1 ་།།།་ excruciating agony, that he felt it necessary to send a message to one of his officers (Lord T. B. Cochrane), requiring him, if he had not yet retired to rest, to ascertain whence the noise proceeded. His lordship, it appears, "had retired to rest," but, under the influence of zeal for the comfort of his commanding officer, he desired his servant "to go and see where the noise proceeded from." These are his own words, and from these we learn that his lordship's servant possesses a very remarkable faculty. Pigs, they say, can see wind, and this wonderful orderly can' see noise. He went and reported Mr. Welch and his guests to be the disturbers. This was communicated to the majorgeneral, who forthwith deputed a sergeant of police to go to Mr. Welch's house and request that the curtain might fall on the performances of the evening. The message was civil enough, for it was accompanied by the general's compliments; yet it was impertinent enough, for it was transmitted to a person not under the general's command, and related to a matter in which he had no right to interfere, There seems reason, however, to believe that the civility was dropped by the way, and that the policeman, not accustomed to such amenities, forgot the compliments. The rest of the message was delivered, and this function completed, the messenger was summarily ordered down stairs, as might have been expected. After he had reached the street the wrath of Mr. Welch ascended to a point worthy of his name, and putting his head out of the window, he assured the retreating policeman, that if the general sent any further message of the like character, he would horsewhip somebody-whether the general or the policeman seems to be disputed. We hope it was not the general, for, as Mr. Welch was clearly in the right up to this point, we are anxious that he should be right throughout. The evidence as to the person destined, in case of a repetition of the offence, to come under the discipline of the horsewhip, is contradictory; but the policeman obviously took the threat to himself, for he summoned before the officiating magistrate the person who uttered it. This perhaps was not very extraordinary, but the result undoubtedly was. Mr. Welch was fined twenty dollars'! ~ Had he actually resorted to the use of the horsewhip, this would have been intelligible enough; but he had only threatened, and therefore the utmost extent of magisterial power in this case was to bind him over to keep the peace. Even this power might be questioned, because the threat was hypothetical, and its execution depended upon another party doing something which he had no right to do; but under any construction, to require security for the peace was clearly all that the magistrate was empowered to do, and in inflicting a fine he exceeded his authority. A writer who has taken up the defence of the magistrate in one of the local papers, alleges that the defendant in this case had acted improperly on some former occasion; but that could furnish no justification of the infliction of an unlawful punishment when he again came before the magistrate. We are sorry to see Englishmen, vested with " little brief authority," at a distance from their native country," playing such antic tricks;" but it is well that even in so small a community as Hong Kong there is a press to give them publicity. a OVERLAND COMMUNICATION WITH INDIA. THE acceleration of the overland mails, by adopting a route shorter and more convenient than that at present em 1 ployed, continues to occupy the earnest attention of the Anglo-Indian public. Venice having been suggested as a port preferable to Trieste, Mr. Waghorn has p has published the following letter in the Times: 19.327 DHE GLAXY 911 ToÌ SW 78% 1997) 02 Younoń ilė: Since my late trip from Trieste I have received numerous letters from parties resident at Venice, and from railway projectors on that line of route, stating that Venice is a better point to London than one and all that for take the liberty through your columns, to tell is no for large steamers, as it cannot be approached on dark nights. As a sailor, and to the minds of all sailors this one reason is sufficient, and therefore I do not trouble, with others. Trieste, or rather Dwino, is the spot in future for the most rapid steam, intercourse between Great Britain and her Eastern posses sions; I hope will save me the trouble of answering such points in future.bom ut id quileiat qad to I shall steadily go on in a straight-forward way to open the Triesta route. I, Sir, have nothing to do with the politics of any country, except for the benefit of my own and in this matter, as far as I am concerned, politics are entirely out of the question. Is it reasonable that England should be expected to go further distant to Alexandria than the trough France, 300 miles opened to us through the influence of Austria, whose influence with the other states is al guarantee for the whole being carried out far more rapidly than ever it will or can be through France, even when the whole line of railway is complete from Boulogne to Marseilles? My reason for this asserdi tion is as follows: 11.91 to Bruschal, near Carlsrhue, and before the French get their lines completed I have no doubt we shall have one to better than the Medito Trieste. This is not all; for steamers to go rapidly, the Adriatic is terranean. The Adriatic is an inland sea, covered with numerous} islands along its east coast, and in adverse weather a steamer would go, on the average, two miles per hour faster than a steamer in the Mediterranean, particularly in the stormy Gulf of Lyons. 