Particulars of the discovery of a large depot of arms
and military stores in the tbrtress of the Nuwaub of Kurnoul, in the Deccan, are given in a subsequent page. The Nuwaub was suspected of' conspiracy with the other Native Princes of India against the British Government, and a considerable force marched front Madras to take posession of his territory. They met with no resistance ; the Nuwaub having been carried off by his own troops, as a sort of pledge tbr the payment of arrears due to them. It was in the Zeman' at Kurnottl that the discovery of arms was made. As it was impossible that the territory of Kurnoul could have furnished men for the immense quantity of cannon, muskets, and other warlike materiel, the conclusion is that they were stored up for the service of a combined army of enemies to the English sway in India. The hZooiC'hronic/e, in an article of official aspect, endeavoured to make light of this afthir, and dwelt upon the irresistible power of England, and the probable necessity of subduing Nepaul and Burma!' as well as Afghanistan. If such designs are entertained at the Board of Control or the India House, there is ample occasion for more attention to Indian affitirs than they have lately received from Parliament and the Country.
The expedition into Afghanistan, though crowned with apparent success, is not likely, we fear, to consolidate the British empire in Asia. :Many obvious reasons may be advanced for this opinion, but at present we allude more particularly to the cruelties com- mitted on the Afghans by Sir JOHN KEANE, or with his sanction. The substance of a private letter from an eye-witness of' these atro- xities has Leen communicated to us. " The day after the capture of Ghuznee, on the plea that the British bad been fired upon from a house during the storm, after some of the inmates had cried Amaun,' a native 'chief of rank, and connected with the family on the throne, by name Wan Mohammed, was sent for by the Commander-in-Chief, and ordered by him to be taken outside the lines and shot. "The day before the assault on Gbuznee, 'about 3,000 of the native moans taineers attempted an attack on the invaders to aid the garrison. They were repulsed, and sixty-five were taken prisoners. The Agra Gazette says only twenty-five, but there is good authority for the larger number. The prisoners were taken before Shah Soojah ; and one of them, quite desperate, declared him an usurper, an infidel, and an ally of infidels ; and when one of the errs vents attempted to stop him, he drew a dagger and struck the servant dead. That this man should have been sacrificed, was to be expected; but what did the King ? He ordered the whole sixty-five to be immediately beheaded ; nad as there were not sixty-five skilled executioners, there was a horrible scene of tying legs and arms, and butchering seriatim the wriggling and twisting vic- tims. And this is the wretch whom the British Government have inflicted again upon the Afghans, who once drove him with curses out of their countiy. It is needless to say that such an ally can only bring odium on the Britidi name."
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