The Sun. — London, England, 1842-04-18 00:00:00

C r-- r, A 7iN j am- / . .•\,- 1 .1 - \ - • ).,''‘, ( '')' ,--' \ 7 .41t ili ia4 l 4 ' - Pi . , ctip t, y-- 1 11, I i 4 /1 - 1 14 1 liii / ~ . \, ____, 7---- / . .' / ;i f l7, ---- •-.'" '-N\X •\'`-‹..N'N‘. / I I:;,'AN., . /./// /, ,' ',-- •\ - . 1. ...N, . k 14,' k- / -,, \,. , 1 `\'.'' •:,,,,, \":: '\''.."-,.., -.‘:\...):,\ \ /.•-- ''" liN\ \ "• -- 7 ; - ..211!'l ; -- ? - - -2 -' - 7-: „----: ----,,---„0 ,- - - ...- .---,:,-----' i :•• • ''''' ....;...:7-...-1:-R - _.:::--,---:---- ---' --- 77 - c-_ - -± , - - ,--- / 1 . ----- ,--- INDIA, PERSIA, AND to Smolensk, which shows that it cannot be compared to anything in Europe, either as to size or population, any more than in difference of climate and temperature, but that it must bo compared with Europe itself. This empire has within its boundaries, the Ghauts and Himalaya mountains, always covered with ice. which rise, the former 13,000, the latter 27,000 feet above the sea level. It is intersected by rivers, each of which, like the Indus, Jumna, Sutledge, Ganges, and Bur hampootra, offers a navigation of not less than 1,200 English miles, and the two last-mentioned, during certain months, pour into the Bay of Bengal a mass of water con taining more than 1,000.000,000 cubic feet in one hour. It has for its defence a standing army excellently dis ciplined, and considerably greater than that of Austria, and a revenue half as large again as Russia. Within its boundaries there are towns which, like Calcutta, have a population of a million : others which, like Delhi, Agra, Benares, Lucknow, and Poonah, reckon from 300,000 to 500,000 inhabitants and others again —Madras and Bombay, which carry on a trade greater than that of ancient Carthage, Venice, or Gen oa , d ur i ng t h e i r most r flourishing periods. It has kings as ,vassals, with a greater number of subjects than Naples ; of dynasties older than the Bourbons, and the emperor in Hindostan, the descendant of Tamerlane (Timour Khan) the Great Mogul, sits still on his golden throne, in Delhi, sur rounded by all the grandeur of the East, himself only a prisoner in the power of the British. BRITISH GOVERNMENT IN nu:ma. LORD CLIVE'S ADMINISTRATION. The history of the steps by which the British power arrived at its present vast dominion in India is difficult of compression,- but- we shortly proceed to notice the leading points. The Company for some time were little • more than an associated body of private adventurers, the Governor and . Directors merely receiving the funds con tributed by each individual, managing them according to his suggestion, and accounting to him for the pro ceeds. But in 1612, the merchants united into a joint stuck Company, and the whole was placed under the c of of Directors. New commercial associations also g a unity grew up, and combined together, till in 1655, it roprietors were empowered by Cromwell to resume a separate commerce. During a course of years from this pdate, the Company, though under embarrass ment , were enabled to extend their commerce, owing to the general prosperity of the coun try ; and in 1693 procured a charter from he Crown to extend their capital to double its former amount. In 1730 a strenuous effort was made, by peti tions from the chief mercantile towns, to have the Indian trade thrown open to the nation, but the Company de feated this measure. Trade at this time had rapidly in creased, and attained to strength and power. But the period was now come when the mercantile characte r of the East India Company was to be eclipsed by its achievements as a military power, and by the magnet ude of their conquests. The ancient Mogul Princes courted, in the dissensions which arose among them from time to time, alternately the alliance and support of the French or English India Companies, and these bodies turned their quarrels to different accounts ; upon which the struggle soon came to be which of the two should become the um pires of India. The affairs of the French were managed with able conduct by La Bourdonnais, Dupleix, and Lally ; but though, victory seemed inclined to lean at first to the French and their allies, the English affairs were effectually