27 JANUARY 1849, Page 5

gortign anti eolonial.

FEINCE.—The election of the French Vice-President terminated in fa- vour of M. Boulay (de is Meurthe). The numbers were—

M. Boulay 417 M. Vivien 277 M. Baraguay d'Ililliers 37 The ceremony of swearing in M. Boulay was immediately performed, without incident of mark; and M. Boulay made a brief speech of modest thanks, attributing his election solely to his known friendship with the President Bonaparte.

The agitation for the dissolution of the Assembly continues. Petitions on the subject are presented daily. On Wednesday, prominence was given to some of those presentations by an attempt made to stop the practice of reading the substance of the petitions presented. Some emphatic debating occurred. M. Marrast, as President, stated his opinion against the right to make any statement; but M. de Mornay braved this opinion and acted in opposition to it, amidst the applause of the Right. M. Marrast did not ap- peal to the Assembly in support of his decision.

Some uneasiness is felt in Paris as to the stability of the Ministry; and lists of new Ministries are handed about. M. Billault and M. Bugeaud figure in most of these as Home and War Ministers. M. Bugeaud is said to have consented to a reduction of the army to 376,000 men. The Constilutionnel declares that the Republican party has so compro- mised the relations of France, that a reduction of the army has become im- possible. "It behoves the honour and interests of France," says the jour- nal, "that our armies should remain on the footing of observation." A letter from St. Etienne of the 20th instant states that the manufacturers of fire-arms in that town have received orders to prepare 400,000 muskets of the first quality, to be delivered as quickly as possible.

INDIA.—The following extracts from letters which have been published by the Times since the appearance of the regular India mail news last Sa- turday, give a most graphic and spirited account of the fight of Ramnuggur, and serve also to correct the too favourable impression as to the skill and foresight of our commanders which the official despatches convey to the read- er. The position of the enemy's camp is made intelligible for the first time— "The Sikhs, to the number of 30,000 men, occupied the right bank of the Chenab, where they had a strong intrenched camp with several batteries erected. A little to the right front of Ramnuggur the river formed a bend ; in it was an island containing a couple of acres of ground,,and between that and the left bank the water was about thirty yards wide, with a precipitous fall from the left bank of from four to six feet before you got into its bed, which was in some parts four feet deep. This part is called the nullah, as the main branch of the river is on the right of the island; it is as nearly as possible in front of the centre of the Sikh position. On it were about 4,000 men and a battery of six guns, while the ap- proach to it was slept by a cross fire from two batteries on the mainland." The conflict commenced thus— "Knowing nothing of this position, and deeming the nullah the river, the Fourteenth when ordered to charge, galloped on to the enemy's cavalry; who retired through the nullah on to the island, while the enemy's batteries opened their fire, and their infantry on the island poured in their vollies. Colonel .velock, cheer- ing, led on the First and Second squadrons of the Fourteenth down to the bank, then into the nullah; crossed it at a gallop, and sabred hundreds of the enemy Under the most frightful shower of missiles from their cannon and matchlocks. They then retired a short distance, formed up, were joined by the other squadrons and the Fifth Cavalry, who had crossed a little higher up, and charged again. In this, the second charge Colonel Havelock met his death, it was supposed, for he Was not seen or heard of after. Many had fallen by this time' and more were falling, when they again retired, formed up, and charged under the command of Colonel King, for the third and last time."

At this point General Cureton rode up with orders to retire-

" The Commander-in-chief having cleared the left bank of the enemy, did not wish for more. While he was giving the order to retire, a matchlock-ball struck General Cureton in the throat, and another in the forehead; and thus fell this glorious man, the finest cavalry officer of the day, at the head of that regiment in Which, as a private soldier, under the assumed name of Roberts, he had commenced his career, and out of which he received his first commission. The Fourteenth then retired in order, formed up, and the roll was called; when forty-five men of the Fourteenth were found missing, and about fifty horses. Of the missing men, fourteen were killed, the remainder wounded. One of the killed, Sergeant Todd, had his head taken off by a round shot. Colonel Havelock has not yet been found. The last seen of him was in the second charge, while he was crossing the nullak. His orderly states that both the Colonel and his horse fell wounded or killed, that he was hurried on, and did not see him after. About twelve of the Fifth Cavalry suffered, lam told; and one of the first round shot fired at the charging regiments took off the arm of Colonel Alexander, who commanded them." "Nothing could exceed the accuracy of the enemy's fire; their range was beau- tifully taken for certain points, showing that they must have discovered them previous to our advance; and our artillery officers say they never saw anything finer than the way their horse artillery were brought up to the edge of the river, and formed up. No nation could exceed them in the rapidity of their fire. It is said that a Frenchman, late an officer in the Maharajah Runjeet Singh's service, and aide-de-camp to General Avitabile, named L'Enfant, commands them. No men could act more bravely than the Sikhs. They faced us the moment we came on them, firing all the time; and, when we did come on them, some opened out and immediately after closed round us, while others threw themselves on their faces or turned their backs, protected by a shield from the stroke of the dragoon sabre, and the moment that was given, turned round, hamstrung the horse and shot the rider; while their individual acts of bravery were the admiration Of all: many stood before a charging squadron, and singled out a man, after killing or wounding whom they themselves were cut down immediately ; while many, be- fore their blows could take effect, received the point of a sabre, and fell in the act of making a cut."

