The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-01 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

We have received the St. Petersburg journals
of the 23d of November.
The hivalide Busse publishes the following :
" Under date of the 6th (18th) of November, Aide-
de-Camp General Prince Gortschakoff sends the follow-
ing :

" Nothing remarkable has taken place in the
Crimea. According to information deserving of credit
only a small portion of the Turks have left Eupatoria.
The European troops have remained there, and on every
point the enemy generally is occupied in making great
preparations for the winter.

" The number of the enemy's ships of war in
Kamiesh Bay and in Sebastopol roads is very small."'
Under date of Simpheropol, 31st Oct. (Nov. 12),
the Emperor Alexander addressed the following
order to his troops :
" Brave soldiers of the army of the Crimea! By my
order of the day of the 30th of August last I expressed
to you the sentiments which filled my heart with sin-
cere gratitude for your services, which have immor-
talised the glory of the defence of Sebastopol. But it
did not suffice for my heart to thank you from a dis-
tance for the great acts of bravery and self-denial which
even astonished your enemies, and which made you
brave all those difficulties of nearly a year's siege.
" Here, in the midst of you, I desired to say to you
personally how much benevolence and real affection I
entertain for you. My interview with you has procured
me inexpressible pleasure, and the brilliant condition in
which I found all the troops of the army of the
Crimea, after having inspected them, surpassed my ex-
pectations. I felt pleasure in beholding you and in
admiring you. I thank you, from my very soul, for
your services, your exploits, and your bravery. They are
guarantees for me that my brave army well knows how to
uphold the glory of Russian arms, and to sacrifice itself
for its faith, its sovereign, and its country.
"In commemoration f the celebrated and valorous
defence of Sebastopol I have instituted, especially for
the troops who defended the fortifications, a silver me-
dal, to be worn at the button-hole, with the riband of
St. George.
"May this sign be the certificate of merit for each,
and inspire your future comrades with that sentiment of
duty and honour which constitutes the unshakeable
foundation of the throne and country,
" May the union upon this same medal of the name
of my father, of imperishable memory, and myself, be a
pledge to you of our sentiments, which are equally de-
voted to you, and may it perpetuate with you the inse-
par"able memory of the Emperor Nicholas and of myself.
',am proud of you as he was. Like him I place
full confidence in your tried devotion and in your zeal
in the accomplishment of your duty. In his name and
in my own I once more thank the brave defenders of
Sebastopol.—l thank the whole army.
(Signed) " ALEXANDER."

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

CHINA.

We (Times) have received our private correspon-
dence and papers from Calcutta of the 22d Oct.
Bombay, 2d Nov. ; and Hong Kong, 15th Oct.
The following is our Calcutta correspondent's
letter :

