English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 665, 23 March 1859, Page 4

English and Foreign.

LATEST FROM INDIA,

Tlift Melbourne papers acknowledge news from Calcutta, by the Queen of Seas, to the sth January, .being four.clays later than by previous arrivals. These, papers, liowesrer, contain no additional intelligence relating to Indian affairs, andj^re chiefly filled with extracts from English ,aad other journald. The only items connected with, military movements and the progress of the operations for (lie suppression of the rebellion are tlie following: Service Message supplied- from the Government from G. V. JLldinonstone, Esq., dated Allahabad, 31st December, seven p.m.—" Captain Hutchinson reports on tl.e £Bth from Sogmair, that the rebels passed through Dugyoung towards Masshalpore, and thatpolonel Benson was in pursuit. On the 29th, Mnjor-.General Whitlock attacked and dispersed Eadna Gobind and his band, four miles

from Kirpt,, killed upwards of 300, took »11 the r guns, elegants, ani many horses and.cattle. Captain Dennehy will pursue the rebels. Ourloss, d£ a wing of the Madras Fusiliers has been ordered to proceed from Futtehporo into the Banda district, to operate against a tort there.

We are much indebted to the politeness of R. Pitcairn, Es<j., for the loan of Indian files to the Ist January, from which we extract the following: Tantia Topee's party of Rebeis, after wandering about the jungles in the territory of Mey war, were met by the Neemuch detachment at Purtabghur on the 24th instant, and repulsed with severe loss. One leader killed, name not known; two elephants and several prisoners taken. Captain Bolton, Royal Artillery, and nine wounded None killed. Main body of rebels retreated towards Banwarah. A portion fled towards Mhow. 'Column would pursue. •-".'■' The Camfajgn.—The week "has been singularly bare of -telegrams. Lord Clyde, however, appears, to prosper in his operations beyond the Gogra. He crossed at Fyzabad, and marched un-, opposedto Bareltch on the 17th instant. The -station was almost deserted, the Begum and her followers having fled into the jungles beyond. She expresses it is said a willingness to surrender, and there appears little reason to reject her submission. Almost all the Cavalry with the Commander-in-Chief have been sent forward under Col. Chester to Dhumimpore, and there seems a strong probability that tno: serious resistance will be offered. The country people; however, are still hostile. Information is steadily refused, and the Army knows little beyond the range of its Light Cavalry. Brigadier. Rowcrol't was marching onthe same date towards Toolseepore said to be occupied by most of the fugitives from theTrans Gogra district; The 'Delhi Gazette' supplies a detailed account of Sir Robert Napier's encounter with Feroz Shah. He left Gwalior on the 12th, and after a close pursuit of 5 days, came up with the enemy on the 17th instant. The Sowars, about 2000 in number, were posted in a small plain, which the Brigadier, advancing =by • ravines and narrow paths, reached unperceived. Captain Prettyjohn, with only 2000 of H. M.'s 14th Dragoons, charged right at their centre, arid the enemy fled almost without a stroke. . Captain Prettyjohn was wounded, but Captain Need led on the pursuit, and continued it for 7 miles. About 400 of the sowars are said to have fallen, but the leaders and the great majority of the horsemen escaped and are now in the neighbourhood of Goonah. Thence it is not impossible Feroz Shah may effect a junction with Tantia Topee, a movement greatly to be wished. Five thousand runaways are no more dangerous than two thousand, while the junction will save the British columns from distraction in pursuit of two shadows, and increase the chance of the rebels standing their ground. The following is supplied from the Home Department : —

Service Message from G. F. Edmonstorie. Esq., dated Allahabad, 29th December, 4-30 p.m. Mr.Power reports from Banda on the 27th inst., that the Kirwee has been relieved, and that the general awaits the arrival of Brigadier Carpenter in the rear of the rebels to make a combined attack on them.

The following morceaux are from the Lahore Chronicle, of the 22nd inst.:— .

