The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-02 00:00:00

INDIAN BATTLE IN NEW MEXICO.

An officer of the army furnishes the Santa Fe
Gazette of the 11th ult. with the following particu-
lars of the late battle with a party of Indians :
" I left Albuquerque on the evening of the 25th,
with Captain George M'Lean of the Rifles and 12
men of his company. On the 27th we were joined
by. Captain Blas Lucero and his spy company, com-
posed of 50 Mexicans. We proceeded rapidly
on our march until the morning of the 29th,
when we reached Bear Spring, about 40 miles
distant from this post. On the 28th we had
noticed Indians and their trails.going east, which
with other information and evidences in posses-
sion of Captain M‘Lean, determined him
to prepare for a contest whenever he might meet
any considerable number of them. As we were pass-
ing the Spring on the morning of the 29th we dis-
covered a large body of Indians and ponies to the
left and half a mile distant from us. Capt. M'Lean
detailed four of his men, and Capt. Lucero 20 of his
men., who, with their respective captains and my-
self, proceeded to where the Indians were encamped,
"As we approached in a rapid gallop the Indians
gave the war-whoop, received us with threatening
gestures and a volley of arrows, and then quickly
deployed off to the right and left and in front—
those to the right and left remaining concealed be-
hind trees, while those in front, who were much
further off, seemed to invite a contest. As one of
'the Indians (a chief, I presume) was riding to and
fro where his men were, apparently giving com-
mand, Capt. M'Lean fired a pistol shot at him.
This seemed to arouse them, and they then mani-
fested with great earnestness their hostile feelings
and intentions. The captain gave orders foi his
men to dismount, who, with himself, did so, and

•
commenced a desperate execution among the In-
dians at a distance of 410 yards with their rifles.
This seemed to surprise them, and they rapidly
flew to the trees, occasionally jumping and running
some distance across, as if to draw our fire, and
also to decoy us into a closer or an ambUsh fight.
" The valley which leads to the spring cannot be
more than 200 or 300 yards on either side, and in
front of which rise hills covered with pine timber.
Capt. M'Lean's party operated about the middle of
this valley, and were not more than 150 yards from
either side. As Capt. M'Lean was aiming a shot at
an Indian in front, some 300 yards distant, an In-
dian took deliberate aim with a rifle at him. He
fired, brought down the Indian in front, and quickly
wheeled to get another cartridge. Just as he turned
the Indian fired, the ball entering the front of the
right breast, and, passing round some 21 inches,
came out, leaving a severe s and painful but not fatal
wound. The shock was u
hnning—so much so that
it was several minutes beforet
sufficiently to mounts horse,
eocould collect him-
selfrseto, and,a with the
assistance of two of his men, ride
The engagement lasted about fifteen minutes. A.
well as I could judge, and I sat on my horse; s
watch-
ing in the midst of the attacking party
,
em
closelyeverything that passed, there were about
300 Indians on the ground, against whom were 26
of our men, including the 20 spies under Captain
Lucero, Captain M'Lean, and myself. I think there
were eight or ten killed, and three or four wounded.
Four were taken prisoners, a number of ponies cap-
tured, blankets taken, and camp destroyed. The
attacking party lost nothing but a profuse dis-
charge of blood from Capt. M‘Lean's wound.
" Thus has opened the campaign against the Na-
vlajoes. Capt. M'Lean did himself great credit in
tlrß mode in which he made the attack. The sud-
den, determined, and active manner in which he
operated completely dumfounded the savages, and
inspiyed confidence and courage into the spies who
were with him. He is a gallant soldier and an ele-
gant gAntleman' in both of which characters I have
had. an
_ p e opportunity to observe him, and as
brave an st true a man as ever smelt gunpowder—
insensible jo fear. Such men should be fostelied

