The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-27 00:00:00

OVER LAND MAIL

INDIA AND CHINA.

(From the Morning Post.)
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
BOMBAY, AUG. 2.
I write you on this occasion by way of Ceylon,
per favour of the steamer Braganza, which will in all
probability arrive in perfect time to meet the Pre-
cursor from Calcutta, on her way to Suez. After
all, there is nothing of importance to write you about.
The English mails of the 24th ult. reached thin on
the afternoon of the 23d July.
India throughout may be said to be perfectly tran-
quil. An abundant supply of rain appears to have
fallen everywhere. The prospects of the ryots are
highly promising, and general contentment and quiet
seem to prevail through the length and breadth of the
Company's dominions.

From the Punjaub there is next to nothing to com-
municate. The affairs of the country seem to he
settling down to a state of general quiet, while the
most rigid economy is being exercised, and no doubt
is entertained but that the young Maharaja will find,
on attaining his majority, a considerable surplus in
his coffers. The French officer General Courtland,
who, it will be remembered, was refused employment

lately by the Lahore authorities, and who had been

subsequently taken into the service of the Jamoo
King, has at length been taken into favour again, and
had conferred on him the governorship of the whole
of the Trans-Indus territory belonging to the Lahore
state—the same extending from the boundary of
Kohat (the estate of Sultan Alahorned Khan, brother

of Dost Mahomed), as far down as Dhara Ghazee

Khan at Moo'tan.

Local magistrates have likewise been appointed for
every district, and these again have had placed over
them Nazims to look after the impartial administra-
tion of justice—thus affording a much less expensive
and speedier means of obtaining redress to the poor in -
ha

,bitants than that of being compelled to resort to the
capital. This measure, of course, judicious as it is, is
purely English, and does credit to the administration
of affairs by Colonel Lawrence. Even our system of
capital punishment, that of hanging, has been patro-
nised by the Seikl)s. Not less than eight murderers
were dispatched at once by this means on the morning
of the 14th ult. ; be it remarked, however, that these

were punished for no political offence, nor conspiracy

against the powers that be ; and the better to ensure
their being doubly dead, they were to hang suspended,
by orders of the Durbar, for three days together.
Our Resident, Colonel Lawrence, is, I am happy to
say, rapidly recovering from the effects of his late
ailment, which had arrived at such a pitch at one time
that his speedy removal to Simla was considered ab-
solutely indispensable.
Lahore, as a residence, is now, since the completion
of the improvements lately made by us, much co-
veted, and the term " filthy city," applied to it when
first entered by us, turns out now to be a complete
misnomer. It has been thoroughly gutted and
drained; abominable lanes converted into airy and
handsome streets, and all the filthiness with which
thoroughfares in the east usually abound, confined,
where it ought to be, underground.
The intelligence from Slade is still scanty and of
no great interest. The navigation of the Indus by
steamers appears to absorb the whole attention of the
natives along its banks ; the river itself has fallen
about two feet within three days. Between Shikar-
pore and Kussmoor a considerable body of freebooters
have their abode, and every now and then we hear
of some little dashing affair, which, in the present in-
stance, seems worth recording. Information was
given to the police at Shikarpore that a band of these
marauders were then a few miles distant from Kuss-
moor. Lieutenant Younghusband, in command of the
police, set out at daybreak one morning and came up
with the robbers a short time after ; these, after a
tough encounter, he seems to have completely routed,
chasing them as far as the Seikh territory, having
killed 29 of them and taken about 25 prisoners. Very
few of the Shikarpore police were killed, and on the

whole the matter appears to have been much thought
of at head-quarters. The accounts from Sukkur and
Hyderabad are every way satisfactory. Those from
Kurrachee are equally so. Lady Napier, whose
health was so much impaired, so much so indeed
as to induce the Governor to apply to the Governor-
General for an express steamer to convey her to
. .