retrieved by the extra ordinary talents and address of Colonel, afterwards Lord Clive. Having succeeded in humbling the French power in the vicinity of Madras, Clive landed at Cal cutta in 1757, in order to chastise the Soubandar Surajah-ul-Dowlah, who had a short while before at tacked the E ng li s h f actory at that place, and i nhumanly shut up 146 Englishmen in a prison, where, owing to the excessive heat and want of water, 123 perished in a single night. Clive had only 700 European troops, and 1,400 Sepoy s w i th him when he landed; with these and 570 sailors furnish e d b y the fleet, the immense army commanded he did not hesitate to attack manded by the SoubaLdar, and AFFGHANISTAN. rIsID XA. It has generally been the guiding characteristic of British Governments, and the distinguishing mark of heir high, philanthropic, .and abiding policy, to refrain from engaging themselves in war, bloodshed, or provoca tions leading to either, up to the extremest moment that it could so do, compatible with its weal and glory ; and this to an extent that has almost carried out the principle involved in the dictum of Cicero, that " he preferred an unjust peace to a just war." National honour, however, becomes in some cases so entrammelled in ad verse events, that recourse to arms is as unavoidable as it is to be recommended ; and when aggression proceeds from the opposing party, and violation of sacred and long founded rights, persons, or institutions, attaches to their political conduct, the wounded sense of British autho rity and right cannot reasonably submit to the injury offered, nor the arm of vindication rest quiet. Our Asiatic wars hare undeviatingly been wars of compul sion. Of all, which during the last half cycle of a cen tury, have engaged British arms in India, none can be instanced in which o ur o pp onents h ave not been the pre cipitating parties ; the transactions of Seringapatam and Bhurtpore, with a cluster of others referable to the same period, bear ample testimony to the fact ; and our. subsequent wars in Burma'', the Nepaulese ter ritory, and finally that which now' engages us in Affghanistan, come under the same declaration. The present. war is, upon our part, most virtually ono of necessity : and perceiving, therefore, that non-avoidance of bloodshed is a point which British authority, not withstanding its pacific desires, has been unable to pre vent or over-rule, and that war must inevitably prevail, the only choice left to every true Englishman is, that the arms and expeditions of his country, which are either now on envoy to the seat of war, or some of which are perchance at this moment engaged in contests, of the cha racter of whose fierceness and immitigability there can be_ no doubt, may be crowned, in consonance with the as pirations of every patriotic heart, with those successes and victories which heretofore, under the guidance of Providence, have so often attended on our enterprises abrOad. ttkt such .a time, therefore, desire cannot fail to be abroad in the mime of men to be acquainted with, the lotalities in which the torch of warfare burns, as well as its topegraphical and political relations to the various ki Pg' lnins adjoining ; and the accompanying Map, In:: tight out and prepared under the accurate eye and cay;y la, of Ch ar ing -cross, furnish these re tiuk ti° " in ever ? . s atisfactory point of view. The roads vf:Candahar; Pestiawur, Raj puotana,—as those also bear ing. on Khelat, Peshoot,.. L a h ore, and a variety of other plat e,,bnt more especially th e • mountain-passes of el: thou alabad, wherehave tour countryme n h ave been slaughtered by sands already become stained and ine mt ra'tle spots • in the archives of history, and doubtless o'ol%l at present but inconsiderable samples at most of Milt may be surmised as hereafter destined to occur. BRITISH INDIA. EMINDAILIES or THE BRITISH POWER, Xle THE EAST. . Among the greatest phenomena in the history of the w..; hl may, undoubtedly, be reckoned the British empire in• ;he East Indies. This empire has, within a single century, rise n irons- the humble rank of .a trading factory to an empire of more than 140,000,000 inhabitants, includ ing- those who, though under their own Princes, still obey the British power, and which extends o-er 1;250,000 .Engrds square miles of the most fertile p srt of th© . surface of the earth (from 8 deg. latitude to 3c5 deg., and from 68 deg. longitude to 92 deg.),l nd coniequently contains a pol ar a ltit u d e , the same - as ft om 'lv, -Messina to Torne o , an d a breadth' as from Lisbon - ...,- '7N\ x•* ' 4 /14 "Y7' r~ ~, 50 ''.'