The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-20 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 20, 1858.

PUBLICATIONS.

Now Ready, in post, Bvo, with Portrait of Dr. Doran,los. 6d.
NEW PICTURES AND 'OLD PANELS,
By Dr. DORAN, Author of "Habits and Men."
Richard Bentley, New Burlinoton-street, Publisher in Or-
dinary to her Majesty.

NOTICE.—PIESSE'S MAGIC, for CHRIST-
MAS AMUSEMENT, will be published on Wednesday,
the 29th inst., bound in harlequin pattern, and with an In-
visible Portrait of the Author, price 3s. 6d.
London : Longman, Brown, and Co., Paternoster-row.

Just published, in 1 val. post Bvo, price Bs. 6d. cloth,
LETTERS written during the SIEGE of DELHI.
By 11. H. GREATIIED, late of the Bengal Civil Ser-
vice, Commissioner and Political Agent of Delhi. Edited by
his Widow.
" These letters give a most
vivid and natural picture of
the occurrences conuectedwith
the siege. They will be read
by a very largecircle, and will
be of immense service tothose
who may write the history of
the great Indian rebellion."
Morning Post. •
"In several respects these
letters are to be reckoned
among the best of the kind
London : Longman, Brown

that have yet been published.
The perception of the true
state of affairs is always clear,
the language is terse and
simple, and the spirit of an
Englishman shines through
them distinctly..... This very
interesting volume should be
read by all the countrymen of
the brave soldiers by whom
Delhi was taken."
—Examiner.
and Co., Paternoster -row.

Now ready, in 2 vols. Bvo., with a Map, 11 Illustrations in
Chromo-lithography, and 12 Wood Engravings, price 305.,
MOLLHAUSEN'S DIARY of a JOURNEY
from the MISSISSIPPI to the COASTS of the PACIFIC.
Translated by Mrs. PERCY SINNETT. -
" The wild regions explored " The two volumes are
by Mr. Mollhausen's party crowded with picturesque
have so seldom been traversed sketches ; and thedeseriptions
by whites, that his narrative are made still more attractive
has all the freshness and no- by'a large number of beautiful
velty of the description of a illustrations. Taken alto-
new country, combined with gether, there are few more in-
instruction for the scientific, teresting books of travel than
and adventures for the lovers Mr. Mollhausen's Diary. The
of the startlinzanddangerous. whole of his fresh and ani-
-Sun,- mated descriptions of wild
"It is a good book; full of nature in all the manifold va-
matter and incident, and of riety of her forms, as well as
short and animated descrip- of the curious mode of life' of
tions. This ' Journey from the native Indian tribes, evince
the Mississippi to the Pacific' such a deep sensibility and
takes rank among the best such a keen sense of beauty as
translations in our language." is seldom met with in books of
—Literary Gazette. this kind."—Statesman.
London : Longman, Brown, and Co., Paternoster-row.

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THE POETICAL WORKS OF MRS.. HEMANS.
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THE COURSE OF TIME : A POEM.
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•
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1859 LETTS'S DIARIES, ALMANACS,
• &c., adapted to all Callings, Professions, or
Trades, in above 100 VARIETIES of Size and form, from
6 pence to 14 shillings each, as well as Descriptive Catalogues,
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Kingdom. LETTS and Co., 8, Royal Exchange.

AUSTRALIA.

The Niagara arrived at Southampton yesterday
with the heavy portion of the Australian mail.
She left. Alexandria December 7, and Malta on the
10th. She has brought home 23 passengers and
30 boxes of gold, worth £137,722. The Niagara
met with moderate weather -in the Mediterranean,
-the prevailing winds being from the north-west.
Across the Bay of Biticay she met with-a strong
south-west gale. The screw-steamers Lacinia and
Meander and the English brig Thomas were passed
off Cape de Gatte. .Off -Lisbon were passed-the
screw-steamer Araxes, standing .to the northward,
and the Melita, standing to the southward. The
Niagara did not call at Gibraltar. She has made
a splendid run home from. Malta in nine days. She
belongs to the batch of steamers built by Cunard
before the La Plata was built. - Cunard's steamers
will no longer convey. the Australian mail between
Southamptowand.- -Alexandria, their charter con-
' tract having expired, and until the new Australian
contract commences,* Royal Mail Company will
run their ships to Alexandria, the Thames having
been appointed to take out the January Australian
mail. The Australian mail which left Alexandria in
the Niagara consisted of 80,000 letters, 90,000 news-
papers, and s,oooregisteredletters. The letters were
sorted on board the .Niagara'by Mr. Roberts, the
mail officer, and will be delivered in London and all
railway town:: within 300 miles of it simulta-
neously this morning. The passengers -by the
Niagara were the first persons who travelled all
the way by rail between Suez and Alexandria, the
Egyptain railroad having been finished just before
they arrived at Suez. On some parts of the jour-
ney by rail the passengers travelled at the rate of
40 miles an hour. One of the most difficult and
important railways in the. world, and - which' has
been some years forming, is now completed, and
the short route to India, China, Japan, and Australia
can now be traversed by railway and steam packet
throughout.
Accounts brought by' the Niagara from New
Zealand are encouraging. The colony is prospe-
rous. The gold fields there are steadily increasing
in value. - They have now been discovered about
eight months, and £lOO,OOO worth of gold in dust
and nuggets have already been obtained from them.
They are- situated close to Massacre Bay, when a
boat's crew of the famous circumnavigator, Tas-
man, Were massacred by the natives. This baY, is
50 miles from Nelson, and in August last 1,000
persons were at work at the diggings. The gold
is of very good quality. At Sydney business was
dull. The fresh gold diggings just discovered to
the north of Sydney had excited much interest, and
about 5,000 gold diggers Weekly were leaving
Victoria bound for New South Wales.
The comet first became- generally visible at Mel-
bourne on Oct. 11, about a wilk before the mail
steamer left. As seen at the antipodes the nucleus
appeared to be stellar, and the gradation of light
well marked between it and the coma. The comet
had a winged appearance, and there was a pulsa-
tion from the nucleus to the wings, giving the
appearance of flashes across the coma.
The following are the chief items of news brought
by the Niagara from Tasmania :
In the House of Assembly a- resolution has been
adopted not to vote a salary to any public officer
hereafter accepting a seat in the Legislature. By
another- resolution it-has been determined to open
to settleinent Tasman's Peninsula, a district' con-
taining 140,000 acres of gown- land. The news
from the Fingal gold-fields, although not reporting
any great results, is still of a nature to. encourage
men to persevere in looking for them: The esti-
mates have -passed the Assembly with little altera-
tion. A motion by Mr. Miller, for the introduc.:
tien of the Competitive systein of examination for
appointment..th public office, was negatived. rrin
cip.xj, one of the apers says, because salaries
have been yx. 2iliat—no office iita only-
longer worth competing for.

