a few days before the combined attack of the allied forces upon canton, the immense floating population moored off that city began to move towards chow-chan. boat by boat disappeared, until only a few sampans, manned by the most daring thieves on the river, remained, and these had a pretty lively time of it, as the sentries on board the war-ships would fire at them whenever they approached within a certain distance of those vessels. it seemed strange that those who had the best opportunity of judging what the western barbarians could do were the last to abandon their positions, the water population having been warned to leave ten days before. mr. thompson performed his celebrated feat of "bill-sticking under difficulties," yet it was not until the cantonese came swarming out of the city that those who lived along the water's edge began to move their property out of the way of the barbarian's guns.
yeh took matters very coolly, and seemed quite indifferent to the imposing force brought against him, so the watermen, who were a bold insolent set, composed of the dregs of the population, imagined he was right in his assertion, that the fanquis would only talk and not fight; but the exodus of the merchants opened their eyes, and as all of them wanted to get under weigh at the same time, the waterside presented a more animated appearance than usual. many of the merchants who owned wooden stores built upon piles near the water's edge, had tanks placed under those edifices at low tide, so that as the water rose it lifted the buildings clear, and huge stores were thus floated off, and towed away to a place of safety, in company with theatres, flower boats, restaurants, and the hundred and one other kinds of boats then common upon the river.
at one point so many houses were thus removed, that the outer wall of the city, usually hidden by a mass of buildings, was entirely exposed, offering a splendid target for the guns of h.m.s. ruff, which was moored immediately opposite.
canton is situated upon the river of that name, and opposite to the city is the island of honan, which, with other similar islands, divide the river into two parts—one to the left, running down towards wampoa, and the other to the right, which flows past chow-chan creek; these unite before they reach the bocca tigris, and both branches or sides are, in common, called the canton river.
the stinger was moored at the head of the left passage, while all along the front of the city french and english war-ships were anchored, each taking up its position as it arrived from hong-kong, without regard to nationality, the only care being to place the ships which drew most water where they could not well get on shore upon the numerous mud-banks with which the river abounded. about midway in the line of ships was a small island, where a fortification had formerly existed, but the year before, when the river was held by the foreigners, they had taken this fort, and turned its guns against the city. upon their withdrawal, yeh ordered the walls to be destroyed.
when the allied forces came to anchor off the city, the sailors again took possession of the island, and built a crows'-nest, or observatory, in a tree growing amid the ruins; from which lofty position the flags of the allies, side by side, waved defiance to governor yeh. at the same time the sailors cleared away the rubbish, and built a mortar battery in the centre of the island, from which shot and shell could be thrown as far as the outer wall at the back of the city.
[pg 188]
the island of honan was partly in possession of the allied troops, there not being room enough for them on board the ships; the celebrated buddhist temple was occupied as their head-quarters; and holy pigs, which could scarcely grunt—so fat were they—consecrated storks, and sacred gold fish, were ignominiously knocked upon the head and converted into chowder by the sacrilegious invaders. in vain the shaven-headed bonzes protested, and offered to procure good food, if they would only spare their respected swine and other live stock; it was all without avail, and, in spite of fearful predictions as to the consequences which would ensue if they devoured the sacred grunters, the soldiers made many a hearty meal off their flesh. possibly, had they known the chinese language, the warnings of the bonzes would have somewhat affected them; but, as it was, they only patted the complainants on the back or kicked them out of their quarters, as fancy suggested.
the night before the attack a number of gun-boats arrived from hong-kong, and the allied forces became aware that at daybreak the bombardment was to commence. considering the power of the invading force, yeh took matters very philosophically, contenting himself with sending off a flag of truce at the last moment, and ordering the western barbarians "to leave the waters of kwan-tung forthwith," under pain of immediate expulsion; to which amusing notice the allied commanders-in-chief replied by politely informing him that, as all hope of making terms was given up, they should proceed to bombard his palace at daybreak the next morning.
