INDIA AND THE EAST.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 641, 29 December 1858, Page 6

INDIA AND THE EAST.

(From our Galle correspondent.) -Point de Galle, Nov, 16

The intelligence from India is not of a very -late date. We have news from Calcutta, by -mail steamer, up to October 23rd, and from Madras to October 30th. Lord Clyde is still stated to be at Allahabad. The campaign in Oude has not regularly commenced, but active -preparations are going on. The ' Athenaeum * says;—

"From all that can be learnt it would appear that the plan of the campaign is to in-*-vade Oude by way of Fyzabad, east and north -^of which place the rebels are most numerous, and so endeavour to drive them back in the direction of Lucknow, where they will be met by advancing columns. Allahabad will, It is said, be the base of operations, and accordingly .-a bridge faay~been-arrder-xonatrn<£hnr~at~P4pwi--maw,_ which is six miles from Allahabad, and opposite the Fyzabad road, to enable the troops to cross oyer. If a statement which has been published in some of the papers be correct.it -would appear that we have an enormous nam-. '•ber of insurgents to cope with. "There are, it < seems, -in addition to the Begum,-seventv-nine "rebel chieftains, at distances from Lucknow varying from 18 to 140 miles. Their aggregate of guns is 281, of cavalry 11,660, and infantry, 242; 100."

There have been several engagements in which the enemy, as usual, were beaten with - considerable less. The enemy, who were driven from Sundeela, appear to "have marched to Pando, four miles from that place. Our troops ' assaulted the vi lage and took it, pursuing the enemy ten miles. " The enemy were beaten -nip out of very difficult grounded there was -a continued succession of single combat—our loss, Europeans, two officers wounded; Lieu- " tenant. Green, of the rifles, severely: and seven privates. Polip, four killed, and 44 wounded, ■ five horses kilfeaHnd thirty wounded or missing." The loss on the part of the enemy is • very s-rrat, estimated at 1,000. 500 cavalry and 2000 police foot are to be left at Sundeela. A foit called Burrab, about ten miles north west of Sundeela was taken on the 21st of October. Pulasore has been attacked by 5000 '. rebels with four puns, but they have been repulsed with 150 killed and the "loss of all their ' jEruns. A force from Sultan pore defeated the Nnsserabad Brigade at Domedpore, "and took three guns, three elephants.and all their ma■•tenals. The enemy fled in 'the direction of «»udgespore. At Lucknow considerable uneasiness prevailed at the date of the last accounts. The force for the protection of the place is quite inadequate to meet a sudden outbreak. ■?Ihe chief Commissioner, Mr. Montgomery, has issued orders to destroy all forts that are captured and to burn the jungles round them. Tantia Topee still continues at large, but his "troops have'been severaltimes defeated. There -are now several columns out after him, and escape would seem to *be impossible, but the "flying army " rose up like a snow-ball." Tantia 'Topee, who'left Gwalior with barely 8.000 men, is now officially reported to be at* the 'head of 14,000. Tantia Topee attacked the tfort of Chunderee on" the 7th, Bth and 9th, but •was ' beaten off by the Gwalior troops. At Angrawlee, 4,000 or 5,000 of his'troops, commanded by the Banda Nabob, were defeated by General Michel, with the "loss of 150 killed. General Michel asrain encountered the insuragents on the 15th ult., at Scindwa, south-east -of Chunderee. It is reported they numbered ■10,000, and were utterly defeated. From the ■iMadras Spectator' of' the Bt,h November, •received by Dak, the following telegram has been published:—

"The following has been received from Cap--tain .-Wayne, that Tantia Topee left Lulletoore

on tho 16th instant, and, made a flank march, eastward on Sindway, on the 18th, thinking that General Michel was.marching on Lullet-pm-e, but the General hearing during the night of this move marched ten miles from Meerut, north of Malhone, and surprised theenenvy at •9 a.m. this morning % they stood well for an hour, but were then utterly beaten «nd dispersed, losing four guns and about 400 men- The pursuit was continued for nine miles, the force having been for ten hours under arms. -Tantia Topee has-fled'to Baupore, and-will probably be at Thile-be-hut." Brigadier Douglass's column entered Judgespore without opposition on »-the -18th ult. Rebels had- left that morning, and -cavalry went

in pursuit. Colonel Turner has made a great slaughter of the enemyi (about 500) at the village of Baga, Column in pursuit. A force from Shajeehanpore came up with the enemy at Beekbanee, four miles on the othe other side of the Sookhea Nuddy. 300 rebels were killed, and two guns out of three have been taken.

