still follows its own sweet will, fills up a channel one day and opens it the next, sweeps away a bank, or covers a rock with sand, without warning as without remedy. Lieutenant Garforth has tried every experiment he could invent, or discover recorded in scientific works. He has striven to improve the banks, has tried facines, and made experiments, on German authority, with brushwood; has constructed great wooden rakes, and has used the galIvanic battery with considerable effect; and the river takes its own course still, as it has done since it fell from the curls of Siva, and will do when steam has been superseded by electricity. The utmost he can accomplish is, to prevent it from becoming worse, and to remove single obstacles which impede the steamers. Even in this attempt he is opposed. Like the Cornwall coast men, the Zemindars have a sympathy with wrecks, and instead of condensing long lists of futile experiments, we prefer making an extract from his account of the wreckers of Ghazeepore

"Sunken boats have been destroyed in the same manner as the trees, after saving as much as possible, by the use of gunpowder; great jealousy of our interference has been shown, and three complaints against the establishment laid before magistrates; latterly orders were issued that no one should approach a sunken boat containing goods, or render assistance, without previous reference; it is evident that we are interfering with what has hitherto been considered the right of some one; I have not yet been able to ascertain how wrecked property was disposed of; in a case in the Ghazipoor district, where one of my moonshies made inquiries quietly, but did not interfere, it seemed that the zemindar received a large percentage, the police a small portion, and the owner was permitted to remove the remainder when these fines was paid; in another case in Shahabad, a cargo of stones was saved by the establishment, and the wrecked boat blown up; a complaint was laid by the owner that some of the stones had been purloined, the case was dismissed by the magistrate; here the zemindar did not, openly, interfere in another case in Ghazipoor, a thanadar complained of a pilot who had begun to remove a boat; the pilot was ordered to desist; after six weeks no attempt had been made by the owner, or others, to save the boat, which had partially buried itself, and obstructed the channel, it was therefore blown up. I hope to collect much more information on this important subject; what I have at present is not satisfactory."-Friend of India.

The order also states that the warrant officers of the commissariat department will be, in all respects, on the same footing with those in the ordnance department, and the allowance of the noncommissioned officers will also remain the same. Warrant officers appointed to executive charges will be required to furnish security, namely, the deputy commissary, assistant commissary, and deputy-assistant commissary, to the extent of Rs. 1,000, and conductors Rs. 500 each.

The above is an exceedingly good arrangement, because although causing no alteration in the numerical strength of the non-commissioned staff of the department, it increases the number of the higher and more desirable appointments, and thus holds out a very powerful stimulus to energy and uprightness, which cannot produce other than beneficial results to all parties concerned. Comparing the new scale with that hitherto obtained, we perceive there is a decrease in the number of serjeants from fifty-five to forty; but, on the other hand, the number of sub-conductors has been increased from four to twelve, of conductors from three to eight, and there are besides a deputy-commissary and assistantcommissary, which are entirely new appointments. The former, we believe, will draw Rs. 431-12, and the latter Rs. 351-5 per mensem. Thus not only is the number of the more desirable grades increased, but there is also a fair gradation established, by which promotion is accelerated. This arrangement will entail an increased outlay of about Rs. 1,800 per mensem; but this is a mere trifle compared with the efficiency and saving that will result from more general European supervision. Indeed, if we remember right, the late commissariat commissioners pointed out very forcibly, that European non-commissioned officers were employed to a much larger extent, and with great advantage, in the Madras and Bombay commissariat, and they were of opinion that the plan might be followed with advantage in Bengal.

The new arrangements will raise the non-commissioned staff of the commissariat in the scale of position, and surely where so high salaries are in prospect as those of the deputy commissary and assistant commissary, it may be relied upon that those expecting

to attain them will not be wanting to render themselves deserving of the promotion by constant and close attention to their duties. The present liberal measure has, we believe, been suggested and strongly recommended to the Government by the commissarygeneral, who is entitled to acknowledgments on the part of the whole non-commissioned staff of the department for the boon which the new order confers upon a very deserving and useful class of public servants. It is gratifying to observe that, while reform is being introduced throughout the department, the individual merits of the several classes are not overlooked. The commissary-general has certainly shown his determination to enforce the strict observance of his orders, but he has likewise proved that while having a careful eye to the interests of Government he is not insensible to those of the officers and establishments placed under his control. Both officers and office establishments can bear witness of the manner in which their services have been acknowledged, and another instance is now afforded by the encouragement held out to the noncommissioned staff.- Hurkaru.

