The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-17 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

NATAL.
Two companies of the 4th Regiment, with 500
Zooloos, hale been sent from Natal to assist Mit,or
Warden in the defence of the Orange River sove-
reignty.
ST. HELENA.
On Wednesday morning, the 3rd Sept., the new
church was opened for the first time for divine service,
bat the church is not yet quite finished. News from
St. Paul de Loando is that the slave trade is languish-
ing. The troops at St. Helena were in expectation of
being drawn away to the Cape. Six new magistrates
have been appointed.

By the arrival of our usual express in advance
of the India Mail, we are in possession of news from
Calcuttt to the 6th, Bombay the 16th September,
and Hong Kong the 24th of August.
BOMBAY, Szrr. 17.
The expected expedition to Lahedge has, it seems,
ended in smoke, and Lord Falkland and Sir John
Grey have returned to the Deccan, where they could
have arranged matters quite as well for an expedi-
tion, had this been deemed necessary, as at Bombay,
had it so pleased them; but they probably wished
for a trip to the presidency, and made this the ex-
cuse—John Company of course paying the piper.
The resolution to leave the barbarians of Lahedge
alone has apparently given general satisfaction to all
but the young hot•Isloods anxious to flesh their
maiden swords in the hope of thereby gaining honour
and prize-money—here there would most probably
have been precious little of either. The Highlanders
(Wing), are to be relieved by the Ist Bombay Euro-
pean h usiliers, the whole of which gallant old corps
will, it is probable, garrison the Eastern Gibraltar,
and thus by their number deter the Arab tribes from
any attempt at molesting us when they might be
certain of summary punishment being Inflicted on
I them.
From Herat we have received intelligence to a
late date. The Candahar Sirders had stolen a march
on the wily old Affghan ruler, Duet Mahomed, and
by forced marches a large body of horse had reached
and taken possession of the tort before the Ameer
I had even put his troops in motion for a like purpose.
Ile has, however, it is said, determined to be even
with his brethren of Canduhar, and sworn to be re-
' verged on them by taking possession of their city in
exchange for Herat. This is, of course, easier said
than done; so a pretty considerable squabble is likely
to take place before the affair is ended. Thank Pro-
vidence, there is no fear of our joining in the nieide
" the days we went a fooling" have long since
gone by, and the ragamuffin chiefs in Central
Asia may cut each others throats, and wo care
not one straw or attempt to interfere
to prevent them doing their pleasure. Twenty mil-
lious of as good money as ever was coined, and at
least ten to fifteen thousand British subjects were
buried in the country betwixt 1839 and 1812,—but
it is unlikely a single penny or a single soldier of
ours will be so again in a hurry. The story runs
that the late vizier, Yar Mehemet!, on his deathbed
advised his son to apply to the Shalt of Persia for
aid to enable him to retain possession of the fort of
Hera. This he would appear to have omitted doing.
Not so the Candahar Sirdars, who are said to have
twelve thousand of the Shah's troops at their com-
mand. This does not seem to intimidate the old Dost,
who was about to despatch a large unity under one
of his sons and the Sirdar Peer Mahomed Khan, to
take the city from them if they could.
From the Punjaub our advices are gloomy as re-
gards the health of the troops, especially at Lahore,
where, during the week ending 29th ult., the 96th
Foot had lost 11 men; and an officer named Stone,
of the 56th N. 1., had also been cut off, besides several
S,..poys. The entire force consisted of 87 officers and
and 7,246 men, of whom 15 of the former, and 1,429
of the latter were laid up with fever or dysentery.
Of the sick 370 were Europeans, and 257 belonging
to the 96th. At l'eshawur the numbers in the doc-
tors lists were daily increasing, and the eons of
/Esculapius had tie much to do as they could set
their faces to.
Captain Lumsden was still out in the Yoosufzaie
district settling the disputes of the people. Mr.
Coke, deputy-commissioner at Kohat, had by his
conduct gained great praise from the people. Briga
Bier Sir C. Campbell and his staff were out on a
tour; they were shortly expected back from ltawul
Pindcc and Murce. A corps of irregular cavalry is
to be kept constantly in motion along the line of
hills on the boundary, to keep the marauders in awe.
