The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-12 00:00:00

:THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 12, 1861.

INDIA.

By the arrival of the overland mail, we have ad-
vices from Bombay to July 12, and from Calcutta
via Bombay to Tune 26.
Rain has fallen in great abundance all over India.
The present season bids fair in this respect to form
a parallel to that which succeeded the famine of
1837-38. In some places the young rice plants,
the sugar cane, and the indigo plants have suffered
severely.
The total fall of rain in Bombay amounts to about
45 inches.

The Famine Relief Committees are performing
their labours well in the North-West Provinces.
Nearly 10,000 people are being daily fed with
cooked food in Delhi alone, and fully that number
in the district are relieved in the same way. About

1,000 poor widows obtain weekly relief in money,
at the Delhi Gate. One thousand rupees a month
are distributed to families of respectability now
reduced to poverty, but ashamed to be seen seeking
charity. About 10,000 persons are employed daily
in some kind of work by the Relief Society and
Government. At Agra about 2,000 are daily em-
ployed on the relief works, and on the Futteghur
branch of the Ganges Canal about 4,000. So in
other places.
Great and increasing distress prevails in Pesha-
wur. Villages are being depopulated.
Famine is said to exist in Cabul.

There is but little prospect of the Commander-in-
Chief in India and the Head Quarters Staff of the
Army leaving Calcutta for the hills this year.
The Governor-General has called upon the local
governments for returns showing the amounts to
be realised from every source under the third sec-
tion of the Income Tax Act—viz., duty of 1 per
cent. for reproductive public works up to Ist August
neat; and has asked for suggestions as to the best
mode of disposing of the amounts.

The Governor-General has also called on the
local governments for reports containing any sug-
gestions of alterations or amendments which the
practice of the past year has shown to be necessary
to the proper working of acts 32 and 39 of 1860,
the object of -the reference being to amend the
forms and machinery for levying the income tax ;
no departure from the principle of levying a direct
tax on incomes being contemplated, and no discus-
sion on such principle being allowed in the replies
to the reference.

The cash balances in the Government Treasuries
of India at the end of April last were :—Govern-
ment of India, Company's Rs., 2,89,19,909; Ben-
gal, 2,20,20,584 ; N.W. Provinces, 2,65,28,616 ;
Punjab, 1,07,58,115; Madras, 2,33,86,724; Bombay,
3,12,55,230. Total Co.'s Rs. 14,28,69,178, against
total in April, 1860, Co.'s Rs. 16,80,17,119; and in
1859 Co.'s Rs. 10,70,70,203.

Shermakie, the Somali chief, has been seized by
the French, and carried off to Suez, to be tried and
probably hanged on the charge of having been
accessory to the supposed murder of Mr. Lambert,
the French consul, two years ago.
The French continue to make themselves very
busy in every part of the Red Sea.
The King of Bokhara, worsted in an encounter
with the rebels, applied to the Russians for aid,
and the Russian general directed a large force to
proceed to Bokhara. The opportunity has thus
occurred for the active interference of the Russians
in the political affairs of the States of Central Asia.
Dost Mahomed has given orders to his lieutenant,
Ufzul Khan, to give all possible aid to the rebels in
the event of the Russians assisting the other party.
The application of the Kurrachee Chamber of
Commerce for the establishment of a direct com-
munication between Suez and Kurrachee, and for
accelerating the mails between Bombay and the
latter place, has been rejected by the Secretary of
State for India.