There is iron in Nagpore. The great territory which has just lapsed to the British Government, and adds to the empire a state of which even an American might be proud, is as rich in minerals as in cotton. Both resources were neglected by the native government, and both require European capital and energy for their full development. About eighty miles to the south-east of the capital is a place called Wyragurh, and about eleven miles from this, almost on the bank of the Wyn Gunga, stretches an iron district. In its centre, for some 250 feet, rises a low hill, called by the natives Khandeshwar, the upper half of which is a perpendicular mass of rock. The entire "mass, with a basis of quartz, is richly laden with iron," while at the bottom of the ascent huge masses of iron ore are lying about untouched, unworked, and apparently unnoticed. Upon the slope of this hill, amidst the jungle which covers a gradual ascent, are the mines opened by the natives. They are rather "diggings" than mines, mere surface excavations, like those in which the earliest settlers in California found their gold. Never deeper than five feet, they are entirely without system, and commenced wherever the workmen fancy that the metalliferous rock appears most easily friable. Large pieces are rejected. However rich or accessible they may be, they are carefully avoided, for the wretched native tools employed would be ruined in the effort to divide them. Even these diggings are not regularly worked. Men visit the hills as they please, quarry a few fragments of the small size preferred, break them into still smaller pieces, and carry them to their villages. Of these, the most important is Trijwaree, where there are twenty-three furnaces, the neighbouring villages supporting forty-seven more. In all, the same process is pursued. The furnaces are of earth, charcoal is the only fuel employed, no "flux" is heard of, and cold and hot blasts have never entered into the imaginations of the cultivators, oilmen, and fishers who betake themselves to the trade. The profit is as wretched as the process. Each furnace produces on an average every day a lump of cast iron called a Kotie," and weighing about a maund. This is cut in two, while red hot, with hatchets, and the halves are thrown into a smaller furnace to be refined. They are then divided once more, still with the hatchets, and handed over to the blacksmith to be hammered into bars. From two maunds of the unwrought iron, as it issues from the first furnace, one maund of malleable iron is ultimately produced, which sells at Trijwaree for 11 Nagpore rupees, or a little more than one Company's rupee. Eight annas, therefore, is the amount daily produced by each furnace, the cost of charcoal and some other expenses is about three annas, and the remaining five annas forms the wages of the two or three workmen attendant on the furnace. Be it remembered, these are the statements of the miners themselves, who have every inducement to diminish their income, and exaggerate their outlay. It may be observed, also, that with these wretched tools, without capital, without machinery, without a flux, without the means of erecting a good furnace, and with their utter neglect of the best ores, the wretched miners of Khandeshwar can still turn out seventy tons of iron a month. The extent of the supply we cannot ascertain, but it appeared to our informants almost inexhaustible. Nor is this all. At Meytapore, twenty miles nearer Nagpore, twenty-five furnaces are supplied with iron dug from a great plain covered with red earth. The ore is scarcely so perfect as that of Khandeshwar, but it is found only two feet from the surface. At Lohara, and in the soubah of Bandara, 125 more furnaces are known to be in work, and the whole, though ruder in construction than those which Tubal Cain must have employed, more than supply the necessities of Nagpore. Neither fuel or flux are wanting. Round Khandeshwar, for hundreds of miles, the jungle is inex

64

haustible, while food is so cheap, that labour can be obtained at rates to which even those current in Bengal appear excessive. No flux can be found near the mine, but within three miles runs a broad river, and along the banks of some of its feeders the common kunkur, or limestone, an excellent material for the purpose, is distributed in abundance. The Wyn Gunga is navigable for several months in the year, and if the improvements suggested by Col. Cotton were introduced, the water communication down the Wyn Gunga and Godavery would be perfect. Of all the iron districts, of which we have as yet received and account, Khandeshwar appears to be by far the most promising.

It has been pointed out to us that Mr. Oldham, the company's geologist, in his remarks upon the iron districts of Beerbhoom, has adduced facts which prove that profitable manufacture of iron in India is almost impossible. We think that far too wide an interpretation has been placed upon the views which that gentleman considered it necessary to adduce. His arguments were published at a period when English iron was much cheaper than it is at present, and scarcely half the price it will reach in Calcutta during an European war. Secondly, we question if he desires to extend the application of his calculation, beyond the districts he had personally surveyed. He calculates, if we understand him correctly, that while the production of a ton of pig iron in England would cost 21. 28. 101, in Beerbhoom it would cost only 21. 1s. 10. In order, however, to erect furnaces capable of supplying the Indian demand, it would be necessary to expend 36,000l., and when waste, and charges for repair are taken into the account, there would remain from the proceeds about 1,6877., or less than five per cent. Therefore says M. Oldham,

"It appears, most obviously and clearly to result from these considerations that, under existing conditions, the manufacture of iron, on any efficient scale, and on the European system, cannot be undertaken in this district. with certain prospect of such a return as would justify the great outlay required.”

