The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-16 00:00:00

LOT DON,. MONDAY EVEN-LNC4 FEBRU:ARY 16, 1857.

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

INDIA, PERSIA, AND CHINA.

By the arrival of the Overland Mail files of
papers and correspondence from Bombay to the
16th of January ; Calcutta, Bth of January ; and
Hongkong, 30th of December, have been received.
BOMBAY, JAN. 16.

Lett, rs from Bushire down to the 30th of De-
. cember have .arrived. Up to that date no attempt
to recapture the place or to annoy our troops had
been made by the enemy. They were reported to
be muste:ing in considerable strength at no great
distance, but nothing had yet been seen of them,
save by a reconnoitring party of cavalry and horse
artillery, who caught sight of a body of horsemen,
which rapidly vanished. Rumours of an intended
attack are, however, rife in the camp; and our little
force c‘ins;dered
.itself in a position to receive and
repel it. One regiment, the 20th Native Infantry,
hi ld the town, the remainder of the force occupying
an intrebched camp upon the plain in the neigh-
bourhood of the wells andthe redoubt fromwhich the
Persiaus wore shelled out by the fleet on the mo, ning
of the 10th. The health of the troops is said to be
g florally good, but the 2d Europeans had a large
number of men in hospital. At present the climate
is pleasat,t enough, the thermometer ranging from
40 deg. a; night' to 80 des. in the sun at noon.
And so this fit st instalment of the Anglo-Indian
power is biding its time within the intrenehments;
while day after day the great ships which conveyed
-it are spreading their canvass to the northerly winds
in quest of rdnforcements. Those arrived, the
advance will commence ; whereto end and by what
enemy to be impeded time will show. Teheran and
a Perso-Mus-...ovite army are current words iu the
mouths of men.

