle, they are things that, from what they told me, there
is great difficulty and risk in trying to dispose of. They are a
royal monopoly, and nobody dare buy them or, if they do, will give
next to nothing for them; because of the risk of the transaction,
and because they know that the vendors are in a fix, and must sell.
Besides, there is a strong chance of their handing over anyone who
offers such things to the authorities. That was one reason why they
gave them to me. Then, too, they had made a good haul of
merchandise which was, to them, a great deal more valuable, as
there was no difficulty in disposing of it. Lastly, they had taken
a fancy to me, because I saved one of their comrade's lives--the
man who showed you up here."
"Well, lad, you shall tell me all about it, this evening. I must be
going down to the commissariat yard, to arrange the landing of my
beasts. I came straight to see you, directly I landed. We dropped
anchor here at daybreak."
"I will go with you, uncle. I will run in and see the chief, first,
and get leave off for the day. I have earned a holiday, for I have
been at work pretty well morning, noon, and night for the last two
months. You see, I have not only the duties of aide-de-camp, but of
interpreter; and have helped both the quartermaster's department
and the commissariat in making their arrangements with the natives.
I daresay I shall be able to help to hurry your business on,
quicker than you would be able to get it done, alone."
The general at once granted Stanley leave, and he went with his
uncle down to the commissariat office, and introduced him to the
senior officer.
"We shall be glad to do all in our power to help you, Mr. Pearson,"
the officer said. "We have been expecting your arrival for the last
week. Of course, we heard from Calcutta that you had the contract
for two thousand head; at least half of these were to be delivered
by the tenth of February. We were getting rather anxious about it.
The force will probably want to start, before that time; and we
shall have to victual both the land and water columns. Of course, I
did not know that you were a relation of Mr. Brooke, or I should
have mentioned to him that you were likely to come."
"I should like to get off as soon as possible," Tom Pearson said;
"for by the time that I get back to Ramgur, the rest of the cattle
will be in readiness for me."
"I will write you an order for four large boats, at once. If you
had come three weeks sooner, you might have been kept waiting some
days; but such a number of native craft have, of late, come down
the rivers that we are enabled to get sufficient for our work."
The officer gave him a note to the one in charge of the landing
arrangements.
"It is lucky that you have come just at this moment," the latter
said. "We have just made our last trip with the baggage of the
47th, and I have six boats disengaged. You may as well take them
all."
The craft in question were some of those that had been
captured--unwieldy craft, that took fish and salt up the river.
They were almost as large as the dhows in which the cattle had been
brought down, but drew very much less water. They were towed off to
the dhows, one by one, by two captured war canoes, each having
thirty rowers. One was taken to each dhow, and the work of
transhipping the cattle began at once. These were in good condition
for, although closely packed, they had been well supplied with food
and water on the way down; and a herdsman with four men under him
had been sent, in each boat, to take care of them, as Tom Pearson
was very anxious that his first consignment should be reported upon
favourably. The animals were all landed in the course of the
afternoon and, with the acknowledgment of their receipt, in
excellent order, in his pocket, the contractor went off again, with
Stanley, to his own dhow.
"I have told them to have everything in readiness to drop down the
river with the tide, tomorrow morning. It will turn just about
sunrise. That is a rare bit of business, Stanley; and I doubt if a
contractor ever got his work through so quickly, before. Of course,
it is principally due to you. They would never have pushed things
through so quickly, had you not gone with me. I thought that very
likely I might be detained here a week, before I could get all the
cattle on shore--and by that time, if all goes well, I shall be at
Ramgur again.
"Now we can have a comfortable evening's talk, which is very much
better than my going to dine with you at mess; for there is a great
deal to hear about, and I daresay that I can give you as good a
dinner as we should have had, on shore."
"A good deal better," Stanley said. "Things have improved
immensely, during the last month; still our mess cook is certainly
not so good as your man and, at any rate, the quiet of your cabin
makes a very pleasant change, after always sitting down with a
large party."
After dinner was over, Stanley gave a full account of his
adventures, from the time that he was taken prisoner.