51: 902). We can now get mails in ninety hours between Trieste and Lon-s don, which is the average to or from Marseilles; the gain is by the Cologne and Ostend Railway, and Manheim Railway, to Bruschal, near Carlsrhue, while through France there is not yet one mile of railway available; by-and-by, forty-five hours will be the average, when a railway is completed to Dwino or Trieste. From Trieste to Alexandria one of her Majesty's Marseilles in less than seven days; no steamer can average steamers will average five days. Now, here is a positive gain, against all denial, of two days the sea passage to Alexandria. I have no doubt that the present Government of England, in connection with the East-India Company, will carry this matter through. I have still my eye on further shortening the route to India in all its bearings, not forgetting the railway over the Desert. I can only say my aim shall be steadily and unchangeably fixed to all that' tends thereto. The success of Mr. Waghorn has led to other suggestions, and among them to the following from Barcelona, which appeared in the City Article of the Times: On perusal of the well-merited eulogies bestowed on Lieut. Waghorn for his successful effort to discover a second route for the overland mail from India, I have been induced to make inquiries here,ā which lead me to suggest that a third, and, perhaps, more feasible, route might be pointed out. The distance from Alexandria to Trieste or Dwino and to Barcelona are, with little difference, the same; I? believe to Dwino it will be about 1,500 English miles, to Barcelona 1,600; the passage from Alexandria to Barcelona direct by Malta, which mail it would also take, being much plainer sailing (which perhaps would compensate for the trifing increase of distance) that through the Adriatic, entrance stood, very often most difficult navigation. From Barcelona to Sant underis, I have ha Sebastian or Passages, the finest with the present road might be got, harbour in the Bay of Biscay, is but 260 English miles, which over in a light carriage in two days. The ordinary Spanish mail from there arrives here now in three days and a half, and it proceeds at a very slow pace, and detained several hours at Saragossa come on by the Madrid mail. I have very lately travelled over the road from San Sebastian to Saragossa, by Pampeluna and 7 Tudela; and to the latter place it was a most excellent high road; a new line of high road was then being made, and is now, I understand, completed** from Tudela to Saragossa. The only difficulty from Saragossa keré is the river Cinea, which is at present passed by a ferryboat, and when the mountain torrents come down is sometimes impassable; but a new suspension-bridge has just been contracted for by Govern ment, and is to be immediately constructed, the commercial houses of this city having advanced the capital. Powerful steamers could, I believe, reach this port from Alexandria, with greater ease and security than that of Trieste or Dwino, in five days. You cross to the Cantabrian coast in two or even less, and another steamer could take the mail from there to Southampton or Plymouth in three days. The British steamers on the north coast of Spain, during the civil war, I believe generally did it with ease in that time. An Irish gentleman, whose opinion I consider of value, as he is a ten years resi- dent in Spain, believes that the mail might be taken at present, with the same preparatory arrangements as that of Lieut. Waghorn, by the above road, in eight or nine days from Alexandria to London. I am informed further that a Royal ordinance has been granted to the enterprising English engineer, Mr. Mackenzie, to lay down a railroad from here to Saragossa, which, without doubt, in time will be carried out to the north coast. This would wonderfully facilitate for the future the rapidity of the route through Spain. The sometimes unsettled state of the country could not, I have been led to believe, affeet this route, as foreign carriers are always respected and sasisted on. . THE PROFLIGACY OF "PUNCH.” WHO that reads at all does not regale himself, week by week, with a series of cachinnatory explosions produced by the