CHAPTER III. MONSTER ARRIVAL AT HONG-KONG-TRIP UP THE CANTON RIVER-A COM- The WE had scarcely been a week at Singapore before our anxieties were relieved on the score of the speedy continuance of our journey, by the arrival of the magnificent frigate which had been placed by the Government at the disposal of Lord Elgin. Shannon had made a remarkably quick passage from England, under the energetic command of the gallant Captain Peel; and we congratulated ourselves on the favourable auspices under which our first experiences of the Celestial Empire seemed destined to be made. A further delay of a few days was, however, involved, as Lord Elgin had determined not to leave Singapore until the most ample and complete arrangements had been made for the speedy transmission of the Chinese expeditionary force to India. With this view, vessels were sent to the Straits of 42 ARRIVAL AT HONG-KONG. Anjier, to divert from that point the transports conveying the 90th and 82d Regiments, so as to avoid the unnecessary detour through the Malacca Straits. Meantime the Simoom had arrived with the 5th Fusileers, and was immediately despatched to Calcutta. On the 23d June we bade adieu to Singapore, not without regret, as, in spite of the shortness of our visit, the community had contrived to render our stay there so agreeable, that the favourable impression we then formed was not afterwards effaced by any of our subsequent experiences in the East. The prevalence of the south-west monsoon, and the admirable sailing qualities of the Shannon, enabled us to dispense almost entirely with steam on our voyage up the China Sea; and on the evening of the ninth day after leaving Singapore, we thundered forth a noisy intimation of our arrival to the inhabitants of Hong-Kong. On the 6th July, Lord Elgin landed under a general salute, and proceeded to Government House for the purpose of holding a levee, and going through those official formalities incidental to his entry on the sphere of his future labours. As, however, in consequence of the Fatshan Creek affair, and other events which had recently occurred up the Canton River, the scene of our present operations there was invested with so much interest, Mr Loch and I took advantage of the departure of H. M. S. Inflexible for Macao Fort on the day following, for the purpose of collecting information with as little delay as possible. TRIP UP THE CANTON RIVER. 43 The scenery in the immediate neighbourhood of Hong-Kong, and for the first eight or ten miles after leaving it, is not unlike that of the Western Highlands of Scotland. We dexterously steered between high grassy islands, round sharp corners, past little hamlets at the end of secluded bays, and through narrow devious channels, till at last we might fancy ourselves threading the Kyles of Bute, instead of the Capshui-Moon, or straits which separate the island of Lantao from the main. From it we emerge upon the Bay of Lintin. We can hardly consider ourselves upon the Pearl River (as the Canton River is properly called) until we reach Chuenpee; for here the opposite coast is not visible, and the white sails of innumerable junks dot the horizon-each high-sterned craft a matter of curious speculation to every naval officer who sees her, and who, in the condition in which our diplomatic relations with the Empire then were, is thrown into a state of profound perplexity as to whether she is his lawful prize or not he finds himself at once entangled in a maze of knotty points, involving intricate questions of international law, upon which he is called to decide on the spot. She may be a smuggler in British interests, in which case he is to let her pass; or a peaceful trader in American interests, taking up charcoal and saltpetre for gunpowder to be exploded against us, in which case he is not to let her pass; or a peaceful trader in purely Chinese 44 COMPLICATED INTERNATIONAL QUESTION. interests, and as such to be respected; or a purely Chinese smuggler, when her capture is optional; or a regular out-and-out pirate, when it is advisable; or a merchantman, but suspiciously well-armed, when it is discretionary; or a mandarin (man-of-war) junk in the disguise of a merchantman, when it is imperative. Under these complicated circumstances, the simple plan of proceeding manifestly is, to make a prize of the junk, and settle afterwards whether she is pirate, trader, snake-boat, mandarin-boat, smuggler, or fast-boat, together with the law that applies to her. Formerly boats had been allowed to go up armed, but not to come down; but recently a system of passes had been introduced, which only served to render matters more complicated. Meantime trifling affrays were daily occurring, reflecting but little glory on those engaged,-injuring our prestige with the Chinese, but yet rendered inevitable by the anomalous condition in which our relations stood, with reference not only to China, but to other nations engaged in carrying on commercial operations with her. Notwithstanding this species of constant irritation which was kept up on the river, our ships maintained the most amicable intercourse with the inhabitants on the banks, who supplied them with meat and vegetables indeed, each ship had usually a bumboat specially attached. In about four hours we reached Chuenpee, and, in spite of the heat, scrambled to the top of the hill, from where we had a magnificent view of the sur CHUENPEE-MONSTER CANNON. 45 rounding country, out of which rise the naked hills, washed bare by violent tropical rains, so that the beauty of their slopes may be said to have been sacrificed by nature to fertilise the rich alluvial plains at their base. In the distance was the walled town of Hoomanchai, celebrated for the signing of the supplementary treaty. The creek by which it was approached was staked across as a means of defence. Though of comparatively a trifling elevation, the little barrack at the top of the Chuenpee Hill answered the purpose of a sanitarium. The fort was held at this time by 130 men and one small gun. Some monstrous cast-iron Chinese cannon, weighing 5 tons each, measuring about 13 feet in length, and of a calibre larger than a 95 cwt., had been buried by the Chinese without ever having been fired, and were now being exhumed. At Chuenpee we met Commodore Keppel and Sir Robert Maclure, and accompanied them to the Bogue; upon this occasion taking but a hurried view of those forts already so celebrated in the history of our Chinese wars, and with which we were destined to become much better acquainted. A little beyond them we passed a creek in which the Esk's boats had been engaged the day before, and had succeeded in capturing a snake-boat, which we saw, though with a loss of three men killed and seven wounded. After passing the Bogue we are fairly in the river, and the navigation begins to be impeded by shoals. At the second of these is a Pagoda, known as Second |