The Sun.
London, England, 1804-04-19 00:00:00

lency Ate Governor, the restilt of the investigation
with which I was" charged.
In the months of March -and- April last, a num_.
her of-Natives, living,undet the British Govern-
ment in and about rutelaog, set out in
slops, with a number of cattle laden with various:
articles of merchandize, namely, salt-fish, cloth,
tobacco, and copper money, intending to dispose of
them in the Candian Country in exchange for Areka.
nuts.
The largest Division, .which I shall call .No. t,
consisted•of 46 persooslex.clusive of 7 Coolie,) and
472 head of cattle, laden with ,articles for tr,tffic ;
and the smaller Division,which may he called No,z,
consisted of t 8 persons. and r3o head of cattle, laden
in like manner. ,

No doubt can he entertained but that- the com-
merce into which tfie ,people entered,-was univer-
sally deemed legal, and that they had king been ac-
cnstomed to carry it on, and on that account the
misfortune which they met with in the prosecution
of it, cannot be accounted for on the grounds of
contraband.

Whether the Put Tinders were guilty of any ir-
regularity in the Candian Country, Whicl'could
serve as the pretext, for the usage they met with, I
cannot positively assert--I have certainly not 'beeo
afire .to trace any suCh,.and, unfortunately foi them,
it 'will appear by -a perusal of the inclosed papers,
that' after they had completed the 'objea they had
in view in the Candian Country, and were on their
return home with the Areka nuts, which they had
procured for the articles they had carried from
Puteland, they were stopped, harassed by delays,
and finally the whole of the Areka nuts confiscated
and taken from them, z 3 f.-1 ammonarro taken. from
Division No. t, and .63 ammOnams from Division
No. 2.

I dare, say His Excellency, on reading the in-
closed Papers, will conclude, as I do, that the seizing
of the Areka nuts took place in consequence of the
orders of the person called Pelagum Adigaar,Dessave
of the Four Corles, and I only beg leave to add on
this point, that from the description given to me of
the person of Pelagam by the people examined, I
have no doubt but that the person here meant is the
First Adigaar of Candy, well known personally to
His Excellency the Governor as well as to myself.
I shall only further take,the liberty of stating a
circumstance which makes the seizure of the Areka
nuts in question still more difficelt to account for,
which is, that the.Candians themselves continue as
heietofore to bring down the produce of their coun-
try, namely, Areka nuts„. jaggher, and rice, to be
exchanged here at Puteland for salt, salt-fish, and
cloth, &c. and there is now, within my view here,
a division of about so persons from the Candiim
Country, and zso head of cattle, peaceably occupied
in this traffic. This circumstance will also tend to
shew hOw easy it would be to make reprisals for
the injury sustained by the Putlanders, were the
British Government so disposed—a measure which
I do not wish, however, to be understood as giving
any opinion upon. •

I have now only to say, that I have been greatly
assisted in this investigation by the zeal and intel-
ligence of Mr. Johnstone, the Agent of Revenue for
this Distriet ; and, .
I have the Honour to be, &c.
_ (Signed) WILLIAM BOYD.
•
Putelang,luly 24, tBo2.
[To be continued.]