The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-06 00:00:00

OVERLAND MAIL

INDIA AND CHINA.
By the Overland Mail we have intelligence from
Bornbhy to the Ist of April, from Calcutta and Agra
to the 22d of March, and from Madras to the 23d of
the same month, and from China to the 24th of Feb-
ruary. The news altogether is very favourable.
Sinde
Was perfectly tranquil, and the sickness among
the troops had entirely disappeared. We are glad
also to learn that the dissatisfaction evinced by several
of the native regiments, on receiving marching orders
for that country, had been removed by well-timed
and judicious arrangements. A Government notifi-
cation was issued on the 12th of March, regulating
the compensation to be given to the Sepoys, and
granting to the troops the field allowances of Hin-
dostan. All cause of alarm had ceased, and most of
the troops were on their march for the Indus. The
expense of this additional pay will not exceed 50,0001.
—a matter of no consequence when compared with
the fidelity of the Indian army. The Governor-
General had issued an order, by which all the troops
Who had served in Sinda at the period of the battles of
Meeanee and Hyderabad, are to receive twelve months'
batta. From Lahore the intelligence is not so favourable.
civil war was raging in that country, and Akbar
Khan, taking advantage of the circumstance, was
Preparing to march upon Peshawur. He may pro-
bably advance farther, and the Lahore chief will then
aPply for protection to the Governor-General. Sir
libruat troopsh
Gough will thus find employment for his
in the Punjaub, and we trust settle old
scores with this treacherous and cruel chieftain.
ItGrwitaislihor Was tranquil ; indeed, the whole of the
territory in India, containing a population of
150,000rinr,
from Was in profound peace. The news
01:11 China is not important. Sir H. Pottinger
re-
mained at Hong-Kong, and was engaged in making
regulations for the trade at the new ports.
GE,N_ERAL ORDERS BY THE RIGHT HON. THE
uuVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL.
Fort William, March 12.
In order to remove the misunderstanding which is appre-
mended to exist with respect to the allowances drawn by ytn'es in Sinde, while in cantonments, the Governor-General
in ouncil deems it expedient to make known, that the allow-
laces drawn by troops in Sinde, while in cantonments, are
the same as those drawn by troops in Hindostan while in the
field.
Further, the lines of troops in Sinde being different in con-
struction from those in Hindostan and more expensive, they
have been erected at the public charge.
It is known to the troops, that when the price of ottah is
above 15 seers the rupee, compensation in money for the ex-
" 88 of price is now given to them at the rate of a seer a-day
or each man.
With the view of providing, as is done in her Majesty's
set-Tice, that the soldier's ration shall never cost him more
than a fixed moderate sum, the Governor-General in Council
thin ks it expedient to extend the principle of giving compen-
sation in money in the case of high prices to the other minor
articles composing the Sepoy's ration ; and it is accordingly
notified, that whenever the price of dholl is above ten seers
the ruPee, that of ghee above two seers the rupee, and that
of salt above eight seers the rupee, compensation money for
e
xcess of price will be given to the troops at the rate of
iwachittacks of dholl, one chittack of ghee, and one-third of
chittack of salt a day for each man.
This rule is made ene all applicable to the troops of all
the Presidencies. g r "
The Governor-General in Council considers it right that
e uSaincloew,
aasn
caelsew here, there should be a difference between
th
given to the troops in cantonments and those
given to them in the field; and in practice this has been the
tiet!si for the extra allowance called " money rations,"
that
:1, the allowance of rations or of their equivalent in money in
excess of Pay and full batta, was withdrawn during the years
7 and 1841, when the troops in Sinde were in canton-
I•le nts without an enemy in the field, was again granted from
the Ist of January, 1642, when extensive movements became
' Jurvil necessary,and was again withdrawn from the Ist of
en ", when the wash the field, troops went into cantonments, and no
enlY
Suede being now permanently annexed to the British domi-
• !inns, the Governor-General in Council deems it better to
B,,meale, by general rule, the future allowances of troops
-te7tv.`l? la that province, than to vary the amount from time
dir time, according to circumstances, by special and occasional
thaetett°ll3* Accordingly, his Lordship in, Council now notifies,
troops in cantonment in Sinde will continue td draw the
same allowances which are drawn in the field in Hindostan,
linflrsl
4bthatatta will be
or their value in money in excess of pay and
be given to troops in Sinde under the same
lunatancee under which field allowances are now drawn in
•L undostan.
reac The Snide allowances will only commence when the troops
h the Sinde frontier.
everyofficial translation of this order will be transmitted to
very regiment in the service.
