The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-29 00:00:00

SYRIA.

The followirig is h letter from the Sardinian Consul at
Beyrout, dated the 20th of October :
Serious events have taken place in the mountains—
events amounting to civil war. The Emir, as is known,
has established himself at Deir-el-Kammer, and given
orders for the levy of tribute ; but the Druses, instead of
bringing their contributions, attacked the town on the
13th, and the fighting lasted till the 17th. There were
42 Christians killed, and 100 Druses ; the latter, to the
number of 5,000, besieged the Christians, not numbering
more than 800 ; but the latter fought, protected by their
houses. There would have been no end to the combat
had not Colonel Rose and the English officers interfered
with Eyab Pacha, Aide-de-Camp of the Generalissimo,
and concluded an armistice. The. Colonel left the Paella
at Deir-el-Kammer. The Maronite Patriarch has sum-
moned his flock to arms. A mixed village of Druses and
Christians wished to remain neutral, but the Christians
attacked it, which made the village declare for the Druse
party, and the firing can be heard from this. The sale of
powder is again allowed here.
BEYROUT, OCT. 29.—Again has this devoted country
become the scene of violence and bloodshed. We shall
endeavour to give such details as may be relied upon,
congratulating the public, however, on the fact that poli-
tics have had nothing whatever to do with the cause of
the quarrel. It would appeal', as we have before stated,
that a degree of animosity has long existed between the
Druses and Christians, which has, at length, terminated
in open acts of hostility.
On the 12th and 13th instant a large party of Druses
and Christians from heir-el-Kammer, of all sexes and
ages were assembled, in order that the men should deli-
berate on the afikirs of " the mountain." Prior to the
discussion, the old fashioned and manly game of throw-
ing the djerid was played, and the utmost harmony
seemed to prevail. On a sudden, however, things
changed, and upon a pretext, which is differently related,
but appears from all accounts to have been of a most
frivolous nature, the Druses fell upon the unsuspicious
crowd, putting old men, women, and children to the
sword with the utmost ferocity. Nor did their barbarity
stop here ; numbers, upon preconcerted signals, arrived
and mixed in the fray which had evidently been previ-
ously organised, setting fire to the houses in the village,
by which many were destroyed.
The struggle now began in serious earnest. The Druses
armed on all sides. The Patriarch caused the Christians
to arm ; his commands were obeyed with alacrity, and
the Emirs Khangiar, Hagdar, and Samra, at the head of
large bodies of the mountaineers, hastened to the fray.
The Druses were not behind, and under the command
of chiefs of known bravery and tact, met in battle order
the people whom they had so scandalously assaulted.
The consequences were such as would seem incredible:
a hundred villages have been sacked, the loss of human
life has been dreadful on both sides, hundreds of chil-
dren who escaped the ruthless fury of the sword are now
in bondage, and the hatred existing is of such a nature,
as to lead to the idea that it will continue for a length
of time. The town of Beyrout has given shelter to
hundreds of miserable families burnt out of their villages
at an incredibly short distance from that place, to such
a point of insolent audacity have the Druses proceeded.
Colonel Rose, whose courage is proverbial, hastened
with some troops and his aides-de-camp, to endeavour to
allay the excitement—his endeavours were, however,
fruitless, as were also those of Selim Pacha, and even of
the Emir Beschir himself.

As yet, all that can be learned with certainty is, that
the tumult is far from being quelled. Some say the
Druses have been driven back—others that they keep
their position. From Damascus nothing has reached,
the roads leading thereto being intercepted.
All commerce has, of course, ceased, and the one wish
breathed is for the speedy return of peace, which is ar-
dently to be desired.
Plague is reported to have broken out at Mazara, a
village twelve hours' march distant.