This calculation, however, is based upon the supposition that the iron is to sell for £5 a ton, and that the average profit on that quantity shall be exactly one shilling. The Railway Company would now be too happy to pay seven pounds, and the difference upsets all Mr. Oldham's calculations at a stroke. Moreover, many of the sources of expense existing in Bheerbhoom would not exist in Khandeshwar. In the latter territory, there is fuel, and cheap fuel. There is labour, and cheap labour. The "flux" which is to cost in Beerbhoom twenty-seven shillings a ton, could not cost a tithe of that sum in Khandeshwar. There is a great river upon which to convey the iron produced, and the ore is confined to two soubahs never fifty miles from the stream. Should the Government of India be true at once to its own interests and its own responsibilities, and erase the native tyranny, Nagpore may yet become what nature intended it to be, the South Wales of the Indian empire.-Friend of India.

INQUIRIES INTO THE SALT MONOPOLY. Mr. Plowden, a member of the Board of Revenue, and late officiating secretary to the Government of India in the Home Department, has been deputed on a mission to Madras and Bombay, for the purpose of making certain inquiries connected with the salt department of the East-India Company.

As it seems to us a matter of interest, we may state that the Court of Directors have called for an inquiry into the salt monopoly of India, in order to see whether some alteration cannot be devised, whereby the manufacture of salt may be entirely taken out of the hands of Government. Our readers will of course have it fresh in their memory, that Sir John Pakington drew the attention of Parliament, in the discussion on the India bill, to the salt monopoly. We believe that the impression that the Court of Directors are jealous to preserve this branch of trade in their hands is erroneous. Far from this, as we are assured, the Court would be very happy to get rid of it, if they could do so without injuring the revenue of the country. With this feeling they have directed the present commission, which Mr. Plowden has undertaken, to be issued, in order that a report may be made to them as to whether, and in what manner, the trade may be taken out of their hands and transferred to the commercial community. In visiting Madras and Bombay, and, on his return, in examining the returns made in Bengal to the Board of Revenue, we believe, the object in view is for Mr. Plowden to inquire whether it would be practicable to abolish the present system and establish in its stead an excise upon salt, contracting with private individuals for its manufacture. It is obvious that this plan would be much to the advantage of the Government, and it would also be agreeable to the wishes of the Nantwich and Droitwich speculators, who of course have but one object in view in agitating this question. If an excise upon salt is established, they cannot complain, because they will then be enabled to enter the market upon an even footing with other traders. It will

remain for them to see whether they will be able to compete with the manufacturers of salt in India. Even at the cost rates to Government, we question whether this would be possible; but it must be borne in mind, that if the manufacture is transferred to private speculators, the cost involved will be naturally less than what Government pays. We imagine that the cost per maund of manufacture to Government cannot well be reckoned at less than two to three annas above the cost prices of private manufacturers. When private individuals engage in the trade, the salaries of a host officials and a perfect army of retainers will be done away with, such persons not being at all necessary to Jones, Brown, or Robinson, in their small manufactories, where they will superintend affairs for themselves. There can be little doubt that this subject will be again brought before the attention of Parliament. We believe Sir John Pakington is quite prepared to urge it upon public attention; and we apprehend that the Court of Directors must have foreseen some such movement in ordering the present commission, which, it is to be hoped, will supply them with satisfactory material for answering the demands of the Droitwich faction. Whatever may be the nature of Mr. Plowden's report, we feel little doubt that some such measure will be adopted as that which we have denoted; and it cannot but be regarded with satisfaction, should it be so, as recognising the impolicy of Government trading on its own account. The whole character of the Government of India is now changed, and it is only fitting that the principle of traffic, which has been heretofore its very nature, should likewise determine. The empire of India must daily less and less be considered as in the hands of a company of merchants. It was a mercantile speculation-a joint-stock company. The late bill has made it almost cease to be so; the former charter struck the first blow at the system; and whenever the next step is taken by Parliament, it admits of little doubt that the last traces will be washed off the slate, and India will become purely a political branch of the Government of England.---Hurkȧru.

THE EAST-INDIAN RAILWAY.

It always affords us pleasure to bring before the notice of our readers the progress of the East-Indian Railway. Judging from recent observations, we think we may safely state that the first section of 120 miles, from Calcutta to Raneegunge, may be considered in a fair way towards completion. The portion from Calcutta to Hooghly is now completed, and quite ready for the reception of traffic. The engines and carriages, however, as we are informed, have but lately been shipped in England, and though now on their way out, will not, in all probability, arrive here before the end of July. This, of course, must delay the opening, a subject which we have almost grown weary of alluding to.