• ti.',... ', :1 . t . ... ~Z, K, \ 1.,. • ..,:' , ... ' # , .;,A," , *.A Z , \ \ . '' \\‘' \ %....V . .§", , , 4:2 k . '• , , , ,,....W '-';.:::V , l t \ \ ' \ O . , \ NN % \\,, \ `< . ' . :`‘X••• ‘ . ...',.! \ ,!•:,. \'; N\ \\N•NV.,..,' ,- 5eq4. ,, ,\ ' . ~, 7 7,-,,, , ....„; ;;;: _: „ ...: : \, , .:,:. , ,:,...,\ \ : , ,,:.tw.:.,„ -‘ : - .1: , ...,, -• '. A - ,vir „-_, , .,..---x•:.--,-wi f y, t , ":off x‘\••\\ l / 4, -; - -N - --- ---_,, —'..— \-- - , 111 v , , .....„_.,,,',.,.., . --____--( ( k . , --• .. •14 , 0. /1 I A' - • -.a • • • ---••----• • - 1 . : . i c: . \ \ • ''...*••••,, '. , ' '',. 4' '' '' '' 'N • '..., '.... ' . :N .' ...., ` ...• --- - •.,, ... ..... •,. N •:: -.'">-'"-----=•••,. 1 ...m. L ( ( i --- ' / , 1 I ~. -4.--..• - ...- • \ . . -- .. `,....""t. _________.. . 71:pr\H, ~._______es, .....l 4\s„ s\‘ _,______,_..... l. - • :'_._ -------- - - -....--, l_ , _ -----, --:•,,, _ _ I --- _ - % <", N. --‘• 1 ) '''' I • CAUBUL. totally defeated him in the famous battle of Plassy. This victory threw the whole provinces of Bengal, 13ehar, and Orissa into our hands ; and they were finally ceded to us by the treaty negotiated in 1765. ADMINISTRATION OF MR. HASTINGS. The administration of Mr. Hastings was one continued scene of war, negotiation, and intrigue. Severe financial distress pressed upon him on his entry on the Govern ment. The spoil of the Rajah of Benares—the putting to the torture the two aged ladies, who were the reign ing Nabob's mother and grandmother, to force them to deliver up their hoards, and by which he extracted from them nearly half a million sterling, are historical circum stances too well known to need farther particularization. His celebrated trial took place in the February of 1788. ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARQUIS CORNWALLIS. During the administration of the Marquis Cornwallis, who succeeded Mr. Hastings, Tippoo Saib, the son of Hyder Ali, was stripped of nearly half his dominions, and the Company's territorial revenue greatly increased. Lord Cornwallis was ac coun t e d genera ll y a friend to the people of India, and laboured earnestly, if not always successfully, to promote their interests, which he well knew were identified with those of the British nation. MARQUIS OF WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. During the administration of the Marquis of Welles ley, which began in 1797-8 and terminated in 1805.6, the British empire in India was augmented by the con quest of Seringapatam and the whole territories of Tippoo Saib, the cession of large tracts by the Mahratta chiefs, the capture of. Delhi, the ancient seat of the Mogul empire, and various other important acquisitions. POPULATION OP TIM TXINIUTOILIZS IN lIRZTISEr INDIA. The following estimate is from the Parliamentary returns :—The Presidency of Bengal, on a surface of 220,312 square miles, contains a population of 69,710,071 inhabitants ; Madras and Bombay, with the districts, the population of which is doubtful, amount to 19,759,081 inhabitants, on a superficies of 291,611 square miles. The whole, therefore, do not much exceed 90,000,000. Thu territory of the allied or protected, that is, the sub ject states, is estimated at 614,610 square miles ; their population, however, is not supposed nearly equal to that of the territories under the immediate govern ment of the country. The best estimate is as fol lows :—The Nizam, 10,000,000 ; the Nagpoor Rajah, 3,000,000 ; the Ki ng o f O u d e, 3,000,000 ; the Qaickwar, 2,000,000 ; the Sattarah Rajah, 1,500,000 ; the Mysore Rajah, 3,000,000 ; Travancore and Cochin, 1,000,000 ; Kotah, Boondee, and Bopaul, 1,500,000 ; Rajpoot and other petty States, 15,000,000 ; giving a population of 40,000,000 souls. Of the States that remain indepen dent, the fairest