The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-28 00:00:00

OVER AND MAIL
INDIA AND CHINA.
81-MONTHLY SUMMARY.
(From the Bombay Times.)
TUESDAY, SEPT. Is.—We continue, as for months
past, to suffer from scarcity of intelligence. We have
letters from Sinde only eight days old, but they are
newsless. The country seems generally pretty quiet,
but the people continue to suffer severely from scar-
city. The unhealthiness of the chief stations is at
length admitted by the Kurrachee Advertiser, long
understood to be the organ of the local Government.
Everything is tranquil at Lahore, and peaceful and
prosperous in the Jullundur Doab ; but no prepara-
tions have as yet been announced for the withdrawal
of the army, though we are now within a few months
of the time when we pledged ourselves to retire—the
end of the year. Lord Hardinge and the Commander-
in-Chief are expected about this time to quit Simla
and proceed on a tour of inspection along the frontier.
Colonel Lawrence, the agent for the Governor. Gene-
ral, has gone to Lahore. The rains are now almost
entirely over, the weather for six weeks back hav-
ing been singularly beautiful. The Governor of Bom-
bay and his family are about to proceed to Khan-
della for the benefit of change of air : the Commander-
in-Chief and staff remain at Poonah. The Governor
of Madras continues at the Neilglierry. Hills, so that
by next month all the Governors and Commanders-in-
Chief of India will be above the ghauts. Though the
harvest promises to be abundant, and the supply of
grain in Bombay is so large that much of it must be
destroyed before a new crop is admitted, the dealers,
who exercise the closest and most capricious mono-
poly, have raised the prices almost to famine rates.
SINDE.—We have letters to the 6th of September
from Kurrachee, but they are almost useless. Sinde
seems generally pretty tranquil, the people suffering
severely from scarcity. Cholera had again shown
itself in the lower Delta, but in a form very mild in
comparison to that formerly assumed by it. The
flood of the Indus was nearly at its height, and the
waters had spread over a surface unusually extensive.
The perusal of the first part of Colonal Outram's work
had created the greatest sensation amongst the officers
of the Sinde army. Much as had been written on the
subject, no one serving under him could believe—
till they saw him convicted on their own testi-
mony—in the fearful mass of untruths to which
Sir Charles Napier had given utterance, or the
frightful amount of dishonesty in which he had
indulged. If this much light has burst on his ad-
mirers from the prefacial volume, the concluding one
will clear up their eyes with a vengeance. The un-
happy old man has remained till his character has be-
come exposed to the scorn of those by whom he con-
quered, and he retires from power when the clouds
surrounding his name are at the blackest. His friends,
indulging in flights of imagination kindred to his
own, have given out, apparently by direction, that he
is to be elevated to supreme command over the armies
of India I If one particle of truth attaches to the
further rumour that Lord Hardinge has been the in-
stigator of some such election as this, it will be the
most singular instance on record of the mere attri-
bute of courage, which characterises the most worth-
less in the nation, procuring advancement in defiance
of the disqualification which the want of every other
attribute reckoned essential to the character of the
officer and English gentleman supplies. With the
head of the army still afflicted with Ellenboroughian
delusions, no man can tell what will occur.
We find the following in the Kurrachee Advertiser
of the 29th ult. It strikes us as something about as
diverting as any document we ever perused
HEAD-QUARTERS, KURRACIIEE, AUG. 18.—No. 3.
The Major-General Governor placed Lieutenant Moore
ender an arrest, because that officer took upon himself
to divide his detachment, and to send part of it to
Chutter, for the purpose of assisting the subjects of the
Khan of Khelat atainst his Highness's enemies. He
also made a long and dangerous march towards the hills,
and might have lost half his men and horses by coups de
soled. The proceedings were contrary to orders. Lieut.
Moore appears to have forgotten that no officer in Sinde,
except the Governor of this province, has a right to move
detachments and occupy fresh posts even within the pro-
vince ; yet Lieut. Moore took upon himself to do this
far beyond the frontier, and without permission—a re-
sponsibility which the Governor himself would not pre-
sume to take without leave from the Governor-General.
