The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-12 00:00:00

THE COLONIES AND INDIA.

SIR GEORGE GREY'S PROCEEDINGS AT
THE CAPE.

Extract of Despatch from Governor Sir G. Grey
to the Right Hon. H. Labouchere, dated Cape
Town, Aug. 7, 1857. (Received 00. 16, 1857.
Answered, No. 250, Oct. 21, 1857, page 12.)
I have the honour to state that I yesterday re-
ceived, by a special messenger, letters dated 29th
June and Bth July, from the Bombay government
to the following purport :
That the British power in India had never been
so seriously menaced as it was at the present
moment ; that the whole of the Bengal army was
either in open mutiny. or had been disarmed to
prevent their mutinying.
That the Bombay government still received
urgent calls for further aid, and was anxiously
watching events in the adjoining territory of the
Nizam, among whose troops a mutinous spirit had
already displayed itself ; and that if this spirit
should become general in the Nizam's territory the
whole eastern frontier of the Bombay presidency
would require to be protected against any sudden

inroad.
By another letter from Lord Elphinstone, dated
29th June, I was informed that Sir H. Barnard's
force, then besieging Delhi, could not exceed 2,400
men, of which only GO were trained artillerymen.
The rebels were daily receiving large reinforce-
ments, whole regiments and brigades were mutiny-
ing, and were marching to Delhi, carrying with
them their arms and any mosey which they could
plunder from the public chests on their way. The
mutineers were said to be very strong in artillery,
and to have 120 heavy guns mounted and admi-
rably served, and to be in every respect well sup-
plied with ordnance stores and ammunition.
In Bombay itself serious elements of disturbance
had just been detected ; at Sattarah a plot had
been discovered for seducing the sepoys from their
allegiance, massacreing the European inhabitants,
and for placing the adopted son of the deposed
Rajah upon the throne.
Another letter from Lord Elphinstone, dated Bth
July, informed me that a very bloody and incon-
conclusive action had been f )ught at Delhi on the
23d of June, and that we had lost a great number
of officers; that our force was daily becoming weaker,
whilst the rebels were constantly increasing in
strength and boldness. That Sir John Lawrence
began to think he would be obliged to abandon
Peshawur, and all the country beyond the Indus,
and the state of affairs generally continued to grow
more unsatisfactory. You will have heardthe above
circumstances before this reaches you, but it was
necessary that I should detail them ma justification
of the measures I have adopted, and of the respon-
sibilities which I have incurred.

Under these circumstances the Bombay Govern-
ment sent down a special messenger to me, Capt.
Jenkins, of the Indian Navy, with the steam trans-
ports the England and the Madras, and urgently
requested me to send, without an instant's delay,
two infantry regiments to Bombay, and a force of
artillery to Calcutta, together with draught horses,
and any supplies of specie which could possibly be
'spared.
The Bombay Government stated this assistance to
be absolutely necessary, and urgently premed me to
send every farther aid that could possibly be spared
to the Government of Bengal, which must be placed
in a position of the most imminent peril.
I have therefore directed that all vessels arriving
here with troops for China shall proceed direct to
Calcutta instead of to Singapore. At this season of
the year it only takes four days longer to reach Cal-
cutta than Singapore. The voyage from Calcutta to
Singapore can performed in about days ; thus, if
the troops are not required at Calcutta, their voyage
will only be lengthened about nine days ; whilst, if
the safety of our Indian empire is threatened, their
arrival at Calcutta 10 or 12 days earlier than if they
went round by Singapore, may prove to be a matter
of the most vital consequence. I have also directed
that the coaling of the steam transports arriving
here with troops for China should be proceeded wi'h
day and night, so that not one hour's delay will
take place at the Cape of Good Hope. These ar-
rangements have been communicated to the Bight
Hon. the Governor-General of India, and to Ljrd
Agin.