The Commissioner of Rohilcund reports on the 10th October, that the insurgents attacked Tomany on the Sth but, were repulsed. Captain Keeting has defeated the Bheels at Scindwa and totally dispersed them. The Singapore from China arrived here on the 14th instant. Lord Elgin is at Shanghai holding conferences with the Chinese-commis-sioner. Trade at Canton is improving. The rebels or. the north are said to be again active. The arrangements of the Peninsular and Oriental Company to send their steamers to Mauritius instead of Point de Galle, in conveying the Australian mails, has been-a severe loss to Ceylon, as we would be deprived now of a direct monthly communication with the colonies. In Ceylon our Legislative Council -is busy with the Coolie Immigration ordinance. 'The inhabitants of Ceylon have petitioned her Majesty the Queen to allow Sir Henry Ward to remain in Ceylon beyond his regular term of office. The petition was signed by 400 Euro- ! peans, nearly 300 Burghurs, 1,400 Singalese, j nearly 1,500 Tamil, and more than 400 Moors. The petitioners beg her Majesty will allow them to add £3,000 a-year to the Governor's salary of £7,000, so long as he remains Governor. The reason of the petition was that a rumourexisted some time ago that 'Sir H. Ward was about to be moved by promotion to Madras. The Ceylon line of telegraph has been completed and connected with India by the Manaar Straits cable, and we are now in daily communication with Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. Native coffee, 445. 6d., free on board. Plantation coffee, 605., prepared for shipment. The Oriental Bank Corporation purchase bills on London at six months' sight, at 5 per cent, discount, and sell at 3 per cent. (Prom our Calcutta Correspondent.) Calcutta, L October 20. "Tfie rainy season" may uuw"~oe said._io have passed,and the weather, somewhat mc^raSecrTtr"' its intense heat, is more favourable for the operations of European troops. The plan to be adopted, according to general belief, will be to enter Oude in different quarters, and, with several moveable columns, which will, as far as possible, do away with the great impediment of baggage trains and camp equipage, which have hitherto been deemed indispensable as the accompaniments of a large army. The carriage alone of the last campaign is said to have cost about £10,000 per day! Lord Clyde intends making Lucknow his head-quar-ters, from which central position, with a strong reserve at Cawnpore, he will direct the whole of the whole operations, and be enabled to meet any contingency which may occur. That the kingdom of Oude must succumb to these preparations'is without a doubt, although from the restless and warlike character of the Rajahs, and wealthy landholders, we shall for many a for many a day, be obliged to keep up stron^ garrisons in the principal and most commanding stations. =>

The * Friend of India '* asserts that Sir Hugh Rose is not to have the command in Central ! India; and in common with every one else, is ' somewhat indignant and disappointed, as order : is far from being anything like restored, and such a man as he is absolutely required to effect it. All kinds of rumours are afloat as to the Proclamation of Her Majesty being made the occasion of a general amnesty, by Clemency Canning—as ihe " war-to-the-knife school" have christened him—and all merciful men would hail such (if sufficiently discriminatory, that is, excepting the mutinous sepoys who have imbued their hands in innocent blood) as a timely and judicious measure. Such, however, if it be intended, should have been done earlier, as it will require at least a month before such could be. thoroughly promulgated in the disturbed districts, and to wait for that at the commencement of the cold season would be absolute folly, and the throwing away time precious for action. For my own part, and the feeling isshared by many of more knowledge and experience -than your own correspondent, I cannot but regret that our Indian Bayard, Sir James Outram.is not near Lord Clyde to give his aid and couneel when required at the moment, for, from having been Chief Commissioner in Oude and his general knowledge of Indian warfare, as well as his promptitude and energy (in the first of which the Commander-in-Chief is certainly a little wanting), his presence would be of much -value. However, he has well earned tbe easy repose and dolce far niente of the Supreme and 'Legislative Councils, and I am sure in any future emergency which may and willl fear arise, he will readily leave it all to lead, which i s more his 'forte than to follow. Scindiah's dominions remain unsettled, aud he requires our assistance to collect his revenues. Tantia Topee, like an ignis fatuit, is beaten