The

Beyond Hooghly, the works, though not in a forward state, are progressing favourably. The embankments are in a great measure completed, though in many places the bridges are only just beginning to have their foundations put in. Approaching The Burdwan, the aspect changes. Here all is life and activity. Burdwan viaduct, numbering some 300 arches, swarms with artificers and labourers. On the morning our informant happened to pass by, he encountered a continuous stream of people proceeding to their work, and was perfectly astonished at the numbers employed. There appears little doubt that the Burdwan viaduct will be completed before the next rains set in. foundations appeared all set in, the piers all up, and about thirty of the arches turned. The Bankah bridge was also showing visible signs of progress. The abutments and piers are completed, and the iron girders placed across one of the openings. A very short time ought to complete this work. Beyond Burdwan, and towards Raneegunge, the whole of the works are, with one or two exceptions, in a very forward state. From the energy and activity now displayed, we may almost venture to expect that this portion of the railway will be completed by about next August. We would therefore urge upon the railway company the necessity of redoubling their exertions to push on those portions that are so very backward, especially near Punduah, as this will retard the opening of the first section of the line to Raneegunge, which otherwise might be opened for traffic simultaneously throughout. -Englishman, March 3.

THE NECESSITY OF A CENSUS FOR BENGAL. If anything were required to demonstrate the necessity of a central statistical bureau for India, it would be found in our utter ignorance of the population of Bengal. The province is the oldest of our possessions. For three-quarters of a century it has been governed by British officers, the greater portion has been surveyed, and the whole has been either taxed, or specially exempted from taxation. Yet at this moment the only mode of obtaining an approximate idea of its population is, to compare a series of

guesses, most of them as wild as those which school geographies hazard concerning the population of the Chinese empire. Not to mention the scientific curiosity, which in Europe even statesmen are compelled to respect, the account is necessary for our legislation. Without this groundwork, the Government must on some questions grope its way in the most ordinary departments of the ad

ministration. It can obtain no accurate estimate of the incidence of taxation, for it knows not upon how many families the taxes are to fall. Its ideas on the working of the different tenures are imperfect, because it cannot tell whether the competition for land increases or diminishes. The criminal statistics at its disposal are worthless, for they are based upon a census in which no confidence can be placed, and as to detecting infanticide or the rates of mortality, the attempt would be too heroic for Lord John Russell. In the absence of anything like facts, the most vague guesses are hazarded as a groundwork for important speculations. One officer believes that Bengal must become a rabbit warren of pauper agriculturists, as the increasing population causes that fierce competition for land, which is the greatest source of the misery of Ireland. If his speculation is correct, the Ejectment Act is merely a weapon in the hands of the land owners. Another denies both increase and competition, and therefore considers that too much encouragement is given to the settlement of culturable land. A third, after taking infinite pains in the inquiry, arrives at the startling conclusion that in one vast district of Bengal a population of 640 to the square mile is growing rich on the cultivation of

rice.

Old officials frequently assert that the population and the number of rupees levied for the assessment are always exactly equal, and the theory, absurd as it may seem, is borne out by facts in entire districts. The government is no better informed than its subordinates. Perhaps the best estimate yet framed for the regulation discricts is the following semi-official one, upon which we believe most of the statistics of crime are based. We have added to it the Court of Directors' estimate of the area, based for the most part upon an actual survey, and the whole is perhaps the most perfect census in existence of that portion of Bengal:

:

24-Pergunnahs

1,186

Barraset

1,424

236,883 199 180,139

96,498

Pubna

807,924 141 737,765 194 414

126 31,193,615 326 This is the best table procurable; yet it is palpably absurd. Not to speak of the density of the population in a country where great districts are still almost uninhabited, the disparities between the different districts set at defiance all laws of population. While Burdwan, with its light soil and frequent droughts, supports 752 souls to the square mile, the 24-Pergannahs, which include the suburbs of the metropolis, have only 199. We should have believed that some clerical error had occurred, but that the Court's printed estimate, drawn up by different hands for a different purpose, gives almost the same result. Jessore and Rajshahye, Barraset and Dacca, Rungpore, and Dinagepore, present nothing but the same incomprehensible anomalies. Either all these statistics are guesses, and consequently utterly worthless, or the population of Bengal obeys laws utterly unknown to any other corner of the world.

It is neither for the interest or the honour of Government that

Buch uncertainty should continue to exist. We need a census if only to ascertain the truths involved in the average consumption of salt, and the proportion borne by the police to the people they are appointed to defend. The new Government of Bengal will, we may hope, have the leisure, as it will certainly have the inclination for such inquiries, and among its acts the elaboration of a plan for a quinquennial census ought not to be the last. We are aware of the excessive difficulty of the task, of the reluctance of natives to aid in a work which they fancy is a preliminary to taxation, of the size of the districts over which the investigation must extend, and of the loose mode of thinking current among the officials to whom it must necessarily be intrusted. Nevertheless, we submit, the task is not beyond the power of the Government to accomplish. The people of the North-West distrust the census as much as the people of Bengal, yet it has been taken, and some of the results at least may be accepted as correct. We would not at first attempt to obtain more than an approximation to the truth. It is an accepted fact, that in all countries the population bears some unvarying proportion to the number of houses. A series of investigations, prosecuted in different places over small areas, would enable us to ascertain the proportion in Bengal, and the houses at least may be enumerated. We should thus, at least, obtain the gross total, and every successive census would remove some of the suspicious anxiety natural to ignorant orientals. In fact, the task has been commenced. Statistics of a few of the districts are actually in existence, and we have seen tables for Midnapore, Behar, Shahabad, Sarun, Patna, and Mongbyr. They are, it is true, exceedingly imperfect. Whatever relates to the assessment, the area of cultivated land, and the taxation per acre, is carefully collated. The equally important facts connected with the population have been left to conjecture, except in Shahabad, but enough remains to prove that there is no insuperable obstacle to the compilation. Some even of these imperfect statements are of singular value.

