Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v3p1.djvu/463

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116
NAVAL OPERATIONS IN AVA,.

nations, and as part indemnification to the British government for the expenses of the war,” agreed to pay the sum of one crore of rupees, equal to about 1,000,000l, sterling, (valuing the rupee at two shillings, the then rate of exchange), of which contribution the first instalment, amounting to 2,508,199 sicca rupees, was embarked at Yandaboo, brought down the Irrawaddy, (a distance of 600 miles), and ultimately conveyed by Captain Chads to Calcutta, where it was landed from the Alligator, April 10th, 1826, it should here be remarked, that nothing but the dread and certainty of the capture of their capital, and, with it, a large amount of treasure, would have induced the Burman government to accede to these terms; – this, indeed, clearly appears evident, from the long protracted war, and their refusing to fulfil the treaty of Melloone.

It was not till the 8th of March, that the army commenced its retrograde movement on Rangoon, at which place Captain Samuel Thornton, of the Slaney sloop of war, had been left by Captain Chads to carry on the naval duties. A sufficient number of boats were provided by the Burmese to convey thither the greatest part of the European troops, escorted by the men-of-war boats, under the command of Captain Studdert. The remainder of the British accompanied the native troops by land as far as Prome. By the early part of May, the whole force had returned to Rangoon, and some of the regiments immediately sailed for Calcutta and Madras. On the 11th April, 1826, the Governor-General in Council issued a proclamation and general order, of which latter, the following are extracts:–

“The relations of friendship between the British Government and the State of Ava, having been happily re-established by the conclusion of a definitive treaty of peace, the Governor-General in Council performs a most gratifying act of duty, in offering publicly his cordial acknowledgments and thanks to Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell and the army in Ava, by whose gallant and persevering exertions the recent contest with the Burmese empire has been brought to an honorable and successful termination.

“In reviewing the events of the late war, the Governor-General in Council is bound to declare his conviction, that the achievements of the