Secret
J. STUART, Lieutenant-Colonel,
ary
to the Government of India, Military Department.
_ RESOLUTION.

Foreign Department, Fort William, Feb. 28.
l• The Governor-General in Council not having yet re
eeived any instructions relative to the disposal of the prize
nperty captured in Sinde, and taking into consideration the
•,..18tinguislied services of ths troops engaged in the battles of
waharajpore and Punniar, is pleased to resolve, that all the
general and other officers, non-commissioned officers and pri •
211.43, engaged in the battles of Meeanee, Hyderabad, Maha-
aJPora and Punniar, shall receive a gratuity of six months'
hafts, as a testimony of the gratitude of the Government,
Ihd of the admiration with which it regards their conduct
in the field.
2. The Governor-General in Council, taking also into con-
sideration that it is not only in the field that good soldiers
Love their sense of military duty, but that those who at the
-"'"lnland of the Government encounter readily and endure
with fortitude peculiar hardships arising from climate, from
Pdrati°n, or from disease, may equally with those who meet
cum:fain the field, become entitled under extraordinary cird-
regard nets to receive some special marks of approbation an
ordma"taking further into consideration the very. es]citnrdae-
durinpriland unusual sickness which has prevailed in
the
troo ° "e Past year and the consequent sufferings of
fts
gen quartered in that province, is pleased to resolve, that
eral and other officers, non-commissioned officers
he year
who have at any time served in Sinde, during
eaLY_ear commencing on the 28th of February, 1843, shall re-
° gratuity of six months' batta.
bita The troovi en
gaged in the battles of Meeanee and Hydera-
e entitled to the gratuity given by both the above re-
lens, and will therefore receive twelve months' batta.

SINDE.
(From the Bombay Times of Monday, April 1, 1844.)
rorteir latest intelligence from the Indus is of the 25th of
ah being five weeks later than that dispatched by the
steamereon
of the Ist ult. From the country itself it is alto-
eon aniMportant ; as relating to the troops destined for the
17th rY
,it is at once important and unsatisfactory. On the
February Sir R. and Lady Sale left Sukkur ; on taking
iii7t; of the gallant 13th, he said that he had hoped to march
England at the head of his regiment, but fate had
ii.yered it otherwise : he trusted that when they did arrive
'night meet them. The gallant veteran reached Kurachee
euZifetY, and was treated with the spectacle of reviews and
th other entertainments as he would accept of. He left
,R is en the 9th and arrived at Bombay on the 13th. He
orehere invited to a ball and supper by the public, but de-
han't,,..d. in eonsideratioa of the state of his health and limited
on",le of his stay. He left by the True Briton on the 18th.
• "le 10th a fearful hail-storm occurred at Sukkur ; the
axeof
blew a hurricane for some hours, and pieces of ice the
fr,,...._"tPartridges' eggs fell with the noise and violence of spent
4;76 bet, breaking down trees and houses, penetrating tents,
ja;7. destroying temporary buildings. It lasted for about an
44r, when the ground was covered with ice nearly ancle
tupP: It extended over an area of little more than two
,e; and the natives considered it a providential visitation
- Sukkur, as having supplied the first footing in Sinde
of ''",e Feringhees. At,Sukkur the force amounted to 1,892,
of "Tom 146 were sick. At Shikarpore there were 1,015 men,
1130.4:14„een 54 only were in the hospital in the beginning of the
"4- The 9th and 55th Native Infantry were about to
eked for. Ferozepore, when the refusal of the Bengal regi-
h"n,P to march for Sinde disturbed the arrangements of the
'e of the troops of the Indus. At Hyderabad there are
lc, Present, 4,027 men, of whom 467 are in the hospital. The
Th.,..444 Native Infantry had been removed from the fort to
tway for the women and sick of her Majesty's 86th,
hexh'eu arrived on the 19th of March—the right wing was
Bee,ted on the 21st. Reviews of the troops were at this
ate
m Progress. The collectors of revenue having been un-
1-ecessful in their vocation, had committed the task to the
ends of natives, and the manner in which it had been per-
Ned by them had, as is usually the case, occasioned a
amount of discontent. A canal for the purpose of irriga-
C 4 Was being cleared out within 30 miles of Hyderabad,
Revenue
the direction of Mr. John Macleod, late of the Land
n,s, Department, Bombay. It was estimated that some
fb.‘"'i• would be added to the annual returns of the country
were
the effects of this on agriculture. At Kurachee matters
•tere. equally dull as at Hyderabad and Sukkur. Sir Charles
ZaPter had been on a journey on the Hubb river; he was
;7kt to proceed up the country. At a dinner given to him
annivesary of the victory of Meeanee, he had ex-
-'eed himself in terms of censure against the press of India.
