YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY Gift of

Miss.T -Van Naae

BARON GROS'S
EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN
In 1857-58.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF
BARON GROS'S
EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN
In 1857-58.

By The MAEQUIS DE MOGES,
ATTACHE TO THE MISSION.

[AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION.]

WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS.

gwmbmt anb lik-jjoto :
EICHAED GEIFFIN AND COMPANY,
Publishers to the University of Glasgow.
I860.

LONDON : PRINTED BY TV. CLOWES AND SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET
AND CHARING CROSS.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE I.
Decision come to by the French Government to send an Embassy
to China — -'Persons selected for the Mission — Their departure
from Toulon — The Straits of Gibraltar — The Canary Islands —
Delay at Santa Cruz — The Island of Ascension — Passage
thence to the Cape  Page 1
CHAPTEE II.
Arrival of the ' Audacieuse ' at Simon's Bay — Departure for Cape
Town — Cape Town — Table Bay — Table Mountain — Sir
George Grey, the Governor of the Colony — The English Colony
of the Cape of Good Hope— The Caffres— The Boers — The
French Villages in the interior — The small Republics of the
Orange Kiver — ¦ Wynberg, the paradise of the Cape — The Moun
tains of Constantia and the Cloete family — Contrast of Civiliza
tion and Barbarism at Cape Town — Mildness of the Climate —
Dearness of everything — Our stay at the Masonic Hotel . . 22
CHAPTEE III.
We leave Simon's Bay — The Aiguilhas Bank — The Indian Ocean
— The Island of Amsterdam — We re-enter the Trades — The
Island of Java — The Straits of Sunda — The Straits of Banca
— Arrival at Singapore — ¦ The English Colony of Singapore —
Diversity of Races, Religions, and Costumes — Great freedom of
Trade — The European, Chinese, and Hindoo Towns — Arrival of
the ' Audacieuse ' in Canton River — Beception of the Ambas
sador by the French squadron and the English authorities in
China —The Earl of Elgin, Sir Michael Seymour, Admiral Bigault
de Genouilly, M. de Bourboulon, Count Poutiatine, Mr. Eeed,
and Sir John Bowring — The Island of Hong Kong and Castle
Peak Bay  ** •• 45

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE IV.
The Portuguese Colony of Macao — The Garden of Camoens —
The Pagoda of the Rocks - The Parsee Cemetery — The Dechne
of Macao — The French and English Squadrons re-ascend the
Canton River— Bocca Tigris, or the Bogue — The Anchorage at
Whamboa — The last pacific attempt to negociate with Commis
sioner [Yeh — Delivery of Baron Gros' Ultimatum — Absolute
Refusil of Yeh to come to terms on any of the points — The
Ambassadors delegate their powers to the Admirals — The com
mencement of military operations  Page 90
CHAPTEE V.
The Bombardment and Capture of Canton — Visit of the two
Ambassadors to Head-Quarters on the 1st of January — Insolent
Letter from the Mandarins — Descent into the Town and Capture
of Yeh, Muh, and Pih-kwe — Yeh sent on board the ' Inflexible '
as a Prisoner — Pih-kwe maintained in his position as Governor
of Canton by the Allies — Ceremony of the 9th of January —
The European Commission — The Anglo-French Camp — The
Town of Canton, its Yamouns and1 Pagodas — The Western
Suburb — The Tartar Quarter — The Departure of Yeh for
Calcutta  107

CHAPTEE VI.
A curious Document found in the depositories of Yeh — New Year's
Day in China — Three Attache's to the French Embassy attacked
by Pirates in the River — The arrival of two Sepoy Regiments
at Canton — The Blockade is raised — European Consuls installed
at Canton — Visit of Mr. Reed and Count Pontiatine to the
Ambassadors — Arrangement between the four Plenipotentiaries,
and despatch of a Joint Note to the Court of Pekin  Mission
intrusted to M. de Contades and Mr. Oliphant  The return of
Baron Gros on board the ' Audacieuse ' — Small Garrison left at
Canton — The Disembarkation Corps return to the Ships, which
re-ascend the River — The French Embassy quit Hong-Kono- for
Shang-hai — Hopes of Peace disappointed — Navigation of°the
China Sea with a contrary Monsoon — Amoy, the Straits of For
mosa, the Saddle Islands, the Yang-tse-Kiang, or Blue River 
The arrival of Baron Gros at Shang-hai . . . .  -^3

