The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-19 00:00:00

INDIA AND CHINA MAILS.

The Pera, Captain Jameson (Admiralty agent,
Lieutenant Cashman, R N.), arrived at Southamp-
ton ou Saturday with the heavy pottion of the
India and China mails. She left Alexandria on
the 4,h inst., Mal•a on the Bth, and Gibraltar on
the 13th. She brought home 124 passengers.
Lord Lyons's squadron was about to leave Malta
for a cruse. Her Majesty's ship Curlew and the
Portuguese brig Pedro Nunez, Captain the Duke
of Oporto, were at Gibraltar. On the 7th the
Pera signalled the Ripon and Euxine steamers ;
on the 9th, the British brig Eupatoria ; ou the
10th, the barque Waterloo ; on the 11th, the mail-
packet Colombo ; on the 17th, the Alhambra and
La Plata mail-packets. On the out ward voyage the
Pera experienced fine weather. She received the
Marseilles portion of the India and China mails at
Malta from the Valetta, and delivered them at
Alexandria in 7 days 10 hours from the time they
had left the General Post-office in London. On
the homeward passage the Pera met with bid
weather. On the evening of the 14th inst., just
after sunset, when the Pera was a few rules south
of the BerlingQ, a brilliant meteor, of a ple colour,
was seen in the west- at an elevation of about 25
degrees, traversing the sky from south-west to
north-east ; it lasted several seconds. The Egyp-
tian railway is getting on slowly. Mr. Green, ur
Green Bey, as he is termed in Egypt, a brother of
our consul there, and who has been at the head of
the transit administration, has retired from office.
The Paella has given him a retiring present of
10,0001. The Isle of Perim, at the eutrauce of the
Red Sea, is rapidly being fortified by our pe )ple.
The Sitnla, which was obliged,to put back, to Suez
with the Austalian mail, is still there. Her screw
has got loose, and was repaired once, but. found n t
to answer. She will have to be beached at Suez.
The mail which sunk in the Ava, and afterwards
recovered, is expected home in the Ripon, due in
England on the 26th instant. The letters and
papers were being dried very carefully at Point de
Galle. The letters in the centre of the boxes were
not wetted much, but those around them were
saturated. All but one box of the specie sunk in
the Ava had been recovered, up to the last accounts.
It was feared that the Alma's shaft sunk in the Ava
could not be fished up. One of her Majesty's ships
was at the wreck, and divers were very busy. It is
much lamented by passengers through Egypt the
transit administration is not entirely in the bands
of the English, who would work the ra lroad far
more successfully and profitably for the Pasha than
is done by the present arrangement.
a dined
a ball given by the Governor there.
til.e The duke
The Duke of Oporto, who was at Gibraltar
with the mess of the 48th Rigaecnorvette Ornea,
had likewise visited the Nor strgivep.
tion of the com-
et Gibraltar, to inspect anew 111
Wedel Parlsburg, a
pass, by Baron Ferdinand of_
The invention is called
lieutenant of the corvette.
t the size and ramp
during several hours
a control compass. It works . _
andthe invention is a ve'israyottS
fifth minute, or oftener.
the course steered every.
passengers landed
were Lieu. t. Graheaereimonf,eaoldnef
Yu
wteilfurguln d e d yesterday at South-
, t A.
This instruAmmperetoo
ngi'tsartiavbtahoneucnte..
the 23d Regiment, who was at the relief of Luck-
now, and at the battle of Cawnpore, where he was
bo rudtpi
severelynboea ar
in the leg ; Capt. Cassidy, of the
34th Regt., who fought under Wyndham at Cawn-
pore, and was wounded in the leg ; Capt. Roche, of
the 31th, who also fought under Wyndham at
Cawnpore ; Lieut. Grant, of Bth Native Infantry,
The Pera's
who lost his thumb and forefinger, under Havelock
at the relief of Lucknow ; Capt. Bacon, of the 3d,

