CHAPTER XI.

FIRST MISSION TO CHINA. THE YANGTZE KIANG.

DELAYS--SUBTERFUGES DEFEATED BY FIRMNESS--REVISED TARIFF--OPIUM TRADE--UP

THE YANGTZE KIANG--SILVER ISLAND--NANKIN--REBEL WARFARE--THE HEN-BARRIER--

UNKNOWN WATERS--DIFFICULT NAVIGATION--HANKOW--THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL--RETURN--

TAKING TO THE GUNBOATS--NGANCHING--NANKIN--RETROSPECT--MORE DELAYS--

TROUBLES AT CANTON--RETURN TO HONG-KONG. MISSION COMPLETED--HOMEWARD

VOYAGE.

[Sidenote: Delays.]

Arriving at Shanghae on the 2nd of September, Lord Elgin found that the

Imperial Commissioners whom he came to meet had not yet appeared, and were

not expected for four or five weeks. All this time, therefore, he was

obliged to remain idle at Shanghae, hearing from time to time news from

Canton which made his presence there desirable, but unable to proceed

thither till the arrangements respecting the Treaty were completed.

_Shanghae.--Sunday, September 5th._--I wish to be off for England: but

I dread leaving my mission unfinished.... I feel, therefore, that I am

doomed to a month or six weeks more of China.

_September 6th._--It is very weary work staying here really doing for

the moment little. But what is to be done? It will not do to swallow

the cow and worry at the tail. I have been looking over the files of

newspapers, and those of Hong-Kong teem with abuse;--this,

notwithstanding the fact that I have made a Treaty which exceeds

everything the most imaginative ever hoped for. The truth is, they do

not really like the opening of China. They fear that their monopoly

will be interfered with.

_September 11th._--I am amused with the confident way in which the

ladies here talk of going home after five years with fortunes made.

They live in the greatest luxury,--in a tolerable climate, and think

it very hard if they are not rich enough to retire in five years.... I

do not know of any business in any part of the world that yields

returns like this. No wonder they dislike the opening of China, which

may interfere with them.

[Sidenote: Arrival of Commissioners.]

It was not till the 4th of October that the arrival was announced of the

Imperial Commissioners, including among their number his old friends

Kweiliang and Hwashana. While they were on the road, circumstances had come

to Lord Elgin's knowledge which gave him reason to fear that they might be

disposed to call in question some of the privileges conceded under the

Treaty, and that they might found on the still unsettled state of affairs

in the South a hope of succeeding in this attempt. He thought it better to

dispel all such illusions at once, by taking a high and peremptory tone

upon the latter subject. Accordingly, when his formal complaint against

Hwang, the Governor-General of the Two Kiang, for keeping up hostilities in

spite of the Treaty, was met by a promise to stop this for the future by

proclamation, he refused to accept this promise, and demanded the removal

of Hwang and the suppression of a Committee which had been formed for the

enrolment of volunteers; intimating at the same time, through a private

channel, that unless he obtained full satisfaction on the Canton question,

it was by no means improbable that he might return to Tientsin, and from

that point, or at Pekin itself, require the Emperor to keep his

engagements. This had the desired effect. The Commissioners at once

undertook, not only to issue a pacific proclamation couched in becoming

terms, but also to memorialise the Emperor for the recall of the Governor-

General, and the withdrawal of all powers from the Committee of Braves. It

may be added, that the immediate success which attended the proclamation

afforded striking confirmation of what Lord Elgin had always said, that the

best way of suppressing provincial disturbances was by bringing pressure to

bear on the Imperial power.

[Sidenote: Subterfuges,]

[Sidenote: defeated by firmness.]

_Shanghae.--Sunday, October 10th._--We have not done much yet, which

is the cause of my having written less than usual during the last few

days. I have reason to suspect that the Commissioners came here with

some hope that they might make difficulties about 'some of the

concessions obtained in the Treaty, with a kind of notion perhaps that

they might continue to bully us at Canton. If I had departed, I think

it probable enough that everything would have been thrown into

confusion, and the grand result of proving that my Treaty was waste

paper might have been attained. I have thought it necessary to take

steps to stop this sort of thing at once, so I have sent some very

peremptory letters to the Commissioners about Canton, refusing to have

anything to say to them till I am satisfied on this point, &c. I have

also, through a secret channel, had the hint conveyed to them, that if

they do not give me full satisfaction at once I am capable of going

off to Tientsin again,--a move which would no doubt cost their heads

to both Kweiliang and Hwashana. I have already extorted from them a

proclamation announcing the Treaty, and I have now demanded that they

shall remove the Governor-General of the Canton provinces from office,

and suppress the War Committee of the gentry.

_October 16th._--Yes, the report of the conclusion of a Treaty which

was conveyed so rapidly overland to St. Petersburg was true, and yet I

am not on my way home!... Do not think that I am indifferent to this

delay. It is however, for the moment, inevitable. Everything would

have been lost if I had left China. The violence and ill-will which

exist in Hong-Kong are something ludicrous.... As it is, matters are

going on very fairly with the Imperial Commissioners, and I expect an

official visit from them this day at noon. The English mail arrived

yesterday.... The visit of the Commissioners went off very well. I

think that they have accepted the situation, and intend to make the

best of it.

_October 19th_.--Yesterday I returned the visit of the Commissioners,

going in state, with a guard, &c., into the city. We had a Chinese

repast--birds'-nest soup, sharks' fins, &c. I tried to put them at

their ease, after our disagreeable encounters at Tientsin. They seemed

disposed to be conversable and friendly. The Governor-General of this

province, who is one of them, is considered a very clever man, and he

appears to have rather a notion of taking a go-ahead policy with

foreigners.

[Sidenote: The tariff.]

The chief matter that remained to be arranged was the settlement of certain

trade-regulations, supplemental to the Treaty, involving a complete

revision of the tariff.

[Sidenote: The opium trade.]

A tariff is not usually a matter of general interest; but this tariff is of

more than mere commercial importance, as having for the first time

regulated, and therefore legalised, the trade in opium.[1] Hitherto this

article had been mentioned in no treaty, but had been left to the operation

of the Chinese municipal law, which prohibited it altogether. But the

Chinese would have it; there was no lack of foreign traders, chiefly

British and American, ready to run the risk of smuggling it for the sake of

the large profits to be made upon it; and the custom-house officials, both

natives and foreign inspectors, hardly even kept up the farce of pretending

to ignore the fact. At one port, indeed, the authorities exacted from the

opium traders a sort of hush-money, equivalent to a tax about 6 per cent.

_ad valorem_. It might well be said that 'the evils of this illegal,

connived at, and corrupting traffic could hardly be overstated; that it was

degrading alike to the producer, the importer, the official, whether

foreign or Chinese, and the purchaser.'

To remedy these evils two courses were open. One was effective prohibition,

with the assistance of the Foreign Powers; but this, the Chinese

Commissioners admitted, was practically hopeless, mainly owing to the

inveterate appetite of their people for the drug. The other remained:

regulation and restriction, by the imposition of as high a duty as could be

maintained without giving a stimulus to smuggling. It was not without much

consideration that Lord Elgin adopted the latter alternative; and it was a

great satisfaction to him that his views on this subject were ultimately

shared by Mr. Reed, the Envoy of the United States, who had come to the

country with the intention of supporting the opposite opinion.

In the course of the conferences on these points, which were carried on in

the most friendly spirit, Lord Elgin induced the Commissioners to make a

separate agreement that he should be permitted, irrespectively of the

conditions imposed by the Treaty, to make an expedition up the great river

Yangtze Kiang; a permission of which he gladly availed himself, not only

for the sake of exploring a new and most interesting country, but even more

with the view of marking how entirely and cordially his Treaty was

accepted.

_Shanghae.--November 2nd._--You will, I am sure, see how necessary it

has been for me to protract my stay to this time. The systematic

endeavour to make it appear that my work was a failure could be

counteracted only by my own presence. The papers, &c., from England

are complimentary enough about the Treaty, but some of the accounts

which have gone home are somewhat exaggerated, and perhaps there will

be a reaction.... More particularly, I find a hope expressed that we

have plundered the wretched Chinese to a greater extent than is the

case.... Meanwhile, I have achieved one object, which will be, I

think, the crowning act of my mission. I have arranged with the

Imperial Commissioners that I am to proceed up the river Yangtze. The

Treaty only provides that it shall be open when the Rebels have left

it. I daresay this will give rise to comments. If so, I shall have

anticipated them, by going up the river myself. I shall take with me

my own squadron (what I had in Japan). The weather is beautiful; quite

cool enough for comfort. We shall visit a region which has never been

seen, except by a stray missionary. I shall lose by this move some

three weeks, but I do not think they will be really lost, because it

will give so very complete a demonstration of the acceptance of the

Treaty by the Chinese authorities, that even Hong-Kong will be

silenced.

_November 6th._--I hoped to have started to-day, but am obliged to

put off till Monday, as the tariff is not yet ready for signature. I

grieve over every day lost, which protracts our separation. I see that

in the very flattering article of the _Times_ of September 7th, which

you quote, it is implied that when I signed the Treaty, I had done my

work, and that the responsibility of seeing that it was carried out

rests with others. If this be true--and you will no doubt think so--I

might have returned at once, at least after Japan. But is it true?

