380 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [YOL. X. 



funeral ; and they sent him the same day one officer, a 

 sergeant, a corporal, and an artilleryman, with six four- 

 pounders mounted on naval gun-carriages. They were 

 placed on the right and left of the troops facing the ferry. 

 Platforms were made of cocoanut branches and sand, and 

 a hut of cocoanut boughs to serve as a depot for the provisions. 

 M. Legrevisse then sent out a patrol as far as Grandpass.. 

 The sergeant in command reported that the English were on 

 the other side of the river. 



Indeed, during the night of the 7th and 8th, several men 

 were really seen, who with torches appeared to be searching 

 for the road leading to the mouth of the river. 



At daybreak the drums announcing the march of the 

 enemy were heard. During the morning Sepoys were seen 

 coming from the mouth of the river : one party marched in 

 column. The spies gave warning that the enemy were 

 coming from Negombo with artillery. 



Captain Legrevisse at the same time received instructions 

 from the Governor not to pass the river, and to remain in the 

 position that he occupied. In the afternoon four English 

 officers were seen examining this post with glasses, and the 

 following night moving up the river six shots were fired 

 across the garden under the belief that troops were most 

 probably encamped there. 



Captain Winkelmann of the Wurtemberg regiment with- 

 drew to Grandpass with a strong detachment. He established 

 a post on a large rock situated near the mouth of the river. 



In the event of a retreat Captain Legrevisse was to go up 

 the river by the gardens as far as M. Tavel's country 

 residence, from there to join Winkelmann's detachment, or 

 to return to Colombo by the wood, if he could not hold 

 Mutwal, whither he received in the evening orders to retire,. 



On February 10 he placed his company at the entrance of 

 the wood leading to Colombo. The Sepoys were near, and 

 the company of mounted Malays in a garden on the road 

 leading to Passe-Betaal. 



The hamlet of Mutwal was abandoned. At five in the 