Some deeds of personal prowess are described-

" Amongst our officers Captain Gall's personal courage was most conspicuous. He took single-handed one of the enemy's standards; but before he could get as- sistance' he was knocked over, and his right hand nearly severed from his body: some of his men, however, rushed to his rescue, and saved him from receiving a mortal wound, though they could not again recover the standard which he so hardly fought and suffered for.

"After Captain Gall was knocked over, a young cornet, named Durham Blythe, rode at the head of the troop, and while charging saw Lieutenant Macmahon fall wounded a little way off, and a Sikh rushing forward to kill him. Cornet Blythe galloped forward, gave point, and sent his blade clean through the Sikh on three different occasions. Afterwards he rushed out from his troop, and each time, in single combat, killed his man. Many private soldiers performed wonders; but I must not omit to mention, that after Captain Fitzgerald fell, Captain Wilmer's troop was passing on their return, when they saw he was alive; Captain Wilmer, with four troopers, dismounted and succeeded in bringing him in under the most frightful fire. All agree in one thing, that, however nobly the Fourteenth gained them laurels in the Peninsula, no charge they ever maae ,could surpass this in gallantry ; and yet not more than four or five of the officers and men had ever been under fire previously. It is impossible to say what loss the enemy sustained; but had the Fourteenth not been broken by jumping into the nullah, more than half the regiment must have been destroyed, so severe was the fire, as all the shot had they charged in close order would have taken effect."

NEW ZEALAND.—H. M. S. Dido, arrived at Portsmouth on Tuesday, having made the shortest passage ever known from Auckland—eighty-one days. The advices come down to the 4th November. At that time the colony enjoyed perfect tranquillity.

The only fact of interest is a sad one. Colonel Wakefield, the Com- pany's principal Agent at Wellington, and founder of the settlement, died at that place, of apoplexy, on the 19th September; and was buried on the 22d, with the fullest military honours the colony could provide. The Go- vernor Lieutenant-Governor, Commandants of the troops, and Captains of the squadron, followed the corpse to the grave. Mr. Fox, an officer of high standing in the Company's employ, had succeeded Colonel Wakefield in the temporary management.

WESTERN AFRIOL—AOCOUnts from the West coast of Africa state that the slave-trade is carried on with a renewed activity beyond all former times; despite the more vigilant and efficient Navy service against it and the greater frequency of captures. The trade is increasing, more particu- larly on the Northern part of the coast; the Pongas, Nunez, Gallinas, and Cape Mount rivers, are said to swarm with slavers. Mr. Theodore Canot, a celebrated slave-dealer, has reappeared on the coast, and has several esta- blishments on the Gallinas river; and accounts received there in Novem- ber stated that fourteen slavers would shortly arrive from Ilavanah. The new Governor of the Portuguese possessions had entered on his office at Loanda; and his probable perquisites, as favourable to the trade, were pub- licly canvassed. The Morning Chronicle reiterates in stronger terms a shocking statement which it made some time back, and which had been treated as incredible- " We stated some months since, as an instance of the evils and barbarities to which the slaves were subject by our mode of attempted suppression of the deal- ing and shipment, that the Dolphin, in chasing a vessel, had fired so many shots to bring her to, that much destruction of life hadbeen the consequence, and that when boarded the prize presented a most sanguinary picture to civilized eyes- six headless trunks of slaves presenting themselves as the result of the chase, besides the mangled limbs of numbers of others. We have made earnest and searching investigation into the statement in question' on the arrival of nearly every vessel from Western Africa since, and have now the opportunity afforded us of stating that the information we received in the first instance was considerably under rather than over the truth: nine slaves were beheaded by the Dolphin's shot, and nearly sixty. killed and wounded in other ways on the same occasion, out of the cargo then m the slaver of 530. We are enabled to contradict a rumour which came to England by the last packet, that 600 slaves had been butchered at Pal- mas by the dealer, who could not ship them."

