The Express.
London, England, 1861-03-08 00:00:00

THE BOMBAY MAIL.

We learn from Bombay journals (Feb. 12.) that
the famine in the north-west provinces continues
unabated, and that the sufferings of the people are
dresdfuL " Horrible accounts reach us" says the
Bombay Gazette, "of human beings dying at the
rate of 400 or 500 a day ; while the desolation is
not even limited to the vast expanse of country
from Lucknow to Lahore ; for tales are now
told equally appalling of the extremities to
which the population of the native state of
Travancore, in the south of India, are reduced by
the drought which has caused to wither all the
fruits of the earth. According to a Cochin news-
paper, mothers in Travancore are selling their chil-
dren as slaves for sixpence each, that they may
have wherewith to purchase bread, if only fora single
day. While so many millions of the people of India
are thus afflicted, it is at least a consolation to know
that both the government and the public have
exerted themselves with liberality and promptness
to lessen the weight of this terrible calamity. In
Bombay alone, from seventy to eighty thousand
rupees have already been collected ; and Calcutta
and other great cities have also responded nobly to
the appeal of the Famine Relief Committee. In
the north-west the showers of rain that have lately
refreshed the earth have, it is hoped, saved the
spring crop ; and, bad as our situation is, the worst,
we believe, is already known."
Lord Canning was expected to reach Benares on
his return to Calcutta on the 12th instant ; he will,
it is said, pay a flying visit to Lucknow, and be in
the presidency by the end of the month.
A small expedition of 1,000 men has been
despatched into Sikkim, with the Hou. Ashley
Eden as political agent ; but the annexation of the
country will, it is said, be unnecessary, terms of I
peace having been proposed by the Sikkimites and
accepted by Lord Canning.
The well-known Colonel Brasyer, who took so
conspicuous a part in hunting down the rebels,
asserts positively that Nana Sahib is still alive,
and in the Nepaul Hills, watching his opportunity.
Sir George Clerk is on his way from Gogo
to Kurrachee. It is expected that the railway
from the latter port to Kotree will be opened while
his excellency is in Scinde ; and thus the difficult
navigation at the mouth of the Indus will be
avoided, and a ready outlet provided for the vast
commerce of Upper India.

An important meeting has been held in Bombay,
to expose the systematic frauds committed in the
electric telegraph department. Enormous specula-
tions in opium, the profits of which may be counted
by lees of rupees, have been carried on it seems by
means of the falsification of telegraphic messages; and,
in fact, so common is corruption in the department
that merchants dare not now use the wires for fear
of being swindled. A committee of members of
the Chamber of Commerce has been formed to as-
certain whether any way can be found of checking
the evil. The cutting of the electric wire in the
jungles, for the purpose of reading off the messages
by an instrument taken to the spot, is a true story.

An agreeable excursion has been made from
Bombay to the great Bhore Ohaut Railway works,
which are now fast approaching completion, and
will, the engineers promise, be all ready next year.