The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-31 00:00:00

OVER LAND MAIL

INDIA.

Letters from Bombay to the 20th Juno inclusive,
Bombay. journals to the 19th, and Calcutta papers to
the Bth June, have been received.
The London Mail of the 7th April reached Bom-
bay on the 6th, Madras, Meerut, and Delhi on the
12th, Calcutta on the 14th. and Colombo on the 18th
May. The mail of the 24th April reached Bombay
on the 25th May, Delhi, Meerut, and Calcutta, on
the Ist June. The Peninsular and Oriental Com-
pany's steamer Haddington, with the mail of the
same date, reach Point de Galle on the 29th,
Madras on the 31st May, and Calcutta on the sth
June. The mail of the Bth May reached Bombay by
the steamer Ajdaha, on the sth June, in the unpre-
cedentedly short space of 27 days and eight hours
from London.
The following is a list of the names of the passengers
who reached Bombay on the morning of Thursday, the
25th of May, by the steam frigate Muoz,iffer:—Com-
luat&r Campbell, 1.N., and servant; Lieutenant W.
Wylde Brown, 29th Regiment N.I.
The following is a list of the names of the passengers
who reached Bombay on the morning of the sth inst..,
by -4:11-07-ateartmfArdaha:—Rrom,Sws: .Mrs. Eliaai and
a Eurn44:(Male servant; L. Farrant, Esq.' Bomb:iy,
C. f:M t aptmll Grimes, Mddras Aimy; and Mr. Bad
den. Second class: Mr. Ernest David.
The following is a list of the, names of -the passer.-
gers proceeding ;to Sues this evening by the steamer
Akbar:—Dr. S. Sproule, Bombay army; and Mr. James
Inrciu Cordoza. •
A correspondent of a morning contemporary writes as
fullo‘vs:—