Could I, in fairness to my country, or, in what I trust you believe

comes second in the rank of motives with me, to my own reputation,

leave the work which I had undertaken unfinished?... Besides, I own

that I have a conscientious feeling on the subject. I am sure that in

our relations with these Chinese we have acted scandalously, and I

would not have been a party to the measures of violence which have

taken place, if I had not believed that I could work out of them some

good for them. Could I leave this, the really noblest part of my task,

to be worked out by others? Anyone could have obtained the Treaty of

Tientsin. What was really meritorious was, that it should have been

obtained at so small a cost of human suffering. But this is also what

discredits it in the eyes of _many_, of _almost all_ here. If we had

carried on war for some years; if we had carried misery and desolation

all over the Empire; it would have been thought quite natural that the

Emperor should have been reduced to accept the terms imposed upon him

at Tientsin. But to do all this by means of a demonstration at

Tientsin! The announcement was received with a yell of derision by

connoisseurs and baffled speculators in tea. And indeed there was some

ground for scepticism. It would have been very easy to manage matters

here, so as to bring into question all the privileges which we had

acquired by that Treaty. Even then we should have gained a great deal

by it; because when we came to assert those rights by force, we should

have had a good, instead of a bad _casus belli_. But I was desirous,

if possible, to avoid the necessity for further recurrence to force;

and it required some skill to do this. This has been my motive for

protracting my stay.

[Sidenote: The tariff signed.]

_H.M.S. 'Furious.'--November 8th_.--I write a line to tell you that I

got over the signature of my tariff, &c., very satisfactorily this

morning, and set off in peace with all men, including Chinese

Plenipotentiaries, and colleagues European and American, on my way up

the Yangtze Kiang. We are penetrating into unknown regions, but I

trust shortly to be able to report to you my return, and all the

novelties I shall have seen.

[Sidenote: Afloat on the Yangtze Kiang.]

This morning at ten, I went to a temple which lies exactly between the

foreign settlement and the Chinese town of Shanghae, to meet there the

Imperial Commissioners, and to sign the tariff. We took with us the

photographs which Jocelyn had done for them, and which we had framed.

They were greatly delighted, and altogether my poor friends seemed in

better spirits than I had before seen them in. We passed from

photography to the electric telegraph, and I represented to them the

great advantage which the Emperor would derive from it in so extensive

an empire as China; how it would make him present in all the

provinces, &c. They seemed to enter into the subject. The conference

lasted rather more than an hour. After it, I returned to the

consulate, taking a tender adieu of Gros By the way. I embarked at 1,

and got under weigh at 2 P.M.... The tide was very strong against us,

so we have not made much way, but we are really in the Yangtze river.

We have moored between two flats with trees upon them; the mainland on

the left, and an island (Bush Island), recently formed from the mud of

the river, on the right. Though the earth has been uninteresting, it

has not been so with the sky, for the dark shades of night, which have

been gathering and thickening on the right have been confronted on

the left by the brightest imaginable star, and the thinnest possible

crescent moon, both resting on a couch of deep and gradually deepening

crimson. I have been pacing the bridge between the paddle-boxes,

contemplating this scene, until we dropped our anchor, and I came down

to tell you of this my first experience of the Yangtze. And what will

the sum of those experiences be? We are going into an unknown region,

along a river which, beyond Nankin, has not been navigated by

Europeans. We are to make our way through the lines of those strange

beings the Chinese Rebels. We are to penetrate beyond them to cities,

of the magnitude and population of which fabulous stories are told;

among people who have never seen Western men; who have probably heard

the wildest reports of us; to whom we shall assuredly be stranger than

they can possibly be to us. What will the result be? Will it be a

great disappointment, or will its interest equal the expectations it

raises? Probably before this letter is despatched to you, it will

contain an answer more or less explicit to these questions.

_Sunday, November 14th.--Six P.M._--We have just dropped anchor, some

eighty miles from Woosung. I wish that you had been with me on this

evening's trip. You would have enjoyed it. During the earlier part of

the afternoon we were going on merrily together. The two gunboats

ahead, the 'Furious' and 'Retribution' abreast, sometimes one,

sometimes the other, taking the lead. After awhile we (the 'Furious')

put out our strength, and left gunboats and all behind. When the sun

had passed the meridian, the masts and sails were a protection from

his rays, and as he continued to drop towards the water right ahead of

us, he strewed our path, first with glittering silver spangles, then

with roses, then with violets, through all of which we sped

ruthlessly. The banks still flat, until the last part of the trip,

when we approached some hills on the left, not very lofty, but clearly

defined, and with a kind of dreamy softness about them, which reminded

one of Egypt. Altogether, it was impossible to have had anything more

charming in the way of yachting; the waters a perfect calm, or hardly

crisped by the breeze that played on their surface. We rather wish for

more wind, as the 'Cruiser' cannot keep up without a little help of

that kind.

[Sidenote: Aground.]

[Sidenote: Silver Island.]

_November 16th.--Noon_.--A bad business. We were running through a

narrow channel which separates Silver Island from the mainland, in

very deep water, when all of a sudden we were brought up short, and

the ship rolled two or three times right and left, in a way which

reminded me of a roll which we had in the 'Ava' immediately after

starting from Calcutta. On that occasion we saw beside us the tops of

the masts of a ship, and were told it had struck on the same sand-

bank, and gone down about an hour before. Our obstacle on this

occasion is a rock; a very small one, for we have deep water all

around us. However, here we are. I hope our ship will not suffer from

the strain. It is curious that in this narrow pass, where fifty ships

went through and returned in 1842, this rock should exist and never

have been discovered. _Six P.M._--The sun has just set among a crowd

of mountains which bound the horizon ahead of us, and in such a blaze

of fiery light that earth and sky in his neighbourhood have been all

too glorious to look upon. Standing out in advance on the edge of this

sea of molten gold, is a solitary rock, about a quarter of the size of

the Bass, which goes by the name of Golden Island, and serves as the

pedestal of a tall pagoda. I never saw a more beautiful scene, or a

more magnificent sunset; but alas! we see it under rather melancholy

circumstances, for after six hours of trying in all sorts of ways to

get off, we are as fast aground as ever. We are now lightening the

ship. Silver Island is a kind of sacred island like Potou, but very

much smaller.[2] I went ashore, and walked over it with a bonze, who

conversed with Lay. He told us that the people in the neighbourhood

are very poor, and will be glad that foreigners should come and trade

with them. The bonzes here are much like their brethren of Potou, the

most wretched-looking of human beings. Our friend told us that they

have no books or occupation of any kind. Four times a day they go

through their prayers. He had twelve bald spots on his head, which,

were the record of so many vows he had taken to abstain from so many

vices, which he enumerated. I gave them five dollars when I left the

island, which seemed to astonish them greatly. I asked him what would

happen if he broke his vows. He said that he would be beaten and sent

away. If he kept them he hoped to become in time a Buddha.

_November 17th.--Six P.M._--After taking 150 tons out of the ship,

we have just made an attempt to get her off--in vain. The glorious sun

has again set, holding out to us the same attractions in the west as

yesterday, in vain! Here we remain, as motionless as the rock on which

we are perched. I have not been quite idle, however. I landed about

noon on the shore opposite Silver Island, and walked about three miles

to the town of Chin-kiang. It was taken by us in the last war, and

sadly maltreated, but since then it has been captured by the Rebels

and re-captured by the Imperialists. I could hardly have imagined such

a scene of desolation. I do not think there is a house that is not a

ruin. I believe the population used to be about 300,000, but now I

suppose it cannot exceed a few hundreds. The people are really, I

believe, glad to see us. They hope we may give them free trade and

protection from the Rebels. A commodore and post-captain in the

Chinese navy came off to us this afternoon. They were very civil,

offering to do anything for us they could. They tell us we can go in

this ship to Hankow and the Poyang Lake. We have found another rock

beside us, and only think that this should not have been known by our

Navy!

[Sidenote: Afloat again.]

_November 18th.--Eight P.M._--At about 6 P.M. I was crossing on a

plank over a gully, on my return from an expedition to Golden Island,

when three rounds of cheers from the 'Furious,' about a mile off,

struck my ear. Three rounds of cheers, followed by as many from the

other ships. She was off the rock! Some 250 tons were taken out, and

when the tide rose she came off--nothing the worse! and our time has

not been quite lost, for this is an interesting place, if only because

of the insight which it gives into the proceedings of the Rebels.

Golden Island is about five miles from here. It was a famous Buddhist

sanctuary, and contained their most valuable library. Its temples are

now a ruin.

_November 20th.--Noon._--Yesterday I took a long walk, not marked by

any noteworthy incidents. We went into some of the cottages of the

small farmers. In one we found some men smoking opium. They said that

they smoked about 80 cash (fourpence) worth a day: that their wages

when they worked for hire were 120 cash (sixpence). The opium was

foreign (Indian): the native was not good. I asked how they could

provide for their wives and families if they spent so much on opium.

They said they had land, generally from two to three acres apiece.

They paid about a tenth of the produce as a tax. They were very good-

humoured, and delighted to talk to Wade and Lay. They appear to

welcome us more here than in other places I have visited in China.

[Sidenote: Fired on from Nankin.]

_Eight P.M._--We have been under fire. The orders given on our

approach to Nankin were, that the 'Lee' should go in advance; that if

fired on, she should hoist a flag of truce; if the flag of truce was

fired on, she was not to return the fire until ordered to do so. It

was a lovely evening, and the sun was sinking rapidly as we approached

Nankin, the 'Lee' about a mile in advance. I was watching her, and saw

her pass the greater part of the batteries in front of the town. I was

just making up my mind that all was to go off quietly, when a puff of

smoke appeared from a fort, followed by the booming of a cannon. The

'Lee' on this hoisted her white flag in vain; seven more shots were

fired from the forts at her before she returned them. Then, to be

sure, we began all along the line, all the forts firing at us as we

came within their range. I was on the paddlebox-bridge till a shot

passed very nearly over our heads, and Captain Osborn advised me to go

down. We were struck seven times; one of the balls making its way into

my cabin. In our ship nobody was hit; but there was one killed and two

badly wounded in the 'Retribution.' We have passed the town; but I

quite agree with the naval authorities, that we cannot leave the

matter as it now stands. If we were to do so, the Chinese would

certainly say they had had the best of it, and on our return we might

be still more seriously attacked. It is determined, therefore, that

to-morrow we shall set to work and demolish some of the forts that

have insulted us. I hope the Rebels will make some communication, and

enable us to explain that we mean them no harm; but it is impossible

to anticipate what these stupid Chinamen will do.

