The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-24 00:00:00

Alleged Sale of an Englieh Girl.

Much sensation has been caused in India by an
English girl of 14 years of age having been sold to
the Chief of Bhatwa, in the Kattywar territory, to
be placed in his harem. He is said to be 70 years
old, and to have bought her of her parents for 3,000
rupees (£300). The following particulars are from
the Delhi Gazette of Oct. 21 :—" It appears that a
certain chief, who holds sway in the State of Bhatwa,
in the Kattywar territory, and who is named
Khamaldeen or Kumaloodeen, lately conceived a
desire to add to the live stock in his harem, although
bowed down by the weight of 70 years, by pro-
curing an English girl and inducing her to take up
her residence within its sacred precincts. For this
purpose emissaries were despatched to Ahmedabad,
where lived an Englishman with his wife and chil-
dren. They were a dissolute couple, by all accounts,
and of course had long rubbed skirts with poverty ;
yet they had something which the wealthy chief of
Bhatwa did not possess. They had an English girl,
their daughter, named Anne, a girl of about 14
years of age, and the Bhatwa emissaries having
looked about them, and ascertained the resources of
the place, at once determined to make the parents an
offer for the person of their daughter. The sum of
3,000 rupees was the tempting bait which was to make
them drive their little fish into the Nawab of
Bhatwa's net, and the experiment succeeded. The
father agreed, for and in consideration of 3,000
rupees, to consign his daughter for her life to the
tender care of Kumaloodeen. The bargain having
been struck, the contracting parties made the best
of their way to Bhatwa, where the money was to
be paid and the goods delivered. Arrived at their
destination, this child of 14, the offspring of
English parents, and a daughter of the Chris-
tian Church, was handed over to her purchaser,
and the delicate-minded parents became the
happy possessors of 3,000 rupees. At this stage
of the proceedings, a clergyman, the chaplain of
Rojkote, to whom the circumstance was reported,
tried to interpose between the unnatural parents of
Anne and her brutal purchaser, by calling upon the
political agent of Kattywar to exert his authority
and rescue the child from the destruction to which,
body and soul, she was doomed by her natural
guardians. Our correspondent does not vouch for
the truth of the report which has reached him
touching the action taken by the political agent
in the matter, but what he says is, that Anne, after
she had become the Nawab's property, was
solemnly made to abjure the errors of the Cht:is-
tian Church, and formally received into communion
with the follower of the true prophet. The political
officer, it is said, deputed his jemadar to be present
at the ceremony, and this functionary brought him
a full and particular account of all that took place
on the occasion. The next step in regard to the
child was to marryher after the Mahomedan fashion
to her purchaser, but, before this interesting cere-
mony (which, we believe, is not regarded quite in
the light of a sacrament by the sons of peace) was
performed, the political officer is reported to have
caused the youthful bridegroom, just turned 70,
to draw up a marriage settlement, by which the
new light of the harem is secured in the posses-
sion of au income of 2,000 and odd rupees per
annum, including an item of 30 rupees for pan
and sooparee, which may be looked upon as
an equivalent for pin money. The political agent,
however, was not satisfied with this provision for
the present wants of Anne, and being a far-sighted
man he took care to secure her against any unplea-
sant accident, such as desertion, for instance, that
might happen in the future. He caused another
deed to be drawn up, by which it is stipulated that,
in the event of her being at any time banished from
that blessed abode of virtue, the harem, she is to
receive, for the term of her natural life, the hand-
some allowance of 250 rupees per mensern, or 3,000
rupees per annum." The Delhi Gazette does not
not vouch for the truth of the statements in its cor-
respondent's letter, which describe the part taken
by the political agent.

A frightful attack of neuralgia in the face and
mouth cured ehuyieedia by
agents
few doses of M a ORIION'S PILLS, the vege-
table universal medicine of the British Collage Health.
Euston-road, London, after other means had failed. Sold
and all medicine vendors.
LOCOMOTIVE BUILDING IN CALIFORNIA.—The
first locomotive ever built in California has just made its
trial trip on the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad.
The cylinders of this locomotive are 18 inches in diameter,
with a 24 inch stroke; the driving wheels 5 feet in diame-
ter, length of locomotive 26 feet over frame; diameter of
boiler 44 inches, containing 141 two-inch tubes 11 feet in
length ; total weight of locomotive 30 tons. The locomo-
tive drew four cars containing 300 invited guests, end on
the return trip made two miles in 108 seconds, the best time
yet accomplished on that aide of the Rooky Mountable.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DAY.—Morning, sh. 30m.—Afternoon, sh. 50m.
To-hlonitow.-Morning, Gh. 14m.—Afternoon, 6h. 40m