mirth-moving pages of Punch? Who is there that does not look anxiously for the appearance of each number as soon as due, and who does not feel disappointed if any accident delays its arrival? But all this is to come to an end. Punch is immoral, and we must not read him. We had been accustomed to admire the happy tact with which, in his wildest excursions into the regions of the grotesque, he kept within the bounds of propriety; but we are now enlightened. A gentleman who, like the object of his attack, has made some noise in the world, declares Punch a slanderer, and we suppose we have no choice but to give him up. To speak plainly, Mr. JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM (who has not heard of him?), on the 15th of November last, issued an "Appeal against the slanders of Punch," which he transmitted to the "conductors," not of the metropolitan omnibuses, to whose taste it was well adapted, but "of the public press of Great Britain." The "conductors" having nothing to do with the quarrels of Mr. BUCKINGHAM, and the "Appeal" not being accompanied by the usual price of an advertisement of its length, the speculative gentleman by whom it was made took nothing by his motion. Whereupon, burning with indignation against the beforementioned "conductors" for their heartless inattention to his wishes, the injured man, on Tuesday, December the 2nd, exactly seventeen days after the date of his first appeal, put forth a second, imploring the attention of a wider circle, being entitled "An Address to the British Public on the slanderous Articles of certain Writers in Punch against the British and Foreign Institute and its Resident Director." Mr. BUCKINGHAM had sought to get his first appeal circulated gratuitously, and thus to advertise his Institute very extensively in the newspapers without paying either the charges of the proprietors or the duty to Government. He failed; but with the inventive talent which seldom deserts men of his class at a pinch, he immediately hit upon the still more admirable plan of making people pay for his advertisement, for the "Address" to the public is charged twopence. Mr. BUCKINGHAM has tried many expedients for getting on in the world; we are surprised that he never offered his services to persons in the habit of advertising largely, as the manager of that department of their business. We are certain that it would be worth his while, not less so than it would be equally worth the while of those who might employ him. The object of the Appeal and the Address is the same; it is to rouse indignation against that notorious offender Punch, for making the people laugh at Mr. BUCKINGHAM. We can assure that very sensitive gentleman (sensitive when his interests are at stake), that his labour is worse than thrown away-that it is employed in aiding the purpose of his enemy and defeating his own. If the public laughed before, they will laugh more than ever now, Only think of a man entering into a controversy with Punch-we should as soon think of having a bout at quarter-staff with his amusing namesake in the street. A battle with Punch! But since so extraordinary an event has taken place, the curious will ask what has brought it about? Simply this. Mr. BUCKINGHAM having devised sundry projects for his. own benefit, which lived their little day and then vanished into thin air, and having moreover arrived at that period of life when, as he says, competency and repose" might be expected, and when they certainly are very agreeable, determined to spend his remaining strength in giving existence to a plan by which such "competency and repose" might be secured. He accordingly issued the prospectus of a mongrel sort of club, to be called the British and Foreign Insti tute, one chief object of which was avowed by the friends of the projector to be that of "providing a home" for him. self. Now it is very natural for a man to wish to get into comfortable quarters for life, but all the world cannot be expected to take the same interest in the matter with himself, and when the attempt to accomplish the object is made. under false pretences of promoting literature and science, rendering honour to learned foreigners, obtaining the pleas sure of female society, and so forth, honest and straightforward men become disgusted, and are apt to give expression to their disgust. The British and Foreign Institute. was got up for nothing else but to get a roof permanently over the head of Mr. BUCKINGHAM, to put meat upon his table, and clothes upon his person. It was, therefore, fair game; and Punch, in the exercise of his vocation, took it up.. The charge against the merry satirist is, that he has called: the Institute the "Destitute," and, in reference to the reputed habits of the bird, the "Cuckoo's Nest," and such like. But would all this have done any harm to a sound and properly. conducted establishment? Would it be possible