and encouraged by the Government, for they are '
invaluable in this frontier country.
" The spies under Capt. Lucero behaved finely in
the engagement, the captain even surpassing him-
self for daring and bravery during the fight., It
may not be amiss to mention that Capt. Lucero's
son, a little fellow 12 years old, was on the ground,
and, with pistol in hand, galloped to and fro with
his father on the field.
" Such are the main incidents and facts of the
battle of Bear Spring,' fought at 9.30 a.m. on Sun-
day, the 29th Aug., 1858 ; on the side of the Ame-
ricans there being 26 men, including the Indian
agent, who on the occasion had to be a non-comba-
tant, and 300 on the part of the Indians.
" Col. Miles reached here yesterday, having
marched 400 miles, with infantry, in 16 days. He
assumes the command of the forces, and is now ac-
tively engaged. in completing his preparations for
an energetic and vigorous campaign. Immediately
on his arrival here Sandovol, the friendly chief,
who has been here several days came to see him in
connexion with myself. The Indian intimated that
any price which might be asked would be given
to settle the difficulty. Of course such a proposition
was not listened to. Colonel Miles told him that he
would be here five days. If the chiefs wished to
some in and have a talk, they could do so with im-
punity within that time and depart without moles-
tation. After that time he should go after them.
" Active operations will commence on the Bth or
9th. The officers are Col. Miles, commander;
Lieut. Walker, adjutant; Dr. M'Kee, surgeon;
Capt. Elliott, A Company Mounted Rifles (Lieut.
Lane is with the company) ; Capt. Hatch, I Com-
pany Mounted Rifles ; Lieut. Averelle, F Company
Mounted Rifles ; Lieut. Whipple, B Company 3d
Infantry ; Lieut. Hilott, C Company 3d Infantry ;
and Capt.-Lucero and 30 spies and guides. Major
Brooks, who has been for some time, and is now,
too unwell for active service with GI Company 3d
Infantry, increased to 150 men and 20 Mexican
spies and guides, remains at the post. There are
also three more companies on the way to this place
from Albuquerque. Capt. M'Lean, of I Company
Mounted Rifles, will not be able to take the field at
present on account of his wounds. The command
will, therefore, fall upon Capt. Hatch, who will not
suffer the reputation of the company to be tarnished,
or fail in proving his pluck as a soldier and effici-
ency as an officer."

THE RED RIVER AND SASKATCH-
EWAN ROUTE TO BRITISH COLUMBIA

TORONTO, OCT. 18.

The agitation for the recall of the Governor-
General still continues. County meetings were held
last week in Peterborough and Glengarry, at which
petitions to the Queen were adopted. On the 4th
Nov. a grand dinner is to be given to the members
of the Brown-Dorion cabinet in Montreal, and a
series of meetings will follow throughout Lower
Canada, having the same object in view. The par-
tisans of the ministry have been trying to get tip
a few counter-demonstrations, but their efforts
have been confined to townships, and the
two meetings which have been held were of the hole-
and-corner sort. There can be no doubt that the
great mass of the people, both of Upper and Lower
Canada, earnestly wish Sir Edmund's withdrawal
as the first step to obtaining reform in the adminis-
tration of affairs. Acts of corruption perpetrated
under his ministry come to light every day. A
member of parliament, Mr. A. P. Macdonald, was
formerly a contractor for a canal on the Ottawa.
He failed to perform his sontract, and the
work was taken from him He then made
a claim on the Government for compensation ;
it was examined, and payment refused. Then came
Mr. Macdonald's election, professedty in the interest
of the opposition, but really, as it is now said, under
the auspices of the government, who have reopened
Mr. Macdonald's claim for compensation on the old
contract, and have remitted it to arbitration. Another
case which has made some noise is that of Mr. Simp-
son, member for Magara, who was formerly custom-
house collector at tat port, and sold his office for
£3OO, the sum being made up by two of his subordi-
nates, who got promotion by his resignation, and by
a third,, who was to receive the last office vacated.
It is believed that a regular system of buying and
selling offices has been going on, that the purchase
of the Norfolk shrievalty, exposed during last Par-
liament, is only a single specimen of the practice of
the Government. You may, perhaps, remember that
Mr. Fe/lowes, member for Russell, was elected by
-faigt votes -copied into the, poll books from an
American directory. This gehtletnan now ftgures
as havin'g obtained a patent for crown lan4- from
the Government by special favour, in order to dis-
possess a man who had lived upon the land 40-years.
You may imagine that the publication of such cases
of corruption does not improve Sir Edmund. Head's
reputation. It is true that these things are done
byhis ministers; but he, by his partisanship, appears
in the light of keeping these ministers in office, to
the detriment of others who, it is believed, would
have been pure in the administration of public
affairs.

