The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-24 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

This DA7.-31orning, 11h. 33m.—Afternoon, h. m.
To-Moßnow.-Morning, 12h. 10m.—Afternoon, 12h. 40m.

•
kfig
14.044;10- •

LONDON, TUESDAY, JAN. 24, 18657

It is a curious proof of the immense extent of the
British dominions that peace and war may reign

simultaneously in them. So widely are our depen-

dencies scattered, that hostilities may be going on
in one of them, arising from a cause of which

another has not even heard, and we were some

months ago involved in a war on the African coast
without the fact being known to many men even
within the walls of Parliament. The struggle in

which we are now engaged is scarcely so restricted

in its interest, although there is every reason to hope
that it will be much less fatal in its results among

our men. Most of uS have heard something about

he quarrel with Bhootan ; and if the first

. -
that was generally known of the Cape

Coast Castle affair was by hearing of the
sickness and mortality among the troops
engaged in it, we have at least had the satisfac-
tion of hearing the Bhootan story from the be-

ginning, and of being informed what the dispute

was about. The narrative of Mr. EDEN'S unfor-

tunate expedition, his rough reception, and tragi-

comic disasters, has been public enough, and it

has been generally felt that, however great our
reluctance to go to war, we could not suffer
such unprovoked insults to be heaped upon a
British envoy. Bhootan, though not of much im-

portance in itself, is in close contiguity to Assam,
whose planters naturally looked with considerable
anxiety on the hostile dispositions of their neigh-
bours. The absurd treaty, too, which Mr. EDEN

was forced to sign, ceded Assam to the Bhootans,
and though they might, perhaps, have hesitated
to act upon it at present, it laid a foundation for
future complications, and afforded an awkward
pretext for any stronger Power that might be
disposed to pick a quarrel with us. Under all
these considerations, therefore, notwithstanding the
Viceroy's dislike of internal wars, it is not sur-

prising that an active course was unanimously
decided upon, or that British troops should be at
present once more engaged in active hostilities on
Indian soil, though the war scarcely deserves the

name after the terrible struggles of which that

country hasl been the scene. The Bombay Mail,
just arrived, brings us intelligence of the first

fight and the first success of this Bhootan expe-
dition. At the beginning of December an attack

was made on the fortress of Dalimkote, which

was carried after a resolute resistance. The posi•

tion was naturally very strong, and had been

well fortified. Situated at
.the top of a hill, it
could only be approached by a narrow, winding
road, up which, as the troops advanced, showers
of stones and arrows descended upon them.
The Bhooteas aimed these primitive missiles with
force and skill, and kept up a fire of musketry
throughout the day ; but the worst part of our dis-

asters, like those of the Federal fleet off Wilming-
ton, were due to an unfortunate casualty. A shell,
through some accident, burst in the mouth of one of

the mortars, killing three officers and several men,
whereas during the whole struggle only eight men
were killed and only three officers wounded, though
the fight lasted eight hours. Fifty-six men were
disabled, which proves that the weapons of the
Bhooteas were less fatal than they might have been,
notwithstanding the accuracy of their aim. After
many hours of firing a carcass from one of the mor-
tars set fire to some of the buildings, whereupon a
storming party was formed and the place carried
by assault. The satisfaction of the triumph was
considerably damped by the melancholy accident
which had cost so many valuable lives, but the
fort was gained, and an important step towards the
settlement of the war was achieved. Another fort
II 111 Ine-same quarcerTwfficn

said to be also very strongly defended, but not in
so difficult a position. When the latest intelligence
was received from the right column they were close
to the strongholds of Devangiri, and impatient for
its capture. The other two colirmns were also ad-
vancing, and happily no cases of the formidable
Dooar fever are as yet reported. In Bombay all is
tranquil, so tranquil as to permit of a census and an

Exhibition being the chief topics of the day. The
census has not given satisfaction, for it is believed
to be incorrect, though why it should not have been
accurately compiled is not very apparent. It was
taken in February last, and returns the population
of the island of Bombay at 816,562 persons—being
530,450 males and 286,112 females. As we have
said, its figures are not relied upon, whether rightly
or wrongly remains to be proved. As for the Ex-
hibition, that is to be a positive fact, and active
steps have been taken towards its promotion. A
company has been formed with a capital of half-a-
million, and application has been made to the
Government for a grant of land for the purpose.
Bombay and its citizens are proverbially liberal, and
the rich Parsees will probably come forward very
readily to support it. It will give a stimulus to the
productive and manufacturing industry of India,
and turn the thoughts of its people into those
pacific channels which are the surest highways to
the wealth and prosperity of a nation. The Indian
quarter of the Great Exhibition of 1851 was by no
means the least attractive, and surely thi" gorgeous
East,'! in its native sphere, can produce something
worth looking at. Such exhibitions have a tendency
to refine and cultivate a people, and our Indian
subjects are not without their need of such elevating
influences. It is to be hoped that the Bombay ex-
periment will prove sufficiently successful to set an
attractive precedent. Perhaps, too, it may do some-
thing towards breaking down the barriers that
exist between the European and native. It is no
secret that the old traditions of Company ex-
clusiveness still linger among the civil and official
class, who for the most part are still disposed to
regard all planters and merchants, &c., with
disfavour. The shrewd, energetic business class,
to whose enterprise and industry we must look for
the future progress :of India, are regarded as inter-
lopers, while they on their side, no doubt, cherish
no very friendly feeling towards the antagonistic
element of Anglo-Indian society. Most probably
in this, as in most other cases, both sides are to
blame, and unquestionably the old spirit of routine
still lingers, and quarrels with every step taken out
of the old beaten track. Such as look with suspi-
cion on the new school should remember that the
long reign of the Company left India without rail-
ways, canals, or public works of any great extent ;
that vast tracts of land, now turned into flourishing
plantations, lay waste and profitless, and that the
revenue of India, though it had of course to be
estimated by the years immediately following the
mutiny, bore no comparison to its present buoyant
and prosperous
conditiOn. There is enough for
every Anglo-Indian to do in his adopted country,
and work as it may, the present generation will
hardly atone for the neglect of its predecessors, but
a greater unity of thought and sympathy of feeling
must exist between the several classes of Europeans