We seldom remember to have seen a more perfect exhibition of the iniquity of the perpetual settlement, than the detailed account of the taxation of Midnapore. No two pergunnahs in that great district are taxed alike. In Midnapore itself, the assessment is 4 annas per acre; in Pergunnah Chettooah, it is two rupees, and everywhere else the assessment fluctuates between those two rates, The with a happy contempt for every principle of taxation. difference does not arise from the existence of waste land in one pergunnah, which does not exist in the other. There are 167,045 acres of good land in the three pergunnahs round Midnapore itself, and they pay Rs. 93,719 a year. There are 102,094 in the seven pergunnahs round Mysadul, yet the payment is Rs. 154,994. That is, the people of Midnapore pay nine annas per acre to the state, and the people of Mysadul and the neighbourhood one rupee eight annas. The comparative extent of rent-free lands may explain the difference, though it would increase the anomaly, by proving that the taxation is borne by only a portion of a single class of the community. The total assessment on the entire area is only nine annas and three-fourths per acre, and as if this calculation were not sufficiently minute, some of the returns inform us of the number of separate estates in the district. The population alone is omitted, and we submit that the time is arrived, when this great defect may be repaired. Bengal, if we mistake not, is now the only country, ruled by a civilized race, in which the govern ment cannot tell within millions the number of its subjects.Friend of India.

The LONDON MAIL of Jan. 24th arrived at Madras Feb. 26th, and Calcutta March 2nd (per Oriental).

LIEUTENANT OGILVIE, of the 69th regiment N.I., has been directed to study the new commissariat system in the office of the auditor of accounts.

GOVERNMENT have ordered that officers temporarily employed in the commissariat department in Burmah shall be allowed the full staff salary of Rs. 300 per month.

CAPTAIN G. SUTHERLAND, of the 25th N.I., is to bave the command of the Arracan battalion in the room of the late Captain Barry.

QUARTERMASTER GILLESPIE.-Letters from Umballah mention that the court-martial for the trial of Quartermaster Gillespie was to assemble immediately.

MAJOR OTTLEY, of the Bombay army, has sent in charges against Lieut.-Col. Brown, of H. M.'s 94th regiment.-Hurkaru. ARMY OF RESERVE.-A rumour has been current at Delhi, that an army of reserve is to be formed either at Umballah or Ferozepore.

TEN THOUSAND CASKS OF BEER AND PORTER were imported by the Government of India, during 1853, for the use of the troops of the Bengal presidency.

THE CHILLIANWALLA MONUMENT.-A letter from Lieutenant J. Harley Maxwell to Brigadier Hearsey, C.B., on the Chillianwalla Monument, has been published. It is complete. The obelisk has been erected, inscriptions in English, Persian, Oordoo, and Punjabee, have been cut on the four sides of the pedestal, the enclosure has been planted, and everything done which could be suggested to improve its appearance. The expenditure has been Rs. 7,409, the subscriptions exceed that amount by Rs. 611, and Lieutenant Maxwell awaits instructions for the disposal of this sum.

WAR BATTA.-When in the proclamation of peace of the 30th June, 1853, the Governor-general awarded to the force employed in Burmah six months' donation batta, the Royal and Indian navy set up an additional claim to war batta. We believe the same was granted upon the strength of precedents, but we perceive that there is an end to similar claims for the future, for the Governor-General of India in Council, under instructions from the Court of Directors, has decreed that no claim for war batta shall hereafter be admitted for any services for which donation batta is granted to the Royal and Indian navy. We all along considered the distinction which was thus made between the military and naval services a perfect anomaly. Both are employed for the attainment of the same final object, and if any war batta is to be allowed, it ought to be given to both.-Bengal Hurkaru, Feb. 21.

IRON, equal to the best Swedish manufacture, is produced in the State of Gwalior, at about Rs. 1-10 per maud.

Mr. COLIN CAMPBELL has been elected Secretary to the Laudable Life Assurance Office by a large majority.

Mr. John PetER GRANT is to be proposed for a seat in the Supreme Council, which will shortly be vacant.

CAMPBELL v. DEVERINNE.-The long disputed case, Campbell v. Deverinne, has been compromised. The former gets the Jungypore concern, and the five leased factories, on condition of his giving up all other claims upon the latter.

