The Sun.
London, England, 1820-12-30 00:00:00

P f 3 A -&
G.

.. • • , .
--':-The:::frustra 'E
tion of -the Dutch xpeditinu
against Palembang has been for: sOme lime
kholyn ; but as-the particulars have not yet beep
published, the following, translated from the
Da/avian Courant of Nov. 20, will prove accept.
able to many of our readers:—
BATAVIA; Nor. 19.

The Government have received inteiiizence from the Ex-
pedition at Palembang, by which it- appears, that on going up
tli fiver.of that place they met wit►r impediments-which, it
sec•ars, cannot he removed but Iw slaw and difficult opera.
lions. he'Rear-AdMind, Walterbeek, had therefore, judg=
ed it, advisable anti expedient, tor- the preservation of the
health of the troops and crews, that for the present all fur-
ther undertakings in that quarter should cease; and, during
the present unfavonrahle season, that he station him-
self at the mouth of.the river Stiensang, which resolution had,
on the 4th inst. actually taken effect_ The following is a
conneettd account of what happened to the Expedition, siucsL
their at rival at i‘fantoli, on the island of llama, about the
end of the month of August;—
" 'immediately 'after the of the expedition had anchor=
ed in the harbour of Mantok, she Itear-AdmiralyWalterhecki
took inform:dim) respecting ;lie depth. in the mouth of the
titer of Palembang, wlien it was found that the batik lying
there etruld'not be passed over by his Majesty's frigate, %rd.
lemitte, and other large ships, With the-springs of•the 4th and
1!):1) of September, on account of ti loch all their endeavours
had hitherto nikcarried : and it was not until the ontli of the
same month, that all the ships-of the expedition could get
over the hank and into the, river. .1 he taking out and
hoisting in 'again t Ike. ships' ►guns, arid dividing of the troops
,it!ui the M!iug tip all. the water-Casks that had been eti,pliei
to lighten them, delayed the expedition till the loth of
(%cto.lier, on which day t)iiy began,to %VW I; op into the liver.
The it heal ties they met with were almost • ionameralite ; the
strong current.of the, river, the shallowness of the water at
many places, and the continual care required to send off the
floating tire-rafts, were the taus that the ships advanced but
slowly, whilst, rt the saute time, ►l:e great fatigues and alaw,t

. ,_. , . ....
iime,sant rains, to which the troops and crews ..cre d.:y
4.11 (1 ite:lit continally expos,'d, soon increased con,itlceaoiy
the number of the sick. Nut bin;, however, 'could abate the
courage of our m VII : Mid on the I li 01 October, the squad. on
bad already advanced as far as Palembang, twit hoot suf ering.
any loss worthy to be mentioned from .the bat t;.t ins c+ the
enemy, which here and_ there had been .raist d along (he
baillis of the river.

" On the 20th of October all the ships. passed, with great
difficulty, he St rait.of SU la Nallia, where t trey found t in-
selves before Gombara, the battery where it seemed the enemy
had all their strength United to prevent our pas,ing ; but
the wine was not favourable to our purpose; and it was lot
until the tol lowing day, being the 21st, at. noon, that aft an-
tack upon that battery became possible for us.
"'.l'he Stilton, being convinced that the place where, it
1912, he had endeavoured likewise. to dispute the passage to
the English, was by no areans.a fit mie, had now chosen a
poSitioll, which indeed one 'would 'almost be tempted to Litt
ti-
wmore advanced knowledge of the Art-of war t he
is likely to possess• Well-placed batteries on both barrks '
the. river fat Med and maintained a heavy and well-judged cross
fire,which moreover was supported by a great n timbered float-
ing batteriesam.horeilt here in the Centre of.the.rtrer. AU
these batteries were constructed of treys; and so thick were
their breast works, that our ba!ls could hurt them brit little;
whilst, at,t he sometime, very high roots, roust t ucted oft ranks
of trees, and piir:d upon one another, secured them against otry
bombs. However, these difficulties might have easily Leek
overcome by our men, bad net such an incalculable nuniber
of piles, rammed so closely together into the ground, shut
op entirely the'whole breadth of the river, so that it was 'Ulf
possible for a vessel to pass tin oogh them.
Yet, in defiance of all these impediments and difficulties,
our ships, notwithstanding, stationed themselves, at the noon
of the.e. st of October, in the best order at battle, across, the
batteries of the enemy, at the distance of about half a musket
front them. This firing laSted untiil 4 o'clock in the af-
ternoon, when a flow of wind sprang up, which compelled tht
squadron to put buck to the. former position they had taken
on the 20th, or the day before. Though the menus of de,-
fence of the enemy, which", during the fight of the wl% we
were folly able to view,, were by no meats insurmontname by
the valour of our troops, yet it was nevertheless quite o her-
%sise respecting the works of defence raised by the enemy, in
-ruler to make the bed. at the. river entirely innavigable. 'lb
remove all these impediments required a length of time, and-
many hands; we could not, therefore, think of this with-
out exposing the troops and crews still longer to excessive td-
tig.tres, and to the ineessant rains which daily poured down
.upon triTaJiTto increas,e hereby the already great trundrer
of sick, to such a degree, that perhaps the expedition in ght,
even without fighting any more, have hcc•nrie unlit for
„ „y
further operations.

