The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

the Nawab of Banda with a large force of good
sepoy cavalry mutineers, some guns, and infantry,
and his energetic exertions, backed up by those of
the Ranee of Jhansi, produced one of those sudden
changes from despair to confidence which mark the
Indian character."
The list of casualties appended to this despatch
states that, while 2 officers and 24 men were
wounded in this engagement, 3 officers and 43 rank
and file were sunstruck. Six brass guns and three
iron guns, with a large quantity of ordnance stores,
were the spoils of the victors. Nos. 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, and 20 tell how Lieutenant Aynstey, with a
troop of the 6th Madras Cavalry, encountered and
totally routed a body of 500 rebels at Kurnapore,
and in 20, 21, and 23 are narrated the operations
of Brigadier Douglas, of the Azimghur Field Force,
for intercepting the enemy in the vicinity of Buxar.
Nos. 24 and 37 relate to the operations of the
Kamptee Moveable Column, under Colonel Millar,
from August, 1857, to January, 1858, in the Saugor
and Nerbuddah territory. Col. Miller thus sums
up the achievements of the column in that time :
" Though it did not fall to the lot of the column
to see any severe fighting, yet it was continually
engaged in sharp skirmishes with the enemy, in
which it was invariably successful. When the
52d Bengal Native Infantry mutinied, a detach-
ment of this column preserved Jubbulpore and the
public treasure there, and by its advance on Domah
it not only saved that station and the lives of the
Europeans resident there, but also induced the
Shahgurgh Rajah to release Lieutenant Gordon
and tie other Europeans whom he had detained in
confinement for three months."
No. 39 is a despatch from Si J. Hope Grant,
describing the defeat which he gave the rebels, to
the number of 16,000, at Nawabgunge on the 13th
of June last. Besides their overwhelming superi-
ority in number, the enemy were strongly posted
behind a deep nullah, but General Grant attacked
with vigour right, left, and centre at once, and very
quickly drove them from all their positions. In
some parts of the field, however, they seem to have
fought with spirit and determination. Sir J. H.
Grant writes—
' " The action on my proper right having com-
menced with great vigour, I proceeded in
that direction leaving Colonel Haggart to super-
intend the troops on the left. On arriving at this
point, I found a large number of Gazzies, with two
auns had come out on the open plain, and
e,
at-
tacked Hodson's Horse with two guns of Major
Carleton's battery, which covered my rear. I im-
mediately ordered up the other four guns under
the command of Lieutenant Percival, and two
squadrons of the 7th hussars, under the command
of Major Sir W. Russell, and opened grape upon
this force within 300 or 400 yards with terrible
effect. But the rebels made the most determined
resistance, and two men, in the midst of a shower
of grape, brought forward two green standards,
which they planted in the ground beside their
guns, and rallied their men. Captain Atherley's
two companies of the 3d Battalion Rifle Brigade,
at this moment advanced to the attack, which
obliged the rebels to move off. The cavalry then
got between them and the guns, and the 7th
ussars, led gallantly by Major Sir W. Russell,
supported by Hodson s Horse, under Major Daly,
C. 8., swept through them twice, killing every man.
I must here mention the gallant conduct of two
officers of the 7th Hussars, Captain Bushe and.
Captain Fraser. The latter I saw myself sur-
rounded by the enemy, and fighting his way gal-
lantly through them all ; he was severely wounded
in the hand."
Private Shaw, of the 3d Battalion Rifle Brigade,
is recommended for the Victoria Cross by the
General for the following exploit :
" An armed rebel had been seen to enter a tope
of trees; some officers and men ran into the tope
in pursuit of him. This man was a Ghazee.
Private Shaw drew his short sword and with that
weapons rushed single-handed cn the Ghazee.
Shaw received a severe tulwar wound, but after a
desperate struggle he killed the man."
Of the 28 rank and file killed in this engage-
ment 6 were by sunstroke.
Nos. 47, 48, 49, and 50 relate to a successful
attack made by a detachment of the Sarun field
force under Major Cox, 13th Light Infantry, on a
strong position at Amorah. In this case the enemy,
principally Sepoys, to the number of 1,000, aban-
doned their guns and fortifications as soon as the
British force appeared in sight, and retreated with
such haste that Major Cox's squadron of Cavalry
had no chance with them. The Major writes :
" The Sepoys, however, broke up into several
small bodies, which made for different villages, so
that although the pursuit was continued for four
miles, and Captain Vine charged whenever an
opportunity offered, he was only able here to cut off
15 or 20 Sepoys, the number of the enemy found
killed on the ground awing the day being 30 or
40 men."
Nos. 51, 52, and 53 relate to the operations of
Brigadier Coke, of General IValpole's division, to
intercept the rebels in the Budaon district ; and 54
to 59 to the recapture of the fort of Copal, by a
Field Force under Major Hughes, which had been
seized by a body of rebels under Bcem Row Des-
sage. Nos. 60 to 68 are a series of despatches de-
tailing the movements of a column detached from
Brigadier Scaton's force under Colonel Riddell for
securing boats for the use of Sir Hugh Rose's force,
then engaged in the attack on Calpee. This opera-
tion appears to have been conducted with great
skill in the face of a large body of the rebels. High
praise is given by Colonel Riddell to Lieutenant
Sheriff, to whom was intrusted the river part of the
expedition. In seven days this officer collected a
fleet of 35 boats, all of which, having been sunk by
the enemy, had to be raised frequently under a
heavy fire from the banks. The narrative of the
magistrate, Mr. Hume, who accompanied the expe-
dition, mentions what Lieutenant Sheriff's report
does not, that in one of these encounters Lieutenant
Sheriff killed a havildar in hand to hand fight.
The series closes with a report from Lieutenant
Nuttall, of the 2d Regiment Irregular Infantry,
detailing the operations of a detachment
of that regiment, and of a party of the Mookee
Force in the Chanda District from the 26th of April
to the 20th of May, 1858. The Commissioner of
Nagore, in forwarding this report to the Gover-
nor-General, speaks in high terms of the intelli-
gence and spirit displayed by Lieutenant Nuttall.

