up to the current of the time; and we give the matter floating on the surface of Indian society as we find it. The date of the letter is the 13th June :

'I mentioned to you that the minister had had an interview with the resident the other day; I now learn that he had been deputed by the king to express his majesty's sympathy with the cause of England in the existing struggle between Russia and the Western Powers. His majesty also,' the minister said, 'was actuated by the most friendly feeling towards his ally, the Government of India, as well as his forefathers, who had endeavoured to aid the British in their wars with the native powers of Hindoostan by conferring loans in specie. If the king had the means, he too would gladly offer to the British Government what we consider the sinews of war;* but on account of the exhausted state of his cachequer, lic was powerless to ald them in that way, and therefore begged that the resident would make known to the Governor-General his resolution to offer for the service of England an auxiliary force. He could place twelve battalions, each a thousand strong, of Sepoy infantry at the Government's disposal; among them those regular corps at present commanded by European officers and by native captains, all efficiently disciplined according to the English system of drill. His majesty could also add to this force a thousand cavalry, as well as the guns attached to each battalion, which would amount in the aggregate to about one hundred guns, mortars, howitzers, and other pieces of small calibre. It was true, this force is not at present exactly so very efficient as to be able to cope with an enemy of such redoubtable valour; but in case the Most Noble the Governor-General accept this offer, so frankly made, the king would through him (the minister) lose no time to put them on a complete war footing, provide them with experienced officers, and march them anywhere the British desired. That there were rumours of disturbances on the British north-western frontier, where the Oudh troops could perhaps advantageously aid British interests, and that therefore his forces might be stationed, and fight alongside their native brethern in the Honourable Company's service.' I believe the authority on which I mention this piece of information to be trustworthy; it certainly has been widely circulated in Lucknow, and is generally credited. Presuming, therefore, that it has really occurred, the offer has been made either with a view to be refused or accepted. If the former, it certainly shows much political acumen on the part of the minister, who, we may suppose, suggested it to prove that the king's government either is or wishes to be considered friendly to the Dritish, who would not, after such a display of kindly feeling towards them, adopt any stringent measures with respect to Oudh. If, on the contrary, the proffer has been advanced in all sincerity, I think we might as frankly accept the proposition, for the king could well afford to spare us a portion of the numerous troops he has, and which amount altogether to fifty or sixty thousand men, regulars and irregulars, artillery, cavalry, and infantry. In case we do so, and as, according to the last mail, it is not unlikely that we may have to send Indian troops to the seat of war, the Oudh auxiliary forces, thus generously placed at our disposal, and with their expenses either wholly or partially defrayed by the king, might be of great service in guarding Peshawur and the north-west, from which we might remove our own forces, who might then take an active part in the strife, without exposing our frontier to danger."

We seem to be in favour everywhere. The following is from Hyderabad :

:

"I hear it has been officially reported that the four ressalas of the contingent horse have volunteered for service in Turkey. Whatever the inducement (I presume its object is to recommend themselves to Government), it will be pleasing, if the example be followed elsewhere. I consider, however, that as their services are very much required here for the internal security of the Nizam's country, it will be found inexpedient to send them out of it."

The Presidency papers declare unanimously that they have nothing to report of the respective seats of power, and we should be sorry to pretend to know better than they.

The Ceylon editors seem to think that the first duty of their office is to manifest their skill in squabbling. When they can manage to settle their personal differences, they will perhaps favour us with something more interesting to the public than such matters. The coffee-planters have petitioned against the proposed trigonometrical survey, not only on account of the expense, but because they apprehend interference with the boundaries of estates as previously settled.

The state of affairs in China, no man in the western part of the world, we suppose, professes to understand. We

The Marquis of Hastings relieved the treasury of Oude of a good deal of this material.-ED. Allen's India Mail.

therefore take up with the Summary afforded us by the Friend of China, which we subjoin ::

"Since the despatch of the last overland mail hence, we have had no tidings of the movements of Admiral Stirling's squadron in the North Pacific; indeed, we have had no later news at all from the north; and, amongst other matters, Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, now unheard of for three months and upwards, is beginning to excite considerable interest.

"In the south, affairs are in a fearfully excited state; and never, we believe, at any time since the commencement of the revolution, have matters approached so close to a crisis. There is hardly a district within a hundred miles of Canton, but the elements of disaffection in it are in active fusion. Last October, it will be remembered, we speculated on the fate of Canton, should Toong-kiang, or the eastern branch of the Pearl River, actually fall into the hands of the insurgents. Afterwards, we reported the temporary subdual of the rioters, caused, we believed, by the feeling that the time was not come." At that time, there had been some fighting about Shihlung. Now we have to report Shihlung in the absolute pos-session of the Triad Society, and a new form of government estab lished (if that can be called government which consists principally in devising modes for levying black mail, and chopping people's heads off who refuse to acknowledge the ruler). A man of the flood family Hung'-(some call him Hoe-Atukh)-is the leader of this movement. For several weeks, while preparing his plans, he continued sending letters to the Che-hien and elders of the place, announcing his advent with twenty thousand men. 'You cannot raise the half of this number,' ran one of his letters, and how foolish is it of you to think of resisting me. As for you, Che-hien, (chief magistrate), your head is the first that shall fall to the swords of my followers. Look for me on the 22nd!' And on the 22nd, sure enough (equivalent to our 17th instant), his word was kept; the Che-hien was headless, and Shihlung and surrounding villages acknowledged Hoe-Atukh's sway.

