of Candy. 27 o 
and preferment, he places his chief confidence in them, and 
employs them as his constant body guard. 
These Malays and Malabars were the people who in 1803 
so ferociously attacked our garrison at Candy, and being all in- 
toxicated with opium led on the Candians who without them 
would never have been able to reduce Major Davie to the 
necessity of surrendering the palace. 
Besides this corps of foreign guards, who do perpetual duty 
at the palace, about eight thousand of his regular troops and 
a number of the nobles are kept quartered in the neighbour- 
hood ready to be assembled at a moment’s notice. These troops, 
though called regulars, have neither arms nor cloaths to enti- 
tle them to that appellation. They wear what dress they 
chuse, and arm themselves with any sort of weapons they can 
procure; so that when assembled, they present merely a gro- 
tesque groupe of tatterdemalions. Their armour is altogether 
of a motley nature ; spears, pikes, swords, targets, bows and ar- 
rows, matchlocks, with, perhaps, a thousand fusees or musquets 
and bayonets; all these pieces of armour, which I saw, were in 
very bad order, and their whole accoutrements and appearance 
ridiculous. 
The rest of the military force, except on particular occa- 
sions, lie^scattered throughout the country. Their pay and sub- 
sistence consists in a small allowance of rice and salt, a piece 
of cloth annually given them for dress, an exemption from taxes, 
and all other services, and a small piece of ground to cultivate 
for their maintenance. When any of the soldiers are guilty 
of a neglect of duty, or any other criminal offence, their usual 
punishment is to be compelled to level a piece of hill, . or 
clear the channel of a river. This might seem a very rea- 
M N 2 