" CALCUTTA, OCTOBER 22.
"We are in the midst of the Doorgah Poojah
holydays, when every one in Bengal considers
himself entitled to do nothing. The merchants
go up. the river, the Custom-house is prac-
tically closed, the Treasury is shut, the
banks suspend business, and even the shops
of Calcutta are left with scarcely an attendant.
Everybody is out of town, and the newspapers are
even more newsless than usual. Of course the
suspension of business, which lasts nominally for
10 but really for 16 days, is a heavy tax upon the
port. It must shortly be abandoned. This year,
for instance, the Mint has been compelled to sus-
pend operations, though the Chamber of Commerce
offered double wages to the native employes if they
would surrender their privilege. Add to the loss
thus created the cost of 16 days' unnecessary de-
tention to some 200 ships, and your readers will
have an idea of the direct pecuniary loss inflicted
by the holydays. The indirect loss cannot be esti-
mated, but it is serious, and even the merchants
of Calcutta, schoolboys as they are, are beginning
to contemplate the possibility of a reform. The
movement, however, should come from the Eng-
lish shipowners. It is from their pockets that the
expenses ultimately come.
" Nothing new has transpired of the progress of
the Sonthal rebellion. Every day a mass of details
are published in Calcutta, but they are unintel-
ligible even to us, and to readers in England
would present only a list of barbarous names and
incomprehensible military movements. It is cer-
tain, however, that the insurgents are not defeated,
that Beerbhoom is still in their hands, that the pea-
santry are still harried by an enemy worse than
the Mahrattas, and that martial law has not yet
been declared. Every officer, civil and military, is
loud in remonstrance, but the Council will not act.
It would, I verily believe, see Calcutta burned to
the ground sooner than depart one inch from the
path of routine. Meanwhile, I have seen a paper
which explains to a considerable extent the
origin of the movement. It is the confession of
Seedoo Manjee, the leader of the insurrection,
through whom the Deity is supposed to utter his
decrees. This man is not a bad specimen of his
race ; a bold, clear-spoken savage, with no con-
science and no remorse for the crimes he has com-
mitted. He says the Sonthals were ground down
by the Bengalee money lenders. The savages are
always in want. They are fond of hunting, drink,
and dancing, and always anticipate the harvest.
The money lenders supplied their wants, and
demanded interest at the rate of 500 per cent.
The Sonthals were willing to pay only 25, or, as
they phrase it, 4 annas for every rupee. The Mu-
hajuns beat them, abused them, pulled their ears,
and seized their crops. The Sonthals petitioned, but
of course Englishmen, with their fixed ideas of
free trade, refused to annul their agreements, or
indeed to interfere. They resolved therefore to
right themselves. Seedoo summoned all the Man-
jees, or village headmen, and while talking to them
saw the Deity descend in the form of a cart-wheel.
Two pieces of paper also fell on his head, in which
he was ordered to exterminate the money-lenders
and the Zemindars. A branch of the Saaltree was
sent out to all the villages,. and with the murder
of an insolent darogah the revolt began. There
was no hostility to Government whatever, and no
wish at first to injure any one but Muhajuns
and the Superintendent of the district, Mr. Pon-
tet. Of course, a race of savages once let loose
soon ceases to discriminate in its wrath, but
revolt was no part of the original design. The in-
surrection began and continues from the same cause,
the ultra-civilisation of the Government. It would
not believe that the grand English laisser faire
does not suit all races, that savages require to
be governed, guided, and protected, political
economy notwithstanding. At-, present. it will
not see that savages once let loose must be
brought into subjection by the sabre. Your
readers will scarcely believe that one official, who
had caught a number of Sonthals, took from them
security bonds' for good behaviour. The Sonthals
cannot read, and they carried the bonds through
the villages as the Company's order to murder the
Muhajuns.' Meanwhile the continuance of the re-
volt is most seriously weakening the prestige of
Government--every race in India begins to fancy
that an armed struggle has a chance of success.
Everywhere Government is reminded that it has
been beaten by the beasts of the jungle. Ido not
say the feeling will soon develops itself in action.
The prestige of a century of victory is not so easily
overcome, but that it has received a most serious
wound is admitted by Government itself. Such
wounds in a country like India are apt to ulcerate.
" The East Indian Railway has at last published
an account of its resources and expenditure. The
receipts amount to four per cent. per annum on the
gross cost of construction. The expenditure is 68
per cent. upon the gross receipts. The net profit
therefore is only II per cent, per annum. Much
of this expenditure is only temporary, and the re-
ceipts are no fair test of the prospects of the share-
holders. The coal line, which cost as much as the
trunk, is in fact a branch not yet worked. The
means of carrying the coal are scarcely sufficient,
and the district is very thinly inhabited. The line
must be extended to Benares before we begin to
absorb the traffic of the north-west ; and this sec-
tion is perhaps the most difficult, and will certainly
be the longest in construction. The Sonthal insur•
rection alone has caused a loss of two years' time.'