·

"From the Bogue, the admiral sent a colonel and a thousand men, with the offer of a large reward for Hoe Atukh's head. The colonel was killed, and the whole regiment either dispersed or fraternized with those they were sent to fight against. From Canton fourteen war-boats were sent to oppose Hoe Atukh's progress. Four returned to Canton a day or two ago, reporting the defection of the other ten. A council was called immediately; and we are told that from sundown to sunrise the Governor and Lieut.Governor of Canton held argument with their colleagues on the best mode of warding off the threatened attack. Next day an application was made to charter the Spark (American steamer) to tow some more war-junks to the scene of action. The Spark, however (the crack passage-boat of the river), could not be let to hire for towing purposes; and the junks had to find their way to Shihlung under sail. Half a dozen of them, miserably manned, were passed a few miles from their destination on Monday last. They can do no good when they get there. Extending operations in advance, Hoe Atukh and his band have named four lakhs of dollars as the ransom of Whampoa. The sum is being made up.

"In Canton every preparation is made for the worst: two thousand of the Manchu part of the garrison patrol the streets nightly, and, if we may judge from the large amount of voluntary contributions, or promises to pay, by the wealthier portion of the community (some 900,000 taels, say £300,000, within the last week or so), a substantial militia will be obtained to repel the invaders. But this can only last for a time. Canton is almost as bad as Hongkong in the number of its lazaroni and secret-society men; no foe being so dangerous as the one that lurks unseen. But we will not anticipate.

"Of Tai-ping Wang's army we hear of an encampment on the borders of Hunan and Hupih."

CASUALTIES BY DEATH IN THE ARMIES OF INDIA, REPORTED SINCE OUR LAST PUBLICATION.

H.M.'S TROOPS.-Capt. J. A. Butler, Ceylon rifle regt., at Silistria, of a wound received while defending that fortress, aged 27, June 22.

BENGAL.-Lieut. J. J. E. Howard, 24th N.I., at Wuzeerabad, June 12.

MADRAS.-Ens. W. H. Clarke, 26th N.I., at Kimnedy, June 12.

BOMBAY.-2nd Lieut. H. M. Davies, art., at Ahmednuggur, aged 19, June 17; Surg. Malcolmson, 3rd L.C., at Nusseerabad, June 16; 2nd Lieut. H. M. Marshall, art., at Ahmednuggur, June 17; Lieut. William Cameron, art. of cholera, June 26, at Sholapore.

BENGAL.

THE RENT LAW.

It

There is yet another reason for desiring that the Small Cause Court process should be summary in reality as well as name. appears to be not impossible, that the legislature may through its agency remove one of the most prominent abuses of Bengal, We allude to the law which provides for the recovery of rent by summary process, the law which is known to magistrates and cursed by ryots as the " "huftum.' This law is one of the many by which we have strengthened the hands of the zemindars, till instead of the English landlords which Lord Cornwallis fondly believed they would become, they occupy more nearly the position of American slaveholders. Or rather, perhaps, we may compare them to the Russian proprietors of serfs, whose power though regulated by law, is practically limited only by their own sense of justice, and their own conviction of their personal interests. Originally rendered necessary by the faithlessness of the people, the Act has been perverted into a terrible instrument of oppression. That a summary process for the recovery of rent is in this country indispensable, may be instantly allowed. No ryot pays until he is convinced that evasion is impossible. The infinite oppression of the zemindar is equalled by the infinite guile of his tenant, and we have heard experienced officers declare, that if it were possible for a people to deserve oppression, the Bengalee ryots would merit it to the full, The evil rests not in the summary process, but in the manner in which that process is enforced. Its principal defects in working are the provision for immediate personal arrest without summons, and the facility afforded for unjust exparte decrees by means of false returns to notices. So completely is the former provision employed as an instrument of torture, that experienced officers have calculated that two-fifths of all the cases which appear upon the record, are cases got up solely to punish refractory tenants. A ryot perhaps has neglected to obey the summons of his zemindar at an inconvenient season, He has quarrelled with the favourite gomashta, or other agent. He has refused to give in. formation against a neighbouring villager, or has declined to volunteer false evidence in his master's interest. Instantly the aw is put in motion. The ryot is arrested without summons, in the midst of harvest, or of some religious or family ceremony, and retained in prison by all the devices, which in this country are possible to wealth and influence.