for Punch to laugh out of existence the United Service, Senior, or Junior, the University, the Oxford and Cambridge, or the Travellers'? Not to go out of Mr. BUCKINGHAM'S immediate neighbourhood, does he think that if the batteries of Punch were opened on the Oriental, gentlemen would be deterred from joining it, or would be ashamed of becoming members of it, as he asserts to be the. case with his speculation in George Street? The truth is, that he, and all persons in his situation, either mistake or wilfully misrepresent the case. Ridicule falls harmless unless there be something ridiculous in its object. Punch found in the British and Foreign Institute materials for joking which he could not have found in any other club existing, and he took advantage of them, We are not about to waste much of either time or paper on so worthless a subject as Mr. BUCKINGHAM'S Appeal, but there are one or two points on which we must expend a few remarks. Circumstances change men wonderfully, and circumstances have not failed to have this effect on Mr. BUCKINGHAM. He was once among the loudest and most uncompromising champions of a free press; he now thinks that, except on certain conditions, (one of them being that nothing shall be said against him), the liberty of the press" is "a curse rather than a blessing!" Now, too, he is shocked to find that "neither the moral dignity of the throne," nor "the sacredness of the altar" afford a sufficient protection "from the malignant attacks and disgusting 66 exhibitions of" that "unprincipled publication"-Punch. The charge is false. The wit of Punch is free from malignity, and as to the disgusting" part of the matter, who is disgusted? No man is ashamed of Punch lying on the table of his library; no woman, be she maid, wife, or widow, shrinks from admitting it to her boudoir. Mr. BUCKINGHAM, indeed, is annoyed; but, free-trader though he be, he enjoys a monopoly of the annoyance. This, how ever, is a digression from our immediate purpose, which was to notice some of the changes which have come over Mr. BUCKINGHAM's mind. How long has he been the champion of the "throne" and the "altar?" His leanings used to be in a different direction, but Punch has made him "a sadder and a wiser man." Passing over these changes, however-passing over the original absurdity of a serious controversy with Punch, we suppose that a man engaging in such a folly must be bound by the ordinary rules of warfare, and among them by that which forbids the use of poisoned weapons. Has Mr. BUCKINGHAM done so? He gives an account of an American paper called the New York Herald, which he alleges to be supported by the most infamous practices. The "conductors," according to Mr. BUCKINGHAM, send out persons to collect private scandal, which, when collected, is either published for the amusement of those who delight in such reading, or suppressed on the payment of money; and he relates the story of an attempt to obtain from himself five times the ordinary price of an advertisement by way of a bribe. We know nothing of the New York Herald, and we should be sorry to take the character of any paper from Mr. BUCKINGHAM. But whether his statement be, or be not, accurate, matters not. It is with a paper represented to be thus infamous that Mr. BUCKINGHAM compares Punch. Can any thing be more atrocious? There may be occasional differences of opinion as to the justice of the satire in that paper; individuals, like Mr. BUCKINGHAM, may feel irritated when they suffer from its sting, but no man has hitherto ventured to accuse its "conductors" of venality, even by insinuation. No man believes that it is possible by money to obtain the insertion of any thing in Punch except as an advertisement, or the exclusion of any thing, be it what it may. Mr. BUCKINGHAM talks a great deal about fair play-here is a specimen of his practice. The plain fact is, that Mr. BUCKINGHAM is greatly disappointed, and very angry. He thought he was housed for life, and he begins to fear that he is not. The "home" which he promised himself does not promise to be so lasting as he had hoped. He has done all he could, even to running up and down the country, to give lectures in public-houses on the advantages of becoming a subscriber to the British and Foreign. Institute; but subscribers will not come. This mode of endeavouring to catch them is, we believe, original; but then the British and Foreign Institute is a very orignal establishment, and its founder a very original person. What would be thought of the departure of an itinerant lecturer on behalf of the Conservative or the Reform Clubs, the Athenæum or the Alfred, to coax guineas. out of the pockets of country gentlemen? Mr. BUCKINGHAM, however, had no scruples. He had got "a home," and he wished to keep it. It is not without reluctance that we advert to the pecuniary circumstances of Mr. BUCKINGHAM. In the case of amy other