The General fully relies on the execution of these instructions; and, from your well-known zeal and activity, he has no doubt of a perfect completion of his wishes.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
R. Mowbray,
Act. D. Adj.-Gen.
Immediately on the receipt of this letter I made the necessary preparations for our march.
Previous to entering on a detail of the operations of the detachment which I had the honour to command, it may be proper to offer a few remarks relative to the district of Batticolo. This district is situated on the south-east side of the island, and is the most remote from the seat of government of all our possessions in Ceylon. The fort is built on a broad river of the same name, navigable for small vessels, and about four miles from the coast. Our territory here extends from fifteen to twenty miles up the country, and continues low and flat, as far as the Candian frontier, which is formed by a chain of steep and lofty mountains. Speaking of this part of the country, I shall avail myself of the beautifully descriptive language of the Rev. Mr. Cordiner, in his History of Ceylon:—"The south-east coast, viewed from the sea, is particularly picturesque and romantic. The country, in the highest degree mountainous, presents hills beyond hills, many beautiful and verdant, others huge and rocky, of extraordinary shapes, resembling ruined battlements, ancient castles, and lofty pyramids."
Of these mountains we have little knowledge. The natives represent them as covered with immense forests, the northern parts of which are inhabited by the Vedas, or Bedas, a singular and savage tribe, nearly in a state of nature, and who hold no intercourse with the other inhabitants of the country. They are by many considered as the aborigines of the island.
Beyond this chain, and to the southward, are the still more rugged mountains of Ouva, celebrated for the secure asylum they afford to the kings of Candy, when driven from their capital. It was here that, in 1631, the whole Portuguese army, with their general, Constantin de Sáa, in attempting to pursue the King in his retreat, were, in consequence of the defection of the Modiliars, overpowered, and perished to a man. The small-pox had of late depopulated a great part of the district of Batticolo; those who were not themselves affected with the malady (from the dread entertained by the natives of India of this dangerous disease), deserted those who were, flying, to avoid contagion, to the woods. This, together with the general disaffection of the natives to our cause, rendered it impossible to procure above half the number of Coolies required for the use of the detachment. I was therefore obliged to supply the deficiency by carriage bullocks, a circumstance which afterwards occasioned considerable embarrassment and delay.
On the 14th of September I received a letter from the acting Adjutant-General, dated at Jaffnapatam, the 8th of the same month, of which the following is a copy:—