calculation arrived at is this :—Sindia, 4,000,000 ; Lahore, late under Runjeet Singh's rule, 3,000,000; Scinde, 1,000,000; Nepanl, 2,000,000 ; Cash mere and other districts belonging to the King of Caubul, 1,000,000 ; making a total of 11,000,000 souls. This, therefore, gives for the whole of British India, a popu lation of upwards of 140,000,000. NEPA.III. This extensive country of Ilindostan is bounded to the north by the great mountain wall of the Bimalayas, which separates it from Thibet ; to the south the Ne paul territory reaches about twenty miles beyond the base of the mountains into the plains, being bounded by the provinces of Delhi, Oude, Behar, and Bengal, with the exception of about 60 miles of territory belonging to the Nabob of Oude, which intervene ; to the east the river Mitchee separates Nopaul from the British terri tories, and thence it is bounded by the principality of Sitlkim, which extends to the Chinese frontier. This estimate includes the c onquests of the Ghoorkas made within the last 60 years. The Alpine region belonging to Nepaul is about the same breadth, of 30 or 40 miles from north to south. Scattered peaks are here seen covered with perpetual snow, and the region consists of immense rocks rising into sharp peaks, and tremendous precipices almost always involved in clouds. Some of these mountains are estimated to rise 19,960 feet above the valley of Nepaul. The Nepaulese give the most l ' r T II E t 1 1)1 Ao\ 14) lir II Ik \ I'l l l \ ; , "fi,g, 111 4 \ --- , 1 (----- . . -- w \ • Aden _~.~ ,~ ~ :~.,. ~.- Ural cf Bab el Mandeb r =_ - • Soco!ra 1 ---_-_._ ---- _ - - - to tombry 711 —Miles , _ - GOl **** .."911.% \ I Seringapt.,t ......) 7-7_- ?A, \ •5: ~~- o Madras YLON N B B ~~ A I a ..,_ Andman= A Elands -.._ g =...=-- ~.. - -.- • , ( . • ~ . , - . \,. 7 , ... ." „..,, ..„..:, a:..... ~,,_,,,„.,,i . . • . . . .. ... . .. . . 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';' P =_.- i -.: • --; ---,-- ----,,----.-.., ~- 0 ......., - ~- ci .. ----, •.--:- - - •-_, , _ B A Y -4 ',. n. __ABo sbay - -.\. • % .--.. . .„ .. ;.- _ , . • , _..s, '-.........:-...-,.- - I ..,,,. . . z:1 - *. : - : : •--:- - -7... . __ . •-•- - =A, ~-E-- --- ---• , • :-+ t - _ ' • ' . . -7 , -- ,_ .-,- _. i ~..,,, ,•-•-•.-•:.,, -,, • 4 ,/•,1, - .%.. %.5.,7,,, -/,__----_-- exaggerated accounts of their own population ; they reckon their population by houses ; to Patan, their largest town, they assign 24,000 houses, to Bhatzong 22,003, and to Catmandoo, 18,000. This would give a population of 64,000. There are besides, many large villages and towns scattered about Kirtee-poor, contain ing 12,000 houses, besides a multitude of others contain ing from 4,000 to 6,000 houses, all within the valley of Nepaul. But this gives a population that sets proba bility at defiance. Kirkpatrick's estimate lowers the population of Nepaul to half a million of souls. With regard to the military, the whole of the people are subject to service in times of danger, though they are not regularly traineel. But there is a standing army dispersed over the country, besides a large force always in the capital, amounting to 30,000 or 35,000 troops : these are regularly trained, and officered like European troops, and affect their dress, and arms. The Govern ment of Nepaul is essentially a despotism, and is good or bad according to the character of the reigning prince. The public revenue is derived from land rents, customs, fines of various sorts, and from mines. According to an observant traveler, however, and who speaks from good authority, the revenue actually remitted to Catmandoo never exceeded 30 Lacs of rupees (35,0001.), but it some times fell to 25 lass. The trade must be stated as far from extensive, but would be so if conducted under proper regulations. IMAMATE. The Burmese territories, according to their settlement since recent conquests, may be estimated at an extent in breadth of about 350 miles, and in length of nearly 700. The area of the country is conjectured to contain 184,000 square miles ; that portion of the kingdom farthest re moved from the capital is divided into provinces or royalties, but of the extent or power of their rulers little is known. Another