The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-15 00:00:00

SUN,

OVERLAND MAIL

INDIA AND CHINA.
(From the Chronicle.)
We have received by extraordinary express in an-
ticipation of the Overland =wait our private corre-
spondence and letters from Bombay to Sept. 15, and
Hong Kong to Aug. 25.
The English mail of the 24th July reached Point
de Galle on the 20th, Madras on the 23d, and Calcutta
on the 28th August, by the Peninsular and Oriental
Company's steamer Oriental ; via Bombay it reached
Agra and Delhi on the 28th, Meerut on the 29th,
and Lahore on the 31st. The mail of the 9th August
arrived at Bombay by the steamtl. Auckland on the
sth instant.

BOMBAY, SEPT. 15.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Since the departure of the last mail, a fortnight
ago, few events of note have occurred in India.
Nothing decisive has of late taken place in Burmah,
which is the scene to which all eyes will be directed
for the next few months. But preparations are being
steadily and energetically made for the continuation
ef the war, and that on a fitting scale, as soon as the
cessation of the rains and the opening of the
cold season admit of military movements.
Reinforcements are being dispatched both from
Bengal and Madras, and general orders have been
issued by the Governor-General and the Governor of
Madras, brigading the army of Ave. Brigadier-
General Sir John Cheape is to command the Bengal
division; and the Brigadier-General Steele the
Madras division. By next month there will be under
the command of General Godwin five regiments of
European infantry, ten regiments of native infantry,
together with a due proportion of artillery and sap-
pers, and along with these a highly effective marine
force ? Some 20,000 fighting men will thus be ready
for moving upon Prome, and subsequently upon Ava,
and for occupying all the posts in the rear that re-
quire being garrisoned. The necessary force for the
capture of Prome and Ava can be easily and speedily
moved up the flooded Irrawaddy by steam. Some
impatient spirits have loudly cried out against
the tardiness of movement displayed in not at
once making a dash upon Prome and Ava, but
it is lucky that the direction of the war lies
with more experienced and sagacious heads.
The Governor-General is evidently bent on making
such arrangements as will preclude the possibility of
a failure. His Lordship is also evidently favourable
to annexation, if we may judge by the circumstance
of his having ordered a permanent steam flotilla to be
got ready for the Irrawaddy; but it is not probable
that the exact area to be annexed is yet determined
on. Instructions from England and the events of the
war will regulate that. But the whole seaboard from
Calcutta to Penang will undoubtedly be ours. Will
not the whole Peninsula gradually follow ?
The north-west frontier again threatens commotion.
On the 19th of August, in consequence of a rumoured
gathering of the Momunds, under their chief Saadut
Khan, a considerable British force proceeded from
Pesbawur, and advanced as far as Shubkudr, on the
Cabul river, but halted there, as no signs of an enemy
were apparent. Probably our military demonstration
prevented the threatened irruption by Saadut
Khan. Next day, however, in another direc-
tion, a party of hill men, under a chief named
Ajoon Khan, succeeded in plundering one
of our villages, notwithstanding the presence
there of a " local" detachment in British pay. The
robbers were pursued by a British officer, with a troop
of cavalry, but the alarm bad been given too late,
and they succeeded in getting off with their booty.
The cold season will in all probability bring the usual
succession of border outrages, which may provoke
Government into retaliation on a large scale, and may
even lead to a war of extermination as the only means
of securing the quiet of our frontier.
The Punjaub is, to all appearance, quiet and settled.
A rumour, however, has of late been prevalent that a
conspiracy had been concocted there for the subver-
sion of British rule. There is no improbability in such
a rumour, referring to a people like the Seikhs, among
whom there are so many fanatics and desperadoes.
To this rumour has been added another to the effect
that the Punjaub conspiracy has ramifications through-
out the Mussulman population of Hindustan. Cer-
tain it is that some of the Wahabee reformers
(Mahomedans), not only on the Indus, but on the left
side of the Sutlej, and at Delhi, have of late been in a
somewhat agitated state, and several houses have been
searched, some arms seized, and some suspicious cor-
respondence secured by the authorities. It is not
strange that seditious practices should occur in a
country situated as India is now ; the wonder is that
there is so little resistance to the hated dominant
power, for hated, or at all events disliked, by a ma-
jority of the influential classes I believe it to be ; but
a fear of what seems to be the irresistible power of
the British Government keeps the discontented gene-
rally quiet, and I observe that the Mahomedan editor
of a native newspaper in Delhi brands the leaders of
the present Wahabee movement there as fools for
daring to imagine that they can overthrow the " in-