MR. G. D. WILKINS." The special duty on which Mr. G. D. Wilkins was employed," says the official Gazette," having ended, the Most Noble the Governor-General in Council, is pleased to place the services of that officer again at the disposal of the Government of Bengal." Mr. Wilkins was sent to Rangoon to assess the claims of such parties as had been sufferers in consequence of the outbreak of hostilities with Burmah, and as many parties here are interested in the liquidation of the various claims, it would be an act of fairness on the part of Government to publish a statement of the assessed claims, and the probable time of their liquidation.-Bengal Hurkaru, Feb. 21.

ORIENTAL GAS COMPANY.-Government have agreed to give the Oriental Gas Company a charter of incorporation; a site for the gas works; to allow the importation of materials for such works free of duty; to pay five rupees per 1,000 cubic feet of gas required for the public lights, and to give the Company a lease of twenty-one years.

INDIGO SMUGGLING.-The Hurkaru states that the Board of Revenue has determined to confiscate the whole of the indigo shipped by Messrs. Wattenbach, Heilgers, and Co., under passes containing erroneous statements of the weight subject to duty. The value of the indigo is about Rs. 75,000. The firm still deny most emphatically any participation in the fraud. - Friend of India.

THE TELEGRAPH.-Dr. O'Shaughnessy, in a letter published in the Englishman, states that in a few days the line of Telegraph will be open to Agra. It waits only for the completion of the subterranean line between Barrackpore and Calcutta. The line to Loodianah also will be ready in a month.

THE NORTH WEST BANK has declared a dividend at the rate of six per cent. per annum on the operations of the half year. It has been determined also to permit the management to resume the practice of granting" service loans," that is, loans on personal security. Such loans, however, are not to exceed more than onethird of the capital of the bank.

THE AGRA SAVINGS FUND.-The Mofussilite reports that the Agra Savings Fund, a miniature bank in that town, has declared a dividend of sixteen per cent. a year, and a bonus at the rate of eight per cent. per annum on the capital. The deposits amount to five times the subscriptions, and the reserve is nearly as large as the capital. The borrowers, of course, pay for all this prosperity.

TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCHES FOR OVERLAND MAIL.-The Postmaster General has issued a notification, announcing that for the future a mail packet will be made up at Kedgegree for the overland steamer. It is to contain only telegraphic despatches forwarded from Calcutta. The despatch will be copied at the office at Kedgeree, and placed in a scaled envelope, addressed to the person to be advised. The steam postage on such despatches cannot be prepaid.

THE AGRA BANK has realized a profit of the operations of the past six months at the rate of Rs. 12-12 per annum.

THE MADAR PLANT.-At the last monthly meeting of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India, a communication was read from Capt. G. E. Hollings, containing further facts on the utility of the madar plant. The wood is the best for making the charcoal required in gunpowder. The leaves, soaked in water, are used for tanning. Wine may be made from the fibre, and fine cloth can be manufactured from the cotton found round the seed. Strong rope, it is believed, may also be made from the fibre, and lastly, the milk has most of the properties of gutta percha. According to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, however, it cannot be used to insulate the wire of the electric telegraphs.

MR. J. BRUCE, commissioner of revenue for the Jessore division, intends, it is reported, to retire from the service. BREED OF SHEEP IN THE PUNJAB. We perceive from a report of the proceedings of the Punjab Agricultural Society, published in the Lahore Chronicle, that an attempt is being made to improve the breed of sheep by an importation of rams from Mysore. In that country the Merino sheep have become acclimated, and it is believed that they may thrive equally well in the Punjab.

PULTAH GHANT.-A steam ferry has been established at Pultah Ghant, where the grand trunk road crosses the Hooghly.

THE BANK OF BENGAL raised its rates of interest and discount one per cent. all round on the 21st February. This step was rendered necessary by the drain of bullion from its vaults. In October last, ten lakhs of rupees were exported to China alone. In November, three lakhs and a half only was exported altogether; but in December, Rs. 8,82,000 followed, and in January nineteen lakhs more. Six lakhs have been sent in February, the greater portion of the whole being intended for the purchase of rice in Akyab and Khyouk Phyoo. There does not appear to be much prospect of a further importation of specie from Europe.

INFANTICIDE.-A great meeting for the suppression of infanticide was held at Mooltan on the 29th December. The meeting was attended by a great number of natives of all classes, who readily agreed to enter into the engagements signed at Umritsur. Many others, who were unable to attend, forwarded letters, intimating their perfect accordance with the objects of the assembly.

SLAVES IN THE STRAITS.-The Penang Gazette states that the importation of Chinese women into the Straits still continues. The ancient prejudice appears to have given way, and the women are imported under contract, and assigned as servants in the same way as the coolies. The Gazette considers the "business will be deeply tainted with slave-dealing." It is slave-dealing, and will remain so until some frightful catastrophe compels the British Government to break down the wall of " practical difficulties," and bring the traffic under strict regulation.