[Sidenote: Retribution.]

_November 21st.--Eleven A.M._--We had about an hour and a half of it

this morning. We began at 6 A.M. at the nearest fort, and went on to

two or three others. We pounded them pretty severely, and very few

shots were fired in return. They seemed to have exhausted themselves

in last night's attack. As soon as my naval chiefs thought that we had

done enough for our honour, I begged them to go on, as I did not want

to have to hand over the town to the Imperialists, who are hemming it

round on every side. I am sorry that we should have been forced to do

what we have done; but I do not think we could have acted with greater

circumspection.... A set of Imperialist junks set to work to fire at

the town as we were leaving off, throwing their shot from a most

wonderfully safe distance.

[Sidenote: Apologies.]

_November 22nd._--Last night a letter came off from our 'humble

younger brother' (the Rebel chief), praying us to join them in

annihilating the 'demons' (Imperialists). I sent them in reply a sort

of proclamation which I had prepared in the morning, intimating that

we had come up the river pacifically; had punished the Nankin forts

for having insulted us, from which persons repeating the experiment

would learn what they had to expect. Later at night a present of

twelve fowls and two pieces of red bunting came to the river bank,

from some villagers, I believe. When Captain Ward was on shore

surveying, two Chinamen came to him, stating that an express had come

from Nankin to say that the attack on us was a mistake, and we were

taken for Imperialists, &c. &c. I hope, therefore, that we shall have

no more trouble of this description.

[Sidenote: Woohoo.]

_November 23rd.--Six P.M._--Arrived off Woohoo at about 3 P.M. We

passed the town, and anchored just above it. It is in the hands of the

Rebels, but no hostility was shown to us. Wade has been on shore to

communicate with the chiefs, who are very civil, but apparently a low

set of Cantonese. The place where he landed is a kind of entrenched

camp; the town about three miles distant. An Imperialist fleet is

moored a few miles up the river. I sent Lay to communicate with the

commanding officer, and he recommends the 'Retribution' to go a little

farther on to a place in the possession of the Imperialists.

[Sidenote: Rebel warfare.]

_November 24th.--Ten A.M._--We set off this morning at about 6 A.M. In

passing the fleet we begged from the commander the loan of a pilot. He

proves to be a Cantonese, so that the active spirits on both sides

seem to come from that quarter. We asked him why the Imperialists do

not take Woohoo. He says they have no guns of a sufficient size to do

anything against the forts, but that about twice a month they have a

fight on shore. They cut off the heads of Rebels, and _vice versâ_,

when they catch each other, which does not seem to happen very often.

The war, in short, seems to be carried on in a very soft manner, but

it must do a great deal of mischief to the country. While I was

dressing I was called out of my cabin to see a fight going on, on the

right bank of the river. The Rebels occupied some hills, where they

were waving flags gallantly, and the Imperialists were below them in a

plain. We saw only two or three cannon shots fired while we passed. As

things are carried on, one does not see why this war should not last

for ever. My friends, the Commissioners, seem to have acted in good

faith towards me, for the Chinese naval authorities all inform me that

they had been forewarned of our coming, and ordered to treat us with

every courtesy.

[Sidenote: The Imperial fleet.]

_November 25th.--Ten A.M._--We have just passed a bit of scenery on

our left, which reminds me of Ardgowan,--a range of lofty hills in the

background, broken up by deep valleys and hillocks covered with trees;

dark-green fir, and hard wood tinted with Canadian autumn colours,

running up towards it from the river. With two or three thousand

acres--what a magnificent situation for a park! There are so many

islets in this river that it is not easy to speak of its breadth, but

its channel still continues deep, and, with occasional exceptions,

navigable without difficulty. _Six P.M._--A very pretty spectacle

closed this day. The sun was dropping into the western waters before

us as we approached a place called Tsong-yang, on the left bank. We

knew it was the station of an Imperial fleet, and as we neared it we

found about thirty or forty warjunks, crowded with men and dressed in

their gaudiest colours. Flags of every variety and shape. On one junk

we counted twenty-one. You cannot imagine a prettier sight. We

anchored, supposing that the authorities might come off to us. As yet,

however, they have shown no disposition to do so. I presume, however,

that the display is a compliment. Figure to yourself the gala I have

described at the mouth of a broad stream running at right angles to

the river Yangtze, and up which the town lies, about two miles off--

the river, plains, town and all, surrounded by an amphitheatre of

lofty hills--and you will have an idea of the scene in the midst of

which we are anchored, and from which, the golden tints of sunset are

now gradually fading away.

[Sidenote: Under fire again.]

_November 26th.--Noon._--We have just had another sample of this very

unedifying Chinese warfare. About an tour ago we came off the city of

Nganching, the capital of the province of Aganhoci--the last station

(so we are assured) in the hands of the Rebels. As we neared a pagoda,

surrounded by a crenelated wall, we were fired upon two or three

times. We thought it necessary to resent this affront by peppering the

place for about ten minutes. We then moved slowly past the town,

unassaulted till we reached the farther corner, when the idiots had

the temerity to fire again. This brought us a second time into action.

It is a sorry business this fighting with the people who are so little

a match; but I do not suppose we did them much harm, and it was, I

presume, necessary to teach them that they had better leave us alone.

Osborn, who was aloft, saw from that point a curious scene. The

Imperialists (probably taking advantage of our vicinity) were

advancing on the town from the land side in skirmishing order, waving

their flags and gambolling as usual. The Pagoda Rebels ran out of it

as soon as we began to fire, and found themselves tumbling into the

arms of the Imperialists. We passed this morning a narrow rocky

passage, otherwise the navigation has been easy.

[Sidenote: A pilot.]

_Six P.M._--Anchored off Tunglow, a walled town, nicely situated on

the river. The sun is sinking to his repose through a mist, red and

round, like a great ball of fire. The pilot is the most vivacious

Chinaman I have seen,--inquiring about everything, proposing to go to

England, like a Japanese. It was from the naval commander at Kiewhein

that we got him. Lay was present when the commodore sent for him. He

fell on his knees. The chief informed him that he must go up the river

with us, and pilot us. 'That is a public service,' says the man, 'and

if your Excellency desires it I must go; but I would humbly submit

that I have a mother and sister who must be provided for in my

absence.' 'Certainly,' said the chief. 'Then,' answered our man, 'I am

ready;' and without further a-do he got into the boat with Lay and

came off to us.

_November 27th.--Eight A.M._--We started well, but there is such a fog

that we are obliged to stop till it clears. Our pilot went ashore last

night at Tunglow, and has returned with the front part of his head

cleanly shaved. I asked him what the people had thought of our

appearance. He answered that they were greatly afraid lest we should

fire upon them, and their hearts at first went pit-a-pat; but when

they heard from him how well we treated him, and that we were no

friends to the Rebels, they said 'Poussa' ('that's Buddha's doing' or

'thank God').

[Sidenote: Sand storm.]

_November 28th.--Eleven A.M._--The morning began as usual: calm, fair,

and hazy. At about nine it began to blow, and gradually rose to a

gale, causing our river ripple to mimic ocean waves, and the dust and

sand to fly before us in clouds, obscuring earth and sky. About ten we

approached a mountain range, which had been for some time looming on

the horizon. We found we had to pass through a channel of about a

quarter of a mile wide; on our left, a series of barren hills, bold

and majestic-looking in the mist; on the right, a solitary rock,

steep, conical-shaped, and about 300 feet high. On the side of it a

Buddhist temple, perched like a nest. The hills on the left were

crowned by walls and fortifications built some time ago by the Rebels,

and running over them in all manner of zigzag and fantastic

directions. I have seldom seen a more striking bit of scenery. When we

had passed through we found more hills, with intervals of plains, in

one of which lay the district city of Tongtze, enclosed by walls which

run along the top of the hills surrounding it. The inhabitants crowded

to the shore to witness the strange apparition of foreign vessels.

[Sidenote: The 'Hen Barrier.']

I mentioned a rocky passage through which we passed on the morning of

the 26th. Ellis, in his account of Lord Amherst's Embassy, speaks of

it as a place of great difficulty. A series of rocks like stepping-

stones run over a great part, and the passage is obtained by sticking

close to the left bank. Our pilot tells us that it is named the 'Hen

Barrier,' and for the following reason: Once on a time, there dwelt on

the right bank an evil spirit, in the guise of a rock, shaped like a

hen. This evil spirit coveted some of the good land on the opposite

side, and proceeded to cross, blocking up the stream on her way. The

good spirits, in consternation, applied to a bonze, who, after some

reflection, bethought himself of a plan for arresting the mischief. He

set to work to crow like a cock. The hen rock, supposing that it was

the voice of her mate, turned round to look. The spell was instantly

broken. She dropped into the stream, and the natives, indignant at her

misdeeds, proceeded into it and cut off her head!

I have been skimming over a Chinese book, translated by Stanislas

Julien: the travels of a Buddhist. It is full of legends of the

character of that which I have now narrated.

[Sidenote: Peasants.]

_November 29th.--12.30 P.M._--We have been very near the bank this

morning. I see more cattle on the farms than in other parts of China.

They are generally buffaloes, used for agricultural purposes; and when

out at pasture, a little boy is usually perched on the back of each to

keep it from straying. _Six P.M._--I went ashore to pass the time, and

got into conversation with some of the peasants. One man told us that

he had about three acres of land, which yielded him about twenty

piculs (1-1/3 ton) of pulse or grain annually, worth about forty

dollars. His tax amounted to about three-fourths of a dollar. There

was a school in the hamlet. Children attending it paid about two

dollars a year. But many were too poor to send their children to

school. We went into another cottage. It was built of reeds on the

bare ground. In a recess screened off were two young men lying on the

ground, with their lamp between them, smoking opium.

