Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 15th January 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 89, Untitled Article

Page 89
Page 25
25 of 32

On this page

  • Text (6)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      telegraph thrpugU Scinde has arrived . The line is to be completed between Hyderabad and Mooltan . The Bombay Government , in advertising for tenders for the mail service between Bombay and Kurrachee , has we are sorry to see , offered a contract for five years . Thus the Government will be bound for a long term for a line which is rapidly improving . The . director ^ of . the Great Steamship Company are proceeding with the plans for the Leviathan , with a view to fit her expressly for the conveyance to India of firstclass passengers , settlers , and soldiers on a large scale . A new company is projected in the City to run steamers of 6000 tons round the Cape .

      The Bombay missions afford some news . The German Evangelical Mission on the Malabar coast have lost three missionaries by fever . The Church Mission in Western India has received a reinforcement of two mis ^ sionaries , one English and one German , for the mischievous practice of sending out Germans to India still prevails . The Free Church have given up the Sattara Mission . The baptism bf the first Bhattia has taken place in Bombay . Female education in Bombay city is proceeding . The Parsee school has been extended , and the Hindoo gentry are founding schools with a permanent fund . Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy , Bart ., has allotted 5000 ? . for a new hospital at Nowsaree , a town near Surat .

      The nuisance of the Pinjrapole , or native asylum for aged and diseased beasts , in Bombay , which is inhumanly conducted , is about to . receive a check , as the municipal commissioners have announced their intention of taxing the beasts . The . English police are likewise making war on the stray pigs in the streets of Bombay , for killing which they receive one shilling a head . From Central India news has been received through a Jewish merchant . The people of Chaikar and Istaliff , being unable to bear any longer the oppressions of Sirdar Ismael Khan , Governor of Kohistan , determined to leave their provinces and emigrate towards Turkistan . About two thousand families had already left their homes , and were ou their way , when the Governor ; unwilling to lose his prey and diminish his taxable

      population , moved ; after them with a strong forcej overtook them , and brought them back . The people then collected to the number of twelve thousand , and determined to make head against his tyranny , and proving too strong for the Governor , he made application to Dost Mahomed Khan , who despatched a force to his assistance , but with directions to conciliate the people . This is a specimen of the movements taking place in . those countries , and of the well-spread wanderings of the Jews , who , like the other expatriated people , the Armenians and the Parsees , are to be found even in these remote regions in the pursuit of commerce . The protection they now find under English government is producing a great effect upon them , and inducing them to look to the English dominions for a shelter and a home , securing their wealth , and adding to our influence and

      resources . The Dundee people are making a movement for a Central Flax Association for promoting llax cultivation in India , on the plan of the Cotton Supplv Association .

      Untitled Article

      INDIA . We take the following from the Calcutta Englishman of the 8 th of December : — The p rincipal event which wo have to record is the surrender of the Nawab of Banda , who was one of the leading rebel chiefs , and had hitherto successfully escaped all pursuif . Tantia Topee is still at large , and baffles all efforts of the forces which ' have eruKavoured to cut off his retreat , though several times it appeared that ho could not avoid , falling into our hands .

      The sentence of transportation passed upon , the ox-King of Delhi has at last been carried into effect , lie arrived n few days ago at Diamond Harbour , where her Majesty ' s ship Mogasra was in readiness to receive the prisoner on board , to convoy him to his final destination , accompanied by two of his wives and several other members of his family , who follow him in his exile The party woro in as good spirits as if they wqvq going on a pleasure excursion . The Capo of Good Hope was to bo honoured with the custody of the ngotl assosdin .

      Untitled Article

      CHINA . The Overland Friend of China of November 30 says : — After concluding the arrangement o'f new regulations for trade , the Earl of EJgin and suite left Shanghai on a voyage up the Yang-tse-kinng . We know nothing of the expedition ns yet . Baron Gros had not signed the regulations for trade to be attached to the French treaty when the last mail was despatched . It is not improbable that his Excellency prefers keeping something in connexion with these matters for final settlement in the south . The United States Commissioner , Mr . Reed , is now in Macao , and has furnished a section of the local press with a copy of the now tariff . There are reports of serious disturbances within a hundred miles of Canton , the only confirmation of them being tho difficulty of obtaining certain articles of consumption at the same rates as before . Sir John Bowring left for Manilla in her Majesty ' s ship Magicicnnc on the 29 th November .

