The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-19 00:00:00

910

The gravity of the event and the apprehensions of
the Government were marked at Pounah by instant
preparations for blowing up the arsenal and for the
general evacuation of the town, followed by the arrest
on August 6th of the Rajah and the Ranees of Sattara,
with the Moulvie of Poonah, and several natives of
influence, at Belgaum and Altinedntiggur, and their
immediate removal to and confinement at Bombay.
Fro►n the letter► intercepted at the Poonah post-
ofliee it is reported that the full details of the con-
spiracy and conspirators led to the arrest of these
persons. A general panic in Bombay has of course
been the result of this outbreak.

But the revolt of the Bombay troops is not the
only additional mutiny we have to report. At Dina-
pore three regiments of the Bengal infantry, the 7th,
Bth, and 40th, with the 17th Irregular Cavalry,
which had hitherto remained stanch to the last, in
the most unaccountable manner, say the Bombay
papers, broke out in revolt on 26th July. These
regiments had hitherto assisted us in suppressing
rebellious symptoms, and every confidence was felt in
their loyalty. But a week or two previously those very
regiments had assisted at the execution of a number of
rebels at Patna, and themselves preserved the safety
of the town, and yet, after all, they revolted at a
critical moment and marched off 3,000 strong to
seize Benares. General Lloyd, in command at Dina-
pore, had exhibited such unaccountable inaction iu
permitting the rebels to mutiny and march off with-
out attempting to intercept them that he has been
superseded by General Outram, who has assumed
the command of the district. Having let them go, it
appears that General Lloyd started a steamer up the
river with the 10th Foot and a battery of artillery in
pursuit ; they came up with the rebels at Arrah, a
town between Dinapore and Ghazeepore, and 3:20
of the 10th in a night attack were forced to retreat
with the loss of nine officers and 147 men. Rumour
added that 47 Europeans had been murdered at
Arrah by the sepoys. The Poonah Observer offers
some curious remarks upon this mutiny :

The whole of this revolt is the most mysterious, nn•
accountable affair that ever happened in the history of
this country. Here are regiments breaking out at the
eleventh hour, when the the was turning in our favour,
and when European troops were passing continually up
the river, thereby rendering the destruction of the
mutineers certain, as if they waited for some mysterious
order, just like the Bareilly troons. Altogether, the more
we ponder over it the more mysterious the whole matter
appears to us.

As to the state of Benares, to which city these
troops are marching, the following extract of a letter,
dated July glst, will explain

A plot was discovered here yesterday, and three of the
worst characters in the town, and • banker with eight
lace of rupees, apprehended. Letters of a highly
treasonable nature were discovered ; they purported to
be from " a certain great one," and called on the in-
habitants to rise and destroy Messrs. Tucker, Gubbins,
Lind, and all Europeans. The plan was that these
three were to raise the disaffected characters. and having
made away with those I narnelby treachery or night attack,
were to polish off all the rest of us. The banker was men-
honed by name as the person from whom they were to get
funds, and in his house some 200 swords, guns, &c., were
faund.

The rebels are reported to be advancing by forced
marches upon Ilenares and Allahabad, both of
which cities, denuded of European troops, and
between 000 and 700 miles from Calcutta, will fall
easily.
The fate of Agra seems doubtful. Letters from
the Delhi camp say that on the 14th the rebels fired
" a salute of twenty-one guns for the sack of Agra
and the reverse we had experienced there" ; but
letter from Agta of the 16th, according to the
Hurkarii, makes no mention of the affair. There
are 0,000 persons shut up there in the fort anxiously
looking out for relief ; and well they may, for we are
told that " notwithstanding the imposing aspect of
its walls, the fort is in such a thorough state of
dilapidation, that no salutes for some time past have
been fired from it, for fear the whole fabric should
came down."
We come now to the details of the advance
of Ganeral Havelock, who in eight days of July
marched 1::6 miles, fought four actions, and cap-
tured twenty-four gnus. The last intelligence was
in substance that General Havelock had engaged the
Nana Sahib several times, and reoccupied Cawnpore.
The details of these engagements are full of interest.
The march to Futte)pore was attended with great
fatigue and exhaustion from excessive heat. The
64th led, followed by the artillery, then the 78th
Highlanders and 84th, the baggage and tents on
elephants and irregulars. At the halting place the
troops drew up in battle array, waiting for the
tents, and when they arrived encamped in the order
of the halt. 'The following interesting letter, dated
Cawnpore, July 18, from the pen of an officer of the
gallant Ist Alailras Fusiliers, gives a full account
of the proceedings of the little army :

As we are to have a quiet day today I will try and write
a somewh►t longer letter than usual. As I told you in my
last letter (1Ith), and as we bad expected all along, we