man, such advertence would be impertinent and bautal; but he has been for years past so continually throwing his circumstances in the face of the public, as street-beggars expose their rags and infirmities, that there is no impropriety in referring to a subject upon which Mr. BUCKINGHAM him self affects no reserve. When a man is everlastingly bringing himself before the public in forma pauperis-shaking a begging-box at them, or sending round a goodnatured friend with a hat on his behalf, there is no indecency in inquiring into the grounds of the appeal. We have looked into the pamphlet under notice for some satisfactory explanation of this matter, but have found none. At pages 9, 10, we have an extract from a speech made at the general meeting of the members of the Institute, in which it is stated that Mr. BUCKINGHAM had, in a single year, relinquished to the Institute a surplus of £190, advanced £500 of his own money towards a loan that was required (for his own establishment, be it remembered), presented to the library 500 volumes of books, worth £300; given £50 to the misguided person who undertook the "club department" (we suppose this means the eating and drinking department, though, as Mr. BUCKINGHAM is a teetotaller, we do not see how he could aid at the opening of a tavern); purchased and paid for out of his own funds a grand pianoforte, the cost being £150; bought a picture, for the benefit of the Insti tute, for which he paid £200, and further had given the use of sundry other ornaments, purchased and paid for by himself; the whole of these acts of liberality, together with "incidental expenses inseparable from" Mr. BUCKINGHAM'S "position of resident director," involving, according to the estimate of the speaker, the sacrifice of a sum exceeding £1,000. We could not but be delighted to find the "resident director's" circumstances so flourishing (for we wish him no harm); but reading on, we came to a statement by a noble and learned subscriber, to the effect that in a given year, Mr. BUCKINGHAM's emoluments amounted to no more than £4. 19s. 3d.; the statement very naturally concluding with a proposal to put the begging-box again in requisition, and invite each member of the club to subscribe an additional guinea for the benefit of Mr. BUCKINGHAM. Oh day and night, but this is wondrous strange ! Here is a man with an income of £4. 19s. 3d. per annum, giving away in one year money and property to the amount of £1,000. This beats all to nothing the well-known results. of military economy : How happy the soldier who lives on his pay, He spends half-a-crown out of sixpence a day. Mr. BUCKINGHAM must be a first-rate manager, and if he conducts the affairs of the club as well as he does his own, it ought to prosper. By the way, we remember, that on some pretence or other (we do not distinctly recollect what), Mr. BUCKINGHAM some time since addressed a circular to the booksellers, begging copies of their publications for the use of the British and Foreign Institute. We should like to know whether the books thus procured were those which he claims the merit of giving to the establish ment. And so from the irreconcileable statements contained in Mr. BUCKINGHAM's pamphlet we feel it impossible to determine what his circumstances are. One thing, however, is certain; if the club fail, we shall have more begging on behalf of its resident director. The gallant ship which was to bear a select party round the world has, we suppose, foundered, for we have not heard of it for a long time. The Mr. Mr. What must come next. Another subscription. BUCKINGHAM must live so say his friends; and though his enemies might retort like the cynical Frenchman, Sir, I see no necessity for it," we hold such an answer to be inhuman. We would not so deal with Mr. BUCKINGHAM'S necessities, if he be necessitous. We would willingly subscribe a trifle to aid in providing him with a couple of decent rooms in some cheap neighbourhood, and a daily chop. It may be fitting that he should have a home, but why must he have two mansions in George Street, Hanover Square, therein to walk about and disport himself, evening by evening, in silk stockings and embroidered waistcoat, amid blue spinsters and French grey dowagers, gilt chandeliers, foreign savans of the sixth rate, shining looking-glasses, or-molu and pasteboard finery, while the dawn of each day enables him to look from his own windows on those of the Lord Chancellor. There was nothing in the early circumstances of Mr. BUCKINGHAM's life that promised such magnificence; there has been nothing in his career to entitle him to enjoy it. How many better and incomparably abler men are now struggling with difficulties and pining in want! How many, after a life of suffering, await the approach of the great enemy under circumstances Where all that's wretched paves the way to death. We do not know whether such thoughts