Europe about September next, has now much im-
proved, and there is considerable doubt entertained
that either Sir C. Napier or his amiable partner
will even then quit Kurrachee ; they will not, at all
events, till after that month has expired, from the
nature of the weather at this season.
Matters begin every day to get more gloomy in the
Goomsor territory, and the immense sacrifice of
human life occasioned by the existence of the Meriab
sacrifice appears to be but little abated. Several
tribes, which have hitherto stood aloof, have, from
fear or otherwise, joined the standard of revolt,
headed by Chokra Bisshye; so much dreaded, in-
deed, has this chief become among them, that an
order from him to stay all agricultural and other ne-
cessary operations, to follow his standard, is with
them enough; no one dare dispute, none dare
grumble at, the behest of their master. The rebel
chief is everywhere well seconded both with men and
money, and on no occasion has the sympathies of the
heathen been better appealed to on the occasion of a
religious war (though this is one on a small scale),
than has this under the leadership of Chokra
Bisshye. That there was something rotten in the
manner our local authorities there have hitherto pro
ceeded, a short time must show, and from the
character given of the new agent, Mr. Grant, you
may rest assured of a searching inquiry being in
stituted, and the veil drawn up which has so long hid
in mystery the real cause of the non-success which
has hitherto attended the humane efforts of our
Government to stem the sacrifice of human life. We
hear of nothing satisfactory in any of our movements
in this quarter ; nothing, in fact, saving the daring and
successful exploits and defying threatenings of the
rebel chief—a village or two burned here, another
there—occasionally sacrifices at one spot, and rob
beries at another—and all under the very nose of our
sentries. Strange that affairs such as these should
not long ago have been finally subdued.
Dhoonghur Singh, the Wizard of the West, as he
may justly be termed, is still at large, driving
splendid trade by the levying of black-mail on every
village he comes across. Poor Colonel Sutherland,
our President in the Rajpootana States, with all his
aids and strategems, cannot, by any possibility, over-
take the rogue. He is not, be it remembered, reduced
to the necessity of bolting from the approach of our
troops. His resources are large, and his private in-
fluence extensive, and would not at all hesitate, when
he can catch an opportunity, of hinting to Colonel
Sutherland, when the latter little expected him, "that
Doongee was here," and backed with a force, too,
sufficient to swallow up, so far as numbers were con-
cerned, the straggling detachments sent against him.
nAol rwe aoduyd
wonder.
s. the Col
Information o onello si as
blrl
opuagt
hi etnic w
ne
th
ai tthohni m and
, sucha
day he will be found at Nusserabad—a party is sent off
instanter—when, lo ! the wizard is then found to `kbe
quietly located at Harrowtee, very far beyond reach
from that quarter. As matters are to be, however, it
is to be hoped you will soon hear of his capture.
Instructions have been issued to all officers in com-
mand of detached parties of our troops to march on
without waiting for orders from superior authority.
As it is, throughout the independent native states no
traveller can pass the roads ; life and property every-
where are alike at stake.
The intelligence from other parts is unimportant.

Our local news is chiefly absorbed by the inves

gation pending in the coal conspiracy case—several
other parties appear to be deeply implicated, and
Government seems to have been robbed in this de-
partment alone to a most alarming extent.
The intelligence from China is important thus far,
that the rumour of another attack by the Chinese on
foreigners turns out to be without foundation. By
latest accounts all was quiet at Canton, though busi-
ness was at a complete stand still. Governor Davis
appears to be completely forgetting himself ; he
seems to have fallen into disrepute with every one—
even the Chinese themselves have lost all confidence
in him as the powerful representative of the barbarian
throne. The affair of Ronan especially, the full and
official account of which I append, will best show

wherein Sir John Davis has forgotten himself. For
further intelligence from this quarter, I have only
room to refer you to the China local papers, which
will of course reach you direct with this.

BOMBAY, AuG. G.
I wrote you on the 2.11 iazL by way of Ceylon, I
write you by way of itiadra* but fur the safety
of neither of these documents can I become surety.
The weather down the coast just now is anything
but propitious, so that for the safety of the former,
going as it does by sea, I will not be over sanguine ;
for this one, going as it must do over the Ghauts, in-
fested as they are at this season by bands of barefaced
thieves, I can only hope against hope.
It matters but little, I suppose, whether or not
this reaches you, four days' intelligence at any time
—much less in a period of peace, and during the
most teazing weather—are never likely to be pregnant
with importance.
_

The Punjaub accounts have in them nothing better
nor worse than when I wrote you four days since.
All is quiet and peaceful ; the Queen-Mother alone
seems to be the only malcontent at the capital. Col.
Lawrence, our able Resident there, continues to im-
prove in his health, while retrenchment and the most
rigid economy appears to be the order of the day in
all measures likely to affect the interest of the state
exchequer. Considerable gratification has been dif-
fused among all parties by the Announcement of the
intended elevation of the Gallant General, Sir J.
Littler, to a seat as provisional Member of Council,
and to the honours of the Bath ; as much as this, if
not more, has been long expected, and though they have
come now, at the eleventh hour, they are not the less
very well deserved.

