of the Sikh army has been moved towards the Sutlej, on the pretext of rumours from the cantonments of Umballa ; and you will say, that the Governor-General in Council advises the Maharajah's Government to disregard rumours and newspaper reports, over which the Governor-General in Council exercises. no controul.

9.-You will impress upon the Durbar Vakeel that you possess the confidence of the Governor-General in Council, and that your instructions are to declare the truth plainly to His Highness's Government, reiterating the same sentiments as those conveyed by your predecessor, that the Governor-General in Council has a sincere desire to see a strong Government re-established at Lahore, such as that which existed at the time of our faithful ally, His Highness Maharajah Runjeet Singh.

10. Having taken the opportunity which this movement of Sikh troops towards the Sutlej so suitably affords, of declaring our intentions as to the military arrangements about to be made at Ferozepore, you will state that the British Government does not desire to interfere in the internal affairs of the Punjaub; that the Governor-General in Council regrets the embarrassments under which the Sikh Government at present labours, and sincerely trusts that they may be overcome by firmness and prudence.

11. In making these communications, you will modify them, if necessary, in reference to any events which have occurred in the interval which must unavoidably elapse before your receipt of them, taking care not to commit the Government of India to any line of action involving any principle of policy not in accordance with the spirit of your instructions.

12. You will continue to do everything in your power to convince the Government of Lahore of the good faith of the Govern ment of India, so as to enable the Sikh Government to direct the efforts of their army to the legitimate object of coercing its enemies; and, if the opportunity should occur, you will, without exciting any irritation, but in the most friendly terms, state that

the Governor-General in Council has, in consideration of the difficult circumstances in which the Government of the Maharajah is placed, and for other obvious reasons, hitherto forborne to make the unruly and ungovernable condition of the Sikh army a subject of formal remonstrance to the Maharajah. The GovernorGeneral in Council trusts that a returning sense of the duty which the army owes to the Maharajah may avert the necessity of his taking any such step, and that he may hear that which will be much more gratifying to him, that it has obediently marched against his Highness's enemies, and honourably fulfilled the true functions of an army, by supporting the just authority of its Sovereign and his Government.

13.-You will understand that this caution, although incidentally given, will be distinctly delivered. The state of this army, the Governor-General in Council observes, so close upon our frontier, may become an intolerable nuisance; and, although it would be a mockery to expect that the Lahore Government, in the state of anarchy and weakness in which it at present can scarcely be said to exist, can regulate the conduct of an army which exercises over that Government daily acts of coercion and tyranny; nevertheless, the Governor-General in Council deems it expedient that a notice, in the most guarded terms, should be given of the great inconvenience to which the British Government is exposed, and of which, if the Lahore Government was in a state of greater strength and responsibility, the Governor-General in Council would justly have cause to complain.

14.-You will observe, in the letter of the Governor-General in Council to the Commander-in-Chief, of the 10th January, that the reinforcements, European and native, to be posted at Ferozepore, were not to be moved up by the Commander-in-Chief, unless on a report of an emergency from yourself; and that, in that letter to the Commander-in-Chief, the Governor-General in Council would be satisfied if the reinforcements were posted towards the end of March and April-so short a time before the river would become unfordable as to be no longer a source of

uneasiness to the Sikh Government, and at the same time placing our advanced post in that condition to be able to defend the post and the passage of the river, in which, under existing circumstances, it ought at all times to remain.

15.-I am directed to take this opportunity to send you a copy of papers, by which you will be apprised that two additional native regiments of infantry have been ordered up, making the additional four between Meerut and the Sutlej, one European regiment, two battalions of European artillery, seven regiments of native infantry, and one N. I. horse artillery.

16. This movement of the Sikh army towards the Sutlej and its mutinous ungovernable state, will be your answer to any questions which may arise as to British reinforcements arriving on the Sutlej or its immediate neighbourhood.

I have, &c.,

F. CURRIE.

SIR,

Letter referred to in the preceding Letter.

The Political Agent to the Commander-in-Chief.

Camp, Laskar-Khas-kee-Serai, January 15, 1845.

I have the honour to enclose, for your Excellency's information, a translation of an extract from Lahore intelligence received last night.

2. Coming immediately after the reports respecting European troops, which I had yesterday the honour of mentioning, this caused extreme excitement, and among other resolutions, one was to demand explanations from me. In order to enable me to meet these demands, if made, I beg that your Excellency will do me the favour of saying whether there has been any thing of the kind described as having occurred at Umballa, or whether the whole is not mere idle rumour.

3.—A second despatch, arrived this evening, brings further intelligence on this subject, and I regret that in consequence of

these appearances of preparation, our position with respect to the Durbar is materially and unfavourably changed from what it was three days before, and that there is now more risk of collision than there has been yet, seeing that the Ranee, from circumstances not unlikely to deceive her, and others, suspects that we are in co-operation with her enemies, and had appealed to the troops at Lahore, communicating to them the report of the order for preparation at Umballa, ascribed to your Excellency, and the troops have offered to do whatever she will sanction against the English.

4.-But, though there is more risk of disturbance now than formerly, and though our intercourse with the Lahore state is, for the moment, embarrassed; yet I beg, with the utmost deference to your Excellency's better judgment, to state that I consider nothing as yet likely to occur, and indeed very little to be at present possible, which could lead me to do more than make the application usual in such cases for support from the officer commanding the division; and that I do not even now propose, as far as matters have yet gone, to call on him to do more than maintain his usual vigilance.

5.—The bulk of the Lahore army had been lately sent by this Government, in reliance on our good faith, against the Jummoo Rajahs, and towards Cashmere and the country beyond the Jhelum, which is disturbed; supposing the Durbar to collect every man in Lahore and its vicinity, including the garrison of Umritsir and other detachments, to countermand the march of the troops now proceeding to Jummoo, and allowing nothing for men on leave, or sick, or false musters, they can only collect of regular troops as follows:

a number inferior, I believe, to that of the troops in the Sirhind

division, and in a state of such utter disorder that their nominal. leaders cannot get them to face the armed peasantry of Jessotas, nor do anything but plunder the people, insult and beat their officers, and return at will to their own homes. In addition to this, they have, however, the following undisciplined troops Irregular infantry, 1,500; two battalions of Heera Singh's hill-men, who have joined the Sikhs for high pay, and have received muskets, and are now at drill :

Irregular horse, 4,750, including those at Umritsir, detached to the Sutlej, Jaghurdars, &c.

I think that the most probable source of disturbance will be, that the restriction to fourteen miles from Lahore of their troops detached towards the Sutlej will be withdrawn, and that this disorderly rabble will interrupt the dawks, and commit outrages on the south side of the river, as well as on the north; but it will be most likely in a way not easily distinguished from ordinary gang robberies and forays.

SIR,

The Political Agent to the Commander-in-Chief.

Governor-General's Agency, November 20, 1845.

Since I had the honour of waiting on your Excellency to-day, I have received Lahore letters of the 18th instant (morning).

During the night of the 17th the chiefs had agreed on, and the Durbar had ordered in writing, the following plan of operations :

The army was to be divided into seven divisions, one to remain at Lahore, and the rest to proceed against Roopar and our hills, Loodiana, Hurrekee, Ferozepore, and Scinde, while one was to proceed to Peshawur; and a force under Rajah Gholab Singh was to be sent to Attock.