4 
{ 
: 
2 a a 
1843.] 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
27 
definitive convention between the State and the City of 
Brussels for the purchase, by the Government, of the real 
property, and of the museum, with the library, the gal- 
lery of ancient and modern paintings, the collections of 
natural history, the cabinet of medals, &c., belonging to 
the city. They have also published a list of honorary 
members of the Royal Academy of Medicine at Brussels, 
approved by the King. The following are the English 
physicians and surgeons in this list: Dr. Abercrombie, 
Dr. Bright, Sir James Clark, and Dr. Marshall Hall ; 
Messrs. Samuel Cooper, Guthrie, Travers, and Lawrence. 
The Belgian Colonisation Company intend to fit out an 
expedition which will be shortly sent to found its first 
settlement in Central America. 
Germany.—The Prussian papers announce the death 
of the Archbishop of Posen and Gnessen, M. Martin de 
Dunin; he died on the 26th ult., aged 69.—Letters from 
Berlin mention the expected arrival of the Countess de 
Rossi and her husband, late Sardinian Amt dor at St. 
said to have fallen into their hands. During the skir- 
mishing two officers, Lieut. Christie, of the Artillery, and 
Ensign Nicholson, of the 30th Bengal Native Infantry, 
were killed ; upwards of 100 Sepoys were killed and 
wounded, besides a number of camp-followers. 
non were also taken by them, but one of the guns was Te- 
taken on the following morning. With this exception, 
nothing of consequence appears to have occurred in the 
return of the troops from Jellalabad to Peshawur through 
the most difficult defiles in Asia. The third division, 
under General Nott, which formed the last one of the 
army, arrived at Jumrood, the frontier station of the Sikh 
territory, on the 6th, and it was intended to commence 
Petersburgh, who has been appointed to fill the same post 
at Berlin, the Countess having been unable to endure thecli- 
mate of Russia. The Countess de Rossi, once the favourite 
singer, Madame Sontag, will now yevisit the scene of her 
early fortune and artistical fame, and be received as an Am- 
bassadress in those saloons in which she gained the first tri- 
umphs of her profession.—It is rumoured that the Direc- 
tors of the Asylum Life Assurance Company in London 
are likely to establish branches of that institution in Ber- 
lin and other parts of the Prussian dominions ; this report 
is confirmed by the announcement of the daily papers that 
Sir James Law Lushington and Mr. Farren, two of the 
directors, have had an interview with Chev. Bunsen on the 
subject. — Letters from Trieste state that the English 
Commissioners for inquiring into the practicability of 
conveying the Indian mail through Germany, have made a 
favourable report, and have ascertained that the journey 
from London to that place by Ostend, Cologne, Frank- 
fort, Munich, Augsburg, Innspruck, &c., may be per- 
formed in 135 hours and 25 minutes. This would enable 
the correspondence to be forwarded from Alexandria to 
London in 11} to 12 days ; put when the railroads, now 
in construction, shall have been finished, a considerable 
additional saving of time will be possible——On the 21st 
ulti the St. Pauli sailed from Hamburgh with 120 Ger- 
man emigrants, bound for New Zealand. Of these 100 
may be said to belong to the labouring classes ; the re- 
mainder consist of a physician, some missionaries, and the 
numerous family of the agent. This is said to be only the 
commencement of an extensive system of emigration, 
which is likely to be organised in Germany, under the 
auspices of the New Zealand Company. 
Trary.—Letters from Milan announce that the railroad 
from Venice to that city has been opened as far as Padua, 
and that the event has excited the greatest interest in the 
north of Italy.—From Rome we learn that the Pope has 
determined to send a Vicar apostolic to China, in compli- 
ance with the wishes of the Roman Catholics resident in 
that country.—Letters from Catania mention that the 
eruption of Mount Etna continues with more or less vio- 
lence, and that all the towns at the foot of the mountain 
are full of company attracted from all parts of Italy by the 
imposing spectacle. The lava continues to flow in a broad 
stream in the direction of the Val del Bove, and there is 
Some reason to apprehend that it will take the direction 
of Milo, in which case it will make a descent on Zafferano, 
and probably destroy Giarre and Mascali on the sea coast, 
north of Aci Reale. Up to the present time there is no 
reason to fear for the safety of Catania, which has so 
Often been destroyed by previous eruptions. 