"You have done wonderfully well for yourself, lad; wonderfully
well. Certainly when you picked up Burmese from my man, we had no
idea that it was ever likely to turn out so useful. I thought that
it would have been an assistance among the Mugs on the coast; and I
had, too, some idea that the war might lead to the opening of a
trade up the Irrawaddy; but it has turned out infinitely more
useful than that. If you could not have spoken Burmese, Bandoola
would never have thought of asking for you to be spared as an
interpreter and, if he had not done so, you would have had your
head chopped off, at Ava.
"Of course that leopard business was the turning point of your
fortunes but, though it has turned out so well, I must say that I
hardly think that you were justified in risking your life in such a
desperate act for a native; who might, for aught you know, be
already dead. Of course, it was a most gallant action; but the
betting was ten to one against your succeeding. However, as it
turned out, it was a fortunate business, altogether. I don't say
that you might not have made your way down to Rangoon, unaided; but
the odds would have been very heavily against it. However, these
rubies were a windfall, indeed."
"Will you take the rest of them, uncle, and sell them at
Calcutta--or shall I send them to Madras, or home to England?"
"I will take them with me to Calcutta, if you like, Stanley. I
don't say that there are better men there than the one you sent to,
at Madras; but I think some of them do a larger business up-country
with the native princes, who don't care what they give for good
gems. At any rate, I will take them there and get them valued by an
expert; and then try two or three of the leading firms, and get
their offers. If these are as high as the value put on them by the
expert, I would send them to England, through my agents, who would
do the best they could for you."
"For us, uncle. Of course, it is all in the partnership business.
You have just got some contracts that will pay well and, while you
have been doing that, I have been getting hold of these rubies."
"I don't think that that is fair, Stanley," his uncle said,
gravely.
"It seems to me perfectly fair; and besides, the money put into the
business will make a lot of difference, and will certainly pay me a
great deal better than it would in any other way. I sent home 100
pounds for my mother, directly the money came from Calcutta; and
told her that I hoped to be able to send home at least as much,
every year."
"A good deal more, lad, if you like. I calculate these contracts
that I have got will bring in a pound a head so that, by the time
that the war is over, I hope to have cleared 8000 pounds, which
will be about what you will make by your rubies; and when trade
begins again, we shall be in a position to do it on a big scale.
But I still think that it will not be fair to take that money."
"Well, uncle, if you won't take it, I certainly won't have anything
to do with the money that you make, while I am away; so please
don't let us say anything more about it. Shall I give you that
eighteen hundred now; or will you have an order upon the paymaster,
in Calcutta?"
"That would be the best way, if you will have it so, lad. I have
left money with Johnson, at Ramgur, for the next herd that is to
come down here; and have orders from my agent on their agents, at
Dalla, for those that I am going to buy for the Manipur column. So
I don't want the money now and, suppose the dhow were to be lost
going up, the cash might go with it. So, do you get the order. You
had better send it straight to Bothron; and tell him to collect it,
and credit it to my account.
"How long do you think that this business is going to last?"
"It depends how far we have to go before the Burmese decide that
they have had enough of it. At present, the general hope is that,
as soon as we arrive at Prome, they will give in. If they don't we
may have to go up to Ava and, in that case, we may not finish it
until this time next year; for I suppose operations will have to
come to a stop, when the wet season begins again, and we could
hardly reach Ava before that."
"I expect, some day, we shall have to take the whole country,
Stanley. You may frighten the court into submission, when you
approach the capital; but I fancy they will never keep to the terms
that we shall insist upon, and that there will have to be another
expedition. That is generally our way--it was so at Mysore, it has
been so in a dozen other places. When we have done all the work,
and have got them at our mercy, we give them comparatively easy
terms. As soon as they recover from the effects of their defeat,
they set to work again to prepare for another tussle; and then we
have all the expense and loss of life to incur, again, and then end
by annexing their territory, which we might just as well have done
in the first place. It may be all very well to be lenient, when one
is dealing with a European enemy; but magnanimity does not pay when
you have to do with Orientals, who don't care a rap for treaty
engagements, and who always regard concessions as being simply a
proof of weakness.