The inhabitants of Cape Town have in this emer-
gency most nobly offered with their Volunteer
Corps to perform gratuitously the whole garrison
duty of this place, which, from the number of Kaffir
prisoners here, will be heavy ; and I have conse-
quently been able to spare for service in India every
man serving in this portion of South Africa.
I have therefore detained the company of Royal
Artillery which arrived on. the 3d inst. in the Ocean
Wave, under the command of Major Messurier, for
the purpose of relieving Capt. Hardy's company of
the same corps, and have also detained Capt.
Hardy's company, which was to have returned to
England. Half of this latter company was quar-
tered in Cape Town, forming part of the garrison
of this place ; and I have directed Capt. Sir Wm.
Wiseman to embark on board her Majesty's steam
ship Penelope Major Messurier's company of Royal
Artillery, and the half of Capt. Hardy's company,
which was in Cape Town, with Capt. Travers of the
Royal Artillery, and 50 excellent draught horses
(thus forming a force of 207 non-commissioned
officers and men of the Royal Artillery, with nine
officers, together with their proper complement of
horses), and to proceed without any delay direct
with this force to Calcutta.

I have also taken the sum of 60,0001. in specie
out of the colonial treasury, being all the specie
that we had, and have paid it over as a loan into
the military chest, directing the senior commisa-
riat officer to ship this sum of specie on board the
Penelope, to be paid over at Calcutta to the order
of the Right Hon. the Governor-General of India.
The Penelope will sail for Calcutta to-morrow or
the next day.

The 89th Regiment having been concenirated,
one half as the garrison at Cape Town, and the
other half at the Buffalo Mouth, for the purpose of
proceeding to New Zealand, I was able to put my
Land upon this regiment at an hour's notice, and
have, as you will find from the enclosed correspon-
dence, directed that the Ocean Wave should be
chartered to take 200 men of the 89th Regiment
to Bombay, whilst the remainder of the same regi-
ment will be able to find accommodation on board
the England. The 89th embarks to-day, and pro-
ceeds without delay for Bombay.
From Sir Charles Yorke's letter to Sir James
Jackson of the 4th of June, 1857, it appears that
the 95th Regiment, which was to relieve the 89'.b,
may be expected to arrive here hourly. I will then
send that regiment on to Bombay, allowing no
longer detention here than is requisite for complet-
ing their supplies. In case of any difficulty arising
on this subject, I hale detained fur the present
the steamer Madras on to Bombay. The BUth and
95th, together with the reinforcements which have
been furnished from the Mauritius, will, apparently
sufficiently increase the European force in the '
Bombay presidency.
I have, however, written to Sir James Jackson
requesting him to make every exertion to spare
another regiment from this command ; if we can
with any safety accomplish this, such regiment
shall be immediately sent on to Calcutta.
To enable us• to do this, I have taken uponmyself
t!e responsibility of authorising our local mounted
border force to be increased by 200 men, which
will entail an additional charge of at least 20,0001.
par annum upon the colonial chest, raising the sum
which the colony pay for their own frontier force to
60,000 i, per annum.
In the emergency of the moment I have been
corn-pelted to take this step without the authority
of the colonial parliament, which has only just been
'Prorogued ; but I feel confident that the loyalty of
the people of this colony is so ereat, and that such
is their gratitude for the aid which Great Britain
has afforded to them through so many years of
adversity, that a strong public feeling would be
raised against me if I hesitated at the present
mrment to take all suchst,ps as the colonial parlia-
ment would feel it was consistent with their honour
t rat the Governor of the Colony should take to
show their attachment to their sovereign, and their
desire by every means in their power to evince their
gratitude to her M•sjesty, and their anxiety in an
important cris's to contribute to their utmost ability
to st cure the safety of the empire.

I am, afraid her .Majesty's government may think
that I have incurred too heavy a responsibility in
directing all these movements, but I leg to point '
out, that any error which I have in tins re,pect
made can be remedied in a few weeks, whilst, not
only. is the safety of our whole Indian empire now
tat stake, bet the present is a crisis of great political,
aignitieance.
that
it .British empire is so vast, and so unwieldy,
alt imp! taut that the whole world should
tee it 'Tr
a4ll('t • il but that it
overgrown sty strtng_.3, _
possesses 4 -4.
poweis of lauctill'avasitmtich energy, vitality, and
and that if an its extremities as at its centre,
alt parts oPfor.ttion of it is seriously en-
dangered,.can, without communi-
cating with the central
eannultaneously stir them-
selves to meet the emergency, as if each part were
the head and centre of action the whole body,
so that the whole weight and fort© of the empire
can at once be brought to bear fromrce every part upon
the menaced point. ;
If this is done, the strength and safety of the
whole of her .Majeety's dominions are
gr
becomeeatly
increased, and their varied populations
animated by common sentiments arid_ by a
common pride in the greatness and I.tte(zigth of the'
empire of which they form a part the effect of
which can hardly be exaggerated. For instance,
there is not one of the gentlemen in this part

