The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-04 00:00:00

LONDON

OVERLAND MAIL

INDIA AND CHINA.

We have received by express from Marseilles our
dispatches in anticipation of the Overland Mail which
left Bombay on the 3d ult.
The following is the letter of our correspon-
dent:--

" The Governor-General is making a progress
through the Punjaub in great state, and would have
ere this reached Peshawuri had not his march,been
impeded by heavy rains and bad roads. He has visited
all the cantoninents near his line of march, and it is
therefore hoped that his visit may lead to the improve-
ment both of roads and barracks. The Punjaub is
perfectly tranquil, and likely to remain so, for Shere
Singh, Uttur Singh, and Chuttur Singh, have been
removed from the north-west provinces to Calcutta,
and were safely lodged in Fort William on the 17th
of January.
" Assam and Scinde, on the eastern and western
extremities of the empire, have both suffered from
slight incursions of the adjacent predatory tribes. I
mentioned in my last that a force had been sent from
Assam against the Agami Nagas ; a party of these
peop'e have now retaliated by making an incursion
into our country, murdering three British subjects,
and carrying away 27 men, women, and children. It
is supposed that a force will be sent against them
under Colonel Lester, as the troops already sent do
not appear sufficient.
" The affair on the Scinde frontier has afforded
another example of the chivalrous daring of the
Scinde Horse—a corps which many most experienced
officers who have witnessed its performances in
Scinde and the Punjaub unhesitatingly assert to be
superior in efficiency to any regiment of British
cavalry, the men being equal to English troopers in
bravery and self-confidence, and superior to them in
the management of their horses and weapons. The
affair happened in this wise :—Oa the 24th of Dec.,
a party of mounted plunderers made a foray from the
hills of the western frontier, and carried off a few
scores'of camels. As soon as the intellingence of the
incursion reached Kund Khote, Jemadar Doorga
Singh, in command of the detachment of Scinde
Horse stationed there, set off in pursuit, taking with
him a Dufedar and fifteen troopers, with four
Beloochee guides. After a long pursuit, during
which several of their horses dropped from fatigue,
the Jemadar and the few who had kept up
with him got sight of the robbers (about
fifteen in number), who thereon abandoned
their booty and took to flight. Doorga
Singh mounting a fresh horse and continuing the
pursuit. On reaching the foot of the hills the robbers
turned and showed front, having been reinforced by
a fresh party of horsemen, and between 30 and 40
armed foot, while all of Doorga Singh's party that
had been able to keep up with him were two of the
Scinde horse and one of the Beloochee guides: The
latter recommended the Jemadar to give up further
pursuit, but he replied that the guide might go back
if he was afraid, but that he himself could not face
his commanding officer if, after sighting the robbers,
he did not attack and kill some of them. He then
went at them, followed by his two Sewers and the
Beloochee. His party was of course surrounded and
cut to pieces, and the finishing stroke was about to
be given him when he had the presence of mind to
call out God be praised ! here they come,' on which
the robbers suddenly made off, as if panic-struck,
without' waiting to strip or plunder the slain, whose
bodies were brought in by a party next day. The
guide was brought back by other parties of the fron-
tier guard who had been out in search of the robbers.
The camels also were all recovered.
" Other parties of marauders were still hovering
around the hills, with the view, as was supposed, of
making a descent upon the Naszarees in that quarter,
but a squadron of Scinde horse being sent to observe
them occasioned the abandonment of their design.
Some of them, however, made a dash at the camels
about Boordeeka, and carried off a number of them—
a circumstance the success of which is attributed to
the death of Jemadar Doorga Singh, who guarded
that portion of the frontier.
" Mr. Hunter, late of the 24th Regiment Native
Infantry, has been assassinated in the neighbourhood
of Benares. He was found outside the fort at Chunar
insensible from the effects of a deep sword cut on the
head, which fractured his skull and caused death in
a few days. The instigators of the murder are said
to be well known. Government have offered a re-
ward or 500 rupees for the apprehension of any party
concerned in its commission. _ _

" Sir Charles Napier leaves us by this mail. He
arrived at Bombay on the 28th of January, and was
most enthusiastically received by his admirers at the
Presidency, a large proportion of whom had served
under him in Scinde. He was entertained by the
Club on the 31st. In his farewell speeches in Kur-
rachee and Bombay Sir Charles spoke explicitly re-
garding the causes of his resignation. He said that
When he first was made Commander-in-Chief, he
thought he was to be Commander-in-Chief in truth,
but that he soon found out that he was not to be
Commander-in-Chief at all, but only a sort of mon-
ster adjutant: He had been dictated to on military
matters by boy politicals who knew nothing what.
ever of military science. 'lt is this, gentlemen, this,'
said Sir Charles, that has caused me to resign my
command. I have been thus explicit with you be-
cause I am among
.my own Bombay officers once
more. It is this, I repeat, that has caused me to
resign.