Russta.—The last official census of Russia gives the 
following as the populations of the chief towns of the 
Of Sciences at Paris for inspection. 
fe to its feasibility and usefulness be favourable, there 
x Every probability that the Pacha may decide on car- 
Tae this great undertaking into execution very soon. 
aia probable cost is estimated at about 250,000/. sterling, 
ee the great advantage anticipated is a constant supply o' 
een by means of canals, to all parts of the country, 
FA n during the lowest periods of the Nile—thus allowing 
ay Portion of the present waste though rich land, to be 
the ba into cultivation almost as easily as the fields on 
Bit anks of the Nile. This work has been in contem- 
sect for years, but it is said his Highness now thinks 
Sines of commencing it, although nothing will cer- 
y au e done until the present plan has been approved of 
eee engineers in Europe. 
abut he Overland Mail arrived on Saturday with 
alee 3 from India to the Ist December. The return of 
PRI Bale troops through the Khyber Pass was fully 
eeseaney ee the 7th November. The first division, under 
outnueh mane succeeded in effecting their march with- 
M:Caskeit ifficulty. The second, commanded by General 
the fies aay be not equally fortunate, in consequence of 
part of ite a aeeagie the heights over a most dangerous 
and, findi citer _ The mountaineers were on the watch, 
aeaeAy me this division embarrassed in its movements 
attack usjid, during the night of the 3d, they made an 
On the baggage, a considerable quantity of which is 
to the sword. They returned to Cabul on the 7th October, 
and General Pollock having received from Lord Ellen- 
borough positive instructions to leave the country without 
delay, prey i were i diately made for carrying 
out the work of destruction which it had been determined 
should be performed previous to their retirement. Indeed, 
from the fact of snow having made its appearance on the 
hills, and ice in the camp, it was evident that, unless they 
resolved to pass the winter in Cabul, a longer stay could 
not be made with safety. The 12th, therefore, was fixed 
as the day for departure ; and on the 9th, a party of sap- 
pers and miners, under Captain Abbott, the chief en- 
gineer, protected by a brigade commanded by Colonel 
Richmond, was marched into the city for the purpose of 
effecting its destruction, together with the Chah Chatta, 
or Grand Bazaar, a splendid structure, 600 feet long, and 
containing nearly 2,000 shops, erected so far back as the 
reign of Aurungzebe, by the celebrated Ali Murdan Khan. 
Two days were occupied in conducting these operations, 
and by the morning of the 11th the whole of the houses, 
with the exception of those in the Kuzzilbash quarter of 
the city, were laid in ruins, while the bazaar was utterly 
demolished, and a mosque which adjoined it levelled with 
the ground. This act of vengeance is much censured by 
the Indian papers, and it is said that the parties who will 
suffer by it are not Affghans, but the merchants of Hin- 
dostan, who thought themselves safe in our protection. 
The Bala Hissar, or citadel, was spared, Shah Poora, a 
younger son of Shah Soojah, having mounted the throne 
of Cabul, and taken possession of this place, and it being 
considered advisable to leave him with the means of defend- 
ing himself against any forces that might be brought against 
him on the departure of the troops. Great efforts are said 
to have been made to secure Mahomed Akhbar Khan, and 
directions to hang him, if captured, had been received by 
General Pollock; but the Sirdar effectually eluded the 
vigilance of his pursuers, and has now, it is reported, suc- 
ceeded in reaching Balkh. The troops marched between 
the 12th and 15th, and had all reached Jellalabad by the 
26th October, They had ravaged the country, burned 
the villages and forts, and spread havoc and devastation 
everywhere along the line of march. The Bombay Times 
states that no mercy was shown ; that “ impartial slaughter 
was dealt on friend and foe, on those who sued for pardon 
as well as those who bade us defiance ; armed and unarmed, 
professed allies and open enemies, were alike destroyed.” 
The rear-guard was attacked, and five officers wounded, 
with about eighty sepoys killed and wounded, near 
Gundamuck. ‘They were employed on the 20th and 
26th in destroying Jellalabad; and having blown up 
the fortifications, burnt the, houses, and destroyed 
the gardens and vineyards of the inhabitants, they pro- 
ceeded in the direction of Dhakka, reached Jumrood, 
below the mountains, on the 2d November, and arrived 
at Peshawur, as stated above, on the’ 6th. Fulteh 
Jung, with many hundreds of friendly Affghans from 
Cabul, and Ititudes of women. panied the army 
to take shelter in the British provinces, from the fear- 
ful drama which may now be looked for at Cabul. 
