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commanders.
I directed a call of the principal inhabitants immediately, and they were told to prepare themselves to take the oath of allegiance the following morning in the castle yard. In the mean time the governor was to remain a prisoner in his own house; and it was understood, that his person was responsible for any outrage or tumult that might take place. This sudden call and declaration, and the appearance of the Hesper’s broadside within three hundred yards of the beach, checked at once the rising seeds of disaffection. They renewed to me their promises of fidelity and attachment, and professed themselves perfectly ready to take the oath of allegiance to His Britannic Majesty. The night passed without any thing extraordinary. In the mean time, I had thrown into the battery every disposable man from the ship, leaving the convalescents and boys to do their best in keeping a constant fire on the town, in case it should be necessary. Asiatic indolence was astonished and alarmed at the promptitude and decision of our measures; they felt and acknowledged their inferiority. At nine the following morning, the procession moved from the governor’s house towards the fort. I could scarcely keep my gravity at the spectacle; the governor, secretary, and suite, had ransacked their wardrobes to make up gala dresses, and never were seen such originals; however, the solemnity was well preserved, and we entered the castle yard under a military salute from the Dutch troops and a detachment of British seamen; the four native princes also attended the ceremony at the head of their respective councils. The Malay troops were in line, and the principal inhabitants assembled around me; the governor advanced in the middle, and read aloud the oath of allegiance, which was answered by all present, amidst a salute of twenty-one guns, fired by our detachment. All seemed to pass off well, when an unlucky peal of thunder seemed to awaken the superstitious feelings of my demi-civilized friends. I determined to anticipate the evil augury, and my interpreter exclaimed, that heaven likewise joined in the solemnity we were celebrating. It was answered by a viva, and we assembled in the evening to a ball and supper, prepared under the portico of the government-house, adorned by some fine old banyan trees, which had stood there for ages, and whose successive branches having taken root, formed a most singular and picturesque shelter from the heats of the day or dews of night. Universal harmony prevailed: Keisan, the chief of the princes, paid his devotions most earnestly to the brandy bottle, which was placed near him; his attachment to his new master increased at every glass; he embraced me again and again, and swore to follow me through the world. All present seemed to feel more or less the effects of their libations. I gave the signal to rise, and at the same instant, an officer whom I had stationed with some fire-works, discharged the rockets. From that moment I felt myself perfectly secure of the fidelity of my new subjects. With few exceptions, almost all, creoles and natives, fell with their faces on the ground, and several moments elapsed before their consternation had passed away. Nothing of any moment occurred after this