A i3cond division for service in Persia is accord-
ingly being organised in Bombay to the very fullest
extent that the not over-strong army of the
-western Presidency is able to afford. General
Orders, remodelling the staff of the whole
force, appeared yesterday in the Government
Gazette. Sir James Outram, as you are aware,
commands, with the rank of Lieutenant-General.
General Stalker drops to the command of the Ist
division, at present under his orders at Bushire,
which will be strengthened by the remaining
squadron of the 3d Light Cavalry. The 2d divi-
sion is given to Col. Havelock, brother of the
" fair-haired boy " of the Peninsular, who fell in
the charge of the 14th at Rononugger, and himself
a distiuguisl el soldier in Burmah and in Affgban-
is'ati, at Maharajpore and on the Sutlej. He suc-
ceeded Col. Markham as Adjutant-General of the
Queen's forces in India—an appointment which he
now vaca•es. The division tinder his orders con-
sists of two brigades—the list composed of the
78th Highlanders and the 26th Native Infantry,
the second of the 23d Native Infantry and a stroll.-
battalion formed of the light companies of the 're-
giments not ordered on service. The Ilighlatders
marched from Poonah some days ago, and were
halted at the top of the Bore Ghaut till the trans-
ports should be perfectly ready to receive them im-
mediately on their leaving the railway station. Their
future comrades of the 26th passed them from Sa-
tara while thus encamped, and were received by
the Sc tsmeu with hearty cheers for "the Camero-
nians." The regiment thus playfully designated,
after the corresponding corps in the Royal army,
is encamped on the esplanade here, and will-be in-
spected by the Commander-in-Chief this evening,
preparatory to embarkation. The wing of the
Highlanders came down by train yssterday, and
was shipped at once ; the other follows with all
despatch. Their senior Lieut.-Col.,
Hamilton, com-
mands the brigade. The 23d Native Infantry,
from Rajcote, will embark, as the 3d Cavalry did
befote them, at Porebunder, and the light batta-
Lon from Bombay, :to which point the various com-
panies that will compose it we rapidly converging.
Col. Hall, now Brigadier at Poona!), will command
this 2d brigade. Col. Wilson, K.H., of the 64th,
will succeed to the brigade vacant by the death of
Col. St opford.
The cavalry will be augmented by two corps,
each in its own way superb—the 14th Light Dra-
goons and the Ist Scinde Horse •, the latter are 800
strong, the former probably 650. The Dragoons
will take ship here, and the Irregulars at Kurra-
chee. upon which port they are marching from
Jaeobabld. Col. Jacob takes charge of the whole
cavalry division, Col. Tapp and Col. Steuart of the
14th c mauding the two brigades. The artillery
reinforcements consist of a field battery from Sho-
lapore, and the 4th troop of Horse Artillery from
Kurrachee. There are also to be despatched, with
a view to service in the defiles that lead up to the
plateau of Shiraz, two mountain trains, each con-
sisting of eight 12-pounder howitzers, and six 51-
inch mortars. Batteries of this kind have teen for
some years in use among the hills on the Pesbawur
frontier, but are now for the first time prepared in
the arsenal of Bombay. In the engineer depart-
ment the Govt rnment are forced to borrow from
Madras, and a steamer left the harbour'yesterday
to fetch a detachment of Sappers and Miners from
that Presidency. A Land Transport Corps is orga-
nised under a director and eight assistants. Cul.
Lugard, of her Majesty's 29th, a soldier of great
Indian experience and a most estimable man, is
appointed Chief of the Staff. The heads of the
Adjutant and Quartermaster-General Departments
(Younghusband and Wray) bear a high character
for activity and intelligence. Assistant to the lat-
ter is Ballard, of Silistria, the subaltern C. 8., and
on the rolls of the army are several other officers
who served in the late war against Russia, either
with the Queen's troops or with the Turkish Con-
tingent. One o her project for increasing our'
strength in Persia remains to be noted—the em-
ployment of irregular horse to be raised among the
tribes of Turkish Arabia and the Persian seaboard.
To what extent it is contemplated to carry out this
scheme I am not aware, nor very probably is it de-
finitively settled. Rumour even goes as high as 15
regiments, but I have' not yet heard of appoint-
ments for more than three at the most, fir 'ugh I
imagine we may expect to hear of about six. All
appointments are made by Col. Jacob, many of
them udder recommendations from General Out-
ram. Three Bengal officers thus nominated leave
for Kurrachee this evening to report themselves to
the Co'onel, and others of the Bombay army will
speedily follow.
Sir James Outram, with his personal staff, Col.
Litgard, and other officers, went on board the
Semiramis last night, and sailed for Bushire early
this m }riling. The Persian prisoners, who had been
detained in the Assaye till they were somewhat
weary and querulous, have been sent up to Ahmed-
nugger is charge of the captain and first lieutenant
of the ship and a military escort. On their way
they stopped at Poonah, were visited by the autho-
rities, and feted by a wealthy Parsee. At Ahmed-
nugger, where a house is secured for them, they
will be under the charge of the judge of that sta-
tion.

Su,ll b the efforts of the Bombay Govern.
ment to display upon the skirts of the Persian em
Aire a force of respectable numerical strength, we
are all anxiety to know whether any portion of the
powerful army cantoned in the Punjab and on the
Affghan frontier is to be employed in striking a
blow at its heart. This question has doubtless
been well ventilated during the past fortniet in
many a noteworthy discussion between Sir John
Lawrence and his guest Dost Mahommed, for his
guest the Ameer actually is, or very lately was,
having arrived at Jamrood, in the Peshawur Val-
ley, on the Ist. When he left Cabul does not ap-
pear, but letters from that city of the 22d of Dec.
speak of his having been then heard of from as far
down as Jellalabad, on his way to the English
frontier. The Chief Commissioner had been some
time waiting for the arrival of his visitor, and on
hearing of his approach sent a considerable force
four miles into the Khyber Pass to meet and escort
him. A similar mark of respect was paid to Hyder
Khan when he came down two years ago to sign
the treaty, and the officers of the escort, as one of
them described to me the other day, were interested
and excited by their ride into the jaws of the ter-
rible defile. On the 3d, as I read in Delhi Gazette,
the meeting took place. An imposing force of two
troops of horse artillery, two field batteries, and a
mountain-train,
amrood
Affghan t o o
a ISiry a
o Johnade
cameLawrence'sdown
four regiments of cavalry, and six
of infantry, three of them English, formed a lane
from
theJ
Edwardes, Commissioner of
Peshawar,and the
military officers advanced to meet At its head
thDe ub
As
a laner
rode Saadut Khan, of Lal the it.
and
ofttimes troublpsome chieforaooft,
the powerful
oimunds, now
of his very best behaviour. Behind
plainly attired in the national ~c h
ha; appeared,m _
an old_
man, worn and wizened, but with his beard dyed
a fine black. This was the Ameer of Cabul A
be seen
likeness of the Post, taken in 1841, may •in
Sir A. Burne's Cabul. It is from a drawing
Bengal officer, and is pronounced by Sir Alexander
by a
to be an excellent likeness. In his train was seen a
litter slungbetween two ponies, in which was carrel7a
a notable prisoner of the Post's, not to be
trusted
out
of his presence, the ex-King of Balkh. Arrived as
the Durbar tent, Post Mahommed was received with

