The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-03 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

We have received our files of newspapers and
correspondence from India and China. The dates
are :—Calcutta, to the 23d January ; Bombay,
21 February ; Hong-Kong, 15th January.
INDIA.
The following is a summary of the Bombay
Times of Feb. 2 :

The past fortnight, we regret to say, leaves no

room fir our customary complaint of ev-ant of war.

like intelligence ; and though the British empire in
the East enjoys undisturbed repose, there are

serious disqu-eiudes somewhat beyond the limits of
its border, and we have at present ships of war on
the hostile mission both in the Red Sea and Per-
sian Gulf. We mentioned a fortnight since that
such was the disturbed state of the country round
Aden that the resident, Brigadier Coghlan, had
applied to the Bombay Government for a detach-
ment
of Irregular Horse, and preparations appear
at present to be in contemplation for their despatch.
On the 14th inst. the Queen, steamer, was des-
patched to Juddah, to afford protection to the
French and English consuls in the southern ports,
of Arabia, and to endeavour to suppress the con-
test there threatened betwixt the Turks and Arabs.
' From time immemorial a flourishing trade in
slaves has prevailed betwixt the ;fief places on the
A.rabiau and African shores. Massowab, a 'own of
between 3,000 and 4,000 population, is the chief
point of export. Sometimes as many as 1,000
slaves are to be found here together ready for ship-
ment iu vessels of some 25 tons for Juddah, on the
opposite coast. About a fourth part of them are
believed to die of sickness, or perish by their own
hands on the way. They consist chiefly of Gallas,
who are smart, clever, and faithful ; men at the
age of 25 fetch from $3O to $4O ; a good-looking
girl for the harem fetching about double this.
Nest to these are the Abyssinians, for the most
:part Christians after a sort, entrapped into
slavery by the Mahomedans, who inhabit the bor-
ders of Abyssinia between the mountains and the
sea. They are sold by auction, the auctioneer receiv-
ing a dollar per head, the government raising a tax
of about as much more. There used to be about
2,000 slaves sold annually at Massowah' of whom
one-halt were Christians. Some months since the
Sultan, formerly the great protector of the slave
trade, issued orders to the Turkish authorities at

Juddah and Mecca for its suppression.. The order
was sent by the Pacha of Juddah to the Kahmukuu
of Mecca, who, having referred the matter to the
Cadi, it was proclaimed as Imperial,
.and to be
implicitly obeyed. The Ulemahs and inhabitants
on this proceeded to the Court of Justice, to de-
mand on what authority the abolition of slavery
had been ordered. On the firm in of the Sultan
being quoted, it was denounced by them as op-
posed to the Koran, and the Cadi being attacked,
escaped with his life, and with difficulty found
refuge in the sanctuary. The Kahmukun having
I come to his rescue, the order was read a second
time, but treated with such scorn that violence im-
mediately ensued, and numbers were wounded on
both sides. The troops having fired at the Muzkin,
and shot the priest as he went up to prayer a
battle followed betwixt them and the townspeople,
in which about a hundred of the latter fell, When
a general rising all around immediately ensued.
The troops were compelled to retreat, and were
beleaguered in the fort. Abd-el-Mentalib, a mal-
content at Taif, once in high authority, at this
time arrived at Mecca, and almost immediately
after Reschid Pacha reached from Constantinople,
with instructions from the Porte to seize him and
send him to the capital. Sherif Nazir was ap-
pointed to act in his stead, until the nomination of
his successor Mahomed bin Awn. A similar
amount of excitement, and from the same cause,
had arisen at Juddah, and both places are now in a
state of siege. Meanwhile the people told the autho-
rities that as the laws relating to slavery were
founded on the Koran, they must remain unal-
tered ; and that as the Sultan, who had been
always hitherto the most strenuous defender sand
vigorous promoter of slavery in these parts, must,
doubtless, on the present occasion, have been
moved by the allies, the French and English, the
flags of these nations must be pulled down, and
their representatives expelled. The Pacha of Jud-
dah, taking the consul under his protection, pro-
posed referring the question to the Porte, when the
multitude declared that unless their wishes were
complied with instantly,. they would take the mat-
ter into their own hands. The insurrection .threa,-
tens to extinguish the power of Turkey in Araiia
altogether ; the Sultan can only look to ;Egypt
_for aid, and Egypt itself is almost pommies". It