CONTENTS. vii
CHAPTEE VII.
Shang-hai : the European Town, the Chinese Town — The Tea-
Garden — M. de Montigny and the French Concession — The
Dinner givon by the Tao-tai — The Tigers of the Tartar Colonel —
The Chinese Campaign — The Mission of Kiang-nan — The College
of Zi-ka-wei — The Cathedral of Tong-ka-tou — The Sainte En-
fance in Kiang-nan — Commercial activity of Shang-hai — Reply
of the Court of Pekin to the Joint Note of the Ambassadors Page 178
CHAPTEE VIII.
Departure of the * Audacieuse ' for the Gulf of Pecheli — Cape
Chantoung — -The Forts of Ta-kou and the mouth of the Pei-ho —
Conferences with the Imperial Commissioners sent by the Court
of Pekin — The Son of Heaven refuses to open his Capital to the
foreign Ministers — The Bombardment and Capture of the Forts
of Ta-kou — The Admirals ascend the Pei-ho to the City of Tien
tsin — The four Embassies take up then- quarters in this Town
— Arrival of Kouei-Liang and of Houa-Cha-Na, the new Imperial
Commissioners — Their Interview with the French Ambassador
— Opening of the Conferences — M. de Contades is appointed by
Baron Gros to take part in them — Signature of the Treaty of
Tien-tsin — ¦ Evacuation of the Town by the Allied Fleets —
Excursion to the Great Wall of China — Return to Shang-hai —
The ' Audacieuse ' springs a leak — Six Weeks spent at Shang-hai
during the Dog-days  198
CHAPTEE IX.
The Manners, Customs, and Government of China  259
CHAPTEE X.
Departure for Japan — Van Diemen's Straits — Detention at
Simoda — The Bazaar — We lunch with Nemorano-Nedan-
wano-Kami — The Bay of Yedo — Death of the Civil Emperor —
The Embassy takes up its quarters in a Bonze-house — The
Official Town — The Business Town — The Palace of the
Taicoon — What we saw in the Streets of Yedo — Our Hundred
Iacounin — Conferences at Yedo — Signature of the Treaty —
The Town of Nangasaki — The Dutch Factory of Dccima —
Attempts of the Japanese Government to create a War Fleet —
The Chinese Factory — Return to Shang-hai  300

Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE XI.
Manners, Customs, and Government of Japan . ¦ • • Page 331
CHAPTEE XII.
Typhoon in the Chinese Seas — Stay of Konei-Liang and Houa-
Cha,-Na at Shang-hai — Revision of the Commercial Tariffs —
Lord Elgin ascends the Yang-tse-Kiang, or Blue River — Ship
wreck of the ' Laplace ' — The Author brings home the Treaty
of Yedo to France — Return of the Embassy — Conclusion 358

LIST OF TINTED LITHOGEAPHS.
The Residence of the Ambassadors at Tien-tsin, after a water-
colour Drawing by the Marquis de Trevise . . . . Frontispiece.
The Custom-house at Shang-hai, after a water-colour Drawing by
the Marquis de Trevise  96
View of Fusi Yama, with rice-fields and a group of labourers in the
foreground  308
Japanese Wrestlers  322
The two last Lithographs are copied from native tinted engravings
contained in a series of volumes said to he school-books, lent by the:
Earl of Elgin to the South Kensington Museum.

EECOLLECTIONS

OF AN

EMBASSY TO CHMA AND JAPAN,
IN 1857 AND 1858.

