The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-01 00:00:00

111UTINY IN IHE DUTCH EAST INDIAN

ARMY.

BATAVIA, AUG. 23.
European supremacy in the East seems to be un-
dergoing a series of severe trials. The last week
has shown that the Government of British India is
not the only Power in this part of the world which
has leant on a broken reed. That your readers may
rightly understand the nature of the mutiny which
is causing so much alarm to the European popula-
tion of this archipelago, I must first say a word
with reference to the constitution of the army by
which Holland has hitherto retained its supremacy.
The Dutch Government does not permit the same
freedom of inquiry and criticism as is allowed in
British colonies, hence it is not easy to form a cor-
rect estimate of the military force in these islands.
It consists nominally of about 20,000 men, of whom
probably less than one-third are Europeans. It may
be doubted whether Europe ever before sent into
the East an army so thoroughly demoralis ed. The
Dutchmen belonging to these forces are well enough
but they do not form more than one-fourth even of
the European troops, the remainder being drawn
from the dregs of every army in Europe. These
mercenaries have frequently shown symptoms of
disaffection, which, however, caused no anxiety to
Government, as it was evident that no attempt at a
mutiny could be successful if uuaccompanied by an
insurrection on the part of the natives.

As the geography Of the Dutch East Indies is not
very well known to English readers, I may state
that the three principal towns in Java are Batavia,
Samarang, and Sourabaya, all lying on the north
coast of the island, and strongly garrisoned. The
mutiny has hitherto been confined to Samarang and
Sourabaya. At the former place it was discovered
by a Dutch sergeant, who ascertained on the even-
ing of the 16th inst. that a simultaneous rising of
all the mercenaries was to take place next morning.
He communicated the intelligence to his command-

ing officer, whoimmediately ordered that the native
troops should with all secrecy get under arms. It
so happens that these occupy the ground floor of the
barracks, the European troops being located above
them. The former were posted at the door, and or-
dered to fire on every European who attempted to
come downstairs. The mutineers quickly took the
alarm, and as they could not escape by the door com-
menced firing from the window. As however it was
already dark, they fired mostly at random, and
their ammunition was soon nearly exhausted. By
this time the National Guard had mustered consisting
of the whole European population capable of bear-
ing arms, and the barracks were surrounded. The
greater part of the mutineers now cried for quarter,
which was granted to them, on condition that not
more than three should descend at once, and that
each bring with him two muskets. The condition
was accepted, and thus, while one-half of the muti-
neers were safely handed over to the authorities, the
other half were left without arms. Speedy justice
has been executed on the ringleaders, upwards of
30 having been hanged. What Government 'will
do with the rest remains yet to be seen. The most
serious danger which has threatened this colony
for the last half century has thus far been averted
almost without bloodshed, and no small credit is
due to the Dutch officers who have brought the
affair to so speedy a termination.
A singular adventure happened to a gentleman
of Samarang, who was riding home from his club
on the evening of the outbreak. His horse started
at the firing, and bore him at full gallop along the
narrow street which is overlooked by the windows
of the barracks. Every musket was levelled at

him by the mutineers, who mistook him for an
official carrying despatches. His horse fell, pierced
by more than 20 bullets-, and the rider, stunned by
the fall, was also taken for dead. On recovering,
however, from the shock, he was found to have
escaped without a wound.
It would appear that the outbreak at Samarang
was the result of a deep and wide spread plan, for
intelligence has been received that on the same day
a desperate attempt was made to 'set fire to the
magazine at Sourabaya. The Governor-General
has declared all the fortresses and garrisons in a
state of siege.

There is not much probability of the mutiv
coming to a head in Batavia. A large propor-
tion of the troops, including all the Artillery, are
Dutch proper, and the National Guard is nearly
1,000 strong. A very strong force also is to be
found in the Roads, where there are some 2,000 or
3,000 sailors, who could be brought on shore and
armed on any emergency.
The mutineers probably expected the natives to
revolt along with them ; but in this hope they have
been disappointed, and there seems at present to be
no cause for anxiety or uneasiness in that quarter.
Not that the supremacy of the Dutch is at all po-
pular with the people of Java ; quite the reverse ;
but their present rulers have adopted two very ef-
fectual measures for keeping them in order. They
have taken the native'chi43fs into their pay, and
they have made it illegal for any native to possess
firearms. During the mutiny in British India the
utmost efforts were made by the Mahomedan priest-
hood to raise a rebellion throughout java, but they
could not succeed. The disaffected among the
rat'ves at large had not the means to create a re-
volt, and the native army was not, like that of Ben-
gal, organised into entire native regiments, but was
so mixed up with the European as to be completely
overawed by the latter. The consequences would
doubtless have been far more serious if those efforts
to create a revolt among the natives had occurred
simultaneously with the present =tiny.
The question has often been asked, " Why were
not the foreign troops which our country enlisted
during the Crimean war sent out to India P To
this inquiry the piiesent mutiny in the Dutch East
Indian army affords a very significant answer. Not
a fe the present mutineers belonged to our Ger-
man region.

Holland will now have to work out on a smaller
scale that Indian-army problem which has caused
so much anxiety to our own statesmen. She will
find it necessary to spend a little more of the reve-
nue she draws from her fine Indian dependencies in
their defence. She will find that good European
soldiers cannot be got to live in the tropics for a
penny a-day, and that some provision also must be
made for the moral and intellectual culture of an
army which is to maintain the supremacy of
3,000,000 men over 11,000,000.