his wonderful indifference made the opposing forces imagine he had received large reinforcements since their last spies visited the city, little thinking that any person would show such composure, if he knew it was impossible to hold his ground. yeh was completely blinded by egotism, and probably none of his mandarins dared to tell him exactly how matters stood; therefore, when ho-qua and other merchants had urged him to make terms, he merely regarded their fears as mercantile ones, and treated them accordingly. besides, they were chinese, not tartars; they only had peddling ideas of trade and loss of goods; whereas, he was a tartar, who delighted in bloodshed, and knew if he were defeated, or if he yielded, it was all up with him at pekin, so determined to stay where he was until everything went against him, and then—run away, as many a tartar had done before.
at twelve o'clock that night canton was as quiet as usual. true, the look-out men perched up in the sentry-boxes built all along the walls, kept up a furious din with their bamboo rattles, to show they were awake and to frighten foul spirits away; and the ordinary watchmen made night hideous with their shrill cries. however, their noises only occurred at intervals, and beyond that canton was as silent as pompeii, the streets being deserted, and not a soul abroad who was not on military duty.
yeh slumbered until an hour before daybreak, when he arose and held a consultation with his officers. at that time the city was hidden in a light fog, and it was imagined the western barbarians would delay their attack until sunrise, but to the governor's astonishment, as he was speaking, a shell came crashing into his ya-mun, and burst in the court-yard near the room in which they were assembled. hearing the explosion, he dismissed his officers, ordering them, as they valued their heads, to hold the walls till the last moment; and then that learned scholar, great warrior, and plucky tartar went into an inner apartment, and, ostrich-like, hid himself under a pile of cotton bags.
the mortar-battery commenced the attack, and at the same moment a signal was hoisted on the crows'-nest of the fort. in a moment bang, bang went the guns of the various ships, and away tore hundreds of missiles into canton. yeh's ya-mun was the principal object of attack at first, and the whole line of ships directed their guns upon[pg 189] that spot. not a shot was fired by the chinese in return, and their enemies had it all their own way. for several hours they continued firing with great precision, and in many places the outer wall was badly battered, large masses of it falling into the streets underneath, and completely filling them with rubbish.
about noon, the city being fired in many places by the shower of shell-rockets thrown in by the allies, it was determined to land the forces, while those left in charge of the ships were directed to keep up a steady fire upon the principal edifices. at times the shot went flying against strong-looking buildings, which in a few minutes would, as it were, reel and topple over; while the rockets, after striking against some obstruction, would rebound, and dart at it again, until they forced their way through, in most cases firing the structures they entered.
after the naval brigade, composed of all the men who could be spared from the stinger, departed from that ship, those left in charge of mr. beauman did their best to damage the city as much as possible by firing at pagodas and watch-boxes, their exertions in that line being every now and then rewarded by seeing one of the objects incline and fall to the ground. the river thieves reaped a fine harvest, and looted to their heart's content, undisturbed by the missiles which flew over their heads, and ere night set in not one of them was left, as they had all loaded their sampans and departed in search of a mart in which to dispose of their plunder. at dusk the city was wrapped in flames from one end to the other, and all along the line of range palaces and hovels fell a prey to the devouring element.
when the stingers left the ship they were conveyed to a point below the city, where the allied forces were preparing for the assault. here, much to their chagrin, they were ordered to take charge of the landing-place; and it was with anything but satisfaction that they witnessed the departure of the forces selected to assault the heights. the stingers were not relieved of their irksome charge until some days after, when they were marched into the city and quartered in a ya-mun.
thus how canton was taken and yeh captured was a mystery to them; all they knew about the matter being that the wounded were brought down for embarkation, and that yeh himself, amid the groans of the spectators, took boat from their wharf, when he was conveyed on board ship, preparatory to his removal to calcutta. they heard that the french, after having agreed to assault the heights at a certain time, had, contrary to agreement, advanced an hour before, so as to boast of entering the city before their allies, but did not know any particulars of the attack; they also saw the body of one of the most esteemed captains in the service brought down, to be conveyed on board his ship; but beyond this, and hearing the guns, they knew little about the affair.
when they arrived in the city the place seemed quiet enough, and instead of plundering they were themselves fleeced by the inhabitants, who at once started a sort of market, and charged famine prices for everything they sold.
it was, no doubt, a wise regulation which forbade the stingers looting or plundering, after the manner of the french, who searched everywhere, and not only ill-treated women and children, but often killed the inhabitants, when they could not satisfy them by producing treasure. there was not much exchange of courtesy betwixt the allies, and, indeed, upon several occasions the sailors belonging to the two nations came to open rupture.
