Get ashore--Village--Appearance of country--Made
prisoners--Syrang--Bound--Chinese gentleman--Old women--Meet
some of the crew--Kindness of one Chinese--Put into
irons--Insults--Interrogated by mandarin--Death of marines.
We reached the shore about three in the morning, and the Chinese
made signs to us, that if we would follow them, they would give us
something to eat; we accordingly walked after them until we arrived at
a small village, which consisted of a few miserable mud huts, with but
one respectable brick house; but from these few huts a swarm of men,
women, and children poured out on our approach. We were taken into
an outhouse, one half of which was occupied by an immense buffalo,
and in the other half was a cane bed with musquito curtains; in one
corner was a ladder, leading to a loft containing another couch. They
now brought us some hot rice, and a kind of preserved vegetable; we
contented ourselves with the rice and a basin of tea, the preserve
being so exceedingly nasty we could none of us eat it. Whilst in this
place, a Chinese, who seemed the superior of the village, and doubtless
was the owner of the one brick house, brought a piece of paper written
upon in Chinese characters, and made signs for one of us to write upon
it; intimating at the same time, that he had written some account of
us on this paper, and that he wanted an account in our writing, which
I accordingly gave him, stating the time and cause of our shipwreck,
and also our present situation; hoping that he would take it to the
mandarin of the district, and that from him it might be forwarded to
the authorities at Chusan, who might thus learn where we were, and take
some steps for our return to the fleet.
When it was broad daylight we mentioned the name of Ningpo, and they
made signs that if we would go with them they would show us the way
there, so we started, as we imagined, for Ningpo.
Having no trousers, and my only clothing being a flannel shirt, and
a black silk handkerchief round my head, which Twizell had given me
when in the maintop, they gave me a piece of matting, but this proving
rather an encumbrance than of any service, I soon threw it off, and
walked on _sans culottes_.
We passed in this style through a highly cultivated country; on every
side large plantations of cotton and rice, and various kinds of
vegetables, but all unknown to me. Having gone six or seven miles,
seeing very few houses, but crowds of people turning out of each as we
passed, we at length arrived at a cross-road. Here another party of
Chinese appeared, who absolutely forbade our proceeding any further:
but as our guides went on, and beckoned us to follow, we pushed through
our opponents and walked on; but they, having collected more men,
headed us, and we were obliged to come to a stand-still. In this case
we found the want of a perfect understanding amongst ourselves, for the
Lascars were so frightened at their situation, that they fell on their
knees before the Chinamen, which of course encouraged the latter, and
before we could look around us, men rose up as it were from the ground,
separated us, and made us all prisoners at once, with the exception of
four, who ran off, though without any idea whither they should run,
or what they should do. Here the[4] Syrang made a foolish attempt to
cut his throat with a rusty old knife he had about him, but he only
succeeded in tearing his flesh a little, for he was soon disarmed and
pinioned. If, perhaps, we had all stood together, and put a bold face
on the matter, though without any kind of arms, we might have gone
quietly to the mandarin's, and then have been treated properly, but
the conduct of the Lascars emboldened our enemies, and we were seized,
bound, and dragged off, almost before we knew where we were. As to
those who ran away, they were obliged to give themselves up after a
short run, and got a very severe beating, besides several wounds from
the spears the Chinese were armed with.
From this time my narrative becomes almost personal, as I can seldom
give an account of more than what befel myself.
When we were seized in the manner I have related, a man threw his arms
round me, and though I could easily have shaken him off, I saw five
or six others gathering round me, and I thought it would be useless
to struggle. It was better for me that I made no resistance, as the
others were bound and dragged away, with ropes round their necks;
whereas the man who first seized me, still held me, and walked me off,
without binding me at all. Twizell was amongst those that ran, and I
did not see him again till I got to Ningpo. As I was walking along with
my keeper, we were met by two soldiers, who immediately stopped, and
one, armed with a spear, prepared to make a lunge at me; but my old man
stepped between us, and spoke to him, upon which he dropped his spear,
and allowed us to pass.