A great deal of attention is now directed to the
opening. up of the north-west territory, and every
one rejoices that the public mind of England is being
awakened to the importance of railway communica-
tion across the continent in British territory. A
company having this for its ultimate object has
been organised under a charter of last session. Mr.
Dawson, M.P., is president, Mr. Lewis Moffatt,
merchant, of Toronto, vice-president, and Sir Allan
lac Nab and a number of influential bankers, mer-
chants;' and lawyers, are among the directors. The
company already owns a steamer running from
Collingwood to the head of Lake Superior ; and it
is intended to open up from that point communica-
tion with the Red River—first, by a road 60 miles
in length, thence by small steamers and barges on
two reaches of navigation, one 70 and the other 150
miles in length ; and, thirdly, by a road over the
prairies, 100 miles, to Fort Garry, on the Red River.
From thence another steamer is to run to the Falls
of the Saskatchewan, through LakelWinnepeg,
and beyond the Falls, another steamer is to traverse
a distance of 750 miles on the Saskatchewan,
which would bring the traveller within two or
three days' journey on horseback of the gold mines
on Fraser River. From 20 to 30 days would
suffice to carry the passenger by this line to the
Pacifies - The route would be pleasaiater and
healthier than that by Panama. ' You are already
aware that the Americans 'have a stage road now
in operation from Saint. Louis to San Francisco.
Twenty-three days are required for the transit,
and it • is necessary to cross some arid plains,
where water is not to be had for a distance of 40
or 50 miles. If you compare 23 days of staging
with the comparatively easy and healthy transit by
the magnificent line of steam navigation through
British territory, the advantages of our route can
hardly ,be over-estimated. It is thought that
£75,000 would supply the boats and make the
roads necessary to enable the company to carry pas-
sengers from Toronto to Fraser River. It is pro-
posed that the boats shall be iron ; and, where the
waters are shallow, of steel, like that which was
furnished to Dr. Livingstone for his Zambesi voyage.
The company, which is called the North-West
Trade, Navigation, and Land Company, is also au- ,1
thorised to build a railway and to increase its capi-
tal
stock when necessary for that object. The open-
ing of the line of navigation will be only a pre-
liminary to the construction of the railway, but it
is very important that such natural means of com-
munication exist for opening up the country. We
are constantly receiving intelligence from Red
River, and every additional report strengthens our
belief in the value of the Red River and Saskat-
chewan districts as fields for settlement. All who
have visited the country are enraptured with the
beauty of its scenery and the fertility of its soil. •
Mr. Edward Ellice has visited Minnesota in order,
it is said, to make arrangements to send in the
Hudson Bay. Company goods by Saint Paul to the
Red River, instead of by the circuitous route of
York Factory. He is now in Toronto, but intends
sailing for England this week.
We have also had a visit from Sir William F.
Williams, the hero of Kars. He has been the guest
of Sir A. Mac Nab, in Hamilton, for some days, and
was present at an agricultural dinner in that city
on Friday last. A complimentary entertainment
is to be given to him there to-day, and other din-
ners are on the tapis.
The Governor-General has been away in the
woods for the last ten days with Lord Radstock,
shooting and fishing. Some say that he went for
the benefit of his health, and some that it- was to
avoid Lord Napier, who was at the Falls of Niagara
last week, and who might have been expected to
visit Toronto, being within two hours' journey.
Ten Legislative councillors have been elected
during the past month—five in Upper and five in
Lower Canada. All in Upper Canada have been
obliged to denounce the Government, in order to
secure their election, and only one has failed to
condemn the conduct of the Governor-General.
Otherwise, the contests have not been of a party
character, the
riethe pervading wish being to select men
and high position rather than • parti-
sans. The following is a list of those elected :
UPPER CANADA.—Tecumseth Mr. D. Macdonald;
'
Gore, Mr. Alexander • York, Mr.' G. W Allan • St.
Lawrence, Mr. Craw ford •, ;and :and Cataraqui, 'Mr..
Campbell. _

LOWER CANADA.—Montarville, Mr. Kierkowski
Repentigny, Mr. Archambault ; Sorel, Mr. Guevre-
mont ; Ahna, Mr. Armand; La Salle, Mr. Ouches-

nay.
The elections for the Gulf and Eric still remain
to be accomplished.
Returns have been issued from the Board of Sta-
tistics, which show that the crop of fall wheat

during the pastiseason is 331-3 d per cent. less than
the average ; of spring wheat, 15 per cent. less, and
that the other crops are about the same as usual.
The failure is rather leis than was generally ex-
pected, and although -the price is comparatively
low, there is considerable- activity in the grain
market, and a slight revival in trade. Merchants
are doing a quiet, safe business, and although the
winter will be dull, it is thCiught that we have seen
the worst of the hard times. The banks have
plenty of money, and find it difficult to get good
bills.

ATTEMPTED MODER IN SHEFFIELD.

Henry Grayson, who was shot in the head by
Thomas Champion, on the 19th October, is still
alive. On Saturday, Champion was brought up at
the Town•hall, before J. J. Smith, Esq., and J. B.
Brown, charged with attempting to murder Gray-
son.

