INDIA.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1958, 17 September 1863, Page 4

INDIA.

\' [ CAPTURE OF NANA SAHIB. . .„, [From the Times of India.'] •Underneath we give, from our own correspondent, the particulars of the capture ofthe Nana .at Aj mere, near the miliiary cantonment of Nusseeiabad. It appears lie has been skulking in the Raj pootan States during the last four months, while we have been supposing him hidden in the wilds of Nepaul. We believe the first 'intimation of his presence in this part of India', arose" from some information supplied to Captain Nuttall, at Sholapoor, when it seems the Bombay police were put on the track. However tbis may be, one of these police was present at the capture. There can be little doubt that the rnaa was very recently in the neighbourhood of Pdona and Sholapoor, and, as far as our information extends, no doubt exists as to his being the real Nana of Bithoor. We are not so certain of the rumour that Tantia Topee has been- captured with him. Such, however, is re- *• ported' to be ttje case; the man who formerly •sstißered death as- Tantia Topee not being, it is -} allfegedi that leader at all. It is certain that a ' considerable gang have been captured at Ajmere, ' 'The Naiia, we are told, will be sent to Bombay under a strong guard of Europeans, and conveyed from this city for trial to Calcutta or , .. iCawnppre. -Trie detachment will be under the ■,i .comma,nd of an officer of rank, and be composed . oJf.picked. officers. and men. ■vi\\ M§ince : w.riting,the above, we have heard that ; a jemedar.oj'the.Sth Regiment, N.1. , in comwpanj.withiwoßoinbay policemen^traced a companion ofthe Nana from the Deccari to Bika- , neer : ; that tbe Nana was there found residing .. as a-guest of the Bikarieer Rajab ; that he was ; . allowed t'e depart thence to Almere and there '' denounced, bis trackers having joined him on .tjbe road,' and introduced themselves as agents , 'Jrpm ; bnfe .of the' neighbouring durbars. It is said '_ '-the prisoner has no want of funds, having seve- '. , J jraipacs o|f rupees at his command, an incidental '^corrobbratidn of his identity; The Nana, it appears, was captured while at tv his devotion in a Hindoo temple in Ajmere: ' s i The manner in. which this was. affected . was ?■;: through the agency of two natives, who, it is i. «.i reported,.. were , deported to Nepaul for that *. purpose by, Mr Forjett, of the Bombay police. '•• After having discovered him they followed him : ifrom-place to place (and, some say, were even, , in his confidence) until they arrived at Ajmere < ./(the tirst European Station), where they imrnes > diately informed the Commissioner, Major Da•v. \idson, of the fact, and on orders being issued, /j the police and some, twenty men of tbe detach- : .^ment oi the 28th Regiment made him a pri- , eoner. The Nana. has been recognised as the sreaJ.Nana, by'the. Commissioner and the Briga- , ; : dier, both of whom saw him before. ,'V. '"""'". "Nusseerabad, June 26, *...- , ."I send you a piece of news, which will af- ,>,' ibrd unmitigated pleasure to "all your readers- : j TJie infamous "Nana Sahib" is a prisoner at Ajmere ' , , '"■ On th.c night of the 22nd, Major Davidson, the Commissioner, Captain Glegson, Lieut. ; Brodigan, commanding tbe detachment of H.M. .28th, Regiment, and Sergeant Dalton, of that ? .. corps,, proceeded' tp<a temple at Ajmere, and - suddenly entered. Lieutenant Brodigan seized ... the, first man. he met; it proved to be the S ; b yNapal . Two others were, with him They are j no* prisoners in the Fort, under a guard of s JELM. 28th Eegiment. > , ''.The story, as I hear it, is this : The party . ..consisted offive. . Two are said to be spies, who were ser.t by your 1 Mr Forjejtt from Bombay, c . two months ago,and who have steadily stuck to man ever since, but never bad. the oppor- . ; } tunity of being near an English station till now. ;The other two are said to be menials who knew ;. aothifig. of whom they were attending. At first it was intended to sunound the temple with - troopsj.but it was feared that any move might ;■ ; create alarm, and too much praise cannot be .given to the small and gallant band that executed their work so boldly and so well ; and it :i will.be a # proud thought fo Lieutenant Brodigan, s,;.whilst/rneinory. lives, that his was the avenging ,hand fated to lay hold of this fiend in human shape. j..,.; f' l speak thus confidently, because I iinder- ;. t W.nd that, from 1 documents found, personal „.ma and. other ",modes of identity, |&ajor : .. Davidson, the Deputy Commissioner of Ajmere, , ; has i»o doubt that he has. the n'gh't man in tbe ; Vrtght place at last, and every feeling of human .."justice and retribiitioh must make 'atl earnestly hpne the sarjQe. f ;i . ;: .;. .There are various rumours afloat that the .; Jf ana's progress through native itates was a triumphal one, that he was conveyed on elet } phan^s, &.c, &e.j all. of which is more tkan : ,,,floubtfql when his object must have beenpri- ,; JAfiJ^ A later account from Ajmere states that one <tf the prisoners is thought to be a relative of the Nana's by name Nana Piinf, who coirr"^iriarfded 5,000 horse during the mutiny, and a . most bloodthirsty ruffian. , ■ . "The Nana, seems 'possessed of some 1 dr^y humour, as he remarked, it is said, that in executing Tan tia' ; Topee soriie time ago, a mis- ' take had been made,' and that the real T.T. ' 'was in the flesh arid remarkably well i and that .'. biitibr thisunforseen .occurrence of detention in. .jail,fhe ha<L looked forward to meeting his old ; .friend very shortly ! " . .• . - li ." Another ;coropany of H.M. 28th Regiment marched to Ajmere last night, to reinforce the detachment, there, so as to frustrate any at- . teinptatr a rescwe, should such he meditated. ' X t is said thatthe Brigadier commanding was ■ df opinion that the prisoner should be sent into ! j^a»ip fo» 'safe. 1 edstody; but apparently the ;/, p^flfhlicals prefer keeping him near them, and r. c ® rlainl y Y° one;ican be surprised at their being ■ "un.willing ! to part with sych a prize. .