Sir H. Lawrence had not returned to Lahore. The
expected visit of Sir W. Gomm to the capital was, of
course, looked forward too as likely to cause some
little excitement in the shape of a levee and
balls. At Mooltan so great was the sick-
ness that the firing of the morning and
evening gun had been stopped by the superin-
tending surgeon. At Slukapore and Sukkur
(in Upper Seinde) things are in much the same state.
Nearly all the Europeans were floored by fever, and
' at the former place-Lieutenant G. Mayor, command-
ing the first Belooch battalion, died on the 31st of
August of the disease. At Sukkur the natives were
also suffering as severely as the Europeans. Sick-
ness--sickness—sickness— everywhere nothing is
heard of but sickness! This is, of course, caused by
the miasma arising from the immense surface which
had been flooded by the Indus, which river had as
suddenly sunk as it had risen. At Kurrachee,
Lieutenant W. Hall, of Her Majesty's 83rd Foot, died
of dysentery on the 10th. The poorgentleman bad cut
his foot with a penknife, ca.rlessly left in
his bed by his servant : this laid him up, and during
his confinement he was attacked with the malady of
which he died. The ltev. Mr. Dickinson, chaplain
at Ilydrabad, has been compelled front ill-health to
return home ; he proceeds by this evening's steamer.
Dr. White, lately, medical store-keeper at Bombay,
has succeeded Dr. Don as staff surgeon at Kurrachee,
he having exchanged appointments with Dr. Boyd,
who was at first nominated to take Dr. Don's place.
The Kurrachee Adctrtixer of the 3rd inst. has the
following item of news from Khelat, a place once
famed in our military annals, but which of late we
have scarcely so much as heard the name :
Reports have reached us of a skirmish to the northward :
—lt appears that at a place called " Mungoohur," about
30 miles from Khelat, sonic Patens 'nonage,' to carry away
a good ~umber of camels belonging to the Khan of Khelat,
which so enraged this chief that he forthwith seat a force
of six thousand men to attack and pluudcr " Shorawkh"
belonging to the Patens, who with the exception
of about a hundred men, evacuated the plop sad
retired to a relsectful distance; the Kelatees, headed
by a Sirdar called Alice MaLomed, then went to work with
the gallant band,who determined to give them battle,and by
whom they were soon overpowered and dispersed, taking
two of the chiefs prisoners, and killing about ten or twelve
of the number. The conquerors were well paid for their
trouble,they ransacked the place of alarge quantity of grain,
and seized all the goats, camels, &c., they could find.
Musser Khan of Khelat wrote to the ruler of Candahar,
who denied all knowledge of, or participation in, the bu-
siness.
Of the doings of Goolaub Singh of Cashmere the
Lahore C'hronick of the 3rd inst. gives the following
account. The report of the wily Maharajah's dan-
gerous illness turns out to have been greatly
exaggerated. He had been ailing, but not to any
serious extent.
According to accounts we have received from trot-
worthy sources, Maharajah Goolab Sing of Cashmere,
has been engaged in an " innocent" little plan for enter".
lag his territories, in an unexpected direction, at the es-
pease of his neighbours, who would prefer being left alone.
He hail organised a considerable force, variously reported
at from six to eight thousand men, for the purpose of pun-
ishing the refractory people of Chelan and Gilgit inhabiting
the left and right banks of the ledus, and placed the same,
as already mentioned, under the command of Dewan
Huree Chund. Of the formation and object of this
force the 'Maharajah gave early and ample information
to the agent of the Governoroeneral, at least so we have
reason to believe. The force left the neighbourhood of
Sreenuor somewhere about the 24th of June, and pro-
ceeded, either accompanied er followed by the Maharajah
and his son Runbeer Sing, as far as Shopoor on the banks
of the Oolur lake, and about 30 miles from Sreenugur.
Here the Maharajah intimated his intention of sending only
a part of his armament to the north-west, under Huree
Chund, and his determination to depute his son Runbeer
Sing into the country of the " Kuka-Bumbae," with more
i than half the force, to coerce the people to the north and
west of Morufurabad who, had refused to pay him
'allegiance. We have •no present means of aseer-1
milling whether they owed him any, but it is asserted that '
the intention of the Maharajah with regard to them was
not in the first instance, some ray never, communicated to
the Governor General's agent. Be that as it may, Runheer
Sing soon found his way into the country, difficult as it
and the people driven to distraction by the exactions of his
soldiery, sent vakeels to Major Abbott, Deputy Commis-
sioner at Ilazara, to implore hie interference and aid to re-
lieve them from their oppressors, and there the matter
stands at present, Major Abbott having communicated with
the Lahore authorities on the subject.
