The Express.
London, England, 1853-07-02 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL

INDIA, CIIINA, AND AUSTRALIA.

Our despatches in anticipation of the Overland
Mail have arrived. The dates are, Madras, May 21;
Calcutta, M ty, 16 : Singapore, May 15; Hung-Kong,
May 0; Australia —Melbourne, April 7 ; Sydney,
April 2 ; Adelaide, April 12.
There is no intelligence from Bombay, the last
steamer from Alexandria having conveyed the mail,
received here on the 20,h ult., that was to love gone
on by this steamer.
here was no definite news from Rangoon, but it
was expected that either the treaty with the King
of Ava would be signed at once, or that our troops
would ino%e on to Ava. The Governor-General is
anxious to bring the war to a close.
Trade at Calcutta languid. Exchange on London,
2s. I
The Ocerlwa Athenecunt, of May 21, in its gene-
ral summary gives the following:
N. additional information has been received since we last
went to press regarding the progress of the neg liations
at l'rome. nor do we ezpset to learn anythieg decisive
before the neat mail. An account of the recapture of
Beling by the Burmese—the f tc: was notified is a former
is.ue but the particu'ars were unknown—ha. just come
to hand, to which, as supplying an interesting sketch of the
gallant behaviour of a budy of Madras infantry under se-
verely harassing duty, we gladly give prominence ; too
glad indeed to come by any piece of piquant narrative in
our precut emergency. A correspondent writes : " When
General Steel's force marched teem Mart tban it met with
no opposition after the first five or six marches, and it
really appeared as if the people were favourably inclined
towards us. A march before the brigade arrived at Sitting,
the chief of that place came into camp and gave himself
up. He was recognised as a deceit who had once been in
confinement in Moulmein gad. Ile made himself laded
to the general, who teok him with him to Tonghoo and
there dismiaded him. This man, by name Meting Gosling,
no sooner got hack to his own part of the country
than he raised a large body of troop, no doubt
his former comrade; in dacoity, and an attack on
Sitang, where the head quarters of our Ist N.l. are sta-
tioned, was apprehend. Oa this some Europeans were
dt spatehed from She y Olteen,thut whether the Burmese
did or did not attack Sitang is not quite clear. Not so with
the unfortunate detachment at Beling, where Capt. Wright
with Ensign Newdick and a company of the Ist was sta-
tioned. Beling is 40 miles 'tom Sitang, and quite untenable
by so small a garrison. Capt. Wright and his party stood
the attack for a night and a day, but the Burmese then pre-
pared to turn them out of their position—nothing being
easier, as the houses were composed of nothing hut bamboos
and leaves. Wright was coast quently forced to evacuate
the place. He got clear otf by a niglit march, but the next
day, when about half-way to Sitang, he was obliged to
halt for two hours, as the Sepoys were completely knocked
up fur want of water. Here a chief appeared in
the plain, mounted on a pony, with about 1.0 fol-
lowers, and made aims net to tire on bun; but Wright see-
ing the man's object was to surround him, took a musket
and knocked him over; upon this the party of Burmese
made off. E:ght miles further on Wright was opposed by
a body of about 500 Burmese. and being out in the plain and
much pressed for water, his small band fought its way to a
clump of bamboos near a tank, anti there held its
ground fur the rest of the day. Late in the afternoon, al-
though wounded, Wright managed to get off with the small
remains of his men, and leaving the road, tried to make his
way to the river, dodging about amongst the tall elephant
grass. He succeeded in this, hut was out the whole of the
next day, and arrived at Sitang in boats the morning of the
third day after leaving Beling. The fight took place on the
Bth ; of the party nine men were killed at Boling, 25 came in
wounded to Sitang, some very badly, and there were 15 or 16
sound men, leaving 27 missing. On intelligence being re-
ceived of the fight, Captain Hamilton went in search of
Wright and his party, taking with him 150 men, but did
not succeed in finding them. At the clump of bamboes he
found two sepoys lying dead, and two Burmese close to
them, also dead ; another Burmese in a hut close by, mor-
tally wounded. A mile beyond he found the oubadar dead,
with a Burmese close by, and Ensign Newdick's butler also
dead. Ensign Newdick was himself wounded in three
places. The Burmese did not get off quite so well as they
no doubt imagined they would. Captain Wright is re-
ported to have shot no less than ten of them himself. A
party composed as follows, under the command of Major
flail, of the 49th, left Moulmein on the 13th, for the recap-
ture of Boling-50 Europeans, 120 of the 2Gth liege. N. 1.,
120 of the 49, and 4 guns.