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No assistance must be given to the enemy. The villagers of Shemmaga, mostly small traders in salt and rice, were naturally averse to leaving. This trade was their only means of livelihood, the houses their only homes, and they did not like the idea of going out into the unknown country behind.
There was a head man of a village near Shemmaga whom he executed because he had acted as guide to a body of troops, and he cut off all supplies from the interior, lying on the roads, and stopping all men from entering Shemmaga. He further issued a notice that the inhabitants of Shemmaga itself should leave the town. They could not move the garrison, therefore the people must move themselves.
Even in the lower country, which we held for so long, insurrection was spreading fast, and troops and military police were being poured in from India. There is above Mandalay a large trading village a small town almost called Shemmaga. It is the river port for a large trade in salt from the inner country, and it was important to hold it.
A strong fence ran from the hill to the river like two arms, and there were three gates, one just by the hill, and one on each end of the river face. Behind Shemmaga the country was under the rule of a robber chief called Maung Yaing, who could raise from among the peasants some two hundred or three hundred men, armed mostly with flint-locks.
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