While ltunbecr Sing was thus engaged, Dewan Fierce
Chund moved on towards Glides, and having laid siege to
the small fort of that name, which is deco on the lea bank
of the Indus, soon reduced the garrison to extremities in
consequence of the want of water from which they
were suffering. Baja Era Khan Bahadur, the
chief, sent a message to the Dewan to the effect that if ho
chose he (the Khan) would move out of the fort with some
of his followers, during the following night, and that on his
doing so, the Dorms might enter and overpower the re-
!
mainder of the garrison. Burn Chund did not approve of
this plan, but returned for answer that if Ease Khan
thought proper to surrender, ho, and such of his followers

Low, the Governor-General's agent for these states,
being expected at Simla on " important business of a
public nature," as the newspapers of the north-west
give out. Mr. Rushton, the compiler of the Agra
Guide and Bengal Directory, died at Agra on the
2nd inst. Sir H. Wheeler is to be invested with the
insignia of a K. C. 8., at Simla, on the 29th inst.,
by Lord Dalhousie. The Governor-General leaves
the hills an October, in progress for Calcutta. Sir
R. Shakeepear's conduct towards Captain Close of
the Gwalior contingent, has been severely commented
on by the Governor-General, and that officer been
punished by being removed from Gwalior to Joud-
pore, Major Malcolm having been directed to take
his place at the former. Sir Richmond has volunta-
rily, with the spirit of a true gentleman, acknowledged
his error, and made the most handsome apology to
Captain Close. The apology was sent by Sir IL,
to all the leading newspapers of Bombay, Bengal,
and the north-west, for publication. A native officer
who had saved Sir Richmond's life had been deprived
of his commission (deservedly as it turned out)
through Captain Close's instrumentality ; and Sir
R., believing him to have been unjustly treated, be-
lieving the man's own statement to that effect, had
preferred charges against the captain which turned
out untrue. The atonement offered was an ample
one, and stamps the character of Sir Richmond as
that of a man who has the courage to confess a fault
in a way which very few indeed would have done.
Things go on as much as usual at Hyderabad; the
Nizam's minister has paid 400,000/. of his royal
master's debt to us, and a like sum is promised to be
paid during next month.— A cavalry corps at Aurun-
gabad is said to be in a dittaffeetCd state • and the
lives of one or more of the officers have been threa-
tened by placards similar to those found at Jaulnah,
threatening the destruction of another officer of the
3rd Madras Cavalry, to which corps the murdered
Lieutenant Johnstone belonged. A young lieu-
tenant named Marriott, of the 13th Madras NJ.,
committed suicide at Cuddapah on the 17th August.
He was a son of the late Honourable Mr. Mar-
riott, member of council at Bombay. Lieu-
tenant Tucker, Ist Madras Cavalry, died at
Bangalore, on the 28th August, of abscess of the
liver. lie had obtained leave to England, and was
on his way to Madras to embark when overtaken by
death. Dr. Roe, inspector-general of hospitals at
Madras, was thrown from his buggy some time in
the end of August, and received severe injuries
therefrom; he lingered on till the evening of the 4th
inst., when he died. He had been 40 odd years in
the army, and had seen hard service on the Conti-
nent. br. Marshall, of the 15th Hussars, has been
appointed acting-inspector till a successor to Dr.
Roc reaches from England. Mr. E. C. Lovell, civil
and sessions judge at Chittoon, died on the Ist inst.—
The East Indian Naval School at Madras has been
opened; upwards of 1,000!. have already been
subscribed towards its funds. Captain C. Biden,
master attendant, is entitled to all praise for his
zealous exertions in this matter. On the Malabar
I coast there has been another " affair " with a small
body of seventeen fanatic Moplahs, which would
scarcely deserve notice were it not that a company
of sepoys of the 39th Native Infantry fled from
before them like sheep from before a wolf. Yes,
flee, many of them disencumbering themselves to be
able to show the Moplahs a clean pair of heels. This is
the second time a similar disgraceful occurrence has
taken place at neat ly the same spot. On 22nd ult. seven-
teen of these fanatic wretches took it into their heads
to murder a native revenue collector of a neighbour-
ing petty rajah ; they then seized on a large strongly-
built house, in which were some few guns or
I something of the sort, and determined there
to await the attack of the party they knew
would be sent out against them, from one of
the nearest military posts. Seventy men of the
39th M.N.1., under Ensign Turner marched from
Malliapoonam to endeavour to take them prisoners.
