The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-15 00:00:00

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

(From the South African Commercial Adrettiser Jan. 2.)
The latest news from the frontier are to the effect that a
of the forees,.commanded by the governor in person,
has marched for Kreili's country, for the purpose of seizntg,
in the territories of that chief, 20,000 heal of cattle due to
the colony, either as cattle actually carried cif by the hostile
chiefs during the war, or equivalents for such cattle known
to have been placed there for safety. The troops selected
for this exr edition are said to be well equipped, and supplied
with everything required in such a service. The highest
expectations were entertained of their success. The distri-
bution of 20,000 head of cattle among the suffering borderers
will be a seasonable relief.

(From the South. African Commercial Advertiser, Jan. 7.)
The state of the country within the ancient border, now
delivered in a great measure from the inroads or marauding
parties of the enemy is at present very little understood,
at least at this distance. Private letters throw scarcely any
light upon it, and Government is entirely silent. There can-
not but be much suffering and distress, not so much amongst
the poor," who readily find employment at good wages,
nor amongst traders of any description, as business is
becoming every day more active, and certainly less lucra-
tive than in former times of peace, nor amongst mechanics;
nor, in short, amongst any class accustomed to live by serv-
ing the community by the distribution of the necessaries and
luxuries of life; the distress mast be chiefly amongst the
producers, the farmers on whose herds and flocks and crops
and houses, the whole force of the enemy's destructive powers
fell in the first instance. These, by their position in a new
country, the most respectable class of the community, may
be at this moment, in hundreds, at the very bottom of the
scale, distressed and helpless. The boards of relief, the
liberality of Government, and the noble sympathy of their
fellow colonists, have carried the " poor" safely, even com-
fortably, over the dark season of invasion. Merchants,
traders, and dealers of all sorts, carriers, mechanics, and the
like, have taken, and will continue to take, good care of
themselves. They have not been outwitted by the commis-
sariat. The former class would feel it the greatest of all
misfortunes to be compelled to approach the Board of Cha-
rity; but, with the spirit and position of independent men,
they are for the time in the least favourable of all imagin-
able situations. The instruments and means of production
have been swept off er destroyed. They have neither sheep,
cattle, horses, nor seed. corn. The least unfortunate are
crippled in all these respects, and many are wholly disarmed.
To the restoration of this class, in the first place, should the
whole energy of Government be directed; to their resto-
ration, that is, to make good to them the direct losses sus-
tained by the presence of a foreign enemy within the colony.
This compensation, as far as it is practicable, is to be taken
out of Kafirlaud. The Kafirs are in the same position as the
Chinese were in the recent war. They provoked hostilities,
they destroyed or seized private property, and they must, as
far as they are able, pay for both. he charges of the war,
on the part of Government, form one claim; the private pro-
perty seized or destroyed forms another. Private claims,
however, must first be satisfied, as the public, through its
representative, the Government, have the charge of private
property within its territory, or under its flag, as against
foreign enemies. Government is the grand insurance office
of the people, to which every individual pays an annual pre-
mium under the name of taxes. This may not appear in any
printed form ; it may not be set forth in any Act of Parlia-
ment; but it is in the spirit of the common law of England,
and it forms the first article in the code of political common
sense. That such is the opinion of her Majesty's Ministers
may be inferred from the appointment of Sir Henry Pottin-
ger to be Governor and High Commissioner for winding up
the war. He did this very thing in China. He made them
pay for the private property they had seized and destroyed,
and then presented a bill of costs incurred for conducting the
case to judgment and execution. In the present case the bill
of cost, which is understood to be rather heavy, will
probably be laid aside for a time, or at least till the
private claims are satisfied. It is with this view,
amongst others, that Sir Peregrine Maitland has
now stepped over the Kei. He wants back 20,000
head of cattle for the farmers, or more, but certainly
not less. About this number, or more, may have been al-
ready recovered, or rather taken from the Kafirs and Tam-
bookies, in the course of the war, some of which are distri-
buted amongst the sufferers. By the way, where are the
Kafir horses? They were said to have exhibited a formid-
able cavalry at the commencement of this quarrel. Very
few of them have been killed or captured, yet of late nothing
is heard of them. A great number of colonial horses were
also carried off during the war. These will not, of course,
be lost sight or. Besides their value to the colonists, they
are instruments of war in the hands of the Kafirs, who can-
not be considered as disarmed as long as they are mounted.

