The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-30 00:00:00

NATAL.
( From tke Natal Mercury, Jan. O.)
His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor was about to
proceed to Graham's Town, on a visit to his Excellency
the Governor, when the Sir Robert Peel left. He will
return to Natal by the next steamer, joining at Algoa
Bay. _ _

On Tuesday, Major Preston was sworn in as acting
lieutenant-governor, in the place of Colonel Boys, the
state of whose health, and intended departure from the
colony, have necessitated his retirement. His Honour
afterwards held a levee.
Scheepers, the re-captured convict, whose wanderings
after his escape from our prison extended to the Zula
country, declares that there are Englishmen in Panda's
service, by whom his army is regularly drilled and
trained.

THE CUSTOMS RETURNS.—The returns for the quarter
ending sth January exhibit a much nearer approxima-
tion of the value of imports and exports than has just
occurred. The imports show a very large failing off,
while the exports are considerably increased.
Mr. Cato, who had been on a tour to the southward
of Natal, returned to that place on the 22d of January.
He had gone as far as the Umtata River, having pro-
ceeded by the inland route, and returned along the
coast. Mr. Cole passed through the same country some
years back, and expresses himself astonished at the dif-
ference in the condition of the native tribes. During his
former tour he saw but few poople, but now he passed
through a dense population, who were rich in cattle and
bold in their bearing. He had seen what was said:to be
the wreck of the Grosvenor, which occurred about 80
years ago ; but both Mr. Cato and his'companion, from
indications which they saw, believed the fragments to
belong to a catastrophe of an earlier date.

THE BURMESE AND KAFIR WARS.

( From the Times.)
The intelligence which reached us yesterday from the
seat of war in the Birmese Empire, and also from the
eastern boundaries of the Cape of Good Hope, happily
warrants a belief in the speedy termination of these
harassing conflicts. In Asiatic monarchies the usual
consequence of pressure applied to the State by a foreigfi
enemy is a revolution in the palace, and Sovereigns, ac-
countable to no other law, are commonly xaade the vic-
tims of their own presumption and obstinacy by the
disafreethimikski.joaammixe, theii aearest relatives. A
catastrophe of this sort app'exsl2s-I:tate occurred at....tbe
Court of Ava. The Golden-footed Monarch, who was -
inaccessible to the remonstrances of, the British Govern-
meat, and who defied the languid attacks of General
Godwin, finds himself surrounded by more dangerous
enemies. A younger brother; who is said to be sup,
ported by the army, has decla;ed against the Sovereign,
and it may reasonably be hoped that the next account*
will apprise us that the Prince whose obstinacy has
led to these hostilities is deposed. His successor
will probably mount the throne with the assent o'
the British Government in India,, and he will inaugurate
his reign by relieving the country from the severe hard-
ships which the blockade and occupation of the great
rivers have inflicted on the population. Such, at least,
is the ordinary course which events have followed hr
similar disputes with the potentates of the East ; and,
although no confidence can be placed in the assurances
of an Asiatic prince who ascends the throne under such
circumstances, it is probable that the prime movers of
the war at the Court of Ava will have fallen in this dis-
turbance, and that the first care of the new Government
will be to restore peace. The provinces of Pegu and
Bassein have already been evacuated by the enemy, and
the Burmese forces are more concentrated in the vicinity
of the. capital. Ambassadors had, however, already ar-
rived on a pacific mission in General Godwin's camp ;
and there is strong reason to hope that the principal
labour of the campaign is at an end.
Unhappily this gratifying improvement in the general
state of our affairs upon the Irrawaddy is clouded
by an incident of a very melancholy and distressing
char..cter. We knew, from the last advises, that
an attack was about to be made upon a strong
position at Donabew' where a marauding chief;
with upwards of a thousand followers, had occupied the
square of the Pagoda, and
„ejected the head man of the
town, who had ben faithful to the British throughout
the war. These marauders, or da,coits, as they were
called in the army, had already given the forces some
trouble, for they occupy a country covered with jungle
and intersected with creeks, in the unknown delta of
'the river. Very recently a squadron of boats and
a steamer had been sent against them, and had
returned with loss, never having seen the enemy,
though 'they ascended a narrow creek, - staked in
several places, and were exposed to a galling fire. It
was therefore thought necessary to renew the attack on
these formidable robbers with a larger force, and Captain
Granville Lock, the flag-captain of the Winchester, who
had already shown the greatest activity and ability in
maintaining the communication by water between Prome
and Rangoon, determined to lead this enterprise in per-
son ; for, since' his arrival on the station last autumn, he
has been foremost wherever there was an enemy to be
encountered or a service to be performed. We learn
from the brief tenour of the telegraphic dispatch, which
gives us no further particulars, that the result of this
attack proved most unfortunate. It was repulsed by
the natives with very severe loss, amounting to
no less than 88 killed and wounded out of a
party which cannot have exceeded 300 or 400.
Two guns were also lost ; and, as if to render this disas-
ter the most painful occurrence in the campaign, it was
marked by the death of Captain Loch himself, who com-
manded the expedition, and of Lieutenant Kennedy, of
the Fox, while several other officers and mates were se-
verely wounded. We must await the arrival of the
mails for further information on the causes of this cala-
mity •, but throughout the service there will be one feel-
ing of deep regret for the premature loss of these gallant
gentlemen. Captain Granville Loch had found oppor-
tunities to distinguish himself even during a period of
general peace. In 1841 he was posted, and in the
following year he went out in the Dido to serve as a
volunteer on the staff of Lord Gough in the war in
China ; he was also present with Sir Henry Pottin-
ger at all the conferences which terminated that
war ; and in 1846 he obtained the command of the
Alarm (26), then on the West India station. In this
capacity Captain Loch conducted a very spirited expe-
dition in boats up the river San Juan de Nicaragua (the
scene of one of Nelson's early exploits), which enabled
him to adjust the differences then existing between the
British Government and the Nicaraguan Republic, and
to dictate a treaty with that state. For this service he
received from her Majesty the Order of the Bath, upon
the recommendation of Lord Palmerston. In 1852
Captain Loch was appointed by the Duke of Northum-
berland to the command of the Winchester, 50, which
was ordered to relieve the Hastings as flag-ship in the
East Indies. So that, by a singular coincidence, his
short but brilliant career was chiefly remarkable for his
services in river warfare on the Yang-tse7Kiang, the
San Juan de Nicaragua, and the Irrawaddy. Shortly
after his arrival at Rangoon Admiral Austin died
of cholera. The Commodore remained with the
squadron off the coast, and the command of the
river devolved principally on Captain Loch. In
spite of an oppressive climate and a harassing enemy he
kept the communications open, and succeeded, against
enormous odds, in compelling the Burmese to retire, in
great measure, from the stockades and positions they
held on the banks. In one of these desperate but ob-
scure encounters against a band of barbarous enemies
he is now reported to have fallen at the head of a fright-
ful number of his comrades and men, on whose courage
and steadiness he placed unbounded reliance, fOr they,
too, knew their leader ; and, though no death can be
more glorious than that of a British officer who falls in
the command of seamen and troops, and in the dis-
charge of his duty to England, we are painfully re-
minded by such an occurrence at how great a price the
warfare between civilisation and barbarism is carried on,
for Captain Loch wanted nothing to complete his fame
hut a nobler enemy and a more conspicuous field of

