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142
stockade. We agreed then to make the attack on the 15th inst., provided we could procure the boats and polers.
I wrote a letter to Sultan Abdullah on the 18th, asking him to provide me with boats and polers. This letter was taken to the Sultan by Captain Stirling, R.N., and the Sultan promised to send 16 boats. These boats were duly furnished, but without polers; the seamen however managed the boats themselves, and the Naval Brigade, consisting of 10 officers, 60 seamen, and 15 marines, reached the Residency at an early hour on the 14th.
In the afternoon of that day Captain Stirling, R.N., Mr. Swettenham, and I walked up the left bank of the river to Qualia Truss, about 14 miles from this, to select a good landing-place for the troops, and we determined on Passir Panjang, where there is an open space by Rajah Che Muda's now deserted
house.
Everything being in readiness, we roused up the force at 8 a.m. on the 15th, and began getting the troops into the boats at 5 a.m.
It was 6.30 am. before the whole force was embarkell, the Naval Brigade, under Captain Stirling, being in charge of the gun-boats.
The larger portion of the force had already started with Mr. Swettenham to show them the place of disembarkation, and I followed in the steam gig "Perak" with Captain Stirling when I had seen
the last of the men into the boats.
We reached Passir Panjang, disembarked, and formed the troops at 8.20 a.m., and placed the whole of the land force under cover of Raja Che Muda's house until the Naval Brigade should take up its previously arranged position on the river. This was done with some difficulty, owing to the shallow water, the strength of the tide, and the blue jackets having to pole their own boats, no easy matter for men wholly unaccustomed to this work.
A series of bugle signals had been arranged between the land force and the Naval Brigade to ensure unity of action and to avoid, when out of sight of each other, the possibility of working against each
other.
The Advance was sounded about 9.30 a.m., and the force moved off in the following order :-The Naval Brigade slightly in advance with the guns to dislodge the enemy from their positions, Captain Stirling in the steam gig “Perak " leading the Naval Brigade, which consisted of 10 officers and 60 seamen, with two rocket tubes, one 7-pr. M.L. R. gun, two 12-pr. howitzers, and one small Coëborn mortar. This force was in six boats and the steam gig; the transport boats followed behind.
The land party, under command of Captain Whitla, consisted of three officers and 181 men of the 1/10th Regiment, one officer and 20 men of the 9th Battery, 2nd Brigade, Artillery, with a 48 brass mountain howitzer (19-pr.), a sergeant and 14 marines of H.M. ships Thistle" and "Fly." Two of these marines were placed in charge of the transport boats.
In addition to these regular forces the Hon. H. Plunket, Superintendent of Police, Penang, was placed at the disposal of Captain Whitla, who put him in charge of the Marices as an advanced guard, and Mr. Swettenham, with two of his own men and five Seikhs, accompanied by Raja Mahmood with two followers, having also placed his services at Captain Whitla's disposal, joined Mr. Plunket and the Marines.
The first shot was fired by the 7-pr. M.L.R. at 10 a.m., and the enemy replied almost immediately by a shot from their largest gun which crossed only some 10 yards in front of our boats and behind the "Perak" which was slightly in advance.
The gun and rocket boats now opened a steady and well directed fire on the enemy's position, Campong Pirang, Qualla Biah, the stockade attacked by our troope on the 7th inst. The range was 1,100 yards..
This fire was kept up and obstinately returned, the whole force, naval and military, gradually drawing towards the stockade, the Naval Brigade opening a fire of small arms as they neared the enemy. The advance guard entered the Indian cornfield immediately in front of the stockade and had half crossed it when a fire was opened on them from the stockade, to which they at once replied.
The Artillery brought up the gun without delay, and after four or five rounds of case had been fired into the stockade, and the enemy's fire being silenced, the advance guard moved on again and entered the stockade which they found deserted.
The work was a strong one; a broad and deep ditch with a 4′ earthwork on the other side, and a wattled fence in between, strengthened by pointed bamboos.
The strokede was some 80 yards long with three inner works thus :—
INDIAN
CORN.
ENEMY'S STOCKADE.
BANANAS.
PERAK RIVER.
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We captured in this stockade a 12 or 18-pr. iron gun, and a small iron "lela" Both these were spiked and thrown into the river, and the force moved on again as before through a
or pivot gun. dense plantation of bananas.
This stockade was entered at noon. Shortly after this we came in sight of Pasir Bals, and the enemy opened fire on the boats from a stockade, some 100 yards below the spot where Mr. Birch was murdered.
One shot only from this fort came near us, passing just over the heads of the advanced guard, and ploughing up the earth in front of the main body.
The second stockade was at Bandar Puah, about a mile from the first, and here the navy drove out the enemy before the troops came up. The Malays, however, took up a position a little further on in the jungle and opened a fire which was replied to both from Land and river and soon silenced.
