The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-12 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 12, 1851.

number of kraals and considerable stores of grain. On the
13th I continued my patrol down the Keiskamma, detach-
ing parties into the kloofa, and returned to the Green River
in the evening, to which I had already sent on my cattle,
%arrange, &r. I returned this day to head.quarters.
During my patrol the inemy has never appeared in num-
bers, nor did I find any trace of cattle from the Umtata to
the Gwanga mouth. The officers, non-commissioned officers I
and soldier", both regulars and levies, have, during my
march of ten days, used every exertion to carry out my
wishes, for which I beg to express my thanks. My thanks
are also due to the officers who accompanied me in a staff
capacity for the xeelons arsi.tance they rendered
have, &e. (Signed) It. Witutyr, Major Itl.Arty.,
corn. Patrol. —Col. Mackinnon, C. 8., Commanding 2nd
Division.

Head-Quarters, King William's Town, June 14, 1851.
Upon Major-General Somerset's report of the outbreak at
Theopolis, and the active raeuures taken by him for its
suppression having reached the Commander in Chief, two
columns, one under Cul. Mackinnon, and the other under
Maj.Wilmot, were immediately despatched from KingWil-
lians's Town, closely to patrol both banks of the Keiskamma,
and the country from I.ine Drift to Fort Cox, communicat-
ing with that port, with a view to intercept the rebels,
should they endeavour to escape from the colony into the
Aniatolu. These columns have for seven sod eight sucees-
, sire days been incessantly engaged in these operations, and
have returned to head-quarters on the 12th and 14th inst.,
with 250 head of cattle captured from the enemy. In a
skirmish with them Lieut. King, 6th Reg., was wounded
in the leg. Col. Mackinnon expresses himself particularly
indebted to Lieut.-Col. Michel, who has recently joined the
army with great promptitude from leave of absence in
England—to Lieut.-Col: Eyre, Lieut.-Col. Napier—to com-
manding officers of Levies, and to the officers, troops, and
levies employed. Major Wilmot also reports the active and
zealous assistance he received from the officers and troops
composing his column.
(Signed) A. J. CLoETE, Lt.-Col., D.-Q.-M.-G.
[True copies.]
K. L. MATIMILL, Mil. See.

• -
Information which had been received of the la-
mented death of Field-Cornet Gray, in an attack by
the rangers on the waggon-train of the rebels, had
induced Sir 11. Smith to order the strong patrol, of
whose operations the despatches above given are a
summary, to scour both Kinks of the Keiskamma,
so as to prevent, if possible, any body of Kaffirs
from passing into the colony, or the rebel force from
getting into Kaffirland with any large drove of
cattle, should they move in that direction with that
object.
rho Graham's Town Journal of June 10 says:
A letter which reached us this morning says, that it
is now essential that the projected commission of in-
quiry should not confine itself to the Kat River Settle-
ment, but to the condition of the Hottentots through.
oat the Eastern province. The wildest and most absurd
ideas had found place in their minds ; and believing " the
settlers" had been abandoned by their government, they
concluded that the time had arrived when they too might
set up for themselves, and recover their ancient possessions!
Sandilli, it is said, is to have Graham's 'Town for his
capital, while the future metropo'is of the Hottentot nation
is to he fixed at Uitenhage, with Port Elisabeth of course
as its commercial mart. That the reader may assure him-
self we are not perpetrating a joke at his expense, we
subjoin a translation of a notice found in the rebel camp,
in which "the provincial government" provides first and
foremost for the division of the spoil—then for the sub-
sistence of widows, the punishment of offenders, and last,
but not least, the maintenance of good order. This notice
further appoints a council of war, not merely to decide
upon plans of military operations, bat also to revise the
laws, and so forth:
"June 3, 1831.—This is to give notice to all the men of
this camp. The first is respecting the Emil which shall be
taken. It will be divaled amongst the heads of this camp.
Jan Andric*, Commandant; Provisional Commandant Cobus
Porte; Michael liemero, l'rovisional Cornet; Andric+, Z wart,
Provisional Cornet; Daniel Cupido, Provisional Cornet; Jan
Lucas, Provisional Cornet; Klass Crisjan, Quartermaster.
No powder must be expended needlessly, the cornets and
commandants must see to this, and if it be found out that
it is needlessly expended, will be punished. And the corn-
mandants and cornets will be punished if they act unlaw-
fully. And any soldier being stubborn will be punished
according to law. Every head of his squad, if there be
widows, will take care that they receive rations the same
as the men, l'iet Jagers, l'laatje, Jongens, Jantjc Witbooy,
Andries Klass, Gideon Jak, Ruvter Apollo., Cupido
Ilumero, Alex. Kocnraad, Withooy Lavellot, Adam
Mates, Hagerman Geswinilt, Jan Grinherg, Jan Kewedo;
these are the thirteen men who will frame all the plans, or
disallow what is not good in the laws, and investigate if
there be punishable conduct or not. If there he any luke-
warmness, or unjustifiable punishment, and that punish-
ment be unjustifiable awarded by them, he will be punished
for it."

