The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

1178

is the influence of character, that to this moment Lieu-
tenant Osborne, the sole European alive in Rewah, is felt
by the natives to be at least a match for the regiment
around him. To this hour, therefore, they are willing,
when not stopped by force, to convey his messages and
obey his commands.
The country between Nagpore and Kalpee—an
extent of some 350 miles, embracing the stations of
Jubbulpore, Dumoh, Hoshungabad, Nagpore, Saugor,
Bhopaul and Malwa, and an "exceedingly ugly "
district for campaigning, forming as it does a series
of elevated tableaux, buttressed by continuous ranges
of hills—is more or less " one blaze of insurrection,"
the focus being at Jhansi, where the Ranee perpe-
trated the massacre of our countrymen and country-
women, and where she is now supported by 12,000
men, and is said to be in alliance with a neighbour•
ing Rajah, who can bring into the field 12,000 more.
Our own districts, of which Jubbulpore is the centre,
are in a most disorganised state. Of Malwa we
know less, but there is no reason to suppose that its
population is gifted with a spirit dissimilar to the
unfortunate one which at the present time pervades
the whole of Central India, the north-west province,
and Crude. The question here naturally occurs how
are the people of these districts disposal towards us,
and the answer• will apply equally to the mass of the
population in India. We quote the Madras corre-
spondent of the Daily News :
With regard to the people—my observations apply to
the whole of the disturbed districts—a mass of facts may be
alleged to show that though they cannot be said to have
revolted against us, they have but too generally evinced a
diposition to accept a revolution and all its excesses. No
sooner has a successful mutiny broken out in a station than
the country around it immediately exhibited all the signs
of disPrtzanisation, the villagers in many instances falling
upon the fugitives, and dashing their brains out, with clubs
and stones, as if from a fierce and irresistible antipathy to
the whole race of Europeans; an antipathy such as, many
years ago, Sir Charles Metcalfe emphatically declared to
exist throughout the country, and to be the rock upon which
our rule, some future day, would inevitably split.
The country people, he goes on to remark, are little
above the condition of savages, and in some par-
ticulars manifest their lowest characteristics ; they
are completely at the mercy of the impulse which
comes over them for the moment :
They may frequently be moved by feelings of humanity,
but the gratification of revenge, lust, and cruelty, they are
unable to resist; and they are perfectly incapable of weigh-
ing the chances of a remote day of reckoning against the
momentary deligit of plunder, torture, or murder.
We can estimate very fairly from these facts the
nature of the contest we are about to enter upon.
In the Punjaub, the insurgent tribes are now said
to be 3,000 strong in the hills, which are imprac-
ticable for the movements of cavalry and artillery.
From Madras there is a statement that a rising
has taken place along the Coromandel coast, but no
place is named. Sumbhulpore has been seized by
a man named Sunder Shah, a released convict, with
1,000 ruffians, not sepoys. It is this disorganisation
which is so dangerous, more so even than the mutiny.
This brings the waves of rebellion close upon the
frontiers of the Madras Presidency. It will be
curious to watch its effects. There is a report, also,
that the troops of the Rajah of Travancore have
shown symptoms of disaffection, but it requires con-
firmation.
Since the affair at Awah, in which we failed to take
that place from the Joudhpore Legionaries, that fort
has been evacuated, and these rebels are out plun-
dering the country. Bewar is in a bad state from
the disaffection of some of the 12th Native Infantry
and 2nd Cavalry there, whom it has been found
necessary to disarm. Ajmere, however, is safe and
quiet, and a siege-train is ready there for future use.
The Bbeels are as troublesome as ever on both
sides of the Nerbudda, the pass at Sindwa. near
Mhow, being still in their hands. In Khandeish,
predatory bands are everywhere up in arms, and no
really strong move can be made against isolated
bodies of them. At present, writes the Times Bom-
bay correspondent, " they are rendering the roads
unsafe, and doing a good deal of mischief." The
only thing that has been done was a smart little
action against the Bheels at Sinnore, the same who
killed Captain Henry a short time ago. These
plunderers were attacked and dispersed on the 18th
of October by Captain Graham, of the 4th Rifles,
and Mr. Chapman, C.S., both of whom were wounded
On the occasion. The Bheels fled towards Nassick,
and will probably (says a Bombay writer) "rally
elsewhere, after the approved fashion of the Pin-
darrees of old."
Baroda, in Guzerat, has been threatened by bands
of coolies, much the same sort of brigand as the
Bheels, urged on by influential natives at the Ghoek-
war's court, who have been arrested, however, and
will suffer as similar conspirators have done here, at
Ahmedabad, and elsewhere. At Ahmedabad there
was quite a theatrical display of death in various
forms; eighteen men of the Bombay Grenadiers
were executed at the same moment, by hanging,
musketry, and cannon. The plot in which they
were distinctly proved to have been concerned was