On Dit,; that Sir John Lawrence will go to meet the Governor-General at Delhi, where the viceroy is to proceed to invest the Chief Commissioner with the Lieut. Governorship of the Punjaub. We have the following from theKamptee Flying Column :—

Camp Mowsh, near the Wurdah, . S V V " 17th Dccl, 1859. B^rigaditH^flill, acting onjnformation received ixom Ellichpor'e'^andtßaipcl, came across the 500 rebels un^ier, Eaheem Dil Khan, that left the Sathp'oofa Hills for ■ the westward on our flying column crossing the Wurdah into Berar, oh the 12th, killing and wounding a great number. He also sent out a party the next morning, which' came on their rear unprotected and did much execution; thus our column has, besides reassuring the inhabitants of thfe country through which it has passed, done good service in driving this body of rebels into the clutches of Brigadier Hill. Brigadier Hill had with him four howitzers, 200 cavalry and 500 infantry Hydrabad Contingent. Our column is now under orders to return to Kamytee, but Nana is reported to have crossed into Bundelcuhd, and to be coming southward, so we shall very probably be out again soon. We are indebted to a friend for the following interesting particulars of General Napier's raid from Camp Nurode, 20th December:— Sir R. Napier's force left Gwalior on the 12th, and were to have marched the same night to Dubbra, but .that wonderful Gwalior Durbar, nervous as usual,irnmediately screamed, for as is always the case when the general leaves Moorar, a panic,was got up in the Wear, and the political agent stopped us on our march. Bnbbra was burnt, or rather the bungalows there, and the rebels pursued their course. The force was pushed on night and day, only taking rest sufficient to give the animals their food; we cut up their tail on the 14th, making them leave an elephant behind them. On the 15th and 16th through almost impenetrable jungles and the most difficult country, we stuck to them like leeche Js, picking up stragglers. On the morning of the 17th, we arrived at Ranode, where evidently something was going on, for the general and staff were all out to the front, and the baggage all halted in a line. Presently the order was given to move forward at a trot, but it was no such easy matter, for our horses stumbled and had to go in single files down ravines and by narrow paths, which at last brought us on an open plain, where sure enough within 6 or 700 yards of us drawn up in a line and coming on were Feroze Shah and all his army, some 2 or 3000 sowars dressed in all the colors of the rainbow, but green decidedly prevailing. , It was no use looking at them, so the squadron of the 14th, headed by Capt. Prettyjohn, went straight at their centre; Capt. Smith's Mahrattah troops came up as soon as they could cross the ravines, and got past the Highlanders, 40 of whom were on camels following in our wake.

They looked at us for a moment, evidently bewildered, there >vas a clustering like a swarm of bees in their ranks, and then, threes about, off they went, and we thundering.after them for several miles, every horse going his best, and the men dealing death at every blow. ..Captain Prettyjohn was wounded shortly after the commencement of the pursuit, and the 14th were then commanded by Captain Need, who led us on until heavy jungle and deep ravine 'Country prevented the further advance of cavalry •; we must have gone over fully seventy miles at a hard gallop, and the Mahrattas picking up the leavings, upwards of 400 must have pit the dust, arid .moat of those sowars of the 12th irregulars. When the advanced party had come back; and we had all rejoined, the general had us drawn up and told the 14th that he had always said that with them he would go at anything or face any odds, that they were the finest follows that he had ever seen; they cheored him as only Britons can cheer, and we all felt contented with our day's work. , Six elephants, the head of that traitor Fuzl Huk, and the death of others of their leaders, was the result of this feat of arms, by which ,our intrepid General has added another laurel to deck his brow, given to leaders a lesson how a determined spirit can grapple with all difficulties, and European troops can be led to outmarch our nimble foes ; for when the nature of the

country prevented the guns from keeping up they were left behind with the Infancy,-and with less than 200 sowars and forty foot on omels we attacked the enemy on the 17th. Xhe 14th lost some thirteen horses owing to the soil being black and full Of deep holee, which brought horses and men over one after the other, and before the men could recover themselves, their horses had galloped off. Our total loss amounts to one oi the Mahrattas killed on the 14th, and one offieerand eight men of the 14th, wounded on the 17fch.— Delhi Gazette, December 25. , The ' Rangoon Times' announces the arrival oi the ex-King of Delhi in Rangoon. He landed on the 9th instant, with his sons and family, and was at once conveyed to the main guard. He is to reside under strict watch at Tounghoo, the frontier station at Pegu, six hundred miles from the nearest Indian station.

