The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-07 00:00:00

OVERLAND MAIL.

INDIA AND CHINA.

(From the Times.)

We have received our overland dispatch in anticipa-
tion of the Indian blail of the Ist of January, and letters
from our correspondents, together with Bombay papers
to that date; and Calcutta papers to the 23d of December.
India is tranquil, with the exception of some trifling
disturbances in the jungles of the small state of Sawunt
Warree on the Malabar coast.
The disturbances which - existed in the districts- of
Kolapore, at the time of the departure of the last mail,
appear to have subsided. The celebrated fortresses of
'Punalla and Pownaghur, which lie to the north of the
town of Kolapore, at a distance of about fifteen miles,
were captured in a most gallant manner on the Ist of
December by the force under the command of General
De la Motte. The only remarkable casualty was the
death of Colonel Hicks of the Bombay army, who
had one of his legs shattered by a cannon-ball, which
passed through his horse and injured the other leg. He
died within a few hours. This occurred at the taking
possession of the little town at the foot of the rock
font ess.

The capture of Punalla, which was looked upon in
that country as being impregnable, has tended to
bring about the submission of the inhabitants, who
prefer now to rely on the mercy of the British
authorities rather than attempt making a fruitless re-
sistance even in their best forts. Colonels Outram and
Ovens have been both removed from Kolapore, and
Captain Douglas Graham, an officer of great promise,
has been dispatched by the Bombay Government
thither, for the purpose of co-operating with
Mr. Reeves, the Political Commissioner, in intro-
ducing a system of peace and good government into
those districts. There appears to be a wanton tyranny
practised by the Ministers of the Raja of Kolapore,
which has driven his subjects into rebellions, and renders
the removal of the Raja and his Ministers, and his
system, a matter of political utility.
- Colonel Ovens, who had been a prisoner during some
days in Punalla, was voluntarily liberated by the in-
habitants two days before that fortress was attacked.
.They had hoped to obtain favourable terms by his
liberation. .

