The Press. — London, England, 1857-10-31 00:00:00

rHE PRESS, OCTOBER 31, 1857. or nine, who, fearing that they would be discovered and punished, deserted during the night, after having fired an officer's bungalow close to the lines. At other stations where mutiny has occurred, the Euro. peans have suffered principally from the villainous trea chery of the sepoys only. But here all the country is up, the Bomarlel' chiefs, of whom there is a legion, great and small, being in arms all round us. It appears that the Shaghur rajah has invited Koer Singh and the mutinous regiments to assist him in taking the fort of Saugor from the hands of Brigadier Sage, and, should they succeed in doing so before that garrison can be relieved, you know what will he the result. Had the Bombay moveable column moved on Saugor, as was originally intended, after relieving dhow, this catastrophe might have been avoided, but now I really do not see how Saugor can be saved. That we can defend ourselves there is little doubt, but, as we have not force enough to attack such a large body of men, I do not see how Jubbulpore and the cantonment can be saved. The Thugs, too, congregated at this place will no doubt all get free again, after having cost Govern ment so many lacy of rupees to catch ; and the School of Industry, which has been twenty years rising to its pre sent proud position, will no doubt be among the public buildings the miscreants will destroy. It is, therefore, more than probable that before this letter reaches you Jubbulpore will have been burnt and looted, and all through the imbecility of that old woman, General Lloyd. Little did we expect, when reading in the columns of the L'ag/inhman of the mutiny at Dina pore, that it would affect this part of India; but such seems likely to be the case, and if the rebels march this road, six days more will bring them to our doors, to the ruin of hundreds of inahajuns and traders, and the de• struction of life and property. No Calcutta (Mks have been received for several days, but that is to be accounted for by the rebels having pos session of the great Deccan road. In Behar, our prospects are not improving : Ever since the fatal catastrophe at Arrah—a catastrophe for which Lord Canning and Colonel Birch are alone responsible, for they refused to order the disarming of the native troops—the Government has withdrawn its confi dence from military men. The direction of the troops was confided to Mr. Samuells, the commissienor of Patna, and to Mr. Money, collector of Gya. It came to the knowledge of these two officials that a large body of the mutinous irregular cavalry had located themselves about six miles from Gya. They at once called upon Captain Rattray to attack them with about 200 Sikhs under his command. Captain Rattray gave several excellent mili tary reasons for not attacking them in that position, but to no purpose • his reasons were pooh-poohed, and 200 Sikhs were ordered to attack double their number of infantry, strongly intrenched, aided by about 200 cavalry. Of course the attack failed. and not only so, but the cavalry cut off the Sikhs from Gya and again plundered that town. Encouraged by this success, Ummur Singh, brother of the rebel Zemindar Boer Singh, marched with a large body of well-appointed infantry to join the insurgents. By the latest accounts he was crossing the Sone, pre pared, after effecting the junction, to march upon Patna, which is garrisoned by about 150 Europeans and the de feated Sikhs, and in which the most disaffected population in Bengal is swarming. We may tide over this danger as we have over so many others, but it will not be through the foresight or wisdom of our rulers, who on this, as on so many occasions, have by their feeble measures played the game of the insurgents. • Sir Colin Campbell has taken the effective step of despatching an officer of rank, with 1,000 men, to put a stop to these disturbances. The whole of Behar (says the Bombay Iturkaru) is in iemost disorganised state. " Koer Singh, the rebel chieftain of Arrah, has indeed carried his incursions into Rewah, where he was at once joined by the troops of the Rajah who had been sent to oppose him ; hut his brother Ummur Singh is still in Behar, and at the head of a considerable body of men ; no opposition has been offered to his progress." The sth Irregular Cavalry too, from Bhagulpore, have been joined by all the disaffected in the dis trict, and they are plundering and laying waste the country in every direction. From Rajpootana we learn, under date the 24th September, that the Neemuch force had a brush with the rebels, and took ten guns from them. The number of killed and wounded is not known. The doctor of her Majesty's 83rd Regiment and several of the men are wounded, as also some of the 12th Native Infantry and 2nd Cavalry. General George Lawrence has had to fall back upon Bewar, about thirty-two miles from Ajmere, on the Bombay road. The Joudpore Legi.n was too strong for him—hence the reverse. Intelligence has also been received from Joudpore of' the death of Captain Monck Mason, political agent at that place. It appears he had gone ont to join the force under General G. Lawrence, and by mistake got into the camp of the rebels, by whom he was murdered. " Further to the north and west, in the groat pro vince of Malwa, things are looking sufficiently well," writes the Times correspondent : I have already alluded to the report of Scindia's raising new levies to intercept fugitives from Delhi. A letter from an officer at Indore, just received, lies before me. Upon