The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-28 00:00:00

OVERLAND MAIL

INDIA AND CHINA.

(From the Chronicle.)

We have received by extraordinary express our
private letters and dispatches, in anticipation of the
Overland Mail, from Bombay to the 21st May, and
Calcutta to the 11th.

BOMBAY, MAY 21.

(PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT

But a brief period has elapsed since the departure
of the last mail, and the interval has been pretty
nearly newsless. Sir Charles Napier reached Cal-
cutta on the 6th inst. (Sunday), and, landing about
three in the afternoon, when noboly seems to have
expected him, proceeded at once to Government
House. A correspondent of one of our Bombay
papers thus describes his advent :
" As befitted the brother of the Evil One, Sir Charles
came amongst us heralded by a squall and a whirlwind;
and the thunder from the saluting battery was answered
by the growling of that above. I was passing Govern-
ment House on his approach, and turned into the en-
closure to see him alight. There I found naysAf one of
four Sahibs in plain clothes, and a lot of the Staff, who
had assembled to receive the conquering hero.' On
descending from the barouche in which he was brought
from the ghat, he turned to speak to the native officer
in command of the Sepoy Guard, which alone was
drawn up to receive him; and I dare say the venerable
Jack' will feel himself a few inches tailor for the in-
terview. After this, the old gentleman, whom I had
no difficulty in recognising after seeing his portrait,
trotted up the big steps, and so disappeared from the
sight of his admirers. He, with his suite, was dressed
in the blue frock coat, and he wore his plumed cocked
hat."

Next day, Monday the 7th, Sir Charles was sworn
in, and assumed the reins of command as head of the
Indian army, and took his seat as Extraordinary
Member of the Council of India. He then issued a
general order, announcing the commencement of his
duties, and giving sundry directions of an official
nature in his new capacity. The following para4raphi
of the order will be of interest to your readers :

" General Sir Charles James Napier, in thus assuming
the command, in consequence of the Right (lon. Lord
Gough's period of service having ended cannot do so
without directing that the honours hitherto paid to this
distinguished nobleman be continued to him by those
armies at whose head he has gained so many victories.
" To the Queen's and Company's armies Sir Charles
James Napier has only to express the pride he feels at
once more serving with them, and the pleasure with
which he heard, on reaching the East, that at Goojerat
they had added a fresh victory to their annals, and a
new conquest to our empire."
The new Commander-in, Chief has, by this time,
proceeded to join the army in the North. The fol-
lowing appointments have been made on his Excel-
lency's personal staff :
" Major J. P. Kennedy, IL M. 25th foot, to be Mili-
tary Secretary.
" Major W. C. E. Napier, H. M. 25th foot, to be Aide-
de-Camp.
" Major W. M. G. McMurdo, H. M, 78th foot, to be
Aide-de-Camp.
't Lieutenant E. D. Byng, Ist European Bengal Fusi-
hers, to 132 Aide-de-Camp.
" Lieutenant Sir E. Fitz G. Campbell, B.Art., H. M.
60th Rifles, to be Aide-de-Camp. _ _