It will be seen from this, that the proposed Hottentot
republic or monarchy—for we hardly know which has been
decided upon—is not to be a milk-and-water affair ; for that
if the great officers of their government, their commandants
and cornets, should fail in the performance of their duty,
they are not merely to be suspended or dismissed, but
punished. We hope the hint will not he lost upon our
rulers. Wisdom may be gained even from an adversary,
whose own weapon may perhaps be used most certainly in
his effectual discomfiture.

The Ospe adenoid, of July' 1, has the following :
King William's Town, June 18.—The governor and his
staff are in a hit of a fix. The good folk thou.iht that they
knew the Hottentot Levies, and that they could keep them
as long as they liked. Bat the 'iota" will be off on the
slay their time expires. Two pounds and a suit of clothes
per man were offered for three additional months, but the
Hottentots, except about thirty of the whole force, have
refused. llere then, are we, the war hardly commenced,
and the levies returning. A great patrol, it is mid, is now
moving out, to remain twenty-one days, commanded, it is
said, by the governor in person. The governor committed
a most serious error in allowing the Kaffir' to reap their
crops of ',axe, pumpkins, and Indian corn; and before he
is dons with them, he will find l,aoo troops won't do the
work. In help from home lies our only hope.

. •
The Graham's Town .1( urnal Extra, June 24, says
Intelligence from the Tambookic frontier is up to the 13th
inst., and is of a distressing character. The Tamhookies '
had succeeded in sweeping off SOO head of cattle from
Kama's people; besides which, we have a list of fifteen
homesteads which have been fired by the enemy, and
utterly consumed. Within the last few weeks no less than
twelve white men have fallen on that border by the hands
of the enemy. It is stated that there are at this moment in
the Balota tens of thousands of sheep, and thousands of
cattle and horses, which have been plundered from the
colony, and might he recovered were a sufficient force em-
ployed in that country for the purpose. The civil commis-
alone,. of Cradock and Albert were about to make a com-
bined attack upon the natives in this quarter.

Piet Lowe, a Hottentot, promoted to the rank of ensign
by Sir Ilarry Smith for good service in 1835, and who has
since been in the receipt of Is. 6d. per day pension, Willem
October, and another, all Hottentots, residing in a but at
the hack of Fort England, have been arrested and placed in
confinement at the instance of Major-General Somerset.
They art charged with having been overheard plotting to
burn Fort England and all the thatched buildings around
GRIMM'S Town, arguing that " now the troops are gone
and the lingoes all away, ' • favourable opportunity is pre-
sented of carrying out the evil design. The time when the
moon became "dark" was agreed upon for the ineendiar-
ism. Eminent visits of Cape Corps deserters and armed
Hottentots in levy clothing have, it is said, been made to
these people, and Kaffir women are admitted, yet no arrests
of these messengers of evil have been made.—Grahoss's
Town Journal.

The Propontis spoke, on May 27, at St. Vin-
cent's, the United States ship-of-war the Poe-
P°•June , Por-
poise. On 1 at Sierra Leone, her Ma-
jesty's ship Centaur, and sloops Volcano and
Cygnet. June 26, in Table Bay, H.M. sloop
Hermes ; in Simon's Bay, on the same day, H.M.
sloop Castor. July 4, when leaving Table Bay, she
saw a war steamer with two masts sailing into the
bay, but could not make out her number, but supposed
her to be H.M.S. Rhadamanthus. July 20, at Sierra
Leone, learnt that H.M.S. Birkenhead had put in •
week previous for fuel, &c. July 27, at St. Vincent's,
arrived the bir Robert Peel, mail packet, with the
outward Cape mail ; H.M.S. Cyclops, had called for
fuel and water. August 9, 46.16 N. and 11.69 W.
spoke to brig Zephyr. eight days from London, and
schooner Emma, from Plymouth. August 10, 43.29
N. 7.36, spoke the transport Chatham, with troops
from Antigua, bound for Portsmouth. July 29, saw a
brig of war off Cape St. Anne, supposed to be H.M.S.
Penguin, as she had left Sierra Leone on her way to
the Cape the day before.
The South Devon Railway Company, as soon as
the Propontis arrived, made a proposition to send on a
special train with the mail to London. This was got
ready with the utmost despatch and sent off.