At length we arrived at a large village, and here my first keeper left
me, much to my regret, as, after he was gone, my hands, hitherto free,
were made fast behind my back, and the cord being drawn as tight as
possible, the flesh soon swelled and caused me great pain; another rope
was put round my neck, by which they led me about.
At times I gave myself up for lost, but still I could not fancy the
Chinese to be so cruel a people, as to murder us in cold blood,
particularly after the manner in which we had fallen into their hands.
I hardly knew what to think.
My new keeper led me into the courtyard of a house, and made me fast to
one of several pillars that supported a rude kind of verandah, dragging
the rope as tight as he could however, he brought me some water to
drink, when I made signs for it. I had not been here long, when one
of the Melville's people was brought in, and made fast to an opposite
pillar; but we could not speak to, and could hardly see each other, as
the yard was crowded with people anxious to get a peep at us.
After standing here some time, a man came and took me away to another
house, where, in the yard, was a quantity of cotton, and in one corner,
looking out of a window, a Chinese gentleman and lady, before whom my
guide led me, and prostrated himself, wishing me to do the same; but I
contented myself with bowing, upon which the gentleman waved his hand,
and I was led to the back-yard, where my guide brought me some rice
and vegetables. I did not feel so grateful for my dinner as I perhaps
ought, as I imagined this person had bought me for a slave.
When I had finished my repast, I was led back, and, being made fast to
a tree, was left exposed to the mercy of the mob, without a guard.
The people amused themselves with making signs; some, that my head
would be cut off, others that I should not lose my head, but my eyes,
tongue, and nose, and all those little necessaries, and then be sent
away--a most unenviable state to be reduced to. I was kept here some
time, surrounded by a number of ugly old women, who seemed to take a
delight in teasing me; but the most active of my tormentors was neither
old nor ugly, being a tall and well-made person; her feet were not so
mishapen as the generality of her countrywomen's; in fact, she was the
handsomest woman I saw in China. At last a man came, loosed me from the
tree, and led me off to a little distance; and while one man brought a
stone block, another was sent away, as I imagined, for an axe or some
such instrument; before this block I was desired to kneel, but this I
refused to do, determined not to give up my life in so quiet a manner
as they seemed to propose. The messenger returned shortly, the block
was taken away, and I was led out of the village.
[Illustration: _Drawn by C. H. Greenhill._ _Engraved by W. Lee._]
Being now guarded by a dozen armed men, I was led along the banks of a
canal until I came to a bridge, where I saw some of my companions in
misfortune; I could only exchange a hurried word or two as they dragged
me past, as I supposed, to the place of execution. I went on thus, with
two more of the prisoners at some distance before me, stopping now and
then, and imagining every stoppage to be the last, and that I should
here be made an end of; but they still led me on, until we came to
another village, or rather town, and I was taken to what appeared to me
to be the hall of justice. I was led to the back yard, and placed in a
room half filled with a heap of wood ashes. Here I found three more of
the crew, in the same miserable condition as myself; but still, even
here, we found some to feel for and relieve us a little, for, on making
signs that my hands were bound too tight, one of the Chinese loosened
the bonds, and afterwards went out: returning shortly with a lapful of
cakes, he distributed them amongst us, and then procured us some water,
of which we stood in great need, as we had had a long march under a
broiling sun.
We had scarcely finished our cakes, when some of the soldiers came
in, and took one of my fellow prisoners just outside the door; as I
could observe almost all that passed, it was with feelings of the most
unpleasant nature that I saw him made to kneel, and directly surrounded
by the soldiers; one of whom came in, and took away a basket full of
the ashes. I now supposed that we had in reality come to the last gasp;
I fancied my companion's head was off, and that the ashes were taken
to serve in the place of sawdust, to soak up his blood. I was not long
kept in suspense, for the door opened, and some soldiers entered,
who forced me to get up, and go out into the yard. I now took it for
granted that my hour was really come; but, to my great relief, they had
only brought me out to fetter me. They put irons on my hands and feet,
those on my ankles being connected by a chain of five or six links,
and an iron collar round my neck, with a stick fast to it, which was
also made fast by a padlock to my handcuffs. I hardly knew whether to
rejoice or not at this prolongation of my life, as I might be kept in
this condition a short time, only to suffer a more lingering death in
the end. When my irons were on, and rivetted, I was led into the outer
yard, now crowded with people, and again tied up to a post. On looking
around me, I saw my companion, who had been led out before me, fastened
in a similar manner to the post opposite; and in a short time they
brought the other two, and made them fast to the corresponding corner
pillars. We remained a short time exposed to the insults of the lower
orders, who amused themselves with pulling our hair, striking us with
their pipes, spitting in our faces, and annoying us in all the petty
ways they could think of. At last our guards came, and led us to a
small room by the side of the gate, where we again had some rice.
