
AP PENDIX.
gffSisp~
ACCOUNT OF THE WAR IN CEYLON,
. I«n*80& i
IM offering a secsnd odttaonvof jthis wo rt to theBubHc, it may be expected
,-ffet account Of the ^ate “hostilities in Ceylon. With a
view to gratify ffie public curiosity,, I have examined .the various accounts,
both officiaSLafui private, which have ^bpen these transactions.
So. very confined, Adwever,/ and inmany inst^U2ess<;outr8idictory,:is the information
we have1 recei^eS in Tegairff!,i30th>4b'the?eauses, the eonduot, and the
probable'gohseaugneps^pf^tlje wax, that it wpuld he imprudent Jmtb e t° state
an opipipn with regard to' these s^bjegts, without an^opportunity of fascertaining
.more precisely <the truth o f the’ various, sp o rts.. My .knowledge o f .the
■character of governor North1 leaves,'indeed,- rib doubt on my own- mind that
fus''cf|n||iet (fflp’^his'occasion' was {^idedBv a^inuere desire to promote the
interests of fhrs country : h u t in regard to the policy or impohcy vof his mea-
.sures, I shall present to -the public the most'authentic documents .that have
fallen iiito. my hands, and every ‘onh“w31 tberi.be to judge for himself.
.(thj«'>jtqriod when | left thc-.islaod .of Ceylon, I feared, from my
knowledge of the situation offfhe -court of Candy, that a good understanding
coh’ldjhot long be maintained between us and the natives. The
whole Taffjurs of .state 'were .directed by .the chief Adigar, Pehme Talavoe, a
man of- jdrilifcy, and admirably calculated, by his cunning and address, /or
political intrigue. He had placed the reigning monarch on the throne;
and'had afterwards, on soohe" disgust, conceiyed!( ^ e id?a of again driving
him from it, when the arrival of the English obligedAhim, for the time, $o desist
3 H 2