The commissariat is said to be now in a moat efficient state
on the frontier. The mules and horses, hut especially the
mules sent from this end of the colony, have been of signal
service, not only for draught and carriage, but for offensive
operations in the field. This monster, it seems, was unknown
to the Kafirs; and, upon one occasion, when a strong body
of them were rushing down upon a train of waggons, one of
the mules of the, party, by accident or instinct, opened his
mouth and uttered that peculiar voice, which the poet Cowper
supposes may forra one of the punishments of wicked souls
in the next world. The etletny turned and fled as if five
hundred lions had been at their heels.

This service has not yet been acknowledged in any official
dispatch, but it rests on a pretty broad bottom of private
intelligence. If true. it illustrates the credibility of Herodo-
tus, who relates how an army of Scythians was put to flight
by the braying of an ass.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
Powrsmount, SUNDAY.—By letters from the Herald, dated
Panama, Jan. 20 and 21, 1847, we are informed that while
the ship was at Siquatanejo, a circumstance occurred which
had nearly proved of fatal consequence. Captain Kellett
(the master), Mr. Hill (the purser), Mr. Thomas Woodward
(the surgeon), Mr. Goodridge, and thirteeen men in twt,
boats, went ashore to collect objects of natural history; and
shortly after landing, the whole party were seized by a larg,
body of Mexicans (half Indian, halt Spaniards), armed to
the teeth. It was with much difficulty they were restrained
from using their long knives before the arrival of the com-
mandant, who declared them to be Americans, and took
them all prisoners. Notwithstanding all remonstrance, they
were hurried up to a rising ground, and imprisoned in a
filthy shed. The Commandant would not credit their de-
claration of being Englishmen, although Captain Kellett
offered to take him on board his ship and convince him. At
last, he (the Commandant) was prevailed upon to allow
Lieutenant Wood, of the Pandora, tender to the Herald, to
go down to Acapulco (about 100 miles off), where there was
a superior officer, for instructions. The Herald, meanwhile,
had anchored in the port, and the seamen came forward in
a body on hearing what had taken place, to request the First
Lieutenant, Mr. Maguire, to allow them to man the boats
and make the attempt to rescue their captain, officers, and
messmates, which he most prudently declined. as likely to
lead to much bloodshed without accomplishing their object,
as 200 troops had been brought up to the spot by the Com-
mandant, who informed them that the moment any one at-
tempted to escape, or a boat left the ship's side, he would
break up the two boats which they had hauled on the beach,
and the troops should fire upon them. Having no arms, the
prisoners were obliged to put up with these insults, and re-
mained in their wretched prison six days, on the last of
which one of the party was taken into the bushes and
shown a large hole, which their captors had been digging
and was told that on the morrow they would all be hanged
and buried in that hole. On the following morning, how-
ever, Lieutenant Wood fortunately arrived in the boat,bring-
ing a letter from the Governor of Acapulco, ordering the
liberation of the party, which took place in the afternoon,
when they returned to their ship, right glad to be once more
on her deck. " A narrow escape we have had of it," says
our letter, "as any indiscretion on our part, or attempt to
rescue ourselves, would have cost us all our lives." The
Herald will remain at Panama until after April, when it is
expected she will proceed to the northward to endeavour to
gain some intelligence respecting Captain Sir John Franklin's
expedition.