      Untitled Article

      . TAPAN . Wh could nover sufficiently admiro the bonuty of the site pf Yedo , tho excellence of its police , tho cleanliness of its vast population , and the . order and appoaranoo of wealth in its streets ; but commendation was duo to much olso—everything was in equally good hooping : there was none of that rigid appearance of mildewed gorgoousness about tho official abodes , or tomplos , which strikes a traveller bo much in China . Tho vory beach nt Yodo was well kept ; miles of vortical embankment occurrod along the face of tho whole bavyet no

      om-, bunkmont had a stone out of place . Batteries , and of thom as well as guns there woro no laok , wore fur nentor , and wo arc bound in truth to say , in far better preservation than those of Malta , or Portsmouth , n fow yoars sinco . If you met a nobleman . with his rotinuo , thoro was order , qloanlinosa , and gontllity stamped upon the whole nffalr- * ono might staro at it , but thoro was nothing ridiculous or contomptiblo . Their clocks aro beautifully Ingenious , ana adapted to the Japanese mode of keeping time , which is very , complicated . Barometers and thermometers aro made at

      Yedo ; and before the electric telegraph had been long in their hands , they applied it to their wants , and in more than one prince ' s palace we were told that it might be seen at work . At Yedo , we found two sailing ships , and a steamer and a schooner under the Japanese colours . The two vessels had been built by themselves without the aid of a European , beyond the ancient lines of some queer craft , which might "have ploughed the salt seas in the time of Van Tromp .

      In a commercial point of view , the field is very promising . We know that the Portuguese annually exported from Nangasaki , in the time of free intercourse , the enormous amount of 300 tons of gold annually I We know , at the present hour , that a gold kobang , equal in real value to a British sovereign , may be bought at Nangasaki for an ounce of silver ! or little more than the Mexican dollar . We know that a quantity of silk or crape , which could not be purchased at Shanghae for 20 dollars , may be had at Nangasaki for very much less .

      Silk , copper , gold , tea , and paper , apart from articles of manufacture , such as porcelain , bronzes , lacquer-ware , &c , in which Japan excels , will be at first , we should opine , their principal exports . Rice they have in profusiou . Wood , coal , and iron are abundant , the two former obtainable at almost nominal prices . Without being learned in the mysteries of the silk trade , we cannot help thinking that its abundance in Japan must next year affect our European markets . The Japanese tea is of a fine , sound , full flavour , well adapted to the tastes bf the poorer classes in Great Britain . Copper

      must be very plentiful ; the brass guns alone mounted at Nangasaki and Yedo would pay the ran ? om of a nation ; the piles of their bridges are protected with sheets of it—the bottoms of their native vessels , the gunwales and stems of their , boats , their stirrups , their temples , hilts of their swords—in short , almost everything you see has brass or copper about it in profusion . Gold , for some reason or other , you never see , but the cheapness of the Japan kobang , and its purity , rather corroborates the suspicion of the abundance of gold .- —North China Herald .

      Untitled Article

      COTTON CULTIVATION IN OUDE . Mr . L . E . Ruutz Rjlsiss , whoso Personal Narrative of the Siege of Luchnoxo is ao woll known , has just reprinted , nt Longman ' s , his article on tho " Past and future of Oude , " from the Calcutta Review of June , 1800 . That article has frequently boon reform ! to on Account of its completes description of the physical capabilities of tho country , and of tho value of its commercial and statiaticaji statements . Wo oxtract from , a postscript , written for this edition , the fol * - lowing « Supplementary Observations on tho Cotton Question : " - — X fool it particularly dosorvog tho attention of those who take an interest in tho growth of cotton , to remark

      how peculiarly Oude is fitted for its cultivation . The best proof of this is that no inconsiderable quantity has been exported from it , even during the mismanagement of the native Government , which , affected cotton in the same way as , or even more than , the other natural products of Oude . Tbe immense importance of a supply of cotton from India ( the only . one pf our colonies that seems capable of producing it in sufficient quantities ) is fully appreciated by our manufacturers , whose very existence as such depends on an independent and regular supply of that article . Its successful growth , we must consider , depends upon both the soil and the irrigation . Both the rich black soil and the more meagre red , which is , in the opinion of many , quite as fitted for the

      growth of cotton , exist in Oude , particularly in many of the jungles . These , however , might and should , as I have already pointed out , be made available for purposes of cultivation . Indeed ; one firm , Messrs . Burns and Co ., I understand , have actually undertaken tbe contract to clear the Jugdespore jungle , the fifth in my list . There is sufficient water in the streams . and rivers in Oude , which have the further ad vantage of not being like the Ganges and other rivers , fifty to a hundred feet below the level of the soil ; the natives being thus enabled , with even their rude implements , to attend to its cultivation with greater facility than in most other parts of India . But I see no reason why , when European science is brought to bear upon native enterprise , this advantage could not be