THE WEST INDIES.—The Teviot mail-steamer arrived at Southampton on Thurday, several days over-due. She was detained at Havannah to the 30th December, by new quarantine regulations, established in fear of Eng- lish cholera and American yellow fever, which prolonged to seven days her coaling operations.

The news from Jamaica extends to the 22d December, and is interest- ing. The differences between the Governor and the Assembly have been aggravated by a singular and untoward circumstance. The House lately passed an Import-duties Bill which was to remain in force only till the 15th of February 1849. "This bill," says a local paper, "was on the 20th December engrossed and sent to the Council. On its arrival in that Cham- ber, however, it was discovered that, in engrossing the bill, the 31st De- cember 1849 had been substituted (by what means we are yet ignorant) for the 15th February 1849. The Council, with singular haste, passed the bill through three readings in the course of one sitting." The same authority states that the Governor intends to withhold his assent to the bill, "in order that it may continue in force only till the time actually specified by the Assembly." Other accounts say, on the contrary, that the Governor intended to take advantage of the circumstance; and that the

House of Assembly, in a private meeting, had pledged itself to hold no sit- ting till the error had been repaired. The dates from Barbados are to the 29th December. The Assembly there has declined any share of the loan proffered by the Imperial Legis- lature, for similar reasons to those given by Jamaica.

THE UNITED STATES.—The Europa arrived at Liverpool on Monday, With papers from New York to the 10th instant. The Europa brings back ratified the postal treaty agreed between the British and American authorities in London. The following is a tabular summary of the new rates of postage-

1. Direct Postage— Cents. Tile postage across the sea is fixed at 16 The English inland postage 3 The United States inland postage 5 The sea postage to be paid to the vessel performing the service.

2. Transit Service— Transit postage through this country to the Canadas 5 And 25 per cent thereon for paying by the ounce Instead of paying by the letter.

Transit rate through England, the inland postage of 3 And 25 per cent thereon for paying by the ounce as above, &c.

3. Transit through Canada— The Canada rates.

4. Newspapers and periodicals between the roiled States and England—

Each newspaper (Id.) or 2 Periodicals, Inc. weighing 2 oz. (Id.) or 2

Periodicals, Ste. over 2 and under 3 oz (6d.) or 12 Periodicals, Inc. over 3 and under 4 oz (8d.) or 16

And 2d. additional for every ounce or fraction of an ounce.

Letters from California state that further discoveries had been made in the gold region, which yield even a more abundant supply than the pre- vious diggings.

"A person lately returned from the 'diggings' states that cattle were plentiful in the country, vegetables generally scarce, and very little fruit. There was a considerable quantity of flour at Sutter's Fort, and large quantities were pour- ing in. He also says that he has read no account that at all ex- aggerates either the quantity or quality of the gold. He further states that gold is found in dry ravines as well as those covered with water. Persons who collect with any kind of system amass three times the quantity of dust and ore as those who go digging anywhere do. A party of some twenty or thirty were exploring a dry ravine that led to a mountain supposed to be rich with the precious ore; when near its base, they came suddenly upon a spot which glittered with gold dust and ore, caused by the washings from the mountains. In an instant every man threw himself upon the ground where lay scattered the treasure, and sprawling out his arms and legs, claimed a right to that portion of the earth. The title was regarded by each as good, and the ave- rage yield in a short time was upwards of 300 dollars. A party of Mormons had collected large quantities of gold in the neighbourhood of the Salt Lake; while on a journey one of them lost a mule with 1,280 dollars worth of gold on its back. The animal being frightened ran off in the midst of a vast plain, and was irre- trievably lost. There was a great amount of distress among the diggers, from Use want of the common necessaries of life, and attended with very extensive sickness and mortality. Men loaded with gold appeared like haggard vagabonds, olothed in filthy garments of the meanest kind. A man who had two barrels of brandy sold them at the mines by the small wine-glass at rates which realized him 14,000 dollars in gold. Daily additions are being made to the numbers em- ployed in digging. No portion of the vast flood of emigration from the United States had arrived."

In the Shipping List of New York we count the names of fifty-one ships en- tered outwards for San Francisco: the names most numerous in the owners' co- lumn being those of Hamden and Co., Hot/Mint and Co., and Kimball and Co. Twenty-nine vessels are advertised from other ports in the States.