1816

"...The reduced King of Kandy, who is a native of the Malabar Coast, is held close prisoner at Colombo. — His mother died during the stay there of the Kangaroo, and was interred with royal honours.

During the march of the British forces upon the capital of Kandy, Lieutenant Lyttleton and a serjeant of the 73d, having attacked a wild elephant, were pursued by the gigantic animal; and the latter, whose name we cannot learn, was unfortunately overtaken and torn piecemeal. Lieut. Lyttleton found safety in a tree, where he was obliged to remain many hours closely watched by a dreadful adversary, whose sagacity exceeds that of almost any other animal, and whose swiftness in a woody country is very far superior to that of the fleetest horse, as from his ponderous weight he overthrows those obstacles which the horse is obliged to shun..."

Extract from:
Sydney Gazette 17 February 1816 p.1.

Background:
The description of events relating to Lieut. Lyttleton was also printed in Asiatic Journal Vol. IV August 1817 pp.195-196.

Manuscript Transcripts
Transcript prepared by Robin Walsh
Macquarie University Library, Sydney, Australia. © 2003

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