There is probably no rent due, but the burden of proof rests with a ryot, ignorant beyond the ignorance of an English peasant, opposed to the shrewdest and most unscrupulous of mankind, and tortured with the certainty that his fields and family are unprotected in his absence. Yet the nonpayment of rent is not in this country a criminal offence; the power of adjudicating such cases has been entrusted to the collectors, but they are specially enjoined to proceed according to the rules of civil procedure. Yet in every other description of civil procedure, a summons invariably precedes arrest. It is true that by sect. 15, Reg. VII. of 1799, it is provided that arrest is only to be made when there is a suspicion that the defaulter is preparing to abscond. But no proof of the suspicion is required. An easy falsehood is all that is demanded to satisfy the court. The creditor has only to add half a dozen words to his petition, and the > warrant of arrest must issue, even in the teeth of all primâ facie -evidence.

It must issue, also, without any deposition as to the fact of a balance existing against the victim, though such deposition is necessary before a summons can issue for the most ordinary assault. We need scarcely say that absconding is not the offence likely to be committed by a Bengalee ryot. The great defect of his character is a sort of catlike attachment to his native village, an indisposition to move, except in the very last resort. Besides, his flight would scarely benefit him. He cannot resign his land, while his landlord declares his accounts are unclosed. The law of distraint is always in operation, and even if he escaped his persecutor's clubmen, he could carry with him nothing but the cloth around his loins. In reality, it is his last resort, a fact which can be brought at once to the test of statistics. Let a return be called for from every district, shewing the number of cases in which judgment has not been executed in summary suits for rent, because the defaulter has absconded. Of course more would abscond after judgment has been entered, than after the suit had merely been instituted, and the test therefore is only too fair towards the law. The result will prove, that the law, even if necessary in the dark ages of 1799, is in 1854 simply an instru ment of oppression.

In the second case, supposing the ryot is not to be punished, but only plundered, the process is something in this wise. The collector issues a "notice," directing the tenant to attend his court for such and such a cause, The Nazir

or sheriff hands this to a peada or constable, an individual without the slightest education, scarcely able to distinguish wrong from right, and paid in an inverse ratio to his power of extortion. He is taken to the house of the gomashta, and well fed; a false receipt is written out, and he is told to take that back to the Nazir. If, as is frequently the case, he is a blockhead from the Northwest, he returns careless, whether the affair is wright or wrong, but satisfied that he has had little trouble, and has enjoyed a remarkably good dinner. If, on the other hand, he is a Bengalee, with eyes in his head, he probably shuts them for a small douceur. In either case, he is unable to read, and greatly in dread of the gomashta, who might injure him with his real superiors, the Amlah of the court. The "receipt" of the notice is filed, the collector has no means of discovering the forgery, and the exparte decree is delivered as of course. Perhaps, however, the collector has a remarkable keenness of vision, and an instinctive distrust of a summary application. He makes inquiry as to the genuineness of the receipt. Two witnesses are immediately in attendance, and their story, delivered with the customary appearance of unwillingness, is perfectly consistent. The plot is as perfect as one of Bulwer's novels, and the "unities" of time and place as complete as in a French tragedy. The collector, though satisfied that oppression is intended, is still without resource, the decree is issued, and the witnesses depart happy in the possession of four annas, and the pride of successful perjury. The ryot is ruined, and it is the absolute certainty that this machinery can at any moment be put in force against him, that renders him a serf.

Is it absolutely impossible to transfer these cases to the jurisdiction of the Small Cause Courts? We have endeavoured to show how little the summary arrest is required, and we believe the production of the return we have demanded will render the demonstration complete. Why should not claims for rent be settled like claims for oil? We are no dreaming philanthropists. We know that the ryot is nearly as much inclined to pay less than his due, as his owner is to exact more; a summary provision is necessary, and it may be found in the process of the Small Cause Courts. In those courts the ryot must receive a summons before he is arrested, the plaintiff must appear himself instead of by attorney, and the judge living among the people, with an establishment over which the zemindar has little power, will have at least some slight prospect of detecting perjury. At all events, if the court is competent to decide a claim for the price of sweetmeats, it is competent also to decide a claim fus the price of the usufruct of land.-Friend of India.

PROGRESS OF THE INDIGO SEASON.

The rains having set in earlier and more violently than usual, we have received most miserable accounts of the progress of the indigo season, from the neighbourhood of Furreed pore, Dacca, &c. &c.

A vast quantity of the plant has been cut, and the produce obtained from it is next to nothing. It remains to be seen what is the extent of the injury done to the other indigo districts by the incessant rains which have this year been experienced; but we conceive, from the tenor of our correspondent's letter, that as far as the above districts are concerned, their out-turn can no longer be doubtful.