and more common division is into myos or townships, of which, according to native state ments, 4,600 are contained within the limits of the Bur mese empire ; but the truest conjecture, perhaps, is that which reduces the number of townships to 163, and the villages to 1,300. The Burmese territory is watered by four great streams, namely, the Irrawaddy ; the oSfetatnhge, c l a r ll ra ed wo a d l t s iy. o . the Lokiang ; the Saluem, called also the P egn ; and the Kyea-dwen, a tributary is the only lyinglow• this tract e x t en d s alone. the Indian Ocean about 240 miles, from Cap e Negrais to the new British settlement he portion trac t of the alon g Bmes the e ter sea-coast of Amherst, near Martaban, and at the mouth of the river Saluem. All this coast is low, marshy, and broken by at least twenty channels of rivers, or arms of the sea, but these are choked by sand-banks, and cannot be en tered by any vessel of burden ; hence there are only on the coast the three harbours of Martaban, Rangoon, and Bassein. The most considerable tribes of Burmah are the proper Burmans, the Peguans, and Talains, the Shans, or people of Lao, t h e Cassay or Katlic, the Zubaing, the harms, the K Yens, the Yo ‘rated by the ignorance of anti the Laira. The popu lation has bee n grossly ex Europeans, who have raised it to 17,000,000, 19,000,000, and even 33,000,000 ; on the best data, however, it appears reasonable to infer the true number to be 2,414,000. The taxes from which the public revenue arises are in general rude and ill-contrived expedients for extortion: one of the most common is a house-tax on the cultivation of the soil. The internal trade of the country centres chiefly in Ave, the capital, and the seaports of Rangoon, Tongo, and Bassein. One of the most important branches is that carried on with the Chinese province of Yunan, in a course of annual fairs, the chief of which is held at Bhamo : the yearly value o f thi s trade is estimated t o b e from 400,000/. to 700,0061. sterling. The foreign trade of the kingdom, carried on chiefly through the central port of Rangoon, is with Chittagong, Dacca, and Cal cutta, in Bengal ; the Nicobar Islands and Penang ; also occasionally with Bombay, and with the Persian and Arabian Gulf. Gold and silver, among the exports, espe cially from Bassein and by the overland route of Arra can, amount to the annual value of 65,0001. The principal imports are cotton p i ece g o o d s . The in- GH tory, which may be divided under the names of the eastern, middle, and western mountain roads. THE EASTERN MOUNTAIN ROAD.—This high-road of Asia begins at the harbour of Bender Abassi or Gam broon, near the entrance of the Gulf of Persia, and leads northward to Kirman, the ancient Karamania, situated on the cool table-land, on a spot which abounds with springs and fruit-trees, but surrounded by desert plains, in which, Oasis-like, it lies in the midst of the Lybian Sahara. From Gambroon a road also leads past Ear to Shiraz. THE MIDDLE MOUNTAIN ROAD.--This road begins at the town of Bushire, on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and leads first over a lower ridge to Kazrun, near Shahpoor, the residence of the Sassanidm (of King Sapor 1., A.D. 240,) which is situated in the first valley; from this point it passes over a rocky mountain to Shiraz, once the residence of the Arabian Caliphs, which is built in a wider and richer valley ; farther, through winding mountain roads and narrow ravines, to the valley in which the ruins of Persepolis still excite our admiration. From these ruins the road, in a northern direction, again tra verses some narrow passes, through high rocks, which are full of monuments of the early ages of Persia, till at last it issues out of the mountain region, and enters the extensive table-land on which Ispahan is built, the re sidence of the Sufi dynasty. The residence towns of these different dynasties have been built on the fields of battle, where signal victories were obtained, and are placed at the openings of the most difficult mountain passes, full of narrow defiles. The Arabs were obliged to pass this difficult road on their way to Persepolis, and this has likewise been the route of modern travellers who have entered the - inland provinces of Persia from the Persian Gulf. The Macedonians, under Alexander, and after them Timour, made their way from the banks of the Karoon to Persepolis, up the valley of the Jerahi, and by the pass of Kalat-i-Sefid. THE WESTERN MOUNTAIN ROAD.