Some outrages having been committed by the Candians on British subjects, demand was made for reparation, which was evaded on various pretences, and a body of troops, of which a detachment of the NINETEENTH regiment formed part, penetrated through the unhealthy districts into the interior, to demand redress, and to exact security against the repetition of outrage. The troops experienced little opposition, and advanced to _Candy_, the capital, which was found abandoned by the inhabitants. A treaty was framed, and everything appeared in a train for a satisfactory arrangement; but after evincing unparalleled duplicity and treachery, the population of the surrounding districts suddenly attacked the town after hostilities had ceased, and the British troops, under Major Davey, being overpowered by numbers, agreed to capitulate, on condition of being allowed to march with their arms to the British settlements on the coast. These conditions were violated; the British soldiers were barbarously massacred, at Candy, on the 24th of June, excepting a few men who escaped, or were spared by the assassins; the Malays in the English service were required to enter the Candian service, and all who refused were destroyed. The NINETEENTH regiment had the following officers and soldiers massacred on this occasion,--Lieutenants M. H. Bynn, Peter Plenderleath, and Hector M'Lean, Ensign Robert Smith, Quarter-Master John Brown, Assistant-Surgeon William Hope, and one hundred and seventy-two non-commissioned officers and privates. After this act of perfidy and cruelty the Candians attacked the British settlements, and gained some temporary advantages; but were eventually driven back with loss. The surviving officers and soldiers of the NINETEENTH regiment were employed in much harassing and perilous service, and many casualties were occasioned by the climate. Captain Beaver particularly distinguished himself, and the governor, Major-General M^cDowall, expressed his sense of the captain's services, in general orders dated Columbo, 2nd September, 1803, in the following terms: "The Governor has observed, with peculiar satisfaction, the rapid series of well-judged and well-executed operations, by which Captain HERBERT BEAVER, of the NINETEENTH regiment, has hitherto proceeded, in recovering the important province of Matura from the Candians, and in bringing back its deluded inhabitants to their duty. The indefatigable activity, zeal, and ability, which that officer has displayed, since his assumption of the command in that district, has fully justified the high opinion which his Excellency had formed of him from his former services, and which induced the Governor to appoint him to that arduous station, in a time of such extreme difficulty and discouragement." The governor also expressed his approbation of the conduct of the officers and soldiers serving under Captain Beaver. [Sidenote: 1804]