In the small State of Sawunt Warree, which lies be-
tween the Kolapore mountains and the sea, a sort of
" Robin Hood "'insurrection has been got up by an old
freebooter, called Phond Sawunt, who, after some
years of tranquil enjoyment of a pension, thought fit
to try his luck in the jungles,_ and has induced his
own sons, and even the son and heir of the Raja
-of Warree to join in the excursion. They are now
living in the jungle under the mountains! and.
they keep that part of.. the COncan in great confusion.
Much of their confidence arises from the neighbouring
state of Goa affording them a place of refuge in case of
their being compelled to flee from their own country.
The present Portuguese Governor of Goa, Senh or Pes-
tanha, is said to be well affected to the English ; but the
impotent system which now regulates that state is such
that the Governor is not able to prevent the frontiers
of his territory from being violated by those insurgents.
There was a considerable British force assembled in
Sawunt Warree at the time of the departure of the
mail, and every expectation existed of the speedy
termination of the disturbances there. Colonel
Outram had left Bombay on the 31st of December,
in order to make arrangements for having light field
detachments to scour the country, and to penetrate the
recesses of the jungles. The system of- government in
Sawunt Warree, as well as in Kolapore, requires to be
placed on an improved and a permanent footing, for both
States have, during the last twenty years, been the hot-
beds of frequent rebellion.
In the small state of Bhopal which lies almost in
the centre of India, there have Iteen, .during ten years,
great intrigues at work between two Princesses, the
Begum widow, and her daughter Secunder, who was the
wife of the Nawab, and both of whom wished to hold
the reins of power. The Nawab died at the age of 27,
on the 9th of December, the victim of dissipation, leaving
a daughter by Secunder, who is but 61 years old. Mr.
Hamilton, the agent at Indore, was at Bhopal at the
time of the death of the Nawab, and has made effective
arrangements for the preservation of order and tranquil-
lity.
In the north of India there was great watchfulness
displayed by the civil and military authorities. The
Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh Gough, had gone en a
tour of revision. The necessity of this watchful-
ness is apparent, for the kingdom of Runjeet Singh
is now in a state of transition, and there is no
certainty of a war not breaking out on those im-
portant frontiers, which may involve the best
interests of British India. Heera Singh, the actual
Prime Minister, is a young man, who together with his
uncle Ghoolab Singh, with whom he is at present recon-
ciled, and a party of mountaineers, is endeavouring to
seize the sovereignty for himself. There are revolts in dif-
ferent parts of the disorganized country, and- especially at
Cashmere, where'some of the other mountain Rajss,whom
he has oppressed, are now successful in their resistance
against the Government of Lahore. Peshora Singh, a
son of Runjeet, was at Ferozepore. -
The Affghan Government, led on by Dhost Mahomed
and his notorious son, Akbar Khan, has been pars', tied
by the presence of the plague which came from the en-
virons of Bokhara, and ravaged the town of Caubul,
and had, in the beginning of December, reached Pe-
ishawur. Fortunately it assumed a milder appearance
as it approached to the banks of the Indus ; yet its pro-
gress was feared down that river, and also into the
Punjaub.
In Sinde all was quiet and order. The 78th High-
landers continued to suffer severely from sickness : it
was said that they would be speedily removed from
Sukkar to Hyderabad, and:perhaps to Bombay. Sir
Charles Napier had marched from Kurrachee towards
Shirkarpore, with an intention, as it was asserted, of
avenging on the town and district of Poolajee the un-
successful movements of Captains Taite and Fitzgerald.
The trial of Colonel Moseley had terminated in his
being sentenced to be cashiered. His defence has been
published, and it proves that the sentence was justly
confirmed. The recommendation of the Court, to "have
mercy" on account of his 39 years' of service, was not
attended to. His fate is pitied,- for it is painful to see an
old officer thus dismissed with infamy, but the mutiny
in his regiment was unpardonable, and six men were
hanged and others punished for his errors.
In Gwalior there is some confusion arising from the
conflict of parties, and not from any wish to create a
war. The Minister, who is acting there under the
guidance of Sir Richmond Shakespeare, is not popular.
In Bundelkund and Saugur, where there was great
disgust last year, tranquillity now prevails in conse-
quence of the decided measures adopted by Lord Ellen-
borough.
The Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge, re-
ained at Calcutta, where he was regulating the means
of educating the natives for public employments. lie
had received several addresses from the natives, to
which he gave highly satisfactory answers, and promised
his aid for the improvement of the country and its people.
The Lord Bishop of Calcutta had a severe illness
during his visitation of the South Western-districts, but
he was recovering his health at Umballa.
In Madras the rainy season had been defective up to
the middle of December ' • but a storm and violent rains
had relieved the fears of the cultivators: _ The barque
Lord Eldon was totally lost during the gale-en the 18th
of December. A subscription was formed-there for the
purpose of completing the projected pier, - under the
superintendence of M. Piron, a French engineer.
The news from China comes down to .the 19th of
November. The principal point of interest was- the
dispute between the Governor of Hong-Kong and
the inhabitants relative to the registration of the
population and a poll-tax, which was ordered by an
ordinance published on the 19th of October. The
merchants wrote a bold address, in which the
measures of the Government were • declared to
be " iniquitous." This address was . returned to
the signers. An angry correspondence ensued.
The Chinese population struck work, and. prepared to
quit the colony. The Governor then withdrew the
obnoxious ordinance to have it amended. This
discussion has given rise to various comments, in
which blame is thrown on both sides. One calm
observer has stated, that the whole was a mis-
understanding arising from the want of a sys-
tem of legislation, such as is practised in India, where
the drafts of all such measures are published three
months before enactment, in larder to give the
public an opportunity of expressing their opi-
nion. This is a prudent mode, which prevents
all violent breaches of public order. - Trade was
dull in China. The French Ambassador had
concluded the treaty with Keying, which was sent to
Europe for ratification. The Secretary to the Embassy,
31. de Marquis de Ferrere le Voyer, came front Macao
to Bombay, where he waited for the steamer of the Ist
of January, by which he proceeded to Egypt. He has
brought the treaty for the examination and ratification of
the French Government.

In addition to the Indian and other intelligence above
given,
we have received by this express the Paris papers
of yesterday, with a letter from our correspondent. The
Ministerial journals express much satisfaction at the ton-
of her Majesty's speech, on opening Parliament, last
Tuesday. but the opposition prints, one and all, come
plain bitterly of the friendly disposition towards
Russia, which they regard as displayed in the speech
from the throne, and the comparative coldness with
which it referred to the visit of King Louis Philippe to
Windsor. From the commencement of the Ministerial
crisis to the present moment, the hostility of the French
opposition press to "(Alliance Anglaise"has in fact seldom
appeared more violent nor more rancorous than in
thearticles to be found in the papers before us. This
circumstance is, in our private letters, ascribed to the
respecting the
' debates fixed for that day(yesterday) in the Chamber
of Deputieshrieeshp nependence of public func-
tionaries w
"the right of search,' &rec revive
the;
°taheite
question,
in a, division, which must
.t was expected to ter-
minatebelief of a portion
of, the
must (prematurely in the
relative strength of the Goev Opposition) again test the
The Moniteur contradietsement and the coalition.
favourable intelligence had beenthe report that further un-
favourable
expected debate in theCha.eijed froth Otaheite.
re-
specting the elegibility of public functionaries°er ofPeputies
that house, and which would have let in
to seats in
the
Minis-
terial question, was postponed, and is to
whole
question to be raised on the Secret Service cuter into the
The Cour; ier du Havre announces theestraorindey Bill.
St. Vaast la Hougue, of the American packet stranding,
offde
14 on, Captain Stoddard, which sailed on Saturday from
Havre for New York with a full freight, The paseee-
gers and crew were all saved, but a man was drowned in