The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-06 00:00:00

INDIA AND CHINA.

An extraordinary express enabled us on Wednesday afternoon
to supply the general features of the intelligence from the East,
and we now lay before our readers all the details contained in
the Indian papers.
(From the Bombay Times, April 1.)
LATEST DATES.
Aden
Agra
Alexandria February 17.
Australia—Adelaide January 3.
ditto Sydney
I3urmah—Moulmein Marcia 7.
ditto Rangoon March 2.
Caübul
Cairo .. . . •
Calcutta March 21.
Candahar
Ceylon
China—Macao
ditto Chusan January 17.
Cutchee ...
Delhi
Herat February.
Lahore
Madras
Manilla ... February 8.
Mauritius
Penang—Malacca
.. March 1.
Persian Gulf February 26.
Quetta—Caubul ... .. .........
Seint'e
Singapore ...

The following passengers take their departure for Suez this
day, per the Cleopatra steamer:—Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs.
Colonel Manson, Mrs. Captain Parsons and child, Mr. and
Mrs. H. Forbes, Captain and Mrs. Ord and two children,
Miss Richards, Mrs. Colonel Osborne and three children,
Major H. C. Cotton, Madras army ; Mrs. Carpenter and
child, Captain and Mrs. Claude Roberts, 29th Madras Native
Infantry ; Lieutenant-Colonel Osborne, Mrs. and Miss Boaden
and child, Miss Llewelyn, J. Llewelyn. Esq. ; Captain and
Mrs. George Manse', of her Majesty's 16th Lancers ; Captain
Young, Madras army ; Capt. Rutherford, Bengal Cavalry ;
Mr. S. Brooking, Major 11. Taylor, 2d Madras Cavalry ; Mr.
Gouger, Colonel Katy, of her Majesty's 94th Regiment; a
child of Mr. Harrison, Mrs. Goodall, Captain Larkins, Captain
Rees, E. 131ackall, C. Campbell, E. 11. Dallas, A. Mackin•
tosh, and A. Montgomery, Esqrs. ; Major Carpenter, Cap-
tains Owen, Ist Lancers, Thornhill and Allen ; Mr. J. Catt-
rill, Mrs. Prescott, (Captain Prescott died on the 29th of
March), and child; and Captain Veto; three European anti
two native servants. Second class passengers :—Mr. Chad-
wick, Mr. E. A. Webster, and Mr. JoLiquim Manoel de
Meto Mendacoa.

F, r Mocha :—Budroodeen Shaik Ally and Jumaloodeen Fa-
zoodeen.

The following passengers have taken berths by the steamer
of May :—Major-General and Mrs. Brooks, Captain Leeson,
ltev. A. Goude, Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Wyllie, Mrs. Es-
enmbe, Mrs. Warburton, Professor 011ebar, lady, and child,
and Airs. E. E. Elliot and child.

CAUI3M..
Our cares for the concerns at Caubul, in a great measure
ceased with the intelligence of the destruction of our army in
the second week of January. Save in the interest felt in the
hostages or captives which still remain in it, it is no more to us
than it was before the Affghan troubles began. The officeis%Nho
remain there, together with the sick, wounded, and prisoners,
seem to have been from the beginning well, or even kindly,
treated. The " good Nawaub Jubbur Khan" has taken the
missing child of Mrs. Anderson under his charge; and with
`• the Feringhees' friend," as he was called before adversity
fell upon him, it is as safe, and as secure of kindness, as if
under its parents' charge. The tales of the sepoys being sold
into slavery to the Ocnbegs—highly improbable as they were
from the beginning—remain wholly unconfirmed, and we be.
lieve them to be entirely fabulous. There are considerable
numbers, both of fficers and men, of whose fate we have now
learned particulars; the former have been detained as pri-
soners, but complain of no harshness or severity ; but, on the
contrary, speak very warmly of the kindness they have expe-
rienced; the latter have been dismissed without ransom, and
have, in many cases, received small sums of money to carry
them on their way. The Shah Soojah continues to main-
tain himself at Caubul. The chiefs, indeed, are said to hale
been unanimous in offering allegiance to him ; and tran-
quillity in and around the city is said once more to be
entirely restored. It is reported that he has written to Go-
vernment, requesting to be supplied with 200,0001. or
300,000/. of money; but declining military aid for the pre-
sent. A letter is said to have been intercepted, sent by him to
the ruler of the Punjaub, requesting him to withhold his aid
from us, so that the " Feringees " might be exterminated.
We give these on imperfect evidence—evidence which, how-
ever, has been considered sufficient by most of the journalists
of India strongly to implicate the Shah in the proceedings of
the insurgents from the commencement. On the 28th Jan. a
letter was received from him at Jellalabad, requiring Sir
Hobert Sale to retire, and to give hostages for our abandon-
ment of Affghanistan. This was declined to be complied with.
It may Le, however, that after all the Shah is in the hands of
the chiefs, and that he is only playing the game a better man
would think permissible when his personal safety was so imme-
diately concerned. We have much reason to suspect his ho-
nesty, but we have no direct proof of treachery to adduce
against him.