From all we can gather from other parts of the country, we cannot but infer that serious damage has been generally done to the growing crop; and with the rainy month of July in expectation, and the present state of the country, already saturated with the heavy rains of June, the result of the Bengal crop cannot be looked forward to, except with anxiety, by those interested in indigo cultivation.

Of up-country prospects it is too early to give an opinion; but we understand that the rains have set in generally, which at this early date is certainly one favourable feature, so far as that portion of the crop is concerned.

A letter from Serajgunge, dated the 17th June, says :"Our prospects in this part of the country, Pubna and Mymensing districts, are, I am sorry to say, very bad indeed just

now.

"We commenced manufacturing with a magnificent crop on the ground, but first the extreme heat (accompanied with northerly winds during the night) which we experienced during the greater part of May, withered the plant almost completely-and next, just as it commenced recovering, we got such a downfall of rain for thirteen successive days as to redden the plant and almost entirely divest it of leaves. We are anxiously looking for some fine sunny weather, but the clouds still hover about and threaten more rain.

"Almost every factory has decreased in number of vats for the past few days, and we are now working half power.

"Produce is very bad indeed; two maunds per 1,000 bundles,

whilst this time last year we were getting from seven to nine

maunds.

"The river is low for the time of the year, and the only thing that can save us is its keeping so, and our getting some fine weather and hot sun; but under the most favourable circumstances, I do not think it possible that any factory can do more this season than pay its outlay-a bumper season is out of the question."

The following is a statement of the indigo prospects in Purneat, June 20:

"The season commenced rather unfavourably. No rain had fallen from the beginning of October last to the time that the sowings commenced, consequently the planters were apprehensive that a good portion of the moisture of the lands would have been evaporated; but in this idea they are mistaken: the easterly winds, which have blown almost without intermission since that time, caused the lands to remain sufficiently moist to effect a pretty fair vegetation of the seed. The prospects were good up to the middle of April, when the effects of a six months' drought began to be felt. The sky looked very rainy at times, and the appearance of distant lightning nearly every night, indicated that some more fortunate districts were refreshed with golden showers. The plant suffered very much in April from the want of rain; it became checked in its growth, and on the clay soils showed symptoms of morea (a native expression used for the plant when its tips are curled up, and yellow by the heat, whilst the lower leaves become blackish); when the plant is in this state it never recovers, but remains in the same state until its time arrives for returning to mother earth.

"The planters to the north of the station were more fortunate than those to the south in having had several nice falls of rain in April. The first shower which fell to the south was on the 5th of May, which was quite in time to save the crop, and to enable those who had not completed their sowings to do so; it rained again on the night of the 6th, which was unfavourable, for it caked the soil on the seed sown that day; it rained again on the 8th, and caked the sowings of the 7th.

"We experienced hot sun during the middle of May, which was favourable for the spring sowings, and unfavourable for the May sowings. It rained again on the 31st of May, which was all right. It rained again on the 1st of June, which was all right also, and quite sufficient; but from the 2nd to the 5th inclusive it rained incessantly, and it has been raining almost daily since. We have only had two days of sunshine in this month. I calculate that at least one-eighth of the crop of the district was swamped between the 2nd and 5th, and about three-eighths has turned yellow and sickly since. Nearly all the factories have been at work sooner than was intended, but the produce from such unhealthy plants as I have described is miserable. The three rivers which run through the district, viz., the Great Kosee, Little Kosee and Punar are full; the two Kosees have already done great injury, and are still rising. The Punar is bunded out, and all the hopes of those who are affected by that river depend on these bunds. Under the most favourable circumstances, Purneah cannot make more than 3,000 or 3,500 maunds; and if the weather does not improve, and the rivers recede, even this low estimate must be reduced."-Englishman.

THE IRON DISTRICTS OF INDIA-BEERBHOOM. There is iron in Beerbhoom, not only in the ground, but dug out, manufactured, and sold as far as Moors hedabad on the one side, and Deoghur on the other. The district is nearer to the line of railway than any of those hitherto examined, and the communication with the Ganges or the Grand Trunk Road is not a matter of unusual difficulty. The production too, under native management, is enough to justify the belief, that the mines, if worked upon the Swedish system, would afford a large and permanent supply.

At present it reaches. Village. Furnaces. .Dahoocha.... 22

Mds. of cutcha iron.

24,288

Mds. pukkah. 17,688 3,216.

..

1,104

804

43

34,571

To this must be added the produce of the villages scattered through the jungles from Nugore to Deoghur, estimated at 20,000 maunds of raw, or 16,000 maunds of prepared iron. It is sold at the furnace for Rs. 1-12 a maund, or 41. 18s. per ton, and at Moorshedabad, at prices varying from Rs. 2-4 to Rs. 2-8 per maund. In this one district, therefore, easily accessible from Calcutta, and by the use of the native methods alone, 2,000 tons of good

iron a year may be obtained at a reasonable price. That amount would be of little value either to India or the railway, but it requires only an expenditure of capital to be indefinitely increased.Friend of India.