although the stingers were strictly forbidden to loot, they had contrived to get hold of some very pretty things in the way of curiosities, purchased of the chinese thieves; and, doubtless, now and then articles upon which it would puzzle them to[pg 190] prove payment had been made; but in justice be it said, they seldom annoyed the women, although they were not quite guiltless upon that head.
after they had been settled in their quarters a few days, they were repeatedly annoyed by the attacks of some zealous people who would assemble at night, and, under cover of the ruins near, fire rockets into the ya-mun. one evening, as the captain was inspecting his men, a shower of arrow-headed rockets flew into the court-yard, one of them passing through the body of a marine who was on duty at the door, so that he died shortly after of the wound. woodward at once directed his men to assault the quarter from which the rockets proceeded, when they were met by a steady fire, killing two men and wounding several others. it will be seen from this, that although the allied forces held canton, it was only in places; and at times the unruly tartar soldiers would intoxicate themselves with rice spirit, and attack these little garrisons, when the invaders would retaliate upon the peaceable inhabitants who lived near their quarters.
knowing it would not do to leave the ya-mun unprotected while he pursued the attacking party. woodward sounded a retreat, and the next morning at daylight sent for assistance, which was at once forwarded by the commander-in-chief, whereupon they overhauled every nook and corner within a radius of a mile from the ya-mun, and mr. thompson was placed in charge of a party, who were directed to make a thorough search of a joss-house from which some of the rockets had been fired.
after a careful hunt, jerry was about to recall his men, when he heard a sob proceeding from the gigantic image of the god fo, which was placed at the end of the apartment he had just entered. as he noticed the robe thrown over the shoulders of the figure was composed of new silk of a very rich texture, he advanced to the god, and seizing the drapery, tore it from its fastenings, when lo! trembling beneath the bottom folds he discovered a girl, a pretty delicate chinese, about nineteen years of age, quite speechless from fear. the acting boatswain glanced at her for a moment with quivering lip and flushed face, the girl resembling a-tae so strongly as to startle him.
"open your eyes, pretty bird," he whispered in chinese, but the poor fluttering little thing resolutely kept them shut.
"i'm your friend, and won't hurt you; look at me."
this had no effect upon the closely-contracted lids, so jerry lifted the pretty face up to his own, and with a full heart, for he thought of his loving a-tae, tenderly and respectfully kissed her, upon which she opened her eyes—such bright ones, too, they were—and after looking at him for a moment half-timidly, she turned her head, then gave a scream, and fainted; four grinning sailors were standing in the doorway, and their appearance had caused her to faint from apprehension.
mr. thompson walked round to the back of the joss, opened a door (all of them are hollow, and have receptacles in the back), and gently depositing her inside, closed it, then turning round, ordered the sailors to quit the joss-house.
now, the men were new hands who had lately joined the stinger, and therefore did not know the temperament of the acting-warrant officer; besides, they were partly intoxicated, having discovered some rice spirit in one of the apartments, of which liquor they had partaken very freely. they advanced towards jerry, evidently bent upon dragging the girl out of her hiding-place in spite of his orders.
thompson placed his back against the door of the joss, and drawing his revolver, ordered the brutes out of the place.
"we wants that gal, and we means to have her. we chivied her here; she's our game," sulkily observed the ringleader.
"yes, and we don't mean to give her up, in spite of you," chorussed the others.
[pg 191]
"i'll give you three minutes to clear out, arter which i'll shoot the first man as moves," quietly replied the determined defender.
hearing this, one of the men advanced as if to attack jerry with his cutlass, when crack went the pistol, and the bully fell headlong at the feet of the brave fellow who had thus risked his life to defend a girl from worse than death. upon seeing one of their number fall, the others made their escape, and thompson, turning to the joss, opened the door, and assisted the trembling girl out of the building. when they had proceeded a few yards, she pointed to a door, in a wall, saying, "that is my way;" then, chin-chinning him, was about to depart, when he caught her by the hand, and begged she would give him a small token of remembrance, at the same time pointing to a little image of fo, worn instead of a button to fasten her jacket. hastily tearing the same from her garment, she pressed it into his hand, and in another moment was out of sight.
