The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-17 00:00:00

S N,

THE WAR IN INDIA.
(From the Journal des Debats.)
" The war entered into in the north of India appears to be
one of the most serious yet undertaken by the British Go-
vermaent.

" The news came down to the 2d of February. Another
great battle was fought on the British territory on the 21st
of January, but the result was not yet known to the public
t,n the departure of the-steamer from Bombay, which had,
nevertheless, been delayed for 48 hours, and which could
only set sail with the dispatches' of the Governor-General. It
t the afternoon.
had
been
heard During r iantg a the
distance,
was only known that the action commenced at half-past eight
o'clock in the morning, and had been prolonged until half-
ist wholecane of
, as
tpial
astt threetbne
abrisk cannonade o'clock i
far as Loodianah and Ferozepore. We have already pub-
lieted an ext-act from a Bombay newspaper, according to
which 10,000 Seikhs had made so violent an attack on the
corps commanded by Sir H. Smith, that the native troops
had been routed, and two English regi.nents obliged to
beat a retreat ; but explanations relative to this
fact are still wanting, the exactness of which is, more-
over, formally disputed by the English papers. The com-
munications between those two cities, and especially between
Ferozepore and Delhi, are most frequently intercepted, and
letters reach their destination but irregularly. We are, how-
ever, perfectly well informed of what to.ds place during the
whole of the interval which precedes the most interesting
moment—that is to say, up to the day of the second battle,
exclusively. The following is a summary of the facts:—
" The days of the 21st and 22d of December having left
the English artillery nearly hors de combat (for want of
horses and ammunition), Sir H. Hardinge and Sir H. Gough
deemed it prudent not to renew the engagement by pursuing
the enemy, although they had only retired to a distance of
about two leagues from their first encampment. The two
armies; therefore, remained en presence for eight days, on
the left bank of the Sutlej, and it was only on the 29th of De-
cember that the Seikhs recrossed the river of their own accord,
quite leisurely,and without the least molestation. In fine, the
motive of their retreat was not, as at first supposed, the dis-
couragement with which they had begun to be seized on be-
holding the reinforcements which arrived daily at the camp
of the Governor-General ; it was, on the contrary, because
the operation which they had hitherto masked was termi-
nated, and _their position ameliorated. Tee English army
concentrated at Ferozepore, and increased by the division of
Meerut. became unassailable. It was even daugeroue to
await it, whatever might otherwise have been the advan-
tages of the ground, with the Sutlej in their rear. It was
therefore necessary, on the one hand, to ferce it to divide
itself, by multiplying the points of attack ; and, on the other,
to establish a strong body of cavalry on the bank of the
river, in order to avoid being driven into it. With a skill
which was far from being imputed to them, the chiefs of the
Seikh army succeeded in attaining both these objects. Whilst
their principal body held in check the English divisions en-
camped on the field of Ferozeshah, a detached corps 430,000
men, with 35 pieces of artillery, made so alarming a diver-
sion in the direction of Loodianah, that Sir H. Hardinge was
obliged to dispatch orders to the 12,000 men who came from
Meerut, with the greater part of his cavalry and artillery, to
advance to that side by forced marches. 'At the same time,
a third division of the Seikh army constricted in front of their '
bridge of boats at Hurreekee (a bridge substantially con-
structed) a formidable battery, mounted with 50 pieces of
heavy artillery, and capable of holding a garrison of 20,000
men. It seems that there was no knowledge of all these pre-
parations till towards the 15th of January, when the English
engineers,-sent to reconnoitre the position, reported that this
tete de pont was of a nature calculated to require a regular
siege; and that the bridge itselt was defended on the right
bank of the river by f irmidable batteries which commanded
it throughout its whole length and breadth.
" Meanwhile the Seikh division, directedMpon Phulloor, the
point of the right bank of the.Sutlej, immediately in front of
Loodianah, had put itself insro,tinnunication with the Seikhs
protected by the left bank. ',;i7i.-peiverfill tributary, the Raja
of Lodwe, raised the standard 15f .resolt against the English,
and joined the enemy with the. whole of his contingent,'
which may be estimated atslo,ooo men, as much infantry as
irregular cavalry. Himself leading his troops, he presented
himself on the 4th of January before Loodianah, all the inha-
bitants of which place had fled, and of which the garrison,
composed of two native battalions, had retired into a fortress
a cannon-shot from the city, with the women and sick of the
50th European Regiment, and, moreover, with the wives of
officers of the different staffs of the Commander-in-Chief and
the Governor-General. For several days the most lively
anxiety was felt at Delhi respecting the fate of all these per
sons, who, as at the period of the Affghailistan disasters,
might fall into the hands of the enemy, and become very em-
barrassing hostages. Fortunately, the citadel possessed 13
pieces of heavy artillery, and the Siekhs had no idea of be-
sieging it. They contented themselves with burning a por-
tion of the city, with all the European cantonment, the bar-
racks, the hospitals, the Protestant church, and the Popish
chapel ; they then retired to a distance of half a league, into
a jungle (very thickly covered with rushes and bamboos),
where they commenced active preparations for fortifying
themselves against General Grey, who was advancing.
" The official details go no further. It is, nevertheless,
well known that the army of Ferozepore, having received
the provisions which it expected, b -gun to move on the 18th
of January by re-ascending the Sutlej, with the view of re-
pulsing the Seikhs into their own territory. After some
skirmishes of little importance, during the days of the 19th
and 20th, its van-guard, under the command of Sir H.
Smith, arrived, it is said, on the 21st et' January before the
tke de pont, of which we have already spoken. It was re-
joined an hour afterwards by General Grey's division from
Loodianah. The battle is said to have been one ef the most
sanguinary on record, and to have had no other result than
the expulsion of the enemy from one batik of the Sutlej to
the other.

