INDIA.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 381, 18 June 1861, Page 3

INDIA.

( Fom the Melbourne Herald's oion Correspondent). Bombay, 31st March, 1861. FAMINE.

India continues to suffer from famine and pestilence, but I am glad to say the fury of these terrible scourges has, during the last week or two, considerably abated. Bombay and Calcutta have alone contributed £32,000 to the Famine Relief Fund, and the stream of contributions is still flowing. A general fail of rain all over the North* West Provinces has tended much to revive the drooping spirits of the inhabitants, and they think that the crisis is past. A sad aeeident occurred on the morning of the 20th March at the distribution of food at Shagunge. Some eight hundred persons had been admitted, when a host of strong, healthy men, women, and children made a sudden rush, and heaps of them fell at the entrance and choked it up. To keep back those who were still pushing forward, and extricate the fallen, was no easy matter. It was found that of twentyfive who had fallen underneath the others fifteen were dead, and others were restored with difficulty. Strange to say, of those who died, not one appeared to have been in a state of destitution or physical weakness. One young girl of about fifteen years had ornaments on her ears, hands, and feet, and one of about nineteen years, an infant of six months at her breast. The others were boys of from eight to twenty years of age, apparently strong and healthy, and were all residents of Agra. The whole of these deaths were preventible had the ordinary precautions, which the circumstances suggest, been taken. Similar catastrophes, on a much larger scale, used to occur at Juggernauth, Hurdwar, and other famous places of pilgrimage until proper guards were ordered by Government to keep the fanatical crowds in check. It is to be hoped that the parties who are trusted with the management of Famine Relief Establishments will take care that no recurrence of ouch accidents takes place.

THE ARMIES.

The commissioner for arranging the details of the amalgamation of the Royal and Indian armies is still sitting at Calcutta, Amongst the many reforms that are mentioned, it is stated that the military and medical funds are to be abolished, and that the work of the general staff of the Indian army is hence^rth to be performed by the Royal staff, which will effect a considerable saving to the state, ..

It is $lso said that Lieut. T Colonel Sir. E. Campbell, Military Secretary to the Go-vernor-General, will resign his appointment and go home to England by an early mail, to assume command of a battalion of his regiment, H.M.s 60th Rifles. It is not known who is to succeed him.

Captain the Honorable J. C. Stanley, of the Guards, ahci Aide-de-Camp on his Excellency's personal staff, also goes to England almost immediately; and it is said that further departures from the staff at Government house are probable. Possibly the flitting of these smaller birds may prognosticate an earlier migration of the large one. Major-Qeneral Birch has resigned his appointment of Secretary to the Government of India in the Military Department, in disgust at Sir Robert Napier's nomination to the Council, Sir. Robert being six years his junior. General Birch was never popular with the service. He knew as much, probably more than any man in Bengal, of the routine of the army that has passed awsy, but it is doubtful whether he possessed the qualifications requisite in the Military member ot Council at the present juncture of affairs—his strong prejudices and narrow views being notorious, The late Sir C. Napier said of hirq, perhaps with too much severity, that he had the soul of a Jew attorney. Sir' Robert Montgomery, LieutenantGovernor of the Punjaub, isaaid to be going home shortly. If this be true it is much to be regretted: the constant change* in M& jtose* tat take plact m India are

highly detrimental to the public good; no sooner does an Indian Proconsul get acquainted with the country he rules over, than he leaves it, and a stranger comes who has everything to learn. The confidence of the people is a great deal alienated by the uncertainty that attaches to the tenure of office. Sir R. Montgomery has been identified with the government of the Punjaub ever since it was a British province, and it, will be no easy matter to find a successor who, like Sir Robert, is known and respected throughout the land, and especially by the numerous chiefs politically connected with the Punjaub government. The fittest man without a question to succeed Sir Robert Montgomery is Col. Sir Herbert Edwards, now in England, and who is expected to return to this country during the present year. There was an intention in high quarters at home to nominate Sir Herbert on the retirement of Sir John Lawrence, but alarm was excited by the. earnestness of the views he was supposed to entertain on the subject of christian education for the natives, and the introduction of christian worship. If this be a fault in an Indian Governor, (and without doubt it is) it is one of the right kind ; but Sir Herbert Edwards is far too politic a man ever to allow his religious views unduly to appear in any of nis official acts. He is just the man to rule the Puujaub; he is intimately acquainted with every branch of its administration, familiar with its physical condition, and that of the various races which inhabit it; while on the frontier, from Mooltan to the Khyber.Jiis very name is a tower of strength. Government are indebted to him mainly for the salvation of Peshawur during the mutinies, the magic of his personal influence turned the fierce mountaineers from robbers and enemies into trusty soldiers and friends, just at the critical time when such assistance was wanted. Sir John Lawrence well knows and recognises how great was the help he derived from Colonel Edwards, when the empire of Britain in India was trembling in the balance, and when a general irruption on our northern frontiers would have irrevocably turned the scale against us. The appointment destined for Sir H. Edwards on his return is that of Commissioner in the Cis Sutlej States, lately vacated by Mr. Barnes.