THE DELHI BANK.-We perceive from an advertisement that the profits of the Delhi bank during the past half year have amounted to Rs. 72,824. This is at the rate of 8-1-4 per cent. per annum; but the dividend declared is only 7 per cent. Of the balance, one per cent. has been carried to the reserve fund, and the remainder to the profit and loss account. The bank, we perceive, has Rs. 10,30,198 out on personal security with life insurance, and Rs. 1,29,587 on personal security only.

The Calcutta Gazette of Saturday, the 25th February, contained no less than nine Acts. The more important are:-Act No. III., of 1854; an Act to amend the 38th article of war for the native army. Act No. V., of 1854; an Act to amend Act No. V., of 1838, relating to the Bengal Bonded Warehouse Association. Act No. VI., of 1854; an Act to amend the practice and course of proceedings on the Equity side of H.M.'s Supreme Courts of Judicature at Fort William, in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. Act No. VII., of 1854; an Act for the apprehension within the territories under the Government of the East-India Company, of persons charged with the commission of heinous offences beyond the limits of the said territories, and for delivering them up to justice, and to provide for the execution of warrants in places out of the jurisdiction of the authorities issuing them. Act No. VIII., of 1854; an Act to explain and amend Act X., of 1851, and Act XX., of 1841. Act No. IX., of 1854; an Act relating to appeals in the Civil Courts of the East-India Company. The remaining four are local.

MR. THEOBALD, of the Calcutta Bar, is, it is reported, to be secretary to the Council of Education.

ROADS.-The Delhi Gazette publishes a letter from a gentleman who has recently travelled from Agra to Bombay. He declares that the road is in tolerable order. The entire journey of 760 miles was accomplished in 111 hours, being at an average rate of seven miles an hour. The writer travelled in a post-office cart. One bit of the road from Indore to Sirpoor is out of order, but it is still "practicable." There is nothing to see on the road, and the bungalows are indifferent.

NATIVE SUPERSTITION.-A correspondent mentions a fact, which proves how little even English dominion can effect the long standing ideas of Orientals. Below Attock, the bed of the Indus is filled with rocks, and is much dreaded by the natives. As soon, therefore, as the native boats arrive at the spot, the boatmen begin praying, leaving the care of their lives and cargo to Providence. This is in the true spirit of the Koran.

INDIGO CULTIVATION.-A correspondent of the Bengal Hurkaru publishes an estimate of the extent of indigo cultivation in Bengal. The export of indigo is 1,20,000 maunds, which will require about 10,25,000 acres, and an annual expenditure of Rs. 130,00,000. Of this large amount, about 5,41,666 acres is believed to be included in the Lower Provinces, consisting chiefly of land rescued from the rivers. We should have placed more confidence in the writer's estimate, had he not added the following unfortunate sentence:-"Do you ever hear of a dacoity or other serious crime in the districts of Kishnaghur or Jessore? Seldom, if ever." Kishnaghur was within the last few years the worst district for dacoity, and Jessore is distinguished for the size of the armed bands maintained alike by zemindars and planters.

STAFF CORPS.-The Hurkaru states that the Court of Directors have at length determined to create a staff corps, that is, to strike from the strength of the regiment every officer appointed to the staff, after three years' probation. The experiment is first to be tried in the Commissariat Department. The claims of staff officers to pension will be arranged according to the rank attached to the office held. Thus the commissary-general will be considered a full colonel, his deputies, lieutenant-colonels, the first class assistants, majors, and the sub-assistants, lieutenants. Will the officers thus struck off be amenable to the courts-martial?

COPPER MINE.-Dr. Campbell, superintendent at Darjeeling, has discovered a copper mine at Pushok, in the neighbourhood of that station.

TRAFFIC ON THE GRAND TRUNK ROAD.-The Agar Messenger supplies the following analysis of the traffic on the Grand Trunk Road in 1853, through the district of Allyghur

:

6,30,298

75,741

56,602

Trucks

29,806

THE HEAD-QUARTEBS OF THE ARTILLERY REGIMENT. At last, Dum-Dum ceases to be the head-quarters of the Bengal artillery regiment. The brigadier-commandant of artillery has laid his dawk for Meerut; thither also proceed the assistant adjutant-general, and the director of the School of Instruction. The officers of the assistant adjutant-general and of the select committee of artillery officers have gone to Meerut; the band, the public, and mess property will also go there. Dum-Dum will be commanded by Lieut.-Colonel A. Wilson, who will have a seat in the Military Board, and draw the Rs. 500 per mensem attached to that situation, and hitherto drawn by the brigadier-commandant of artillery. The artillery force at Dum-Dum will consist of two European and four native companies of artillery, with one light field battery. The expense magazine is to be a depôt dependent upon the arsenal in Fort William, and the cap manufactory is to be maintained as at present. A portion of the mess property is to be left at Dum-Dum for the use of the officers quartered there, and part of the mess-house is to converted into quarters for the young officers arriving from England to join the regiment, who will thus be accommodated with both board and lodging at a moderate rate. We trust that measures will be adopted to preserve that high and gentlemanly tone which has always characterised the Dum-Dum mess; and to maintain this it would be advisable to have as few married men as possible at the station, so that the senior officers may not be merely members, but habitual frequenters of the mess, wheir their presence will not fail to have a good influence.-Hurkaru, Feb. 21.