CHINA.
HONG KONG, OCT. 15.
The London mail of the 10th of August arrived
on the 24th of Sept., per steamer Ganges, which
leaves to-day with the outward mails.
Her Majesty's ship Nankin arrived here on the
11th inst., from Japan, having on board 103 Rus-
sian prisoners, part of the crew of the wrecked
frigate Diana, captured to the number of 280 by
her Majesty's steamer Barracouta while making for
the Russian settlements, in the north, on board the
Bremen brig Greta, which vessel is now here as a
prize. Among those captured are the surgeon, mas-
ter, chaplain, four midshipmen (one of them Prince
Michaeloff), and two interpreters. The officers are
on their parole.
The Allied fleets have done nothing to the north-
ward, and we understand Sir James Stirling has
been employed in the negotiation of a treaty with
Japan, which Commander EL Stirling is expected
to proceed with to England next mail.
The British fleet is expected to return here
shortly, while the French, we understand, pro-
ceeds to Manilla.
Her Majesty's steamer Rattler returned from
Cochin China on the 16th inst. Sir John Bowring's
messenger was politely received, but little encou-
ragement given to diplomatic proposals.
Shanghai advices are to the 7th instant, and we
learn that Captain Vansittart, of her Majesty's brig
Bittern, has again rendered important service to
commercial interests, by de,troying, to the south-
ward of Ningpo, a most formidable piratical fleet of
22 vessels. A bold resistance was shown, and the
brig was struck in many places, and we regret to
say that the master (Mr. Turner) and a marine
were killed, and 18 men wounded, several severely.
The whole fleet, however, was destroyed.
The measure proclaimed by the Taoutae for the
reform of the currency has met with considerable
opposition from the mercantile body as being too
sudden and circumscribed. It is, therefore, very
doubtful if the matter will be pressed, the more
especially as we understand the Taoutae has been
recalled. Of the rebels in the north we have no
intelligence. Her Majesty's steamers Styx and
Barracouta were at Shanghai, but were to leave
again shortly.

-At Canton some excitement has been caused by
intelligence of the Imperial forces having been de-
feated by the rebels on the borders of the province.
Further accounts are anxiously looked for, the
more so as a demand for money is likely to be made
by Government. This would fall very heavily on
the people. Rice is abundant and cheap.
Exchange on England—At Canton, 4s. 9id. per
dol. ; at Shangai, 6s. 54d. per dol.

EGYT.
ALEXANDRIA, Nov. 21.—S P
everal of the engineers
appointed to survey the Isthmus of Suez, to report
ou the practicability of the proposed canal between
the Mediterranean and Red Seas, arrived here from
France with M. do Lesseps on the 17th. The Com-
mission, as it is called, consists of MM. Renaud and
Lieusson on the part of France ; Mr. M'Lean for
England ; Monsieur de Negrelli for Austria ; Lensz,
for Prussia ; Conrad, for Holland.
Mr. Rendel, who was also appointed to represent
England, and M. Paleccappa, on the part of Sar-
dinia, have not come.
English worknen have come out to fix the buoys
which are to mark the channel of the entrance into
this port, which, when done, will be of very great
advantage to the numerous vessels that frequent
Alexandria..
Several robberies of specie and goods in transit
to and from India have lately been committed on
the road between Suez and Cairo, and there is rea-
son to fear that the Director of the Transit, Mr.
Lee Green, is losing favour with the Viceroy on
this account, and because several coreplainta have
been made against the Transit Administration.
Exchange on London, 98 piastres per X.

NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE SEA OF

ZUFF.

