We came to Wallajahbad upon the 24th December, 1807. This place was to us according to its name, for it proved very _bad_ to our regiment; the men, women, and children, dying almost every day. As fife-major of the regiment, it was part of my duty to warn a fifer for the funeral party always upon evening parade, for the following day; and there were twelve days successively that the fifer for the funeral was wanted. Although there were none dead at the time, I ordered him to be in readiness; and for that space of time, we never missed one day without having less or more paying the debt of nature. If a man died at night, he was buried in the morning; and if through the day, he was interred in the evening. Amongst the many that died at this time, my old musical friend Allan was one. He was cut off by water in the head; but the disorder that carried off almost all the rest was the bloody flux, or dysentery. About this time the grenadier company (which had parted with us upon our voyage to get their ship refitted) joined us[3], and also the two companies from Prince of Wales's Island. The grenadiers were, in general, envied by the rest of the regiment for their healthy appearance; but, alas! that did not long continue; for no less than twenty-one of these robust looking men went the way of all living in the course of one month. [3] The grenadiers who were on board of the East India Company's ship, Surat Castle, had been obliged to part with the fleet, in consequence of the leaky state of that vessel, when we were near the latitudes of South America, and with difficulty reached the port of Rio Janeiro. But had it not been for the extraordinary exertions of these able-bodied men, the ship, and every soul on board, must, in all human probability have perished; for they were under the absolute necessity of working the pumps night and day for a considerable time before they reached that port, and, notwithstanding all their endeavours, the water gained upon them to such a degree as to be two or three feet deep upon the harlop deck; but in spite of their excessive hardships and fatigues, that company was the most healthy of any in the regiment. For during the whole voyage they had very little sickness, and none of their numbers diminished by death, in a natural way. They had, indeed, one struck dead by a thunderbolt, and another killed by the natives of a certain island, where they touched for a supply of fresh water. The way that this man came into the power of these savages was as follows:--A party of the grenadiers were sent ashore with a few water casks to get them filled, and while they were performing this piece of duty, some misunderstanding took place between them and the natives;