ever occur to the members of the British and Foreign Institute; but if they do not, we may claim some credit for suggesting them. Mr. BUCKINGHAM was anxious that his "Appeal" and "Address" should obtain notice from the press. We hope we have gratified him. But, after all, we will not give up Punch. One more remark and we have done. The profits of Mr. BUCKINGHAM'S appeal are promised to the Society for the Relief of Foreigners in Distress. When the accounts are made up, we should like to see the balance-sheet, to enable us to ascertain to what extent the funds of the society are likely to be benefited. ATTACK ON THE BORNEO PIRATES. Despatches have been received at this office from RearAdmiral Sir T. Cochrane, C. B., commander-in-chief of her Majesty's ships and vessels on the East-India station, of which the following are copies or extracts :— . Agincourt, off Pulo Luboan, coast of Borneo, Aug. 13, 1845. Sir, I arrived off the river Bruné (Borneo Proper), on the 6th inst. If their lordships will be good enough to refer to a paragraph towards the conclusion of the memorandum addressed to me by Mr. Brooke, under date the 3rd of July, 1845, they will find a statement of two natives of India having been detained as slaves in the capita! itself for two years, continuing under captivity in the presence of the British men-of-war, and from which slavery they made their escape on board the Hon. East-India Company's steam vessel Phlegethon, on her last visit there, only a few weeks since. Under such a glaring disregard of the understanding entered into with the Sultan in respect to slavery, I felt, in conjunction with Mr. Brooke, that it would not be right to permit this trans to pass without, in the first instance, holding the Sultan 73wuse źl pse seific viegl responsible for it, and Paugerau Bedurudeen having stated that Paugerau Usop was the real offender, every thing should be kept quiet until my arrival at the capital. On the following day I went with the steamers to visit this singular capital,-or what is called a city,-being' a 'miserable collection of bamboo houses, elevated upon piles, surrounded by water, except at low tide, when under many of them you perceive the bare mud; the poverty of the buildings being singularly and inexplicably contrasted with the manners, dresses, and deportment of the higher orders. I visited the Sultan with all due ceremony, and, by previous understanding with the Rajah Muda Hassein and his brother Bedurudeen, the visit was entirely complimentary; but, after my departure on the same evening, and the following morning, Mr. Brooke had several meetings with those persons. The Sultan stated he was quite ready to punish Paugerau Usop, if I would afford my assistance in accomplishing it. It appeared that Usop (I suppose from conscious guilt) concluded he was the object sought, and had, on the day of my visit, told the Sultan that, if called on to answer on the score of piracy, he, would defend himself to the last.° In answer to my address to the Sultan, I received the accompanying documents (Nos. 2 and 3), one calling for assistance, the other for personal protection. A subaltern's guard was accordingly sent to the Sultan's residence, and it was settled, through Mr. Brooke, that the Sultan should call on Usop to present himself before him unarmed, to answer for his conduct, and if he did not do so, his residence was to be attacked. The Sultan's commands were accordingly conveyed to him, which not having been replied to within a given time, a shot was fired over his house, to which he promptly replied by a salvo from his battery, when a fire in earnest was opened upon him, and a few minutes sent him and his adherents off to the woods, and the marines landed and took possession of his house, where, among other things, 20 handsome brass guns of various calibre were found, and 150 half-barrels of gunpowder. The guns the Sultan requested me to keep; but reserving two of the smallest for the purpose of sale, to produce funds to re munerate the two natives (now serving on board the Pluto) for their four years' captivity, I sent the remainder to the Sultan, with a message, through Mr. Brooke, to say that we never accepted any remuneration for the protection of friends who were disposed faithfully to carry out the engagements they had entered into. I learn from Mr. Brooke, who has been in communication with Muda Hassien and his brother since the flight of Usop and destruction of his property, that the occurrence has given great confidence to the well-disposed party, and that it will equally depress Usop's adherents in the town, of whom there were not a few; and I look for a double result from his punishment, namely, that while it assures the legitimate government of all proper support, they will equally perceive the rod that bangs over them should they be found wanting in their own conduct. I