DESTRUCTION OF TILE TOWN OF GHRISK.
The following extracts from private letters of
one of the officers of the squadrons in the Sea of
Azoff, to a friend, will be found interesting :
" Off Mariopol, Nov. 2.
" We arrived here with nine vessels this afternoon at
about one o'clock, and about two in the middle watch we
weigh again to attrck Ghrisk first, about 20 miles off.
All our boats' crews are ready for landing with two
days' provisions for each man.
" Nov. 3.—We got under weigh early this morning,
but not quite so soon as we expected, and stood into
Mariopol with a flag of truce flying, and they soon an-
swered it fi oat the town; and the Grinder, with an officer
from the Vesuvius, went in and sent a boat on shore.
We hid not the remotest idea what the flag of truce was
about. The officer remained on shore, talking to some
Russian officers on the beach, about half an hour, and,
whatever it was about, it seemed to be satisfactory, as
we all got under weigh again, and put to sea. We are
now near Ghrisk, but it is too dark to see anything.
An expedition will go away to-morrow. All our boats'
crews have received orders to be in readiness in the
morning. They will have to go into a lake, and it is to
be hoped they will not find the water so shallow as they
did at Ternriouk, and cause them to fail getting near the
town.
" Nov. s.—Yesterday, Ardent, Weser, and Curlew
'attacked the sea side of the new town (Ghrisk.) All the
marines and as many men as could be spared went in-
side the lake in the gun-boats. Recruit, Cracker,
Grinder, and Boxer attacked the old town. We kept up
a heavy fire during the morning, which was answered
from rifle-pits in front of the town, and in the afternoon
we landed on a spit to the left, and destroyed the cus-
tom-house and several large buildings by fire. Some
cavalry rode out and attacked our boats' crews
employed in this business, but of course to do so
they bad to expose themselves to a heavy fire
from the ships, which they got, and no mis-
take ; many and many an empty saddle telling
sad tales of the correctness of our fire. Our men finished
their work before they again embarked, as the cavalry,
owicg to our cover, could not remain long on the spit;
and as the shades of evening began to close around us
we could see the old town in a perfect blaze, showing
that the other division of our squadron had also suc-
ceeded. To-day the gun-boats got close to the town,
so the place was halt surrounded. It is a very large
place and well built ; in fact, the first Russian town
I have seen. After shelling it for an hour, the gun-
boats landed their men on the lake side, and we
landed ours on this. They began to advance about
ten o'clock ; but as they neared the town the head-
most column received such a tremendous fire that they
bad to fall back. They had no sooner done this when
it became evident to us that the enemy were out in very
strong force, and that our men stood a chance of being
cut off. Lieutenant Ross, of the Weaser, did hesitate,
but at all risks formed a junction with them, by
crossing in front of the town, and this move saved
them, for we could then see, as the Russians in their
turn fell hack, bow nearly they were surrounded.
During the whole of the day our men were on the
advance, and the town in several parts in flames ; all
their windmills and one or two manufactories were
burnt to the ground. We bad to fire hard for it, for
the Russians kept up really a terrific fire ; the extent of
it must have been three miles, and we should have suf-
fered very heavily had it not been for sundry stacks of
wood and mounds of earth, which afforded us shelter.
Having destroyed all we could, and seeing the necessity
to keep the open ground in our position, we beat a re-
treat at half-past two, and embarked the men. Although
the enemy had such heaps of troops in the town they
did not care, after yesterday's experience, to follow up
our retreat, or attack us in any way. Having destroyed
an immense deal of property, and made the enemy suffer
in loss of life to a considerable extent, we shall soon, I
suppose, start to attack some other place. Our loss in
the attack upon Ghrisk was three men killed and three
badly wounded.

" Yenikale, Nov. 13.
" We arrived here this morning, having experienced
a heavy gale for the last three or four days. We found
several of our squadron at anchor here, but looking in
just such a bad plight as ourselves ; in fact worse.
Harpy was high and dry, nearly out •f the water alto-
gether ; so after all we are net the worst: We left
Ghri,k with the idea of attacking Arabat, which was to
have been the finishing stroke to this year's operations
in the Sea of Azoff ; but on arriving here we find the
expedition is abandoned. All the squadron, it appears,
are to return to Genitchi again, except Weser and Re-
cruit, which are to await at Kertch for further orders
from the commander-in-chief."