FURLOUGH FOR THE UNCOVENANTED.

The Court of Directors has recently remodelled the furlough rules for both branches of their covenanted service. It remains to create furlough rules for those who do not possess the advantage of a covenant. We are happy to believe that the abolition of the Act of Parliament, which prohibited the departure of any officer from India without quitting his appointment, will enable the Court to frame regulations for this purpose, in accordance with a policy more liberal than has been heretofore pursued. Their decision, however, should be made speedily, for the question in its present state is a nuisance alike to Government and its servants. By the theory of the Indian Administration, every uncovenanted servant is, or ought to be, a native. He is therefore at home, and has no more actual necessity for a furlough than a clerk in Somerset House or St. Martin's le Grand. The theory, however, which was never strictly correct, is now utterly at variance with the facts. Englishmen in large numbers have entered the uncovenanted service, and are among the most efficient agents of the Government. Born and educated in Europe, and subject to all the evils incident to a foreign climate, they feel the absolute refusal of a furlough as a bitter injustice. Moreover, with the progress of the empire, and the introduction of more liberal principles of administration, a separate class has been created, which occupies a position totally distinct from the mass of the uncovenanted servants. Law appointments and civil offices, scientific situations and placesin the educational department, are filled by men who, enjoying the same education with civilians, are subject to the same disqualifications as the Portuguese clerks, who being in Government offices consider themselves part of the uncovenanted service." If their health re-. quires that they should proceed to Europe, they must throw up their appointments. They may have worked hard and successfully for years, but the Government can make no allowance for that long period of service. They may be possessed of such peculiar qualifications, that their superiors would consent to any inconvenience rather than injure the state by the deprivation of their services, but the Government is as powerless as the officers themselves. The law forbids any uncovenanted servant to leave India. The system forbids the grants of a subsistence allowance, and the unfortunate officer must either remain and die in harness, or depart to subsist as he best can upon his savings, content with a personal promise of restoration on his return.

We do not intend to assert that this system is unjust. We submit only that it is inexpedient. We have a strong sympathy. for the indignant feeling which induces many uncovenanted servants to demand these concessions as a right, but we are none the less sensible that the argument cannot be maintained. No man has,. or can have, any right to anything beyond the terms of his contract. If he bargains for a penny, he has a right to a penny, and to no more. The only question-setting natural kindness asideis, whether it may not be advantageous for an employer to offer. advantages beyond the bare day's wages, whether, in short, good service at a high rate, is not cheaper than inferior service at diminished cost. This is the principle which induces most of the civilized governments of the world to offer pensions to their servants. Governments never die, and it is therefore cheaper to postpone a portion of the reward of labour, than to pay down the sum which would attract the same men without the pension. And it is on this principle that we advocate the concession of liberal terms of furlough to uncovenanted servants. It is true the servant may obtain a great benefit which was not in the bond, but the master will obtain better service for the present, and better servants for the future. The additional health, knowledge, and energy gained by the covenanted judge in his two years' residence at home, would be gained also by the European principal sudder ameen. The mildew of a prolonged Indian residence gathers alike on the civilian and the uncovenanted, on the porcelain, and the clay, and requires in either case to be carefully rubbed off, if the article is to be of farther service. The knowledge that such a furlough would be among their privileges, would attract men into Government employ who now prefer work which is heavier and worse paid, simply because it leaves them the hope of again reach. ing England. Twelve months' furlough on half-pay up to a certain limit would benefit the Company as much as those who have so long been irritated by the refusal of the boon.

With respect to natives, the case is somewhat more complicated. They are at home, and failing health can scarcely be pleaded as an excuse for removing to a climate identically the same, but fifty or a hundred miles away. It is questionable, also, whether a native judge would gain much additional energy or zeal

from lying asleep for six months in his own house, the manner in which the majority of them would probably employ their holiday. At all events, the question rests upon ground very different from that occupied by the Europeans, and may wait until stirred by the native community themselves.-Friend of India.

CALCUTTA versus SIMLA.

With the appointment of a new Commander-in-Chief in India, a modification of existing arrangements will, we believe, come into operation, which is not likely to prove acceptable to the parties affected by it, or beneficial to the interests of the state. We allude to the establishment of army head-quarters at the presidency, instead of in the Upper Provinces, where, with a few temporary exceptions, they have been located for the greater portion of the last half century. The new order, of course, emanates from home, where it is considered that as the Commander-in-Chief draws council pay, he should be made to perform council duties. This narrow view of the case we look upon as illiberal in principle, and likely to prove bad economy in practice. That the Commander-in-Chief of the whole royal army in India and of the Company's troops in the Bengal presidency, should have a voice at the council board on military and political questions is natural and just, but it does not follow from this that he should always be present at the seat of Government. The real object should be rather to secure his recorded and responsible opinions on particular and important occasions, than to entail a forced attendance to the thousand minor details that may come before the Council for decision. On the contrary, the latter course is far from desirable, since it must of necessity interfere with the due and efficient performance of his more legitimate duties as chief of so large, so mixed, and so widely scattered a command.