—This road, which lies to the north-west of the former, may be called the Median, in opposition to the Persian, which passes through Persepolis. Beginning at or near the modern Bagdad, it passes through the Medico Pylm of the moun tain range called Zagros, runs by Kermanshaw, Besit toon, and the remains of the temple at Kungavur, and terminates at Hamadan, the ancient Ectabana in Media. This road, like the precedulg, presents many histori ca l monuments, and it cr osses the upper course of the rivers "nisi* flow through the low lands of Susiana. fl DIAN TIRADE or PERSIA. Persia exports to India specie, dried fruits, dates, to bacco, wine, drugs, raw silk, carpets, swords, combs, &c. Horses form a considerable article of export to India. They are sent by sea from Bushire, whore they are collected from the breeding districts in the southern provinces of Persia, and from I(horassan and the north-eastern dis tricts by land through Affghanistan and the Punjab ; and they serve for mounting the Indian cavalry, and supplying the great private demand for riding horses by the British in India. Tanhde inimnapolinrtas, from India are cotton m, 3fo goods, uhan, ixc h n chintzes,o,v, Futtighur, Delhi, and other places. Persia receives from India indigo, which comes chiefly by sea, by the way of Bushire, or by land through Affghanistan, or Balk, to Bultharia, ' and thence by Herat to Persia. Spices are also amongst the Indian imports, as well as sugar and sugar-candy, th e import of which forms one of the most important branches of trade between the two countries. The province of Mazanderaa yields a coarse sugar, and there are many parts of Persia fitted for the growth of this article, yet the country depends chiefly on India for its supply. - maximum roams OP PERSIA. There is no regular body of trained soldiers in Persia, but merely irregular levies, fitted for the species of war fare in which they are generally engaged. Every pro vince ought to maintain a certain number of men, armed and mounted, and ready to take the field ; this is the na tional force of Persia. The number of the registered militia is estimated at 150,000 men. The Persians assert that of the chiefs of tribes the King can command the • - kV' - • ,_•, l . .2k A' \ - -------- •-% • ' ll 3 ‘ •‘•\ • ~„ • \\. - t io but a services of 80,000 of their irregular troops, w ill ) , assertion is barely borne out by fact. Some P. sOf famed for their irregular troops, serve as nurs e p ,iti 1 0, army. The land-tax of Mazanderan is chie fly Aistrobso, military service, and this province, including o rs r° maintains nominally 12,000 foot and 4,0 0 10,1. ready at a call. The only permanently emb od i es 6 00 0 however, is the body-guard of the King. or to A, laums ; their nu m b er amounts to f rom 3, lo tc h-10 6 7 men ; they are mounted, and armed with 1 0 and swords. CA - UI3UL. Ant ° lll ---4i l POPULATION or THE 82/410•• - • - ''' The different nation Ci s A i ll vh n o tril are . sp . read ° ver ['O r: the . l. mense tract of country known as the kingdom of : ' - ' cii c o' tributeam oupßneetri,t:ooioanetnihlsteeh(ee populationNvh ol( ~ to i a n b t o h u e t f l o t o in w i in ll g ion p s; op ` o v r h ;jozs Affghans 4,300,0v ~ Tartars of all descriptions ., „ A o ..., i s i n cu c e, ri,,, unit s 300,00 u .