only to rise again with fresh troops, fresh guvs and fresh plunder. The fellow has shown an indomitable spirit, and if all our native Joes were made of tho same material, our .struggle would be almost indefinite. So less than three of our divisions are now around him, and an immediate action may be looked for, of course with the usual result, and yet I feel..certain that he will make good his retreat on the fourth sido^ and if captured at all, will only bo so after the final subjugation of Oude. As asserted by the Press of India, the rebellion | would seem to grow chronic, and its defeated votaries to roll up like a suowball, increasing in eundo. The Bombay papers carefully, and it is believed somewhat correctly, estimate the total number of men in arms and rebellion against us at 200,000. Our own army, including about 55,000 Europeans, is still more numerous, and our cavalry branch, in which we were miserably deficient, is now of fair strength and well mounted, the principal supply of horses having been obtained from Cabul and the Cape. A want of life and energy in the civil administration of affairs in connection with the military movements is very generally complained of, and it is feared may.cause our final success to . bo delayed. This is not to be excused upon any pretext, and although a feeling of grief maybe nourished .by many-of our great guns for the death of good old John Company, that grief ought not to -lapse-into a lethargy, which cannot-fail-to be destructive to European life and government, as well as costh' to already over-burtbened revenues. The spirit of vacillation which prevails in high places has just been shown conspicuously in.the way in which the two following cases have beeu treated:— Mr. Rickelts, possessing full authority in the north western provinces, tried a sepoy deserter, who was found guilty and sentenced to be hung, which sentence was carried out. Por this act Mr. Ricketts has been suspended. Not long after a Mr. Willoek (also a magistrate) in a fife -of indignation, and I fear of passion, deliberately drew his revolver and shot a faqueer or fanatical religious beggar, who -spat in his face. The latter gentleman was merely reprimanded. We want a fixed and determined, just yet merciful policy, and notning will or-can go so far towards towards tranquilising the country and appealing to the millions with whom we have to deal. The expenses of the mutiny have induced the Government to withhold any grants for education, or any additional expenditure whatever which can be avoided: and yet, in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, not less than £30,000 will be expended on fireworks and illuminations within the next few days. Doubtless, the occasion of her.Majesty seizing the reins of Government in nomine deserves to^be signalised ; but as the 'Indian Field'says, this parsimony on the one hand and profligacy on the other, will not have A.gopd effect on the superior classes of natives. Hie telegrapnic line Ur "XiSSnum-mcuciau- yrar - Rangoon to Singapore, which will ultimately connect India and Australia is much talked of as necessary to be at once commenced, so as to be ready to operate with the Red Sea Telegraph. Its expense, which is estimated at £150,000, will, I fear, deter the Supreme Government of India from undertaking it so readily!. And should such be the case, the communication of India with Australia and Hong Kong will be indefinitely deferred. I hope something may be done by the home Government towards connecting such important and distant dependencies, as it will be England's truest policy in these days of rapid transmission of intelligence, and the consequent advantages derived by its recipients. Russia gave us a good example the other day, in kindly informing France and England of their Chinese treaties before they were known to the parties most Interested in-the matter. I am sorry to say that the price of provisions and other necessaries continues to rise in Bengal, and that a scarcity of the rice crop is anticipated in many districts. I trust the horrors of scarcity may not be added to those of war. As usual I have to record several engagements with the rebels in various quarters. Captain Browne, in the steamer Benares, in the Shahabad district, destroyed four large boats and killed 100 ; shortly after having conveyed some : troops to Loonpa, 70 more were placed hora de combat

The ex King of Delhi is now on his way to Calcutta, accompanied by his two sons and some of their begums, or womenkind. The papers kindly assure us that every provision has been made for their comfort and safety on the march. It is probable that his ex-Majesty will arrive here just In time to see the rejoicings for the Queen's accession, and a sham fight, and the capture of Delhi—for which no end of bamboos are made into gates, batteries, and all kinds of defences, and which will be blown into fragments by the victorious British, for the edification of the Calcutta ditchers. In the Punjaub, Sir John Lawrence still keeps things _qniet, but when he, Chamberlain, and Edwardes go,l half fear a mighty change may be expected. In my late letter -alluded to the unpleasant rumours of Sir Jung Bahadoor's intentions towards our frontier, and, a consequent panic in Darjeeling. The following, which has lately appeared in the "New Era and Press," seems to give a very probable solution of the affair, and as that paper was the first to raise the cry of alarm, through a resident correspondent at the latter place, we may take the explanation as satisfactory :— "Darjeeling.—The 'New Era' writes-•.—'lt will be m the recollection of roost of our readers that on the occasion of Jung Bahadoor's visit to England, his brothers formed a party in Nepaul to resist bis return to power, and had actually put their intrigues in motion to overthrow him when he returned to Nepaul. The shrewdness of the Knight was more than a match for j his enemies ; he pounced upon the conspirators

