The Express.
London, England, 1866-10-15 00:00:00

INDIA.
The Calcutta papers say that the famine is still
great and wide-spread, notwithstanding the efforts
which are being made to star it. In Calcutta a
system of organised relief is said to be doing
much good. Funds have been supplied by private
charity to the extent of Re. 1,71,000, and Eu-
ropeans and natives are working energetically to-
gether to relieve the distress. Owing to the ar-
rangements made, the fear which was prevalent of
a great epidemic breaking out in the famine-
stricken crowd of paupers in Calcutta is subsiding.
The accounts from the distressed districts continue
to be very painful. The following is an extract
from a private letter from the district of Chum-
regarding which the Board of Revenue had
teLlinfurnishing the most favourable reports of im-
provement. "To the facts contained in this letter
we may add (says the Eng/faunae, of Sept. 7) that
ea epidemic cholera is sweeping away the popula-
tion of entire villages" :
.I%inine daily becoming worse, and I might have said
&oaths more numerous. Coini.ng in the other morning
from Murkottah, I saw two dead bodies within 300 yards
of the place, the dogs eating them leisurely, whilst vul-
tures looked on. Two miles on, at a village named Murpha,
I saw part of a human body being devoured by two doge
the flesh was quite red, and in fact bloody ; the right hand
was resting on the forehead, partially on the left side. I
Avidly do believe the dogs commenced their ghastly ban-
quet whilst breath was in the body. At a bazaar named
Poonligah, I saw three dead bodies in one line—l should
say father, mother, and daughter; they appeared to have
died within a few minutes of each other ; they looked as
if asleep. Little to the north of these I paw two more
bodies. I did not examine them ; their bare legs told
their own tale. About half a mile further on, at a village
named Soroul Sooltan, I saw another body, the vultures
finishing what the dogs had left. From thence nothing
more, except occasional bad smells. New grain is coming
in, but it will be of little help to the starving wretches ;
they have not the means of buying,. consequently must live
en charity. As the Midday crop in this part of the dis-
trict is very small in comparison to the Aughanee or paddy,
the ryots will have much difficulty in supporting their own
families ; besides, the Mahamn who advanced them grain
will weigh off his share from the out-turn, so that very
little will be left for the ryots, so that the distress will be
amat as bad as it is until the end of December. Should
vernment cease to assist the starving wretches, under
e impression that the new crop will alleviate their inif-
twinge, the result will be death to an unheard of degree.
It you have a voice in the matter, I hope you will iulvo-
elate the relief to continue to the north of the district ; to
the south the Budday crops are heavy, and grain compara-
tively cheap.
The Mcuiras Athenaeum says that the high prices
Prevailing at Madras, chiefly attributable to the
combination and extortionate practices of the
grain dealers, have occasioned serious riots, in-
volving the necessity of calling out the military,
both European and native, to aid the police ; but
happily, beyond a great deal of uproar, some
amount of bazaar looting, and a few dacoities, no
serious mischief had been done. The ordinary
guardians of the public peace had resumed their
ascendancy, and the place was again quiet ; ap-
prehended offenders being dealt with according to
their deserts. The frightened dealers, to whose
extortion and sudden closure of their shops the
tumult was mainly due, have entered into a volun-
tary joint engagement before the town police
magistrates to observe moderation in their prices
for some months to come, and should they fulfil
their promise, the local population, though sorely
straitened, will (the Athena-um says) be placed
beyond the reach of actual famine. Things, how-
ever, will right themselves in time (it adds), by
.he natural operation of the forces of supply and
-demand, and must be left to take their own course,
without government interference, which a section
of the distressed community have been foolish
enough to call for. At Poonamalleo also there was
lately a disturbance in the grain bazaar, but it
ended quietly. Trifling affairs of the kind must be
anticipated here and there until prices fall substan-
tially below their present level.
A grand durbar is to be held in Agra during the
early part of November next, when those chiefs
and princes who have been admitted to the order
of the Star of India are to be duly decorated.