The following notification we extract from the
Calcutta Gazette of the 26th June :
" Fort William, June 25, 1861.
" His Excellency the Governor-General in Coun-
cil, under instructions from her Majesty's Govern-
ment, is pleased to notify that, in order to oblite-
rate, as far and as soon as possible, the distinctions
between officers of her Majesty's British and Indian
services, and to afford to such officers of the Indian
army as may prefer the conditions of general ser-
vice an opportunity of obtaining a position in the
British army, her Majesty has been pleased to ap-
prove that, for every vacancy caused in a line regi-
ment by the transfer of an officer to the staff corps
constituted by the royal warrant of the 16th Jan.,
1861, a transfer of an officer of corresponding rank
in her Majesty's Indian army, who may be disposed
to accept of such transfer, should be made to the
regiment in which the vacancy takes place. Ap-
pointments of officers of the Indian army to the
vacancies in her Majesty's line regiments will not,
however, be made in India even provisionally ; but
his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief in India
will submit, through the Government of India, for
the consideration of his Royal Highness the General
Commanding-in-Chief, and for submission to
Majesty, the name, rank, date of commission, and
nature of previous services of the officer whom his
excellency may recommend for each vacancy. The
officers so transferred will enter her Majesty's
line regiments as junior of their respective
grades, as is the case with officers of
the British army exchanging into regiments
of the line, and they will be placed in
all respects on the same footing as to pay, half-
pay, and leave of absence as other officers of
her Majesty's British regiments. Officers desirous
now or hereafter of being transferred to line regi-
ments are to submit their application to the com-
mander-in-chief of the presidency to which they
belong through the prescribed channel. The appli-
cations from officers of the Madras and Bombay
armies will be forwarded with the opinions of the
governments of those presidencies to the govern-
ment of India.

The Bombay Gazette says :—" India is unques-
tionably, at the present time, passing through the
greatest revolution she ever experienced. Of the
great phases of change which her history presents,
none is greater than that which is now being pre-
sented. The change affects the races that are to
people the country—the distribution and tenure of
property in the soil; the political, social, industrial,
intellectual, and religious life of the nation. It is
radical and rapid in the working. Perhaps in no
country in the world could such material changes
be so rapidly made with so much facility and with
so little political and social convulsion as in India.
The convulsion of 1857-58 were produced in some
measure by making English laws and customs too
greatly to outstride English ideas and feelings
throughout the masses of the populations. This is
to be guarded against in future. We must endea-
vour to make the material and moral changes ad-
vance pari passu.' If either advance with due cau-
tion, it will bring up the other ; but if the material
advance too rapidly, leaving the moral far in the
rear, insecurity and danger will be the result. Let
a liberal policy be devised and pursued with refe-
rence to the education of the people; give greater
scope to the directions of public instruction, and
allow them to produce greater results. If the whole
truth on the subject of education could be known,
we should be more careful in selecting teachers
than in makihg laws. The country is at present in
the full enjoyment of peace, and its attention is
wholly turned to the arts of peace. So may it
ever lie."

We borrow from the Englishman the following
account of a trial trian which ran from Howrah
to Bhaugulpore on the East India Railway, on the
25th of June last :

" We have much pleasure in recording the suc-
cessful result of a trial train which ran from Howrah
to Bhaugulpore on the East India Railway, on
Tuesday last, the 25th inst. The train left Howrah
at 5.15 a.m„ and reached Teen Pahar Junction, dis-
tance 195 miles, where the branch to Rajmahal
turns off, at 11.45 a.m. After a short stay at this
place, it proceeded on its course over the, at present,
unopened line. From this point the railway skirts
the foot of a magnificent range of hills in a continu-
ous series of curves, to a station called Maharajpoor,
14 miles from the junction, and. still following the
base of the hills, it passes
to Sahib gunge station, 10
miles further on. This station is situated directly
on the banks of the i ! Ganges, and s one of the pret-
tiest on the whole line. Leaving this the line passes
on to Searmarree, Peerpointee station, 11 miles-
This station is just opposite to Carrighola Ghaut,
and will doubtless be the channel through which
the Darjeeling traffic will pas, Between s4hib.

gunge and this station the line passes through, and
by, the old Fort of Teleagurie, which must formerly
have been of great extent and strength, and now
forms a most picturesque ruin. The next station is
Colgong, 15 miles from Searmaree ; this is situated
close on the banks of the Ganges, and from the rail-
way a beautiful view of the celebrated Colgong rocks,
rising up from the centre of the river, is obtained.
Passing on from Colgong to Ghoga station, six miles,
the line is carried on over steep embankments in
order to keep it above the influence of the inunda-
tion of the Ganges, which here overflows the adja-
cent country for a considerable extent. From Ghoga
to Bhaugulpore station, 13 miles, the line is con-
struct ed in a similar manner ; the works all along
being of a very heavy description.
" The whole distance from Teen Pabar Junction
to Bhaugulpore, 69 miles, was accomplished, exclu-
sive of stoppages, in three hours and a half, the
train arriving at 4.15 p.m. At Bhaugulpore
triumphal arches of evergreens had been erected
across the line, and the whole population turned out
to welcome the first engine and train ever seen at
that station. In the evening the whole party and
station were entertained by the engineers of the
railway, the enjoyment being considerably en-
hanced, after the heat of the day, by a plentiful
supply of ice that had only left Calcutta that morn-
ing."

vessel fitted up for slaves in the Congo river, and
had also seized a Spanish schooner named the
Jacinto.

