The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-17 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

Despatches from India and China, in anticipation
of th'i Overland Mail, have just arrived by Extra-
ordinary Express.
(From the Bombay Times of Dec. 14.)
The principal topic of the past fortnight is a
most unusual one, the weather, our meteorology
from October till May being in general stereotyped.
Since the hurricane of the 2d of November we
have had almost a constant succession of bright
displays of lightning over the mainland, threaten-
ing and troubled skies, with violent thunderstorms
And falls of rain all over India, the drift of the
upper clouds being from south-west, their usual
direction during the rainy season, but nearly in the
teeth of the north-west monsoon. They seem non-
affected by the land and sea breezes blowing at the
surface from east and north-west respectively. On
the Bth we were visited by a slight shock of earth-
quake, the fourth we believe that has been expe-
rienced within the last forty years. Previous
shocks occurred on the 16th of June, 1819, on the
26th of Dec., 1849, on the 25th September, 1851,
but they were all unimportant; the first mentioned
was a vibration of the great Guzerat earthquake,
which sunk the Runn of Cutch and ruined Ahme-
dabad and Bhooj. The ambassador from the King
of Burmah arrived at Calcutta on the Ist of De-
cember ; it is affirmed that he comes with no view
to the restitution of any part of the Burmese do-
minions, but simply for the sake 9f doing
homage to the Governor-General, and endea-
vouring to promote the good understanding be-
twixt us. He has been, of course, received with
all due pomp and circumstance by the authori-
ties.—Orders have been received for the imme-
diate despatch of four Queen's regiments from
India to Turkey, via Egypt. The 10th Hussars
march from Kirkee to the Presidency, where they
are expected a fortnight hence ; they will proceed
direct to Suez, and thence march across the desert.
It is not supposed that any difficulty will be ex-
perienced in covering the distance of 86 miles from
Suez to Cairo in four forced marches. They will
then proceed down the Nile by boat to the rail-
way terminus, and may probably be at Alexandria
within a fortnight of their reaching Suez. The
14th Dragoons now at Meerut are expected to
follow, and the 80th and 83d Foot are understood
to be under orders. The Hussars will hardly be
there before the beginning of March, nor can the
other troops be expected earlier than June, con-
sidering the great deficiency of steam conveyance
at Bombay for large bodies of men on long voyages.
India can easily spare the troops, which are in
point of number greatly in excess of what the act
of Parliament allows, as well as of our require-
ments in periods of profound peace. Two of the
Russian frigates in the Pacific are understood to
have been captured by us, and if the Czar has any
other ships in the Eastern seas they will speedily
be in our possession. Another serious disturbance
has been occasioned by the Rohillas in the Nizam's
dominions. A force under Brigadier Mayne left
Hingolie on the 24th, and on the 30th came up
with a part of the depredators, who were cut to
pieces. On the 101 of December a large number
of prisoners were taken, and on the 3d troops were
sent in parties to scour the country round in quest
of more. Important changes are expected to
take place almost immediately in our Indian
armies ; the senior officers on becoming en-
titled to off-reckonings are to be promoted
and shelved—they are to be disabled from holding
auditor generalships and other appointments here-
tofore entrusted to them. Lieutenant-colonels of
three years' standing are to be promoted to the
rank of colonels, and two hundred and twenty
majors-general, including those now existing, are
to be added to the army, each regiment having an
officer of this rank at its head ; at present a colonel
never sees the corps to which he belongs. These
will be all great improvements in the effi-
ciency of the service. The furlough regulations,
after various alterations and additions, are be-
ginning to become intelligible ; had their prepara-
tions been left to the authorities in India

there never would have been the slightest difficulty
about the matter. So short is the supply of civi-
lians in Bombay suited for high appointments, that
a provisional member of the Council has not been
named. The night launch of the steamer Assaye
seems to have brought bad luck to the ship. She
had in the first place to wait some weeks for the
arrival of her engines after she was ready for
them. She had scarcely been floated out of dock
when she was driven on shore by the hurricane
of the 2d of November, and required to be floated
back again for repair, estimated at 3,0001. On her
first trial trip after this her engines primed, and
one of her cylinders was cracked all round and
rendered unserviceable. While being lightened
to enable her to be docked again one of her heavy
guns broke from the tackle by which it was being
lowered, and sank the boat containing the other
two guns. The repair of the accidents will amongst
them cost eight or ten thousand pounds or so.
One of the cylinders, it is said, of the Punjab
will be transferred to the Assaye, which may
thus be got ready for sea in two or three months.
A singular system of fraud has of late been disco-
vered at the Custom-house, in goods that had suf-
fered sea damage and were sent to auction. The
Custom-house officer in attendance to note the
price was offered a large sum to falsify the entry,
with a view of defrauding the revenue of the (fa
valorem duty as well as the underwriters of the set
off against the insurance. The party attempted to
be bribed, under instructions from his superiors,
accepted the money as evidence, and immediately
investigation
now the information which led to the
now in progress. Much difficulty seems to present
itself in getting the Sir Jamsetjee grant of 10,0001.
for the promotion of instruction in the industrial
arts made available, in consequence of the injudi-
cious form in which some European seems to have
recommended it to be given. The Governor-Ge-
neral and Governors of Bombay and Madras con-
tinue at the head-quarters of their respective Go-
vernments—the Commanders-in-Chief are all in
the districts. Trade is dull, and there has been
increased demand for money and consequent tight-
ness in the market during the past fortnight.

TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE.
We were favoured yesterday evening with the
following telegraphic communication :

"Calcutta, Dec. 13, 1854.
" Tho Burmese Ambassadors had their public audience
at Government-house, on Monday, the 11th instant. A
grand review is to take place on the Calcutta race course
on the 18th for their entertainment ; a ball is to be given
by the Government, at the Governor-General's, on the 22d.
"The Puttiala Raja is to be received publicly by Lord
Dalhousie on the 20th.

" The Railway will not be epen from the Ist of January
to Ranee Grange.
" Some of the bridges on the Calcutta side of Burclwan
will not probably be completed for traffic before the Ist of
March."