vincible armies" of the English, end as knaves for
wishing to overthrow a Government so just. The
last sentiment, however, is not shared in by all his
brethren.
In the Nizam's dominions, according to the general
newspaper correspondence from that quarter, disorder
reigns as before, in the shape of mutinies of troops
and little wars between powerful landholders.
The latest incident we have to record is illustrative
of the state of that unhappy country. Two Brahmin
brothers, men of some rank, being unable to obtain
justice in a certain claim, resorted to the not uncom-
mon expedient of seising a member of the Govern-
ment—the defturdar it was in this instance--and
keeping him in confinement until the claim was set-
tled or compromised. With a band of armed men this
expedient is generally successful ; but the Brahmin
brothers appear not to have been supported by any
considerable number of retainers, and after they had
been in vain summoned to give up their hostage and
agree to a compromise, security of person being at the
same time guaranteed to them, force was resorted to,
the house was broken open, and the brothers were
killed in the rencontre, and the hostage was liberated.
It is stated on what seems good authority, that no
less a sum than ten lakhs of rupees (100,0001.) of ar-
rears is now owing to the British contingent, and that
nothing but promises can be got from the Nizam's
Minister. It is in vain to expect that Lord Dalhousie
will take decisive measures with reference to the
Nizam while the Burmese war is going on, but on
its conclusion either his Lordship or his successor will
have to turn his attention to the affairs of those dis-
tracted territories nominally governed by the Nizam.
Of Oude we hear comparatively little now-a-days.
The last intelligence from that quarter states that the
revenue is in a bad state, but that no actual fighting
is at present taking place in the collection of it. From
Baroda we hear nothing new. Bow Tambeekur still
rules his Highness the Guicowar.
Lori Dalhousie is at Calcutta, with his eye on
Burrnaln Sir W. Gomm is at Cheenee, in the
Himalayas. Lord Falkland is at Poona. His
Lordship has improved in health. His term of
office expires in April, but it is rumoured that he
is to continue among us a year longer. Our chief
justice, Sir Erskine Perry, retires in November.
Mr. Le Messurier, the advocate-general, a barrister
of old standing, is deemed sure of the judgeship
by many, but he has an unhappy infirmity of
temper. The present puisne judge is Sir William
Yardley, and he doubtless aspires to be chief. Sir
Erskine Perry has been and is very popular in Bom-
bay. He has throughout his Indian career done
all in his power to advance the education of the na-
tives, and to enhance the several enjoyments of the
European community. As president of the Board of
Education, he has had much to do in the cause of
native education, and he has done it well and cor-
dially. He will leave Bombay deeply regretted.
ONE P.M.
P.S. I annex an extract from a letter dated Ran-
goon, Aug 24. You will be glad to hear that there
is at least some chance of our making a forward
movement. The
Sphinx and Moozuffer are off to
Madras for troops, and
brigade is to go up to
thought it will be left there. f
h
o
erni re.ThearGrievnal therale Bengal
willthen
return to Rangoon,
Promsn with the General ; it is
their
thence
with then Madras d
nel
tract from
a l
proceedivision.
to Mar-
taban
The and
annexed
underetter addressed to a
date of August
Calcutta paper from Rangoon,
'24, will interest your mercantile readers
"The commercial regulations of the
Rangoon we regard with the greatest solicitude. authorities
of
never looked for profoundly beneficial legislation We
from
men whose occupation would most probably divert their
whole attention from the details of commerce; but we
cannot too strongly condemn their inconsiderate pre-
scriptions, which from first. to last (with but few excep-
tions)
qua.llyutimpolitic, as they
are false in principle and pernicious in practice
of the
The stoppage of the trade of the few merchants
the further evil
placewili
claimis rminoradrea
se vaifl ,
and the interest of our cause.
inflicted is on the people
exports of grain and timber, hold
The prohibition of the
thboeiwrevwerroEngs! b
my censures, as if, when the
a most prominent p
sanctioned, it would by
fell to their present low
prier,pr c of
exportationrice and
olotherascde graini
been
ees a
incentive to the energies
dillieslties, ad not
of the people to overcome their
raising prices have been an
les but also
said to be uselessly rotting in the jung
season. The
only to bring to this market the grn that is now
to cultivate supplies fur the ensuing
s rose
as exportation would not continue if price
danger of scarcity could hardly have beeni.ncreased,
to
receivinc the supplies which usually find their way
ve
above those of the adjacent ports, and we are also
Ava. The export of timber, if allowed, would ba
stimulated private enterprise, in providing supplies
from which the Government might have furnished
themselves on the spot for a reasonable consideration,
instead of the expensive system of bringing sawn tim-
ber frum Moulmein. The regulation which compels a
ship's carrying any portion of general cargo to pay dues