Two pages from the Friend of India newspaper [‎47r] (3/4)

A pril 19, 1866.]
THE FRIEND OF INDIA.
459
this fact will make officeiwintending retirement
less likely to oblige them. But officers in this
position, unless they cau aftord to be very patient
in the way of holding on, are at the inevcy of the
authorities. An exchange is not likely to be avail
able, for men do not like to come in as super-
numeraries with their names in italics at the
bottom of the list. So it will, be with the super
abundant Lieutenants. They will remain on
until a retirement in their own rank takes place,
when the retiring Lieutenant being paid out of
the reserve fund, and no Ensign being promoted
in this rank, the extra payment or rather the
want of it is not so likely to cause delay, as few
men enter the service who are not prepared to
experience such a loss as the £100 or £150
generally given beyond the regulation price for
a lieutenancy..
The novelty in the Military world during
the last few days has been the Queen's visit to
A'ldershottv She drove in an open carriage from
Windsor on one of the coldest East-windy days
we have experienced this year, and before she got
back to the castle she must have gone over
50 miles of ground. She looked very well,
was in high spirits and most affable to the staff.
There were a smaller number of troops to show
her than ha^ been collected at Aldershott for
several years. The r4th Hussars had gone oft to
Hounslow a week before and the 31-st to Ports
mouth on the previous day only. Consequently
besides the artillery and—I beg pardon—the
Military Train, the only regiments on the ground
were the 3d and 8th Hussars, and the 13th, 17th,
i2d, 63d, 69th aud 71st. This was one Cavalry and
three infantry regiments below even the usual
winter strength. However, in a few weeks the
Camp will begin to fill rapidly. The 17th Lan
cers reinforce the Cavalry Brigade this week,
aud the 15th Hussars will follow about the end
of next month. The Slst move up from Ports
mouth to-day, the 66th will change from Devon-
port as soon as the 70 th from New Zealand make
their number. The 89th and 48th from Shorn-
clitt'e will follow before long^ although I
know not by what regiments they are to be re
lieved—not, it is to he supposed, the 40th, 43rd
or 68th from New Zealand. Possibly the 80th
or 1st Bdttaliou-lSth from India may succeed
them in that lesser and less disagreeable camp.
The regiments arrived or immediately expected
from foreign service are to be quartered as fol
lows—44th at Dover, 64th and 56th at Gosport
and Portsmouth, 70th at Devonport and 72nd at
Edinburgh. The men of the last named regiment
are said to be suffering much from the cold in
Edinburgh Castle.
It is quite ettled at the Quarter-Master Gen
eral's Office that no Indian Reliefs will be sent
on from the Colonies next year, and thus the con
templated move of the 2-25th from Ceylou is
abunduued. The following battalions are warned
to be ready for embarkation in July—"-the 2nd
Battalion Royals, 1st Battalion 2nd Queen's, 1st
Battalion 3id Buffs, 1st Battalion 5th Fusiliers,
aud 37th Regiment. The order has come by
surprise upon the last named corps which had
looked forward with certainty to a stay at home
till 1867.
Since my last the death of a well known
Indian General has been announced, Lieuten-
ant-General Archibald Brown Dyce has died at
Southampton in the 66th year of his age. The
deceased served in 1822 with the force sent to
Ghersetty. In 1824 he served in the Burmese
war as Brigade-Major to the 5th Madras Brigade
with the column under Brigadier-General Morri
son in Arracan. He commanded the 6th Madras
Native Infantry, with the field force employed in
Goomsoor, in 1837. He commanded the Chica-
cole Light infantry with the force under Major-
General Wilson at Adotli in 1838, and was se
lected to command the field force unctei^he spe-
" cial or ders of t hj Fu.'iticul C omm iasi.
vvab of Kuruoo'i '
action at Shorapore 18th October, 1839, and was
thanked by the Government, and was presented
by the officers of that corps with the sword of
the captured Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. . He also held the com
mand of the 14th Madras Native Infantry in
China in 1842. In 1847, in consequence of the
rebellion in Goomsoor, he was selected to com
mand the Northern Division, with the rank
of Bligadier-General, and vested with full po
litical authority in the disturbed districts ;
and,, on the suppression of the outbreak, re*
ceived the thanks of the Government. By
his death, the following Army promotions will
take place. Major-General C. R. Bowers to
have the rank of Lieutenant-General ; Major-
General Sir Robert Garrett,. K. C, P., Col
onel of the 43rd Light Infautry, to be Lieuten-
ant-General on the establishment ; Colouel J.
R.. Brunker, Inspecting Field-Officer at Bristol,
to be Major-General ; Major Philip Dickson,
half pay Royal Artillery, to be Lieutenant-Col
onel ; and Captain Augustus Davies, 74th High
landers, to be Major in the Army. Sir R. Gar
rett's promotiofi to the rank of Lieutenant-Gen
eral will not cause him to vacate the command
of the South Eastern District until probably
early in 1867. The Colonelcy of the 106th Regi
ment, vacant by the death of Lieutenant General
Dyae, will be filled hy Major-General G. Mal
colm, C. B.
Colonel the Hon. F. Colborne, C. B., has been
appointed Assistant Adjutant-General at Edin
burgh, in succession to Colonel Egerton, trans
ferred to the Horse Guards.
A pension of £100 a year, for " distinguished
service," has been conferred upon each of the
following officers of the late Indian Royal Artil
lery, viz, Major Genl. George Campbell and
Major-Genl. J. Fordyce, Colonel J. Abbott, Colo
nel F. Turner, C. B., Col. H. Tombsj V. C., C. B.,
Col. J. Brind, C. B., Col. A. Huyshe, and Col.