CONFESSlONsatisfactory
tothoOseFwhijoloNlai.e.ct to capital
It will be
punishment, in cases of conviction upon circum-
stantial evidence, fo know that Lani, who at first
so stn enuously denied his guilt, has, since his con-
vic'ion, admitted that the unfortunate fleloise
Thaubin met her death at his hands, and.that thus .
all doubts ato the justice of the verdict returned
,gainst him by the jury, if any such have exiated,
-ire now removed. When first placed in- thwasaas -
cleaned cell, where he has been watched night and
day by turnkeys, Lani preierved a silent, and even
sullen demeanour; but being constantly visited
by the priest attached to the Sardinian Chapel, he
yielded to the influence of religious exhortations,
and gradually became calm. Each cortinaunica-
dn that has passed between him and his spiritual
adviser upon the subject of the murder, is,- of
course, a mater of reserve upon the past of the
latter ' • but in conversing with his attendants, Lani
has not scrub led to allude to that subject, and, ap-
parently, has gained ease of mind by dwelling upon
it. He has felt aggrieved at the supposition, so
freely expressed by many, that he sought the so-
ciety, of his unfortunate victim, after being .re-
oulsed by other women of greater external wealth,
i h the design of enurderitsg her for the sake of oh-
tainin.g poss,ssioli hez-Witch and ornaments—a
.opposition which he indignauly repudiates, as-
s ating that-, in the accomplishment of the fatal
deed he acted only upon an impulse arising out'of
provocation received by him. He states that being
4b ,ut_ to enter upon a long voyage, he sought, -as
he should from its duration be .debarred from the
ompany of women, for amusement in their society
for the last time ; and that when lie went with
Thaubin tO her apartment, it was with that view
•nly. Everything, he adds, was quiet and plea-
sant b.-tween them, until the middle of the night,
or rather an early hour in the morning, when LH
detested her in the act of rifling - his pockets, and
jumped out of bed to prevent her from rubbing him.
struggle .between them was the censequence, in •
the course of which he threw her upon the bed, and
held her down, wilieut the remotest intention of
inflicting any serious mischief upon her ; but, still
further provoked by scratch whichsliegave him onhis
face, he entirely lost his self-control, and squeezed
her too tightly ronnd the throat. Stilt be had no
idea that he had inflicted mire than a slight chas-
, tisement upon her, until, finding that she became
quiescent beneath him, he reeased his hold, and
found, to Lis surprise and dismay, that she was
senseless._ He endeavoured to awaken her to con-
sciousness, but without success, and there soon
dawned upon his mind, with an overwhelming
terror, the fact that she was dead. Fur some little
time ho was prostrated mentally and bodily, but
the necessity of exertion in order to escape reatorsd
his faculsies to their proper stase ; and after dress-
ing himself, and before he quitted the morn, a
sudden itni ulse urged him to steal the property of
the woman he bad just killed. Hastily possessing
himself of her watch, her ling, her mantle, and a
few articles he quietly opened ths door of the room,
and made Ids way down stairs, were the sight of a
woman Dishes, the lodge,), lying-on the
landing, occasioned him a momentary trepidation ;
but passing her without let or hindrance, he soon -
reached the street, made his way to his hotel, com-
pleted his preparations for departure from England,.
and was just imagining himself secure from pursuit
and punishment, when he was arrested on board
ship off Gravesend.
Such is the nature of his confession, which, it
must be admitted, is not without an air of verisi-
militde • but which is, nevertheless, not credited
by the Officers of Newgate, wh- do not believe that
Heloise Thaubiu attempted to rob him, as lie asserts.
At the same time, however, they elo not charge him
with having sought her company with the intention
of murder lucking in his soul, but rather cling to
the opinion that he has pretty fairly described the
events of tha: fearful night, with the exception of
that part which charges Thaubin with having
attempted to rob him. In their opinion, Lani went
to Arundel-court to seek female society, with or.
without an intention of robbery ; they hesitate to
say, bur they cenclude, that he rose from bed, leav-
ing his companion asleep, and commenced appro-
priatieg her property to himself ; that she awoke
up suddenly, detected him in the acs, and threat-
ei;eil to call in assistance, and that then, fearful of
ing handed over to the police, and prevented
from setting out upon that voyage to South America
for which he had already prepared, he sprang upon
her with the intention of reducing her to silence
while he made his escape, and killed her bygoing a
little too far. This solution of the mystery seems to
be much more likely than the convict's own state-
ment, and is, probably, not far from the truth.
Itds not, however, to be concluded that Lani is a
rufllian in outward appearance ; on the contrary, he .
is rather mild-looking and inoffensive of mien. In
the condemned cell he conducts himself even se-
renely, having to all appearance resigned any hope .
he may have at one time harboured of a pardon,
and reconciled himself to that ignominious death
which, in another week, he will meet on the scaf-
fold. There is nothing coarse about him, and, on .
the whole, he may be pronounced "as mild a man-
, nered man as ever did a murder."

ITER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
The following arrangements are already
made for the season :
Thursday, April 22, Extra Night, LES HUGUENOTS.
Madlle. Titiens and Signor Ginglini.
Tuesday, April 27, LES HUGUENOTS.
Thursday, April 29, LES HUGUENOTS.
On each occasion entertainments iu the Ballet Department,
in which Mesdlles. Pocchini, Annetta, Biolstti, Pasquale,
and Morlacchi will appear. - -
Applications to be made at the Box Office at the theatre.