The various corps which have received orders to reinforce
the army Sir Henry Hardinge will increase its numerical
force to 40,000 men, of whom 10,000 are Europeans, with
140 pieces of artillery. Such, however, is the impression
produced on the mind or the Governor-General by the resist-
ance that. he encountered on the battle-field of Ferozeshab,
thst, even with these means of offence, he appears resolved
not to advance against Lahore till he has brought up in
line, either to'operate with him, or to protect the rear, the
division of Sir C. Napier in Slade, 15,000 strong, including
4,000 Europeans. Now, the latter not having been able to
commence his march from Hyderabad to the Indus until to-
wards the 15th or 16th of January, and having to travel over
a space of 250 miles (more than 100 leagues), could not ar-
rive at the point of rendezvous in less than 20 days—that is,
before the sth or 6th of February. At that period the heats
in the Punjab become so insupportable, that it is to be pre-
sumed that the Governor-General will content himselt for
this campaign with the capture of Lahore, and will postpone
the remainder of the operations of the conquest till the sea-
soli of 1847. It is calculated that the expenses of this war
will amount to at least 10,000,0001., and that the occupation
of the new territory will require an increase of 30,000 men to
the Company's army. We already see an ordinance adding
three regiments of native infantry of recent formation to the
army of Bombay, and five regiments of irregular cavalry to
that of Bengal.
" The destruction of Loodianah is a very considerable ma-
terial loss to the English. This ancient Massulman city,
raised by the first conquerors of the house of Lodi, is the
most frequented place of passage between India and the Pun-
jaub : a considerable trade is carried on there, and its popu-
lation amounts to about 20,000 souls. Thus, although it
belongs to the Raja of Djhind, one of the most powerful of
the protected Seikh Princes, the Company ha' established a
political agent there, who partly exercises the powers of a
collector and a magistrate. There was also a garrison sta-
tioned there, composed in latter times of an European bat-
talion, with a battery of light artillery, and two regiments of
native infantry.
" What gives this city great importance in the eyes of the
English is, the fact that it has become the seat of a new
trade, which has been immensely extended during the last
30 years—the manufacture of the celebrated Cashmere
shawls. It was introduced therein by a colony of Cashme-
rians, which the Company originally introduced at its own
expense, but which afterwards, being sufficiently encouraged,
recruited itself annually at Cashmere. Loodianah, at the
moment of its destruction, included about 800 shawl
manufactories, that is to say, more than 2,000 workmen,
who are now , dispersed. It had been chosen as the seat of
this trade, at first, because it formed the frontiers of the
Punjaub ; and, secondly, on account of its proximity to the
wool-market of Rampour, in Bissahir, whither the Kanaoris
and the Thibetians annually bring a large quantity of
" paschen," that is, the kind of wool necessary for the
manufacture of the Cashmere shawls. This wool is, un-
fortunately of a very ordinary quality; the Loodianah
cashmeres are very common, and have never found pur-
chasers in Europe. As a set-off, however, to this disadvan-
tage, they had the monopoly of the Indian markets. The
manufactures of Cashmere could not contend with those of
Loodianah, the price . of labour being equal in both those
manufactures, and the produce of Loodianah not being
saddled with the taxes levied on those of Cashmere. The
East India Company was exclusively interested in this enter-
prise, and was the sole proprietor of all the factories. It

