COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.

THE intelligence from India contains no item so interesting as the commencement of the Bombay railway.
From the Australian Colonies there is as great a void of political news; but we have tidings, which to
many will be extremely welcome, of the landing of the first batch of female emigrants sent out by Mr.
Sidney Herbert's Committee. Thirty-eight had been landed at Port Philip; sixty-five at Adelaide; and all
had been placed in excellent situations within a few days after landing. The Sidney paper tells us much of
Doctor Lang, and the doctor adds a little from himself. He has fulminated a sort of bull or allocution
against the new constitution, and has given formal notice of a motion in the Council Chamber which is to
do nothing less than annihilate Lord Grey. We shall see.

The Overland Mail bring dates from Bombay to the
17th ult. British India was quite tranquil. The civil
war in the Nizam's territories still lingers on, and
another affair has taken place in the neighbourhood of
Elichpoor between the troops of its Newab and those of
the Nizam, in which the latter were defeated, and lost
two guns, but no particulars have yet transpired.

The Governor-General was expected at Simla on the
5th or 6th instant. His party were all in excellent
health. Lord Falkland was at the Mahableshwur hills;
he had had another severe attack since the departure
of the last mail, but was better. His state of health,
however, continued to occasion serious apprehensions
of his being ultimately obliged to resign his post for the
same cause as his two predecessors, Sir G. Arthur and
Sir G. Clerk. The works of the Bombay Railway had
commenced.

The accounts from Hong Kong are to the 29th of
September. There had been a very great improvement
in the health of the men belonging to the 59th
Regiment. The fever had greatly abated. There were still
many in the hospital, but the deaths latterly had only
averaged about three a week. The insurrection in one
of the adjoining provinces to Canton had become of such
magnitude, that a body of Government troops had been
defeated, and the rebels were said to be already in the
Canton province. The authorities there were preparing
all the force they could muster to march against the
rebels. The movement is said to be directed against the
Tartar dynasty, but it is impossible to obtain correct
information.—The alarming state of the country occasioned
much uneasiness to the Chinese population in Canton.

A Piratical Mutiny had taken place on board the
ship Kelso, which arrived at Hong Kong on the 14th of
September from San Francisco. About three weeks
before the vessel's arrival Captain Innes was informed
by two of his crew that a mutinous feeling prevailed
among part of the ship's company, who had determined
to murder him, the steward, and carpenter, and seize
upon the vessel, in which they expected to find a large
amount of treasure. Captain Innes, with the energy
and coolness which mark the true sailor, adopted the
requisite means to insure the safety of the ship. The
plot had been hatched by some sailors shipped in San
Francisco to replace men who had left the vessel after
her outward voyage. On the evening on which the
piracy was attempted, Captain Innes, having previously
had information of the intention of the ringleaders,
retired—not to the cabin he was accustomed to use, but
to an adjoining one—the steward also, by his orders,
changing his sleeping place. Under the dread of momentary
attack sleepless vigilance was called for. The night
progressed, the mutineers broke open the arms' chest
and possessed themselves of its contents; but, fortunately,
it contained no powder. One of the mutineers crawling
on his hands and knees into the cabin which had been
vacated, gave intimation to Captain Innes that the
moment for action had come. He fired at the ruffian
and shot him dead. He then made his way through the
skylight to the poop, where he found the mutineers all
armed. Calling upon them to lay down their arms, his
order was obeyed by all but one, who endeavoured still
to intimidate and approach him. Captain Innes told
the man he would call upon him three several times to
lay down his weapon and go forward; and that, failing
his doing so, he would shoot him. He persisted. The
captain tired, mortally wounding him, when the mutiny
was quelled. The man, at the date of the account, was
lying at the point of death in the Hong Kong hospital,
and his fellow-criminals were under examination before
the police magistrates.

The accounts from Jamaica are highly important.
The cholera was raging fearfully in Kingston, Port
Royal, and St. Catherine's; and, up to the time of the
packet's departure, the deaths in Kingston averaged at
least 30 a day. The latest official accounts published
up to the morning of the 27th of October showed a total
of 266 deaths in Kingston alone. In Port Royal and
St. Catherine's the actual numbers were less; but,
compared to the population of Kingston, the mortality has
been far greater, particularly in Port Royal, where
about an eighth of the population has been cut off. The
deaths in all parts, with two or three exceptions, occurred
among the lower orders of the black people, some of whom
resided in miserable hovels and damp localities. An
order has been issued by the Governor in Council
forbidding communication coastwise between Port Royal
and Kingston, and the uninfected ports, under certain
restrictions. In all districts the want of medical men was
much felt. Kingston, with a population of some 40,000
inhabitants, contains only ten doctors, who, in addition
to their private business, have in various instances to
attend the public prisons and institutions. Spanish
Town contains but three doctors, and Port Royal none
at all. At the latter place the services of the surgeons
attached to the Royal army were secured through the
influence of the Kingston authorities. The House of
Assembly met on the 22d of October, and passed a
short act, appointing local boards of health in the
different parishes, and authorising the issue of £5000, or
less, in island notes, to put such boards in funds to carry
out the sanatory regulations. After the enactment of
this law, the Legislature, with the sanction of the
Governor, adjourned until the 19th of November.
Commercial matters were quite unsettled; indeed, a
general gloom was spread over all interests and all
classes. The Governor had issued a proclamation,
ordering that a day of general prayer and humiliation
should take place on the 1st of November.

From the other West India Colonies the news is not
important. In Trinidad, Barbadoes, and Antigua the
weather is described as remarkably fine, and the crops
extremely promising.

The city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, was
desolated by a dreadful fire on the 11th instant. Upwards
of one-half of the city, it is stated, is burnt, and above
3000 people rendered houseless. Few particulars have
as yet been given.

The intelligence from the Cape of Good Hope is to
the 26th of September. The arrival of the Queen's
letters patent for constituting a Local Government had
excited much dissension.

The Legislative Council was opened on the 6th
September. Sir Andries Stockenstrom, Mr. Brand, Mr. E.
W. Reitz, Mr. Fairbairn, and Mr. Godlonton took their
seats as five of the six members nominated in
conformity with the votes of the municipalities and the
divisional road boards of the colony. Mr. Cocks took
his seat as the Governor's nominee. The election
qualification of the members of the Council afforded the
first point for discussion. The officials proposed a
property qualification of £2000 above all encumbrances;
the popular members rejected any property qualification,