" In the meatr.Vhile, di:. desire of the troops to he engaved
With the enemy was very great indeed ; ;and we sought every-
where, with great,cagerness, for a.fit place either to scale or
to surround the liatteries of the enemy ; but wherever we
cat»e we found nothing- hut very strong • pile Works, elin'e
thickets, anal exten,ive,marshes„ which, in the present seas .m
of the year, are entirely unt;rdahie. Having thus, fur three
whole days, hestoWed in rain erery possible endeavour to taring
tbe•enemy to close combat with our trt•aops, thereby to Como to
a decisive conclusion of t Arai rove werefultyconvinced of the
impossibility thereof, and that, in the alri:ady ;advanced preva-
lent:rainy season; not hingtuore to that purpose could now he
undertaheo with the leapt hope of success whatever; in come—
quer-ice of which, the whole squadron on the 80th of October
dropped down again into. the. SuCIISaILg, where on the 4th
instant we arrived.

" The ships of war will, it is said, remain there to blocl,l4le
the liver, whilst the Iran port ships are to carry bark to Jai,,a
all the troops that are not ahsolutely wanted there, it, order
to refresh themse.lyes at Jana, fur which there is no coov!.:-
nience 01 t i,iana of haoca.

" The Rear•Adiriiral,. Waltyrbeck, praises much the -Con-
ragyons conduct of the troops under his command during the
expedition ; tlmt neither the excessive fatigues a Inch the Inca
and crews were ob!iged to endure, nor the diseases prt-v,iilitig•
amongst.thera, were able to rlinrinish but for yin nparient
their courage, and t hat the only complaint of the soidiers was,
hai theY.youl:l in,tenk;ige With the t;tteiny., and attaeli the:in
in the interior of their very entrenchments, as had talien
place at Banpa Cott., where they weft: led on by Captain
Lacininn.

" During the heavy ex•change of firirig,whicl►, for more thArt
S honcsour4hipslept. up with,t he batteries of the enemy, sonic
of our vessels suffered much from the fire of the latter ;
amongst. which are Principally 'his Majesty's frigate With!,
mine, and the corvette- Concur& Both ships received. much
daniage hi their hulls, as well as in their rigging ; some }if
otu• troops were also hilled and wounded in that engagehient.
Amongst the first, we have greatly 4o lament the lo,s of the
First Lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp Be Bonin, who at his
OWll.request had vpltint trill accurr.partied the expedition ;
that of the-First LirtifeWant of Marines, FalniCies., first .oth -
ref of ibis Majeltyls.corVelte Qom:tyro; and the First Lken4ett-
ant, Reynst, of his Majesty's. !nth Regiment of Fuot. Anwpgst
the wounded officers, the Capt:iin Of Artillery, Vander Veell,,
is mentioned. : • •

We may view the advance of the season, and the delay
which the ev,iedition 'Met, un ac'enitit of the bank in the
river, as the proper- causes why,. for the present, we were
obliged to put. a stop-to the totther operations of war. 11.4
the expedition, immediately on their arrival ;it the latter end
of August, been able to proceed intro the river, they would
now in all probability have out aineti their wished-for ann."

It appears by the statement ;Addenbrooke's
HospitEi tor the rre,;;-.nt that the total num—,
her of palientr, cared since the opening of that
institution in 1766, is 2.2,772.