UNEXPECTED EXPLOSION OF A SUB-
MARINE SHELL.

MARVELLOUS ESCAPE OF. THE SPECTATORS.

HERNE BAY, THURSDAY.

An event took place here yesterday afternoon,
which, for the time being, threw this quiet water-
ing-place into a state of unenviable alarm and com-
motion. It is necessary, for the proper explanation
of what follows, to state that last week Capt.
Harvey, R.N., a visitor here, proposed to astonish
the natives by an experiment with a submarine
shell of his own invention. For this purpose he
obtained an old cutter, used by the coastguard, but
recently condemned, and, having furbished her up,
purposed one fine afternoon to illustrate the
force of his infernal machine by blowing her
to pieces. Unfortunately the spectators were
baulked of their promised explosion, and of
the lecture in the Brunswick-rooms that was
to explain the invention, for the shell would not
go off. A considerable number of persons being,
however, assembled on the beach, an impromptu
regatta was got up for their benefit, after witness-
ing -which they went away contented with the
promise that the experiment should be successfully
performed on the first favourable opportunity.
Accordingly yesterday afternoon was selected for
the second trial. The cutter was anchored, and
awaited its final doom. The captain, with two or
three of his friends in a boat, took out the shell,
all was anxious expectation. The shell is made of
zinc, and is about the size of an ordinary gas-
meter. In the present instance it contained twenty-
six pounds of gunpowder and a quantity of sand.
At the top was placed some detonating powder,
and into it was tightly fixed a glass tube contain-
ing sulphuric acid. This tube striking against
any hard substance, such as the side of a ship,
breaks, and the sulphuric acid running into the
detonating powder an explosion is the result. By
some oversight Captain Harvey placed the sand in
top instead of at the bottom of the shell, and the
consequence was that it floated bottom upwards,
and the tube being under the water did not strike
the cutter at all. The captain, in the boat, with a
long rope attached to the shell, tried in vain to
cause it to explode, and at last he became so excited
at the failure that he was obliged to be removed.
Indeed, wo afterwards learned that his mind has
been seriously unsettled for some time past, so much
so that he has a keeper constantly in attendance
upon him. Meanwhile the shell remained floating
in the water. After a time a seaman named Wood,
thinking it harmless, took the rope andcommenced
haulinc, the shell on shore. No sooner, however,
had it touched the beach than it exploded with a
terrific noise, a dense volume of smoke shooting up
into the air. The excitement and alarm in the
~,rowd of spectators on the beach were intense,
Fortunately no serious injury to life or limb re-
but the concussion was sufficient to blow
snito-19
out the face of the clock tower in the immediate
vicinnj
• And to smash nearly every pane of glass in
•neighbouring pastry-cook and linen-
the shops €0- a
d dbo a the Divers' Arms public-house
draper' " '4" to this, •
addiaon windows were broken
close by. In
in St. Augustir.e's-terrace, and
in every house
- n I the pastrycook's the
other houses adio.inui,
thei confectionery were all
glass jars contriving
strewn about the road.
fectionery
broken and the con
done 1,4 estbnated at between
Altdgether the damage f
-e eh states and salt
11
£3O anci £4O. A sholver °