On this side of India the exodus has also commenced. The last mail # steamer conveyed from Bombay Mr. H. L. Anderson, Acting Chief Secretary to Government, after a prolonged sojourn in India. Mr. Anderson's long and distinguished services fully entitle him to rest and relaxation. Had the honors for the Indian revolt been fairly and judiciously distributed, he would, long ago have had the initials of the Bath affixed to his name. But it is not always the most deserving who are proportionately rewarded. The knowledge that he did his duty will be Mr. Anderson's best Toward. He is still in the meridian of life; and possessing such high attainments—as hS does —a brilliant future cannot otherwise than await him.

The indifferent health of Mr. Berkley, the chief resident engineer of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, will also compel that gentleman lo make a voyage to Europe. He leaves India by the next mail steamer. His absence in England will, we fancy, be brief; as it is expected that the Bhore Ghaut Incline will be finished before the cold season of 1862. We fancy he will, therefore, return to India before the year is out. He has well earned his right to a little rest and relaxation. During the last twelve months, the work he has performed can only be understood by those who are acquainted with its nature. In the extension of the railway lines and mileage that has been opened for public traffic, we observe the results of some of his labors; and in the stnpendous works of the Bhore Qhaut, now rapidly approaching completion, we perceive those of others.

REBELLIONS.

The hill tribes on the eastern frontier of Bengal seem to have got into a chronic state of rebellion and hostility. 'Xhe Nagas have been very troublesome in Gojoo not far from Cherra Poonjee, and have carried away many British subjects as prisoners. The agent at Kamroop has been directed by government to try and procure their release, and the military authorities on the north-eastern frontier have been requested to watch the depredators narrowly. The deputy-commissioner of the Durun district (Assam) has reported to Government that, with a view of bringing the hill tribes of that region*" together, within earreach of civilisation, it will be advisable for Government to place plenty of rum at his disposal, by means of which he hopes to get them to listen to his advances!

The Maharajah Sir Jung Bahadoor has returned to his capital, and resumed the office of minister and commander-in-chief from Rundeep Sing. Sir Jung lately proposed to Government that he might be permitted to hunt in the Darjeeling Terai, which was refused to him. The Maharajah, on his arrival in the city, wrote to. the resident that if such a proposal had been made to him by Government in a like case he would not have refused it.

In consequence of the departure of Ranee Chunda from Katraandoo, to visit her son, Maharajah Dhuleep Sing, in Calcutta, the Begum Huzrat Mehal and her son, Brijis Kudur, have solicited the Durbar to obtain for them the permission of Government to join the ex-king of Oude at Garden Reach. It is however not likely that the request will be complied with, the Begum and her son having been the mainsprings of the Oude revolt.

THE KOOKEES,

The Kookees, I may mention, are again assembling at some distance from our most advanced military post; their supposed intention being to attack the hill villages of the Goung Raja. There is also a later rumor of their having attacked some Bengalees who had gone up to Kurnafoolee or one of iv tribot*ri«*» for tha purport of

cutting bamboos in the Rajah's territories. The Rajah is however subsidised by Government, in order to enable him to support a force to defend his frontier, and it Is therefore to be hoped (although much doubted)' that he will be able lo protect his own villages.