have, &c., THOS. COCHRANE, Rear-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief. To the Secretary of the Admiralty, London. Agincourt, at sea, in lat. 8° 14' N., long. 116° 43′ E. Aug. 26, 1845. Sir,-Following out the intentions referred to in my despatch from Laboan (No. 142), of the 13th of August, I left my anchorage on the 15th inst., and reached the northern end of Borneo on the 17th. Having heard from various sources that Seriff Housman had, for the last twelvemonth, been making preparations against a probable attack, that he had strongly fortified one of the branches of a river in Malloodoo Bay, and was of a character and supported by resolute adherents not likely to yield without a sharp struggle, I made corresponding arrangements for attack, and having anchored the Agincourt and frigates in a safe position in the hitherto little-known fine bay of Malloodoo, I hoisted my flag on board the Viren steam-sloop, and, attended by the Cruizer and Wolverine brigs, and the Hon. East-India Company's steam vessels Pluto and Nemesis, proceeded to the head of the bay. carrying deep water until within a couple of miles of the river's mouth, when the Vixen and brigs were obliged to anchor, and not far within them the Pluto, drawing only six feet, grounded on the bar. It being hopeless to attempt to make a further progress in these small vessels, I directed Capt. Talbot, assisted by Acting. Capt. Lyster, and Commanders Fanshawe and Clifford, to take command of the gun and other boats of the squadron, filled with as many marines and small arin men as they could with propriety carry, and proceed up that branch of the Malloodoo stated by IA the pilots to be in the occupation of Seriff Housman; and, should their statements prove correct, to ascertain as far as possible the strength of his position and amount of force, either attacking the Seriff on his refusal to surrender, should he feel equal to the enterprise, or falling back to some suitable position, while he communicated with me in the event of his not considering his force sufficient to guarantee success. The accompanying letter and report from Capt. Talbot will convey to their lordships a gratifying narration of his success, and prove the soundness of my judgment in selecting this officer for the important duty confided to him. Their lordships will not fail to unite with me in deep regret at the heavy loss we have incurred; but when the great strength of the position is referred to, and that the force was for one hour exposed to the steadily-sustained fire of eleven heavy guns, within little more than 200 yards of our own position, it is rather astonishing than otherwise, and a source of thankfulness, the casualties were not more numerous. Their lordships will not fail to notice the valorous conduct of Acting- Capt. Lyster, and those immediately under him, upon this occasion; who, undaunted by the fire with which they were assailed, steadily worked at a remarkably well-constructed boom for above an hour before he could effect an opening, and on the success of whose exertions mainly depended the advance of the force, who, in ignorance of any other manner of approaching the forts than by the river, could not be brought forward until this object was accomplished; and while I feel persuaded their lordships will be fully alive to such meritorious conduct, I deeply lament that death has removed from their lordship's power, of reward that promising young officer, Mr. Leonard Gibbard, mate of the Wolverine, who bravely worked by Capt. Lyster's side. The wound he received on that occasion having, unfortu nately for his country and his friends, proved fatal on the following day. I sent up the same evening a small detachment of gun-boats, under Commander Giffard, to burn such prahues and boats, and parts of the forts or town, as might have remained not completely destroyed, and to render unserviceable any iron guns, and to bring down with him any brass ordnance that might be there. Two or three chiefs are known to have fallen on the present occasion, and there is every reason to believe that Seriff Housman, so formidable to all the neighbouring country, and whose valour was worthy of a better cause, is among the number slain; at least, I have certain information that he was carried off badly wounded; but, whether dead or living, I consider his influence to be entirely annihilated, and his confederacy with various pira tical chiefs in the Archipelago broken up, for his power as much depended upon his being the encourager of other piratical tribes, and their supplier with goods in exchange for slaves, as in the force naturally at his command. I may add that, among many. other articles of European workmanship, a bell belonging to the ship Guilbelen Ludwig, of Bremen, was found in the town. This vessel was supposed to have been wrecked on the Garsi Isles, about October or November last, but nothing has been heard of