The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-05 00:00:00

GUNBOATS FOR INDIA.

A writer in a contemporary says :—" Allow
me, through the medium of your paper to call
attention to the necessity, in the present unhappy
condition of this country, of sending some gun- _
boats for service to the Indian rivers. The smallest
of those built for the last war would answer fur the.
navigation -of the Ganges in the dry weather, pro-
dded they draw not more than three feet of water.
if we had a few now running up and down that
river numbers of European lives and vast quantities
of property would certainly be saved. A very
large proportion of the Europeans who, like myself;
are flying for their lives from the brutal violence of
the insurgent 9, have taken refuge on board the
steamers of the India General Steam Navigation
and Ganges Navigation c.)mpanics. Many prefer
living on board them t o going into the fortifi edplaces
many of which are not deemed safe, from havink, par

of their garrisons composed of native troops. Tir-e in-
habitants of places far distant from the Ganges,
such as Juanpoor, have fled to the steamers, and
all those will can reach them ought to have the
same opportunities of escape offered them as tuey
would have if living in a European country which
should enter into war with England. The gunboatS
might ply up and down the rivers at short inter-
vals, so as to prevent the plundering of native boats
by the village people, who aro believed to be led
on by the prisoners who have been liberated from
the gaols. For a distance of 12 miles below Mir-
zapore every boat was plundered last Tuesday, the
9th, and the river banks completely strewed with
cotton, rice, lac dye, &c., which was being carried
off by the villagers in the most open manner, in
broad daylight, and on the most extensive scale.
The steamers of the companies above mentioned
usually give these marauders a volley of bullets as
they pass, and have contributed not allittle to check
their depredations. Every village, where people
are caught plundering, ought to be at once burnt:
Gunboats would likewise be very useful in protec-
ing towns on the river banks, as ferries, in throw-
ing in troops and supplies to forts, &c., and cut-
ting off the passage of insurgents over the rivers.
With two or three gunboats Mirzapore would be
quite safe ; as it is, we expect every hour to hear
of the sack of this city, one of the richest in India,
and the destruction of all the Europeans' residences
the owners having all fled for their lives during
the past week. At Allahabad, too, the insurgents
might have been shelled from the river with the
utmost facility. Cuals might be conveyed up from
Calcutta and depots formed at intervals, consisting
of boats anchored eff shore, and protected by a gun-
boat or European troops or civilians. I trust the
Admiralty will at once send a few gunboats out.

MURDER AT SHADWELL.—ESOAPE OF THE MI:TIMBRES.
—Yesterday morning, a female, named Sarah Hamiltoe,
alias Brown, aged 24 years, expired in the accident
want of the London Hospital, from the effects of a stab
inflicted by an American sailor. The deceased was i°
a dancing room in St. George's-in-the-East on Saturday
night, and retired with the sailor to a disreputable house
in the neighbourhood. They quarrelled and fought, and
in the struggle the woman was stabbed. She was taken
to the hospital, but the wounds were fatal. The war'
as soon as he, inflicted the wound, rushed out of the
house, and has not yet been captured.