s towards Candahar; and
is believed, as mentioned above, to be soliciting the aid of the
Barukzye chiefs of that city. It is not impossible that he may erelong
give us more trouble, as he will be assured of support from all the
Affghan and Belooch tribes in his rear, who would gladly embrace the
opportunity of striking a covert blow against the Feringhis; while the
fidelity of the only Belooch chief who still retains his possessions in
Scinde, Ali Moorad of Khyrpoor, is said to be at least doubtful. For the
present, however, the British may be considered to be in undisturbed
military possession of Scinde; and commerce is beginning to revive on
the Indus, under the protection of the armed steamers which navigate it.
But the great drawback to the value of this new acquisition is the
extreme unhealthiness of the climate from the great heat, combined with
the malaria generated by the vast alluvial deposits of the river; the
effects of which have been so deleterious, that of 9870 men, the total
force of the Bombay troops under Sir Charles Napier's command, not fewer
than 2890, at the date of the January letters, were unfit for duty from
sickness; and apprehensions were even entertained of a design on the
part of the sirdars of Candahar, in conjunction with Shere Mohammed, to
take advantage of the weakness of the garrison of Shikarpoor from
disease, to plunder the town by a sudden foray. There is, indeed, a
Hindostani proverb on this point, expressed in tolerably forcible
language--"If Scinde had previously existed, why should Allah have
created hell?" and so strong is this feeling among the sepoys, that of
the Bengal and Madras regiments lately ordered to relieve those
returning from Scinde, one (the Bengal 64th) absolutely refused to
march, and has been sent down to Benares to await an investigation; and
formidable symptoms of mutiny have appeared in several others. The
Bombay troops, however, who are proud of the conquest effected by their
own arms, are so far from sharing in this reluctance, that one regiment
has even volunteered for the service; and a report is prevalent, that it
is in contemplation to increase the strength of the Bombay army by
raising twelve or fourteen new regiments--so as to enable them to hold
Scinde without too much weakening the home establishment, or drawing
troops from the other presidencies.

The court of Lahore has lately been the scene of a tragedy, or rather
succession of tragedies, in which