The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-20 00:00:00

MEXICO.

On the 2nd February arrived the 3rd column,
comprising a battalion of the 62nd and a squadron
of Chasseurs d'Afrique. Two companies have fo-
raged the country adjoining Mazatlan, but they
returned without having fallen in with the enemy.
It has been decided to occupy the interior of the
state, and 600 men are at Noria. The inhabitants
have already joined our troops, and they will soon
clear the neighbourhood.

A fresh expedition, composed of 400 men, assisted
by 200 from Lozada, started for Concordia, to
punish that district, which is the haunt of Corona's
bands. It was there the Chasseurs a pied were
dragged about and butchered. Part of the village
of Presidio has been burnt, and San Sebastian and
Jacobo have been completely razed to the ground.
General Castagny's operations at Mazatlan have
produced a most favourable reaction in the commerce
of that city, which is the most important shipping
port on the western coast of Mexico.

It is said that Juarez and his partisans are again
making efforts to rise. It is reported that consi-
derable supplies of arms and ammunition are for-
warded from California to the coast of Sinaloa under
the American flag, and that 8,000 barrels of gun-
powder have already left San Francisco for the
same destination. Troops are expected from France
to replace those whose term of service has expired.
The Emperor has granted important privileges
to two American engineers, for the purpose of
working several immense beds of petroleum dis-
covered in Tehuantepec and in other parts of
Mexico.

A railway going to Chales, within a short dis-
tance of the capital, is on the point of being opened.
After decreeing a complete re-organisation in the
Mexican army, also in the branches of justice,
public instruction, public works, finance, and other
civil departments, the Emperor has directed his at-
tention to foreign emigration, and the Journal de
l'Empire has just published propositions for the sale
of about 200 square leagues of freehold land in the
district of Nieves, department of Zacatecas. This
land is suitable for crops of all kinds, and is offered
at a low rate. For land lying near a river the
charge is only two dollars an acre. The water can
be dammed off and reserved for irrigation of maize
fields, tobacco plantations, and meadows ; besides
which the soil is particularly adapted for the rear-
ing of cattle. Purchasers are required to pay one-
third in ready money, and the rest after a lapse of
three, six, and nine years ; and during this period
such ground is exempt from all taxes. What is
wanting in the great Mexican empire is labouring
men; respect for the authorities, and orderly and in-
dustrious habits ; which desiderata cannot fail to be

obtained through time and a well-directed emigra-
tion from Europe.

THE ROYAL MAIL STEAMSHIP PACIFIC.—The
Pacific, a paddle steamer of 2,000 tons and 500-
horse power, built by Randolph, Elder, and Co., of the
Clyde, for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, sailed
from the Mersey yesterday for mail service on the West
Coast, touching on the passage at various ports. She has
magnificent accommodation for 130 to 150 passengers, her
cabins being arranged on the American plan, tier above
tier, with a very spacious hurricane deck over all. The
Pacific has all the modern steam improvements, and yes-
terday, by means of a steam winch, her anchor was run up
in a very few minutes.