information which he considers reliable lie writes that on the 25th, and for five days previous, Scindia and the mutinied contingent were at Gwalior taco to face, each seeking to coerce the other. The Maharajah had all his guns in position, and from 17,000 to 20,000 men of new and old levies strongly posted. lie was unwilling to dered you as the nose of the army; but you gave up your arms without fighting. However, it is not too late to retrieve your characters. It is true you have no arms ; but hasten up, and Rain will give you arms. You will, each sepoy, get twelve rupees per month and two hundred bighas of land. The King of Delhi has ordained that no more cows shall be killed in the land. Should any one intercept this messenger, curses will bo upon his head; if a Mahomedan he will eat pig, if a Hindoo he will eat cow. The King of Delhi sends salaams, and says the enemy outside the walla number 10,000; after we have conquered them, we will come to Calcutta to try if the Feriughees can fight. The messenger was seized by an officer of the 70th Native Infantry, and hanged forthwith. The rest of the intelligence from India we regret to say is far from satisfactory. The Calcutta Eng lish»utn of September 24 says :—" Although so little has been effected, although almost every day brings accounts of fresh insurrection, the fashion among official men is to say that the mutiny is in a state of collapse. We acknowledge we can see no indications of it. Here and there the mutineers quarrel among themselves, and our very latest report from Cawnpore is, that two regiments have offered to come over. But the whole of Behar is in a disor ganised state, and in no part of the upper provinces can British authority be said to exist beyond the reach of our guns. We therefore repeat that, how ever much these men may quarrel among themselves, and however desultory their efforts may be for the want of a recognised leader, yet their numbers are so great, that it cannot be expected the country will be tranquillised till the arrival of large reinforce ments." These accounts of " fresh insurrections " refer unhappily to a wide extent of country. To begin, then, with Bengal. The Dinapore rebel, Koer Singh, who by the last mail was reported to have been utterly annihilated by Major Eyre, appears in the field at the head of 4,000 men, traversing the country with impunity. A letter from Jubbulpore, Sept. 18, says : _ . You will be sorry to learn that the arch-fiend Boer Singh, at the head of the Dinapore mutineers and the Ratughur battalion, is now in full march for this place. About a fortnight ago we received the intimation that he had as cended the Kutra Pass, and had entered the Rewah States, the Rajah of which sent him word that if he attempted to pass through his territories he must fight every inch of the way. Not liking this, he descended the ghat again, and we were in the hope that he had gone away towards Oude. lt, however, now appears that he merely went round the outer boundaries of the Rajah's territories, returning via Banda and N igode, at which place he was expected yesterday. Whether the tiOth Regiment will join his band, which now numbers some 4,000, it is hard to say; but I am afraid the sepoys will not be able to with stand such a temptation for loot, and if they do not, I do not see how the officers of that regiment can possibly escape with their lives, as Nagode is in a most isolated position, and surrounded by petty chiefs, who will be but too happy to murder them, even should they escape that fate at the hands of their own men. The 50th Regiment has mutinied ; the 52nd, stationed between Saugor and Jubbulpore, followed their example, and the whole body of the Rajah of Rewah's troops have joined the rebels to a man. " The effect of all this is very bad," writes the Times correspondent; " it may cost us for a time the whole of the Saugor territories north of the Nerbudda. The Bundelas are up in renewed spirits. General Millar attacked a body of them, and slew eighty without the loss of a man. But another party de feated a sally from the fort of Saugor, killing Colonel Dalzall, of the late 42nd, who headed it, and several men. The Madras column abandons Dumoh and concentrates itself for the protection of Jubbulpore. If the 52nd join the Bundelas in strength, the column may have to recross the Nerbudda. If Koer Singh comes down it must; but I hope and think that when tidings of the fall of Delhi have well filtered through the country many a now formidable-looking band of marauders will be dissipated even more rapidly than it was formed." • - It is not easy to believe that the intelligence of the fall of Delhi will so easily dissipate the rebels. The writer from Jubbulpore, Sept. 18th, continues : A plot was laid by the Gond Rajah, Rugnath Sha, and others round this place, to burn the cantonments of Job bulpore, and to roast all the Europeans they could catch alive. Fortunately it was discovered, and Captain Clerk, our energetic deputy-commissioner, went with a few sowars and took the man and his accomplices unawares, before they could carry their plans into execution ; and this morning, after a fair trial, the Rajah and his son were both blown away from a gun, in front of the Residency house. A few nights ago some of the bad characters of the regiment stationed here armed themselves at night with their muskets, with the intention of breaking into the gaol and releasing the Rajah and his followers. Inti• minion to this effect being given to the civil authorities, they sent down a small guard of the 