The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-16 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

(From the Overland Bombay Times, Nov. 14.)

GENERAL SUMMARY.—The latest accounts we
have from Burmah are up to the 23d ult. ; they
still represent the country iu a state of anarchy and
confuton. Several -clariiig- dacoities had taken
place, and, whether justly or not, the King of Ava
seems by general consent to be looked upon as re-
sponsible for them. Captains Latter and Smith,
commissioners respectively if Prome and Sarawab,
have been engaged with the .dacoits. The former
officer, on the 14th Septeredser last, received im-
portant despatches by the steamer Medusa,. at
Prome, and at once proceeded up in her : he found
that the dacoits had taken.- possession of a village
below'Meya,day, and had driven the unfortunate
inhabitants into the jungle; he Therefore returned
to Prome, from whence he took troops, and after
inflicting severe punishment on the dacoits com-
pletely cleared the village of them. In the conflict
the notorious Meah Toon was desperately wounded,
and he has been conveyed in a litter, it is said, to
Ava ; • so that for a time, at all events, the country
is freed from his raids. During the time Captain
Latter was accomplishing these events in the
district of Prome, of which he is Commissioner,
Captain Smith was also actively engaged in the
district of Sarawah. Gaining information from a
spy that a body of dacoits had arrived at Kanoung,
headed by their leaders, whose euphonious names
are Moung Koung Gyee and Nga Shoay Maik,
alias Myoo Ouk, he set out accompanied by a
number of Burmese, who had volunteered for the
occasion, and the upshot of thesaffair was, that the
first of these leaders was captured and hanged,
whilst the latter absconded ; nor did this dacoit
leader find it an easy' matter to elude the vigilance
of his foeS ; for flying from the Sarawah District
he unguardedly entered that of Promo, where
Captain Latter, hearing of his arrival, hotly pur-
sued him ; thus in avoiding one enemy he very
nearly ran into the hands of another, and although
his capture was not effected, his followers were
completely routed, and their leader himself is now
concealed (not for long) at some place in Martaban.
The results of these successful expeditions are,
that the districts of both Prome and Sarawah are
now peaceful, that trade has had new vigour given
to it, and that merchants and boats can proceed
from Rangoon, up and down the river, without
much fear of molestation. The two Roman Ca-
tholic priests, who, as we mentioned in our last
summary, had arrived at Rangoon, confirm the
report of Meeah Toon's being received at Ava,
and protected by the King ; they were also the
bearers of a message from the Monarch of the
Golden Foot, soliciting permission for his being
allowed to send three white elephants to
Rangoon with offerings to Shoey-dagon,
but Captain Phayre, to whom the re-
quest was preferred, feared the influence the
animals would undoubtedly exercise on the minds
of the superstitious Burmese, who firmly believe
that the sacred elephant is the source from whence
power is derived, and that the animal's presence is
only necessary to ensure the success of any
undertaking his worshippers may embark in ; and
so the gallant captain, not liking to refuse in dis-
tinct terms the request of the monarch, replied,
that on condition of the Frenchman d'Oorguny
being given up to him by the Ava government, he
would have no objection to the advent of the Royal
elephants. Of course the government will not
think of parting with their drill-master, upon whom
it seems they have set a most extravagant value,
and Captain Phayre knowing this, has availed him-
self of the knowledge to virtually refuse the per-
mission solicited. The name of one of the Jesuits
is Abona, and in addition to the request entrusted
to him relative to the elephants, he is also com-
missioned to prevail upon us to save the King of
Ava the disgrace; in the eyes of his subjects, of
losing Pegu, by agreeing to give him back the
territory for 15 crores of rupees which sum,
though covenanting to. pay, the King would not
liquidate, and the country would then become
ours, quasi in default of payment. The details
of the disturbance which took place in the gaol
of Rangoon on the Bth ult., have come to hand. '
About sunset the convicts seized upon the
muskets of the sepoys, which were piled, and
having possessed themselves of the weapons
quietly walked out of the gaol, to the considerable
astonishment of the guard, who saw their muskets
with bayonets fixed carried off before their eyes.
The convicts made, half of them, for the river
side, and half for an old burial ground, and al-.
though heavily ironed made such good way that
the Line Guards, who by this time had turned out
in pursuit, could not head them, particularly as the
convicts took a narrow road lying between two
swamps more than knee deep in mud. In this
state of things the guards had nothing for it but to
fire at the mutineers as they were seen running
away, and the Peons and Chuprassies cut down all
they came up with ; the result was, that out of
about 132 prisoners, 13 were killed, 43 were
wounded severely, 15 got clear away, and the re-
mainder were recaptured ; so severe were the
wounds inflicted, that itsis said all the doctors in
the place were employed the whole of the next day
in taking off legs and arms. 'lt is also reported
that, simultaneously with this emeute, another took
place in the gaol at Bassein. Having now closed
our remarks for the present relative o Burmah—
as his fame is closely connected with the conquests
he achieved in that country—this is perhaps the
most appropriate place to announce to our readers
the death of General Godwin, C. 8., at Simla, on
the 26th ultimo, at 2 o'clock a.m. The deceased
general was the guest of Sir William and Lady
Gomm, and his death is attributed to the germs of
disease which the climate of Burmah had sown in
his constitution. It will be remembered that Ad-
miral Austin, the commander of the naval arma-
ment in the. Burmese waters, died on the spot ; the
leader of the land forces has now departed, and both
have fallen victims to the climate. From the north-
west we learn, although of course we cannot vouch for
the accuracy of the information, that the Sirdar of
Herat has allied himself with the chiefs of Kabool
and Orgunj, and that a son of Dost Mahomed had
put himself in possession of Kelat-i-Ghilzee. It is
also stated that the Candahar Chiefs are proceed-
ing against Kelat, where, up to the latest date, no
force had been collected. The Commissioner in
Scinde is said to have received despatches from our
old ally the Khan, and it is generally supposed—
to use the phraseology of one of our contemporaries
—that " there is something in the wind's eye."
As we said before, we by no means wish to be
understood as placing implicit reliance on all the
wars and rumours of wars which are just now
talked of in India—what with the expected third
Burmese war ; the reports of the wide-spread con-
spiracy that caused, at nearly the same moment,
the murder of Colonel IVlackeson, the projected
seizure of Rawul Pindee, and the attempted assas-
sination at Luknow, ac., one would imagine that
we were on the eve of a hot war, whereas the fact
is, that, barring reports, India never enjoyed more
tranquillity than at present. Major Herbert
Edwards,. C.B. has been appointed to succeed the
late Colonel Mackeson, as Commissioner and
Superintendent of Peshawur ; his selection for the
important post, the duties of which now, more
than heretofore, seem to require vigilance and
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the Commissioner. Full details have not reached
us as yet, and we are therefore precluded from
saying more than that there seems every reason
to suppose that infanticide will, "in the Punjaub be
shortly numbered amongst the things that were.
The particulars of the attempt on the life of Col.
Sleeman, the Resident at Lucknow, are, that the
,
sentry posted at the Residency staircase heard the
sounds of footsteps in the Colonel's usual bed
chamber, which on that particular night (the