• Miscellaneous tribeg EOUNDAMIEIS or THE EINGZIOI4 • od e eteldnr l i sat m nrti i he t sse s eri o nv f Caubul are difficult to fix , but 5 w /1 ic " - C A VII IT L . doP tili f itc t i h h oo en e rn T sc t m h i est made use of by the Asiatics themselY es '_.,er t u il l King's l i l e d h i w s oi the v e 'i r ' K e i g it ' ll. i n . o k eo t iri Ka a i s nogi e l x ai t te p n a d :l rr ' i t s2ll°°( : ): it v : °° :, °° :e oi li th i g n P i g . . tu d! read, and the money coin d • h' non e ' kingdom extends from the e west ln of is llerat , in If — fo l or 62 'deg., to the eastern boundary of Cashmere, , ° lO , in tude 77 deg. east, and from the mouth of the l' h u TV lat. 24 deg., to the Oxus, in lat. 37 deg. " rli- 01l the kingdom is bounded on the east by Hi na ostall ; dese rt south it has th e P ers i an Gulf ; and on the we st front ier n ida e ra x eer t ny e ac n lit d saho s teu a rirn l ee o cf n loou g frdm t oe h ude e rd‘%lb .wholelatest stinht of em f t hao t h pex e s ,ufir. westernme t ,o i ii necrepsor. partre d lts ien n go o f rt,thf theif r ' k, , ,: b n i ;-. is formed by the mountains of the Eastern Callea s h u ; boll B is a ta lk il , a l n v d ith Se t C i o a n n doafha Lahore, , S ci nd e andatnhde Cashmere h ads I" aP . Fi ro s k ta a n r , es w t • a it u h n p a a n r ( t i ofciliinhnor;asan a nd , rati b i ne ...l Kuttore, ~.- -a ei , ~1 _ ~,,,. CITY Or a e te A r . 30 Ca , the Caubul, the chief city of the province of 40 ,00, . name, is the capital of Afghanistan ; it i;_ i ' vst ereo' on the river Caubul, in a large we' d it (4 . 1 '.. plain, filled with villages : low hills surroun . 5 t he part o f ether with ;)•' three sides, on one of which, to the north!„sol4; King's palace. Also, on another hill near the cgL di gl' tomb of the Einneror Baber, surrounded by large üb e d.. ,- flowers, and commanding a noble prospect. Mu ll Y te d for tiful gardens surround the town, which is celebra olio its fine climate, though the proximity of the nt__° l , l , e ifili' causes great variety of temperature. The tow,: l ' e , to not large, but handsome and compact, and the 17_, a re ,, avoid the consequences of the frequent earth _ic,e'aegi mostly built of wood. Caubul lies in haitudo 3i 10. mm. east, lon. 71 deg. 43 rain. el of the! This city is about 6,000 feet above the level c ,.. en , sea, and lies in a triangular gorge. The hills wi ci ll "_ lO ., , an roc ", cotapass it on three sides are steep, wire , c :5 c ar and are crowned with a long line of wall, wilt 0 ' , tied up their sides, summits, and across the narrow trance which lies between them ; this wall wit ; a jlen i nto ' - as a defence against the Ghilzies, but it has but we oc ruin. The city itself is surrounded by a high on 0 I wall, and has no ditch ; above thef•ortress, rather eminence, is the citadel, and within this fort a_ e n rio r of Dost Mahomed built a palace, which he ca . 11 . :1 1 4 ; e 1 lah-i-Feringhee, or the European fiat, and w ha . a i s3o, curiously became, durinc , the British occupation il l i caw , the hospital of the 13th Light Infantry. Aron 1..,,, re, cou . o ) l a rt 00 4- bn], and .indeed throughout the Affghan scattered castled houses, the seats of the ? iPriini niiich aid of the Country, who from the insecurity -II ' , . live, have all their dwellings strongly forti&d. ' \...-------,-,-,--- .N ,:_ ..........„....„. ....,„„ ..f .... „.._.. „. ,,, .•tii~\\~ ------------ N. ‘, .. -. •ray -"". ':,.._.----. ~.. • ---..,..,-. v_ v . _ "..,...1. . ...ry• - . -.-...„-,,....._ ... .4x: '-', - --- .. 4 "...• '...... .7 . ..7it0.,):.. 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' ll_//'• ^\'' -t. %1 1 1 ii 111:1 1 1 --.1-----77- --- ./1.411,i\ ;". ",, 1111141 i -, --.7.,.. f'. i 1 .i . -.---::-.7-?f i 1 ., L . l k . ' /$ ' ' . ..,I.W -IT \ ' i - •\ \' ,. .. 1 \\\ \\ \ • \-k\ ~, ‘- -.----.' s -- - • \ V \ \‘' V 4: \ - l ~~~;; ternal trade in the low country, where there are scarcely any roads, is carried on mostly by the rivers and canals, and the Irrawaddy is navigated by vessels of 100 tons burden. The Burmese army is recruited from the whole male population of the country, • who are at the abso lute disposal of the King, for war or any other purpose ; but there is no fixed plan for calling out this conscrip tion, which is brought together like a mere rabble, without discipline or valour. From their success against all neighbouring tribes they embarked in a war with the British ; but the entire destruction of a corps of 1,000 men at Rangoon, the subsequent assault of the Burman lines, and the retreat of the army to Donabew, entirely dissipated their confidence. The Burmese are but in differently armed, with clumsy two-handed swords, spears, matchlocks, and old European muskets, with brass and iron cannon purchased from strangers. Since