The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-19 00:00:00

CASHMERE.

Our Bombay correspondent corrected by last
mail the report for a time generally credited in
India that Golab Sing was dead. The followine
letter from his valley will be read with interest.
It is dated July 6 :
" Thiuk-ng a few lines from the valley of Cash-
mere may not prove unacceptable either to you or
to your numerous readers, I feel much pleasure in
sending you the following items :
"Ever -since the news aerived here of the
sanguinary outbreak, and the atrocious bar-
barities perpetrated at Delhi, the Maharajah has
taken wise and prudent precaution to preserve
the peace within his -own doe-Anions ; for, as be-
low in the plains of India, so up hero, and also in
the mount lins, the minds of the whole Mahomedan
population have!been greatly excited, if not roused.
This class of the community have, however, thanks
to the wisdom and foresight of Golab Sing, been
kept in due subjection, and in peaceful demeanour,
at all events outwardly, whatever their innermost
thoughts may have inclined them to do; at the pre-
sent_crisis to be forewained is to be forearmed ;
and amongst other wholesome and sound ar-
rangements the Msharjah caused written no-
tices to be posted up on all the bridges and on
all the public buildings and places of resort
in the city, cautioning his subjects, as well
as all idle retailers of gossip, gup and guava, t
beware that if they spoke disparagingly of the
Company's Government, or of the Satiibelogue
(which the budmashes had already commenced
doing so as to bring the English visitors into disre-
pute), they would be laid hold of share, and sen-
tenced to five years' imprisonment. This had a
most salutary effect.
" Another wise measure was to stop the native
correspondence by native dawk, and to allow no
person either to enter or to depart from Cashmere,
without a pass ; no traitorous correspondence from
the new (but temporary) dynasty at Delhi, or
even nakiss huwa from " esteemed correspondents"
at Lahore, or at Umritsur, or elsewhere, can enter
Cashmere by means df the native dawk. Troops, ac-
companied by several pieces of cannon, have been
likewise sent to the frontiers of Cathmere, so as to
prevent the entrance of any mutineers, disbanded
and deserter Poorbee's Sepoys ; oth-r wise measures
have also, besn t aken to preserve the peace unbreken,
and to give security to- life and property. , Thus.
much for news political.
" The Maharajah Golab Sing is very affable. His
highness holds a review of his troops present at the
,capital every Sunday afternoon. These consist of
artillery, cavalry, and infantry, armed and dressed
partly after the fashion of the Company's army and
partly Hindostanee. They pass in review, march
well, keep the step very fairly, and look very well
for a purely 'native' disciplined army. A military
band welcomes the arrival'of the Maharajah and his
son, by striking up our own God save the Queen,'
and when the troops are put in movement, they
march to the tune of 'Home, sweet home,' and one
or two other hackneyed strains of English music ;
all this looks and sonnds strange in Cashmere.
Golab Sing likes to see his European visitors
assist at these reviews, where he shows them
every attention, having them seated beside him,
the troops are on the ground. At the
expitafon of et ery fortnight, the Maharajah gives
a grand dinner and a nautch to the European
visitors, and feels rather hurt, if any of them, de-
cline to present, regarding their absence as a
slight chow to his hospitality and to his kind
feeling for his European friends. His
nese- is an abonne of the Lahore Chronicle,
the contents of which are regularly translated to
him by an Eurasian in his service, who is a native,
I believe, of Farrua Pangs, near Chandernagore.
At- sush a mem• nt, while the native army is its re-
f ellion it shows a greatnese of mind on the part of
the Maharajah not to allow the ill-judged and ill-
timed observations, headed in the Doctor,'
(vide Friend of India, April 30, reprinted in the
Lahore Ghron-ice) to poison his mind, or to estrange
his thoughts from continuing in the even teller of
their way, in respect to his honourable and stiiet
fidelity towards the British Government and its
servants. Such au article, appearing in a paper
known to be the Government organ, and,
in a measure, speaking its sentiments, would have
shaken the faith of any Christian ruler or governors
in Europe,.
"The Maharajah's own dawk frequently arrives
24 hours before the government mail from Lahore,
although both travel together from Sealkote ; that
'is to say the Maharajah's bag brings on the cern-
patsy's dawk from that place.
" Golab Sing has bad r Vigne's Cashmere' trans-
lated to him, as also Cunningham's. I have
heard that be gives the preference to the last work,
but this is said only when the respective mer:ts
of both works are discussed. . His highness
.says
`Read Cannieghem's—it is the best work.' Why
Simrly because Vigne wrote and published his
mind, and -penned his innermost thoughts too
freely to please the Maharajah.
" Last month, on a Sunday night, a fire broke
out in the large bazaar which extended from the
gates of the Shuhurgurhee to the parade-ground.
It broke out at ten o'clock, and burnt nearly
all night ; it was a frightful confl tgration, all
the houses being of wood. The whole baz tar
was burnt down, "the end of the bridge (called
stair Kutul) caught fire, and bad to be pertly
destroyed ; some lives were lost. Yesterday af, et-
noon (S inday) a frightful hurricane, or tornado,
such as one would expect only in the China Seas, the
latitude of tile Mauritius, or in the West Indies,
sTwheep nta Enormousive clung
bore s planetlletrees'ly inwere uprooted by its violence.
,coming from the north=west.
that such furious too fa ns and
monster 11 esti of wind only happen when the-ele-
ments in the 'plains are a prey to a ha!lah-goolah,
of fire and swords, and strife and bleed. Curious,
if true."

THE FORT OF AGRA.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—As the rumcurs respecting the safety of our
countrymen in Agra are of a gloomy character, and cal-
culated to cause unnecessary and unfounded alarm to
their relatives and friends, I beg to place at your, die-
p%al positive information from that fort up to the 22d
of July, received by the Marseilles portion of the mai
yesterday, and contained in a letter from an officer of
the Civil Service holding a high position at Agra.
At that date the garrison were in good spirits and
health, provisiots and ammunition abundant. There
were no rumours of attacks from any quarters, nor the
presence in the vicinity of Agra of any hostile force ; but
they were anxiously looking out for the arrival of rein-
forcements.

As regards the etrecgth of the fort and its capabilities
of a defence lengthened residence and a th, rough ac-
quaintance with Agra er able me to add that thf-re is no
chance of their being overpowered, for the fort has guns