The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-05 00:00:00

OVERLAND MAIL.
CHINA, INDIA, AND

AFFGIIANISTAN.

The mail from India has arrived, and we have
papers and letters from Bombay. of the 19th of
July. The intelligence which they communi-
cate, although of considerable interest, is not of
a striking- character.

- • The state of the war in Affghanistan continued
.1-..L__to be the subject of warm discussion through-
out- India, arid- the must conflicting rumours
were in. circulation as to the decision of the Go-
!---7----vernor-General. While the opponents of the fu-
, .10re-campaign asserted that Lord Ellenborough
had adopted' the decision of immediately with-
-- drawing the British troops 'from that country,
' there were . others, who, in the absence of all
• official orders, maintained that such withdrawal
at this conjuncture was calculated to inflict a
most serious injury on the supremacy of Great
Britain, and that the arrangements made by the
Supreme. Government led rather to the inference
that it was intended to use the most determined
measures..for obliging the refractory Affghans to
enter into satisfactory terms. Of those 'mea-
sures, one was the formation of " a large army
. of reserve" in the district of Sirhind, under the
commandof Sir Jasper Nicoll. The name given
to this force, which was ordered to amount to
20,000 men, together with the locality selected
for its hi-mediate assembling, in the neighbour-
hood of the Sikh country, and the appointment
• of the 'Commander-in-Chief to be its General,
led to the supposition that it was riot intended
merely to protect the retirement of the British
troops from the banks of the Indus,. but to aid
their future operations in Affghanistan;
Another of those measures was the collection
of beasts of burden, which were to be sent to
General Pollock, who still remained with his
troops at Jellalabad. A body of the Sikh troops,
amounting to 7,000 men had also arrived at Jel-
lalabad, which position they are described as
anxious to maintain against the Affghans, even
, fif.the British be withdrawn.
The negotiations, which were some time ago
• regarded as calculated to bring about a settle-
ment with some parties of the Affghans, having
terminated without any favourable result, it can-
not be supposed that the BritiSh troops, amount-
ing now to 25,000 men, and fully capable of re-
• storing our character in Central Asia, are now
to sneak.. out of the country, with an exulting
and insolent foe at their heels. The army already
in Affghinistan is sufficiently strong for every
purpose; and the question is, whetheer this army
shall advance on the capital and settle the
country, and return leisurely and honourably, or
make us the laughing stock of' Asia, by a pre-
. cipitate and dishonourable retreat, or, in other
words, whether the means of locomotion, which
must be provided in any case, shall he used for
an advancement or retirement.
. The plan for the next campaign, now in a state
of preparation, is said to have been arranged by
the Duke of Wellington in England, and will be
to the end of having not only an effective army
of reserve in case of any future reverses, but at
the present moment of concentrating all the
troops in Affghanistan in proper positions until
the opportune time arrive of a simultaneous ad-
vance on Caubul of the divisions under Gen. Pol-
. •lock from Jellalabad, and of Gen. Nott with his
division from Candahar. The caution and reserve
with which the final determination of the Su-
preme Government is kept secret, and the ab-
. sence of all public documents on the subject,
had thrown an air of mystery over the matter
"which was favourable to the conjectures on both
sides.
In the mean time events of varied importance
have occurred in Affghanistan. The fort of
K.helat-i-Gliilzie has been evacuated in conse-
quence of the concentration of General Nott's
division at Candahar. The Affghans, however,
prior to the execution of that order, attacked the
former place in considerable force on the morn-
ing of the 21st of May ; they were, as stated in
the accounts of last month, repulsed with consi-
derable loss. The official despatches published
by the Governor-General at Allahabad on the
2d of July represent the conduct of Captain
• J. H. Craigie and his troops as worthy of the
- highest praise. There is also in the despatch of
that officer a soldier-like simplicity of style
which contrasts strongly with other highly in-
flated documents.
Official details have been published of the at-
tempt made by Akbar Khan, chief of Zeminda-
war, at the head of 3,000 men, andin conjunction