[Sidenote: Unknown waters.]

[Sidenote: Kew-kiang.]

_November 30th._--We are now in waters which no Englishman, as far as

is known, has ever seen. Lord Amherst passed into the Poyang Lake

through the channel I described yesterday, and so on to Canton. We are

proceeding up the river Yangtze. Hue came down this route, but by

land. I mentioned the sand-drifts two days ago. Some of the hills here

look like the sand-hills of Egypt, from the layers of sand with which

they are covered. What with inundations in summer and sand-drifts in

winter, this locality must have some drawbacks as a residence.

_Noon._--Anchored again. We have before us in sight the pagoda of Kew-

kiang; one of the principal points which we proposed to reach when we

embarked on this expedition.... We have not much to hope for from our

Chinese pilot. Our several mishaps have disheartened him. He said to-

day with a sigh, when reminded that we had found no passage in the

channel he had specially recommended: 'The ways of waters are like

those of men, one day here, another there, who can tell!'--a promising

frame of mind for one's guide in this intricate navigation! _Five

P.M._--We found a channel in about an hour, and came on swimmingly to

Kew-kiang. From the water it looked imposing enough. An enclosing wall

of about five miles in circuit, and in tolerable condition. I landed

at 3 P.M. What a scene of desolation within the wall! It seems to have

suffered even more than Chin-kiang Foo. A single street running

through a wilderness of weeds and ruins. The people whom we questioned

said the Rebels did it all. The best houses we found were outside the

city in the suburb. We were of course very strange in a town where the

European dress has never been seen, but the people were as usual

perfectly good-natured, delighted to converse with Lay, and highly

edified by his jokes. We did some commissariat business. We had with

us only Mexican dollars, and when we offered them at the first shop

the man said he did not like them as he did not know them. Lay said,

'Come to the ship and we will give you Sycee instead.' 'See how just

they are,' said a man in the crowd to his neighbour; 'they do not

force their coin upon him.' This kind of ready recognition of moral

worth is quite Chinese, and nothing will convince me that a people who

have this quality so marked are to be managed only by brutality and

violence.

[Sidenote: Difficult navigation.]

[Sidenote: Highland scenery.]

_December 1st.--1.30 P.M._--We have just anchored. About an hour ago,

we turned sharply to our left, and found on that hand a series of red

sand-bluffs leading to a range of considerable blue hills which faced

us in the distance; the river, as has been the case since we left the

Rebel country, was covered with small country junks, and here and

there a mandarin one, covered with flags, and with its highly-polished

brass gun in the prow. The scene had become more interesting, but the

navigation more difficult, for the gunboats began hoisting '3' and

'4,' and all manner of ominous numbers. So we had: 'Hands to the port

anchor,' 'slower,' and 'as slow as possible,' 'a turn astern,' and

after a variety of fluctuations, 'drop the anchor.' _Six P.M._--We had

to go a short way back, and to pass, moreover, a very shallow bit of

the river; that done we went on briskly, and bore down upon the

mountain range which we descried in the forenoon. At about four we

came up to it and turned to the right, with the mountains on our left

and the town of Wooseuh on our right, while the setting sun, glowing

as ever, was throwing his parting rays over one of the most beautiful

scenes I ever witnessed. The whole population crowded to the river

bank to see this wonderful apparition of the barbarian fire-ships. The

hills rising from the water had a kind of Loch Katrine look. We have

made some thirty-five miles to-day, but have still, I fear, about 100

to go.

_December 2d.--Eleven A.M._--A very prosperous forenoon. Mountains

soon rose to the right, similar to those on the left. We cut our way

through deep calm water, amid these hills of grey rock and fir woods,

for some three hours and might really have imagined ourselves in the

finest loch scenery of the Highlands. Numbers of little boats dotted

the river, and moved off respectfully to the right and left as we

approached. At about ten we passed out of the mountain range, and soon

after neared Chechow, from which the population seemed to be moving,

as we inferred from the numbers of small-footed women hobbling along

the bank with their household effects. We were boarded by a mandarin-

boat, the officer of which informed me that he had been sent by the

Governor-General to pay his respects. He said that the Rebels were at

no great distance, and the people were flying for fear of their

attacking the town. He added, however, that they (the Imperialists)

had a large force of cavalry in the neighbourhood, and that they would

check the exodus of the inhabitants. Between Imperialists and Rebels,

the people must have a nice time of it. His best piece of news was

that we are only about fifty miles from Hankow. I trust that it may be

so, for, despite my love of adventure, I shall be glad when we are

able to turn back and proceed homewards.

[Sidenote: Popular view of the religion of the Rebels.]

The reason which the pilot assigns for the destruction of the temples

by the Rebels is the following: 'At present,' says he, 'the rich have

a great advantage over the poor. They can afford to spend a great deal

more in joss-sticks and other offerings, so that, of course, the gods

show them a very undue allowance of favour. The Rebels, who do not

approve of these invidious distinctions, get rid of them by destroying

the temples altogether.' This is evidently a popular version of the

religious character of the Rebel movement. A Buddhist priest, whom I

saw at Kew-kiang, said that the Rebels had destroyed some forty

temples there. 'They do not worship in temples,' he said, 'but they

have a worship of their own.' The room in which Mr. Wade saw the Rebel

chief at Woo-how was said to be their place of worship. It had no

altar, nor anything to distinguish it as such.

_December 4th.--Six P.M._--Anchored again for the night, not half a

mile farther than yesterday. An island in process of formation,

covered at high water, separates the two anchorages. We had to go

back, &c., and ended the day's work by getting through a very tight

place in a most masterly manner; leadsmen sounding at the bow and

stern, as well as at the two paddles, and the 'Lee' and 'Cruiser'

stationed as pivots at the edges of the shoal. We had to perform a

sort of letter S round them, and we passed by the latter so near, that

we might have shaken hands with the crew. I should be amused with

these triumphs, were it not for the reflection that we have to repeat

them all in returning, with a favouring current, which will make our

task more difficult.

[Sidenote: Hankow.]

_December 6th.--Three P.M._--At Hankow; four weeks, almost to a

minute, since we left Shanghae. We have brought this ship to a point

about 600 miles from the sea,--a feat, I should think, unprecedented

for a vessel of this size. We have reached the heart of the commerce

of China. At first sight, I am disappointed in the magnitude of the

place. I am anchored off the mouth of the river Han, which separates

Hankow and Han-yang on the left bank of the Yangtze. On its right bank

is Ouchang Foo. I do not see room for the eight millions of people, at

which rumour puts the population of these three towns. The scene is

very animated. We are surrounded by hundreds of boats, and the banks

are a sea of heads. My gentlemen are gone ashore. I think I shall get

through the streets more conveniently to-morrow morning.

_December 7th.--Four P.M._--I have just returned from a walk through

Hankow. Like all the places we have visited on this trip, it seems to

have been almost entirely destroyed by the Rebels; but it is

recovering rapidly, and exhibits a great deal of commercial activity.

The streets are wider and shops larger than one generally finds them

in China. When 'foreign' parties landed yesterday, they were a good

deal pestered by officious mandarin followers, who, by way of keeping

order, kept bambooing all the unhappy natives who evinced a desire to

see the foreigners. In order to defeat this plan, which was manifestly

adopted with the view of preventing us from coming in contact with the

people, I landed near Han-yang, on the side of the river Han opposite

to Hankow, and walked in the first instance to the top of a hill where

there is a kind of fortress, from which we had a good view of Ouchang,

Han-yang, and Hankow. The day was rather misty, but we saw enough to

satisfy us that there must have been great exaggeration in previous

reports of the magnitude of these places. Some of the mandarin

satellites tried to accompany us on our walk, but we soon sent them

about their business. After seeing all we wished of the view, we

descended and crossed the river Han in a sampan to Hankow, where we

walked about for some hours, followed by a crowd of perfectly

respectable people. As some hint was conveyed to me implying, that it

was hoped we would not go to Ouchang, I have sent a letter to the

Governor-General of the Two Hoo, who resides there, informing him that

I intend to call upon him to-morrow. I shall go with as large an

escort as I can muster. These Chinamen are such fools that, with all

my desire to befriend them, I find it sometimes difficult to keep

patience with them. They are doing all they can to prevent us from

having any dealings with the people; refusing our dollars, sending us

supplies as presents, &c. I have sent back the presents, stating that

I must have supplies, and that I will pay for them.

_December 8th.--Eleven A.M._--An officer has been off from the

Governor-General, proposing that my visit should take place to-morrow,

in order that there may be sufficient time for the preparations. He

was very profuse in his protestations of good-will, but as usual there

were a number of little points on which it was necessary to take a

half-bullying tone. 'I could not have a chair with eight bearers; such

a thing had never been seen at Ouchang. There were not thirty chairs

(the number for which we had applied) in the whole place.' 'Lord Elgin

won't land with less, do as you please,' was the answer given. Of

course, the difficulties immediately vanished. Considerable

indignation was expressed at the fact that some of our officers had

been prevented from entering the town of Ouchang yesterday. A hope was

expressed that nobody would land on the Ouchang side to-day; all would

be arranged by to-morrow to our satisfaction, &c. &c. So, after an

interview, in which there was the necessary admixture of the bitter

and the sweet, the officer was sent back to his master. Supplies are

coming off in abundance to the ships. In short, the people are most

desirous to buy and sell, if the authorities will only leave them

alone. _Six P.M._--I have had a long walk on the same side of the

river as yesterday. We first went through the whole depth of Hankow,

on a line parallel with the river Han. We estimated our walk in this

direction at about two miles, but a good deal of it was along a single

street flanked on both sides by ruins. We then embarked in a sanpan

and came down the Han, passing through a multitude of junks of great

variety in shape and cargo. We landed near its mouth on the Han-yang

side, and walked to that town, which is a Foo or prefectoral city, and

walled. It contains the remains of some buildings of pretension,

triumphal arches, &c., which, imply that it must have been a place of

some distinction, but it has been sadly maltreated by the Rebels.

