fired off/ are simply' placed oh ^t-hê 'ground, while thé muzzle
"id1 elevated by the piece of wood I m e u ti'd u ^ |r;|namediately
opposite the g&èetfdeadïng to ’the' plkcé- qf audier&e stood- a
’very fine Bany anrtrde,- -aro'und 'which' a Sort of platform hid
heen placëd, whëre£,thé priests of Buddou were, accustomed“ to
perform their- sacrifices,- and the- chief people to take their
stations' at- any • occasional * assembly. As the Adigar and his
train %©re- to pass that way, Several of four officers and' s o l diers
planted' themselves on this elevated situation in order to
have th é better view %f 'the procession.^ The Adigar rhowever,
■chancing t o ‘obseiwé them above Jiim, expressed' great iftddgffa-
tiou, and desired that they should be ordered dowrj, a sn öw ttè
ought in his presence to be placed higher tffad^imSélf, .who
personated a king with tfhom none is on a ilevel,„and- before
whom, as the descendant of . the golden sun, a ll: men /should
-fall prostrate. Befbte the Adigar .were, carried iseV^ral- flags
and streamers,-With people playing on a variety- of;i;mii4caftin-
struments peculiar to their country, and a number- o ^ ff^ows
cracking immense whips So oas to produce a most stunning ^Toife,
while they continued running about, like 'so many madnién.
While the General and the Adigar were engaged iu conference,
I had ah opportunity-by' .means pi- a M a k y p rin c e l who in-
terpreted for me, of conversing with' some of the' [principal
Candians, who waited-at the outside! of: the choultry; ; They
■seemed a handsomer race of people than our Cinglese;,:;fcheir
manners were more courteous, and their conversation more polite.
They were as eager to obtain some knowledge-of lour <ms-
to«is, as we were to be informed of theirs ; and they .examined
-several articles of our ^dress with great-minutehess! ^ They were
hot a little surprised on Captain Vilant of the 19th regiment,
fo the Court o f Candy« 383
sketching off a likeness in a few minutes of one of their
chiefs, and presenting it to him. Our watches did apt escape
their notice, and-they were Very curious to have the uses explained
to them of those extraordinary machines. Upon being
offered some little presents, they seemed afraid on account of
each other to accept of any thing, lest it should come to the
king's knowledge. They informed us that we should find it
impossible to, bring up our, , horses and , waggons to Candy,
was afterwards found to be really the case. I shall
not fofgejj' the significant smile which one of them gave on
Seeing. :a tumbril pass by: it seemed emphatically to say,
^ypu'may as well leave it where it is/’ The Adigar, op returning
from this conference with the general, sent some o f
his peqpte fi>: fetch the presents which the governor had destined
fox his Candian Majesty. They were very valuable, and
consisted.,' among other things, of an elegant state-coach, drawn
fry-4% hfri^p I a betel dish with mnaments of solid gold, which,
had belonged to the late Tippo Sultan, and was valued at eight
hundred star-pagodas. There were besides presents of rosewater
and a variety, of fine muslins. After these had been delivered,
and we had béen .joined by two hundred Candians,
sent by the Adigar to supply the place of. those Cinglese who
had deserted us through dread of the climate, a t one d’clock
we set forward, and marched about three miles farther to
Apolipitti, a small plain amrimnded with vety high hills. We
had scarcely pitched our tents when torrents of rain began
to descend, accompanied by -the loudest and most awful
peals of thunder that imagination can conceive, while
the vivid flashes of lightning succeeded each other so rapidly
that the firmament seemed to flame in every direction. This
3 D