The Express.
London, England, 1853-02-28 00:00:00

TIIE KAFFIR WAR.

ANOTHER BATTLE—HEAVY LOSS IN
KILLED AND WOUNDED.
PLYMOUTH, Fes. 2G.
The General Screw Steam Shipping Company's
royal mail steamer Indiana, Captain G. P. Lambert,
arrived in Plymouth Sound, at 5 o'clock, p.m., this
day, with mails from India, Mauritius, and the Cape
of Good Hope. The following are her dates: she
left Calcutta December 19th, arrived at Madras 22nd,
left 23rd; Point de Galle, 26th, left 28th; Mauritius,
January 7th, left 9th ; Cape of Good Hope, January
21st, left 24th; St. Helena, February Ist, left the
same day; Ascension, February 4th, sailed same day ;
St. Vincent's, February 12th, left Isth, and reached
Plymouth 2Gth, the day on which she is announced as
du, in the Post-office lists. Her voyage throughout
4‘...efore, anti particularly from St. Vincent's, has
t.eco 2ernarkdbly expeditious, and highly creditable
to the qualities of the vessel and the skill of her
commander. This celerity is the more striking be-
cause she has met with much adverse weather, and
other causes of delay. On the 17th January a heavy
north-west gale to the eastward of Algoa Bay obliged
her to lay to for 20 hours, and from that time to the
21st January she had to steam against strong
westerly winds and a heavy head sea. In her pas-
sage from St. Vincent's she also suffered from strong
head winds.

The Royal Mail steamer Mauritius, with mails for
the Cape and India, Captain Elder commander, ar-
rived at Table Bay, Jan. 19. Her unfortunate de-
tention has been caused by accidents to the machinery,
which were, however, repaired on the voyage.
Neither the Sydney, A. R. M., Capt. W. H.
Franklyn, nor the Great Britain, Capt. B. N.
Matthews, which were both expected from Austra-
lia, had arrived at the Cape on the 24th.
When the Indiana left the screw steamer For-
mosa was at Point do Galle on her way to Singapore
from Australia. Her engines having broken down,
she would be detained some weeks.
The royal mail steamer Calcutta arrived at Mau-
ritius on the 11th Dec., sailed on the 19th.
The advice. from India have all been anticipated
by the overland mail.
From the Cape there is intelligence of consider-
able interest, of both a military and political nature.
The moat important transactions had occurred
in the Orange River sovereignty. The Governor,
Lieut.-General the Hon: G. Cathcart, had entered

the sovereignty according to tho tenour of his
proclamation—to administer justice to all—and bad
required compensation of Musesh the chief of the
Basouta tribe, for robberies of cattle that had been
committed by the people of that chief on the neigh-
bouring beers and some native tribes. The governor
demanded of Moshesh 10,000 head of cattle and 1,000
horses, informing him that the alternative would be
the seizure of treble that number by force. The
chief himself had a " talk" with the governor, and
engaged to supply the cattle within a specified
time, and sent in 3,500 ; but, failing in the re-
mainder, General Cathcart advanced his troops into
the Basouta country, towards Thaba Bassigo, Mo-
' sheh's gnat place. The camp, it would appear,
lay between the Coledin River and a moun-
tain called Berea, which lay in front of
Bassigo. According to the reports of Colonels
Eyre, Napier, and Cloete, the intention was that
the first named officer, with his column of 500 men,
should cross the summit of this hill ; the second, with
about 250, should pass round by its southern and
western base; and the other by the northern. With
:he column of whose proceedings Colonel Cloete gives
in account were the governor and staff. Colonel
Eyre fell in with large quantities of cattle, and seems
to have succeeded in striking a severe blow on the
lenemy ^nurse, capturing at one time ^‘-•
30,000 head of cattle. -.lt Lo the small-
ness of his force, he was enabled to secure only about
1,500. Colonel Napier's force also met with severe
fighting, and sustained heavy casualties. It how-
ever brought 4,000 cattle safely to camp.
The duties of the day were extremely severe for
the small number of troops engaged: 'rho fighting
lasted from the morning until late in the evening.
The Basoutas mounted 6,000 horsemen, fought with
mach intrepidity and with well organised move-
ments. Their attacks on the soldiers were repeated,
bat the honours of the day rested with the latter,
for the enemy was eventually dispersed. A battle
so obstinately disputed on both sides could not
fail to be deadly in its effects. Although
the enemy suffered by far the greater loss,
it is melancholy to find the list of killed and wounded
on the side of the British so lengthy. Captain
Faunce 73rd Regiment, was killed, and Captain
Wellesley, 73rd Regiment, and Lieutenant the Hon.
H. Annealoy, 43rd Regiment, were wounded. Four
non-commissioned officers and thirty-three privates
• officers and