The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-19 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

We have received our journals and despatches in
anticipation of the overland mail. The dates are :
Bombay, July 30; Calcutta, August 5; Hong Kong,
July 23.

The letter from our Bombay correspondent is as
follows :

BOMBAY, Jrl.: 30.

•
During the ten days which have elapsed since the
despatch of the last mail death has been busy in all
parts of the country, and the casualties amongst the
European officers of the army have been numerous.
In my last I told you of the dangerous illness of Mr.
William Simson, mintmaster, &c., at Bombay. News
of his death reached the presidency on the day of the
mail's departure, but not till after the closing of the
despatches. He breathed hie last on the 19th inst.,
a fortnight after the grave had closed over the re-
mains of the Hon. Mr. Bell. Two of the gentlemen
accused by Mr. Luard of crimes which should long
ago have compelled investigation have now been
removed by death ; but the inquiry, universally
allowed to have been imperatively necessary before,
is ten thousand times more necessary now that the
accused are believed to have been flurried to their
graves by the accusations made against them,and which
they are said to have been refused permission to re-
fute. The governor returns to England in November
at his own request it ia reported—his successor being
the Earl of Albemarle. On these matters I suspect
the would-be-wise ones in India pretend to knew
more than ever had any existence, except in their
own fancies. Let him go when he will, I question
whether there will bo many to regret Lord Falk-
land's departure, for his administration seems to
have been one series of blunders, while personally
his lordship appears to be in anything but disfavour.
Lord Fitzelarence continues now to enjoy
health at Poona. The drill of the troops has texel
greatly interfered with by the extremely wet wea-
ther recently experienced all over the country, and
more particularly at Poona, where such heavy rain '
has not been experienced for time out of mind.
Latterly the weather had been fine and clear, and
militeal, training had been resumed. Mr. Scrivener
and his school seems to be flourishing more and
more daily, and the barrack-rooms of the different
European corps each present the appearance more of
a seminary than anything else one would expect
them to do. The men have taken to books and
learning, and as a natural result the canteens are in
a great measure deserted—by day at any rate, if not
also by night. You will no doubt be happy
to hear that the officers of the different
corps are doing their utmost to foster and encourage
the soldiers in their literary tastes, not a few of
them even acting as their teachers. The lion. Mr.
Warden goes to Poona on Monday next, leaving but
one member of the government, the Hon. Mr. Blanc,
at the presidency. Mr. Mackenzie, clerk to the In-
solvent Court, is very unwell, and returns to Europe
by to-day's steamer via Ceylon. Mr. T. L. Jenkens
has been succeeded as assessor to the Court of Petty
Sessions by Mr. T. Lowndes, so that the whole of
the barristers of the Supreme Court now hold ap-
pointments under government. Lieut. Mellersh
has been appointed commissary of ordnance at
HydrabaJ, and Dr. Beatty civil surgeon at Kur-
rachee. .1 large quantity of wire for electric tele-
graph purposes has reached Bombay and Calcutta,
and it is believed the construction of the grand lines
will be commenced shortly. Major It. L. Shawe,
who it will be remembered was suspended for six
months for interfering in the affairs of the Meer of
libyrpore, has been ordered to be removed from the
army on the pension of his rank—a warning to
all those who dare to take part with any native
whom goveinment think lit to punish either
for real or imaginary misdeeds. Lieutenant
J. F. Lester, deputy collector in Upper Sindh,
having gone home, has been succeeded by Lieut.
W. C. Lester—nothing like keeping good things in
a family. Mr. 11. Reeves will, it is expected, succeed
the late Mr. Simon, as civil auditor and mint master,
on a reduced salary of 2,ooOrti. a month (',lOO/. per
annum.) Soule folks allege that the mastership of
the mint is to be given to an engineer officer, and to
be disjoined from that of civil auditor, and this is

exactly what ought to be done. 3001. have been
given by the Bombay Bank to the police who suc-
ceeded in tracing out the forger of notes, who was
at last sessions convicted of, and transported for,
the offence. The bank's notes fur at., al., 2/., and
1/. 10s., arc about to be collected in, and others issued
in their stead. Those for 1001., 10/., 2/. 10s., and
111., will afterwards be called in. All notes are to bo
'of one description. At present they arc all of dif-
ferent kinds. On the 23rd inst. Lord Falkland
attended a durbar given by the High Priest of the
Borah caste at Poona. Of the ceremony observed
on the occasion, a party present writes thus :

The brother of the 1111o;lajee, or High Priest of the
Borah', held a durbar, at his residence in the city, yester-
day evening. Lord Falkland and his staff were present,
having arrived at a quarter after five o'clock, and were
ushered into a hall on ore side of a court in which a foun-
tain played. The hall was supported by square pillars
covered with streaked cloth, which assisted to drape the
ceiling, from which were suspended a profusion of globe
lamps and chandeliers. Lord Falkland was met at the en-
trance by the Moolajee, • young man plainly garmented
and wrapt in the folds of a Cashmere shawl. The hall was
crowded with Deccan Sinters and native gentlerni nof
every degree, and few and far between sat military officers
in full uniform, and a few prafesdonal gentlemen. Lord
Falkland was attended, beside his personal staff, by two
secretaries of government and other civilians. By the
kindness of the colonel of the lid ltegiment Native Infan-
try the bend of the regiment were permitted to attend, and
but for their enlivening strains, the durbar would have been
a Helm, uomeaningless, ceremony. The ceremony I need
scarcely say consisted of the presentation of wreaths of
flowers, sprinkling of ro e water, Lord Falkland was
seated about twenty minutes, and then took his leave, with
a floral roll suspended from his neck, and with him left all
the European gentlemen present.

Ten pounds a month extra allowance has been
allowed by the Court of Directors to Mr. T. Selby,
head uncovenanted assistant in the auditor-general's
office, as a special acknowledgment of his merit and
ability; and certainly on no more deserving man
could the distinction have been bestowed, as every
one who knows Mr. Selby acknowledges. Two
Mormon missionaries have just arrived from Aus-
tralia. Mr. Finlay, who has been here for some
time, is said to be gaining a few proselytes amongst
the soldiers. Captain K. Jopp is to officiate as su-
perintendent of police in the Dharwar collectorate.
the great opium speculator and banker, the
other day on visiting the School of Industry, was so
pleased with all he saw, that he presented each boy
with a new suit of clothes, and expressed his desire
to contribute to the funds of the institution—a desire
which, no doubt, the secretary speedily gave him
the means of satisfying.
A new weekly paper, to be styled the Oriental
News, is to be started in Sep'ember next at Bombay.
The weather of late has been tolerably fair, but the
wind continues boisterous and stormy. Trade con-
tinues dull, and the money market easy. Bank shares
are quoted as follows :—Banibay, :a ; Oriental, 94 ;
Commercial, 27 ; and Agra, 30 per cent. prem. ; and
railway, 21 prem. per share. The Gazette has of
late been very ably pointing out the injustice and
oppression of the poor shopkeepers of Bombay in the
working of the shop and stall tax, while the banks
and banking-heuses and large mercantile houses es-
cape taxation altogether because they cannot legally
be denominated shops. The editor has prepared a
lucid and telling memorial to the supreme govern-
ment on the subject, which is being signed by nearly
every shopkeeper nud a great many gentlemen who
wish to see all taxed justly and according to their
means. The strictures of the Gazette on the board
of conservancy, through whom the shop and stall
tax came into existence, have beta as severe as they
were merited, and have been universally approved of.