E. B. Johnson, C. B., late Bengal Artillery ; Ma
jor-Genl. G, Balfour, C. B., Col. E. Brice, C. B.,
Col. W. A. Orr, C. B., and Lieut.-Col. R, W.
M'Intyre, C. B., late Madras Artillery.
WEEKLY EPITOME OF NEWS.
THtmsnAY, Al'HIL 12.
— Nagpore is now only 36 hours from Bombay by
contractor's train as far as Budnaira and the regular
train thereafter. The contractor's engine runs to the
new Wurdah civil station 20 miles beyoiul the Wurdah
river and just 50 from Nagpore. Before the end of
the year the line will be complete to Nagpore, when
it ought to be continued 5 miles to Kamptee.
— Colonel Goldsmid, head of the Persian Telegraph
Department, who succeeded Colonel P. Stewart, with
Major Murdoch Smith of the Royal Engineers, also
employed in the Department, are now in Calcutta.
They made a very rapid roaveh from Tehran to
the coast, through a new country. Major M. Smith
is the author of the Antiquities of Cyrene. Colonel
Goldsmid has been enquiring into the working of the
Telegraph in the experience of the Banks and Mer
chants.
— From 5th to 7th February last an Agricultural
Exhibition was held in Comilla, the Civil station of Tip-
perah. It seems, from the official report, to have been
of an almost microscopic character, but it brought out
one or two curious facts as to the people. They think
that the object of these exhibitions is to ascertain
their ability to pay new taxes. Believing that rarity
and not general usefulness was required iu the articles
sent, they wished to exhibit abnormally formed chil
dren and cattle. They had the impression that their
property would not be returned, and there was a rumour
that Hindoos and Mahomedans were to be made to sit
dowm to a bora khana together. The exhibition itself
was sufficient ta many of these delusioji^ The
i — The Bangkok Recorder publishes the latest newe
from Mr. Thomson and his party who set out on 17th
January for Ongcor and the vast ruins described by
Henri Mouhot, They had been twelve days out and
1 had accomplished half their journey. They had gener
ally to sleep in the forests in which tigers abound.
— The King of Siam lately invited several of th*
European residents to the funeral ceremonies of the
sister of his minister. After distributing bundles of
[ yellow robes to twelve Buddhist priests His Majesty
applied a wax caudle to the pile on which the remain*
lay. In less than half an hour there was nothing left of
1 the body but ashes and'a few of the charred bones for
preservation. As usual the funeral ceremonies wer«
attended with theatrical performances both in Siamese
aud Chinese. There was also the sport of throwing
to the masses limes,, containing each a small coin or
gold ring, picked from an artificial tree.
— Even Japan-has its Punch'. Four cartoons, im
sepia, represent such events in-local politics as "Britan-
nia bleedeth the Tycoon" and "Delight of the Ministers
at the ratification of the Treaty by the Mikado." Such
jokes as these abound—" Shirtingt ueh wanted
especially by coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. on the Bund. Leather —There
is nothing like it on the market." jPttwe/i, in his Ja
panese shape, is like a»Mandarin with a stork on either
side of him and Toby behind. He is more character
istic than his Indian brother at Bombay.
— At a-banquet given by the people of Singapore to
the retiring Recorder Sir R. B. McCausland, Mr.
W. H. Read, the Chairman^ said of Colonel Gavanagh ^
whom we here remember as the active Garrison Jlajo
of Fort William in 1857. "He has done many things,
which will hand his name down to posterity, as the bent
and most able Governor the Straits Settlement ever
possessed."
— The Potcla mentions that on the occasion of the
funeral of the Rev. James Michell, of the Free Churck
Poona Mission, some of the Sirdars Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. of the Deccan were
present, and one whose ■ absence was unavoidable sent
his elephant to stand at the gate of the cemetery. Sir
Bartle Frere, who has known the deceased for thirty
years, has sent a letter to Dr. Wilson expressing deep
sympathy with the Mission.
— The Bishop of Bombay thus defends his recent
unseemly conduct in St. Thomas' Cathedral. " Hav
ing been requested ,to lay down a rule as to the floral
ornamentation of Churches, I would advise that, when
ever such ornamentation is desired, the custom till late
ly prevailing in this diocese be adhered to. No one, I
believe, would object to simple decoration as distin
guished from devices and symbols. These, whether
floral or otherwise, I would exclude. Nor should any
floral decoration appear on or about the Holy Table.
In making this exception I do not differ from the late
Bishop of London, and other authorities in matters of
ritual." This will at least prevent the possibility of
any future collision between the Bishop and his clergy
in open church during service.
— Like most of the financial institutions called into
existence by the Bombay cotton wealth the Bank of
Guzerat is in a bad way. It was established by Mr.
Premchund Roychund who has been forced by the
searching criticisms of the Bombay Gazette to otter
an explanation which, that journal declares, makes
the matter worse. It seems that Mr. Premchund
paid two-thirds of the capital for Port Canning
shares which the Bank made over on credit to the
house of Cama, which afterwards failed. Mr. Prem
chund says the money is safe and offers to pay all
the shareholders at par. Meanwhile, if his own ad
missions are true, he has been enjoying the interest of
the £130,000 and the shareholders are at the mercy of
a fall in the cotton market. ' 'X
— We regret to record the death of EnsignjU* W. C.
Kemeys Tynte of H. M's, 11th -Regiment at FyZP-
I'ad mi Sunday last. Ensign Tynte was a yonnger
J ■ftgL Halsy * ' Bridgvwat e;"