Star.
London, England, 1819-05-17 00:00:00

CE YL ON.

The following extract from a letter, which has been
received from an Officer in the 73d Regimen., nos%
stationed at Ceylon, will be found to contain as cir-
cumstantial and satisfactory an account of the state of
affairs in that island, as has as yet reached, or at least
been published in this country, It is dated from the
Province of Ouvah, the 3d of October, 1818: •

" I am happy to say that the war in which we
have unfortunately been engaged, in the interior of
this island, has at length assumed a very favourable
appearance, and it is now generally thought will
shortly be over, as it is only in three or four provinces
where the rebels have not laid down their arm-. A
large reinforcement is expected daily to arrive from
Btngal, which will enable us to enter these provinces
with an overwhelming force, and there is no doubt
of their soon being obliged to follow the example of
the rest. The man who was set up as a King has
been taken prisoner by some of their own Chiefs, and
although it is reported that another King has been
set up in his stead, this is thought to be only a ma-.
nceuvre of theirs, in order to obtain better terms from
our Government.

" It is just a year this month since the rebellion first
broke out. For some time it was partial and con.
fined only to a few provinces, but ia February it be-
came general, and I can assure you that we had just
enough to do to keep possession of the country until
we were joined by about 2000 Sepoys from Madras.
This reinforcement. arrived in May, and in a short
time several ofte_opt2vinces were reduced to obe-
dience, but in t ers the rebellion was kept up
with more spirit than ever.
" About the beginning of June, we were obliged
to abandon several Provinces in consequence of the
wet season setting in, and a terrible sickness that be-
gan to rage. The Kandians, encouraged at this,
made the greatest efforts to drive us completely out ;
but, being foiled in every attempt, they at length
began to despair of success, and their enterprises
be-
came more feeble. Our loss has been considerable

in killed and wounded, but it has been three times
greater by sickness. The 73d has lost about 300
men, with three Officers, and the other regiments
have suffered in proportion. The country has sup-
plied a good deal of provisions, otherwise we could
not have kept it; but for these, as well as for all other
stores, our chief dependence has been upon the sea-
port towns, from which they were carried by a set of
people called Coolus, sometimes to the distance of
150, or 200 miles; and of all the countries in the
world, that,of Kandy is one of the worst for a regular
army to act in, being, generally speaking, hurled in
forests, and mountainous in the extreme. The roads
across these gloomy regions are for the most part in-
tricate and bad. The rivers of Ceylon are very nume-
rous, always rapid and ill to ford, in the finest wea-
ther ; during the rains they are utterly impassable,
sometimes for weeks together. The Kandians live in
deep rallies between the mountains, where they culti-
vate rice and some other grains, their fertile fields
yielding two crops a-year sas to fruits and vegetables,
they have plenty at all seasons. In their operations
against-us their principal aim has always been to cut
off our supplies, and for this purpose they have had
the roads blockaded in all manner of ways, and, in
order to ascertain when a party was to march escorting
provisions, &c. they had a picket stationed on some
almost inaccessible mountain overlooking the camp.
it We generally have endeavoured to occupy the
country, by having our troops stationed all over it,
at regular distances, in parties of from fifty to an'
hundred men, according to circumstances. Those
parties had to act against the rebels in the neigh-
bouring villages, and to keep up a communication
with the nearest posts—the Kandians (as I have al-
ready said) having pickets watching them. , When a
party was seen marching out, the alarm was given
by firing a gingal, (a kind of gun made in imitation
of a small field-piece.) This signal being repeated
from hill to hill, all along in the direction that the
party was going, the whole population of the coun-
try were thus collected to the road side, and, con-
cealing themselves behind rocks, trees, &c. in the
thick impervious jungle they kept up a fire upon the
party generally until it gained the nearest post, and
in case of our people rushing into the jungle after
them, they took care to have by-paths cut, through
which they could escape. Their arms are gingals,
muskets, bows and arrows, the latter of which was
generally the most dangerous weapon, as they could
come quite close in the jungle and give us a volley,
without our being able to find oat whence the de-
struction came.
A party marching and attacked in this manner,
might lose four or five men without having seen an
enemy. Sometimes, when they were not inclined to
come close to the road, they took to the tops of hills
and rolled down stones upon us, howling all the
while, as if they could have killed us merely by noise.
Their opportunities of annoying us upon the march
were overbalanced by our night visits to their re-
treats in the jungle, where we repaid them for the
disturbance they gave us. They made frequent at-
tempts at attacking our posts also, 'but these attacks
were certainly the most ridiculous ever seen.—
,Ten thousand of them have been known to attack a
post where only seventy or eighty men were stationed,
and continue the attack for eight qr ten days, widsi
out making the least impression.
gs When a post was to be attacked by, ihem, th 4
whole population, for many miles round,. was col.
lected together, and after having sherin their Minis
hers from the top of some hill in the morning, they
began to surround it in the jungle, keeping up a fire
at. any distance from behind rocks and trees, and if
a small party offered to go out and meet them, they'
'were off in a moment, scampering in all directions
over the hills. I have mut a thousand of them run in

