The Press. — London, England, 1857-11-21 00:00:00

Tll E PltE S S, NOVEMI3ER 2l, 1857. 1126 several other officers despatched overland late in September, bad arrived, but of that splendid fleet, carrying with it the 30,000 men to assist our country men and to restore our supremacy, not a ship had yet sighted the Indian coast. Two steamers, the Thebes and Golden Fleece, which sailed respectively on the 31st July and the Bth August, and having on board in all 1,013 men of the 3-Ith, 42nd, and 38th Regiments, had reached Ceylon ; but of the forty and odd sailing ships which had left England, six weeks before these steamers, not one had arrived nor been heard of. The prospects, therefore, of powerful reinforcements speedily reach ing any point in India are not cheering. The ships have first to arrive, the men have then to disembark, and, finally, they have to be transported from 500 to 1,200 miles up country. Of the state of our com missariat and transport service at Calcutta and g -nerally throughout India the Indian papers and Indian correspondents preserve a discreet silence. To pass from these details to the general state of India, we find little to calm and much to excite our apprehensions. In the present position of the Indian press, not the slightest reliance can be placed upon any of the feeble statements it occasionally ventures to put forth. It exists only by submission to the authorities. " Government knows little, publishes less, and the press for practical purposes is extinct," writes the Times correspondent, and our readers therefore will readily comprehend the insurmount able difficulties of presenting a picture accurate in every detail of the real state of affairs in India. We can only here and there get hold of a fact, but a wide margin must be allowed for the suppression by the Government of all unsatisfactory circumstantial de tail before the bare fact is permitted to be made public. For instance, it is very well known by well informed persons that Outram is shut up in Lucknow and cannot come out, and that he does not believe in tie possibility of forcing his way back to Cawn pore. The latest Government statement published in Calcutta is to this effect:— Cawnpore, Oct. 7. A native messenger who left Lucknow on the 4th reports favourably of our progress in clearing the city. It is difficult at all times to unite contradictions which cannot be reconciled; but if Sir Jas. Outram on the 4th is clearing the city with such marked success, why on the 2nd did he telegraph in such marked dis tress for 5,000 additional men with 12 guns to be instantly sent to his aid ? However, to pass to such details as the correspondents from Calcutta and Bombay afford us. In Calcutta matters appear more quiet than we might have anticipated. This, perhaps, may be attributed to the presence of four men-of war and four steamers anchored off the town : The panics which for some months past have periodi c illy distracted the metropolis seem at last to be over. The Shanavii, the Be/bide, the Sansparcit, and the Pearl, with four armed steamers, are anchored off the town. They could destroy it in two hours. That little fact is perfectly appreciated both by native and European, and the one is therefore quiet and the other contented. The volunteers, 800 in number, are regularly drilled, and the seamen and marines would like nothing so much as an emeute. The King of Oude is in the fort, and though Government has not proof positive of his complicity in the insurrection, it is well aware that Calcutta would approve his execution. At Barrackpore, the metropolitan canton ment, three disarmed regiments are watched by 200 Euro. peans. They are not quiet, but they are frightened, and well aware that the slightest movement will he the signal for their destruction. The capital, therefore, may he con sidered safe, but trade has diminished at least one-half. The money-market is unprecedentedly tight, and mer chants are gloomily hinting at a possibility which, having a due respect for the libel law, I prefer reporting privately. —Times cur. To this latter point the writer again refers in terms somewhat more explicit, when alluding to the diffi culties surrounding the Government at Calcutta, in the second rank of which he places " Finance " : Secrets of the Treasury are well guarded, but I send you a notice of the amount I believe to exist in the Treasury. Beyond this there is the revenue of Bengal Proper, which it is not very easy to move while the country is disturbed ; double the usual revenue from opium, and the profit on salt. Out of this we shall have to pay and feed 30,000 European troops, perhaps to assist Bombay, certainly to assist the Punjaub. The expenditure for the campaign, for an enormous commissariat, ttc., must he supplied from the same source. The northwest can yield but little, and loans are useless. The Five per Cents. are at fifteen per cent. and the Fours at twenty-nine per cent. discount. The Bank of Bengal has lent money on Company's paper till it has only about forty lacs left, and the notes are flowing in week . .y. The shareholders of course will make great profits, but already quiet merchants are muttering ominously about rendering notes incon vertible, a measure which cannot he attempted, simply because the natives would consider it repudiation. We want money—specie—not permissions to draw on Govern. meat, to be sold to men who say that it is better to hoard their silver than take any interest whatever. Great as our military difficulties may be, they are trifles compared with those in which even a temporary want of cash may involve us. This is vastly important. A commercial crash upon top of the war would place the Calcutta Government