Two hours having passed without any communication having been received from the king, the _Teazer_ at noon opened fire, and the troops advanced on the town, covering their flanks with skirmishers. This advance would have been unnecessary had the _Teazer_ been supplied with rockets; but there being none, the men were obliged to set fire to the houses. It would be difficult to imagine a worse-planned expedition. The troops gained the central square of the town, and, in compliance with the written instructions, set fire to the mosque, the king's house, and other principal buildings; and ultimately the whole town appeared to be in flames. The left division, under Lieutenant Vincent, was exposed to a desultory fire, during the whole of these operations, from the enemy concealed in the bush; and large numbers of natives were observed gathering on the plateau to the north of the town. As it seemed impossible that any portion of the town could escape the conflagration, and as the heat from the burning buildings was intense, the troops retired to the river bank, and embarked in the _Teazer's_ boats. Scarcely had the seamen dipped their oars into the water, to pull out into the stream, than a volley was poured into the boats from the dense bush which grew close down to the edge of the water; and the ambushed enemy then commenced firing rapidly, but fortunately with so little precision that the troops succeeded in reaching mid-stream with a loss of only five wounded. The boats continued their course to the ship, and the troops re-embarked. The town was still in flames, but they were gradually subsiding, and before nightfall were entirely extinguished, leaving a considerable portion of the town still unconsumed. The commissioners, upon this, decided, as it was too late to land again that day, to drop down the river as far as Benty Point for the night, and to return next morning to complete the work of destruction. Captain Fletcher then objected to any second landing being made, pointing out that the whole country was now alarmed, and that the people of Malageah would be reinforced by those of Fouricariah (a populous town further up the river), and that quite enough had been done to punish the king. The commissioners agreed with his views, but decided that their orders were so peremptory that they could not, without running the risk of censure, leave the river until the entire town had been destroyed.