MALTA, Nov. 5.
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Indus and Calcutta ships of the line sailed this
morning for the westward, under sealed orders ; and four
other sail of the line now in port, Rodney and Vanguard
to-morrow, Ganges and Revenge on Wednesday.
Various are the conjectures as to their destination, two
are supposed to be for Lisbon, but two (the Indus and
Calcutta, being teak built) for Cork, to take troops for
China, and the other two (one of them the Ganges) for
Smyrna. The Cambridge (in quarantine) and the Im-
pregnable three decker, have both received orders to
make good their departure as expeditiously as possible
and prepare for sea. They have all six months' provi-
sion on board. The Inconstant will sail to-morrow for
Cyprus, to convey thither the newly-appointed Consul,
1)r. Lilburn, and from thence proceeds to Beyroat. The
Acheron is ordered to England, and will leave about
Sunday next ; she is to be replaced by the Volcano,
daily looked for from England. A steamer (not yet
named, but supposed either the Cyclops or Prometheus)
will proceed to Trieste about the 22d inst., for the pur-
pose of conveying Sir Stratford Canning to Constanti-
nople. Mr. Fonblanque, Consul-General in Servia, who
is now here, will take his passage in her to Trieste.
ll►e Hastings arrived at Gibraltar on the 6th instant.
in 31 days from Malta, and 21 from Syracuse.
Nothing has transpired here respecting Sir Francis
Mason's proceeding to Lisbon, beyond what is reported in
the English papers, but, of course, he cannot leave this
station until Admiral Owen arrives.
INDIA MAILS. _ _

The Prometheus, with the mail despatched from Bom-
bay on the Ist ult., to be forwarded via Marseilles, was
five days in reaching that place, owing to heavy contrary
winds, having left Malta on the 26th ult. at midnight,
and arrived at Marseilles at the same hour on the 31st.
The mail was despatched thence on the morning of the
Ist instant, and will have reached London on the 6th.
The Prometheus arrived in port on the 12th instant'
at half-past twelve, p.m., with the London mails of the
4th instant.

The Oriental arrived yesterday at four, .4.. m., with th•
London mails of 30th ult., and proceeded with both mails
to Alexandria this morning. _

The Great Liverpool, with the Bombay mails of as
Ist ult., via Falmouth, arrived at Gibraltar on the 3d
inst., (having had a passage of Gi days from Malta) and
left again the same day for England, and her mail will
have reached London on or about the 10th instant.
The Cleopatra steamer left Suez on the 23d ult. at
7 p.m., with the London mails of September 30 mod Oct.
4. The following took their passage in her:—General
Hill, Colonel and Mrs. Robertson ; Colonels Cameron!
Wilson, and Macdonald ' • Major Poole ; Captains
Holmes, Hart, Rose, and Shawe ; Lieutenants Knox and
Jamieson ; Drs. Bowron, Browne, and IVright • Mr.
and Mrs. Moule ; Messrs. Freeman, Gibson, heir, 'Wal-
lace, Church, Matheson, Davison Nisbet, Colquhoun,
Scott, Chambers, Proctor, Gough, Eton, Smidley, Comp-
ton, Beecher (2), Storm, and Davidson ; Mesdames
Jamieson, Webb, Rose and child, Boyd, Ihrt, Poole,
and Watson ; Misses Goodfellow, Ballingall, and Jones;
and Mons. Faudon.
THE FIRST STEAMER DIRECT BETWEEN CALCUTTA
AND Susz.—The India steamer, of 1,200 tons, was to
leave Calcutta about the sth of the present month, and
may be expected to reach Suez in the first week of the
ensuing month.
The Iberia arrived on the 13th inst. from the lonian
willonin
Islands and Greece, with mails for England,
n which
o
be forwarded on to Gibraltar by the Alecto w
The Iberia left this afternoon for the
of
October
and Greece, and will convey the London mails
30 and Nov. 4. lonian
Islands
m
from the Cyclops to
the Dido.
APPOMTMENTS.—Lieut. Anderson,
mate,
to the Indus, and Mr. Rice,
Hildebrandf the
Stevens Marines,
to the Ganges, Lieutenant Frederick

SPAIN.
not comeAic mhoeNreA ,
dNe
coi
dv
e.
d2lOy. - The d Dvukane
Hd ea 11 ae Victorian is
c xpeedoes
to issue a proclamation, and raisepl od ythbesttahtaetof of
1840, siege.
The municipal body has been replaced
and the provincial deputation by that of 1837. Several
members of the old municipality refused to serve ; but
Van Helen threatened to arrest them if they refused.
The members of the Junta are accused of carrying off
45,000 piastres from the town treasury. It wanted tlin •
millions of reals to restore what was demolished of the
citadel. The papers of Barcelona aro violent against
the Regent. The French, like other strangers, have been
ordered to present themselves, within forty-eight hours,
at the police-office. If they fail, they are to be expelled.
MADRID, Nov. 18.—The return of the Regent here is
expected to be immediate. No day, however, is yet
fixed for that purpose ; of course, when the event oc-