The accounts from Affghanistan contain nothing
that is new. The Dost appears to be still very
much put about by the menacing attitude shown
by the Ghilzie portion of his subjects. Sultan
Jan seems to be blustering much at Khelat, and
is said to have emissaries and sympathisers even as
far as Caubul itself. The arrangements, whatever
these may be, which have been made betwixt our
Government and the Dost, seem to have afforded him
every sort of satisfaction, and there can be no doubt
,ththate bpi so
sttu
willr u lentm a kseo son
it h
his bbeeenstgatheredo
ut or
hist a tf,a
tnhoewr s
to foster the good position with our Government
which has now been established, valuing, as he must
do, at its proper value, the fact that we were the first
to act on the initiative. From Peshawur there
is also scarcely anything that is new. Lieu-
tenant Lumsden, our agent there, appears to
have met with an accident while crossing the
Hooslie river on his way to Ilussun Abdal. By some
accident or other, he fell into the water, and was with
difficulty rescued by two natives. Orders appear to
have been issued for the division of the territory into
thamahs, as has been done in some of the districts
within the Punjaub, for the purpose of trying and
punishing offences on the spot, by magisterial autho-
rity, instead of as hitherto, having to prosecute and
bring every grievance before the authorities at the
capital. The measure, you will admit, is a highly
judicious one—affording, as it does, a safe, speedy,
and economical mode of obtaining redress to the poor
inhabitants, who heretofore had been deprived of all
chance of appeal.
Robberies still prevail within the Khyber Pass—
so much so, indeed, that the place to travellers is
virtually shut up.
All the accounts from the Goomsoor country give
a very melancholy picture indeed of the non-success
which hay hitherto attended all our efforts to stop the
sacrifice of human life. Every new day brings fresh
accounts of the daring exploits of Chokra Bisshye,
the powerful leader of these disturbances ; and it is
much to be regretted that the season alone prevents
those measures on the part of our Government from
being put into more effective operation.
There appears to be considerable stir making from
the rumours of an outbreak taking place in China ;
even our authorities here appear to be ,among those
who put the most reliance in them, and the reported
movements of steamers in due course for that direction
are keeping every one here on the qui Live for further
intelligence, and more authentic we hope it will be
than that which has lately found its way hither from
China. You will by the arrival of this have much
more authentic particulars regarding China matters
than any I could send you ; besides you will be aware
that this is the route by which my budget must needs
be confined within the smallest limits.

In subjects of local interest I have nothing to
communicate. The economizing and rigid entrench-
ment begun by Lord Hardinge has now found its
way to this Presidency, and disposal of the services
of our junior magistrate of police is one of the first of
a series to which report assigns a most extensive field.
Since I wrote to you on the 2d we have been
blessed with one continued plump of rain. Fortu-
nately, on the score of health, our Presidency has
little to complain of just at present.

(From the Times.)
We have received from Marseilles our letters in
anticipation of the Calcutta mail of the Bth of August.
The dates are from Calcutta to the Bth and Madras
to the 13th of August.
Our advises from Bombay only reach to the 6th
of August, by post-office dank to /lladras, there
not having been any monthly direct mail from that
Presidency in consequence of the South-Went mon-

soon.
We have received more precise information as to
the amount of retrenchment which the Governor-
General has determined on effecting in the army.
Che Bengal reductions, including one Queen's regi-
ment, will amount to 30,000 men; in the Madras
army, to 10,000 men, entirely from the native force;
.
and in Bombay to 70,000 men, including a Queen's
regiment. The total reduction in expense will
amount to a sum of about 1,160,0001., which, with
other additions to the credit budget, will this year
relieve the finances to the extent of at least
1,780,0001.
These retrenchments, which the Governor- General
considers it safe at present to adopt, will, with the
Five per Cent. Loan, about equalize the revenue with
the expenditure.
The Punjaub was in repose, and our influence there
in so satisfactory a state as to give promise of its
benefits being soon appreciated by the people. Nor
are there any complaints from Sinde. The Lower
Indus will shortly, as we announced on the arrival
of the previous mail, be handed over by General Sir
Charles Napier to a purely civil Governor. The
only movement of any description in the Peninsula
was a combined attempt by small bodies of irregular
cavalry to catch the wandering Dacoit chief Doongur
Singh.
It was expected that after the rains important alte-
rations would take place in the distribution of the
forces on the frontiers. It was also thought probable
that at the same period active steps would be under-
taken for a settlement of affairs in the subsidiary pro-
vinces of Hyderabad, at present in a most disordered
state.

The Bombay news to the 6th of August is remark-
able principally for the disposition exhibited by the
journals of that presidency to comment on the pro-
ceedings of the authorities of the Indian navy. A.
lieutenant of that navy was deprived of his commis-
sion for having allowed a steamer (the Cleopatra),
under his command to get aground four years ago in
the Red Sea. The same steamer was lately lost with
300 souls on board, in consequence of having been
sent to sea in an unfit state. There appears to be no
doubt of the loss,: of the Cleopatra during the rough
weather in the middle of April last. She has not
been heard of since that hurricane.

The Delhi Gazette of the 28th of July contains the
following paragraph, descriptive of the state of the
north of India : _ _

" We believe we have rarely put forth any issue of
this paper so singularly barren of news of all kinds
as the one that now leaves our hands. There is
absolutely nothing to record—no plots at Lahore,
no risings in Mooltan, no threatenings from Caubul,
Persia, and Russia. All as quiet and peaceable as it
is possible to desire, both within and without our pos-
sessions."

The steamer Auckland was under orders to proceed
to the eastward ; some said to attack the pirates oft
Borneo, but others maintained that she would have to
go to China. She is to make inquiries about the
missing Cleopatra on the voyage.
The steamer Nemesis, with Mr. Brooke on board,
had a severe action on the 30th of May with a fleet of
piratical prahus off Labuan. The pirates were coin-
Lpletely routed, several of their prahus having been