" Lieutenant-Colonel G. T. C. Napier, Cape Mounted
Rifles, to be Extra Aidr-de-Camp.
" Captain H. W. Bunbury, H. M. 33d Foot, to be
Extra Aid,--de Camp.
"Captain F. P. Harding, H. M. 223 Foot, to be Persian
Interpreter.
" Assistant-Surgeon A. Gibbon, of the Bengal Medical
Service, to be Surgeon."
The fugitive Ranee, mother of the ex-Maharaja of
Lahore, is, it is said, to be sent back to Uhunar, under
charge of an escort of Irregular Cavalry. The British
resident at the Court of Nepaul must have demanded
her surrender, and the Raja must have felt con-
strained to comply with the requisition. But it
would have been much better for all parties
had the Indian Government washed its hands of her,
and allowed her to proceed whithersoever she listed.
The allowance of her Highness'a former paramour—
the ex-Minister, Lall Singh—is stated to have been
" stopped till further orders ;" an intimation which
seems to imply that the burly Lothario may have had
something to do with the Ranee's escape from
Chun ar.
In the early part of the present month the trial of
Dewan Moolraj was going on at Lahore, before a
court consisting of Mr. Mansell, as president, and
Brigadier Godby and Mr. Montgomery as members.
The court was, very properly, an open one. Jr.
Bowring was conducting the prosecution. There
were very many witnesses to examine—some ac-
counts say three hundred—so that the result of the
trial can hardly be expected to become known for a
considerable time. The report of the escape of Shere
Singh has been contradicted. He and his father,
Chuttur Singh, are said to be both residing quietly
in the village of Attaree. The Governor General
has ordered that the ladies of officers who have pro-
ceeded on in advance return forthwith to Lahore and
Umritsir. The cause assigned for this mandate is
the scantiness of good house accommodation : the
real one is believed to be the fear entertained by his
Lordship lest any of our countrymen should again
fall into the hands of an enemy—the country being
as yet far from settled, though externally tranquil.
By the last accounts, crime continued to increase in
and near Umritsir. No news of interest bas been
received from Peshawur. The following order has
been published relative to the troops here :
" Head Quarters, Simla, April 30, 1849.
" With the sanction of the Right Hon. the Governor-
General, his Excellency the Right Hon. the Commander-
in-Chief is pleased to direct that the whole of the troops
at Peshawur, shall be considered as one force, and re
garded precisely the same as troops of different arms,
serving together in any district in the provinces.
" The rank of Brigadier-General conferred on Colonel
the Hon. H. Dundas, C 8., of Her Majesty's 60th Rifles,
in General Orders of the 27th January last, is resumed,
and he will, until further orders, command the district of
Peshawur (a dependency of the Punjaub Division) as a
Brigadier of the first class. with a Nlajor of Brigadier as
his staff officer, retaining, however, for the present, the
Superintending Surgeon, the Commissary of Ordnance,
the D-puty Judge Advocate-General, and the whole of
the Engineer and Commissariat forces belonging to the
Bombay Presidency, who are now serving with the Pes-
hawur Force.
" All other Staff Officers of the Bombay Column are
permitted to return to their respective duties at their
own Presidency.
" The whole of the Artillery of both Presidencies re-
maining at Peshawur, is to be formed into an Artillery
division, under the command of the senior officer of that
branch, with an Adjutant for the Staff duties of that
division. " By order, &c.,
(Signed) "PAT. GRANT, Lieut.-Col., A.G."
A correspondent of the Delhi Gazette states that
Captain Ross is to be the Commissioner at Leiah;
that Mr. Edgeworth is to be at Moultan ; Mr. E.
Thornton at Jhelum, or thereabouts; Mr. Montgo-
mery at Lahore and Umritsir ; Mr. D. M.Leod at
Jullemdar. The editor adds that Captain Ross is to
have Mr. Henderson, C.S., Lieutenant Reynell Tay-
lor, of the Cavalry; Lieutenant Young, of the Engi-
neers; and Colonel Cutland under him in the Leiah
commission.

You will be glad to learn that Appa Sahib, the
pretender to the Nagpore Raj, has at length fallen
into the hands of the Nizam's troops. The Bombay
Times says :
" Authentic intelligence reached Hingolee on the 11th
instant, that the headquarters of that division of the
Nizam's army, under Brigadier Hampton. came up with
and captured the impostor calling himself Appa Sahib,
on the 6th instant, after a severe engagement with his
followers, amounting to upwards of 300 Rohillas. The
loss on the part of the Nizam's troops amounted to
four European officers, and seven or eight troopers of
the 2d cavalry wounded, whilst that of the enemy is
stated to have been upwards of 200 killed and
wounded, the pretender being amongst the latter, hav-
ing received two sword cuts on the head and one on the
right leg. The force had marched between forty and
fifty miles on the night previous to the engagement, the
brunt of which fell on the cavalry, who nobly sustained
the honour of the service to which they belong. An
eye-witness states that their charge was a most brilliant
affair, in which several of the European officers of the
force joined. The flank companies of the 2d (Russell's)
Nissen infantry did good service in thick brushwood
growing in the vicinity of the battle field, whereby many
Rohillas were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. The
Hingolee force was on its return to cantonments, having
the soi-disant Raja of Nagpore and several of his fol-
lowers as close prisoners in its train. The names of the
European officers wounded in this galland and well-ma-
naged affair are, Brigadier Hampton, dangerously; Major
Lysaght, ditto; Captain Commandant Yates, severely;
and Capt. Orr, slightly-. It was at first supposed that the
two former would each have been obliged to have un-
dergone amputation of the wounded leg, but at latest
dates they had much improved, and it was hoped the
limbs might be saved. Lieutenant Robinson, of the ith
Bombay N. 1., who was on leave at Ringolee when the
force took the field, accompanied it as an amateur, and,
with Dr. M'Egan, is mentioned as having behaved most
gallantly in the fight, these two gentlemen having joined
in the charge of the cavalry, and cut down a number of
the enemy. The horse of the latter was severely
wounded. The whole affair was most brilliant, and re-
flects the highest credit on Brigadier Hampton and the
officers and native troops under his command; and they
no doubt as they deserve, receive the special thanks
of Government for having secured one who has for a
long time past been the fruitful source of mischief and
crime."

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE BOMBAY MARKETS,

FROM MAY 12 TO MAY 19, INCLUSIVE.

SATURDAY.—The interval which has ellpt,ed since the
departure of the last mail lus been so short, and there
his been so few ;mportations of staple articles, that any
great amount of business could not be looked for. Our
s-asen, besides, is now fast approaching to a close. To
Rurracbee and Pt rsia the dispatch of goods has already
wand, but to Marwar 4114 Qozerat the trade etill con•