in great jeopardy. With respect to the state of affairs in Bengal, "beyond Barrackporo all becomes vague and indefinite," writes the Times correspon dent, till we leach the frontier of Behar : It is not even in some places easy to distinguish the movement of troops. The Transgangetic portion of Bengal Proper is still perfectly secure, there being few sepoys, and the Mussulman population remaining suspi ciously quiet. In the provinces on the other side some zeinindars, with dacoit bands, are giving trouble. Colonel Fisher, with one wing of her Majesty's 53rd, and Colonel Berkeley with the other, are cleansing the valley of the Sone the best way they can. Captain Oakes, with a few Europeans and Sikhs, holds down Puruha. Captain Rattray, with a strong Sikh corps, is traversing the hill tracts beyond the Sone. Colonel Grey, with 200 Euro peans, and 200 Mailrassees, watches Dinapore, and, though last, not least, the Kamptee column of 3,000 Europeans and Madrassees has on the extreme west saved Jubbulpore. MI these bands have accomplished something in the fortnight. Captain Oakes has defeated Koukur Cooma, a Santhal, who now leads the prisoners released by the Itamghur battalion ut Hazareebagh. His position, how ever, is still one of considerable difficulty. It is considered probable that the Coles will rise when their harvest is gathered in, end in that case Captain Oakes will be en veloped, and will require the aid of Madras troops, if not of Europeans. The Ramgliur battalion, whose mutiny was reported by the last niail, was pursued and defeated by Colonel Fisher, with the loss of four guns and forty five cartloads of ammunition. The remnant are believed to have joined the sth irregulars, but their subsequent movements are still uncertain. The three regiments who mutinied at Dinapore, or rather the remainder of them who escaped front Major Eyre at Arrah, traversed the liewali district, and remained in the neighbourhood of Jubbulpore for some days. Their presence emboldened the 52nd Native Infantry at Jubbulpore to revolt. They left the station with their arms,intending to effect a junc tion with the Dinapore men, but were met on the road by the Kamptee column, attacked, and defeated with the loss of 125 men. A few who were taken prisoners were executed on the spot. This saved Jubbulpore, and the victory carries with it an indirect result of the last importance. The 52nd was thrashed by Madrassees. The ill-feeling between the two armies, always great, is now confirmed, and the fidelity of the Madras army secured by victory. In Assam there are two light infantry battalions, both of which have exhibited a mutinous spirit. The planters have taken refuge in Gowhatty and I tebrooghur, but the province is totally defenceless, the only European force being 100 policemen sent up from Calcutta. The Govern ment is now endeavouring to enlist the men of Cachar, bet without much success. Passing beyond the Kur munassa, we find the whole of the Bundelcund territory in a state of disorganisation, the chiefs having taken up arms. With the exception, however, of the Ranee of Jhansi, these have not as yet declared against the Europeans, and will of course, adds the writer, " ulti mately side with the strongest." Of the capture of Delhi and of the march to Lucknow we give details elsewhere. We desire rather to give a prcis of the state of India here than any elaborate detail of the great military operations of the war. Passing to the Puujaub, we re gret to find serious symptoms manifesting them there : an " uneasy though undefined" feeling exists. A number of tribes on the Gogaira and behind the Sutlej and Itavee have risen and plun dered the posts on the Lahore and Moultan road from Daboorjee to Gogaira. As another instance of the utter worthlessness of the Indian press, the pub lished information as afforded by the Government on this point is worthy of note. The following are extracts of letters from Moultan, of the 2-Ith and 2fith September, 1857, placed at the disposal of the press by the authorities : On the pith inst. the predatory tribes on the Gogaira rose, plundered the 'felled of Huruppa, Thane of Ka nalia, and the police posts on the Lahore and Moultan road from l)aboorjee to Gogaira, and all the southern police posts of the Jilting districts. The post horses were all taken away, or the drivers fled with them. We have now three columns moving against these marauders—one under Major Chamberlain inuring up the Lahore road, one on the right under Captain Troason, and a number of foot police, and one on the right bank of the 1 Ravee, under Captain Hoskin. Mr. Berkeley, with a few cavalry and some disciplined police, is moving from Gogaira, and will probably effect a junction to day with Major Chamberlain at Huruppa. This will open the communication with Lahore, but it will take time to re-establish the mails, as the horses must be replaced and protected. The Khurl insurgents, a large tribe of the Reechna Boat), were defeated at Gogaira, by a force from Lahore on the 21st or 22nd instant, and Ahmed Khurl, the insur gent leader, with his son, and a number of followers killed. The people of nun and Moultan are all loyal, and are opposing the insurgents. No one from this would conceive that simultaneous gatherings had taken place in the Baree Doab be• tween the Sutlej and the Ravee, and in the Reechna DoaL between the Ravee and Chenaub ; that Major Chamberlain, who, with ISO Irregulars of the Ist Punjanbee Regiment., marched from Moultan to Huruppa, fell in with a party of insurgents on the Ravee, at Cheechawutny ; and that "an obstinate engagement ensued, in which the numbers of the enemy were too great for successful resistance, and Major