■I . jl ..V' l '■ . ■ • ' ■■ . • '■ A PaoMisiNa Officek.— l am captain of / theDaldinsville Company. I riz gradully but ■^majestically from drummer's secretary to my :'* present position. But I found tbe ranks wasn't • fall by- no means, and commenced for to recroot. ' Havin notist a gineral desire onthepartof young m roen who are into the crisis to wear eppylits, I determined to have my company, composed eiclaosivelyof offissers, everybody to rank as bri- ■" gadeer-ginral. The follering was among the raris ■•" questions which were put to recroots- Do you know - ,-Ceppylit from a pwce of chalk ? If I trust you • ' ; with a real gun, how many men of jour own ■ L company do you speck jou can ■■ manage to kill ■•dlirin'ith&war? OHav you ever heard of Ginral • Price of Miss6d»i, and can you avoid similar 5 accidents in- case 0/ battle ? -Hay you ever had 1 he ifteasels j and, if so, how many ? How air you i .now ? - Show me your tongue, &c. , &c.,---Some of the questions were sarcusstical. ■ 3f ! . There is a deed on file in Caffibridge, Mass., which describes a piece of land as bounded by . i 'stumps and stones, where t)anicl HarriDtrton licked W.m. Smith.' An Inquirieg Mind;— A young fellow with a., an inquiring mind wishes to know whether the chase of a cat can be more appropriately called v Lai pursuit, than any other, especially when it is i well known not to suit to the cat •■' ' Adesparring swain* in a fit of desperation re- "? * ceritly declared to his unrelenting lady-love that was;his firm determination to drown himself 1 . or parish in the attempt. ,: . A few days since/ a town-crier took in charge f \ A lost fcbil'^arid proceeded to hunt up his parents. On being^sked by aylady what the matter was "' he replied, * Here's an orphan child, liua'ani ' ftad km trjiog to find his pAients.'

