The Press.
London, England, 1857-08-08 00:00:00

THE PRESS, AUGUST 8,1.85 Y.

having been 'Drought down from the Punjaub on camels.
The cavalry made the astonishing march of 750 miles in 128
days. It were well if the general commanding could get a few
thousand men like these, for of reinforcements he is sorely
in need, and for want of them he was, on the 16th, pausing
in his attack. By the 21st, however, he would, it is thought,
receive a considerable addition to his strength in the Euro.
pear troops of the Jullundur Brigade, set free to act beyond
the limits of the station by the mutiny and flight of the
native portion of the brigade, the 6th Cavalry, and the 36th
and 61st Infantry, who rose on the night of the Bth, and
were chased out of cantonments till they dispersed. The
Bth Foot, Major Olpherts' troop of Horse Artillery (first of
the Ist Brigade), and the head-quarters of the Ist Battalion
of Foot Artillery, are thus rendered available in whole or
in part; and from Ferazepore, since the mutinies and the
disarming, her Mtijestv's 61st is able to spare a wing for
and two companies, I believe, of artillery. It is in
the latter arm that the besieging force is especially
weak, while the rebels are actually said to have no less
than 150 guns in position. True, they have very few
artillerymen, only one company to work them, but even
in the hands of sepoys the great guns may do a good
deal of mischief. Their number may be exaggerated, but
it is to be remembered that the rebels have the great
arsenal of Delhi in their undisputed possession. Yon will
be anxious to know wl.•at number of the insurgent soldiery
has collected in Delhi, while Generals Reed and Barnard I
were waiting for reinforcements. On the 16th, according
to the Judicial Commissioner of Lahore (the best antho
rity now-a-days, for the telegraph is in working order be-
tween this city and the camp before Delhi), " 3,000 of the
rebels were encamped outside the Ajmere•gate, and the
force of the mutineers in Delhi appears not to ex•
ceed a few thousand, even with the addition of
the 60th Native Infantry and some others who
have lately joined them." There is a vagueness
in this account which, though perhaps inevitable. is un-
satisfactory.
.The phrase " some others" is, it may he
feared, an elastic one. Allowing that the mutineers of
Jullundur and Phillour (where the 3rd Native Infantry
has risen) are unable to reach the revolted capital, still
from Allahabad and even lienarem, in the south (of which
more presently ), and from the Rohilcund stations in the
east, there is nothing to prevent the rebellious sepoys
arriving at the point to which it is known they were tend-
ing. Not that I think this consideration a discouraging
one. On the contrary, I regard it as highly satisfactory
that the revolt has chosen for itself but one centre, for,
that annihilated, it is utterly broken. Only knowing the
rital importance of the conflict to which our generals are
committed, the smallness of the force under their
command—which even with reinforcements will hardly, I
imagine, reach 6,0 /0 men—the great extent of the city
( five or six miles from north to south). its populousness,
and the fact that on the eastern or river side it is now
entirely open to the mutineers to receive men or supplies
from the Du.ib—a e must not murmur against out chiefs
if some days yet elapse before we hear that the place is
taken.

So much for the position of affairs at Delhi.

With respect to the catalogue of mutinies and
disarmings, we may state, first, that at Calcutta, on
the 14th of June, Gove:nment received intelligence
of the intention of the native troops t..) attempt the
capture of Calcutta, and of the complicity of the King
of Oude in the plot.
An officer, writing from Calcutta, gives the follow.
ing account :

17th, Tuesday —T went to bed late on Saturday night,
and was woke up at two on Sunday morning with orders
to assemble. On going to parade I found it was feared
the troops at Barrackpore were going to break out, and
march either on this or Dumdum. We set out imme•
diately on the Barrackpore road, accompanied by 500
men of the 37th Foot, which had arrived the day before
from Ceylon. We marched up the road nine miles, and
there halted for the day. On Sunday afternoon the troops
at Barrackpore were disarmed, as also all here. They
delivered up their arms quietly. At twelve on Sunday
night an express reached us from the Governor General,
directing a party to be sent back to Calcutta instanter. I
mounted immediately, and cantered in within the hour
and went to the fort, where I found a force assembling to
march to Garden Reach for the purpose of taking the
King of Oude prisoner. It was to be a surprise on our
part, and so it proved. We got there at four o'clock, sur-
rounded his grounds directly, and had the good fortune to
find all at home. We were rather afraid he would get
news as to what was going on, but we went down quietly,
and the surprise was c..implete. I was ahead of the party
with my n. Ills Prime Minister and the whole batch,
papers and all, were seized.
All Sunday there was a tremendous panic in Calcutta.
Many people went on hoard the ships, and others had their
carriages at their doors to be ready to start at a moment's
warning. We have volunteer guards now, cavalry and in.
fantry. They go the rounds at night and look brave.
The 37th, in the short march of nine miles, the other
night, suffered very much, and they had only been but
six days on board ship from Ceylon. It was the death
of one captain. The men hail the small forage cap, lit
only for the barrack square in England—no protection
whatever from the sun. They had white jackets on, I
was glad to see; but even then the heat was so great that
the crosabelt was wet through from perspiration. Stocks,
of course.
Another correspondent writes :

Calcutta has been in a state of frightful consternation,
and last Sunday the people were in groups about the city,
rather grouped in houses here and there, instead of each
family being in its own, with gates barricaded, and loaded