Mr. Wm. Henryßooth, surgeon, Paradise-square,
said—On the 19th October, shortly before 10 o'clock
in the morning I was sent for to the shop of Mr.
Thomas Fewsdale, in the Wicker. I there found
a man of the name of Henry Grayson in a very ex-
hausted state from loss of blood. He was laid upon
one of the work benches in the joiners' shop. There
was a wound under the, right ear. I administered
restoratives, and then proceeded to examine the
wound. I found the wound extending 41 inches
in length inwards towards the under part of the
base of the skull. The lobe of the ear was charred
as if from powder. The mark is there yet, and will
always remain. From the appearance of the wound,
in my opinion, a ball had passed through. From
the wound it made in the-lobe of the ear, I inferred
it was a ball of small.size. Upon a close examina-
tion I found that it had divided some very im-
portant parts, both yeisels and nerves. I made a
minute examination, but found from the exhausted
state of the man, and the depth the ball had pene-
trated, that it would be a matter of impossibility to
take it out then. .I found it impossible that it could
be removed, and I directed that a bed should be
made upon the work bench, and that the sufferer
should be made as comfortable as he could. He
remained there under.my, direction until the night
before last, when we had him carefully removed to
his own house in Marcus-street, Bridgehouses. I
have seen him two or .three times a-day every day
since the 19th October. I now believe the ball to
be lodged under the-floor of. the left orbit, at the
back of the nose. I tried this morning to extract
it, and in my opinion-it is a matter of impossibility
to get it away. I think he is in a most dangerous
state, and without . the greatest care he may die
at any moment. I have tried five different times
to extract the ball, but have not been able to do so.
Henry Womack—l am a carpenter, and work for
Mr. Fewsdale. I have not worked at the farm. On
the 19th October I was at -Mr. Fewsdale's shop.
About 20 minutes after nine in the morning I was
at work at the shop.. I did not see Champion enter
the room, but when I saw him he was at .the end
of my bench. He was stooping, as if to look for
something under Waterhoase's bench. While he
was in that position I Said•fo him, " Champion,
have you got the square that I had belonging to
you?" and he said, " Yes, sir." He then said,
" Have you anything to say against me ?" and I
said, " Nothing, no further than what has been said
at our meetings." " Oh," said he. He left me and
went to Grayson, who was working at his bench,
and who was three or. four yards from me. Cham-
pion went into Grayson's- benchway, and leaned
against the bench behind, which was occupied by
Abbey. Grayson and Champion were about a foot
apart. I followed Champion with my eyes, ex-
pecting something about. the trade difference, and
heard him say to Grayson, " Grayson, have you
anything to say against me ?" He said, " No,
nothing further than, what had been carried
out." Champion said, ‘.‘ Mr. Fewsdale tells me
that you have been .._the instigation of all this
trouble." Grayson said, ." I will see Mr. Fewsdale
about it." He turned- away from Champion ap-
parently to reach ~_soinething off the bench, and
while Grayson was in that position Champion
pulled his hand from . under his coat, placed a
pistol against his head, and fired. The pistol was
as close as it could be without touching. I saw it
directed to Grayson's. head. Grayson screamed
out and fell back. - Champion almost flew, as it
were, from Grayson to Kenyon. He put the pistol
to Kenyon's head and pulled the hammer. I saw
the hammer fall, but *the pistol did not go off. His
arm remained stiff out,..and remained so till Kenyon
got hold, and pulled„. "down. Fawcett and Bes-
,wick, who were at the next benches, seized him,
and'AVaterhouse jumped upon his back. I ran for,
the doctor, and When I returned, which was in
about five minutes, I found Grayson laid on the
shavings, which were covered with blood. The
prisoner was handcuffed, and taken away by the

police.
Kenyon gave confirmatory evidence.
Mr. T. Fewsdale—l am a joiner and builder, and
occupy workshops in the IVicker. On Tuesday,
the 19th, a pistol was given to me about twenty
minutes past nine o'clock, by James Burton Bes-
wick, one of my workmen. I met him with it in
the lower workshop, and when it was given to me
I placed it in the cupboard. On the arrival of Ser-
geant Marsland he, asked for it, and I gave it to
him. I did not examine it minutely, and could not
say whether the whole of the barrels were charged
or not. I have had complaints from the tradeLs
union about Champion. On the 2d of October I was
waited on by a deputation of four from the union,
and they said that if I did not remove Champion
the whole of the men would be removed from my
employ, and there would be a strike. I said that
it was a mere squabble among the workmen, and
they had better settle it amongst themselves.
Kenyon knew of this deputation. I requested time
for consideration, as it was impossible to discharge
him immediately, and the deputation said, "We will
give you a week's time to consider it." They said the
matter had been brought under their consideration.
On the 12th Oct. I went to the trade's union room, in
consequence of a message, and saw Kenyon there.
They asked me what I had decided upon, and
wantedto know if they were to come to their work
on the Tuesday morning. I said there appeared to
be no alternative, as I could not allow the work to
stand still any longer, and I would remove Chain:
pion as foreman. I:discharged him that day as
.foreman. „
After evidence Ti'4ft
_beeit taken from Sergeant
Marland. and Mr, Rayne,'
Mr. Jobson Smith2said--b-ur duty is plain ; the
prisoner must be doidinite'd nn the charge of shoot-
ing, with an intent tirbibinmit murder.
In the event of GrraysOn dying, the prisoner will
be indicted on the capital charge of murder under
the coroner's warrant.