The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-30 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

We (Times) have received our private corre-
spondence and journals from Calcutta to the 22d
of September, Bombay the 3d of October, and
Hong Kong' the 12th of September.
. ,CALCUTTA, SEPT. 22.
This side of India, has this year been heavily
afflicted. The work left undone by the cholera has
been completed by the inundation, and from the i
Punjaub and every part of the Gangetic valley we
have nothing but tales of suffering and loss. The
pestilence broke out in Agra in May last, and in a
few months slew upwards of 16,000 people. Thence
it struck the native cities of Raj ipootana, Bhurtpore
in particular losing 50 men per diem. About July
it began its march to the north-west, moving along
slowly and quietly to Kurnaul. Then it took a
spring, missing Vmballah, but striking Feroze-
pore, and finally concentrating its strength on the
cantonment, of Mean Meer. One-third of the

European artillery perished in a fortnight. It ihen
turned on the city, but its fury was spent, and on
its return march the mortality was much less and
the disease not so fearfully rapid. At Mean Meer
men died two hours after seizure. I can send you
no certain statistics, but I. have a very moderate
calculation before me which gives the total loss of
life at upward& a 90,000 persons. It seems certain
that the entbnist was in many respects exceptional.
Thus the Mean Meer arillery barracks, where its
ravages - were: most terrible, are notoriously the
largest, best ventilated, and. best drained in India.
Again, the disease everywhere appears to have
spared the women and. most certainly did not
attack Fairopeanqiemales—a strange fact, which
suggests the ides thathad,liquor may be a predis-
posing cause.s.Jir mere cast of the outbreak to
the Companyi:w4,-Cxceed 0,000/. The surgeons
universally- bOaveit, nably, and the scourge,
as usual, brought oue.many acts of individual
heroism. A young liedinant, wnose name it pains
me to have,, forgotten, distinguished himself espe
cially. - For weeks- he xtever quitted the Mean
Meer Hospital, helping tklurgeons, comforting
the men, reading to them, Writing their wills, and
lending them the sympathy, the want of which we
all in this country feet.sEo:bitterly.
The second calmi4iiiivzs even more widely dif-
fused. The rains this,-ear have been universally
severe., The downpourAn Affghanistan was unpre-
cedented, and„,i_a Atig,itst its effects began to be visi-
ble. The torrent of -witir
,which at this season
rolls dOwn the Water, system. of the Indus gradually
increased, then overtopped the banks, and then
burst on the. plaftius ,with a force which swept
whole towns from. the face of the earth. The
cantonment of Naoshera, only half built, was
carried away. The great cantonment of Dehra-
Ghazee Kahn-- was totally ruined, the sun-
burnt bricks of - the building melting in the
flood. The-bund, or dyke, which defends Leia
burst, and Leia has disappeared. Tile loss of life has
not been in proportion, 4,000 or 5,000 villagers
not counting for much in India, but the destruction
of property is incalculable. There will be no re-
venue from the submerged districts, and the Public
Works Department is grievously discredited. In
Jullundeur all the bridges burst up. Meanwhile
the " Gangessystem," as we call it, or the system
of the Himalaya rivers, began also to swell. The
storm in:.this case spent itself on Bengal. The
country of Tirhoot, which is as large as Suffolk and
partially under water. In the Moor-
shedabact Zillah the people ran for their lives to
the few-hillocks. Boats traversed every portion of
the caltiyated plain. The river still rose, and a few
days since fears were entertained for the safety of
Calcuttaitself. The proprietors of houses on the
strand erected loW,vialls to save their property, but,
though the wjafeiercissed the road, the inundation
was averted ,::There are no means of estimating
the loss,Of ifs, -but it must be very great, anctviill
be greater, the subsidence of the water being fol-
lowed by the low fever, against which the Benga-
lose cannotoontend. The rice, too, has been rotted
in the fields,-the crops will not be large, and the
demand 'increases apparently without cessation.
Indeed, thieiport of ricer s becoming a pheno-
menon altering all social deranging every
scheme for public works. ;'
In 1853 54- the export 14111134tetting.
1-854.55
), , •
1855.56 3441 9'
"?
The demand on the continent still increases.
The cropain China have beetidfcninished by inun-
dations, our own crop will be:lin:kWh-in:id rice is ris-
ing to half as much again as its'iignal price. For
months past- labourers have been striking for
wages, and it is not too much to say that the cost
of labour throughout the metropolitan districts have
increased a third. In Bengal, as I have pointed
out before, a partially deficient crop benefits the
cultivator. His difficulty is not to get enough
grain, but enough specie to pay his rent in, and
increased prices are better for him than an increased
crop, which from our deficient communications he
cannot sell. The dealers declare that the demand
baffles all their calculations, seeming to extend in
spite of all ordinary drawbacks.
The revenue account of the railway has been
published ;, it stands thus
PAYMENTS.
R. A. P.
To maintenAnoe of way-and works
To locorriotive department 87,711 9 10i
To coachiak tixpenses
To merchandise traffic expenses
To getustal ,i4k041,Ik,
bn