An official telegram in the * Delhi Gazette'_ informs us that Feroze Shah has been driven into the hills and jungles south of Nirwar. He is closely pursued by Sir R. Napier, and has been reduced to a few cavalry and six elephants. He has no infantry, and has obtained no sympathy in •the Jaloun district. ■

The same journal states the murderer of Oaptain Hare of the sth N. C. has been caught in the Baited district. He fired on his captor, a sepoy, but without effect. He says his reason for the murder was an order Captain Hare gave him to shave his beard, beards being forbidden'in the Madras army. The writer adds: —"I strongly recommend his being broken alive upon the wheel; the idea of taking the scoundrel's life by the simple process of hanging is puerile." We wish the editor of the ' Delhi Gazette' would put a stop to this sort of remark. Neither he nor his correspondent would really sanction any proceeding of the sort, and this cynicism, tolerated in India because the true characters of the writers are known, in England disgraces the press. The ' Madras Spectator' publishes the following proclamation issued by Tantia Topee. It was posted in a village called .Mooltye, 70 miles from EUichpoor. "Be it known to all Ryots, Sowkars, Dookandars, and Sepoys <of all the kusbas, cities, villages, &c., that I have come with my army to kill the English and plunder them all. I have not come to destroy the Ryots, for I am the enemy of the English alone, but not of the Hindoostanees. My intention was net to plunder the inhabitants of this country, but owing to my army being in a state'of starvation, I was obliged to loot some of the villages of these parts, as the inhabitants ran away without giving supplies.. If they had not done so, nothing would have happened to them; they have received the benefits of their doings. Now be it known that no one should quit their houses, fields, &c, and when my army approaches they must furnish supplies, for which they will receive more than the fixed Nurrick rate. Keep your hearts free. On the arrival of tnis proclamation the heads of villages will and must send copies of it to all the neighbouring country. Dated 30th Rubbeeool 1275. Hijree," i. c. Hegirah. The' Bombay Standard' announces that the Peruvian Government has removed the prohibition on the export of guano fromChinchas. The news was received by electric telegraph, and may be important to shipowners.

The ' Bombay Telegraph and Courier' announces that Tantia Topee has taken refuge in the jungles at the foot of the Ruttun Mull mountains. The Bheels of the locality are heartily with him, but the ground is very impracticable for cavalry. Brigadier Parke is waiting only for ammunition to recommence the pursuit, at a pace as rapid as that of the Mahrattas. Tantia Topee himself, it appears, invariably rides off at the commencement of a skirmish. •

A telegram from Allahabad dated the 21st December, contains the following :r—" A number of men of Captain Holmes' Irregulars-.wererMtlgd; in thevictory gaineds by Sir R." Napier bvei'ithe rebels under Feroze Shah.:. Resseldar Zahoorailah is reported to be killed. Among the persons of distinction none looked like Feroze Shah, -but the papers found on one party seem' to identify him as Fuzel Shah, and this is corroborated by a prisoner; besides the six elephants already reported as captured, numbers of horses and ponies have been taken." ■. •

The ' Hurkaru' suggests that the ex king of Delhi should be sent to St. Helena. Tounghoo is too near Asia, and may be too near Sepoys. The people of the Cape peremptorily, refused to receive any convict whether king or sepoy, and Tounghoo was selected as a last * resort. We adhere to our own belief. The Outer Floating Light was the safest prison to be found.

The ' Delhi Gazette. reports that Tantia Topee had sacked Banswarralv and was marching on Oodeypore. He was about forty miles from that place on the 13th inst. He had marched sixty miles in twenty-four, hours, the most rapid march with one exception he has yet accomplished. The passes leading to the city had been closed and occupied. By whom ? If by local troops the chance of resistance is but small.

The same journal reports that Lord Clyde occupied Bareitch on the 16th instant. The enemy had fled into the thick jungle beyond the station, carrying with them the Begum, who was anxious to treat. The siege guns had been left behind, and the brigade was only accompanied by eight field pieces. . . At the last meeting of the Bombay Geographical Society a letter was read from Lieutenant Constable on an island in the Persian Gulf called Kenn. It appears at one time to have been very populous, and its Kings ruled over all the islands in the Gulf. Ruins are still existing of very large buildings, and the reservoirs for water are beautifully built. One is subterranean, nearly half a mile long, with shafts sunk at every twenty yards to receive'the rain water. There are no less than thirty-eight of these shafts. The reservoir is near the ruins of -a great city which flourished in the 12th century, and carried on an extensive trade with China. Great mounds of broken bits of china, some of superior quality, are yet to be seen. The soil of the island is very fevtile, but needs water.

A telegram dated 27th December gives the latest information as. to the movements of Tantia Topee. " The chief of Kanoor had ■ received a demand for supplies from Tantia Topee. A detachment consisting of 500 Queen's Troops, 59th, 200 of 31st B. N.. I. two guns, and 100 Guzerat Horse, was at Khohwara on 16th, and the occupation of the Choonee Sagree was contemplated with the view of heading back the rebels in the event of their retreat in that direction after the intended attack on their position at Kanoor. Rebels under Radha Gobin surrounded Kurnee three or four days ago. They have since received reinforcements but have made no attack."