Here I saw a Chinaman prisoner, ironed in exactly the same way as we
were.
When we had finished our rice, we were led through the town, down to
the side of a canal, where boats were waiting for us. Into one of these
they put me and a Lascar, the other two prisoners in another boat, each
boat having a guard of several soldiers. We were towed, by one man, so
quickly down the canal, that I had little time to notice the country,
even had I been in a state of mind to pay much attention. I could see,
however, that other canals branched from ours in every direction, and
on the banks were an immense number of wheels and machines of various
descriptions, for raising the water from the canals, and irrigating
the rice-fields; some worked by men as at a tread-mill, and others by
buffaloes, which walked round and round in a circle, as we occasionally
see horses in our mills. By dusk, we arrived at a large town, where
we had to change our boat; rather an awkward piece of business, as the
guard would render us but little assistance, and, fettered as I was, I
found it very difficult to crawl from one boat to the other. At last I
managed it, and then lay down in the bottom of my new conveyance, the
soldier taking the precaution of making my neck-rope fast, so that I
could not escape.
About ten in the evening we arrived at another town, but, being late,
everything here was perfectly quiet. I was now landed, and led through
the town to the mandarin's house; on the way there, I tripped and fell,
breaking the rivet of my fetters, and cutting my knee at the same time.
The soldier who was leading me by the rope round my neck, said nothing,
but waited very quietly till I had picked myself up again, and we
proceeded on, till we came to the head mandarin's house.
Here, to my great joy, I found the greater part of those who had come
ashore in the junk with me; but still those who had got into the other
boat, on leaving the wreck, and those who had run away, were missing;
and we could hardly hope ever to see them again. I sat down on one of
the steps, an officer brought me some cakes, and on seeing my knee,
which had rather a deep cut, brought a small bottle, from which he
sprinkled some kind of powder on the wound: this immediately stopped
the bleeding, and in a day or two the part was healed.
I sat here a short time, without being allowed to speak to the others;
till suddenly we were made to stand up and place ourselves in two rows,
and the mandarin and two of his officers made their appearance. They
walked down the rows, stopping at each person, and by signs asked if we
had had guns or opium on board our vessel. We only shook our heads in
answer to their questions, and as we were not able to understand the
other signs, they very soon retired.
When they were gone, the soldiers led us across one or two yards, into
a joshouse. By the light from the torches, I could distinguish, in
a place railed off from the rest of the building, some people lying
apparently asleep. At first I imagined them to be Chinese; but to my
amazement and great joy, I soon discovered this party to consist of
Webb and Wombwell, and those who had left the wreck in the other junk,
and of whose fate we had hitherto been in ignorance. In consequence
of some misunderstanding, they had been most severely beaten by the
Chinese, and from the effects of this beating, two of the marines
had died, on their way from the coast to this town. Though dead when
they arrived, the Chinese had, nevertheless, put irons on the bodies.
The corporal of marines had been so ill treated, that he could not
move without assistance; and in fact they had all experienced worse
treatment than our party.
There were now missing, only the four who had run off when the
Chinese stopped us at the cross-way. Of Mrs. Noble, and those in the
jolly-boat, we, of course, knew nothing; but hoped that they might have
escaped the Chinese, and managed to reach Chusan.
Haying related our different stories, and consoled each other in the
best way we could, we lay down on some loose straw for the night, and,
notwithstanding our miserable condition, we slept soundly.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] Note 3.