The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-28 00:00:00

THE SCrN,____LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 28, 1848

DEATHS FROM ♦LL CAUSES ...

Population
Enumerated,
1841-
West Districts... 300,711
North Districts.. 375,971
Central Distr...:4s 373,653
East Districts ... 392,444
South Districts .. 501,190

1,20?

Totals... ..... 1,948,369

Average weekly Deaths
Deaths, 1843-7. in the
Five Summers. Week.
142 ... 153
. 182 ... 231
. 178 ... 170
, 219 ... 318
. 251 ... 335

Malea
Females

BIRTHS IN THE WEEK.

Males
Females

Total ...

... 1,207
„ 585
.. 622

... 1,366

• There are 34 cases of death by Cholera included in
this number.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
We are in receipt of files of the Cape Town and
eastern provincial journals to the end of September.
They add, however, little to what was already known.
With regard to the action of the 29th of August, Sir
IL Smith and the letter writers of his camp, do all justice
to their own gallantry. The Boers were numerically
stronger, but they were undisciplined, and Sir Harry says
there were many " boys" among them. They ; had no
artillery. Sir Harry is a first-class soldier; he had dis-
ciplined:troops—most of them accustomed to be under
tire in the Kafir war ; and he had six guns. The
main force of the Boers had taken up a very strong
position, which they maintained for three hours, and
were only driven from it by artillery, placed on com-
manding heights on their left. While the main body
was engaged, a strong detachment made a not unskilful
side movement for the double purpose of taking the as-
sailants in front and capturing the army waggons and
stores. This movement was repulsed by the artillery.
Sir Harry and the letter writers :state that the force
under Pi etorius is broken upland scattered in all directions.
After the fight two prisoners fell into Sir Harry's
hands. One was a deserter from the 45th Regiment.
the other a Dutchman of the name of Dnej er. They
were tri, d by court-martial, and both were shot.
With regard to Sir Harry's proceedings after the
battle we have to notel:—ln a proclamation dated
the 7th he declares-0 I hereby prohibit all public
meetings; and I hold any one guilty of felony who
shall endeavour to convene any ; and if they at-
tempt to do so I have posted at Bloem Fontein a
large force of guns, cavalry, and infantry; and will con-
struct such a fortification at Bloem Fontein, well de-
fended by cannon, as shall insure its safety during the
absence of the troops in the field." Under the guard of
this force and fortress he leaves his secretary "on
private and confidential duty for the purpose of selling
confiscated property and levying fines." In the minute
from which we have been
,quoting Sir Harry inserts
between an announcement of confiscations and ;the
prohibition of public meetings, the following decla-
ration:—" And I hereby make known that all mar-
riages heretofore contracted in the district of Win-
burg, and not recorded as set forth in my procla-
mation, are illegal, and the offspring thereof can inherit
ao property within the colony."
A public meeting was held at Swellendam on :the 7th
September," to petition the Queen to grant this colony a
Legislature which shall be freely chosen by the inhabit-
ants." Copies of the resolution adopted there were
forwarded to influential persona in every town and vil-
lage of the colony, inviting them to co-operate. A dis-
tinct movement was in progress in the ea.tern districts;
meetings had been held, and permanent associations
formed for the purpose of obtaining a separation of the
eastern from the western districts, and the concession of
a free elective legislature, with self-government in all
local affairs, at Port Elizabeth, Graham's Town, and
Fort Beaufort. The Cape Town press, of all shades of
opinion, treats these movements as serious, and the pro-
vincial journals warmly support them.