direction south-west from Kopoorkaria to Sind-
warra, a city situated on an elevated table land,.
for a lOng time celebrated as enjoying the most
salubrious and invigorating climate in India, and
for that reason probably not unknown to some of
our readers. There is every reason to believe
that the Rajah of Sindwarra was induced to give
assistance to Tantia Topee, and that he thus secured
all supplies of provision he required. Kerr, who
reached Kopoorkaria on the 4th Not., was unable
to follow the rebels through the Putchmurree
Hills, on account of the danger to be anticipated
from a march through paths covered with jungle,
and through passes practicable only to single
files of horsemen. But if Tantia Topee on his
part conceived it possible to penetrate into
the Nagpore territories ,by Sindwarra, he
also was deceived, for he was• met at Sindwarra
and turned from thence by:a detachment from
Nagpore. • He, therefore, had no other course open
to him than to take a south-westerly direction, and
proceed by way of Mooltai to Baitool. In order to
prevent him from making any further way in that
direction towards the rich cotton districts west-
ward, General Michel, who reached Hosungabad
on Bth November, with Lockhart's, De Salis's, and
the Rajpootana brigades, at once despatched Bri=
gadier Parkes with a force of cavalry and artillery,
to Baitool. General Michel hiinself, with the 17th
Lancers, a Squadron of _the Bth Hussars, all avail-
able artillery,and Kerr, with the Mahratta Horse,
proceeded, though somewhat later (9th November),
to BaitOol, leating some. Bombay Artillery and the
72d Highlanders at Hosungabad, and posting a
squadron of the Bth Hussars, 13th Native Infantry,
and Bombay Horse Battery, at Hurda, and a wing
of the 2d Bombay Light Cavalry at Sohagpore to
watch the fords of the Nerbudda. Tantia Topee
had no intention, however, as it • afterwards ap-
peared, of retracing his steps to the Seria Ghaut.
He went to Mooltai, and plundered it, crossed Gen.
Michel's line of march between Baitool and Hokin-
gabad, and maliing a ten days' march through the
mountains in five days, along the northern face of
the Satpoora Hills, reached Peepleeode, within 40
miles of Asseghur, on the 16th -of 'November.
Colonel Becher and Captain Buckle followed- on his
track as rapidly as they. could. Having burnt and
plundered Peepleeode, ho took a northerly direction
on the 17th to Kundwa and •on - the -18th to
Churan, evidentlyintending to attempt once more
the passage of the Nerbudda, at some of the fords
in the neighbourhood of •Mundlaisir. Had 'not
most energetic measures been taken to line the
frontiers of Kandeish with- considerable reinforce-
ments Tantia TOpee might hate found no obstacle
to apassage of the Taptee and an irruption into the
Bheel districts. fie was deterred, however, . from
this, possibly in pairs by the precipitous nature of
the defiles leading from the Satpooras to the banks
I of the Taptee, and in a greater measure perhaps,
rby the knowledge of the preparations made to re-
ceive him. The concentration of troops at Kamp-
tee and Oomrawuttee had driven him south-west
from Sindwarra; a similar concentration at Ahmed-
nuggur and Ajunta,- pre-Vented him from crossing
the Taptee.: Sir Hugh Rose left Mahabuleshwur
for Ahmednaggur, where he was joined by addi;
tional artillery, part of the 18th Royal Irish, and
the whole of the 3d Dragoons, from Poona, whilst a
strong field force under. Col. Tapp, C. 8., -consisting
of a squadron of the 3d Dragoon Guards, the .head-
quarters and 300 men of the Poona Irregular Horse,
the 4th Troop Horse Artillery, and two companies of
the 18th Royal Irish Regiment,together with the 23d
Regiment of Native Light Infantry,proceeded at once
towards Ajunta. From Malligaum at the same time
the 23dNative Infantry and 18th Royal Irish were
sent on to Burhampore, and her Majesty's 57th were
ordered 'from Bombay to Malligaum. Col. Tapp's
column reached Ajunta on 22d, and Sir Hugh Rose
arrived at Malligaum on the same day. Measures
have thus been taken to stop the mouths of all the
passaa-leading...threeterh the Satpooras southwards.
The present opportunity, at all events, is the best
we have yet had for enclosing Tantia Topee in a
net without issue ; and if we do not make good
use of it we shall not have so favourable an occasion
again. As it is, the Nawab of Banda has already
seen the uselessness of further resistance, and has
given himself tip to our officers.