Some apprehension appeared to have been entertained of 
a collision between the Sikhs and the British troops near 
Peshawur, and positive orders had been issued to prevent 
any British soldier or camp follower from entering any 
village near the camp, and from going to Peshawur. The 
Governor-General has issued a proclamation, intimating 
that so soon as the British troops return to India, Dost 
Mahomed, and the whole of the Affghan prisoners who 
have come into our hands since 1839, will be restored in 
safety, but requiring that, prior to their obtaining permis- 
sion to return to their own country, they should attend 
his Lordship’s Levee at Ferozepore, which is intended to 
rival in magnificence any display ever made by the Great 
Mogul. This order contains also the remarkable state- 
ment that Akhbar Khan, prior to the late advance of the 
British armies, had refused the offer of the Governor- 
General to exchange the British prisoners in his custody 
even for his father and his own family. The political 
agencies established in Scinde, appointed by Lord Auck- 
land, had been abruptly terminated by an order of Lord 
Ellenborough, who has placed the whole management of 
those districts under the care of General Sir Charles 
Napier, now commanding the Bombay army stationed 
there. There had, according to rumour, been some fur- 
ther stipulations urged upon the Ameers of Hyderabad, 
to which they seemed unwilling to assent. Great activity 
prevailed in the communications between that General and 
the Government of Bombay, A notification has been 
published to the effect, that troops will be maintained on a 
line of posts from Kurrachee, by Sukkur on the Indus, 
to the Markunda in Sinhind ; that war and other steamers 
will continue to ply on the rivers; and that a lighthouse 
will be constructed at Kurrachee. In announcing this 
fact the proclamation states, that ‘ As late as the time of 
Aurungzebe, the Indus is known to have been navigated 
by large Xe bbe, little water, adapted to the 
y £ h and their goods; an 
the Right Hon. the Governor-General will be ivajppottadl 
indeed, if the British Government, with all the skill and 
science of modern times, cannot at least restore the com- 
merce which existed upon this river in the time of the Ma- 
hometan Emperors.” A proclamation has also been issued by 
the Gov.-Gen. “to all the Princes and Chiefs and people of 
India,” expressing his gratitude to Providence for the late 
events, and announcing that the sandal-wood gates of the 
Temple of Somnauth have been recovered, by which the in= 
sult of 800 years is at last avenged, and that the gates are to 
be replaced in the Juggernaut temple of Somnauth with 
every circumstance of pomp and ceremony~ The gates are 
to be escorted by 100 men, and a proportion of Europeans 
from Gen. Nott’s division, to which willbe added 25 troopers 
from the Governor’s body-guard, under Captain Herries, 
the Aide-de-Camp. The men forming the escort are to 
have double batta while employed on this duty 5 the pro- 
cession is to be received with every demonstration of 
respect in the various States through which it may pass 
en route to Guzerat, when they are to beagain fixed to the 
temple, from which they were removed 800 years ago- 
Her Majesty's 41st regiment was about to embark for 
Europe from Kurrachee, for which purpose transports had 
been ordered from Bombay.—It was rumoured that six of 
the officers who were in the hands of Akhbar Khan are to 
be tried by Court Martial; they are Gen. Shelton, Col. 
Palmer, Capts. Waller, Eyre, Boyd, and Anderson. 
Madras was visited by a severe thunderstorm on the 24th 
Oct., no less than five vessels having been totally wrecked. 
There had been a heavy fall of rain at Bombay on the 15th 
Nov., which unusual and unseasonable event had caused 
the cholera to rage among the natives for several days. 
The health of the island was restored when the mail was 
despatched. The accounts from urmah show the 
ravages which the cholera was making among its popula- 
tion. Whole villages have become desolate, the inhabitants 
being driven to seek shelter by flying up the country, or 
cut off by this dreadful malady. At Ameenapoora alone 
10,000 had died of it. From Singapore we learn that the 
ship Belvidera, which left Bombay for that port with a 
precious cargo of pearls, cotton, opium, &c., had been 
completely destroyed by fire in the roads there. The 
police had received intimation”that she was one of the five 
ships doomed to destruction within the last few months. 
Tt was believed that the parties concerned in the destruc- 
tion of this vessel were native dealers of Bombay, who had 
shipped goods in her, and succeeded in effecting fraudulent 
insurances. From-the evidence which has been elicited 
there is every reason to think that the charge will be 
brought home to several of the delinquents. In the 
interior of India tranquillity prevailed, with the exception 
of the mountainous districts of Bundelkund, to quiet 
which there was aconsiderable force collecting in that 
direction. 
Cuina.—The news from China comes down to the 
13th Oct. It was said that a clipper had brought news 
to a later date of that month, that everything was in its 
usual state while waiting for the ratification of the treaty 
by the Queen, and that opium had risen in price. The 
news in regard to commercial affairs opens a cheering 
prospect to British interests in China, and is calculated 
to give confidence to our merchants at home, in regard to 
their future operati The Hon: ts’ monopoly 
is at an end, and samples of tea from Nankin have been 
forwarded to Hong Kong by her Majesty’s plenipoten- 
tiary; the price is moderate, and the report om ‘their 
h r accom’ jesty’s Pleni 
ave offered to accompany her a Tpeared suites 
the English and 
Yang-tze-keang- The 
imperial commissioners plished @ manifesto in 
regard to the treaty of Nankin. ae 
in many respects, and not the least 50 25 va dea the 
liability of the Chinese Government for the hea they 
had so unceremoniously obtained et atic , and for 
which they state that the six millions pale @ ter the cap- 
ture of Canton was intended to, compensate. The com- 
missioners still call the barbarians ;’” and 
‘ned and found what are the unwarrant- 
able demands of the said barbarians, which they so im- 
portunately Uree, and they are deserving of the utmost 
hatred.” ‘They state that the Shewei, an officer of the 
Emperor's body-guard, and his colleagues, who conducted 
the Imperial family ; they admit also that “comparing 
one year’s expenses of the army with the sum paid to the 
English it is as three to ten; and as there is only the 
name of fighting, without the hope of victory, it is better 
to adopt plans in accordance with circumstances, and put 
an everlasting stop to war.” They then detail the efforts 
made to induce the ‘said barbarian” to reduce the num- 
ber of places which he demanded as ports of trade, and 