Running the Blockade. — Exciting Chase. — The following is an extract from a letter, dated March 27, received from one of the crew of the Confederate steamer Oornubia, a little steamer which has successfuly run the blockade at Wilmington six times : — " I will row give a few particulars about our narrow escape last trip. We made a fine run across from here, but were just two late for the tide, so we steamed out to sea again, aud lay to in a fog, so as to give the men a little rest. On the Ist March (a Sunday morning), about ten o'clock, the fog cleared, and there was a thundering big Yankee bearing down upon us. We just ! managed to get properly under weigh, when her I shot began to fall rather close to us. Away we went and she after us at full speed, keeping her grfeuhd for several hours, although each lime she fired we had gained on her, aud not one shot or shell hit us, we going serenteen to eighteen knots per hour. A fine wind was blowing, and as it freshened, she ' cracked' on her canvas, and, being to windward of us, we could not double her; and she then began to gain on us, until we had to throw cargo overboard to lighten the ship. 150 barrels of gunpowder went (I was glad to see it, for one of the Yankee's shells might have popped into it, and blown us all up), and then we went ahead again, and by dark had gained fifteen miles on her, and it was then that we ' gave her the slip,' and ran back for Wilmington. She chased us from ten o'clock antil seven, 150 miles away from the 1 bar. It was a splendid sight to see us flying through the water, with the Yankee after vs — her shells cracking and fizzing in the water. We did not get back to the place we started from until nine o'clock on Monday morning, all pretty well knocked up, and just toii late for the tide, and with only a few tons- of coal left. We could see twelve bleekaders lying off the port. It was then agreed we should leare the 6hip, and blow her up ; so, steaming into a nice little bay, we dropt anchor] got the boats out, and everythiug ready for a start. Such a scene! I cannot describe it, but hope some' day to relate it to you. We were only eight miles from the fleet, It was telegraphed up to Wilmington, 'The Cornubia is in . danger/ and the excitement became very great all through' ibe town. Then they sent us some heavy guns, and surf boats lo land- us in, as -a heavy surf ' runs alongthat coast; and the commander of .the fort sent word that he would protect us if we liked to risk it and run in. At four o'clock that afternoon we did risk it, and steamed slowly up the coast. When within five miles ofthe bar, the Yankees saw us. The whole fleet slipped their cables, and. came in aftei us. What excitement everywhere! I shall, never forgot it. They .opened fire on us just as we crossed the bar ; then the fort opened fire on them and kept them off till we .were safely in. Thousands were on the beach to welcome us, and greeted us with loud and hearty cheers as we steamed slowly up to Wilmington, where we met with a very warm reception, I assure you, and had a good night's rest. — 'Maritime Register. Artistic Mopes op Murdebob Suicide have a strange fascination. The 'Frenchman who stuffed his ear with gun-cotton, and blew out bis brains by applying the end of his calmly smoked cigar, doubtless conceived that he bad made an elegant use of Schonbein's invention. ,In ' Sept Generations d' Executeurs,' a work edited by M. Sanson, grandson of that exicuteur des hdutes peuvres who guillotined Louis XVI., a curious story is told of the exhibition of a plan of the guillotine to the doomed monarch. In the first sketch, the falling knife was hollowed to fit the neck. The King objected that the concavity might be too large for some necks, too small for others, Sanson cast an involuntary look at the royal neck, and said with a shudder that it was' unusually large. The , King took/ a pen, and altered the concave line in the plan to an oblique line, A strange story I this, A more recent lover of the guillotine has been living n?arCastellamare, which is deliciously situate on the south-east shore of the Bay of Naples. This gentleman — French of course — has been passing bis time, in constructing, , in the privacy of his rooms, a remarkably elegant guillotine. . Having succeeded to his satisfaction,' the next thing was to try it; and it appears to. have answered admirably, as, when bis door was forced on bis non-appearance, his head and body were found, one on each side of the apparatus. He was in good circumstances, and had with amiable forethought consoled his landlord for the annoyance by a legacy. The shade of Dr. Guillotine, w ho' in announcing to the National Assembly the greatinveution, exclaimed " With this machine I will cut off your head I in the twinkling of an eye and you will feel no i pain," will surely rush, to welcome tbe liberated spirit of his enthusiastic disciple to the regions of Erebus. — Mirror. A Tasmanian Heboine.— -A correspondent of the Cornwall Chsonicle gives the following narrative of a perilous adventure at George Town : —-" On . Wednesday morning,' 7 24 th June, the boarding boat, at Low Head, with a crew of r four men and a coxswain, proceeded out to sea and put' the senior pilot on board the brig Fawn, from London. There was a heavy cross sea, and the wind was blowing strong from the North West. After! the senior pilot was put on board :,tke brig,- the boat returning, was sailing in with a lugsail set, until she got to the Dodderel, a point just inside the . lighthouse, when there ; were three huge rolling seas. The boat weathered the first and the second, but was pitch' poled end over end by the third. The crew were immediately precipitated into the water, and the boat turned bottom up. The men with great difficulty managed lo get ou to the boat's \ bottom, but tite heavy seas would dash them off again time after time. The boat was in this position about one hour, and during tbe time a schooner passed aud hoisted a signal of distress, then a biig passed, aud then the biig Fawn passed with the senior pilot on board, without one single attempt to. relieve the unfortuuate men on the boat. Seeing which,, the men gave up all hopes of being succoured, as the boat was drifting with the ebb tide out to sea, and they were exhausted by the batlering of the heavy seas. Suddenly the boat turned over and righted, but was still under water, with the seas tolling over her. A boat was then seen coming out from the pilot station, manned by the men from the lighthouse and otheis, and steered by the telegraph opeiator, none of them used to pulling in seaway. The sufferers were now elated with hope and joy;. when suddenly the boat they were so eagerly awaiting turned back, without giving the long wished for aid. The men now turned their despairing eyes to the shore, the sight there was greatly discouraging, the seas weie breaking on the rocks in a manner that threatened to dash to pieces any one who had the temerity to approach ; and above the rocks were the men's wives and other women sbiieking out despairing cries. After great exertions by pulling whenever there was a chance of getting the oars down to the thole pins, they being under water, the boat was got neat shore ', she struck a rock, and the ciew were again thrown out; three of tbe men got to the shore and the other two got to the rocks, to which they clung. Seeing which, a daughter of Mr Trail (of tbe lighthouse) dashed into the breakers with a line, but when she got. in, breast high, she was knocked back by the sea, —bruised and weak, — but again and again did this heroic young woman meet the danger, to give tbe line to save a human life. At. last the men threw themselves from the rocks, and with the assistance of one of the men who had. escaped, aud,by,tke . aid of the women,, were brought bruised and seßseless, to a thQ .sjior.e,, aitei being m the water we km and a balf.

!