_December 9th.--Four P.M._--The day is rainy, and the purser complains

of difficulty in making his purchases yesterday, and that coal is not

coming off to us as promised, &c.; so I thought it expedient to do a

little in the bullying line to keep all straight. When the Governor-

General therefore sent off this morning to say that he was ready to

receive me, I despatched Wade and Lay to inform him in reply that the

day was too bad for me to land, and that I had to complain of the

difficulties put in my way about money, &c. He received them in

person, and was very gracious; said that he had been at Canton; that

he understood all about us; that if he had been there, Yeh would never

have behaved as he did; that in former days the Chinese Government had

bullied us; that we had bullied them of late years; that it was much

better that henceforward we should settle matters reasonably; that he

was desirous to show me every attention in his power; that when the

port should be open he would do all he could to promote commerce and

good understanding. In short, he spoke very sensibly. It is

exceedingly probable that if he had not got a little check, he might

have kept us at as great a distance as possible; but, be that as it

may, it is just another proof of how easy it is to manage the Chinese

by a little tact and firmness. We are now loading coal, flour, &c., as

fast as we can take it on board.

[Sidenote: Visit to Governor-General.]

_December 10th.--Six P.M._--This day broke fine and clear, so I sent

off to the Governor-General to tell him that if he would receive me I

would visit him at 2 P.M. We went with considerable pomp. A salute

going and returning. A guard of eighty marines and sailors, and a

party of about thirty in chairs. We passed through about a mile of the

town of Ouchang Foo, and were received by the Governor-General and his

suite, dressed in their best. The ceremony was as usual; conversation

and tea in the front room, followed by a more substantial repast in

the second. I have never, however, seen a reception in China so

sumptuous, the authorities so well got up, and the feeding so well

arranged. The Governor-General is a good-looking man, less artificial

in his manner than Chinese authorities usually are. He is a Mantchoo.

It is rather hard to make conversation when one is seated at the top

of a room surrounded by some hundred people, and when, moreover, one

has nothing to say, and that nothing has to be said through an

interpreter. However, the ceremony went off very well. After it, I got

rid of my ribbon and star, and took a stroll _incog._ through Hankow,

where we bought some tea. Ouchang seems a large town with some good

houses and streets, but sadly knocked about by the Rebels. We are

getting all our supplies, &c., on board, and hope to start to-morrow

evening.

[Sidenote: Return visit.]

_December 11th.--Six P.M._--This day the Governor-General paid me a

return visit. We received him with all honour; manned yards of all

four ships, and gave him a salute of three guns from each. It has been

a beautiful day, and the scene was a striking one when he came off in

a huge junk like a Roman trireme, towed by six boats, bedizened by any

number of triangular flags of all colours. A line of troops, horse and

foot, lined the beach along which he passed from the gate of the city

to the place of embarkation; quaint enough both in uniform and

armament, but still with something of a pretension to both about them.

I have seen nothing in China with so much display and style about it

as the turn-out of the Governor-General of the Two Hoo, both to-day

and yesterday. We showed him the ship, feasted him, photographed him,

and entertained him one way or another for upwards of three hours.

After he had departed, I landed on the Ouchang side, and walked

through the walled city. Some objection was made to our entering, as

we went through a side instead of the main gate, but we persevered and

carried our point. The city is a fine one, about the size of Canton,

but much in ruins. To-morrow at six, please God, we set forth on our

return. I may mention as an illustration of the state of Ouchang, that

in walking over a hill in the very centre of the walled town, we put

up two brace of pheasants!

[Sidenote: Retro-sum.]

_December 12th.--Eleven A.M._--We are on our way back to Shanghae. I

am very glad of it, because we have accomplished all the good we could

possibly expect to effect at Hankow, and I am becoming very tired of

the length of time which our expedition has lasted. It is a feat to

have reached this point with these big ships at this season of the

year, and I think the effect of our visit will be considerable. The

people evidently have no objection to us, and the resistance opposed

by the authorities can always be overcome by tact and firmness.

_December 13th.--Nine A.M._--At about eight we heaved anchor, having

carefully buoyed this very awkward passage. The current ran about four

miles an hour, and at some points where the leadsmen were calling out

sixteen and seventeen feet, the channel was not much greater than the

width of the ship, and we draw about fifteen and a half feet of water,

so it was a nervous matter to get through. To make the vessel answer

the helm it was necessary to go faster than the current, and difficult

to do this without proceeding at such a rapid rate as would, if we had

chanced to take the ground, have stuck us upon it immovably. We

skirted our several buoys in a most masterly manner, and are now

anchored till they have been picked up.... _Six P.M._--'Where we had

eighteen feet as we came up, we cannot find fourteen now,' are the

ominous words which Captain Osborn has just addressed to me as he

reached the deck from a surveying expedition.... It looks a little

serious, for I fear there is a worse place beyond.

[Sidenote: Peasantry.]

_December 14th.--Six P.M._--I went on shore this morning when there

was no prospect of moving.... We took a long walk, conversing with the

peasants who live in a row of cottages with their well-cultivated

lands in front and rear of their dwellings; the lands are generally

their own, and of not more than three or four acres in extent I should

think, but it is difficult to get accurate information from them on

such points. We found one rather superior sort of man, who said he was

a tenant, and that he paid four out of ten parts of the produce of his

farm to the landlord. They gave me the impression of being a well-to-

do peasantry. Afterwards I walked through the country town of Pâho,

which is built of stone, and seemingly prosperous. The Rebels had

destroyed all the temples.

_December 15th.--Four P.M._--At about one we had passed the village of

Hwang-shih-kiang, and were entering that part of the river I described

as a fine site for a Highland deer forest, when the 'Lee' hoisted the

'negative' (the signal to stop). She had got on a rock, where, on our

way up, we had found no bottom at ten fathoms. I landed immediately,

and found the people engaged in quarrying and manufacturing lime from

the hills on the right bank. We had a pleasant walk; the day being

beautiful, and the scenery very fine. They sell their lime at about

17$. per ton (200 cash a picul), and buy the small coal which they

employ in their kilns at about 25$. (300 cash a picul). I wish I could

do as well at Broomhall!

[Sidenote: Hunting for a channel.]

[Sidenote: Literary degrees.]

_December 17th.--Ten A.M._--The gunboats are hunting for a channel....

I am going ashore. On this day last year I embarked on board this ship

for the first time. What an eventful time I have spent since then!

_Four P.M._--I have returned from my walk, but, alas! no good news to

greet me. Only eleven feet of water, where we found seventeen on the

way up.... Our walk was pleasant enough, though it rained part of the

time. Some of the gentlemen shot, for the whole of China is a

preserve, the game hardly being molested by the natives. We went into

the house of a small landowner of some three or four acres; over the

door was a tablet to the honour of a brother who had gained the

highest literary degree, and was therefore eligible for the highest

offices in the State. The owner himself was not so literary, and had

bought the degree of _bachelor_ for 108 taels (about 35_l_.). If he

tried to purchase the degree of _master_ he would have, he said, 1,000

taels to pay, besides passing through some kind of examination. We

asked him about the Rebels. He said that when they visited the rural

districts, they took whatever they pleased, saying that it belonged to

their Heavenly Father. Before meat they make a prayer to the Heavenly

Father, ending with a vow to destroy the 'demons' (Imperialists).

'But,' added my informant, 'they are poor creatures, and their

Heavenly Father does not seem to do much for them.' We also visited a

manufactory where they were extracting oil from cotton-seed.

_December 18th.--Six P.M._--We are to try a channel, such as it is,

to-morrow morning. I landed for a walk. Wade took a gun with him. We

saw quantities of waterfowl of all kinds. The plain on the left bank

of the river is bounded on the other side by a pretty lake. The plain

is subject to inundations, and seems to be covered by a bed of sand of

about five feet in thickness. The people cultivate it by trenching for

the clay beneath, and mixing it with the sand.

_December 19th.--10.30 A.M._--The 'Cruiser' went through this bad

passage safely. We followed, and are now aground. Anchors are being

laid out in hopes of dragging the ship over.

[Sidenote: Pressing through the mud.]

_December 20th.--Eleven A.M._--Our difficulty yesterday was not

unexpected,... but we were compelled to make the attempt. The mud was

very soft, and as we pressed against it, kept breaking away; but the

difficulty was, that as we moved the shoal, the tide was forcing us

towards it, and preventing our getting clear of it. At night we fixed

the ship securely by three anchors, and left it to make its own way,

which it did so effectually, that at 4 A.M. we slipped into deep

water. We did not get off till 10 A.M., and the first thing we had to

do was to turn in a channel which was exactly the length of the ship,

and not a foot more. This very clever feat we performed with the help

of an anchor dropped from the stern, and are now in the main river....

_Two P.M._--We have anchored below Kew-kiang, at the spot where we

anchored on November 30th. The 'Dove' met us an hour ago with the

ominous signal, 'Afraid there is no passage.' _Six P.M._--Captain

Osborn has returned from an exploration, which will be continued to-

morrow. It would be very sad if the 'Furious' had to be left behind.

Meanwhile I landed and took a walk. It is a pretty country, on the

right bank, consisting of wooded hillocks with patches of cultivated

valley, and sometimes lakes of considerable size. Cosy little hamlets

nestle in most of the valleys; the houses built of sun-dried bricks,

and much more substantial than those we saw yesterday, &c., where the

walls generally were made of matting, probably because of the

inundations.