a Royal salute, and the troops formed in column
and marched past in ieview. Sir John and he then
proceeded to open the conferences ; but our news
only coming dowrito the day after the meeting we
as yet know nothing of what figs passed at th,
m.
It may be c aly to guess what the thief will .a. -4k for
---it is less so to knoW hotv much the conmussioner
is empowered to grant. But if an t-dvance througlf
Ithe passes is decided on, it must soon be known
here. Of Herat we only hear from Cabul, -Whither
the information was sent by Ryder Khan at Can-
dahar, that the Persians are busy strengtheuing
the defences,
mounting fresh guns, and laying in
n,
large storei with a view to further advance into
Affghanistan. In the direction of the Bolan Pass
or Southern Affghanista we learn that a portion
of the money and ammunition sent to the Ameer
by that route had reached Quettah. And of the
Khan of Khelat it was reported at Shikarpoor that
he had told -the- English that he was both willing
and able to &fend the Bolan against any attempt
of the Persians to penetrate it. This answer it is
quite possible he may 'really have given to Captain
Green, who,' as I have before mentioned, was lately
despatched to him on a political errand, and who,
with his mission, as we m
now on his way down from Kurtachee Co join his
own regiment, the Ist Scinde Horse.
The principal item, of news from Madras is the
death of Mr. Bushby, the resident at Hyderabad,
an able officer in'a difficult and important situation.
He was seized with an apopleAie fit on the evening
of the 29th of Deeember,
and expired the next morn-
ing. It is not yet known whom the Government
of India will appoint as his successor, though the
names of several leading Bengal civilians are men-
tioned. In the meantime Mr. Thornhill, Mr.
Bushby's first assistant, is in temporary charge of
the Residency. Coincident with the death of the
Res:dent we hear of the adoption of a measure
which in all probability is partly due to his enlight-
ened counsels. • Salah Jung, the Nizam's Minister,
and a great friend of Mr. Bushby, has succeeded in
obtaining his master's sanction to the abolition of
slavery throughout his dominions.
• Dr. Straker, C. 8., Physician-General to the
Bombay army, died this morning. The deceased
officer, who had been upwards le 33 yeals in the
service, served the Sikh campaign of 1848-9 as su-
perintending surgeon of the Bombay column of the
army, and was present at Mooltan. and Gujerat.
Trade in the import market is improved and
active ; in the export market transactions are
limited. Freights have declined considerably, and
are quoted to-day at 21. 10s. to 2/. 12s. 6d. per ton
to England. In the money market 'there is no
change. Exchange on London, 2s. 21d.

CALCUTTA, JAN. 8.
A few troops are, after all, to be. despatched
from this country to China. A European regiment
has been ordered down from Dinapore ; a native
infantry regiment will be sent from Singapore ; and
the Ceylon Rifles are already on their way. This
force will probably be increased. The total de-
-1 struction of Canton, which had commenced when
our last letters left China, will render the quarrel
internecine. Sir J. Bowring will have to contend
with all the force which the Mandarins can raise in
the southern provinces, and itis difficult to imagine
-whence forces cante obt tined except from India.
At the same time a large force is collecting at Um-
ab, ostensibly to form a camp of exercise, but
really to be prepared for any emergency which may
arise beyond the frontier. A still larger force is
s Aid to be required for Persia, and the Government
is almost at its wits' end for troops. I must again
point to the danger which these simultaneous de-
mands involve. The Governin.ont has never at any
time more than three disposable European regi-
ments in the whole empire. Every other regiment
moved leaves some province without Europeans,
and consequently without any force to control the
Sepoys, or meet a danger to which they are inade-
quate. It is true we can reauit our native ranks
as easily as ever—could add 50,000 Sikhs to the
regular army in six months. But they cannot be
disciplined wilout officers; they cannot be sent
into action without Europeans to support them,
and there are neither Europeans nor officers to
spare in the country. This is no exaggerated re-
presentation. It is a pressing and imminent dan-
ger. Even the Government of India, strong as it
really is within the country, cannot maintainlthree
foreign wars at once without some addition to the
army. If the English Government will not allow
us more reg,ments, it will have to provide when
it is too late against the consequences of its own
indifference.