LANCASHIRE SPINNERS AND LIVERPOOL COTTON
BROKERS.—About a couple of months ago a para-
graph was published showing that a misunderstanding had
taken place between the Lancashire spinners and the cotton
brokers who purchased cotton for them at Liverpool, the
latter treating the Spinners' Association in a somewhat
cavalier and contemptuous spirit. Since that time, owing
to overtures from the brokers, meetings and correspondence
of a more respectful and conciliatory character have taken
place, and on several points of difference between them a
satisfactory understanding has been arrived at. One of
these arrangements is that, instead of an annual stock tak-
ing of cotton at LiVerpool, there shall be a stock-taking
every three months, the result of which shall be published.
The other is that authorised telegrams shall be sent of prices
and the state of the market daily from the Brokers' Associa-
tion to be posted on the Manchester Exchange. This last
arrangement, we believe, was finally agreed upon yesterday.
The want of such an arrangement has long been deplored
by the frequenters of the Manchester Exchange. It has
often happened that most important information from
America affecting the Liverpool cotton-market has been
known to merchants, through private telegrams, in Man-
chester, hours before it was known on the Exchange in the
public telegrams, and this has been the source of serious
annoyance to parties most interested."
EXTRAORDINARY CRUELTY TO SHEEP.—At the
Petty Sessions for the division of Tiverton, held at
the Town-hall, on Tuesday, the 18th inst., Mr. Wm. Stoate,
of Alleford, Somerset,was charged by the Secretary of the
Royal Society for the Prev'ention of Cruelty to Animals
with ill-treating and torturing certain sheep on his farm,
the Upcotts, Clayhanger, Devon. The court was crowded
to excess, and the most intense excitement prevailed in the
neighbourhood, owing to the notoriety of the alleged
offence, the number of animals said to have been tortured,
and the position of the defendant in the county. It ap-
peared from the evidence of several witnesses that the
defendant was an eccentric and wealthy barrister, and that
at Midsummer laSt he sent a flock of 275 sheep, 13 bul-
locks, and live horses to the above named farm. In the
course of the: autumn some of the bullocks and horses were
taken away, and as the winter advanced and the food be-
came scant, the shepherd who had charge of the animals
wrote to Mr. Stoate, " requesting him to provide food, as
the sheep were starving," but he received only a supply
of straw. The shepherd repeated several times his appli-
cation without better success, and he was ultimately dis-
charged by Mr. Stoate in February last. Another shep-
herd was engaged for a fortnight, but since that date the
sheep had been altogether uncared for, and about 130 of
such animals and an Exmoor pony had literally died of
starvation. One of the sheep had its eye picked out by a
bird before it was dead, as it lay in a prostrate condition.
The defendant pleaded that he had been buying straw
through the winter to sustain the sheep, and that the pre-
sent proceedings had been instituted from spite and malice,
because there were many farmers in the neighbourhood
who coveted his farm, and he would not let it to them. He
conducted his own case, and his behaviour was very ec-
centric throughout the proceedings. The Bench, after a
brief deliberation, sentenced the defendant to six weeks'
imprisonment, with costs.

(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)
NEW YORE, April 8.
The following intelligence has been received here
by the last mail from Mexico :
The French have lost in a recent affair one of
their best officers, M. Marechal, the commandant,
who left Vera Cruz at the head of a column to attack
a band of guerillas which had escaped from Oajaca,
and purposed, it is supposed, to make an incursion
upon the posts of Alvarado, Medellin and Cotaxtia.
The commandant fell in with the enemy on Thurs-
day, the 2d March, at 8 a.m., near Tialiscoyan,
about 20 miles from Medellin, and immediately gave
chase to the guerillas, whose force, it is said, was
much superior to his own. The enemy retired into
the woods, and as they were there invisible, it was
a difficult matter to dislodge them from their posi-
tion. The conflict became desperate, and the troops
of the commandant displayed the greatest valour.
At that moment a ball struck M. Marechal in the
right side ; notwithstanding this he still kept his
saddle, and continued urging his men forward ; but
a second ball struck him in the chest, and, almost
at the same instant, a third traversed his thigh. He
then fell from his horse across a cannon, which was
covered with his blood. In this affray the imperial
troops lost 21 killed and 19 wounded.
As soon as the Empress learnt this unfortunate
intelligence, she hastened to convey to the widow
of M. Marechal the assurance of the deep sympathy
she felt for her loss ; and, not content with that,
gave orders to present the widow with the sum of
$25,000 from her private purse, as a dowry for her
daughter.
Apart from the expeditions which are continually
hunting down the guerillas, the principal scene of
the active operations is the western region bordering
on the Pacific.
The Juarists in this region carry on acts of such
barbarity as to shock the moral laws of all countries.
However, General Castagny is indefatigable in pur-
suing them, and will soon have swept the country
of the barbarous hordes which now infest it.
On the 18th January, Corona caused the prisoners
he had taken at Veranos to be savagely massacred
at Jacobo. Even at Veranos, he had all the
wounded put to death before leaving the town.
Those who were sufficiently strong to proceed on
with his band were speared to death with lances,
after having been made the sport of the soldiers.
The prisoners, generally speaking, were promenaded
in triumph through several villages, and the sur-
vivors, as above mentioned, were finished off at
Jacobo with the guerillas' machetes.