hennunon fame does :him no wrong, the gallant General
adno ob•jection to avail himself of the assistance of the
iii;aPapers so long as his measures were applauded by them ;
aversion to them appears to have sprung up when they
stVan to exercise the privilege of criticism, and to express
tn opinions of some nine-tenths of the officers of the British
ace ,in India in condemnation of the conquest on the
leyetnent of which he had chosen to found his fame. The
"PPointinent of Mr. Raikes, an unpassed Ensign of three
Years
standing, to the Sinde Irregular Horse, seems to be
wed as rather a rankish job by the army. The troops
11
*0 14,658.
in Sinde amounted in the beginning of the month
14,558; those in Cutch, close by, to 1,394; and about one-,
tenth only Are on the sick list. Colonel Squire, of her 3,1-
le.3tY's 13th, Les been superseded by General Simpson, in
het.co.rainand at Scitkur, in consequence, it is said, of having
erTh_fli strong reinonstrance to General Napier on the
Ettita"asa of his brigade, giving warning that unless it was
gMented in time a second CAubul tragedy might be the
;suit. Then had been a fine fall of rain on the 234 of
thermometer
which cooled the air and laid the dust. The
tOPllometer within doors ranged from 57 to 80 degrees ;
iiis reckoned very temperate indeed. These insignificant
i re contain all that has happened during the month
_n reference to the affairs of Sinde. On the 6th of Sep-
Zrnber, 1843, the Governor-General intiniated that the
the en of Sinde would be transferred from the Bombay to
. this itengai army. No small sensation was occasioned by
Siunnuneernent ; the Bombay troops considered that, as
nde
had by them been captured, by them it should be kept,
th erred singular that a country within three days' sail of
e Port
es of
"up r Bombay, should be garrisoned by troops whose
from their own head-quarters would take three
la to reach them, and who were to have their depas
Zrratoitne e recruits, their hospitals and sanatorium, at anothei
ad residency But so it was decreed. In this case " the King
tl:e pu" sail, but the winds said nay." The disturbances iu
.njaub, and threatened troubles in Gwalior, caused the
4410, troops to be arrested on their march; and, though
in their bY Sir C. Napier in November that they wod be
continued
down presidency in a mouth, the coequering army
e to be detained near the scene of their victories.
military movements on the north-west frontier hay-
!,Yed the execution of the arrangements gazetted so
ktinex as the Ito
of September, the Bengal troops were at
titn ordered to move. The 64th, on being directed to

proceed from Loodianah, refused flatly to stir until extra
allowances, such as are usually given on the foreign ser-
vice, should be granted them. It was found inconvenient
to contest the point, so Government gave in, and the des-
tination of the regiment was alLered from Sinde to
narcs. Luckily, however, the recusants volunteered to
take the station originally assign?ri to them, and ar' now
on their way to Sukkur, having not only obtained all they
asked, but promised relief within the year in case of sick-
ness. It was hoped that this matter might blow over,
and that a better spirit would quickly make its appearance
amongst the troops. Instead of this, the disaffection spread,
and the 7th cavalry, the 4th, 34th, and 69th, with a com-
pany of artillery, each in turn followed the evil example
which had been set them, This was alarming enough, and,
as all the regiments which had been ordered had refused
to move, there was reason to apprehend that disobedience
would become general. The rumours speedily reached our
enemies on the further bank of the Sutlej. Some of the mu-
tineer Sepoys are alleged to have placed themselves in com-
munication: with the Sikhs, who believed disaffection uni-
versal throughout the army. The discontent was too ex-
tensively diffused, and too obviously attributable to the mea-
sures of Government itself, to admit of being put down or
punished, by the strong hand of authority. The 7th Cavalry
and 34th Native Infantry have, it is said, be, n threatened
with dismissal ; the others may probably escape ; indeed it
seems doubtful if even those just named will be punished.
