The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-11 00:00:00

INDIA,

CALCUTTA, JAN. 22.
The character of the advices on both sides of the Isthmus
of Suez is now such as to inspire full confidence in the
maintenance of peace, and to lead to a %Nell-grounded hope
that the commerce and agriculture of British India will
feel, at no distant period, a fresh stimulus from ther
prosperity of English manufactures and the effects of a
just and equal system of duties on Indian produce.
Our affairs in the north-west of India and in Affghanistan
are in a satisfactory position. The reinforcements in
Seinde have. secured one good base of military operations,
and, whatever may be the result of the different pretensions
to the rule of the Punjaub, there can hardly be a doubt
that the influence of the-British Government in India must
be str engthened,,aud its authority, if not territory, increased.
in that quarter.

W.th.Nepaul and Ave there is no reason to suppose:
that any hostilities will occur.
The Gi,vernmcnt having just notified that the rate of ex—
change for advances on produce will Le 2s. hi. in lieu of
2a. 2d., a considt rable increase of the . sports cf • all our
staples may be anticipated iu the next two or three montknr,
and much acivity in our markets.
The exports of sugar still continue on a large scale, hay...
ing in the year 1840 been to Great Britain 53,000 tons,
against 25,500 tons in the preceding year; but this quantity,.
large as it is, is by no means commensurate with the apparent.
wants of Great Britain, and with what India is capable of sup-.
plying under fair encouragement by the equalization of then
duties on the produce of all British colonies.

In indigo much less has been done up to this period than
duringthe
the
finer
sortshave corresponding
been period‘vel ofl
maintained,last year,
and
tdt lie prices
havevery
nearly reached those of last year.
The intelligence from China, up to the date of the de-
parture of the regular mail, on the 17th inst., was such as ap-
parently to menace nothing but violent hostility as the inevi-
table termination, though by the news up to the 18th Decem-
ber, it appears that the Imperial envoy Keshen had so far
shown a desire to conciliate, by releasing Mr. Stanton, the
gentleman who had been kidnapped at Macao, and it is s,id has
offered to pay $5,000,000, or about 1,000,0(101. sterling, in
full of all demands, and to reopen the trade ; still he hae
gained the point of not going to treat personally with Captalia
Elliot, and the negotiation on his part was carried on through
inferior mandarins.
The preparations for defence appear to be unremitting, and
a report on the state of the Bogue forts by an officer deputed
for the purpose has been published, in which they are declared
to be impregnable. The tone of all the public reports and
documents is of unmeasured hostility to the English, and the
popular feeling at Canton is said to have been highly excite&
against Keshen,, who, it was rumoured, intended to proceed to
the Bogue to meet Captain Elliot.
The most unsatisfactory termination that could happen, and
what, to judge from Captain Elliot's proceedings hitherto,
I fear is not unlikely, would be the patching up of peace for
the sake of securing an early reopening of the trade.

• .
We are glad to observe that the mercantile community of
Bombay-are eager to call the attention of Parliament to the
state of the proceedings adopted on behalf of the British Go-
vernment towards the Chinese. We subjoin the copy of a pe-
tition on this subject which has been proposed and circulated
for signatures :

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS SPIRITUAL AND
TEMPORAL OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRI-
TAIN AND IRELAND, IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED.
The humble petition of the undersigned European and
native merchants, resident at Bombay, in the East

Showeth—That your petitioners are all engaged in trade
at Bombay, one of the most considerable and important
branches of which trade has hitherto been the commerce with
China.

That previous to the late interruption the annual exports to
China amounted to 2,568,503/., and the imports to 1,669,193 t.,.
while it has always formed a most valuable channel of, remit-
tance, and afforded in this respect the greatest facilities to the
direct trade between Great Britain and India, and has besides
given employment to a large number of vessels, not only be-
longing to shipowners in Great Britain, but also to native
merchants resident in Bombay, the latter of burden from 400
to 1,400 tons each, solely engaged in this branch of commerce.
That early in the year 1839 this valuable trade was suddenly
interrupted, under circumstances so well known to your Right
Honourable House as to render any detail of them here unne-
cessary, and up to the latest date from China, 17th December,
1840, it was still obstructed.

That though a partial trade has been carried on since the
first interruption occurred, vet the merchants generally have
been unwilling to risk property in it, and this fact is evidenced
by the official returns of the Bombay Custom-house for the
year from the Ist of May, 1839, to the 30th of April, 1840,
which give the value of the exports at 634,2401., and the im-
ports at 405,0581., exhibiting a decrease from the amount
already stated for the seine period in 1838-39 of 2,034,263/.
in the exports, and in the imports 1,294,135/. Not only,
however, has the interruption with China resulted in the de-
pression of the direct trade with that country, but has also
occasioned a serious and extensive derangement of the other
branches of general trade.
That a period of nearly two years has elapsed since the first
obstruction of trade, and by the latest intelligence its speedy
re-establishment on a firm, stable, and honourable footing con.
tinues uncertain.