On the 25th the detachment reached the place where
the fanatics held their post. The Sepoys advanced
on them; six men were out in front as skirmishers.
l'hey fired several rounds at the house, and then
ter,
whent
outof thrrsiliceListrNslovivielarehekriellelmeThoenn
panic seized the main body, and they turned tail
and fled, many of them, it is said, throwing away their
muskets that they might escape the better! Poor
Ensign Turner in vain tried to rally them—on they
fled till they reached their encampment. Here the
Assistant-Collector advised Ensign Turner to allow
them to remain till the reinforcement he had sent for
to Calicut should arrive. This consisted of a company
of the 39th NJ., under Ensign Shaw, and 50 men of
the 94th Foot, commanded by Lieut. M.Carthy—the
whole under command of Capt. Rhodes, 94th. They
reached, by forced marches, about 11 o'clock, on the
27th, and when the men had taken their meal they
got under arms, and advanced to the attack.
The whole of them advanced in skirmishing
order—the Europeans in one line, and the natives
covering them. fho Moplate rushed out, brandish-
ing their war-knives, and having discharged the
Sepoye muskets against themselves, went at it pell-
mell,—hoping thereby the sooner to get to Paradise.
The 94th fired, when seven of the fanatics fell, and
the greater number of the remainder were wounded.
This did not check them : on they came ; and their
rush was so impetuous that even the Europeans were
for a moment driven back. The wretches managed
to kill four of the Europeans and the Subadar of the
39th N. 1., before they were all destroyed,—making
our loss in all in killed eight men : the whole seven-
teen of the Moplahs were of course done to death—
they asked not for quarter, and they gave none. Thus
ended this won,' outbreak. The journals have
been debating as to the best met hod of
preventing any similar disaster; some recommend
the deportation of the entire race, numbering some
50,000, while one Madras journal sticks up for their
total extermination from off the face of the land.
A gentleman lately. of the Bengal army, an emi-
nently literary man. is, I hear, now engaged in the
preparation of a memoir of the career of Sir W. IL
Gilbert. Should he be properly provided with the
requisite documents, there can be no doubt the work
will form a valuable addition to the military litera-
ture of India. The Bethune Female School has been
taken under the patronage of the Marquis and
Marchioness of Dalhousie ; a native has lately
presented 3,000 re.
.(300!..) to its funds. The cause
of female education is rapidly becoming popular with
the princes and nobles of Bengal, who are beginning
to vie with each other in their donations towards its
promotion and extension.—You will remember that
it. was Mr. John Lang, a barrister, who defended
"The great contractor," Jotee Persaud, at his trial
lately at Agra, at the instance of government. Col.
Mactier, member of the Military Board, it was who
had caused the Jotee to be put on his trial. Well, in
his cross-examination of the colonel at the trial,
he, Mr. Lang, merely questioned him as he did
other witnesses. In his charge to the jury, Mr.
Lang said nothing to the colonel's disparagement
But he goes home and draws up a report of his
speech for publication in the Mofussilite, of which
paper he was editor and proprietor, and in the Agra
3lissenger, in which he most gratuitously inserted a
sentence or paragraph calling Col. Mactier a coward,
in allusion to an affair which had taken place in
' Oct., 1821, when the troop of the 4th eavalry,which
' then Lieut. Mactier commanded, with two others,
turned and fled from before the cavalry of Kishore
Singh at Kolah. The disgraceful affair was at the
time fully investigated by the commander-in-chief,
and the allegation of one of his troop, that Maetier
had ordered them to retreat, was pronounced utterly
false and unfounded. The three troops, almost to a
man, were diem seed the army with disgrace. Lieut.
Mactier was honourably acquitted of all blame. Even
had the allusion been true, what would it have had
to do with the trial of a Hindoo contractor thirty
years after it had taken place ? Was Jotce Per-
saud present, and did he witness the lieutenant's
craven spirit, that the lieutenant should have urged
on the prosecution to get rid of this witness of his
dastardliness? Had there been any such motive on
the Colonel's part, we could understand Mr. Lang's
object in introducing such a sentence as an after-
thought, even if we gave him no credit for the want