As a contrast to this the whole Bundelkund legion, cavalry,
artillery, and all, voluntered to proceed to Scinde uncondi-
tionally. The matter stands thus with the Bombay Sepoys
whose :case is most familiar to us; but that, we believe, of
the Bengal soldier is precisely analagous. The pay of the
native soldier, including half batta or subsistence, is from 7
rupees (145.) to 9 rupees (18s.) a month—varying betwixt
the two according to the period of his service. In India no
allowance whatever is made beyond the net pay, including in
this, as just stated, 2i of half-batta; but, on foreign stations,
the soldier has extra allowance of 1 rupees to 2i-
(namely, from 3s. to 55.) a month, as batta, as it is called,
and 3 rupees (65.) in name of rations, this being about the
price at which Government could provision the men from
the commissariat. In -Sinde, which till last year was con-
sidered a foreign country, both these allowances were made.
The money rations, however, equivalent to nearly one-half
of their pay, were withdrawn during the years 1840 and
1841, when the troops were in cantonments, and no
enemy was in the field ; they were once more granted in
January, 1842, when extensive movements became neces-
sary, and were again withdrawn on the Ist of July, 1843,
when the country became quiet and the troops retired to
quarters. By the Bombay troops this was submitted to with-
out a murmur, though the retrenchment of 3 rupees a month,
equivalent to between one-half and one-third of his pay, was
a virtual infringement of the terms of his enlistment, by
which they bound themselves to serve in Hindostan on certain
terms only—Government binding itself to grant additional
allowances in the event of their being required for foreign
service. The Sepoy will march anywhere, and against any
enemy, if faith in money matters be kept with him ; but
there is no man more tenacious than the native of India of
his pecuniary claims on his employer; he could not be made
to comprehend how a country which he had always regarded
as foreign to Hindostan should be commuted into a part of
it by proclamation ; nor see why, if Government chose in
this instance to make him serve on the Indus on the terms
for which he had enlisted for service at home, they might
not equally insist on his campaigning on the Nile or Oxus, or
marching to Bokhara as well as Hyderabad, on home al-
lowances. It was the same to bins whether it was in the
hands of the Ameers, or those of the India Company, so long
as in matters of distance, danger, and expensive living, it
was essentially the same as formerly, and as different in all
respects as possible from Hindostan. By order of the 12th
of March Government directed that the Sepoys serving in
Sinde should draw while in cantonments the same allowances
as were made in India only when troops were in the field ;
and that the lines wherein they resided should be constructed
by Government, and not, as in India, at the charge of the
Sepoy. This was nearly all that was desired : it was, it is
true, a concession to clamour and not to justice, but still it
was a proper and timely one, and, if Government had erred,
it was infinitely better to acknowledge and undo the mistake
than to persist in error. The permanent cost of the extra
allowances now granted to the army will amount to about
50,000/. a-year. The donation of six months' batta to all the
troops near Hyderabad—about 7,000 in number, and of six
months' batta to those engaged near Gwalior, amounting to
25,000, as well as to the whole of the men, about 23,000,
who had been in Sinde, for however, short a space, or
however occupied, betwixt 28th of February, 1843, and
28th of February, 1844, the victors of Meeanee and
Dubba coming in for both gratuities awarded by the ge-
neral order—is generally believed to have been made with
a view of encouraging the reluctant troops to proceed on
their march, by hOlding out the hope of the bounty of Go-
vernment to those who chose willingly to serve in Sinde.
The order is in several particulars remarkable. It was issued
on the evening of the day of the Governor-General's return
to Calcutta, on the second anniversary of his arrival in India
—the red letter day ever to be held in remembrance by the
army—when the 17th of February and the 24th of March,
on which Meeanee and Dubba were fought, have been for-
gotten. The donation will amount in all to betwixt 280,0001.
and 300,0001. ; it is alleged to have been given in conse-
quence of the want of information as to the distribution of the
prize property taken at Hyderabad ; and, should it have already
been-determined that this is, according to custom, to be made
over to its captors, the army commanded by General Napier
this time last year will be one of the most liberally requited
that ever fought. There were 17,000 men in Sinde at the
time of the battles, and during the sickly season. Seven re-
giments have since been sent thither, and are included in the
order for the donation. The 3d Cavalry having been a week,
and a wing of the 14th Native Infantry twenty-four hours in
the country, will be equally rewarded with those who have
been there. since 1838. We noticed in our last the organiza-
tion of an additional regiment of irregular cavalry, and on the
12th of February, it was intimated that 100 men would be
added to each of the regiments of the Bengal and Bombay
army which had been included in the reduction of January,
1843, which directed a similar number to be struck off. The
former army contains 74 regiments of Native Infantry—the
latter 26 ; and the number of regiments excepted amount
to 11. 8,000 infantry, with an entire regiment of cavalry,
are found necessary therefore to be added to our army in con-
sequence of, as it is declared, the exigencies of Sinde Sir C.