"-No steps have as yet been taken by the Supreme
Government for enforcing its just claims on the
Nizam. It is rumoured that the Board of Control
have for the present put a veto on the occupation of
any portion of the Nizam's territory in satisfaction for
the debt, and it is surmised that Sir J. Hobhouse
would prefer a species of commission (like the exist-
ing Mysore commission) for regulating and settling
the Nizam's affairs. It is certain that no movements
of troops have taken place such as w ould be required
19r supporting a step of such gravity as the occupation
of Berar. Meanwhile the state of the country is
becoming daily worse—there is no Minister, and the
Nizam secludes himself in his harem and indulges in
strong drink to a very lamentable extent. An out-
break has occurred amongst the Rohilla prisoners
confined in the Nizam's fort of Daroor. They have
obtained possession of the fort. A force consisting of
five breaching guns, 600 infantry, and 300 cavalry of
the Contingent, has been sent against them.

"The of of the North-Western Bank of India
continue to attract considerable attention. Serious
disclosures, affecting the character of men in good
positions are being continually made, and from the
fact of members of the board being in hostility to
each other charges criminatory and recriminatory
are occupying the columns of the papers. The ad-
mission by the late secretary, Major Angelo, of very
large deficits has not been followed up by any ex-
planation, which is excused on the ground that the
directors have refused to give that officer competent
auditors. The real history of the alleged frauds has
yet to he given to the public.
"From the kingdom of Ava we have accounts of
a very destructive fire, which took place at Rangoor
on the 28th of December, and destroyed nearly the
whole of the town. 2,000 houses were utterly con-
sumed, and the fire occasioned great losss to the ship-
ping in the river.
" We have accounts from China up to the 29th of
December. Sickness still prevails to a lamentable
extent among the troops at Hong-Kong, although.the
shipping and civil community remain remarkably
healthy. The 59th have lost upwards of 130 men
within the year, and it is stated that scarcely 100 men
in the regiment could be found in a really effective
state of health. Commissioner Lin, whose seizure
and destruction of the opium in 1839 led to our war
with China, died suddenly on the 18th of November,
while on his way to the insurrectionary district of
Quan-si. The Government troops are reported to
have obtained some success over the insurgents of
that province, but another disturbance has broken out
in the island of Hainan, where 10,000 insurgents are
in arms. Two bodies of troops have been sent against
them, but the first fraternized 'with the enemy and
the second were beaten and dispersed; meanwhile
cholera has broken out in Hainan, and after raging
for two months to a frightful extent in that island,
has extended to the mainland, and commenced its
ravages in the south-west of the Quangtong provinces.
" Mr. Fast, a Swedish missionary, had been mur-
dered by pirates in the Min River, but the Chinese
authorities, behaving with unwonted energy, had
captured the offenders, and beheaded twenty-eight of
them.
" The appearance in your columns of the letter of
' An Old Indian' has given great satisfaction to all
here interested in the progress of the country. He
has rather understated the deficiency of roads than
overstated it. Out of the Island of Bombay (with
the roads of which the Government have nothing to
do) there is scarcely such a thing as five mile of con-
tinuous good road in the western presidency. In the
harbour of Bombay there is not a quay alongside
which even a collier could be loaded, and at the head
of the great water carriage of the Gulf of Cambay
there is no accommodation whatever for landing or
embarking merchandise."

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
(From the Bombay Times.)
BOMBAY, SATURDAY EVENING, FEB 1.
THE MONEY AND SHARE MARKETS.
We have little to say this time on money matters.
Pressure and distrust are the prevailing features in the
bazaar, and the decision of her Majesty in Council being
in Ram Lall's favour, is not likely to improve affairs.
Securities continue dull, and the following may be given
as the quotations of the day:—Transfer Paper, 108 rs.
to 110; Sicea Fives, 102; Stem Fours, 84; Company's
Fours, 80
&; Company's Fives, 97; Bank of Bombay
Shares, 14k per cent. premium; Oriental Bank, 19 per