Important as may be the opinion of the military head on the great questions of a campaign, there is little that could not be communicated in a letter as well as in a Council minute. Even granting that advantages might occasionally accrue from the adoption of the latter course of procedure, they would be dearly purchased by the practical and permanent severance of the Commander-inChief, and the general staff, from the bulk of the army. The force in Bengal, including Behar, the eastern frontiers, and Pegu, for all of which Calcutta might be considered as a suitable centre of command, constitutes but a small fraction of the total force under the Commander-in-Chief's control.

Beyond these limits, exclusive of five-sixths of the royal infantry scattered over Hindoostan, there will be found from Allahabad upwards the whole of the regular cavalry, European and native, nine-tenths of the irregular cavalry, about four-fifths of the native infantry, together with the head-quarters, and nearly four-fifths of the artillery, including the whole of the horse artillery and the sappers. Of this force, the larger portion is stationed on or beyond the Sutlej. Surely then the proper locality for the head of this force is in the North-West Provinces, from some centrical point of which he can periodically visit the more important frontier and division stations, and annually pass one-half of the force under his personal inspection.

For meeting all these requirements there can be few localities better situated than Simla, where in a cool and bracing climate the bodily and mental constitution is likely to be maintained in a more efficient working condition, than under the enervating and wearing influence of the hot winds of the plains. As a general rule we consider that there should be no fixed head-quarters, but that the Commander-in-Chief should be where his presence is most generally beneficial. Circumstances may arise which may render it desirable that he should occasionally visit the presidency, but on ordinary occasions his place is decidedly where the main body of the force under his command is stationed.

One objection to the system of past years is the expense entailed by the Commander-in-chief's tours during the cold season. In this there may be some truth, but the remedy is a simple one; let future visitations be conducted on a more economical scale. Time as well as money would be saved by the Commander-in-Chief relinquishing the slow progress of the stately camp and escort, and proceeding from station to station by dâk, with a portion of his staff. This, also, would enable him to extend the circle of annual inspection considerably, and permit a longer residence at each place of importance.

Lord Frederic Fitzclarence will, in all probability, be the next Commander-in-Chief; and as he is known to be equally desirous and capable of introducing beneficial reforms, it is most desirable that he should have a personal and practical acquaintance with the real condition and wants of all branches of the force under his command. This acquaintance can never be obtained by a permanent residence in Calcutta.-Friend of India.

SURVEY OF THE RAILWAY.

The Benares correspondent of the Indian Standard gives an account of the progress made in the survey of the railway line in the North-western Provinces, such as does not create any hope that the anticipations of the Friend of India will be realized, and locomotives be hurrying us along from Calcutta to Delhi by the expiration of 1857. We shall not be disappointed if the line is opened only to Rajmahal by that date, and another section from Allahabad upwards in working order. Above Allahabad, along the ridge of the Doab, it will be easy work; cuttings there will be none to speak of; the bridges will be few and far between, and of small dimensions, and the soil is eminently adapted for embankments; but below Allahabad it is quite another pair of boots. From Chunar to Mirzapore, and thence on to the banks of the Jumna, there is a long series of hills to be cut through or turned, numerous ravines to be crossed, one large river, the Tonse, and smaller ones, which in the rains are roaring torrents, and the bridging of which has severely tasked the engineering skill of some of the most efficient of the Company's officers. From Rajmahal to Monghyr the country presents numerous engineering difficulties, which, we have no doubt, will all be surmounted in a masterly style; and beyond this comes the great work of the line, the bridging of the Soane; this, we question not, will also be effected, but at an enormous outlay, we fear.

We believe that there is no obstacle which will stop the progress of the English railway engineers, who possess skill and energy to construct a railway over a far more difficult country than that through which our Bengal line is to pass; but we feel convinced that the time required for the execution of the work will much exceed the calculations of the least sanguine among them, and we fear the cost of construction will be greater upon the Bengal portion of the line than is anticipated. From Allahabad upwards, where there is little water-caraiage, and where the outlay per mile will be about one-third of that in the lower provinces, the returns from the rail will be proportionably so much larger, that we consider it would be very politic to open the section from Allahabad to Cawnpore with the least practicable delay, and above all, not to delay that measure until the intervening portion between Rajmahal and Allahabad is completed; for we apprehend that several years may elapse from the finishing of the first section in the Doab, before those through the northern part of Bengal, Behar, and the southern portion of Allahabad can be opened for traffic.-Hurkaru.

