FOREIGN NEWS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 68, 24 March 1843, Page 2

FOREIGN NEWS.

INDIA. Lord Elphinstone had been entertained at a public dinner by the Madras Native Society, and was to leave on the 29th. A dreadful accident had happened to a part of her Majesty’s 62d Regiment. They were ascending the river near Bhaugulpore, when overtaken by a dreadful storm. Two dieute-. nants, five sergeants, four corporals, tfiiTfy-five privates, with six women, and twelve children, were lost. Part of the 50th Regiment experienced a similar disaster, near Dinapore. Thirteen were drowned from upsetting of boats, and the luggage of the whole party was . nearly either lost or destroyed. A still more distressing fate has befallen a portion of the 28th, lately arrived from Sydney. They reached Bombay : n the wet season,’and, after much exposure thete, were put on board the Zenobia steamer, to be transferred to Kurrachee. On sailing the cholera manifested itself, and in three days one-third of the detachment had been committed to'the deep. When the steamer reached her destination, sixty-five deaths'had taken place, and thirtyrsix alarming cases remained. The Hurkaru of September 15 h announces the. loss of the barque Ricardo, but does not furnish particulars. General Pollock appears to be exacting severe retribution on the Affghans. A letter from Gundamubk of the 25th pf August, thus notices affairs.;t—•' ' \' c “ We .are now luxuriating, quietly, in the most delicious fruits,- and lots of supplies.of all kinds for the.present. All the villages and forts were burnt to the ground; vineyards cut down from., the root, mulberry trees, and all trees of any value destroyed; twenty-five years would not restore the place, to its former. beauty, and five years at least will be requisite ito make it habitable. This is the way to do business; for ..it was here the wretched remains of the. 44th were; cruelly massacred . lots of their accoutrepaents were found, and an immense deal of other European property. - “ The chiefs are coming in, in every direction, and all are crying for mercy, apd well may they do so, for the killing a few hundreds of them is a mere trifle indeed to the destroying those beautiful Oases which reduces thousands to starvation, and nothing but years of incessant labour can restore. And now for the last puckah intelligence from Cabul. Futteh Jung is not dead, but escaped to. avoid the cruelties of Ackbar . Khan. ■: The are all well. : No: truth In; thevisportyf ,£aptaiu Trpup’s piiirder. , The whole of! the. .inhabitants .of Cabui are waiting General Pollock’s, first maicb frb'm Gundamuck, to' rise and seize' Ackbar Khan, whd has disgusted them by his- cruelties qnd . extortions: v No serious opposition is expected, for rthough- has a few men-in the passes, they are so Unpaid and arched, as to.render their firing a shot doubtful;-. No. intelligence has been yet received from Nott vid Cabul. W® shall remain here' for a few days till- the whole- force

