Mr. WILLIAM MALTBY, librarian of the London Institution,
in which office he succeeded Professor Porson, died on the
5th inst, in his ninetieth year.

Major-General T. W. TAYLOR, C.B., Colonel of the 17th
Lancers, and Lieut.-Governor of the Royal Military College,
died on the 8th inst., at Halcomb, Devon, aged seventy-one.

M. ARMAND BERTIN, the well-known principal proprietor
and chief editor of the 'Journal des Debats,' died of apoplexy
at Paris, on the 12th inst., at the age of sixty.

Earl BROWNLOW died on the 15th inst., at his seat, Belton
House, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, in the seventy-fifth
year of his age.

COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.

The Overland Mail has brought advices from Bombay
to the 14th December. The reports from Burmah are
vague and contradictory. It is stated that sundry bands
of dacoits are still stockaded at various points; and also
that they are disappearing. Meng-dat-Meng, brother
of the King of Ava, and known as the "fighting prince,"
is said to be in communication with the dacoits, and to
contemplate an inroad into the British territories at the
head of 100,000 men. This report is not credited either
at Calcutta or Bombay.

The operations in the Kohat Pass had involved us in
actual hostilities. The Affredees resisted our attempts
to build a fort; several conflicts ensued; the troops
were out a whole day, fighting among the rough craggy
hills. Both ends of the pass were blocked up; four
villages were burnt, and the Affredees starved into
submission. There were 60,000 fighting men in the
Punjaub; 13,250 of whom, with 48 guns, were at
Peshawur.

From a report on the administration of the Punjaub,
published by the Bengal government, it appears that in
1849-'50 the Punjaub yielded a revenue of £1,348,000,
while the civil expenditure was £828,000; in 1850- '51
the revenue was £1,519,000, the expenditure £872,000.

Lord Falkland had attempted to damage the character
of Colonel Outram in the estimation of the Governor-
General, by raking up some exploded charges of
duplicity against that officer, arising out of the Baroda
affair. Lord Dalhousie had severely reprimanded Lord
Falkland, and expressed himself perfectly satisfied with
the character of Colonel Outram. Lord Falkland was
to leave Bombay on the 28th December. The military
camp at Poonah, under Lord Frederick Fitzclarence,
had been a perfect success. He has instituted military
schools for officers and men, offered prizes for firing at a
mark, and has ordered the examination of officers on
their promotion to each grade.

A great meeting has been held at Umritsir in the
Punjaub, for the purpose of checking infanticide. An
interesting account of it has appeared, in a letter from
a lady who was present. The writer says, "The Umritsir
meeting was most splendid. Every civilian in the Punjaub
was there. The street of the camp was nearly a quarter of
a mile long, and composed entirely of civilians' double-
polled tents. It was calculated that more than 20,000
natives, independent of the usual inhabitants, were
assembled at the holy city to listen to the Governor-
General's order on the subject of infanticide. On
Monday the 14th November, all were invited to come to
the Durbar at 11 o'clock. A small apartment with a
fine bamboo screen was provided for the few ladies who
were present, that they might witness the scene. It was
most magnificent. There were 3000 natives inside the
grand shemeana; 300 were of sufficient rank to have
chairs allowed them, which were placed in a semicircle
at the end of the tent; at the end of this semicircle
stood all the assembled civilians. All the old Sikh
generals and rulers were there, and among them many
Hill chiefs who had never before been tempted out of
their native mountains. All those who were not
entitled to chairs were seated on the ground, and
presented one large, compact mass of human heads.
There was the most profound silence in this brilliant
assembly, when Mr. Edmunstone, on whom, in Mr.
John Lawrence's absence, devolved the duty of opening
and explaining the object of this important meeting,
rose to speak. He made an excellent Hindostanee
address, denouncing female infanticide as barbarous,
cruel, and unholy; and so powerfully did that address
influence his hearers, that every native signed a solemn
agreement on oath never again to allow female
infanticide within the circle of his acquaintance without
denouncing the perpetrators. Hitherto the Hill
chiefs, and many of the Sikh tribes, have adopted the
cruel practice of murdering their female children rather
than bear the great expense of their foolish marriage
ceremonies. Government has now limited those
expenses to certain sums proportioned to the rank of
the parents, which just now is viewed as a blessing to
all parties; and all the chiefs expressed their satisfaction
and delight at the new law. You cannot imagine a
more splendid scene of Oriental magnificence than the
breaking up and separation of this vast assemblage; the
chiefs mounted on their splendid elephants, attended by
their numerous followers. In the evening, the whole
city, together with the far-famed holy tank of Umritsir,
was splendidly illuminated. At sunset, we all assembled
in the camp-street, and formed so large a party that
twelve elephants were borrowed from the chiefs for our
accommodation; they all stood ready, in a line, laden
with scarlet and gold, their heads and trunks painted
with different devices. The scene in every direction
was strange and interesting. The city was as light
as day, and was literally crammed with people. As
our twelve elephants, with their glittering trappings,
followed each other in stately procession, it was curious
to look back upon the long narrow streets and the tall
and irregular houses, blazing with rows of lamps in
long lines, until almost lost in the distance. At the
entrance of the holy tank the crowd was so dense that
they looked like one solid mass. We were conducted
to a position from which we could see the whole square,
and where carpets and seats were prepared for us.
I cannot attempt to describe the magnificent spectacle
that met us there. The golden temple, the steps
round the tank, the very water itself seemed on fire:
around the edge were packed 20,000 people, and the
murmur of their voices came up like the roar of the
sea in a storm. At the signal of a cannon, fireworks
broke out on every side; fountains of fire fell from
the roofs and rose from boats in the middle of the tank,
rockets pierced the air and fell again in showers, and
fire-balloons in great numbers had the appearance of so
many new stars. This period was chosen for the
meeting because it is a great Hindoo festival, which
always collects crowds at Umritsir, being connected
with the worship of fire."

Intelligence from the Cape of Good Hope has been
received to the 12th of November. The course of affairs
in the colony had been, up to that period, one of quiet
and progress. The registration of persons qualified to
vote in the several electoral divisions had been
completed; and the Governor had appointed the returning-
officers, the polling-places, and the period of election—
from the 9th to the 28th January. Education was
attracting considerable attention; and at Cape Town an
association had been formed to build an institution
similar to our Polytechnics, Athenæums, and Halls of
Science. The only thing of an adverse nature was, a
fatal disease among the horned cattle, said to have been
imported with some diseased cattle from Holland. The
new arrangement and general administration of affairs
in Caffreland, seems to be peaceably acquiesced in by
the Caffres. Some uneasiness, however, is naturally
felt by the colonists at the early withdrawal of the
troops, after so fierce and protracted a struggle with a
daring race like the Caffres. In the Orange River
Sovereignty, Sir George Clerk proceeds steadily in
maturing arrangements for the withdrawal of British
authority from the north side of the river. Numerous
petitions and remonstrances against this line of policy
have been signed and forwarded to her Majesty. At a