"There would not be half the difficulty in annexing Burma that
there would be, in the case of a large province in India; for all
the towns, and most even of their villages, lie on rivers, and a
couple of dozen gunboats would suffice to keep the whole country in
order. You will see that that is what we shall have to do, some
day; but it will cost us two or three expeditions to do what might
just as well be done, now."
"Well, uncle, it is nearly twelve o'clock and, as I shall be on
duty at six, I think I had better be going. I wish that you could
have stayed for another two or three days, and paid a visit to the
pagoda and camps. I am very glad that I have had a sight of you
again, though it's a very short one."
"I should be glad to stay another day or two, Stanley; but it is
really of importance for me to get down to Ramgur, as soon as I
can, and send Johnson off with the cattle; for I want to set about
buying the herds for the other column, as quickly as possible. I
think I have left myself a fair margin of time, but there is
nothing like promptitude in delivery, and I want to get a good
name, for future business; and if this affair here is going to last
another twelve-month, regular supplies must be sent up for, as beef
is forbidden by the Burmese religion, they keep no cattle except
for draught purposes, and the army must get their bullocks by sea."
Five minutes later Stanley was rowed ashore. The next morning he
accompanied the general, and went down to inspect the newly-arrived
cattle.
"They are a capital lot," he said to Stanley, "decidedly the best
that we have had, yet. You see, it is a good deal shorter voyage,
from Ramgur, than from either Calcutta or Madras; and the animals
probably had a much shorter land journey before they were shipped.
Then, too, as your uncle came down himself they were, no doubt,
much better looked after than usual on the voyage. However, I will
take care to mention, when I write next to Calcutta, that the
cattle are far above the average; and I shall be glad if they will
arrange for such further supplies as we may require from the same
source."
"Thank you, sir; that will be a great help to my uncle. Hitherto he
has had very uphill work of it; though he was beginning to get on
very well, when the war put a stop to trade. He knows the whole
country so thoroughly that he can certainly buy up cattle at many
places where no European trader, save himself, has ever
penetrated."
"No doubt, Brooke; and I hope, for your sake, that he will succeed
well in this contracting business. He has certainly made an
excellent start and, as he is first in the field in the country
between Assam and Ramgur, he ought to make a good thing of this
opportunity that has fallen in his way. I know that it takes a long
time to build up a business but, when the foundation is laid, and a
man is quick in taking advantage of an opportunity, he can do as
much in a year as he might do in twenty, without it.
"Now, I am going over to the lines of the 47th, to see how they
have shaken down into them."
This regiment had brought out tents for, as every building was
already occupied, it was necessary that they should be put under
canvas. The general found that everything was arranged in order,
and the encampment certainly presented a pleasing contrast to the
irregular, and often crowded quarters of the troops who had passed
the wet season there. The colonel and three of his officers dined
with the general, that evening; the party being made up of the
military staff, including the two aides-de-camp.
Two days later Stanley, with some of the other members of the
staff, dined at the 47th mess. Stanley was introduced to several of
the officers; and these were specially desirous of making his
acquaintance, as they had learned that he had been a prisoner at
Ava, and could therefore tell them much more than they had hitherto
learned of the country into which they were about to advance.
Among them was a young lieutenant, also of the name of Brooke.
Stanley had, three weeks before, attained the same rank. At the
time that he was appointed to the 83rd, there were already several
death vacancies in the regiment, and disease and fighting had
carried off six more officers. The whole of the ensigns had
consequently obtained their step. At dinner he found himself placed
next to his namesake.
"It is curious, our having the same name," the other remarked, as
he sat down. "It is not a very common one."
"No, I have not met anyone of the same name, before," Stanley said.
"Indeed, until the affair at Ramoo I was nearly three years trading
with an uncle of mine, up the rivers; and was not much in the way
of falling in with white men. But, before that, I had been with my
father in a good many stations in India; but I do not, as far as I
can remember, recollect meeting anyone of the same name."
"Then your father was in the service, too?"
"Yes. He was a captain in the 15th Native Infantry."
"Indeed," the other said in surprise, "then we are connections. But
I had no idea that Captain Brooke was ever married."
"He was married just after he came out to India," Stanley said; "so
it is likely enough that you would never have heard of it. He died
three years ago, and my mother and sisters are now in England. What
is the connection between us? I have never heard my father speak
much of his family."