Chamberlain took refuge in a serai (stone edifice) with his force, where he defended himself successfully, though suffering much from shortness of provisions." The marauders iu the meanwhile crossed the Ravee and plundered Kumalia, on the right bank. Reinforcements soon after reached MajoriChamberlain, who " again engaged the rebels and killed sixty of thew," with what further result is not said :-- A second party from Moultan, consisting of 100 horse. met. ' under Major Voyle and Captain Tronson, war sent simultaneously to the southward, struck the Sutlej between Sahooka and Jumlera, and was attacked at the former place by upwards of 1,000 marauders. Major Voyle soon repulsed these disorderly masses by a steady fire from his cavalry and levies. lie then attacked Jumlera itself, burnt the village, and seized the mules and cattle belong. ing to the tribe. At Gogaira, on the Ravee, Capt. Elphinstone, deputy commissioner, having received accurate information °litho 20th inst. that Ahmed Khan Khurl and his men had taken refuge about twelve miles distant from that station, a party of the Punjaub police, horse and foot, under Capt. S. Black, a detachment of Capt. Wales's Sikh cavalry under Lieut. the 11011. F. Chichester, and of the Gogaira levy under Lieut. Mitchell, were forthwith ordered against him, and the result, after a somewhat severe fight, was that the Khurls were cut up, Ahmed Khan himself and his sun being among the killed. Ahmed Khan and his followers are said to have fought stoutly, and Capt. Black and Lieut. Chichester to have been surrounded more than once during the melee, the country being by no means favourable fur the action of cavalry. Our loss was rather severe considering the small Bomber of men engaged. About ten killed, but par ticulars not yet received. Another party under Mr. Leopold Berkeley, extra assis tant commissioner, had been detached with some cavalry, and a party of Kutar Mookhees (3rd Police Battalion), to try and open the communication towards Monitan, which had been cut off by the Futtianahs, Bhurmanahs, and other tribes. Mr. Berkeley attacked the insurgents in a very spirited manner, but in the melee he was cut off from the party of the Kutar Mookhees, and was overpowered. He fell fighting manfully, and cut down five or six of the enemy with his own hand, besides shooting Ithawul, one of the leaders of the Futtianalts ; Moored, another of their leaders, was killed on the same occasion, and their tital loss is estimated at not less than 100 men. This is but a petty outbreak to be sure, but in such a period of excitement as exists now in India even the passive presence of the elements of revolt aggra vates the tendency to insurrection, and is calculated to produce sooner or later an outbreak of more or less intensity. When therefore we see a combined rising of these tribes, the chiefs of which have clearly bided their time till the Punjaub was de nuded of troops, and learn also that at Peshawur on the 10th September the hill tribes attacked the advanced farts, we have no right to assume that confidence the Ministers and their supporter: , would have us accept at their hands. The following from Murree, dated September Lith, elpresses the general feeling in the Punjaub : We have a tale to tell of danger near us, which it has pleased God to avert for the present. It is the reason of my being up here. Our general weakness in the Puojanb was found out by these mountaineers, and general plans for plundering Murree and throwing off our yoke were started. But the population immediately round Murree precipitated matters, and assaulted on the Ist inst.. before the country was ready. These men were promised an easy victory by some villainous Hindostanees in the can tonment, who offered to use in favour of the insurgents the great opportunities they had for murdering the Eng lish. A woman, wife of the head of a village, however, sent word in the evening of the Ist of September to a man of Lady Lawrence's guard, to whose son her own daughter was betrothed. Her husband was one of the rebels, and knew not of her act. The intelligence, though verbal, was believed. The 200 European soldiers and 200 Punjaubee soldiers, who formed the sole defence of the place, were called out. The gentlemen were armed as volunteers, pickets were posted, and when the assault began at two a.m., on the 2nd, the insurgents were warmly met and repulsed from the first picket. This checked the country generally from joining. Those who had committed them selves were attacked and dispersed on the 3rd, having been driven out of a strong position they took up. I came up on the night of the 3rd with reinforcements, and since then we have been punishing those actually committed and quieting the m mtitains generally—not being strong enough to take a very high line. The ladies behaved well, and the men excellently. The volunteers elected their leader, and senior officers served cheerfully under him, their junior. There is danger, but, with God's blessing, we may hope to avert any more open revolt by vigilance ll and judgment. The fall of De lhi, if g ranted to us, wi remove many difficulties. This exactly hits the blot. The hill tribes have found out that we have denuded the Punjaub of troops. Slr John Lawrence may well be said not to relax his "iron grasp." Then, again, the forced inaction of our columns on the borders of Rajpootana has given courage to gangs of insurgents now hovering about the ramp at !dhow ; one of which, no later than the 10th of October, plundered and, l the statior.s of Ithowa. poor and Mehidpoor. "But for these troublesome neighbours," writes the Times correspondent, " the II 111 I I 11 NKr . -4mIIIINM I I I I I allimis 1