[Sidenote: Taking to the gunboats.]

_December 23rd.--Noon._--At about six Captain Osborn returned from an

exploration of the north channel, which he found rocky, and twelve

feet of water the utmost that could be found. Captain Bythesea was

disposed to try and lighten the 'Cruiser;' but I determined that I

would run no risk of the kind. As yet no harm has happened to any of

our ships, and the delay at this point of some of the squadron for

three months, is more an inconvenience to me than a disadvantage in

any other way. On public grounds it will even be attended with

benefit, as it will insure the Yangtze being kept open; for supplies

will be sent up to them from Shanghae, and they will have an

opportunity of examining the Poyang Lake besides. If any of the

vessels were lost or seriously injured, it would be a very different

matter. I have therefore resolved that we shall all pack into the

'Lee' (the 'Dove' being crammed already), and with the aid of two

junks for servants and baggage, make our way to the 'Retribution.' We

shall have to pass Nganching, but it is to be hoped that the Rebels

will not repeat the experiment they made when we were on our way up.

_Au reste, Dieu dispose._

_December 24th.--Noon._--On board the 'Lee.'_--We have just passed the

shallow behind which we were anchored for three days; but we have

passed it only by leaving our big ships behind us. At 10 A.M. I had

all the ship's company of the 'Furious' on deck, and made a short

farewell speech to them, which was well received by a sympathetic

audience. The whole Mission is on board this gunboat, pretty closely

packed as you may suppose: the servants in a Chinese boat astern, and

the effects in another, astern of the 'Dove.' The 'Dove' leads, and we

follow. It is raining and blowing unpleasantly. I am very sorry to

have left the 'Furious.'... If the Rebels let us pass them unattacked,

it will be well; if they do not, we shall be obliged in self-defence

to force a passage through their lines, in order to carry supplies to

our ships. Either way, the object of opening the Yangtze will be

attained. Yesterday the Prefect of Kew-kiang came on board the

'Furious.' He was very civil, and undertook to supply Captain Osborn

with all he wanted.... In the little cabin where I am now writing,

five of us are to sleep!

_Christmas Day._--Many happy returns of it to you and the children!...

It is the second since we parted.... We are now (3 P.M.) approaching

Nganching. I have resolved to communicate with the authorities to

express my indignation at what happened when we passed up the river,

and tell them that if it is repeated I shall be obliged reluctantly to

take the town. This may seem rather audacious language, considering

that my whole force now consists of two gunboats. However, I think it

is the proper tone to take with the Chinese.

[Sidenote: Ngan-ching.]

_December 26th.--One P.M._--It grew so dark before we anchored near

Nganching last night, that we abandoned the idea of communicating till

this morning, and found, when day broke, that we were nearer the town

than we had anticipated. It was raining heavily, with a slight

admixture of sleet, and some of the heights in rear of the town were

covered with snow. We heaved anchor at about seven, and dropped it

again at about half a mile from the wall of the city. Wade went off in

a boat. He steered to a point where there was an officer waving a flag

somewhat ominously, and a crowd behind him, generally armed with red

umbrellas. When he got to the shore, he was informed that the officer

was third in command, and a Canton man, as the other chiefs also

appeared to be. He told them that it was our intention to pass up and

down the river; that I had come with a good heart (i.e. without

hostile intentions); that nevertheless we had been scandalously fired

at, &c. &c. They at once, in the manner of Chinamen, confessed their

error, and said that the firing had been a mistake; that it was the

act of some of the local men, who did not know the ships of 'your

great nation:' that it should not happen again, &c. Wade told them

that the same thing had occurred at Nankin, and that we had destroyed

the peccant forts. They answered that they were aware of what had then

happened. He added, that we did not wish to interfere in their

internal disputes, but that they must know, if we were driven to it,

we should find it an easy matter to sweep them out of the city. They

admitted the truth of all he said, offered presents, begged him to go

into the city and see their chief (both which proposals he declined);

in short, they were contrite and humble. On his return to the 'Lee,'

she and her consort lifted their anchors, and we steamed quietly past

the city, under the very walls, and within easy gingall shot, for so

we were compelled to do by the narrowness of the channel.

[Sidenote: Nankin.]

_December 29th.--11 A.M._--We are now approaching Nankin. I have sent

Oliphant, Wade, Lay, and a Mr. W. (a missionary) ahead in the 'Dove,'

to land, if possible, at the first fort, with the view of going into

the town and calling on the authorities. The 'Dove' will then proceed

past the other forts to an anchorage on the farther side of the city,

to which point the 'Lee' and 'Retribution' will follow her. My

emissaries will inform the Nankin authorities that I am pleased that

they should have apologised for their scandalous conduct towards us on

our way up; that we have no intention of meddling with them if they

leave us alone; but that we intend to move ships up and down the

river, and that they must not be molested. They have sent me a letter

written on a roll of yellow silk, about three fathoms long. It seems

to be a sort of rhapsody, in verse, with a vast infusion of their

extraordinary theology. It is now snowing heavily, so we cannot see

far ahead. It would, I think, be awkward for me to have any

intercourse with the Rebel chiefs, so I do not, as at present advised,

intend to land.

[Sidenote: Wildfowl.]

_December 30th._--About 7 P.M., the 'Dove' rejoined us with the

emissaries. It appears that they had a long way to go on horseback,--

some seven or eight miles--before they reached the Yamun of the chief,

who received them. They do not seem to have learnt much from him. He

professed to be third in the hierarchy of the Rebel Government of

Nankin, but was a rather commonplace person. He said that our

bombardment had killed three officers and twenty men, and that they

had beheaded the soldiers who fired at us! Arrangements were made for

the free passage of vessels communicating with the 'Furious.' They

describe their ride through Nankin as if it had been one through a

great park,--trees, and the streets wider than usual in China; but no

trade is allowed, and the place seems almost deserted. There was not

quite so much appearance of destruction, but more of desolation, than

in any town previously visited by us. The officer who guided them to

the Yamun asked Wade to take him away with us, and on being told that

was impossible, applied for opium, saying that he smoked himself, and

that about one in three of the force in Nankin did the same. Whether

the original Taiping chief, 'Hung-Seu-Cheun,' is still alive or not,

we have not been able to discover. Some say he remains shut up with

about 300 wives. At any rate he is invisible.... The only thing

remarkable which I have observed to-day is the quantity of wildfowl. I

saw one flock this morning which was several miles long. It literally

darkened the sky. I suppose the cold weather is driving them inwards

from the sea.

[Sidenote: Aground once more.]

_December 31st.--Five P.M._--I hardly expected to have to record

another grounding, but so it is. We have been going on gallantly all

day, leaving the other ships some ten miles behind us. We had passed

the Lunshan Hills, off which we spent two days, and from which I sent

you my last letter. We were abreast of Plover Point, when suddenly the

water shoaled so much that we had to drop anchor. Alas! the ebbing

tide was too strong for us, and drove us on a bank, where we are now

sticking. If we get off before morning it will not matter much; but if

the 'Retribution' comes down and finds us here, we shall look

horribly small.

[Sidenote: Reach Shanghae.]

_January 1st, 1859._--Many, many returns of the New Year! It is a

beautiful day, and we are just anchoring at Shanghae, at 3 P.M. As

soon as the tide rose (about midnight) it lifted us off our shoal. We

had to go cautiously sometimes to-day; but we have closed this

eventful expedition successfully.

The general results and chief incidents of the interesting expedition thus

happily completed, were reported to the Government in England in a

despatch, dated January 5th, 1859, from which are taken the following

extracts:--

[Sidenote: Difficulty of getting at facts.]

The knowledge of the Chinese language possessed by Messrs. Wade and

Lay enabled me to enter, without difficulty, into communication with

the inhabitants of the towns and rural districts which we visited. At

various points in our progress we wandered, unarmed and unattended, in

parties of three or four, to a distance of several miles from the

banks of the river, and we never experienced at the hands of the

natives anything but courtesy, mingled with a certain amount of not

very obtrusive curiosity. Notwithstanding, however, these favourable

opportunities, the budget of statistical facts which I was able to

collect was hardly as considerable as I could have desired. Chinamen

of the humbler class are not much addicted to reflection, and when

subjected to cross-examination by persons greedy of information, they

are apt to consider the proceeding a strange one, and to suspect that

it must be prompted by some exceedingly bad motive. Moreover, having

been civilised for many generations, they carry politeness so far,

that in answering a question it is always their chief endeavour to say

what they suppose their questioner will be best pleased to hear. If,

therefore, the knowledge of a fact is to be arrived at, it is, above

all things, necessary that the inquiry bear a tint so neutral that the

person to whom it is addressed shall find it impossible to reflect its

colour in his reply. He will then sometimes, in his confusion, blunder

into a truthful answer, but he does so generally with a bashful air,

indicative of the painful consciousness that he has been reluctantly

violating the rules of good breeding. A search after accurate

statistics, under such conditions, is not unattended with difficulty.

[Sidenote: Exaggerated reports of population.]

I am confirmed, by what I have witnessed on this expedition, in the

doubts which I have long entertained as to the accuracy of the popular

estimates of the amount of the town population of China. The cities

which I have visited are, no doubt, suffering at present from the

effects of the rebellion; but I cannot bring myself to believe that,

at the best of times, they can have contained the number of

inhabitants usually imputed to them. M. Hue puts the population of the

three cities of Woo-chang-foo, Han-yang-foo, and Hankow, at

8,000,000. I doubt much whether it now amounts, in the aggregate, to

1,000,000; and even when they were flourishing, I cannot conceive

where 3,000,000 of human beings could have been stowed away in them.

[Sidenote: Rural population.]

[Sidenote: Town population.]