fair field before i men of soldietft-41-gaill-witt
mild Measures were tiled, in order to itia;cethem to
return to their allegiance to Government.; btit, When
those mild measures did not succeed, we were bbligeoi
to have recourse to others the most severe, in retalia-
tion for their perfidious cdnduct on all occasions, and
the enormous cruelties of which they have been
guilty. No doubt they have suffered terribly. Scarcely
ai house• or any thing else has been left to them hi
many Lines; and they are to be pitied, notwithstand7
ing their apparent want of all moral principle, as it
has been their leading men who have been chiefly to
blame, and to whom they pay implicit obedience. I
believe it is part of their religion to act thus, for a
andian would do any thing rather than disobey the
orders of his superior,
At the commencement of the rebellion, I went
out with a party, and remained out until the end of
May. I unluckily caught a fever when passing
through Kandy, from one station to another, and
was so very ill for some time that the Surgeons lost
all hopes of my recovery. It pleased GOD, however,
that I should get over it, while great numbers of my
countrymen were daily dying. The sickness that
prevailed was owing more, as the medical people
thought; to the great fatigue and privations which
the troops underwent, than to the unhealthiness of the
climate. About the end of June I was well enough
to bear the fatigue of being carried down to Columbo,
where I was sent for the benefit of the sea air. At
Columba I remained until the end of August, by
which time I had recovered so far as to be able to
undertake a second trip to the field, and I have been
fortunate in getting to one of the most healthy quar-
ters of this country, the rich and beautiful province
of Ouvah. It is a very mountainous country, but it
is the only one in Dandy, I may say in Ceylon, that
is any way clear of woods. Badala, the second sta-
tion we hold for importance, is in this province: it
stands on a most beautiful and fdrtile plain, surround,
ed with mountains of a stupendous height. It was
here that the rebellion first broke out, and it was heti
that the inhabitants first grew tired of it, but years
will not molter the damage which the country has
sustained. We have heard a report of One Regiment
going to Bengal as soon as 'matters are settled here,
which I hope will prove true, as I do not admire this
fine country so much since they have attack off one,
:hird of our pay. " 44 a. a."

Tuesday, the CvoNEt, a new 10 gnp brig, was
launched from the Dock-yard at-Partsmouth►
The .Danish ship Anna Marla,. 'which arrived nrt
Saturday at Plymouth from St. Thomak'bound for
Copenhagen, has on board three persens who have
lately been condemned to death at St, Thomas's, on
account of some conduct connected with the Insur•

gent flag.
NottrsiEftN Mcnorous.-.-This ancient and inte4
resting City, so generally and justly admired, will,
we are glad to learn, ere long boast of a trophy of
the signal gallantry diiplaved by Seotthmen in the
late arduous and glorious War, and will transmit-to
future generations a splendid memorial of national
gratitude equally honourable to those who deserved*
and to those who conferred it. The festival to take

