The ramparts of the city wall--Modern rifles and obsolete weapons--A
defiant Manchu--The looting of the looters--Handy polyglot
abilities--A few plain truths--Three chapters of a story in a
nutshell--Fortunes made and lost.
[Illustration: A COMMON SIGHT]
While all this went on in the streets, the ramparts of the wall were
strewn with dead bodies of soldiers and Boxers. Many who had been
killed several days before the capitulation of the city had been
pitched down into the street below. The bodies were partly eaten
up by dogs, and what remained of them was in a fearful state of
decomposition. The majority of soldiers had been wounded in the head
when peeping over the wall to snipe at our men. By the side of those
last fallen near the loopholes on the top of the wall lay stacks of
gingals, Mannlicher carbines, Winchesters, swords, spears, tridents,
and thousands of rounds of ammunition. In addition to these modern
weapons, a great number of muzzle-loading guns were found that had been
used in the defence of Tientsin, and near these one picked up small
cane and cardboard tubes used by the Chinese to measure the gunpowder
charge when loading them. Pouches filled with lead bullets were
scattered about on the ground, also quantities of nails, pebbles, and
other such articles, which were added in the charge to the bullet to
cause additional damage to the enemy.
Roaming along, attracted at every turn by some extraordinary sight, one
came again to the South Gate of the city.
The striking feature of a tall, defiant Manchu soldier stared me in the
face. He sat motionless by the guard-house near the familiar rack, on
which stood a number of old, rusty spears and tridents, the shattered
remains of ancient Chinese protection. His hands were tied behind his
back--for he was a prisoner--and his torn coat exposed in the middle
of his chest a deep gash several inches long, caused by a bayonet or a
sword. The remains of his coat and his trousers were soaked in blood,
and the wound, very recent, was still bleeding profusely, and must have
caused him intense suffering. But not a plea for mercy, not a groan of
pain, came from his lips. He sat there stolidly and perfectly upright,
with a terrible look of pride mingled with contempt on his otherwise
impassive face. His jaws were tightly closed, his eyes, which never
winked, slowly moved their piercing pupils from one figure to the other
of the noisy crowd of foreigners who were rushing with their loot out
of the city. Further on, outside the same gate, two heads of Chinese
swung on the wall, strung by their pigtails. Evidently two Boxer
traitors.
But enough of these horrible sights. In one hour, going through
Tientsin city, one could that day see enough disgusting scenes to last
one a lifetime.
As I have said, the authorities, with Captain Bayly at their head,
allowed free loot the first day; but on the second day, when people,
encouraged by the impunity of the day before, came to convey their
booty into the foreign Concessions, they found to their surprise that
it was duly seized by officers of the various nationalities. A looting
of the looter, as it were.
[Sidenote: USEFUL POLYGLOT ABILITIES]
The amusing part of all this was that, to avoid unnecessary friction,
officers were allowed to confiscate the presumed loot brought into
the Settlement by their respective countrymen only, and at this point
a knowledge of several languages came in handy for looters. When
rickshaws and coolies carrying the plunder were stopped by French
officers the plunderers would reply in German, on which the Frenchmen
would politely salute and declare that they did not understand German,
nor had they any power to interfere with German subjects. The British
officer, who next challenged the looter, would be met by a jabber of
French, and he too would bow courteously and acknowledge that subjects
of the much-respected French Republic were not under his jurisdiction.
Thus with regretful eyes each would beg the pillager to continue his
journey--with his spoils--until, if he knew languages enough to carry
him through, he would eventually reach home in safety.
So folks--not military--who were fortunate enough to speak various
foreign tongues brought home quite a nice collection of things,
whereas others, of less polyglot abilities, had to endure the hardship
of compulsory separation from their much-valued pickings. If they
remonstrated, a few plain truths were told them in addition; their
names--usually somebody else’s--were taken down, and many a rash
_paterfamilias_ was made to feel pretty uncomfortable for days to come
by such cool remarks of the officers as: “We do not know yet what
punishment will be meted out to you, but you will hear;” “Martial law
condemns all looters to be shot without trial,” or some such comforting
words, which were enough to eradicate, even in the most enthusiastic,
the dangerous mania of collecting Chinese curios without paying for
them.
Many amusing tricks were nevertheless played on the officers in charge.
Two marines had found 15,000 dollars in silver and gold. They deposited
the precious load in the bottom of a water-cart, filled it with dirty
water, and, without arousing the slightest suspicion, wheeled it
safely into the settlement. Chapter two of the same story saw the two
_nouveaux riches_ hopelessly intoxicated, standing drinks all round,
and confiding in everybody how they had acquired the large fortune and
brought the treasure in without being detected. Chapter three: the
silver and gold, less what had been spent in drinks, was duly seized by
the authorities, and the men were placed in irons pending court-martial.
Others made and lost similar and even greater fortunes within a few
hours, but as the confiscated loot was divided among the brave soldiers
who captured the city, no one (after getting over the first shock)
thought the treatment unfair. On the contrary, one and all were glad
that the troops should have all, and no one grudged that they should be
rewarded to the fullest extent.
[Illustration: EUROPEANS CONVEYING LOOT INTO THE SETTLEMENT]