the conquest of Cassay or Munnipore, the Burmese have maintained a body of cavalry, chiefly composed of the Cassay horsemen, who act as a body -guard to the King; they are provided with a spear about seven or eight feet long, which they manage with great dexterity. The peace establishment of the Sovereign of Ava is limited ; and Symes mentions that he could never observe any assemblage of more than 2,000 troops in the capital. Ava, the capital is not supposed to contain more than 50,000 inhabitants, perhaps half that would be nearer the truth ; the district of tjmmerapoora which includes an area of 288 miles, contains according to the most ac curate estimate 354,200 inhabitants. THE HIGH ROADS 01' ASIA. The high table-land of Iran, which may be termed the Highlands of Western Asia, in opposition to the deep plains which are adjacent to it on the north-east, called the Turan, extends from the -upper Indus through all Western Asia, to the shorei of the Grecian Archipelago. Its centre is occupied by Persia, over its westernl)erts extends the dominion of the Turks, and its eastern divi sion contains Affghanistan : this region attains its greatest elevation in the table-land of Khelat, which rises, according to one estimate 7,000 feet above sea level. Its eastern and extremely rapid descent toward the valley of the river Indus, which is formed by steep rocks, and feeds no rivers, is without cultivation, and without roads, except one. This road is that which be gins at Candahar, through Pisheen, Kwettah, and Baugh, to Shikarpoor. , The northern edge of Western Asia, which extends along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and the deep plains of Bukharia, is historically famous for con taining the Bactrian, Parthian, Hyrcanian, and Caspian mountain passes, which are narrow defiles, and are everywhere the abode of warlike mountain tribes. The caravans, which travel eastward to India and Bukharia, and westward by Tauris (Tabreez) to Armenia and Asia Minor, aro obliged to pass through these mountain passes, which form the southern side of its mountainous boundary girdle. Along the great road, which is invariably fixed to this tract by the nature of the surface on the northern boundary of the table-land, there rise numerous great emporiums. Here we find the towns of Caubul, Canda har, Herat, Meshed, Nishapoor, Teheran, Rai, Casbin, and Tauris. The Southern border of the table land of Iran is dis tinctly marked by nature. It is separated from the low and narrow coast, and the plains watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, by a broad mountain tract, which begins at the mouth of the Indus, and extends to where those rivers enter the low plains. This mountain tract con sists of seven ridges, which rise like terraces, from the low coast, higher and higher. Beyond them extend the wide table-lands. There are but few mountain passes leading through the natural entrenchment of Persia,a country which, on this account, may be considered as a fortress erected by nature fcr the defence of the nations which inhabit it. Among these narrow mountain pass es which lead from th e su l try low coast, called the Gurins ir, or warm region, through the great staircase of mountain terraces to the cool table-land in the interior, called Sirlind, three roads have acquired some celebrity in ha' I A;cot ~-/) _~ ~~' `J \ _~ 100 NEE . 1111:1! 'l,* 61-r-;Y/1 . - - I r , v , ~ ~~ A 6) -IM •, lIfl.!j 11\1 A \P lit /11/1 ,11 , ' , V F , \1) / ~. ^ • I - - , \ (---\\(-------- ..)--,-, - ( --- 1 . , ,•_!_,,:_fir .4 - :. '5 " - ' • -•.t.. -- ' ''Pliwi , , IT :r . \ + l,-... p::- • - 't - At. . ' ...." -.. ..._F s' 7 ---, ------- ) 6.. , # - :4•il Jam'-' , - -..- T 0 4 IN 1 -__-- - . ,- , .-, r , .. ------„ . , \ ...0 , )„., ---------.0(-\‘A.\ LN .. z.'i --------- _ „ .._ i ,___s \ figk \:. e.... ,,,., - -...0r ....... O\ N ° , f• • Alk .. ' il 1 %iv ----,. 1 -- -------- ------'-' s'' N I Ao VP_l a • ' , .-- _ --......... --- C . ..,,,.._.... -, ---- i , ....- ... ~... /-.. .., ... THE GREAT GUN OF GH UTINTEE. ...-/ , - \ k s \ ' . i., ~, ,1 6 , ( I( V [ A I ( \ /.. \ ~. r j ,1 120 Li \ - )11 11 t \\lt\\ 111, I - Which y f t ri r l ista! tful i "en v , l ed I;