-Amongst the escapes of the individuals who have now re-
appeared is that of the Sergeant-Major of the 37th Native In-
fantry, and of a grass-cutter, who in an agony of fear entreated
Ukhbar Khan that he might not be sold as a slave (though this
did not appear to have been contemplated), and was ordered to
go about his business. One of the men who was with Capt.
Woodburn, when ho was killed, and his little band of la° sepoy
invalids cut to pieces near Ghuznee, on the 2d of November,
had, after three months wanderings, made his escape to the
plains. Seven sepoys, who had been allowed to depart, ern-
barked on inflated water-skins, and descended the Cabool river
to Peshawur; it is not precisely stated where they got afloat,
but as it must have been above Jellalabad, this perilous
voyage had exceeded a hundred and twenty miles in length.
'they were half famished, and starved with cold, and in a
very miserable plight on their arrival—their toes and
fingers having been frost-bitten by the snow. We have not
only heard no more tales worthy of being listened to as to
the cruelty and treachery of the Affghans, hut those formerly
considered credible have now for the most part been contra-
dicted. On the other hand, as each successive unfortunate
makes his appearance, some new instance of their humanity or
attention is revealed. We are still entirely in the dark as to
the share Ukhbar Khan may have had in our misfortunes ; but
the proofs of the truth of the charges against him have cer-
tainly not increased in weight. Every fresh revelation is con-
firmative of the rumour prevalent since the beginning—that to
the miserable imbecility of our military authorities, and the
misconduct and despondency of our soldiers, we owe the hea-
viest of our disasters. The contents of various communications
from Sir W. Macnaghten, who throughout comported himself
in a manner becoming the position he occupied, and the nation
he represented, describing himself as " surrounded by cowards,
amongst whom there was neither energy nor spirit," have been
published. The Affghan war has dispirited and disorganised
the army, and brought it into a condition from which it will
require many years of good treatment to remove it.
JELLALABAD.
Our former intelligence from the brigade shut up under
Sir Robert Sale at Jellalabad came down to the 2d of February
—it now extends to the 4th of March. Nothing of any very
particular note appears to have occurred in the garrison, save
the earthquake of the 19th of February, since the former
of these dates. We now learn, however, a fact of some in-
terest, with which we were not, formerly acquainted. On the
23th of January a Council of War had been held, to de-
liberate on a proposition, then just received from the Shah
Soojah at Caubul, to the effect that we should give further
hostages, and make other arrangements for the immediate
and entire abandonment of the country. The proposition
was declined to be complied with, though not till after a
considerable debate on the subject had occurred. On the
morning of the 14th of February, Ukhbar Khan, with a
ragged force of 800 cavalry and 1,200 infantry, encamped on
the opposite side of the river under English tents ; it was re••
ported that he had attacked the garrison, and been defeated by
them four days afterwards—but this proves to be incorrect.
Any force he can muster can occasion them no annoyance, un-
less accompanied by guns, or in cutting off supplies. Colonel
Dennie gave an account of 10,000 Affghans at Bameean with
half the present force. On the 19th a severe shock of an earth-
quake, which visited Peshawur, Ferozepore, Meerut, and Delhi,
and extended as far westward as Quetta, shook down many of
the houses and some part of the fortifications at Jellalabad,
which it cost considerable trouble to repair. No advantage,
however, had been taken of the accident by the enemy, and
the garrison is now as able to protect itself as ever, unless that
their supplies of all kinds are once more running short on
them. Some dissensions amongst the chiefs had excited the
hope that they would shortly be enabled to purchase their way
to the plains : it was said that the Affreedis at the Peshawar
end of the passes were willing to treat for Sir R. Sale's re-
treat, but would hear of no terms whatever for General Pol-
lock's advance. The latter officer was prepared, apparently, to
attempt an advance at all events, should there be any grounds
for serious apprehension of Sir Robert Sale's immediate safety.
300/. of money had been sent to him from Peshawur, and re-
ceived in safety; the men who conveyed it got an equal sum
for their pains—a fair illustration of the dangers of the passes.
The garrison had heard very regularly fro :n the prisoners in the
Lughman country. They continue to report themselves well
and kindly treated. The contents of their letters were re-
stricted to their own personal affairs, and we have hitherto de-
rived from them scarcely any particulars of the Caubul disasters.
PESHAWUR.