After the death of Yar Mahomed of Herat his
son became so unpopular that the sons of Shah
Kamram, the ruler whose p'ace Yar Mahomed had
usurped, began to entertain new hopes. They were
living in Teheran, and, aided by a small Persian
force, they contrived to obtain possession of Herat.
This event, which occurred iu Nov., 1855, was the
origin of the first story that Herat had fallen. The
Persians, as you may remember, declared that the
transaction was merely a quarrel between Affghan
clans. In June, 1856, Esan Khan, General of the
Eleratee troops and the recognised leader of the
Soonies, contrived by stratagem to expel the new
ruler and his allies. Ho predicted an oneute in
the city. Tho Persians, who were probably not
above 2,000 in number, encamped outside, taking
with them the puppet they had set upf Esan Khan
immediately shut the gates, and from that time to
his surrender exercised uncontrolled power in
Herat. The Persians, finding themselves tricked,
sent for reinforcement?, and laid regular siege to
the town. Esan Khan seems to have held out
with sufficient courage. He wrote, however, in
vain to Post Mahomed, wh) had undertaken more
than his strength warranted in Candahar. His
provisions, and perhaps his motley,
short. He owed no allegiance to began to fall
anybody, and at
list he offered to surrender if his life were spared.
Shahzadeh in command not only promised life, but
a permanent possession of Herat as a vassal and a
sum of money. He accordingly surrendered the
city on the 23d Oct. The money was paid, but the
Persian general, on entering the city, picked a
quarrel wilt the Khan, and placed him in confine-
ment. A force was then despatched in the direction
of Candahar, the latest movement of which we
have authentic intelligence. It will be observed
from this brief statement that Esan Khan was
not what would be called in Europe a traitor ;
he fought for his own hand, as most soldieratalo in
the East-, owing allegiance, if to anv body, to the
Ameer Dost Mahomed, whom he apparently tried
to assist ; also, that the Persians have in this in-
stance
conquered Herat for them-
selves, mallinidsguiiis,edl t
Yas the allies of an. Affghan
pretender.
(From the Calcutta Gazette Extraordinary.)
NOTIFICATION.
Fort William, Foreign Department, Jan. 5,
The Right Hon. the Governor-General of India in
Council has much gratifizatiOn in publishing, for general
information, the delatches which have been received by
the Government of Bombay, announcing the unreaisted
occupation of Karrack on the 4th, a id the surrender of
Bushire on the 10th ult., after an ineffectual opposition.
Tue Right Hon. the Governor-General in Council
desires to express his unqualified approbation of this
important service, and his gratitude to those by whose
joint exertions it has been accomplished.
Tne perfect concert and good feeling which have
marked the action of the military and naval forces ; the
intrepidity with which the attack both by sea and land
was conducted ; and the cheerfulness with which hard-
ships, inseparable from the disembarcation of troops on
au enemy's shore, have been endured—claim alike the
admiration and the cordial acknowledgments of the
Government of India.
The Right Hon. the Governor-General in Council has
much satisfaction in publicly recording his obligations to
Major-General Stalker, C. 8., and to Rear-Admiral Sir
H. Leeke, K.II , R.N., far the skill and the energy
which have guided their operations, and in tendering to
them, as well as to the officers and men under their
command, his warmest thanks fir the complete success
in which these operations have resulted.
To Commander JoneF, political agent with the field
force, whose local knowledge and experience were emi-
nently useful to the Major-General commanding the ex-
peditionary force, and who, after the occupation of the
city, used his best exertions to reassure the town people,
to provide for the subsistence and comfort of the troops,
and to secure the public safety, the Right Hon. the
Governor-General in Council desires to give the assur-
ance of his entire approbation.
While thus coogratu ating the military and naval
forces on the important result which has been achieved,
the Right Hon. the Governor-General in Council laments
to know that it has been purchased with the sacrifice of
valuable lives. He dePores the loss of Brigadier Stop-
ford and Lieutenant• Colonel Malet, who nobly perished
while leading their men to the attack, and of Lieuten-
ants Utterson and Warren, who subsequently died of
wounds received in the performance of their duty.
The Right Hon. the Gcvernor-General in Council is
pleased to direct that a Royal salute shall be fired from
the ramparts of Fort William and at every principal
military station in honour of the sighal success which
has attended the first operations of the British forces on
the coast of Persia:
By order of the Right Hon. the Governor-General of
India in Council.

