CHINA.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 102, 21 July 1843, Page 3

CHINA.

News from China to' the fcOtli March, came to hand by the Australasiak Packet. Lieut.Colonel Malcolm, with the ratified copy of the treaty, arrived at Hong-kong on the 16th March. Elepoo, the : Commissioner appointed to settle the details of the tariff,with Sir Henry Pottinger, died , in March, which had caused a little delay, but another. Commissioner was on his road t;b ‘ltbhgfcijrij|.y'" The; 'Chinese authorities were endeavourin'g to put a stop to the system of piracy, ‘whi'ch had . grown to such an extent that ho vessel icoiild proceed, unarmed, up the Caritoli river. . Letters from '' Canton mention, that rumours again' rife of .an .intended ' attack on the foreign factories, and .that the- house more immediately threatened wais thatht present inha-

bited by Messrs. Morrison and Thom, Chinese 1 interpreters. 1 "The attack, according tb . these' rumours, whs to have taken place in a day or two, but letters of, the 22nd state that every thing; until then had remained .quiet.," . i It is surmised: that, the New Commissioner is likely to be Keying, and that iV is. probable ail further nlegbcia'tidns will be carried; bin in the north, whither we hear it was Sir Pottinger’s intention to proceed immediately' after, the arrival of Major Malcolm with the ratification, of the treaty. Messrs. Morrison,'' Thom, and Captain Balfour are already on theiri way down from Canton, their business there being for the present at an end. The most singular stories are afloat among the Chinese regarding the death of the Commissioner; according to somp he has been poisoned, and others even say ihai so onerous to him were the duties of his office, that in a moment of disgust he broke his own head with his ink-stone (the stone on which the Chinese prepare their ink). We mention these, merely because they exist, but do.not believe them entitled to, the slightest credit. — Canton Press, March - 11. Sir Henry Pottinger, it is said, lias applied to the Home Government for bis speedy recal, and it wps generally expected that by the January mail we should know who had been appointed to succeed him. The’ government, however, we now learn, is unwilling to dispense with his services, and 11. E. will therefore remain some time longer in China ; we likewise hear it said that the supreme control over the. whole of the British naval and military force in China has been placed in Sir Henry’s hands.— Friend of China, Feb. 9. Hong-Kong Post-Office. —A large number of letters passed through the Falmouth postoffice on the arrival of the overland mail bearing the Hong-kong .post office mark.. ’the stamp was of : an oval form with, the Royal arms. Around the edge of the stamp were the words " Hong-Kong Post-Office.” The stamp was of a red colour, and without date.

Lord Cardigan has again got himself .into a mess at, the Horse Guards, one of the junior officers of his regiment having .made a com-, plaint of him to the Commander-in-Chief. We shall see whether the hero of Waterloo will treat a lord with as much deference as did his predecessor, Lord Hill. At all events, it,-,is strange that this is the first indication which the public should receive of this new screw being loose in the Cardigan hussars. — Hants Independent. Imminent Danger op the Duke of Wellington.—A short time ago the Duke of Wellington. narrowly’ escaped choking.. He was dining off a partridge, one of the small bones of which stuck in his throat. Ordinary means having failed to remove the bone, it was only by the use of an instrument that, after much pain and great danger, his medical attendant succeeded in pushing it into his grace’s, stomach. Ireland. —The levy of poor-rates has been resisted ot Skibbereen, to bloodshed. The collector having been obstructed in that neighbourhood, the police were all called out, in a body of seventy strong, to enforce it. They were on’ their way, headed by two magistrates, to Baltimore, when, about five miles from Skibberdeen,they were met by a riotous mob of two thousand persons. The magistrates warned the people to retire. Oue of them seized a stick' in a man’s right hand—the man struggled—a police-' man came up to assist the magistrate—the rioter seized the policeman’s sword—stones were thrown—the word was given, and the police fired. One man was shot through the heart, and six more were wounded; one of them afterwards died of mortification in. the leg; refusing to have the limb amputated. The district continued in a state of the greatest excitement: the rate collector had been obliged to leave his house and come into Skibbereen for protection, and twelve of the police were round his lodging to save him from the fury of the people ; confires were seen blazing by night in every direction within eight miles distance, and large bodies of military, and troops of police’ from all quarters, had been ordered tof.'the-place. A coroner’s inquest sat on the bodies, and the C jury returned a verdict of “ Justifiable Homicide in the case of jthe man who Was killed on the ground; but in'the other case, they returned a verdict of “Manslaughter” against eight policemen, the wounded men not having taken a part in the riotT > ‘ w The jury expressed 1 a strong condemnation of “ persons in a superior rank of life” who excited the misguided people by their, advice.