of the country who will now in his turn abandon
his bed to sleep for the night in the guard-house,
and to walk his beat as sentry, who will not think
that he has made some sacrifice for her Majesty's
honour, and for the safety of even a distant part of
her empire, and who will not henceforth regard any
persons who assail the interests of the Queen, or
her possessions, very much in the light of personal
antagonists. In fact, all here now feel that th• 4
are useful members of a great body eerporate, in
which they have that personal interest which arises
from having made some sacrifices to promote the
common good of the whole. Such a feeling per-
vading the empire must immeasurably increase its
strength, unity, and stability ; I trust, therefore,
that her Majesty's government will, upon every
ground, bear me out in what I have done.
It will be necessary that her Majesty's govern-
ment should, if they approve of the arrangements
I have made, procure the sanction of her Majesty's
advisers for the responsibility I have incurred in
directing that the troops intended for China should
I be sent direct to Calcutta.
_ _ _ _ _

That they should also obtain the sanction of the
Lords of the Admiralty for my having sent her Ma-
jesty's steamer Penelope with troops to Calcutta,
thus taking her from this station, and delaying her
return to England, which has been ordered. I have
done this in the absence of the admiral, Sir Fred.
Grey, who is at present on the west coast, the loss
of whose advice and assistance at such a moment
has been very unfortunate for me.
The sanction of the Secretary for War must also
be obtainel to my having sent the 89th Regiment
to Bombay, instead of New Zealand, and to my
detaching the 95th Regiment from this command,
as well as any other regiment which I may send on
to Bengal, as also to the fact of my having sent the
above-stated detachment of Royal Artillery to the
Bengal presidency.
I shall not fail to keep you fully informed of any
other steps which it may be in my power to take to
aid the Government of India in the present
emergency, and I have now enclosed copies of all
communications which have been by my directions
addres-ed to the Governments of Bengal and Bom-
bay, sad the several naval and military authorities.
I Leg to bring particularly to notice the assistance
which I have received from Captain Sir William
Wiseman, Bart., R N., the senior naval officer
here, and from olonel Ferryman, of the 89th Re-
giment, in carrying out with the greatest prompti-
tude the various arrangements detailed in this
despatch.

LORD ELPHINSTONE'S ACCOUNT OF
INDIA. IN JUNE, 1857.

To the Officer administering the Government of

the Mauritius.

Honourable Sir,—We have the honour to enclose
for your information copy of a despatch addressed
by us to his Excellency the Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope.
The accompanying summaries of Indian news,
prepared for circulation in England, will put you
in possession of the principal facts connected with
the alarming crisis through which our Indian Em-
pire is now passing.
Should you be able t© spare a regiment from the
force at the Mauritius, a service of the very greatest
importance would be performed if that regiment
were immediately placed on board the Pottinger,
and despatched to Bombay.
In the event of your being ab:e to place a regi-
ment at the disposal of the Government of Bom-
bay, we shall esteem it an additional favour if you
would assist Captain Jenkins, of the Indian Navy,
the officer who is the bearer of this letter, in pro-
ceeding to the Cape with as little delay as may be
practicable, in order that he may prefer an applica-
tion to the Government of that colony for the de-
spatch of troops to Caloutta.—Wo have, Sze.,
(Signed) ELPHINSTONE.
J. R. LITNISDEN.
A. MALET.
Bombay Castle, June 29, 1857.