The Kookes, from their knowledge of the tracks leading through a dense m?ss of jungle extending over about 15,000 square miles, and along a frontier of 200 miles, are able to pass either round or between oiir posts whenever it suits them so to do. The lightness with which they travel, and the fear with which they ha*re inspired the hill Chakmas residing near the plains is such, that the Chakmas absolutely refuse to enter their own jungles, when there is even a rumor of a Kookee*being in the neighborhood. Should they be forced to enter the jungle for scouting purposes, they merely proceed a short distance, and then hide themselves, coming back a short time afterwards with such information as their imagination? furnish them. The JCookees would appear to be a tribe of people similar to the Waghurs of Kattiawar, who have made plunder a profession. Such men are not to be coerced by armies, and can only be conciliated by judicious concessions. This is, it is stated, to be the new policy of the Guikwar with regard to the wild warriors of Okamundel; and if it is only fully carried out, we shall no longer be troubled with Waghur wars, from which neither glory nor profit is to be derived. The whole of the province of Okamundel has been transferred to his Highness the Guikwar, who will be henceforth held responsible for its tranquility.

, Lieutenant Barton, assistant resident, Baroda, left Dwaka for Amrolee, on the 4th instant.

While upon the subject of transfers, I may likewise mention the districts that we have to give to the Maharajah of Gwalior in exchange for his possessions south of the Vindhyas and the Punj Mahals. Sindiah takes that portion of the Jhansee district which lies between his present frontier and city of Jhansee, viz., the whole of pergunnahs Kurera and Pachore, and sixty villages, in the Jhansee pergunnah; the whole of the Neemuch assigned districts, and portions, not yet fixed, of the districts of Madhogurh, Indoorkee, Daboobie, and Northern Bunder; also that part of the Chundeyree district which lies to the west of the Betwah. The same policy of consolidating our provinces is about to be carried out with'Holkar.

SIKHIM.

The news from Sikhim is not important. Eleven men of the Rinchinpoong prisoners have been captured. Among these are the native doctor, the Moonshee, and the Bunniah. None ot these prisoners have been ill-used, and the envoy, Mr. Eden, at the same time has received back the pun, the pistol, and the telescope.

Lately the Chota Dewan waited upon the envoy to assure him of the friendship of all the sirdars and of the whole Lepcha population, and to convey to him an intimation of the Rajah's earnest desire to comply with all our demands. The Dewan is an intelligent young man, and is nearly connected with the Cheeboo Lamas. It is through his good counsels that the sirdars have come forward to assist us and to oppose Namgoy Dewan. The Chota Dewan was evidently instructed to dissuade the envoy from advancing from Tumloong, and insisting upon the presence of the Rajah's son. Many arguments were adduced to convince the envoy of the propriety of giving up these two points; but Mr. Eden attaches great importance, to them, and only consented so far as to promise that the troops should not be quartered in the town, but should encamp a short distance outside.

The envoy has dispensed with the attendance of the Rajah himself, on the plea of ill-health and advanced age. Subsequently the Dewan agreed to all the, 9 envoy said, and went away satisfied with his interview. When this was done the envoy received a submissive and friendly letter from the Rajah, and he has also sent an autograph letter to his vakeels directing them to obey implicitly orders they receive from Mr. Eden.

The Namgoy Dewan has also written to them privately, requesting them to use their influence with the envoy to obtain a commutation of the order for his apprehension to the payment of a heavy fine. The bridge across the Teesta has been finished, and our troops have already come over some almost impassable places; so that they will be able to make their way to Tumloong, cutting the road as they go. A delay of several days will, however, occur on account of the troops not taking the correct road. This delay, however, under existing circumstances, is of no very great importance. The Soobah lately wrote to Superintendent Campbell demanding his revenue for the Ambaree pergunnah. Dr. Campbell forwarded the same to the special envoy, who told the Soobah lo apply to the agent of the Governor General, South East Frontier. He has also informed the Soobah that the Namgoy Dewan had made known that he had received from him offers of assistance, but that of course was false, as he was a man who knew well what the consequence of such aid would be. The Envoy added that as the Dewan Namgoy had libelled him to this extent, he would doubtless adopt measures to prevent his taking refuge in his Soobah. Dewan Namgoy's relatives, have gone to Dalimkote. The Dewan, it is reported, meditates a flight to the same quarter.

FJREEMASONRY.

The 13th of March, 1861, saw a great and important event in masonry, one which deserves to be publicly recorded and preserved in the annals of the order, namely, the initiation into the craft, in Lodge Star in the Eftat ol' hit Highness the, Maharajah Dhutwp Sing.