returning to the joss-house, thompson found the bully sitting up, and complaining of a pain in his shoulder, upon hearing which he ordered him "to get up," and on arrival at the ya-mun took him to the doctor, who dressed the man's wound before he was placed under arrest. when the matter was reported to the captain, he ordered the other men to be put in irons and conveyed on board, where they were kept in confinement, until the ship arrived in hong-kong.
mr. thompson received many compliments for the gallantry he displayed upon this occasion; but his only reply was, "now, do you think any man could ha' done otherwise?" he evidently thought very little about the service he had rendered the poor child, while she never forgot the good fanqui who saved her from the fiends, who would have eaten her.
there was little to be seen in the city beyond the chamber of horrors and some very ancient buildings. in the former place a number of plaster groups, painted to resemble life, were ranged round the three sides of a chamber. sawing men in halves, boiling in oil, impaling, breaking upon the wheel, decapitation, and many other horrible methods of putting criminals to death, were here represented with life-like fidelity; but no one cared to visit the place twice, although strangers were always taken there, as to a unique exhibition, which probably it was. canton was comparatively deserted, and in many places in ruins, so the stingers found their residence there rather dull work, after all.
when the city was first taken a provost-marshal was appointed, whose duty it was to arrest and flog every straggler he found when going his rounds; and as soldiers and sailors always will get astray more or less, that functionary often had his hands full. sometimes he did not confine his operations to the army and navy, and on one or two occasions the sutlers fared rather badly at his hands, for which he was duly shown up in the "hong-kong gong," a rival of that excellent newspaper, "the friendly shiner."
about the latter end of june the stingers received orders to get ready to embark on board their ship, preparatory to leaving for hong-kong, and every one anxiously awaited the definite order to leave the ya-mun, when one morning three dirty-looking bonzes appeared at the outer gate, and humbly begged to be allowed an interview with the captain. upon being shown into his presence, one of their number pulled forth a letter, or order, addressed to captain woodward, and signed by the commander-in-chief of the naval forces, which ran thus:—
"sir,—you are hereby directed to allow the three chinese bonzes, who will hand you this, to pack up and take away all their property, which they may find left in the small buddhist chapel situated in the grounds near the left wing of your ya-mun."
[pg 192]
upon reading this captain woodward sent for the first lieutenant, and asked him if he knew the building, and to what purpose it had been devoted. also if any of the articles found in it remained. upon which lieutenant russell, in his usual florid manner, politely informed his senior that, beyond its being used as a skittle alley, to the best of his belief it was unoccupied; and as to the images, &c., probably they were there still.
"let these men take all they want, and carry it away."
hearing this speech, one of the bonzes, who spoke very fair pigeon-english, requested permission for their porters to be admitted into the ya-mun, which was granted, and mr. thompson directed to see they took all they wanted; whereupon he formed a procession, heading it himself, and marched towards the little joss-house, followed by the demure, mild-eyed bonzes, and about thirty carriers, who bore short bamboo ladders, he thinking all the time how foolish the buddhists must be to imagine there was anything left that was worth carrying off.
upon arriving at the door of the temple, the bonzes knelt, prostrated themselves, burnt three sticks of joss-stick, and repeated "o-mi-tu-fuh" for about a quarter of an hour, during which time the acting boatswain indulged in a pipe or joined in the chorus, as fancy led him; while the irreverent bearers squatted upon the ground, and expressed a wish that the bonzes would hurry, as they did not like being so close to the "foreign devils."
when the "o-mis" were over, the most elderly bonze assumed a business air; and directing the doors to be opened, ordered the bearers to bring in their ladders, which the three mild-eyed ones proceeded to lash together in a most artistic manner. acrobats could not have done it better than did those meek individuals, who lashed, and chanted "o-mi-tu-fuh," until they had put together a set of ladders; which upon being elevated reached to the highest rafters of the joss-house. when all was ready, the old boy of the party stripped off his loose jacket, and springing up the ladder was soon lost in the "dim religious gloom" overhead. mr. thompson looked on with a critical eye, and observed to a royal marine, who had wandered into the place, that he began to think that the old "bronzes" knowed what they was up to.