THE MILITARY BOARD.-It appears that after all, the longtalked-of dissolution of the Military Board is not so near at hand as was anticipated, for we understand that though the Court of Directors fully approved of the proposed arrangements by which the Board was to be relieved from the charge of the Commissariat Branch, and that of the Department of Public Works, they have not given any decided opinion as to the dissolution of the Board itself. We believe, therefore, that its existence is not likely to terminate during the present year.-Hurkaru, Feb. 22.

Brevet majors

Brevet captains

Rs. 298 2 8

1,274 10 5

484 8 3

59 10 2

No one else, except a few officers on the staff, receives anything. [The order will appear in our next issue.]

COL. LUGARD, C.B., has been appointed adjutant-general of H.M.'s forces in India, pending the decision of the home authorities.

MILITARY ON DITS.-The retirement from the service of Captain and Brevet Major Lyell, of the 43rd light infantry, is announced.-The Lucknow correspondent of the Englishman says, that Captain Hayes is likely to leave Lucknow for a more lucrative appointment at Gwalior, and that Captain Lamb will become assistant adjutant-general at Cawnpore, and be succeeded as brigade-major at Lucknow, by Captain Innes, 61st N.I.-The 34th N.I. reached Lucknow Feb. 22, to relieve the 35th L.I., which was to march the next morning.-The 24th N.I., proceeding from Goruckpore to Wuzeerabad, were also at Lucknow on the above date. The Commander-in-Chief reached Moradabad on Saturday morning, and inspected the 23rd native infantry on his arrival. At one o'clock the usual levee was held, and the camp was in orders to halt on Sunday.-Capt. J. Staples, 7th L.C., leaves Umballa on the 1st March, in charge of remount horses as far as Sealkote.-We have heard a report to the effect that Colonel T. H. Shuldham is about to be posted to the 59th N.I.-Brigadier Brooke, C.B., commandant of artillery, left Dum-Dum on the morning of the 24th February. He will probably arrive at Meerut about the 8th or 10th March.-General the Honourable G. Anson left Agra for Muttra on the 27th Feb., whence he proceeds to Deig and Bhurtpore, returning to Agra in a few days.

COURTS-MARTIAL.

FIRST-LIEUT. CHARLES RICHARD BLAIR, SECOND EUROPEAN BENGAL FUSILIERS.

Head-Quarters, Camp, Futtehgurh, Feb. 9, 1854.-At a general court-martial assembled at Moulmein on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 1854, 1st-Lieut. C. R. Blair, 2nd Eur. Bengal Fus., was arraigned on the following charge, viz.

For conduct highly unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman, in having, at Moulmein, on Aug. 8, 1853, in company with 1st-Lieut. J. Tovey and 2nd-Lieut. F. Moffat, of the same reg., proceeded to the house of Mr. Judah Ezekiel, merchant, and there wantonly caused and joined in a serious disturbance, in the course of which Mr. Ezekiel was maltreated and his property destroyed, and which eventually resulted in an affray in the public street, and his, the prisoner's, being subjected to the indignity of being conveyed to the police station under restraint.

Finding. Not guilty of conduct highly unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman," nor of the words "wantonly caused" and "serious;" but guilty of the remainder of the charge, which the court considers conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.

Sentence. To be reprimanded in such manner as his Exc. the Commander-in-Chief may see fit to direct.

Approved and confirmed,

(Signed) W. M. GOмм, Gen. C.-in-C., East-Indies. Head-Quarters, Camp, Khodagunge, Feb. 1, 1854. Remarks by his Exc. the Commander-in-Chief.-The Commander-in-Chief, considering that the police at Moulmein acted with unnecessary precipitation in seizing Lieut. Blair and his com panions, precipitation which seems to have led to the affray in the public street, is of opinion that an exception of the concluding averment of the charge should have been made in the Finding in this case, as was done in the verdicts in the cases of Licuts. Tovey and Moffat.

His Excellency hopes that this trial will be a warning to Lieut. Blair to be more circumspect in his future conduct.

Lieut. Blair is to be released from arrest, and directed to return to his duty.

FIRST-LIEUT. JOHN TOVEY, SECOND eur. bengAL FUSILIERS. Before the same court-martial, on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 1854, 1st-Lieut. John Tovey, 2nd Eur. Bengal Fus., was arraigned on the following charge, viz.

For conduct highly unbecoming the character of an officer and a