THE BATTERIES STORMED. 299 ants; and in the plain behind, a large crowd, probably a force in reserve, who, to their intense amazement, were favoured with a shell or two immediately on our informing Captain Dew of their position and direction. As the storming parties landed within 300 yards of us, we could, from our elevated position, inspect their proceedings with great minuteness. The attention of the fort being concentrated upon the gunboats in front of them, the garrison seemed unconscious of the fact that some hundreds of "barbarians were landing just above them. Not knowing that our practice was to take batteries by assault, they were evidently taken completely by surprise; and as but a few yards of mud were to be traversed at that time of tide, the men were in the embrasures at once. In the late unfortunate attack, the distance of mud to be crossed was much greater, and the garrison doubtless fully expected that we should land and storm as we had done before, and were prepared accordingly. We saw the leading blue-jacket jump into the battery; an instantaneous panic spread itself like lightning along the line of batteries at our feet; and in the "sauve qui peut" which followed, some amusing scenes occurred, as Jack, at the top of his speed, dodged and chased the terrified soldiers, who, with outstretched arms and nimble legs, scattered in every direction. Here and there one more courageous than his fellows would attempt to make a stand, or apparently disbelieve the report of a flying Tartar, who pointed to the rear and sped on with redoubled speed; but no sooner did the flash of the cutlass glance before his eye, than the bravest of them lost heart, and in ten minutes the whole garrison, together with the body in reserve, were scattered far and wide over the plain. Those who had a good start could afford to save their dignity, and walk composedly away; but the stragglers in rear fled as though demons were on their track, and for the most part fairly outran our gallant tars, whose wind was soon expended, and who were obliged at last to content themselves with stray shots at their light-heeled foe. After a race of this description their aim was somewhat wild, and I saw a marine aim with great deliberation at a man whom he had almost succeeded in running down, at a distance of about five yards, and miss him. We now lost no time in landing ourselves, and were soon exploring the batteries and the plain behind. We met the marines and blue-jackets coming back from their chase, and the few corpses I observed on the field and in the batteries confirmed me in the impression that the Chinese loss had been comparatively trifling, probably not above 200 in all, including those killed on the north bank. There can be no doubt that, if it had been desired, we might, by sending a force round to the village of Takoo, have cut off their retreat, and caught the whole garrison in a trap from which they could not possibly have escaped. |