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New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 505, 15 February 1851, Page 3

plicated There had been another explosion of a Commissariat Flept laden with gunpowder, at Dinapore, by which twelve boats were lost. Suspicion of having wilfully caused the disaster attached to the native boatmen, and a committee of inquiry had been instituted... .. A melancholy narrative is uiven of the suicide of Colonel King, who commanded the 14th Light Dragaons at Chilleanwallah. The Corps on that occasion, it will be remembered, got into confusion during the battle, and retreated with such a disorderly rapidity as to ride over some of our gunners, and to cause the loss of two of our guns, which the Sikhs made a prize of. The matter had nearly been forgotten, however, when some months since, at a review, Sir C. Napilr said, " the men of the Fourteenth would go anywhere if properly led." This, whether so intended or not, was deemed a reproach on Colonel King, and from that time a settled melancholy laid hold of him. A drunken soldier afterwards taunted him with cowardice, quoting Sir C. Napier's i words. Stung to the heart by these and similar imputations of misconduct and cowardice, he arranged his affairs, wiote a number of letters, and then— shot himself through the brain The Bengal papers were ft led with disgra- eful exposes of the extent to which i gambling was carried on amongst the young ! officers of the Queen's and Company's services on leave at Simlah and other hi 1 stations. Some of them had been openly charged with cheating at play . . The subject of increasing the production of cotton in India excited much interest, and the appointment of a cotton commission was urged by many. The real difficulty, however, seemed to be that cotton does not pay the producer as well as some other crops. We have intelligence from China to the 28th of September, by the file of a newly established Journal, the North China Herald, which is published at "-hanghae, and in its editorial matter, summaries of news, and general getting up, gives fair promise of being a very lespeciable paper. But it is chiefly occupied with topics which, whatever may be their local importance, would have little or no interest here. One or two items, however, merit notice. A rupture between the Portuguese and the Chinese Governments appeared not improbable. Portugal had vainly sought compensation for the assassination of Governor Amaral, of Macao — (an*account of which appeared in our columns-some months since) — and had, on the contratf^jjeteiveo. indignities and contemptuous treatatfeivHit the hands of the Viceroy of Canfcqrf? Any step for the settlement of the disyfrfite was letarded by the sudden death of Commodore Da (uniia, who had been appointed Governor of Macao after the muider of AjiIARAL. The new Emperor of China had determined to supprtss the abominable vice of opium smoking. Many doubted whether even such arbitrary power as his could accomplish this ; but the reader will conclude that, if he should fail, it will not be through any weakness in his prohibitions, when we state tbat his Edict (which had not then been officially issued, but the purport of which had transpired) would command that all who shall be found using the drug after the 6th September, " Shall be decapitated, that their families shall be sold into slavery, and that their descendants, for three generations, shall be totally debarred from the privilege of entering the literary examinations." Nor is this all. The edict ' would also, it was reported, " hold every ten ■ families responsible for each other, and decree that any individual having knowledge of the breach of this law, and concealing the fact, shall be visited with the same penalties as the actual smoker" ! Of his great clemency, however, the benignant Emperor had directed the Imperial Physicians to draw up a prescription for a medicine " whereby those addicted to the vice may free themselves from its influence, before it be too lute " — meaning, we suppose, before all future smoking shall be effectually prevented by the " decapitation" of the offenders !

Matakana Coal. — A Meeting of the Subscribers to the fund for testing whether a supply of Coal can be obtained at Matakana, — as appears probable from the indications near the surface,— was held at the Exchange Hotel on Wednesday. F. Whitaker, Esq. occupied the Chair. Mr. Walter Robfutson, at the commencement of the proceedings, proposed that the Subscription should be extended from £300 to £500, in order to afford some who felt an interest in the undertaking an opportunity of uniting in it, from which they had been debarred by the rapid filling up of the List. It was thought however, that the sum already subscribed would be sufficient for the experiment, and that such an extension of the List would not be fair to the original Subscribers. The motion dropped, not being seconded A conversation then took place respecting the number of votes to be allowed to Subscribers at this and future Meetings. It was determined that the following should be the scale : — Subscribers under £5, one vote; above £5, and under £lo, two votes ; above £10, and under £15, three votes; above £15 and under £20, four votes; £25 and upwards five votes The following gentlemen were then appointed a Committee to conduct the operations, and, <q negotiate

with Mr. Greenwood, the owner of the mine, respecting the terms on which a Company — should the success of the experiment induce the formation of one — might obtain th> j right of working it, viz. — Messrs. W. Bourne, W. Brown, D. Burn, W. Connell, A. Kennedy, F. Whitaker, and W. William*.