That your petitioners, without inquiring into the nature of
the instruction received by the British authorities in China, or
how they have been followed, would now briefly draw the at-
tention of your Right Honeurable House to the events as they
occurred during this period. In May, 1839, all British sub-
jects were expelled from Canton, and the trade virtually
closed. On the 21st of June, 1840, Commodore Sir J. J. G.
Bremer, with the first division of the expedition, arrived at Ma-
cao, proclaimed a blockade of the river and port of Canton, and
sailed to the northward. On the 28th idem the Admiral also
entered Macao, and two days afterwards followed Commodore
Bremer with the second division. The sth of July was
marked by the capture of Chusan and the occupation of
the island. by the British troops. On the 29th of July
the Admiral and Captain Elliot, the Superintendent, pro-
ceeded to Pe-che-lee, where they arrived on the 10th of Au-
gust. On the 30th of August Captain Elliot held a confer-
ence with the Imperial Commissioner Keshen, when it was ar-
ranged, at the request of the latter, that further negotiations
should Cake pl .ce at Canton, whither it was understood the
Emperor would send a High Commissioner to ti cat on his
part. On the 21st of November the Admiral returned to
Macao, and about the same time Keshen, the High Commis-
sioner deputed by the Emperor, also arrived at Canton. On
the 29th of November the resignation of the Admiral was pub-
licly announced, and it was notified that his duties as Commis-
sioner had devolved on the remaining Commissioner, -Capt.
Elliot. On the 4th of December, at Canton, Keshen is stated
to have declined to meet her Majesty's Plenipotentiaries, and
that the I..tter gave notice that they would await him until the
17th, when, in the event of his non-arrival, they would imme-
diately have recourse to hostilities—which is the latest intelli-
gence your petitioners have received.
, That the demonstrations of the force of the British arms
which took. place at Chusan, Macao, and on some occasions
along the coast, struck terror and consternation for the time
into the minds of such Chinese as were witnesses to them, and
led all interested in the success of the expedition to anticipate
the best results from its future progress • but in the interval
which has been allowed to elapse the effect has been greatly
diminished, if not entirely lost, for it would appear by the last
intelligence that the mandarins and other officers at Canton
have again assumed the haughty tone of insolence which be-
fore marked their behaviour.
That though the facts already stated clearly demonstrate
how much the interests of the port of Bombay in particular
are affected by whatever stops or interrupts the British
trade with China, and prove that your petitioners are
not led to make the present appeal to your Right
Honourable House without strong and urgent reasons for
so doing, yet in a general point of view the question is one
of such magnitude and imp rtance, involving as it does alike
the direct trade between China and England, and that between
India and China, and the large revenues derived both by the
British and Indian Governments from these important
branches of commerce, that your petitioners are the more
confident in now praying that your Right Honourable House
may be p'eased to take the subject of our present relations
with China into early and favourable consideration, with the
view of urging the Government to adopt such vigorous and
decided measures as may seem to your Right Honourable House
best calculated to effect the speedy renewal of the trade on a
firm and permanent footing, such as may tend alike to the se-
curity of property and to the honour of the British name.
And your petitioners, &c.

SCINDE, CABUL, AND KOHISTAN.
space for months past, require
Overlandg en c from Courier.)
which has occu-
pied
n Isoos
el
atrhgree
ea l 0
ep(
oFarri
tioit
omi
ens t,ohtfeh
oeuirn teili
this month but little room to be devoted to their affairs. When
we were nearly ready for press, we received letters from Sukkur
of the 15th, and Candahar to the 4th January, the substance of
which we subjoin as the very latest intelligence from these
once more war-threatened regions. The following is from the
pen of a Correspondent, to whom we are under heavy obliga-
tions for Cutchee intelligence, and on whose accuracy the most
implicit reliance may be placed:— - --
" Our letters from Scinde inform us that our troops are
likely to be fully engaged—the wing of the 40th and 21st, and
a body of irregular horse, left Shikarpore for Poolajee on the
15th—the cavalry, the 41st, and Captain Pontardent's.artillery
are expected to follow in a day or two. The latest news ist .of
a character we would scarcely have expected, and, thee
broken
are net known; but the Murrees are reportedetoreieav
ciohuentryi
rebellions in
sudden way, and to have returned to the hills, taking
from the negotiations with Captain Brown at L h ,wiinthiittlh'eermy
Bebse Gunjan.
a state of-insurrection, and that theinstigatoratthteo
rued of Herat. n a day or two we
is proved to be yar Maho
Letters from Candahar also mntlon
be enabled to judge better of
shall have more of this news, and
it well known to all who were
suffer. considerably from ulcers,
its correctness.
o ii
without a tent, and rising t0'133 de-
At Shikarpore also fever
engaged in last 3e he Queen s troops, which was attii-
was prevalent among
rations of temperature, the thermometer
a species The t r troops p
troublesome at D a, daurs ec
caoiinzt.,
being in the mornl
grecs during the day
butel to the great.,v43"27 ~,,,