• with the rebel force under Prince Suftur Jung,
the fourth son of Shah Soojah' and Atta Ma-
homed, to take the city of Candahar by surprise
during the absence of Colonel Wymer, detached
with a large force into the Ghilzee province.
On their appearance near the city on the 29th of
May, General Nott sallied out at the head of a
number of his remaining troops, and soon routed
them completely. Prince Suftur Jung, having
been deserted by his followers, had subsequently
surrendered himself.
There were letters received from the army at
Candahar, which comment strongly on the im-
policy of abandoning the country, and of which
some, written by persons whose opinion is of
high value, maintained that the force under
General Nott was fully adequate to advance
even to the gates of Caubul.
From Jellalabad accounts are conflicting of the
state of the troops, some exaggerating their
want of comforts and the prevalence of sickness.
On the other side, the fact is known, that in-
stead of retiring, General Pollock had sent out
a detachment to attack some forts ten miles to
the southward. Unanimity and good feeling
continued to animate all the troops there, and a
strong desire was exhibited for going forward
to Caubul, in order to avenge their slaughtered
countrymen, and to wipe out the stain from the
honour of the British Indian army.
The Affghans were divided among themselves,
some being eager for forming conventions and
terms of amity with the British. The delays in
the movement towards Caubul, since the passage
of the Khyber defiles by General Pollock's
force, .had proved rather advantageous to Akbar
.Khan, who having placed his British prisoners
in safe custody at some distance from Caubul,
proceeded to attack the Bala Hissar, in which
Futteh June the third son of Shah Soojah,
who is looked upon as attached to the alliance
with the British, had defended himself and
his father's treasures with ability. The re-
port of money being collected in the Bala
Hissar, roused the cupidity of Akbar Khan
and his followers ; they, therefore, laid siege
to that fort, and completed a large mine
under one of the bastions, which they blew
up with such want of skill as to kill numbers of
their own men. The Arabs, or best soldiers in
'the service of Futteh Jung, being alarmed for
their families, of which they dreaded the slaugh-
ter from the murderous propensities of Akbar
Khan and his partisans, and terrified by the news
that the British had blown up the fortifications
of Klielat-i-Ghilzee, prior to their final retreat
from the country, induced their young Sovereign
however much against his will, to surrender
himself and his fort and his treasures to the
tender mercies of the notorious Akbar, who
was afterwards said to have been appointed
Vizier. This success, which was by some
considered as likely to prove ultimately disad-
vantageous to Akbar Khan, had, at first, ex-
cited some alarm among the friends of the
British, and rendered the demand for the adop-
tion of decided measures within a short time
imperative. Akbar's adherents would not, it
was supposed, long adhere to him, if they had
no prospect of plunder. The great cause of the
past delay was said to be the want of camels,
and an eager search had been instituted for those
animals in the north-west of India, for the ser-
vice of General Pollock's division, for it was ad-
mitted that there 'vas no deficiency of them in
the division under General Nott. The continual
outcry for thousands of camels was said by some
critics to be rather a bugbear in a country where
numbers of bullocks and a hardy breed ofhorses
ran be easily procured.
The conduct of the Governor-General, who
maintained his own secret to the last, or only
intrusted it in a strictly confidential manner to
the heads of the various departments. has given
satisfaction to many, who did not hesitate to ob-
ject to the clamour which a few were eager to
raise against the progress of the armies. The
Governor General bad ordered the Incorpora-
tion of the levies raised for Shah Soojah into the
army of Bengal.
The latest letters from Jellalabad, to the 26th
of June, and to which our correspondent
alludes in his postscript, represented the troops
as on the best terms with the natives, who fur-
nished all sorts of supplies. The detachment
sent to the southward had received a promise of
having 32,000 rupees, buried by Captain Ferris
during the retreat of last year, and
that
the
• natives had discovered, made good to thatofficer
There were strange rumours current then
among the Walnees near Jellalabad; onen of
which was. that Akbar Khan having pe
. suaded by FuttehJung to enter the Bala Hisser,