"Your father was a cousin of mine--second cousin, I think. I fancy
there was some row between your grandfather and the rest of the
family. I don't know anything about the right or wrongs of it; for
it was, of course, many years before we were born; and I never
heard of your father's existence, until a fortnight before I left
England. Then there were some inquiries made about the family,
owing to various deaths that took place in it. Do you know that
your father was related--distantly of course--to the Earl of
Netherly?"
"I do remember his mentioning it, once. I know he said that it was
a distant connection; and that he knew nothing, whatever, about the
earl or his family."
"Well, curiously enough, it is not so distant, now," the other
said. "I was a pretty distant connection of his. He was childless;
and the family, generally, don't seem to have been prolific. A good
many of them died; and the result was that, the year before I left
England, an uncle of mine succeeded to the title. He has no son,
and my father was his next brother. My father died, two years ago;
and the result is that, to my astonishment, I found that I was next
heir to the title. They wanted me to leave the army, when my
regiment was ordered out to India; but of course I was not going to
do that, for my aunt may die, and my uncle marry again and have
children. Besides, I was not going to leave, anyhow, just as the
regiment was ordered abroad, and might see service.
"However, there was a great hunting by the lawyers in the
genealogical tree; and I know it was decided that, in case anything
happened to me, your father would have been the next heir, had he
been alive. I don't know whether any further inquiries were made,
or whether they ever ascertained that he had married. I don't
suppose there were for, of course, as long as I live the matter is
of no importance.
"So that, as things stand now, if a Burmese bullet puts an end to
my career, you are the next heir to the title."
"You surprise me, indeed," Stanley said. "From the way my father
spoke of the matter, I am sure that he had not the slightest idea
there was any likelihood, whatever, that he would have any chance
of succeeding to the title."
"That I can well imagine, for it was not until a few years ago,
when the deaths of several who stood between him and the succession
occurred, that my uncle regarded his coming into it as a matter
worth thinking about; and of course all our family stood between it
and your father. However, as you see we have dwindled away and, if
I do not get safely through this business, you are the next heir."
"It is curious news to hear, at a dinner in Burma," Stanley said,
thoughtfully. "At any rate, I can assure you honestly that the news
gives me no particular satisfaction. I suppose it would be a nice
thing, to come in for a peerage; but my prospects out here are
good. I have no intention of staying in the army, after the end of
the war; and am really in partnership with my uncle, with whom I
have been for the last three years in business, which is turning
out very well. I like the life, and have every chance of making
enough to retire on, with ample means. Certainly, I should not like
to come into the title by the death of anyone that I knew."
"That is the fortune of war," the other said, smiling. "We get our
steps by death vacancies. We are sorry for the deaths, but the
steps are not unwelcome.
"By the way, my name is Harry. I know that yours is Stanley. I vote
that we call each other by them. We are cousins, you know, and I
suppose that as you are my heir, you must be my nearest male
relation, at present; so I vote that we call each other by our
Christian names, instead of Brookeing each other, always."
"I shall be very glad to do so," Stanley said, cordially. "I hope
that we shall be close friends, as well as distant relations."
Then, as there was a momentary lull in the conversation, Harry
raised his voice and said to the colonel:
"A very curious thing has just happened, Colonel. Brooke and myself
have just discovered that we are cousins and, what is still more
curious, that if anything happens to me, he takes my place as next
heir to my uncle, a fact of which he was entirely ignorant."
"That is certainly a very curious coincidence, Brooke; very
singular. Then you have not met before?"
"I did not even know of his existence, Colonel; and had, indeed, no
idea that Captain Brooke, his father, had been married. The
cousinship is a distant one; but there is no question, whatever, as
to his being next in succession to myself to the peerage."
The discovery excited general interest; and quite turned the
conversation, for the time, from the subject of the war and of
their approaching advance. After dinner was finished, many of the
officers gathered round Stanley, asking him questions about the
nature of the country, and his experiences as a captive in the
hands of the Burmese. Presently Colonel Adair, who had also dined
at the mess, joined the group.
"I suppose, Mr. Brooke," he said, "your newly-found cousin has told
you about his adventure with the leopard?"