To his Excellency Sir Geo Grey, K. 0.8., Governor
and Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope.
On the 10th May a mutiny broke out among the
native troops of the Bengal army at Meerut, an im-
portant station under the Government of the
North-Western Provinces of India. Several Euro-
peans were murdered. The mutiny immediately
extended to Delhi, where the lives of many officers,
civil and military, and of several ladies, were sacri-
ficed. The mutineers, on gaining possession of the
city of Delhi, proclaimed a member of the old im-
perial family as king, and called on their country-
men to co-operate in the annihilation of British
power in India.
The evil example exhibited at Meerut and Delhi
has been followed throughout the whole of North-
ern India. From Calcutta to the Punjab there is
hardly a station in which mutiny has nut broken
out, or in which it has not been found necessary to
disarm the native troops. At several stations many
officers and other European inhabitants have been
murdered by the mutineers.
The armies of Madras and Bombay have, up to
the present time, remained firm in their allegiance.
Tti e accompanying copies of summaries of Indian
news prepared for circulation in England will place
your Excellency in possession of the principal events
in this extraordinary movement, the most momen-
tous in the annals of our Indian empire. The os-
tensible cause of the mutiny, your Excellency will
observe, was the introduction of the new cartridges
for the Enfield rifles, which, as being prei ared in
some degree with tallow, were regarded as offen-
sive to the religious feelings of the native troops.
A sentiment through the exertions of evil agents
appears to have been engendered that the intro-
duction of these cartridges was designed as an in-
sult to the Hindoo and Mahometan religions, and
as the "first indication of a policy having for its
object the destruction of these religions. It would
be out of place now to speculate bow far other
motives have conduced to the mutinous spirit so
widely and so violently exhibited. It will be suf-
ficient to r..gard the actual facts alone, and to state
that British ascendancy in India has never received
so serious a menace.

Your Excellency will immediately understand,
with nearly the whole of the Bengal army either in
open mutiny or disarmed in order to prevent them
from mutinying, the presence of strong reinforce-
ments of European troops is an absolute necessity.
The government of Bombay has reason to feel a
just confidence in the fidelity of its native army ;
it has stood film, and we believe it will continue to
stand firm, but it is recruited in a great part from
the same provinces m the Bengal army, and with
the evil example of that army before them it would
be of very doubtful policy to trust implicitly to
troops surrounded by such temptations to revolt as
they are unquestionably exposed to. This govern-
ment, out of the eight guropean regiments which
garrison its stations, inclusive of those in S3inde
awl of Aden, has in the present emergency des-
patched four regiments to Bengal and the Punjab,
and tha greater part of another to places subordi-
nate to the government of the North-Western Pro-
vinces. It has still received urgent calls for fur-
ther aid, and it has to watch events in the adjoin-
ing territory of his higlince.s the Nizam, among
whose troops a mutinous spirit has already dis-
played itself. If this spirit should become general
in the Nizam's territory, the whole eastern frontier
of this presidency would require to be protected
against any sudden inroad.
In these conjectures it has occurred to us that
your Excellency might be might be able, consistently
with proper regard to the interests committed to
your charge, to spare at least one of her Majtsty's
regiments now stationed at the Cape for duty in
this presidency. This would be an important ac-
cession of strength, while, if a larger reinforcement
cm be afforded us, it might enable this government
to render further assistance to the government of
the North-Western Provinces, and a f eling of con-
fidence would be inspired that the British govern-
ment was bringing all its resources to bear on the
present et isis. In the earnest hope that your Ex
cellency may be able to comply with this request
to the extent at the very least of one regiment of
infantry, the steamer Pottinger has been despatch:d
and the steamer Chusan will follow for its convey-
ance to Bombay.

We, however, hope that your Excellency may
have it in your power to despatch at this cris.s a
much larger force (comprising artillery, is
much needed) for the relief of India, and that you
will te able to find tonnage, and possibly steam
'"nage, at the Cape. We have already had the
honour of pointing out to yuur Excellency that the
proportion of European troops in this
presidency is
less by one.half than its usual amount in times of
perfect tranquillity. `Vera four regiments of in-
fantry and three companies of artillery sent to
Bombay, our ordinary peace establishment would
only be completed.

Lcoking, however, to the more r, ;
of other parrs of the empire, and,breei.sny
,n g exigen cif s
awarenGgang es is t theha t
for the next four or five months theo
line by which troors can best be conveyed wood
onlyeYea(!kt.o the
chief seats of the revolt,
your
Excellency to send two regiments of infantry t
Bombay ; any other troop, whether infantry or
artillery, which can be spared the Cape colony, We
think should be despatched to Calcutta.
We have no hesitation in assuring your Excellency
that whatever amount of aid you are in a position
afford will be most gratefully acknowledged by the
Hon. Court of Directors and by the Government of
India.

In explanation of the fact of this application being
addressed to your Excellency by this Government,
we beg to state that the telegrapbic communica-
tions are all interrupted, and communication by
post is uncertain, and much valuable time would

therefore he lost in awaiting the result of a refer-
ence to the, Government of India.—We have, &e.,
(Signed) ELPHINSTONE.
J. R. LIMISDEN.
A. MALET.
Bombay' Castle, June 29, 1857.