TO THE COURT OF AVA. 85 
which the besieged hid themselves. Similar 
pits, indeed, w r ere found in almost all the 
stockades which were taken, for the dread of 
our artillery was extreme. After a cannonade 
of two hours, our storming party crossed the 
river in boats in broad day ; and as soon as it 
had gained the foot of the works, these were, 
as usual, abandoned without resistance, the 
Prince and his Lieutenant being among the 
first to give the example of flight. The prin¬ 
cipal loss sustained by us took place in cross¬ 
ing the river; but it was very trifling, for the 
fire of the enemy was as disorderly and ill- 
directed as usual. An officer who had the 
best means of ascertaining this last fact, in¬ 
formed me, that at Donabew, after their suc¬ 
cess, and when they were in high spirits, the 
Burman artillery-men, independent of not le¬ 
velling their guns properly, or at all, did not 
fire any one piece oftener than once in twenty 
minutes. 
In passing over the ground within the stock¬ 
ade, we saw the skeletons of several of the 
Burmese warriors, who had been killed in the 
action, lying neglected among the rank weeds. 
The performance of funeral obsequies among 
the Burmans is, under all circumstances, die- 