at once, beheaded those who were in no way related to him by blood or kindred 5 his brothers he caused to be arrested, and sent down to Allahabad, where he had them imprisoned by our Government, and thus gained for himself the first position in the government of his country ; which position he has held ever since. On the occasion of his offering us the troops of his Government, to aid us in suppressing the revolt in Oude, and his accompanying those troops in person, his brothers, who were at liberty then, jealous of his powers, and chagrined with his alliance with the British, wh*se friendship he courted assiduously, and sincerely no doubt, arc supposed to have tampered with the army that remained at home, and .gained adherents iv the ranks of that army in the usual course common to all Asiatic, countries. The triumphant return of the Jung to Nepaul, with the army that did important services in the districts of Azmighur and Gorruckpore, and in Oude, marred the second plot, and the conspirators this time escaped the vengeance of the Jung.j on account of a misunderstanding having sprung up between him and the British residents. The Jung's conduct, in refusing to accredit Major Ramsay at the Nepaul Court as the British agent, was tantamount to a declaration of war,j it was, therefore, only a policy of Jung's to feign that he knew of no enemies at home ; he wanted the whole of his army /or the contest against the British Government, in case his act of repudiation should lead to a war with that Power. This catastrophe was averted by our Government exercising forbearance, more in recognition of the staunch fidelity of the Jung to the British interests, during the height of the crisis than from any other cause. It was arranged that Major Ramsay should retire from the Court of Nepaul, and public rumour pointed to Dr. Campbell, of Darjeeling, as his successor. Here was room for a fresh intrigue. A nephew of the Jung was seen crossing the frontiers of Nepaul into Sikhim, and from thence he bent his way to Darjeeling itself, to reveal to Dr. Campbell the hostile intentions of his uncle, and to disclose the plans of an invading army that was marching on the British frontier to intercept Darjeeling and overrun Bengal with hordes of hill men.

"The plot of this 'hopeful nephew'of the Jung, who is in the hands of Dr. Campbell, was worked pretty ingeniously. A military post in the frontiers of Nepaul, called Elam, is always occupied by troops. To these troops the young hopeful happened to drop a Purwana, or order, bearing the seal and signature of the Jung, directing the troops to march on our frontier. It was easy for him to direct the Superintendent to send a spy into the Nepaulese camp, who would, as a matter of course, bring news of having seen the seal and signature of the Jung with his own eyes. The spy, a sepoy in the Darjeeling Sappers and Miners, commanded by that energetic and and brave fellow Captain Murray, visited the camp at Elam, was shown the order with the seal and signature of the Jung. He had never seen a seal before, and had no means of knowing whether it was genuine or false, and with a hill man a good fabrication could never be detected; lie believed what he aaw with his own eyes, and came and reported the result to :co^oTo7atiotroT^ifP^^ naturally threw the Superintendent into a, state of alarm. A council of war was held, and it was decided in that council to entrench the Jollahpahar, the site of the depot, and old barracks, which is one of the strongest posts in the entire range of the Darjeeling hills, and where our troops and women and children could hold out against any odds of a rabble army, which the generality of the Nepaulese soldiers are, until succour could reach them from the plains. The depot was put in a state of defence, and three months' provisions were laid in, with creditable expedition. By the time that half the defence were completed, and the greater portion of the supplies stored, Dr. Campbell received advices direct from the Nepaul Residency of a most friendly and pacific nature that made the army of invasion and the hostile intentions of the Nepaul Government all a myth. The nephew of the Jung was his old enemy, and the object of the reports brought by him was to ingratiate himself with Dr. Campbell, whom public gossip pointed out as the future Resident at Nepaul, and thus pave the way for ruining Jung Bahadoor, who was looked upon by his countrymen as holding hostile intentions towards the British Government, on account ofthe disagreeable interview he had with Lord Canning on returning to Nepaul, and his subsequent conduct in dismissing the resident from his court. It is just possible that the Jung may have sent reinforcements to all the frontier stations, fearing his conduct to Major Ramsay would lead to hostilities with the British Government. He could not be blamed if he had done so; but that there could be any foundation for his intended invasion of Bengal by the Darjeeling hills is disbelieved by all sensible men.''