The enormous and sudden sickness which hail overtaken our
troops at Peshawur, confining upwards of two thousand fight-
ing men at one time to the hospital, had in a great mea-
sure disappeared at our latest dates. It had confined itself
to the four regiments which had been in the pass, and
might probably be accounted for from the effects of the
notoriously pestilential atmosphere around ; thus furnish-
ing us an alarming consideration in case the troops should
again catch disease in passing through the mearious re-
gion of the pass, in which the line of the advancing column
would probably be detained from the narrowness of some por-
tions of the chasm, not less than three days. Considerable
falls of snore on the hills, and almost incessant rain about the
camp, seem to have prevailed till near the end of March, occa-
sioning extreme discomfort to the men. On the 19th of
February an earthquake shook down many buildings near
li Peshawur, but though many very narrow escapes were made,
no other mischief was occasioned. On the 28th the alarm was
sounded that some of the camels who were grazing close by had
been carried away. A detachment, consisting of a troop of the
loth Light Cavalry, and some irregulars, was immediately
dispatched. They overtook the mountaineers, and slew
them all, four in number, as it proved ; but not till
three troopers and two officers (Cornet Vibart and Ensign
Taylor) had been severely wounded. The rumour of an
engagement created a sensation in camp, and fresh troops
of cavalry, artillery, and infantry were already on the start,
when the troopers just returned with the heads of all their
enemies (four) at their saddle bows. On the 25th, General
Pollock had ordered his force to hold themselves in readiness
to move up the pass in the lightest marching order, and at
the shortest notice ; it was, indeed, reported that they had
already moved on the 4th; and again that they were about to
do so on the 14th ; the one statement has proved incorrect,
and we doubt not but tile other will do so likewise. He seemed
to have adhered to his primary resolution of not moving,
unless in case of extreme emergency, till the arrival of the
last brigade from Feruzepere. This crossed the Sut-
ledge on the 13th of March, and could not have leached
Peshawur till the 20th of April. It consists of her Ma-
jesty's 31st, the 6th Native Infantry, with artillery and irre-
gular cavalry —Major De Le Fosse, with the Horse Artillery
siarted four days after. It was said that General Pollock was
anxious that this force should leave all its heavy baggtge to
be brought up by the Seikh contingent, and push on with
the utmost possible celerity. Accompanying the detach-
ment were 900 camels loaded with treasure and ammuni-
tion. A letter from one of the European officers, in the ser-
vice of Shere Sing, mentions that a force of from eight to nine
thousand Seikhs were moving on Attoek to assist General Pol-
lock. The Maharajah Shere Sing himself had gone to Lahore
to hasten and facilitate our movements by every means in his
power. The sepoys began to desert from the 53d and 60th
Native Infantry in particular, at the rate of twenty a day—a
state of matters more likely to become aggravated than im-
proved as dangers and hardships multiply around them,
and the few stragglers come in to tell the frightful tales of
their sufferings at Caubul and in the passes, which are once