collects; the Bth or 10th of next month will, I think, see uS in Cabul.” ' ; LATER INTELLIGENCE. Sukkur, 16tli October, 1842. —You will, doubtless, have heard, long before this reaches you, that all the European prisoners who were taken and detained by the Affghans (with the exception of Captain Byrave) have been recovered, and are now safe with our army at Cabool, This is the best news I can give you from this quarter of the world ; and that all is quiet in Scinde.”— Bombay Times, Oct. 29. Fort William, Secret Department dth Nov., 1842. Notification.— Secret Department; Simla, the 25th. October, 1842.. —rThe advance of the British armies to Ghuznee and Cabool having led to the- restoration to freedom of the British prisoners in the hands of the Affghans, Dost Mahomed Khan, his wives and family, and the wife and family of Mahomed Akbar Khan, and many Affghan chiefs, remain, in the absolute power of the British Government, without having any means of procuring their liberation. To this condition of disgrace and danger has Mahomed Akbar Khan reduced his father, apd his ...wife, and his family, and the, chiefs, his countrymen, by making war upon women, and preferring the continuance of their captivity and suffering, for objects connected only with his own safety, to the general exchange of prisoners, which was offered by the British Government, and the consequent restoration to liberty of those whose honour and whose happiness should have been most dear to him. But the British Government is desirous of terminating, at the earliest period, all the evils which have arisen out of the Affghan war; and the Governor-General, enabled by the recovery of the British prisoners who were in the hands of the enemy to follow the course most in accordance with clemency and humanity, declares that, when the British army returning from Affghanistan shall have passed the Indus, all the Affghans now in the power of the British Government shall be permitted to return to the country, . The Affghan chiefs who are thus released will, before they pass the Sutlej, present themselves at the durbar of the Govern or-General in his camp at Ferozepoor. The wives of Dost Mahomed Khan and Mahomed Akbar Khan, and all the ladies of the family, and household, will be conducted with all respect to the frontiers of Affghanistan. Major-General Nott having removed the gates of .the Temple. of Somnuath from the tomb of Sultan Mahmood of Ghuznee, the Governor-general ordered the safe transmission, under a strong escort, “of those illustrious trophies of victory, to the Temple from which they were taken by Sultan Mahmood, in the year 1024.” This, together with the following “Notification,” issued on this occasion, savours, in our opinion, strongly of the bombastic : Notification. —Political Department, Simlah, 16th November, 18.42. —The Governorgeneral is pleased to direct the publication of the following letter, which, translated into the Hindoo language, has been transmitted to the several Princes and Chiefs, to whom it is addressed, and circulated generally throughout India. By Order of the Right Ilon’ble the GovernorGeneral of India. (Signed) T. PI. Maddock, Secy, to the Government of India with the Governor-General. FROM THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL TO ALL THE PRINCES AND CHIEFS AND PEOPLE OF INDIA. My Brothers and my Friends —Our victorious armv bears the gates of the temple of Somnauth, in triumph from Affghanistan, and the despoiled tomb of Sultan Mahmood looks upon the ruins of, Ghuznee. The-insult of SOO years is at last avenged. The gates of the temple of Somnauth, so long the memprial of your humiliation, are become the proudest record of your national glory, the proof of your superiority in arms over the nations beyond the Indus. To you, Princes and Chiefs of Sirhind, of Rajwara, Of M&lwa, and of'Guzerat, I shall commit this glorious trophy of successful, You will, yourselves, with all honour,Trahslttit the gates. of- sandal-wood- -through your respective territories' to the restored temple of Somnauth. The Chiefs of Sirhind shall .be informed, at what time our victorious army will first deliver the gates of the temple into their guardianship, at the foot of the bridge of the Sutlej. My Brothers and my Friends, — I have ever relied, with confidence,, upon your attachment to the British Government. , You see. how worthy it. proves itself of -your love, when; regarding your honour as its own, it exerts the power of its arms to restore to you the gates of the temple of Somnauth, so long the memorial ■.of your subjection to the Affghans.,: • , ‘ Fopwtiiyaeif,- identified with you in interest ■ I regard with all your Own enthe'high achievements of th'tit 'heroic a rmy,; rejecting; alike immortal honour upon tiny native and: upon my adopted country, . ; . Ta preserve and to improve the happy union 'hfourtWp countries, necessary as it is to the ' welfare of both, is the bonstant objects of my thoughts. Upon that union depends the secu-

rity of every ally, as well as of every subject of the British Government, from the whereby in former times India Was afflicted through that alone has our army now waved its. triumphant standards over the ruins of Ghuznee and planted them upon the Bala Hissar of Cabool.

May that good Providence, which has hitherto so manifestly protected me, still extend to me its favour, that I may so use the power now enrrusted to my hands, as to advance your prosperity and secure your happiness, by placing ths union of our two countries, upon foundations which may render it eternal. (Signed) Ellenborough. “ It gives us very great satisfaction to be enabled to announce that her Majesty s Government have bestowed a well-earned pension of 1,0002. per annum on Major-General Sir R. Sale, G.C.8., for the lives of himself, Lady. Sale, and Mrs. Sturt, and we sincerely trust they may each live to a good old age, to enjoy in peace the fruits of the gallantry displayed amidst the turmoils and dangers of a most harrassing warfare By the General and his lamented noble son-in-laW; whose indefatigable zeal has been so generally commented on.” General Elthinstone’s Memoir. The remains of the gallant and ill-used General Elphinstone have been interred with military honours within the walls of Jellalabad. His, exculpatory memoir is, it is said, to be kept secret: and no wonder; it reveals, we are told, facts calculated to excite the deepest indignation against Lord Auckland’s Government, whose feelings, and those of his colleagues, are not to be lacerated by its publication ! We trust that the friends of General Elphinstone in this country will be no parties to a compact made at the expense of the fair fame of their distinguished relative. It is their duty, no less to his memory than to the service to which he belonged, to place General Elphinstone’s memoir at once before the public. — United Service Gazette. Mofussil Gup. —We have heard, on unquestionable authority, that Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Gough, G.C.8., succeeds Sir Jasper Nicholls as Commander-in-Chief in India ; and that he has been requested to make all haste to assume his important command. — Delhi Gazette. From Sir H. Harding®, Secretary at War. To the Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci, Board of Control. Dated War Office, 26th Aug., 1842. My Lord, —Knowing your lordship’s solicitude for the welfare of the orphan children of the late Colonel Dennie, of the 13th foot, who, after a long and distinguished service of fortytwo years, lost his life, while gallantly leading his regiment to the assault of the Affghan camp before Jellalabad, I have the satisfaction to acquaint you, that the Queen has been graciously pleased to signify her Majesty’s pleasure, that a Royal bounty allowance of eighty pounds a-year, be granted to each of Colonel Dennie’s four daughters. This allowancee has been granted on special grounds, and will be continued to them without restriction as to age, or marriage, on the ordinary condition on which these grants of the Royal bounty are usually made. —I have the honor to he, my lord, your lordship’s most obedient servant, (Signed) H. Hardinge.