What 1 have seen leads me to think that the rural population of China

is, generally speaking, well-doing and contented. I worked very hard,

though with only indifferent success, to obtain from them accurate

information respecting the extent of their holdings, the nature of

their tenure, the taxation which they have to pay, and other kindred

matters. I arrived at the conclusion that, for the most part, they

hold their lands, which are of very limited extent, in full property

from the Crown, subject to certain annual charges of no very

exorbitant amount; and that these advantages, improved by assiduous

industry, supply abundantly their simple wants, whether in respect of

food or clothing. In the streets of cities in China some deplorable

objects are to be met with, as must always be the case where mendicity

is a legalised institution; but I am inclined to think that the rigour

with which the duties of relationship are enforced, operates as a

powerful check on pauperism. A few days ago a lady here informed me

that her nurse had bought a little girl from a mother who had a

surplus of this description of commodity on hand. I asked why she had

done so, and was told that the little girl's husband, when she

married, would be bound to support the adopting mother. By the

judicious investment of a dollar in this timely purchase, the worthy

woman thus secured for herself a provision for old age, and a

security, which she probably appreciates yet more highly, for decent

burial when she dies.

[Sidenote: Manufactures.]

My general impression is, that British manufacturers will have to

exert themselves to the utmost if they intend to supplant, to any

considerable extent, in the native market, the fabrics produced in

their leisure hours, and at intervals of rest from agricultural

labour, by this industrious, frugal, and sober population. It is a

pleasing but pernicious fallacy to imagine, that the influence of an

intriguing mandarin is to be presumed whenever a buyer shows a

preference for native over foreign calico.

In returning to Shaughae, Lord Elgin had hoped to find the objects of his

mission so far secured, that there would be nothing to prevent, his sailing

for England at once: but nearly two more months elapsed before he was able

to turn his back on the Celestial Empire.

_Shanghae.--January 17th._--The 'Furious' and 'Cruiser' arrived here

safely on the 10th.... I have just accomplished the Herculean task of

looking over a two-months' supply of newspapers, and this occupation,

interlarded with a certain number of letters and visits to and from

the Imperial Commissioners, and, to-day, an address from the British

community of Shanghae, has pretty fully occupied my time.[3] The home

mail is due to-day, and 1 am anxiously waiting to learn from it what

the Government intends to do about relieving me.... I trust that your

many disappointments as to my return may have been somewhat relieved

by the conviction that I am following the right course. This opening

up of the East is not a light matter.... The comet was most

magnificent here. Did I ever mention it in my letters? During the

whole period of its visit in this quarter it had night after night a

clear blue cloudless sky, spangled with stars innumerable, to disport

itself in.... Canton is coming round to tranquillity as fast as we

ever had any right to expect; but the absurd thing is that these funny

people at Hong-Kong are beginning to praise me!

[Sidenote: Troubles at Canton.]

_January 20th._--I had hardly written the words 'Canton is coming

round to tranquillity.' when I heard that there had been fighting

there again. It is a good thing in my opinion, as it will enable us to

demonstrate our superiority to the Braves, if the General and Admiral

improve the opportunity properly; not by a great deal of slaughter,

that is quite unnecessary, but by promptitude, and striking a blow at

the right moment. The Chinese do not care much about being killed, but

they hate being frightened, and the knowledge of this idiosyncrasy of

theirs is the key of the position. I have just written a letter to my

friends the Imperial Commissioners here, which will, I think, shake

their nerves considerably, and bring them to a manageable frame of

mind.

In fact, when he found that Governor-General Hwang had not been recalled,

nor the Committee of Gentry suppressed, and that the Canton Braves were

still making war upon our troops, he felt that the Chinese were trying to

evade the performance of their promises, and that there was nothing for it

but to 'appeal again to 'that ignoble passion of fear which was unhappily

the one _primum mobile_ of human action in China.'[4] Accordingly he wrote

to the Imperial Commissioners that, as the Emperor did not carry out what

they undertook, he would have nothing more to say to them on the subject;

that the English soldiers and sailors would take the Braves into their own

hands; and that he or his successor would in a month or two have an

opportunity of ascertaining at Pekin itself whether or not the Emperor was

abetting the persons who were creating disturbances in the South.

The journal continues, under date of January 20:--

[Sidenote: Town of Shanghae.]

Yesterday I took a walk through the town of Shanghae with a missionary

who is a very good _cicerone_. We went into a good many _ateliers_ of

silversmiths, ribbon-makers, tobacco-manufacturers, carvers in wood,

and the like. The Chinese are skilful manipulators, but they are

singularly uninventive. Nothing can be more rude than their labour-

saving processes. We visited also a foundling establishment. There was

a drawer at the entrance in which the infants are deposited, as is, I

believe, the case at Paris. The children seem tolerably cared for, but

there were not many in the house. The greater portion are given out to

nurse. We went also into a large inn or lodging-house, frequented by a

respectable class of visitors--silk merchants, &c. The rooms seemed

comfortable, quite as good as the accommodation provided for

commercial travellers at an English inn. A good many books seemed to

form part of the luggage of the occupant of each room that we entered.

It is curious that I should have been engaged in so many enterprises

of rather an out-of-the-way character since I have been out here. I

confess that in my own opinion the voyage up the Yangtze is not the

least important one.

_January 22nd._--Mail arrived. Frederick's appointment[5] is very

satisfactory, and I am sure it is the best the Government could have

made for the public interest. It is a great comfort to me to know that

he will wind up what I cannot finish.

[Sidenote: Return to Hong-Kong.]

_Shanghae.--January 25th._--After full consideration I have resolved

to go at once to Hong-Kong, and take the Canton difficulty in hand. A

variety of circumstances lead me to the conclusion that the Court of

Pekin is about to play us false. Ho, the Governor-General of the Two

Kiang; the Tautai of this port; and the Treasurer of the district, all

well-disposed to foreigners, have been gradually removed from the

councils of the Commissioners. Some papers which we have seized also

indicate that the Emperor is by no means reconciled to some of the

most important concessions obtained in the Treaties. This row at

Canton is therefore very opportune. I have taken a high tone, informed

the Commissioners that I am off to the South to punish disturbers of

the peace there, and that when I have taught them to respect treaties,

I (or my successor) will return to settle matters still pending here,

pacifically or otherwise as the Emperor may prefer. It is to be hoped

that this language will bring them to their senses, or rather bring

the Court to its senses, for I do not suppose that the Commissioners

are so much to blame. I had already asked all the society here to a

party this evening, so it will be a farewell entertainment, and I

shall embark as soon as it is over.

[Sidenote: Pirate-hunting.]

_At Sea, near Hong-Kong.--Tuesday, February 1st._--Two war-steamers

and a gunboat have just passed us on some expedition after pirates. It

may be all right, but I fear we do some horrible injustices in this

pirate-hunting. The system of giving our sailors a direct interest in

captures is certainly a barbarous one, and the parent of much evil;

though perhaps it may be difficult to devise a remedy. The result,

however, is, that not only are seizures often made which ought not to

be made at all, but also duties are neglected which do not bring grist

to the mill. B. once said to me, in talking of the difficulty of

exercising a police over even English vessels which carry coolies to

foreign ports:--'Men-of-war have orders to seize vessels breaking the

law; but as they are not prizes, and the captain if he seizes them

wrongfully is liable to an action for damages, how can you expect them

to act?'

[Sidenote: March into the interior.]

_February 11th._--I ought to tell you that on the 8th, a body of

troops about 1,000 strong started on an expedition into the interior,

which was to take three days. I accompanied or rather preceded them on

the first day's march, about twelve miles from Canton. We rode through

a very pretty country, passing by the village of Sheksing, where there

was a fight a fortnight ago. The people were very respectful, and

apparently not alarmed by our visit. At the place where the troops

were to encamp for the night, a cattle fair was in progress, and our

arrival did not seem to interrupt the proceedings.

_February 13th._--The military expedition into the country was

entirely successful. The troops were received everywhere as friends.

Considering what has been of yore the state of feeling in this

province towards us, I think this almost the most remarkable thing

which has happened since I came here. Would it have happened if I had

given way to those who wished me to carry fire and sword through all

the country villages? Or if I had gone home, and left the winding-up

of these affairs in the hands of others?... I say all this because I

am anxious that you should appreciate the motives which have made me

prolong my stay in this quarter.

On the 15th he started, intending to join General Straubenzee in an

expedition up the West River; but finding that his presence would be of no

use, and might be an embarrassment, he resolved instead to spend the time

in visiting the port of Hainan, the southernmost port opened by the new

Treaty. Unfortunately, when he arrived off Hainan, a wind blowing on shore,

and very imperfect charts, prevented his entering the port; but on his way

he had an opportunity of revisiting one of the few places on the coast

possessing any historical interest, namely Macao, the residence of Camoëns;

and also of touching at St. John, the scene of the labours and death of

Francis Xavier.

[Sidenote: Macao.]

_February 11th._--We reached Macao yesterday morning. I visited the

garden of Camoëns, and wandered among the narrow up-and-down streets,

which with the churches and convents, and air of quiet _vétusté_,

remind one of a town on the continent of Europe.

[Sidenote: St. John.]

_February 20th.--Sunday._--We have just anchored in a quiet harbour,

on the island of St. John, or Sancian, as Huc calls it; the first

place in China where the Portuguese settled. Here, too, St. Francis

Xavier died. I should land and look at his tomb if I thought it was in

this part of the island, but it is late (5 P.M.), and a long way to

pull.

On returning to Hong-Kong he found that his letter to the Chinese

Government had had the effect which he desired and anticipated.

[Sidenote: Mission completed.]

_Hong-Kong.--February 23rd._--I have good news from the North. As I

was walking on the deck this morning at 8 A.M., Mr. Lay suddenly made

his appearance. He had come by the mail-packet from Shanghae, with a

letter from the Imperial Commissioners, announcing that the seal of

Imperial Commission had been taken from Hwang, the Governor-General of

this province, and given to Ho, the Governor-General of the provinces

in which Shanghae is situated. Lay further states that his friend the

Tautai informed him that they are prepared to receive the new

Ambassador peacefully at Pekin, when he goes to exchange

ratifications. If so, I think that I shall be able to return with the

conviction that the objects of my mission have been accomplished.