COLONEL CAUTLEY'S LAST REPORT.

On the 13th April, 1854, five days after the opening of the Ganges Canal, Colonel Cautley presented to Government his last report on that stupendous undertaking. The praise of the Governor-General stamped his character as an officer of Government; this report, it is said, confirms his reputation as an engineer. Our Indian enterprisers, official as well as private, are too apt to theorize, to indulge in paragraphs showing in wellrounded periods the vast benefits their projects will confer on the community, and to mix up that which may be, with that which is, in inextricable confusion. Of all these errors, Colonel Cautley has steered clear. The report was written in the very moment of his triumph, yet it is remarkable chiefly for the cold truthfulness of its scientific details, and its elaborate description of the minute flaws here and there discovered in the masonry. There is not a word of the fertility bestowed on millions of acres, of the dread of famine averted, or of the increase of revenue which will ultimately accrue. In short, the report is in direct contrast to a railway prospectus, an education minute, or Dr. Buist's plan for Indian irrigation. Of the great ceremonial of the 8th April, he speaks in the most ordinary terms :-" The anticipations which had been held out," he observes "in the 111th and 112th paras. of my inspection report of 1852-53 have been realized. Water was admitted in the canal channel from the head above Hurdwar on the 1st April, and allowed to pass off through the dam and sluices at Dhunouree, after passing through a course of thirteen miles. On the morning of the 8th April, water was passed over the Solani aqueduct in the presence of the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces."

The canal is complete; but in so vast a structure the flaws are neither few nor unimportant. They arise partly from immense masses of masonry resting on earth of unequal character, partly from a contraction of material in drying, and partly from the penetration of water through the soil, the brickwork, or the cement. Colonel Cautley observes, with respect to the parapet settlements on bridges-"Some are so exceedingly slight that they would by an inexperienced eye be disregarded;" and again, speaking of horizontal separations in the Solani aqueduct rivetments, he says, they "show themselves in mere hairs." Some more noticeable instances, at other points, were found after a long

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interval to have suffered no increase. The most scrupulous consideration is given to every fissure in the chief of all these great works, the aqueduct, which conveys the water of the Ganges over a bridge which spans the Solani river. The vast weight of this extensive and substantial structure, pressing on such a soil as the bed of a river, must have a settlement, productive of at least some rents in the unyielding mass. These were expected-they are stated as bare facts-and such and such are the scientific remedies. There is no shrinking in the man;-in all his statement, the engineer is as callous as his own bricks. Moreover, not content with pointing out these minute flaws, Colonel Cautley adds to the impressiveness of his warning by a general statement. "Since the water has been passing over the aqueduct proper, there has been not only moisture showing itself on the intrudes, but at some points dripping is observed. the face of the elevation, and at a point between the abutment and pilaster of the wing-buildings, moistnre shows itself externally. Moisture shows itself also in the interior of the wingbuildings, through the wall on the canal side. It strikes me that the application of asphalte may be found expedient eventually. I have in fact so arranged the floorings with regard to true bedlevel (from which they are depressed nine inches), that asphalte, or any other material, can be applied hereafter. In the mean time, the action of the brickwork, as shown by the admission of water, will offer practical hints as to further remedies." All these expected deficiencies will speedily be remedied. We have not quoted them to prove that there are imperfections in the great canal, but to demonstrate how completely Colonel Cautley was devoid of the vanity occasionally attributed to him. Even when complete success afforded him an opportunity for a not ungraceful exultation, he is still the faithful servant of the public; he prefers remedying even minute defects, to claiming the honour to which he was so justly entitled; he is anxious rather for the permanence of his work, than for any present addition to his reputation. Calcutta refused to honour the most successful of Indian engineers; the Governor-General, in the eyes of the public, more than compensated for the absence of popular applause; but with thinking men Colonel Cautley's greatest honour is his own estimate of his own completed undertaking.-Friend of India.

DIVISIONAL AND BRIGADE COMMANDS. Yesterday's Gazette contained an order relative to divisional and brigade commands, which will be anything but acceptable to elderly officers in weak health, or such as are fond of summering at hill-stations. The Governor-General, considering that circumstances have rendered it expedient that special attention should be drawn to the orders of the Court of Directors upon this subject, republishes the following paragraph of a home letter:-" No officer who is not fully qualified for the discharge of those duties should be selected for the command, or be continued in it if he become disabled by loss of health." We do not know what the circumstances to which Lord Dalhousie alludes may be, but within the last few years generals of division and brigadiers have been pretty frequently on sick leave, and we presume it is the intention of the Government to warn such, that they are liable to be relieved from duties which they are not capable of performing.

The officers of the Bengal army in command of divisions and even of brigades are men who have generally reached that period of life at which, in the best climates, man's energies have suffered considerable deterioration; and having been so many years subjected to the enervating effects of a tropical climate, and in many cases to the fatigues of active campaigning, it is hardly to be supposed that they possess that activity which men in such responsible situations ought to have.