BO3IDAY, JUNE 19.—The news by the present mail is
of more than ordinary interest. The Punjaub, formerly
the scene of so much turbulence, has, after a couple of
years or tranquillity, again become the theatre of very
important events. Of the murder of the British Com
missioners, Mr. Vitus Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson,
Wtlo Were sent by the Resident at Lahore, with an escort
of 566 Seikhs, to receive possession of the province of
NtAtan from its governor, De Nan Moolraj, and
taleil :measures for the installation of' his successOrie
0/i will already have been informed ; and the
,;authentic details of the circumstances attending
olis disastrous occurrence -- showing, beyond the
Tossibility of a doubt, that the Dewan was a
;:4onsenting party to the butchery of our unhappy
:aourttrymen—will also no doubt have reached yourlhands.
would seem that the Queen-Mother, Renee Chunda,
"fill recently confined at Shaikhoopra, a place about thirty
ioiles from Lahore, DewanMoolrej of Moultan, and some
Neople at the Seikh capital, had fur some time been en-
:gaged in forming a plot, the object of which was to corrupt
our native troops, and with their aid to rise upon and mas-
sacre the English residents, and gain possession of the
city. The Ranee supplied the money, or a great part of
it, required for this desperate enterprise, and it was
distributed by :her Moonshee and confidential agent,
amen named Gunge Ram. Khan Singh,. an ex-colonel
Of artillery, and Golaba, a trooper, were in league with,
thee.,Moonshee, and; there .eaere a number of others- of
„leper note who were to huveitiven aid in carrying the•
conspiracy into effect. It alppears to have been the
original intention to seize and confine, not actually take-
ehtlives of, the British', Commissioners, and it was-
thOtaght that, as, soon as intelligence arrived of their
capture, a strong force would infallibly be sent off-toe
Moat/unit' order to, effect their liberation, when, taking'
adiaatage of the withdrawal of .the troops, the con-•
spregire would be able, without difficulty, to carry out
their att4 Things, however, turned out somewhat dif-
ferently n. what had been anticipated. The blood-
thirsty !Siilr..,„; at Moultan were satisfied with nothing
short of the lives of Messrs. Agnew and Anderson; and
no immediate movement on Moulton was consequently
resolved On. The conspirators had not been sufficiently
cautious in their. operations, and their plot was disco.;
verth..-: 'A correspondent of. the Delhi Gareitc gives the
following brief account of their plans:— ,
‘qlicplan decided upon was this. That on the lath
Of‘lll,4lWeertain number of men nto were to be told off,
togn-I.IA oftleer's bungalow or, quarters—who an the
11it4,4114 #tinownnouncing that entrance had made
inidAlq,ity, Were to massacre everY'eEuropean. The
Sepo:;ii -Oho bad been bribed to open
,the gates ,in two
or thtc!ogilfferent quarters of the tower, were to make an
reppeyWe leeistance by firing blank cartridge akthe as-
eipt,i,Tatiz;a .ftoriw_akurctsa-
.rithe British
would have pillaged'the city, and
,ade themselves mas-
ters of our guns and ammunition. They would then
have easily raised the standard of revolt, and numbers
would have flocked either to Lahore or Mouhain, and
joined the rebels."
No doubt, from the time the plot had been brewing,
the arrangements were pretty minute and well matured ;
it will probably be a long while, however, ere they see
light in their full monstrosity of conception and capacity
for mischief. Three men of the Irregular Cavalry under
Major Wheeler, namely, Shadee Khan (Woordee
Major), Neeaz Mahomed Khan (Duffadar) and Golam
Nubbie Khan (Lance Duffadar) had been early informed
of their plans, and two of them appear to have attended
their meetings (of which they had many) pretty con-
stantly, and thus became aware of all they proposed
doing. The Woordee Major, however, made another
confidant, in the person of his commanding officer, Major
Wheeler, and the latter in his turn communicated what
was going on to the Resident at Lahore, Sir F.Currie. Sir
Frederick at first refused to believe in the existence of
the plot ; but Major Wheeler having persuaded him to
institute an investigation, the whole of the facts became
known. No time was now lost in securing the plotters.
They were all taken at one of their treasonable meet-
ings, and on the 9th of May they were put on their trial
at the Residency, Khan Singh, Gunge. Ram, and Go-
laba were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The
evidence, however, is said only to have proved " that
they had been intriguing with Dewan Moolraj, to throw
impediments in the way of the settling of the province
on the arrival of the political officers, and holding
out promises of support from :the Riuee to others,
should the plot be matured." The whole affair was
" short, sharp, and decisive." Condemned on the
9th, they were brought forth on. the 11th to suffer
execution. The gallows were erected at the Delhi
bate. The 18th Native Infantry were under arms, and
two companies from every native regiment in garrison
and cantonment were called out to witness the infliction
of the sentence. The prisoners were sees talking to one
another at the foot of the gallows with mach apparent
unconcern, and a writer who was present states, that
inrgfaa it
I Imam
s' baid theia'utre thtehyeiwreerxece,u, tpieornfelcithlyanreSstinggnhedartiod
tGheu
have
being the will of God ; bue, trthtehyatshtohuel3d,
mighthwaisvheedto
be spared two days long
wit-
nessed the tumasha, meaning by this latter word, of
" a thin spare mar, with an expression doefd owthcounfnatuz
course, the intended butchery of the Britishdescribedresidents ona
the 13th of May." Gunge Ram, whos
stamped upon his face," first ascen
leaf aboutdder ;
401 i
was respited at the foot of the gallows, in orderhota t
h7earSsinogfil, age,"‘‘a bfoulrlloyweedoarhsiem.persGoniaAe,a
be
might point out, as he had offered to do if his life were
spared, such of the Sepoys as had been corrupted by the
Itanee's gold. Khan Singh and Gunga Ram were
launched into eternity without a dissentient cry from
the spectators. It should be mentioned, however, that
but a very small number of natives were present. It is
said that the wife of Khan Singh, just before the execu-
tion, asked for the armlet of her husband as a family
relic. It was given her. She opened a spring in it,
took out a paper which it contained, tore this up, and,
swallowing the pieces, exclaimed, " You would have
given half the world to have seen that paper!" I know
not how much truth there is is this story. The con-
spirators, it appears, gave 22 as the number of our
Sepoys who had been seduced from their alle-
giance. Eleven only were indicated by the " ap-
prover," and of these as many as nine managed to
(IFeet their escape by desertion I The 50th Bengal
Native Infantry appears tochave been most deeply im-
plicated. It is, of course, impossible to say to what ex-
tent the disaffection may have spread. The treachery
we have discovered may not have been half what
informationyof
at h eGplot, hmaevnet b
Ge eenn
eir)ar ol moor% de
r,
.a n I
actually existed. The men of Wheeler's corps, who
dgeasveervined
think, however, some pecuniary reward might have
been, with advantage, at the same time bestowed
upon them. It is said a mess khansamah hid been
bribed to poison our officers by drugging their food; but
I apprehend there is no truth in this statement.
When the tidings of the Moultan outbreak arrived,
Sir F. Currie, instead of sending off a light force (we
hare three " moveable brigades"), so as to crush the
rebellion in the bud, and punish its leader, wrote to
Calcutta for instructions—thus losing that opportunity
for striking a prompt and effectual blow, which a bolder
man would have esteemed it his highest fortune to en-
joy. When the answer came it appears to have been
considered too late in the season for any movement, and
the rumour ran that the Earl of Dalhousie was coming
up after the rains to superintend matters, and that the
Commander-in-Chief would assemble a magnificent
army of thirty thousand men with a huge battering
train, to smash Moolraj in September or Oc-
tober. Indeed, it appears evident that the extent and
formidableness of the insurrection, and the power
of the Dewan to do mischief, were, from. the be-
ginning, absurdly overrated. Probably the discovery of
the Lahore conspiracy contributed chiefly to the
alarm, not to say panic, which prevailed. It is cer •
tain that Sir F. Currie tools strong measures to rein-
force the garrison at the capital, ordering up two native
regiments from the Jullunder, the head-quarters, and
right wing of her Majesty's 14th Dragoons from Peron
-
pore, and a troop of Horse Artillery from Loodianah,