33rd Regiment Madras Native Infantry to the gaol in the middle of the night, and brought the prisoners away to the Residency, where they were kept under a strong guard till executed. The sepoys, on learning that their plans had been baffled, returned to their lines, with the exception of some eight 1055 use force, I suppose, against such formidable antagonists unless absolutely forced to do so, and contented himself with holding them in check, waiting probably for the fall of Delhi. We learn from the Itiofassilite that the Indore and Mhow mutineers have crossed the Chumbul, and were at the date of latest advices encamped between that river and Dholpore. Their future movements are uncertain, but it was believed they would advance on Agra. The Poonah Observer has been favoured with an extract of a letter from Mhow, dated the 18th Sep tember, in which it is stated that tea thousand mu• tineers had encamped within sight of the B.itish camp, and that it was expected they would make an immediate attack on our force. Brigadier Stuart was, however, preparing to be beforehand with the scoundrels, of whom he will no doubt very soon render a good account with the aid of the troops under his command. From Agra advices have been received up to the 19th September, when everything was quiet at that station. " Our authority (says the Bombay Times) has been re-established at Allyghur, Hattrass, and other places in the neighbourhood, by the small force under Major Montgomery." The Gwalior muti neers, who numbered several thousands, with a few guns, are reported to have crossed the Chumbul, and are encamped somewhere between that river and llholpore. Their future movements are, however, tit:certain, but preparations have been made at Agra for their reception, in case they should attack that place. The death of the Hon. J. R. Colvin, Lieu tenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces, oc ctirred at Agra on the 9th of September. Mr. Colvin's health had long been failing him, and about a week previous to his death he was attacked with dysentry, which assumed a violent form, and at last carried him to the grave. In consequence of Mr. Colvin's demise Mr. Edward Anderson Reed, the senior civil servant at Agra, has assumed charge of the government of the north-west provinces pending the receipt of orders from the Governor-General. The following is a Government despatch : Agra —The latest authentic news from the Chumbul up to the Hth of September is that the river has risen, and that the main body of the mutinous infantry, cavalry, and guns had not yet crossed; that their advanced guard con tinues at Dhulpore with two guns; that at present, of the two streams between Agra and the Chumbul, one is cer• tainly unfavourable, and that the boats have been de stroyed. A letter from the fort, Agra, refers to the approach of 800 of the Gwalior rebels, and expresses the belief that the latter will garrison themselves at Bhurtpore. The writer adds : If the enemy bombards Agra Fort we shall certainly be dreadfully cut up, but there is no fear of their taking the place. Unfortunately, there is hardly a bomb proof build. ing in the fort, in which to shelter the pour women arid children from the effects of the shells. Our detachment from Allygliur has gut back to Hattrass, and is expected to return here this night or tomorrow. AU the militia outside the fort have been brought in, and the respectable natives are now flying from the city in great numbers, believing the mutineers are coming. No apprehension, however, need be entertained by our friends at a distance regarding our ultimate safety, fur we are in good heart, and the fort is reasonably strong, and no Hindoostanee that was ever created will !attempt to take it by storm. As fur provisions and military stores, we have an abun- dant supply. But tha most serious intelligence ps that of the gradual spread of the rebellion throughout Scinde. At Hydrabad, Skikarpoor, Ahmedabad, and Kur. rachee, mutiny in the Bombay regiments has suddenly broken out, and though promptly suppressed, the very fact deprives us of all sense of reliance upon the Bombr.y troops. At Hydrabad in Scinde, the native battery of artillery was disarmed on the 9th Sept. This was thought necessary, says the Bombay Times, on account of information given by the subadar major to Lieutenant Battiseornbe of some plotting going on among the men. The energetic measures taken by Brigadier Morris quite foiled their plans. A parade of the battery was ordered at the extreme end of the lines, and atter the gunners were inspected by the brigadier, they were disarmed, and the guns were removed to the fort, where there is a party of Europeans, and where all the European inhabitants are located. The gunners were completely surprised, and of course did not offer the slightest resistance. Several arrests were since made among the men, and one of the ringleaders was executed, and four others sentenced to transportation for life. The '2lst Regi ment Bombay Native Infantry has been disarmed at Kurrachee, the men having plotted to murder the European inhabitants and make off to Delhi. At Shikarpoor the native artillerymen rose, and seized the guns, but were beaten off by the native police under Captain Montgomery ; while at Ahmed abad, the 2nd Grenadiers, after a futile attempt to excite a revolt of the native troops, quietly returned to their duty. In the Panjaub matters remained tolerably quiet, but dtlks between Lahore and Moultan had ben stopped for eight days, and this looks suspicious. In conclusion, we have to notice,