G. F. EDMONSTONE,
Secretary to the Government of India.

It is understood here that 5,000 men are imme-
to be despatched to Bushire. It 15 reported
diately

that 11),009 more will fellow as .fLst as they cm he
collected ; but this is not quite so certain. The
extraordinary order given to Sir James Outran)
to leVy troops in Persia itself is considered true,
and i 3 generally supposes to inlicate a deter-
mination t) annex. Ti;e se..ra of the Foreign
liiparttnent are, however, so elomtly kept that.
there is little currant b3yond FUriniseF. One fact,
however, is admitted. The Per4ian expedition is
not a dethoiistrafion, but the most serious war in
which the Government has been euglged. for the
Jas6_six yvairs.

Th Penal Code has been read a second time. It
must be publis'led three months before it becomes
law, but there will be little further delay. It is
substantially Macaulay's code revised, and perhaps
amended, but not increased or altered in outline.
It contains 20 chapters, each subdivided into sec-
tions. - Etch section contains the general definition
of some crime, then a particular definition, then a
list of exceptiens, and then cer'ain imaginary illus-
trations, which are to serve as precedents. It is very
short, and certainly simplifies the existing law to
an astonishing degree. The Friend. of India de-
clares that on the four great Indian difficulties—
murder, perjury, dacoity affrays, and the right of
self-defence, it will be found an imprOvement on
the existing Iw. The code, hewever, introduc s
but few new principles. The most notable of these
are, first, in the law of affrays. Affrays in this
country somewhat resemble what in Ireland are
called faction fights. The law is so weak, and the
courts so dilatory, that alandhold-r who thinks he
has a right to a bazaar sends armed retainers to
take it ; his rival defends it with his armed retain-
ers, and a dozen lives are frequently lost. There is
a class of men, amounting to many thousands, who
live by hiring themselves out for these fights. It
is not e to punish them, for evidence is never pro-
curab'e, and no money es' spared in their defence.
The Code, therefore, provides that the landlord
who seeks or accepts any advantage from such a fight
shall be liable to an unlimited fine. The clubman,
moreover, may be imprisoned simply for engaging
himself as such. The regulation is teo weak for
the evil, which can only be suppresse 1 by an
act rendering the carrying of lethal weapons, or
iron-bound clubs, a penal offence. 2. In the law
of perjury, Any man bearing false witne=s against
another, with the view to convict him of a crime,
will receive the punishment his victim would have
received if the charge had been true. The punish-
ment, however, is not to exceed seven yen's' trans-
portation., Perjury, of ccurse, is equally a crime
in all cases, but the rule strikes a nat.ve as the per-
fection of justice. 3. In the law of marr;age. The
Legislature has made adultery a penal offence.
The natives have long complained of cur renussne •s
in this respect. We punish them for kil!iug a
rival, and refuse to punish him ourselves. Accord-
ing to the Koran death is the penalty of adultery,
and the principles cf the Koran permeate all mo-
dern Hindooism. In the Punjab Mr. Temple was
compelled to insert a clause in his code indicting
two yt ars' imprisonment on the adulterer, or the
population would have taken the law into their own
hands. This penalty, increased, it is said, to five
years, is now to be the law of the land.