No officer who knows his duty as a military man ever
presumes to move the troops under his command with-
out orders. A ready assumption of responsibility is the
surest sign that an officPr does not know his business,
".The Governor will for once pass over this disobedi-
ence of orders, and Lieut. Moore is to return to his duty.
But should such again occur, it will oblige the Governor
to uphold discipline, and bring the offender to a court-
martial. Zeal excuses much, but is no excuse for dis;
obedience of orders, because such conduct dissolves a
military force, and turns an army into a rabble.
" The Khan of Khelat must protect his own subjects,
the Kyheries ; if the latter choose to behave like
cowards, they must take the result.
(Signed) "C. J. NAPIER,
"Major-General Commanding the Troops in Sinde."
Why this is Satan reproving with a vengeance. It is
as good as the remarks from the same quarter on Colonel
Moseley's want of veracity. What the Governor of
Sinde himself would now do or leave undone we are of
course ignorant ; what he has done, not only without
consulting the Governor-General, but in express defiance
of instructions received from him, Khyrpoor, Emaum-
ghur, Hydrabad, and the districts beyond the Desert can
tell. The allusion to the Khan of Khelat is amusing
enough when we remember the manifesto which preceded
the expedition of January, 1845, when his Highness's
inability to keep the borders quiet was the grand reason
for our army marching forth. It is vain now to get up
excuses for maintaining an army of fifteen thousand
men in Sinde just as it is about to cease to be an inde-
pendent province, and therefore little wars, even for the
protection of our allies, are considered inexpedient.
THE PUNJAUB.
Early in the month a rumour gained currency that
the Wuzeer Lull Singh had been murdered. It came
from so good a source, and seemed so eminently pro-
bable, that it quickly gained general credence. It
proves without any foundation whatever. The army
under Sir John Littler continues quiet and inactive at
the capital. We were bound by treaty to withdraw them
by the end of the year. The General, it is raid, has
written that the Government is gaining in strength
daily, and that there is no reason to apprehend the con-
sequences of, or delay in, the withdrawal of the troops;
and it is understood that some time in the cold weather
there will be a general move. Colonel Lawrence, the
agent for the Governor General, has set out from Simla
for Lahore. Lords Hardinge and Gough w(re, it was
understood, about to start on a tour of inspection. The
river Bavee had to an unusual extent even during the
floods overflowed its banks, and the country near the
capital had been for a time partially submerged. Some
of our officers were amusing themselves with boating
under the walls. An abundant crop was expected as the
result of the flood. A remarkable change in the weather
had occurred about the middle of August, when cool
and refreshing breezes had taken the place--of the
stifling sweating atmosphere which had prevailed
since May. The force had throughout enjoyed ex-
cellent health, and never were troops more distinguished
d
for good conduct, and order and propriety,
those composing the army of occupation at Lahore. The
arrangements betwixt Government and the Chief of
Mooltan were on the point of being amicably settled by
the firm and prudent proceedings of Colonel Lawrence.
The terms of the treaty are said to be these :—The
Moolraj to pay 180,0001. as a gift to the Lahore Go-
vernment; the police of the latter to occupy all the forts
of the former ; that a return of the state of the revenues
of the country should be made every year at Lahore by
the Chief in person ; that Misr Bhugwan Singh should
be permitted to retain that portion of the Mooltan terri-
tory he had acquired ; and that the whole tribute of the
present year should be immediately paid up. The Chief
appeared to have assented to these conditions, demurring
only to the occupation of his forts, and proceeded him-
self to quit his own country on a visit to the capital.
He assembled all his chief officers, cordially thanked
them for the assistance they had given him during -the
late disturbances, and selected a large cortege to accom-
pany him. The Moonshee Juss Mull was sent on a de-
putation to intimate that arrangements had been made
for his reception ; his personal safety was under British
guarantee, and an honorary escort, under Dewan Deena
Nath, was sent out to meet him. He reached Lahore
on the 20th of August, and was received with the cus-
tomary honours. But for our assurances, there is no
great reason to imagine that he would have entrusted
himself to the hands of his superiors.