Her Majesty's ship Wrangler had chased and
captured a large American barque, supposed to be
the Ardennes, with 495 slaves on board.

The notorious slaver Storm King had again done
a clever stroke of business, and bamboozled both
the American and British cruisers. This vessel,
which is reported to have made in three years up-
wards of 2,000,000 dollars, went into Mango Grande
with a legal. cargo on board, assuming a trading
cruise, but finding that there were slaves to be ob-
tained had thrown her cargo overboard, shipped a
large number of slaves, and got away clear.
The steam-vessel Miramon (formerly Greenock)
had shipped a cargo of slaves at Kasinda in four
hours, using American, Spanish, and Portuguese
colours to suit the cruisers she happened to meet.
Everything is done under the American flag until
the slaves are actually on board, so that the two or
three English cruisers have very little chance to
take prizes or check the trade.
In regard to trade on the coast, the natives say
the present season is the best for oil ever known.
The barque Warrior, of Bristol, Capt. Johns, parted
her cables at Badagry and went on shore. Mate
and one hand drowned; vessel a total wreck. At
the time of the accident there were eight vessels at
anchor close by (six of which were English), not
one of which lowered a boat or rendered the least
assistance.

The screw steamer Advance, in crossing the bar
at Lagos, was struck by a sea, which did consider-
able damage, broke one man's leg, wounded the
engineer, and several others.
Her Majesty's ships Prometheus, Ranger, and
Buffalo were at Fernando Po, as were also the
United States ships San Jacinto and Sumpter.
Her Majesty's ship Dover was at Bathurst.
Among the passengers brought by the Ethiope
from Madeira was Lord and Lady Massareene.
The Falcon war sloop was at Cape Palmas, and
the Torch at Sierra Leone.

The Ethiope brings on freight 2,500 ounces gold
dust and a full cargo, including 4,000 puncheons
palm oil.

STATE OF EGYPT.