An easy

We want younger men in positions of high command, from the general of division to the commander of a corps; and that we have them not is the fault of the system. It would be hard to shelve men because, owing to the slowness of promotion, they have become worn out in the service of their masters before reaching that position which entitles them to high command. remedy might be found for the existing evil, which is the formation of a retired list; and we have no doubt that the officers of the army would be only too glad to contribute towards the support of such a list; in fact, though we consider the agitation of all other projects for retiring funds objectionable, because it tends to retard promotion, we should hail with satisfaction the publication of a scheme having for its object the removal from the effective list of all officers who have completed their tours of divisional commands.

We would go even further. In former days the period for which a divisional command was retainable was fixed at three years. This was increased to four, and subsequently to five years. We would fix the term hereafter both for divisions and brigades at three years, which is identical with that for which an

admiral holds a command, and we believe is the period for which general officers of the British army retain theirs.

By this means younger men would, in a very few years, be available for all the most responsible and onerous military posts in India; and it would be no hardship to subject officers to a rule analogous to that which is about to be enforced with regard to civilians, who are hereafter to be compelled to retire upon the completion of thirty-five years' service, within which term no officer ever yet obtained a division, and few ever got command of a brigade. The youngest brigadier in the Indian armies is Brigadier Story, who came out in 1824; and we never remember an officer who obtained a brigade after so short a service.

The Court of Directors might object to a retired list on the score of expense, but we question if the outlay would be so great as apprehended; for if officers reached the higher grades at an earlier age, fewer would retire than now do in the rank of captain and major; and those who do retire in these grades have generally served long enough to be able to claim, invirtue of their length of service, a pension higher than that to which their rank entitles them. Two great advantages would be gained by the establishment of such a fund as we have hinted at,-promotion in the various branches of the service, and the several regiments of each branch would be greatly equalized, and in all we should have younger men in high positions, which would so much promote the efficiency of the service, that if the Court of Directors is wise, it will not be deterred from adopting so desirable a measure, even if it involves the expenditure of a few lakhs of rupees per annum, especially as savings are now being effected in several departments, which, we feel confident, will more than meet any additional outlay that the formation of a retired list upon the system we have suggested might involve.-Hurkaru.

The LONDON MAIL of May 8th arrived at Calcutta, June 16th (per Hindostan).

SINGULAR LAW CASE.-The Englishman mentions a curious case now under trial in the Sudder Court. A wealthy zemindar of Midnapore, named Rudronarayun Singh, died. His estates were placed in the hands of the Court of Wards. An individual has now appeared, who declares that he is Rudronarayun Singh, and claims the property. He says he ran away to escape the cruelty of his stepmother. The two sisters of the deceased zemindar, and other relatives swear to his identity. The case is one of frequent recurrence, but always unsuccessful.

A CURIOUS FACT.-The Englishman, in a review of the annals of medical science, mentions the curious fact that an outbreak of the "mahamurree," or plague of Kumaon, is invariably preceded by a mortality among the rats. It would seem that the filth and effluvium which are the causes of this terrible disease, are too powerful even for these animals. They can live in a London sewer, they perish in a Kumahon cottage.

POOREE, JUNE 5.-The concourse of pilgrims at the shrine of Juggernath this year has been so great, and the demand for articles of consumption so high, that rice (boiled) is actually selling at five seers the rupee. This is a deplorable state of things, and ought not to be allowed to continue long, for if it does, the poorer classes of the pilgrims must perish by thousands. It is high time for the local authorities to interfere. Let supplies of rice be instantly imported, and let Government undertake this on their own account, if they wish to save these pilgrims from starving. It is heart-rending to see these infatuated indigent pilgrims go about from door to door begging for a handful of rice to satisfy their hunger, and hundreds weakened by want from food, are lying about the streets awaiting certain death.

KISHNAGHUR.-We extract the following from a Kishnaghur letter, dated June 16:-" Mr. Lillie, the magistrate, goes hence to Chittagong in four or five days, having been appointed officiating collector of that district, and Mr. Lawford, his assistant, will take charge of the magistracy. He is already performing the magistrate's duties, though he has not yet formally taken charge."

MR. H. B. SIMSON.-We have been given to understand that Mr. H. B. Simson, an unpassed civil servant, having exceeded the prescribed period of one year and three months allowed for qualifying himself for the public service by proficiency in two of the native languages, the Hon. the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal has granted him a further period of six months for that purpose, but he has been warned by his Honour that if within this extended period he fails in qualifying himself, his name will be removed from the Bengal civil service list, and he will be required to return to England.

DR. O'SHAUGHNESSY, we are sorry to say, talks of vacating his post of superintendent of electric telegraphs in this country. Ill health, through over exertion, is said to be the cause.Englishman.