"No, Colonel, he has not said anything about a leopard."
"He is grievously afflicted with modesty," the colonel went on;
"and so I will tell it for him, for I think you ought to know that
he is not only able to speak half a dozen languages, but that he is
capable of doing deeds of exceptional gallantry.
"You can go and chat with the colonel, Brooke. He is anxious to
hear your report as to the country, and I will be your trumpeter
here."
Stanley gladly moved away, and entered into conversation with the
colonel of the 47th; while Colonel Adair related his adventures
with the leopard to his cousin, and the officers standing round.
"By Jove, that was a plucky thing!" Harry Brooke said, admiringly.
"It was, indeed!" the colonel agreed, as similar exclamations went
round the circle. "I don't think one man in a hundred would have
attacked a leopard with no weapon but a knife, except to save the
life of a comrade; even then, it would be a most desperate action.
I have done a good deal of big-game shooting, in India; but I am
certain that nothing but a strong affection, for a comrade in the
grasp of a leopard, would induce me to risk almost certain death in
the way your cousin did. We should never have heard of it, if we
had not got the details from the man he saved, and who has since
attached himself to him as a servant; and is the man who, as I
daresay he did tell you, served as his companion and guide in
making his way down here. At any rate you see, Brooke, your cousin
is an uncommonly fine young fellow, and you have reason to be proud
of the relationship."
"I feel so, Colonel; and it is really a pleasure to know that, if
one does go down, a thoroughly good fellow will benefit by it,
instead of some unknown person who might be a very objectionable
representative of the family."
For the next three or four days, the bustle of preparations went on
and, on the fifth, a detachment was sent up, with a sloop and
gunboats, to attack an advanced position of the enemy on the Lyne
river. Although the 3000 Burmese, who were posted in a strong
stockade, were supported by thirty-six guns; the works were carried
by storm, with little loss.
The two branches of the Pellang (or Rangoon) river, by which the
force were to advance against Donabew were, on the following day,
reconnoitred for some distance. A number of fire rafts were
destroyed, but the Burmese were too disheartened to offer any
resistance.
To the disappointment of the troops, the general was able to take
with him only a limited force; for the difficulties of carriage
were enormous and, as experience had shown that the country was
likely to be deserted, and devastated, on their approach; it was,
therefore, impossible for the bulk of the army to be taken on, by
land. There were other points, however, where the troops left
behind could be profitably employed. The capture of the important
town of Bassein, on the main branch of the Irrawaddy, would open
the river to the passage of our ships, and put an entire stop to
the trade of Ava.
The force told off for the advance against Donabew was divided into
two columns. The first, 2400 strong--consisting of the 38th, 41st,
and 47th Regiments, three native battalions, the troop of
bodyguard; a battery of Bengal horse artillery, and part of the
rocket company--was to march by land.
The second column, which was to proceed by water, was 1169 strong;
and it consisted of the 89th Regiment, the 10th Madras Europeans,
and 250 of the 18th Native Infantry; a body of dismounted
artillery, and the rest of the rocket company. This force was
commanded by Brigadier General Cotton. It was to be carried in a
flotilla of sixty-two boats, each armed with one or two guns; and
the boats of all the ships of war at Rangoon, under the command of
Captain Alexander, R. N.
Major Sale was, at the same time, to advance against Bassein; with
600 men of the 13th Regiment, and the 12th Madras Native infantry,
with some artillery. After occupying the town, he was to cross the
country lying between the two main arms of the Irrawaddy, and to
join the general's force near Donabew.
The rest of the force--nearly 4000 men, chiefly native regiments
and Europeans who had not, as yet, recovered sufficient strength to
take part in field operations--was to remain at Rangoon, under
Brigadier General M'Creigh; who was to form a reserve column, in
readiness to move as directed, as soon as sufficient transport was
collected.
It was to the water force that the capture of Donabew was
intrusted, as it lay upon the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy; while
the general's force was directed against Tharawa, at the junction
of the two main branches of the river. Here they were to be joined
by General Cotton's force, after the capture of Donabew; then,
unless the court of Ava sued for peace, a united advance was to be
made on the important town of Prome.