. -
thence &rived enormous profits, which will now of course
cease. This is a fresh grievance, which will furnish it with
another motive for indemnifying itself by conquest."

CAUTION AS TO POTATO STORlNG.—Professes
Henslow communicates two curious instances of spontaneou
ignition having nearly taken place in consequence of fibrous mate-
rials being used to store potatoes. In one case a labourer at Ilitchin,
observing that some potatoes intended for seed were sprouting, stored
two bushels is perfectly dry bean-dust, the refuse after thrashing
and removing the stalks ; but the moisture from the potatoes so
saturated the bean-dust, that It heated and became charred ; some of
the potatoes were half roasted, and had it remained unnoticed a few
days longer the cottage would probably have been burnt down. In
the other case, Mr. Joseph Rand, of ilatielleigh, in October last, laid
up a quantity of potatoes in a small chamber 4.f his malt-house, care-
fully packed in layers with dry "malt dust," which falls through the
kiln tiles. About a fortnight two the Excise officers, in making their
inspection, lighted upon this heap, and happening to stir it up, found
the interior in a state approaching to ignition, the potatoas par-
boiled, or half baked, and the malt-dust perfectly charred. Imme-
diate steps were taken to remove the heap ; the potatoes being chiefly
rotten, were thrown awaj, and the malt-dust was laid on another of
the same material, to he carried upon the land ; but in a short time
it heated again so powernaly, that no time was lost in removing it
from the premises, the walls and floor of which had been visibly
affected by the heat.
HOTEL AND TAVERN-KEEPERS' PROVIDENT Inn-
TurioN.—The seventh annual general meeting of the members and
friends of the above Institution was held yesterday at the London
Coffee. house, Thomas Clark, Esq , late of the White Hart, Windsor,
presiding. From the report it appeared thA the receipts of the:past
year, including the previous balance, amounted to 377/. ss. 3d., from
which a balance of 6s. 7d. remained. There had, however, up to the
present time been fuaded 4381.55. 2d., making the total capital stock
4,156/. 2s. 4d. During the year 1301. had been received through the
chairman and his friends. The of for the ensuing year (chiefly
those of the past) having been elected, thanks were awarde.l to the
Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, to John Mastertnan, Esq., M.P.,
&c., foi their valuable aid, and also to Messrs. Lovegrove, for the
gratuitous use of their rooms, to Mr. Tapster, the honor: ry secretary,
and to the chairmen of the day, and the meeting broke up.
MARGATE, MONDAY.—This day, about One o'clock,
during a strong gale from the west, the brig Richard, from Liverpool
to London, of 267 tons, went ashore on the Tongue Sand. Too much
praise cannot be given to the crews of the hovelling boats belonging
to this port ; the Mary, in most gallant style, dashing through a
terrific sea, and returning to the shore with the captain and all the
crew. The brig is now under water, a total wreck. Should the
weather moderate, the cargo may be saved. The brig is loaded with
wine, oil, acids, and materials for an atmospheric railway, consigned
to Mr. Lucas, Griffin-whart; London.
Two skeletons were lately found at Cross, near
Axbridge, on the premises of Mr. Wade, surgeon, of that place, '
about three feet bel,av the surface of the ground, by workmen who
were digging the foundation for a wall. The orchard in which they
were found belonged many years to the White Hart Inn. One of the
skeletons was considered to be that of a female, about middle aee ;
the other that of a male a•ivanced in years. It is the opinion of the
neighbourhood, that these remains are evidences of the crime of
murder having been perpetrated.—Keene's Bath Journal.
Bills were posted throughout Douglas, Isle of Man,
on Friday, offering a bounty of 41. fbr young men, from the age of
18 to 25 years, as raCrulta for varleus regiment':