Napier, on the 18th of February, 1843, loudly proclaimed
the peril in which the British army was placed in the field of
Meeanee for want of a sufficiency of British officers, and re-
commended, in the strongest manner, that this defect should be
remedied with the least possible delay. The justice and wisdom
of the complaint was admitted in all quarters ; and it was every-
where acknowledged that, from a pitiful parsimony in the
pay-officers, we were running the risk of destroying our na-
tive regiments altogether. The mode in which the recom-
mendation of the Governor of Sinde has been seconded by
the Governor-General, is singular ; an addition of from 8,000
to 10,000 is made to the army, without a single additional
officer to command them, while 48 officers are withdrawn
from the line flir the Gwalior contingent, numbering some-
where about 7,000 or 8,000 men, The two are equivalent to
a reduction of about 100 officers in the ISengal and Bombay
armies, just at the time when an addition of about double
this number was declared by the highest military authority
' indispensable. The object of these measures is apparent. If
it cannot be shown that our wars are just or our conquests
legitimate, they must be made to seem as little expensive as
possible. Finding an augmentation of the army indispen-
sable, we increase the muster-roll of the men, without adding
to the number of their officers ; and this, too, with native
troops valuable for field service only when led by a sufficiency
of
secondEuropeans.great victory by which th
ofOnthefirstanniversaryeconquests tchoeduayos on nwliich
the the
Indus were confirmed became known to us, we may be per-
mitted to take a short review of the benefits derived from !
in a
twelvemonth's possession of the "province fertile as Egypt.
The army which, in consequence of the operations China
and Affghanistan, was, betwixt 1838 and 1843, increased by
50,600 men, had just begun to be reduced to its previous
strength by the order of January, 1843, which directed the
extra company added to each regiment in February, 1842,
to be absorbed. We had still some 32,000 more men on our
muster-roll than we found sufficient for all ordinary emer-
gencies before the war policy of 1838 began. This enormous
surplus, which would, in all likelihood, have been struck off
had peaceful councils resumed sway, not only still exists, but
has once more been increased by nearly the amount it was
formerly reduced. Sinde has required to be maintained by a
force of 16,000 men, at a cost of 1,250,0001. sterling.
The pay of 8,000 Sepoys, the present augmentation, at
9 rupees each per mensem, amounts to 86,0001. in a single
year, their clothing and accoutrements to about 24,000/. ;
or, about 110,0001. in all. The charge of a regiment
of Irregular Cavalry is about 60,000/. in all. The augmenta-
tion, therefore, will, in all, cost about 170,000/. ; or, if con-
tingencies be included, probably about 200,000/. The batta
conceded to the troops amounts to about 50,000/. a-year.
If these sums be put together it will be found that, without
taking into account the charge for 16,000 men permanently
maintained on the Indus at the rate of one and a quarter
million sterling, the extra outlay required already to be in-
curred amounts to 315,000/., or, adding the item just named,
to 1,540,000/. annually. This is on the single head of mili-
tary charges ; we have taken no account of charges for civil
government—the pay of judges, collectors, magistrates, or
police. The donation batta of 150,000/. falls on the charges
of 1843 and 1844, and has therefore been rejected from our
account current. The entire income of the Ameers was esti-
mated at 400,000/., and of this, we believe, 220,000/. falls Jo
the shares of our allies the Khyrpore and Bakawulpore
chiefs. The expenditure of 1,500,000/. to secure an income
of considerably less than a quarter of a million is amongst
the pecuniary advantages of the recent conquest ! The moral
effects of so valuable an acquisition may be estimated by the
fact of six regiments having at one time been driven to mutiny
by being ordered to Sinde, and Government having at length
found it necessary to come to terms with the mutineers; and
the circumstance of its being known to our enemies that
every six or eight years a season of such sickness may be
looked for as to lay from 10,000 to 12,000 men in the hos-
pitals, while the pestilence-afflicted stations have the strong-
holds of the mountain Beloochee in front, their own rear
being cut off from their supplies by the desert ! Four regi-
ments have this season required to be sent out of Sinde wholly
disorganised by sickness : a favourite country with the army
it may naturally be supposed—just as it may be imagined a
,ucrative and creditable acquisition to Government !