ynati suggest, increase
on of these fatal
action.
These considerations, which the loss of such officers as
Captain Loch in Burrnah, and Major Wilmot, with
manyur
,a
bill
ea ttletir.aml
campaigns. At the Cape, it appears that Governor
Cathcart has not only subdued the tribes on the frontier.
osatoitsjfiaecrtsion at
at the Capo
bepr
but, what is of more importance, has closed the disputed
transactions with them. Mosheish is at
peace ; Basuta
land is tranquil ; Saudilla and Macomo have retired be-
yond the Kei, and announced their submission ; and
peace and amity have been restored between the British
Government and Kreili, • with the Kei for a boundary.
These are by far the most complete accounts we
have yet received of the discomfiture of the enemy,
and, in spite of the distrust with which we cannot
but regard anything like good knews from British
Kafraria, it seems more probable than it has ever
done before that the war is
at an end. We still learn,
indeed, with some apprehension, that the Governor
has resolved to convert the Amatolas into a military
settlement, on a system which seem analogous to that
of the military frontier of Austria ; but it is, perhaps,
necessary to guard that mountainous region from again
becoming a fastness and retreat for predatory bands of
Kafirs, and we hope the sturdy farmers of Southern
Africa, will be in • duced by allotments of Crown lands to
hold this position. At any rate, this is the last time
that England will submit to the cost and loss attending
ent of ath
savages large army in a war against e employni
for the defence of a territory utterly worthless
to ourselves. Now that the honour of the Queen's arms
is retrieved, and the power of this country vindicated,
the abandonment of these remote and unproductive pro-
vinces would be preferable to any attempt to hold them
on such terms. When we have placed the colonial
population of the Cape in the most favourable conditions
for self-defence, we have done all that we can reasonably
be required to do ; and, if that is not enough for their
protection, the next step must be to draw the colony
within limits in which a more compact population and
a greater proximity to the seat of government will
insure its tranquillity.

A. WHOLESALE POLYGAMIST.—A fellow named Joseph
Wardle was, in September last, committed by the dis-
trict magistrates to Gloucester gaol, to await his trial
for bigamy at the spring assizes. It has since been as-
certained that the prisoner has married as many as six
wives, all of whom are now living—namely, one at
Mancher, two in Staffordshire, one in the Isle of Man,
the fifth at Birmingham, and the last at Dymock.
Wardle's plan appears to have been to obtain a sum of
money fromeach newlylnake bride, and then desert her.
All the wives, it is believed, will be present at the
assizes.— Cambrian.