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5* BIRMAH.
civilised and warlike nations." In the mean time,
our shipping was attacked by a large naval armament
of war-boats, and was in no small danger from the
fire-rafts of the enemy. Accident, however, had for-
tunately attached to the British fleet a steam-vessel,
equipped in India by a private individual, which
rendered the most efficient assistance, rushing amid
the Birman war-boats with an impetus which nothing
could withstand. Astonished and alarmed at the
wheels, the noise, and the column of smoke which
issued from this mysterious assailant, these brave but
inexperienced foes suffered a total defeat, the larger
portion of their boats being overset and run down.
Driven from the water, and combated both by flood
and by land with arms hitherto unknown in this part
of the East, the remains of the grand army under
their brave leader, retreated towards the shores of
Pegu, there to prepare for future conflicts.
In January 1825, the Birman generalissimo was
found to have stationed himself at Derioobew, a large
town on the great river, about fifty miles above Ran-
goon ; so small a space in the heart of the country
had the British acquired by the series of brilliant but
dearly-bought victories they had gained. Here, the
Birman general prepared to sustain an attack, having
combined the remaining resources of the Pegu vice-
royalty.
About the middle of February, General Cotton
captured the stockade of Panlung, principally by
means of the rockets and mortars ; but at Denoobew,
he sustained a serious repulse, and was obliged to
retire with the loss of many of his officers and men.
In April, General Campbell, \vho had ascended the
Irrawaddy towards Prome without encountering any
resistance, was recalled to the attack on Denoobew,