The details of his Treaty having been now definitively arranged, Canton

pacified, and its neighbourhood overawed by the peaceful progress through

it of a military expedition, there remained nothing to detain him in the

East.[6]

[Sidenote: Homeward bound.]

[Sidenote: Hong-Kong factory.]

_Canton River.--March 3rd._--I am really and truly off on my way to

England, though I can hardly believe that it is so. The last mail

brought me not a word either from Frederick or about his plans; only,

what was very satisfactory, the approval of the Government of my

arrangement respecting the residence of the British Minister in China.

I have, however, determined to start, and to take my chance of meeting

him somewhere _en route_. Unless I were to go back to Shanghae, I

could not do much more here now; and if I put off, I shall have the

monsoon against me, and great heat in the Red Sea. Having resolved on

this course, I invited the Hong-Kong merchants to come up with me to

Canton, to look at the several factory sites. In their usual way they

have been dictating the choice of a site to me, abusing me for not

fixing upon it; and I found out that very few of them had even taken

the trouble of looking at the ground. In short I found that, in my

short visits, I had seen a great deal more of the sites than they had

done, who live constantly on the spot, and are personally interested

in the matter. I started from Hong-Kong yesterday morning, and to-day

I went over the ground with them. The rain poured, and I got a good

wetting.... As I was starting from the town in a gunboat to rejoin my

ship, I met the military and naval expedition, which has been absent

for more than two weeks, returning. I had not time to communicate with

the officers, but they seemed in good spirits. It is a curious wind-up

of this most eventful mission, that as I am starting from China, I

should meet an Anglo-French force returning from a pacific invasion

into the very heart of the province of Kwan-tung!--the _pépinière_ of

the Canton Braves, of whom we have heard so much.

_March 4th.--Eleven A.M._--I have been calculating that if Frederick

does not leave England till the mail of the 25th of February, I may,

by pushing on, catch him at Galle. This would be a great point. I must

push on and take my chance.

[Sidenote: Pulo Sapata.]

_March 8th._--We are passing Pulo Sapata, a bald, solitary rock,

standing in the midst of the China Sea, the resort of seafowl, as is

indicated by its guano-like appearance. There it stands day after day,

and year after year, affronting the scorching beams of this tropical

sun. All ships pass by it between Singapore and China. So I am looking

at it for the fourth time--the last time, we may hope. We have made

fully 200 miles a day--a great deal for this ship.

_March 10th._--We are now very near the Line, and the breeze has

nearly failed us; so you may imagine we are not very cool, but we hope

to reach Singapore to-morrow. These Tropics are very charming when

they do not broil one; and I passed a pleasant hour last night on the

top of the paddle-box, with a balmy air floating over my face from the

one side, a crescent moon playing hide-and-seek behind a cloud on the

other, and right above me a legion of bright stars, shining through

the atmosphere as if they could pierce one with their glance.

_March 11th._--We have passed the Horsburgh lighthouse, and entered

the Straits. Wooded banks on either side, diversified by hillocks, and

a ship or two, give some animation to the scene. It is very hot, and I

have been on the paddle-box getting what air I can, and watching a

black wall of cloud covered with fleecy masses, which rests on the

bank to our right, and seems half inclined to sweep over us with one

of those refreshing pelts of which we had a succession last night. It

is this habit of showers which renders the vicinity of the Line more

bearable than the summer heat of other parts within the Tropics.

However, the cloud sticks to the shore, so I have come down to write

this line to you.

[Sidenote: Singapore.]

_Singapore.--Sunday, March 13th, Seven A.M._--This place looks

wonderfully green and luxuriant after China. The variety of costumes

and colours too, Malay, Indian, Chinese, &c., and the pretty villas

perched on each hillock among flowering trees, give it a festival air.

Heavy showers of rain also keep the temperature down.... 3.30 P.M.--I

went to church and embarked immediately after; and here we are, about

ten miles from Singapore, going well through a calm sea, with a slight

breeze rather against us. Twenty months ago I left this place at about

the same hour with poor Peel for Calcutta.

_March 21st.--Six A.M._--I have been an hour on deck watching the

great bright stars eclipse themselves, and the sun break through the

clouds right astern of us. It is a lovely day, and we are a little

bent over by a breeze from the shore of Ceylon, along which we are now

running. _Noon._--Just anchored at Galle, after a run of about 270

miles in twenty-four hours.... We are surrounded by curious boats

about two feet wide, prevented from capsizing by _outriggers_--beams

of wood _floating_ on the water on one side of them, and attached to

them by poles of about eight feet in length. I believe these boats are

wonderfully fast and safe.

[Sidenote: Ceylon.]

_Colombo.--Sunday, March 27th._--We came yesterday to this place. A

drive of seventy-two miles through an almost uninterrupted grove of

cocoa-nut trees, interspersed with bread-fruit, jack-fruit, and other

foliage, with occasional gleams of the _Gloriosa superba_. The music

of the ocean waves hissing and thundering on the shore accompanied us

all our journey. The road was good and the coach tolerable, so it was

pleasant enough. To-day the heat is very great; hardly bearable at

church. All Sir H. Ward's family are on the hill--Newra Elyia--some

6,000 feet above the sea; this being the hottest season in Ceylon. My

writing is not very good, for I cannot sit still for the heat. I am

walking about the room in very light attire, taking up my pen from

time to time to indite a few words.

_H.M.S. 'Furious.'--At Sea, April 9th._--Will this letter be delivered

to you by the post or by the writer in person? _Chi sa?_... You will

like to have a complete record of my experiences during my long

absence. I am now again at sea, and I cannot say how this fact

rejoices me. I was tired of Ceylon; and my longing to get home

increases as the prospect of my doing so becomes more real. I was ill,

too, at Ceylon. The heat was very great; and I was, I fear, somewhat

imprudent. On the day after I despatched my last letter to you from

Colombo, I started for Kandy, a pretty little countrytown seated in

the centre of a circle of hills. I reached it at 5 P.M., time enough

to walk about the very beautiful grounds of the 'Pavilion,' the

Governor's residence. Next day, after seeing the shrine which contains

the famous tooth of Buddha, I set off for the mountains, and reached a

coffee estate of Baron Delmar's at about 6 P.M. We found ourselves in

a fine cool climate, at about 3,000 feet above the sea. That night,

however, I felt a shiver as I went to bed. I had a bad headache next

morning, and when I arrived at Newra Elyia, the famous sanatarium,

6,000 feet above the sea, I was obliged to go to bed, and send for the

doctor. I could not remain quiet, however, as the packet from England

might be at Galle on the 3rd; so I had to hurry down on Friday from

the mountain to Kandy and Colombo, where I arrived on Saturday evening

more dead than alive. Sir H. Ward's doctor declared me to be labouring

under an attack of jungle fever.... I sent for the 'Furious,' which

conveyed me from Colombo to Galle on Monday the 4th. Frederick did not

arrive till the 6th; so all ended well. It was an unspeakable comfort

to me to meet Frederick at last We had a day to talk over our affairs,

as he did not proceed till the afternoon of the 7th.... I am pleased

with Ceylon, notwithstanding my mishaps. For a tropical climate it is

healthy and bearable; but we happened to be there at the very hottest

season. At Newra Elyia it is really cold, and, at the height of the

coffee estates, very tolerable to vegetate in.

The rapid homeward journey along a beaten route offered little of interest

to write about, especially as he was likely to be the bearer of his own

letter. On the 19th of May he reported to the Foreign Office his arrival in

London.

[1] The text of the Article respecting opium is as follows:--'Opium will

henceforth, pay thirty taels per picul import duty. The importer will

sell it only at the port. It will be carried into the interior by

Chinese only, and only as Chinese property; the Foreign trader will

not be allowed to accompany it. The provisions of Article IX. of the

Treaty of Tientsin, by which British subjects are authorised to

proceed into the interior with passports to trade, will not extend to

it, nor will those of Article XXVIII. of the same Treaty, by which the

transit-dues are regulated; the transit-dues on it will be arranged as

the Chinese Government see fit; nor, in future revisions of the

Tariff, is the rule of revision to be applied to opium as to other

goods.'

[2] In an official despatch he describes it as 'a solitary rock of about

300 feet in height, picturesquely clothed with natural timber and

ruined temples, around which are to be seen, at all hours of the day,

groups of bonzes, in their grey and yellow robes, devoutly lounging,

and conscientiously devoting themselves to the duty of doing

absolutely nothing.'

[3] His reply to the Merchants' address contained the following passage:

'Allow me to express the satisfaction which it gives me to find that

you specify the benefits that are likely to accrue to the inhabitants

of these countries themselves, as among the most important of the

results to be expected from our recent treaties with China and Japan.

On this head we have no doubt incurred very weighty responsibilities.

Uninvited, and by methods not always of the gentlest, we have broken

down the barriers behind which these ancient nations sought to conceal

from the world without the mysteries, perhaps also, in the case of

China at least, the raps and rottenness of their waning civilisations.

Neither our own consciences nor the judgment of mankind will acquit us

if, when we are asked to what use we have turned our opportunities, we

can only say that we have filled our pockets from among the ruins

which we have found or made.'

[4] Despatch of Jan. 22, 1859.

[5] As Minister at the Court of Pekin.

[6] In a parting letter he pointed out to the Admiral how desirable it was

that the ambassador who went to Pekin to exchange the ratifications of

the Treaty should be supported by an imposing force, and suggested

that with this view a sufficient fleet of gunboats should be

concentrated at once at Shanghae.