after a short time, during which the bonze up aloft had several times hailed his friends below to "look-out and stand from under," down came bundles of rich fur dresses, worth ever so many hundred dollars, then bales of silks, and at last bars of silver. jerry looked at the bonzes, and then at the permit, but finding that correct allowed them to proceed, when in a short time the old man up aloft announced, with a grunt, that the place was cleared, after which he scrambled down the ladder, and assisted his companions to pack their property.
having unrolled the fur dresses, they placed several bars of silver in each, then binding them up tightly, rapidly loaded the bearers, who seemed to take the proceeding very coolly, as though it were an every-day occurrence with them. when the last bale was packed, the elderly bonze turned to mr. thompson, and asked him how much he would give him for the ladders?
"a kick," replied the chagrined acting boatswain; adding, "come, clear out, old myty-few. you're a smart old dodger, you are!"
"fo!" exclaimed the imperturbable old fellow. "he won't offer a sapeck. well, i'll send for them to-morrow, chin-chin;" saying which the old boy saluted mr. thompson, and trotted off after his companions, without bestowing a single glance at the prostrate forms of several small gods, which the sailors had been using instead of pins when they played skittles.
"done, by jove! hundreds of pounds of prize money swept clean out of our pockets,"[pg 193] cried the enraged jerry, "and we a gaping up with it almost in sight all the time. pshaw, we ain't half as smart as them old bronzes, with all our cleverness. i'll back one of 'em agin two lawyers any day."
loud were the growls of the men at what they termed their bad luck, but when woodward heard of the affair, he only laughed, and declared the old fellows deserved all they got, for their coolness and sagacity.
that evening the mail arrived, and the captain received orders to embark his men at daylight; but long before that hour the stingers were stirring. as they left the city they received a perfect ovation at every post they passed. "going home, my boys! going home!" happy fellows! how proudly they marched along the narrow streets which had been the scenes of many incidents, both sad and amusing; past heaps of ruins caused by the shot from their guns; by tartar guard houses, and dead walls, bearing still the proclamations so daringly posted by the acting boatswain,—with the fiddler scraping away at "cheer, boys, cheer," to which tune their happy voices joined in chorus. the first step from the ya-mun was one nearer home, and all of them felt delighted to think that in a few months they would see the faces of those who held them most dear. tom clare marched by the side of mr. thompson, and a happier face than the former's could not be found in the party.
"jerry, old friend, in a little time i shall see her, and then won't i be happy?"
"yes, old man, i daresay you will; but, 'pon my word, there ain't much pleasure for me to look forward to."
"why, there's mary ann?"
"yes, i know that; but she ain't a-tae. i never shall get another gal to love me as she did."
"come, jerry, don't you be foolish. i used to be melancholy once, but look at me now," exclaimed the delighted fellow, as he joined in the refrain,
"cheer, boys, cheer, no more of idle sorrow,
courage, true hearts, shall bear us on our way;
hope points before, and shows the bright to-morrow
let us forget the darkness of to-day."
and so one friend cheered the other, until they arrived at the ship, where they were welcomed by mr. beauman, and in a short time got up their anchor and steamed down the river towards hong-kong.
past well-remembered spots, where they had formerly landed and obtained supplies—through the barrier stakes without bumping aground, and by yin-sin island, then guarded by h. m. gun-boat stifler, the crew of which turned out to a man to cheer them as they steamed by; away they rattle right merrily, and the next day came to anchor in hong-kong harbour, where they remained until the twenty-fifth of july. during the interval they re-fitted the ship and prepared her for her long voyage home.
mr. thompson called upon his friends to bid them farewell, and during the evening mrs. mackay presented him with a gold call and chain, begging he would accept it as a small proof of her appreciation of his kindness to her. before he left, his kind friends took him up-stairs, and there, calmly sleeping in its cradle, he saw their first-born. jerry bent over the infant, and gently kissing it, observed, with a tear in his eye, that he hadn't been so near an angel for a long time; then, for the twentieth time solemnly shaking hands with the parents, bade them adieu.
"mind you write us, mr. thompson, and don't forget to visit mary ann as soon as you arrive."
"never fear, miss; i'll write you, and if mary ann becomes mrs. thompson, she shall add a postscript."