ra).7l:?tinst Schap
108f4.u1-;tr in
oedunAnot3otttrielyiiiilhSegaaUrsK risenxo
butuf itthh, i
easJgrdsafn:.
ronerrient will
Candabar.
Soojah, an
met Nusseer Khan is •
ever keep [hem q • afraid to surrender
Dust Mahom has been sent off to 11* , be.
cause indostan,: and he
dreads a similar fates; but he is willing to come in -
" You
wdilTidbeheeclawstueir)°P;rbeia;cte
pro-
mised to be kept in any part of Kutchee. The if he is
have something to do beyond the Bolan. troops will now
England's) was to have been broken One brigs le (Col.
break will require their services • up, but this free( in the the field. One brigade
moves from Shikapere this day, and the
panics of the 21st, with General B cavalry and flank corn-
roo
by the political authorities, on Monday Brooks and staff, accsnipanied
onday mornieg. Part of the
troops have already proceeded to Dadur.
~-Will you believe it, the remains of the late Brigadier Ste-
venson are allowed to moulder. .
in a grave half dug up by
jackalls ; there is no friendly hand to raise a simple tomb (cost
2this 0 rupees) to brave offic°r's me or • no, not one is there
to be found who will do m 3'
'frie ndshi
this last act of p—a duty, I
believe, onthe part of the commanding officer, or the political
authorities who are the representatives of Government. Is it
thus that the brave servants of the Honourable Company ale
to be treated? lit life he was everything, in death he is con-
sidered nothing."
Letters from Shirkapore of the 12th mention that the 4th
troOp. of Horse Artillery and right-winged Bombay 20th Regi-
ment of Native Infantry bad started that morning for Quetta ;
the Ist troop of Horse .Artillery and left wing 20th were to
march for Baug on the 14th ; General Brooks with the cavalry
on the 16th ; Brigadier Val,ant with her Majesty's 40th Regi-
ment and Bombay 21st Regiment of Native Infantry on the
18th. This force to rendezvous and remain at Bang until
Kutch Gundava, orrather the hill district and tribes adjacent
were settled : Brigadier England, with her Majesty's 41st, is
to remain at Shikagore pending these negotiations: on their
her Majesty's 41st and European Fort Artillery
adjustment
to return to Kurachee, and her Majesty's 40th, and Bombay
20th, 21st, and 25th Regiments to pass through the Bolan to
Quetta to occupy Khelat, Mwstongi and Quetta. The Ist,
sth, and 23d Regiments, the three e4Tps which went up in
November, 1828, with Lord Keane, 'to return to Bombay and
4 recruit in the Deccan.

MORNING EDITION.

PROPOSED DISTRIBUTION OF THE SCINDE
ARMY.
Quetta.-4th Troop Horse Artillery, 1 Company Golun-
dauze, 1 Company Sappers and Miners, 3d Cavalry her Ma-
jesty's 40th Regiment, 20th and 21st Regiments Bombay Na-
tive Infantry, and 2 Rissalas Skinner's Horse.
Khelat.—Half a Company of Golundauze, and the 25th
Bombay Native Infantry.
Dadur.—Half a Company of Golundauze, and the 6th Bom-
bay Native Infantry,
Shikarpore.—Scinde Horse.
Sukkur.-Ist and 2d Grenadiers, and 23d Regiment Native
Infantry.
Kurachee--Her Majesty's 41st Regiment, and sth and Bth
Bombay Native Infantry.
Our latest intelligence from Candahar of January 4, re-
ceived by way of Upper Scinde, gives very unsatisfactory ac-
counts of the state of the country. An insurrection had
broken out, which fortunately was detected in time and nipped
in the bud, otherwise the whole country would speedily have
been up in arms. An engagement had taken plane 'about the
beginning of the month, betwixt the 2d Bengal Native In-
fantry, with a couple of field-pieces, and alsout 1,200 of the
rebels. Particulars have not reached as further than that two
guns were taken, and some 60 of the enemy slain by us ; while
eight of our men, with one native officer, were killed, and two
Lieutenants wounded. The worst part of the matter is, that
the present insurgents are the Dooranees themselves, the osten-
sible supporters of the Schah Soojah, and it is known that had
anything occurred to postpone discovery, or prevent our im-
mediate and entire success, a general insurrection would have
ensued. Every man belonging to the army of the Indus who
can be spared from Scinde and Cutchee is on march towards
Quetta.