      turned to still further account . European supervision is not so much required for its production as for sugar or indigo . Unlike those , cotton is the raw produce of the tree , and with the increased facilities for transport which must arise , the native would easily be induced to pay sufficient attention to its cultivation to render it equal to an } - other kind of cotton . The only serious obstacle to the production in sufficient quantities to , supply all the demands of our markets , is the defective and costly means of transport , nowhere so apparent as in Oude , which not only prevents the native from successfully competing with the American in delivering cheap cotton at a seaport , but also materially damages the quality of the article . The natives of India- consume about 2 , 000 , 000 , 000 , whilst the amount exported" to all

      other countries does not exceed 150 , 000 , 000 pounds . Tiiese figures prove that in India cotton is not grown for exportation , but for home consumption , and that the native agriculturist , possessed of no capital , and loaded with debt , as he is everywhere in India , and oppressed arbitrarily as he has been , particularly in Oude , cannot and will not take the risk of seeking a ' market elsewhere than on the spot . In some parts of Oude cotton was produced at even less than ah anna ( l- £ d . ) per pound . With steamers on the Gogra , good roads throughout the country , and a railroad through the heart of it , no doubt whatever can be entertained that Oude may bemade one of the most important eotton-producing provinces . in India ; nor is the fact to be questioned that India is capable of furnishing any quantity that may be required .

      Untitled Article

      No . 460 , January 15 , 1859 ] _ gj * ^ LE 1 ^^ 89

      Untitled Article

      Lucksow . — " This city in the space of six months , ' writes the correspondent of the Times , " has been reconstructed by destruction . I never beheld such a-great and such a beneficial'change to charm the eye and every sense which can be affected by external objects . The history of our labours cannot be compr ised in a sentence . The improvements of Paris , due to the vigorous administration and military exigencies of the Emperor , are not comparable to the vast alteration made at Lucknow by the simple process of blasting and levelling whole quarters of decrepit miserable houses , opening out grand streets , arid uncovering the stately palaces ivhich were blocked up formerly by obscure neighbourhoods . The only new construction , however ^ is in its character significant and complete . The city is held by a band of embrasured parapet , and armed forts , the magnificent project of Sir Robert Napierj are now realised , or in the course of being so . "

      English Noblkmen in America . —The St . Louis Republican of the 24 th ult . announces the arrival there of Lord Cavendish and his friends . The Canadian Go-r vernment , about a year since , appointed Professor Hind and Messrs . Dickenson , Fleming , and Hind , commissioners to explore the Red River Valley . They were joined by Lord Cavenuisli ' a party , who since then have occupied the time in hunting and exploring the country from the mouth to the sources of the Red River . The party left Selkirk on the 29 th of November , with a train of seventy dogs for Crow Wing , which point they

      reached in fifteen days' travel . It was supposed some time since that they had been attacked and killed by the Indians in Western Minnesota . They have various trophies of the chase , such as buffalo and other furs , the hide and horns of a magnificent buffalo bull that nearly killed Lord Cavendish , Indian curiosities , and a dog of the Esquimaux breed , used for drawing sledges . They described the life they have been living as indeed romantic ; hunting and fishing , chasing Sioux Indians and chased by them in return , and enduring hardships not altogether unpleasant from the very fact of the novelties attending them .

      England and Italy . — " An Italian , " writing to the Times , says : — " It is now a statistical fact that Italy equals the British Islands in population , What her inhabitants , skilfully guulod , aro able to do may be read in many a book of many an ago . All this strength , if Franco and Russia only know how to got hold of tho living 1 principle that porvados it , could bo easily turned against England in the Mediterranean , and against her allies there , and everywhere , by land and by son . Tho opinion of thinking Italians is , that it would be wi « o for

      England not tp oppose any scheme that any other Power may put forth to encourage tho hopes and win tho confidence of such a gifted and high-spirited nation ; and that it would bo etlll wi ^ or for England ami vory perplexing to tho rival Powers did sho herself load tho way , and exert tho most vigorous prossuro upon the resisting Governments . Down the stream of reform and freedom England can sail far moro swiftly than any absoluto Power . Tho Italian question is pro-ominoutly an English question . "

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1859, page 89, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2277/page/25/