the crew. I have, &c., The force, consisting of 530 seamen and marines (the detail of which I annex), conveyed in twenty-four boats, of which nine were gun-boats, left the Vixen at 3 r.M. on the 18th inst., and, after some little difficulty in hitting on the channel, was anchored off the mouth of the Sonoy-basar a little after sunset. Here we were joined by a boat from the Pluto, carrying the Agincourt's field piece. The tide serving, about 11 r.m. we weighed, and passing the bar, anchored within it. At daylight on the 10th we proceeded up the river in two divisions. After proceeding about two miles, I was informed by the Bruné pilots we were nearing the town; I therefore went ahead with Capt. Lyster to reconnoitre. On coming to an abrupt turn in the river, about three miles higher, we found ourselves suddenly in front of the position, which consisted of two stockaded forts, of eight and three guns each, commanding the reach. About 200 hundred yards below the fort was a boom across the river, apparently well constructed. The forts appeared to us to stand on a tongue of land, from which we were separated by the river, which at that point divided into two branches, and the pilots declared such to be the case: that turning to the right we observed was still further defended by a floating battery. There appeared, therefore, to be no means of carrying the position but by forcing the boom. On rejoining the force, arrangements were made for the gunboats to advance to the boom, to cover the party appointed to cut through it; the remainder of the force to hold themselves to act when ordered. We had approached the boom to within 100 yards, when a flag of truce was observed to be coming towards us. Conceiving the object of the enemy was merely to gain time, I sent back a message, that unless Seriff Housman came to me in half an hour, I should open fire." This being conveyed to the fort, the flag returned with an offer to admit me with two boats, that I might visit the Seriff. I declined, and the flag retired. The moment it was clear of the line of fire, the three-gun battery opened, and the cannonade became general on both sides. The boom was composed of two large-sided trees, each sup-1 porting a chain cable equal to ten or twelve inches, firmly bolted and secured round the trunk of a tree on each bank. A cut in the right bank allowed a canoe to pass, but was impassable to any of our boats. One hour nearly elapsed before we could in any way remove the obstacle, during which time the fire of the enemy was well sustained, all the guns being laid for the boom. I need hardly 'mention it was briskly returned from our side, both from guns i and small arms; and some rockets, well thrown by a party. which had been landed on the right bank, appeared to produce considerable effect. As soon as the passage was open for the smaller boats, they passed through rapidly, and embarked the marines from the large boats across the boom; ultimately, the whole force passed through. The enemy immediately quitted their defences, and fled in every direction. The marines and small-arm men having cleared the town, the marines were formed as a covering party, and parties of seamen were pushed up both banks of the river, but met with no opposition; at the same time, preparations were made for spiking the guns and destroying the stockades and town; in a short time these were completed, and the whole in flames, as well as three large proahs, and several smaller ones. Being anxious to save the tide, and conceiving that the object contemplated by your Excellency was accomplished, I ordered the force to be re-embarked, and proceeded down the river to the Vixen. When your Excellency considers the strength of the enemy's position, and the obvious state of preparation in which we found him, you will be prepared to learn that this service has not been performed without considerable loss. I regret very much to state it at 6 killed and 15 wounded. The loss on the part of the enemy was, unquestionably, very great, but the surrounding jungle afforded the enemy the means of carrying away their dead, according to their custom in such cases. Nevertheless, some of those left on the field we recognized as persons of considerable influence. Whilst I record my admiration of the gallantry and steadiness of the whole force under a galling fire, sustained for a long period. I must particularly mention Capt. Lyster, who directed his attention to the boom, and by whose personal exertions that obstacle was overcome. Mr. Gibbard, mate of her Majesty's ship Wolverine, was, I grieve to say, mortally wounded by an early shot, when gallantly working at the boom with an axe. I beg leave to point out to your Excellency the conduct of Mr. Williamson, the Malay interpreter to Mr. Brooke. He was with me during the attack, and was exposed to the whole of the fire... I have, &c., CHARLES TALBOT, Captain. I |