(From the Correspondent of the Times.)
ALEXANDRIA, JULY 29.
A very great change, and I trust I may venture to
say a hopeful one, has taken place in the aspects of
Egyptian financial affairs since I last wrote.
Shortly after the despatch of my letter Draneht
Bey, the Viceroy's agent, returned from Paris, ac-
companied by two gentlemen, empowered by M.
Lafitte to explain the terms under which they were
prepared to furnish the loan.
The floating debts of the Government appear to
have been stated at about £7,120,000, comprising,
I am informed, the amount of last year's loan of
£1,120,000, but exclusive of £2,840,000, the Vice-
roy's present liabiiites to the Suez Canal Company.
Messrs. Lafitte proposed that the Government
should deposit with them Treasury Bonds of 500 f.
each, bearing 5 per cent. interest to the amount of
£11,000,000 sterling. These bonds to be negotiated
at 40 per cent. discouut, producing, therefore, 300 f.
each. A commission of 6 per cent. on the gross
amount of the stock, to be paid to the Comptoir
d'Escompte, and another of 11 per cent., to be paid
to Messrs. Lafitte, upon all sums passing through
their hands during the existence of the contract. A
sinking fund was to be formed, by means of which
the whole of the debt, both principal and interest,
would be liquidated in the course of about 30
years. The Egyptian Government was to bind
itself to incur no further liabilities of any
kind whatsoever. Annual budgets were to
be prepared, under the superintendence of two
commissioners, to be named for the purpose by
the Parisian bankers, or rather, I presume, by the
Comptoir d'Escompte, which on this occasion, as on
the previous one, would have been the real negotia-
tors of the loan. These commissioners were likewise
to exercise general supervision over all the financial
operations of the Government; and, finally, the
revenues of the Delta were to be specially reserved
and assigned over for the purpose of meeting the
annual charges, estimated at 16,000,000 f. during the
first 15 years, and at 23,000,000 f. per annum during
the remaining half of the time stipulated for the
redemption of the debt.
From the above it does not appear that the pro-
duce of the loan would have been sufficient to enable
the Government to free itself from the whole of its
present liabilities ; but I have heard some further
arrangements spoken of, by means of which Messrs.
Lafitte would have assumed to themselves the
liabilities of the Viceroy towards the Suez Canal
Company.
Looking at the proposals I have described from
simply a commercial point of view, it can hardly be
said that the conditions were more stringent than
the circumstances of the case would justify, and,
indeed, it may be held that Messrs. Lafitte and the
Comptoir d'Escompte, by thus practically indicat-
ing to the Egyptian Government the issue towards
which it has been drifting, have rendered the
country a real service. But the prospects thus
opened to the Viceroy's view have proved most
uninviting ; and he has determined upon having
recourse to some other remedy. All negotiations,
excepting those for the repayment of last year's
loan of 28,000,000 f., have accordingly been com-
pletely broken off, and a system of sweeping reforms
has been announced, which, if they are persevered
in with only one-half the energy that attends their
initiation, must beyond a doubt powerfully tend to
replace the affairs of the country in as flourishing a
position as they ever occupied before, or, indeed,
even more so. The army is to be reduced to a
standing force of at most 5,000 men, and the greater
number of the police zabtieths have been dismissed
and their duties at Alexandria and Cairo are hence-
forward to be performed by regular soldiers. No
supplies are to be commissioned excepting they be
articles of absolute necessity, and circulars have been
sent to the consuls (a significant hint to many among
them) to inform them that henceforward all stores
required by the Government will be advertised for
under a system of sealed tenders. Neither does the
palace escape its full share of necessary reform.
Said Pasha is reducing his 'household to the lowest
possible limits. His stud of horses is to be reduced
to a dozen or 15 animals ; all superfluous plate, even
the silver helmets of the Pasha's regiment of Cuiras-
siers, have been sent off the Mint to be converted
into coin ; in short, whether or not the example of
the Sultan has anything to do with the matter, it is
plain that here we are about fairly to outherod

Herod.
1 need hardly say that there are not a few per-
sons who shake their heads and predict a speedy
termination to the present mood, and, indeed, I
must in candour admit that they can quote only
too many instances indicative of the extreme ver-
satility of the Viceroy's character. Already, we
have a strange story that a large number of the
soldiers who, to their intense and somewhat tumul-
tuous joy, were disbanded on the 26th, were re-
captured on the same and on the following days.
Orders had been sent off by telegraph to the several
stations along the line to stop them wherever they
could be found. They were accordingly brought
up to the stations, those among them who showed
any signs of opposition, chained together in the
usual manner, and, as an eye-witness described it,
wearing anything but an amiable expression on
their faces. I believe a few of the men were
deserters; but the real explanation of this strange
and deplorable proceeding seems to be that a far
greater number was dismissed than was actually
intended. There had been hopes that a portion
would volunteer, or at least, show some disposition
to remain, and be incorporated in the small force
which, as I have already stated, is to be retained.
These hopes were disappointed, and a number of
the soldiers have had to be reimpressed in the usual
manner.

The failure of the loan has necessarily reacted
upon the value of Government bonds and serdjis.
.Under the anticipation that the Viceroy would be
in a position to recall them, the rates of discount
were rapidly. declining. Since then they have
again risen to nearly their former rates, being now
at from 101 to 13 per cent. per annum.
Time will show whether Said Pasha is seriously
bent upon seeking the means of extricating his
country from her truly dangerous situation. In
opposition to those who took a more despondent
view of the matter, it may
rent inconsistencies,
be remarked that
the Viceroy, with many app
a
is far from being deficient in shrewdness, and even
in solid good sense. The merit of the decision he
has come to is entirely his own, and every one must
feel that perseverance in the wise course to which
he has openly committed himself, though, perhaps
with as yet no further settled plan, will confer