17 MAY 1879, Page 2

The latest telegram from Bombay (May 14th) does not read

pleasantly to Anglo-Indians, but it may be less ominous than it appears. It is stated through Reuter that gang robbery is. very rife in the neighbourhood of Poonah, and that on May 13th a great conflagration, supposed to be the work of incendiaries,. broke out there. The fire destroyed the Peishwah's Palace, the- Government School, all the Courts of Law, the Post-office, and Police-office, and about 50 private houses, presumably those of Europeans. The buildings mentioned must be pretty widely scattered, and the story looks as if incendiaries had attacked all the Government establishments. That would signify mischief brewing among the Mahrattas, or at all events extreme dis- content, Poonah being their capital, but it is to be noted that the- country house, maintained by the Governor of Bombay at Poonah, escaped.