206,951 10 10

• (1 oil; ', . R.,,,T
iuraxt --Vr.
i.. . , R. A. P.
By PgAitattkerpZ.4. „ 257,459 0 8
By parttd,o44,P94auPeerP. luggage,
Atock, carriages, e CU
es, ame f live
, fares
By. merchandise' . ........ 1. . ..... .. . ...`` ...
By mineialac .. 114,248 13 7
By rent of refreshment rooms, engine-
drivers' bungalows, demurrage, profit
audio's account, and transfer fee

TPtak‘ ,

510,128 0 5

latinee :303,179 5 6
T seiSitthe line, if it has cost, according to the
pOPhlaii eistirnatei 10,000 t. • a mile, is returning a
d#id4q'tfarly 1 per cent. in excessof the guaran-
teed' 3''per cent. It 'is .understood, however, that
the eafttitilf-be more than this, or 11,0001. a-mile,
whiCh Will'recince the dividend to 4i per cent.
EV'en that,lieweiret,• is sufficient to prove the pay-
*Wet'Pive,`,which has only begun to at-
traq !0446:C» The ,sharehAders, I fear, are still
unaNfittOtthe profftS. they will secure when the
ie'clp4til to Bena'res, or they would not rest
contefit with the present tardy system. lam afraid
to_etate my own belief on the subject, but there is,
it al/ events, nothing to prevent their obtaining 10
per eent. The expenses of the line for this half
yeir have amounted 'to only 42 per cent. on the
receipts—a rate .almost without precedent.
The chief' pelletal topic of discussion' here is the
expeditibitioPersii: Your Bombay correspondent
ProhrtblY Send you ample details' and I content
Myself Ilferefbre -with recording a few facts which I
know_. ,_,te, 'br...-eprrect. The expedition is-to be accom-
panied 0;000 troops--not 10,000, as some of the
papers bitsit'stated. The rendezvous is the island
of Katradk: 'Softie assistance is to be given--in
arms, I believe—to Dost Mahomed, and Persia is
to be compelled to surrender Herat. Beyond this
fact I do not believe that any a
forhuman being out of
the secret department knows any ono
fad connected with the purpose of the expedition.
its,futuie movements must be regulated by those of
the sobah, and it is, believed here that the Scbah
I do
yield. .without hesitation. 13tOit indivi •
. dually entertain ~that, impression, but it s that of
-ail the: best-inforreed.efficials. It is consideredß r _
- ishat the 'selection of a General is unfortunate,
gAffierStalkeEbe...ing. blameless officer, but nothing
-mdtei-innd a attleitoo. old for such work.
.000
Home Government has transmitted orders
101*.great ettension of the telegraph. 3
added to 'the 4 000 l miles
•
0 'Lae are to' "be , a ready in
' whence, One line from Mirzapore to Bellary
.eats ladiav,C,ccupy,ing the position the backbone
bOdy. Another; from Bellary to
doea in
,will cannect,CeylOn with Calcutta. A third,
t from-Lahore to linxrachee connects the Indian -
* system with the: point whence the. Anglo-Indian '
' eirbinerine line .vrill spring.. I believe, but Ido not'
,lcnovr, that orders. have been sent out to prepare
5 on the irrivat:of, the cables which are ,to connect
,'Ttuiscrrah and Knrraehee. The Project is regarded
‘)iiire with:very-milted feelings. Everbody is ready
to lend the most active assistance, yet everybody
.flqubts.the result. The fear is lest the excessive
"613,Yjilith must intervene between the receipt of
nerc uy telegraph and the arrival of letters should
make e uncertain, and render the action of
Government- still more dependent Lyon England.
The internal" telegraph will facilitate every kind of
but it is not
yet cheap enough. It
1Y the cheapest li
nein the world, but we want itto
• be cheaper 3till, and to make it as far as possiblt.
Supersede, the.post..,
'7 fuldefitand- that the Government of Bengal
4ritieet
.theivetition of the missionaries . for an
the social condition of the people, but
' :it tdAhe Government of India. It may
T: there meet with a different reception: Should it be
.
,sizai• • 4,;rject,„_,..l , it will be submitted to Parliament,
•• , perhaps, by more facts than the home
Niz., authorities will at all approve. The missionaries
would probably Address the Court first, but the
,!..-.7rdisiike. -of. the . cumbrous double system extends
,I?•;sispiz yiaid, men advised to applly there dfelare
tvolAit iiire:only defeated, withciuf.bablg aui to
fix any responsibility. The Friend" of Niel, al-
ways the stanch defender of the Court as an able
and upright governing body, confesses that its
?resent position is convenient, as well as hurniliat-