A. court-martial, comprising Rear-Admiral H 3 -de Parker,
C. 8., President ; Captain Pascoe, of the Victory ; Captain
Chads, C.B. of the Excellent; aptain Henderson, C. 8., of
the Sidon ; Commander Goold, of the Victory ; and Mr. G.
L. Greetbam, Deputy Judge-Advocate of the Fleet, a.vern-
bled to try John Savage, able seaman of the Sr. Vincent,
120, on the following charges, preferred by Captain Milne :
"For that he, the said John Savage, when an able seaman
of her Majesty's ship St.. Vincent, was, on the 6th of March,
1847, absent from the said ship and from his duty without
leave, he having on the same day, at about eleven o'clock in
the morning, been found concealed in a locker on board the
schooner Alert, of Youghal, lying in Portsmouth harbour."
Mr. Charles Wiletts, Master-at-Arms of the St. Vincent,
was the first witness called, who stated that on the evening
of the sth inst., between five and six o'clock, the prisoner
went on shore on leave until seven o'clock on the following
morning; that he did not return on the expiration of his
leave, and witness reported him absent to the commanding
officer; and having received information from James Rey-
nolds, ship's corporal of the St. Vincent, that it was believed
the prisoner was on board a schooner in the harbour, called
the Alert, witness acquainted the commanding officer with
the information he had received from the ship's corporal, and
the latter was thereupon directed to go immediately, with
Mr. Biggs, midshipman, to search for the prisoner on board
the said schooner.

James Reynolds, the ship's corporal of the St. Vincent,

stated that on the 6th inst. he was informed on the Common
hard, Portsea, that one of the St. Vincent's crew had de-

serted, and that his name was Savage, au "A. 8.," who was
likely to be found on board an Irish schooner lying off Gos-
port, called the Alert. On reporting this fact tc, the master-
at-arms, on going on board the St. Vincent's hulk, he (wit •
ness) was sent with Mr. Biggs to board the said schooner,
and search for the deserter. The mate of the vessel denied
having any such person on beam, but on searching the wit-
ness found the prisoner concealed in a locker in the fore peak
of the vessel, which sailed immediately afterwards.
The prisoner is an Irishman, and entered on the St. Vin-
cent's books in June last, the first man of-war he ever served
in. He made no defence, and received a good character from
Captain Milne and the master-at arms.
After mature deliberation, the Court decided that the
charge had been fully proved, and adjudged the prisoner to
receive fifty lashes on his bare back with a cat-o'-nine-tails
on board the hulk of hevMajesty's ship St. Vincent, at such
time or times, and in such manner and proportions, as the
Commander in-Chief of her Majesty's ships and vessels for
the time being at Portsmouth aforesaid shall direct; to be
mulcted of and to forfeit all pay due to him forhis services
done in the Royal Navy ; and to be imprisoned in Win•
ches-
ter gaol for the space of twelve calendar months from the
date of the sentence, and during the whole of that term to
be kept to hard labour.
A great number of men have " run " from the St. Vin-
cent since her return from the squadron. The master of the
schooner will be prosecuted for harbouring a deserter from
her Majesty's fleet.
By the Poictiers Indianian, Captain Denny we have re-
ceived advices from the Cape of Good Hope station to the
10th of January. The Vernon, 50, Captain Fitzgerald, flag
of Rear-Admiral Inglefield, sailed on the sth to take the
command of the East India and China station, to reli▪
eve the
Agincourt, 74, Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, ordered
home.
The Dido, 20, Captain Maxwell, left the Cape for China on
the 26th of December.
The Nimrod, 20, Commander Dacres, sailed from Table
Bay for Algoa Bay on the 28th of December. She spoke
the Hound, 10, Commander Wood, on the 17th of November,
bound for the west coast of Africa.
The President, 50, Captain Stanley, [lag of Rear-Admiral
Dacres, Commander-in-Chief, and the Acornll6, Commander
Bingham, bound for the East Rolla and China station, were
at the Cape on the 10th of January; also the Thunderbolt
steam-sloop, Commander Boyle.
The Cleopatra, '26, Captain Wyvill, left Simon's Bay for
England on the sth of January.
The Kingfisher, 12, Commander
y*
Horton, sailed from St.
Helena for the west coast of Africa on the 21st January.
The Bloodhound steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander-
Phillips, came into harbour yesterday, to coal, sec
Lieutenant Hire, late of the Ueda, is appointed First
Lieutenant to the Rattler.
Lieutenant F. Beckett (1805), who was mate of the Lon-
don, 98, and commanded her launch at Copenhagen, 1801,
and was senior mate of the Spartiate, 74, at Trafalgar, has
had the out-pension of Greenwich Hospital conferred upon
him. He has deserved it.
The Wolverine, 16, Commander Hay, left Penang on the
10th of January for England.