place in P ree Mason's Tavern, Great Queen-street;
otf Saturdiry the 22d instant, (his Grace the Duke of
ATHOLL in the Chair), will, ..3,e have no doubt, •be
attended by a great proportion of Scotchmen in Lons
don; and it gives us pleasure to observe, that Eng.'
lishmen are coming forward and uniting with Scotch•
men in rearing a monument of *stir niopelglory
and indissoluble friendship. 1Li144
LAW ASSOCIATIONThe object of thir
tion is to relieve the Widows and .Falki oft Pages.
sioaal Men, who may stand lit need-a
LORD CHANCELLOR is the Presidehti" onatliet6fiei;
ship has sent a donation of £lOO in aufor e-Ynnd.
The Society has not long been established ; it, how-
ever, now consists of about 2:50 of the Mott respectable
Attornies and Solicitors in. the MetroPolii. Their
first Public Dinner was held at the Freemasons Ta-
vern, on Friday. Sir JAMES GRAHAM, Bart. VW)
kindly took the Chair, had previously subscribed a
donation of £lOO. I t giving the LoRo:CuANCELLOtt
as a toast, Sir JAMES accompanied it with an eloquet
speech, in which, speaking of the virtuous and trO
right conduct of this most excellent Judge, his-feel-
ings were almost overpowered.' The company fully
participated in the sentimotte expressed by their
CHAIRMAN, and drank his LordAip's health .vaith
the greatest enthusiasm. Many- good ssingi7viere
sung, and one by Mr. TAYLOR, which had beep:mit.,
posed for the occasion. it was well observed, by
one of the Members present, in a neat speech,- diet
although Attornies and Solicitors v:ere to be fotina
as Subscribers to almost every Charitable Institution
in the kingdom, they had never, until nowrthought
of themselves and their families, who miglatonn,
withstanding all their professional laboltrs,ln ldonte
cases, he left in distressed circumstances. The Insti-
tution is in its infancy, but we heartily wish it six.
cess. We understand it is not intended to give re-
lief until the capital shall have amounted to ElO,OOO
Stock—half of which the Society already possesses.

COIOI4IARKET, MARK-LAME. MAT 17.

,
Having a large supply lof Wheat freskiss this
morning from Ssses, and but few Millers disposed
to purchase, our sales were very heavy, and what
few samples were disposed of were at a decline of
full 4s. per quarter from last Monday's prices, and a
considerable quantity remains on band, which could
not be got off at the above abatements') Barley- is
also 4s. per quarter cheaper, and almost unsaleable,
the malting season being nearly over. Oats are 2s.
per quarter lower, In consequence of the magnitude
of the arrivals, particularly from Lincolnshire and
Yorkshire. Beans are 2s. per quarter cheaper, and
for which article there is little or no demand.
INCLISH. Satan Beans ' 404 049,
I floss
Wheat, Kent and 'lick ditto
Essex .......... ...... 621 62s Oats, rotatos 2.5s 28s
Suffolk 6os 641 I Poland... ... ... . . 2Ss 281
N0rf01k....... Sas 72s —. Fccd 18s 23s
... •
...
Rye...— ....... .......... 30s 56s Flov.r, ier Sack.. 55. Ms
Burley (New) . ....... 32s 36s Rapeseed, per Last, £49 ,t'42l
Malt .....,.,...• ..... --SO* 625 volution.
White Al .. ...... ..52s 368 Wheat, Dantzic...... 6os ens
—.------ toilers ... 40$ 44s Baltic Red, Hambro' or
Orel Pa;s•—e ...... • —4Ol 44. Brenfin,llrabant red 54s Fib
SMITHFIELD I% ARKET, MAY 174
Beef ..,,...45 Od to 31 Oil Io
Vra1......v. 5, Od io $5 ed
Mutton .. ..ss Od to 66s Od I Prt
Lamb Ss 0d to 1s Od.
emu AT 1111111007.' -
Beasts 1660—Calves itio--sbeer aid Lambs 14.5403—pig„ ism
HAT AND s'ruAW PER LOAD.*
Hay...... £5 Os to 15 Os I Straw ... £2 10s to £2 194
C10ve'.,....', 0:0 7 15e Rowell ... IA CV * 4:0 0.