Our whole attention was now directed towards Passir Sala stockade, which was keeping up an ineffectual fire against the boats, whilst the Naval Brigade were making excellent practice with rockets and guns. The moment we came in sight of Passir Sala, we had recognised Mr. Birch's barge moored to the bath where he was murdered, and this sight gave us an additional desire to push on No time was lost then in getting over the ground and the Passir Salah stockade was entered with a rush, the advanced guard of the land force and Captain Bruce, R. N., from the river getting in almost
at the same inoment.
This stockade was also deserted, and in it we found the S-pr. brass gun taken from Mr. Birch's boat, a small brass lela, an iron lela, and the fragments of a 6-pr. iron gun which had evidently just burat and been hit by one of our shells.
Passir Salah was now our own, as well as Mr. Birch's barge and “sampan panjang" or row boat. The Maharajah Lela's own house some 200 yards from the bank, in a plantation of fruit trees, was surrounded by an earthwork some eight feet high, and five feet thick, with a small bamboo stockade on the top made of sharpened bamboos about 18 inches out of the ground.
This earthwork was surrounded again by a moat, four feet broad, full of water. The house was an exceptionally good one and the place altogether very strong, and if it had been held by resolute men might have given us much trouble.
The house was, however, deserted evidently in the greatest hurry, and in it we found many of Mr. Birch's effects:-Three boxes of documents, mats, pillows, chairs, a gun-case belonging to Lieut. Abbott, R.N., which had been in Mr. Birch's boat, and other little things. Whilst scouring
Mr. Birch's property, Mr. Cope, Reuter's agent in Penang, who, with Mr. Man, the "Times" Special Correspondent, bad followed the force, was accidentally shot in the arm by some one of our people, who we have not been able to discover, fortunately the wound is a very alight one.
We had burnt all the houses since we passed the first stockade, and we now burnt down Passir Sala, beginning with the Maharajah Lela's house,
As we came up the river, we passed two stockades on the Campong Gaja or left bank of the river,
but they were deserted. Campong Gaja, immediately opposite Passir Sala, is the village of the Datu Sagor, who stood by whilst Mr. Birch was murdered.
should mention that from the statements of those of Mr. Birch's party who effected their escape, and also from the Chinese in whose bathing house Mr. Birch was killed, I was able to ascertain, not only the names of several of those who were pressat, but even of the man who first stabbed Mr. Birch. He was a Battak named Pandak Indut.
About 5 pm. Captain Surling went with a party over to Campong Gaja which he had determined to burn, because of the Datu Sagor's complicity in the murder of Mr. Birch.
The Campong was burnt, the only casualty being that Ladgis, the native inspector of the Perak police, was wounded by a spear, but not seriously.
The whole force got under weigh at 6.30 p.m., and dropping down the river with the current, reached the Residency without incident at 8 pm. It is difficult to estimate the loss of the enemy, but there were numerous traces of blood at the first stockade, and the gun at Passir Sala could hardly have burst without doing damage.
The enemy made a prolonged and obstinate resistance, especially at the first stockade, keeping up a well-sustained musketry fire on the boats till the last, and even maintaining their position until driven from their stockade by the shore gun.
The fire of the Naval Brigade, especially from the rocket tubes and the 7-pr. M.L.R., was too severe to be gainsayed and the enemy fled, at last, routed. They evidently had not contemplated such a result as actually occurred, for we found at Passir Sala, rice half-boiled, gunpowder and cartridges, bedding, drums, and cooking things, all as though they had expected never to move them. gong in the first stockade, shot through by a rifle bullet, but they had managed to get away all their We took their war small arma.
Whilst at Passir Sala we heard guns higher up the river, apparently fired in defiance.
I cannot sufficiently extol Captain Sürling, R.N., and the officers under him, for their untiring energy and perfect arrangements. To them the successes of the day are due,
Captain Whitla and the troops under him worked with the greatest zeal.
Mr. Swettenham and Mr. Plunket with the advanced guard were always first to get into the stockades.
The Maharajah Lela and bis people have made off, I believe, towards the Dedap River, where I have already posted Syed Mashaboor, Raja Indut, and about 80 Malays to intercept them. excellent information of the position and nature of the stockades, number of guns, &c., furnished We had principally by an adviser of Raja Muda Yusuf, who arrived here on the 14th with a letter from the Rajah Muda to Mr. Swettenham.
He also informed us that Panglima Prang Semaun, one of Rajah Ismail's chief fighting men, was in command at the Qualla Bish or first stockade, and that the enemy had told him they expected ammunition to be sent to them by the Shahbandar.
In accordance with his Excellency's instructions, I propose now to offer a large reward for the Maharajah Lela, the Datu Sagor, and Pandak Indut, the man who, as already stated struck the first
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