CHAPTEE I.
Decision come to by the French Government to send an Embassy
to China. — Persons selected for the Mission. — Then* departure
from Toulon. — The Straits of Gibraltar. — The Canary Islands. —
Delay at Santa Cruz. — The Island of Ascension. — Passage thence
to the Cape.
Towards the end of the year 1S56, events of the
highest importance occurred in China. Between
Great Britain and the Celestial Empire there had
long been differences and disputes, which, increasing
in importance from day to day, at last terminated in
a sudden rupture. The famous case of the lorcha
' Arrow ' was a mere pretext in the hands of Sir John
Bowring, the Governor of Hong Kong. Important
consequences had immediately followed upon it
The populace of Canton had burned the factories of
the foreign merchants, the inadequate force under
the command of Sir Michael Seymour had bom-
B

2 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
barded this town, and blockaded the river on which
it stands; a price had been set on the heads of
Europeans, more than one murder had been com
mitted, ancl a general fermentation had ensued in
the native population. In England, the Palmerston
Ministry had indorsed, with their entire approval,
the energetic measures taken by the English officials
in Southern China, and had expressed their resolu
tion to send out to the spot, without delay, a force
large enough to preserve in all its integrity the high
prestige of England in Eastern Asia. A numerous
fleet was forthwith despatched with several regiments
of the Queen's troops, from the seaports of England
and India. At the same time, Lord Elgin, the able
ex-govemor of Canada, was appointed Special High
Commissioner of Her Britannic Majesty to China,
and invested with full authority over the function
aries of England, settled along the coasts of the
China seas. These important disputes, which had
taken place in the middle empire or kingdom of
China, and the announcement of a new Chinese
war, excited the deepest public interest all over
Europe. The French could not remain inactive
while events of such magnitude were taking place in
the far East. It was proper and necessary that they
should take a part both in the diplomatic and mili
tary proceedings. They had, besides, on their own

LOED ELGIN. 3
account, insults to avenge and just causes of com
plaint for which to demand redress. The continued
refusal on the part of the Chinese government to
give suitable satisfaction for the barbarous murder of
Pere Chapdelaine, put to death by the authorities at
Si-lin-hien, the impertinent and arrogant attitude
assumed by Commissioner Yeh, the governor-general
of the two Kwangs, towards the French Minister at
Macao, the bad faith of this official, and the serious
injuries sustained by our countrymen and persons
under our protection during the destruction by fire of
factories at Canton, afforded, independent of other
considerations, ample ground for the interference of
France in the struggle about to take place.
Lord Elgin set out for China in the beginning of
May. On the 7th of the same month, the following
note was published in the Moniteur : —
' Baron Gros has been appointed by His Majesty
the Emperor, . to proceed to China, in the capacity
of Special High Commissioner. Lord Elgin has re
ceived from Her Britannic Majesty a like mission,
with the same title ; and the two plenipotentiaries
are instructed to give each other mutual assist
ance in the negociations intrusted to them, which,
should they be successful, will doubtless open a new
field to Christian civilization and commercial enter
prize.

4 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
' Baron Gros will very soon take his departure in
the frigate "Audacieuse." He will be accompanied
by M. du Chesne de BeUecourt, a first class secre
tary, the Vicomte de Contades, a third class secre
tary, the Marquis de Moges, and Count de la Tour
Maubourg, attaches to the special mission.'
A few days afterwards the names of the Marquis
de Trevise and the Vicomte de Flavigny were added
to the list of the members of the embassy and com
pleted it. Lastly, M. de Besplas, a lieutenant in the
navy, who had served in the Crimean campaign, and
had been with Prince Napoleon in his expedition to
the polar seas, was, at the special request of Baron
Gros, added as a supernumerary to the naval officers
of the frigate.
A semi-official newspaper in the following para
graph, summed up the services which had been ren
dered to the state by the new ambassador during his
long official career.
' Baron Gros,' it said, ' who now is about to pro
ceed to China, with the title of Special High Com
missioner, is one of those public men who have had
the largest experience in the diplomatic service. He
has belonged to it since 1823. Long charge d'af
faires at Bogota, he afterwards was intrusted with
several important missions, more especially with one
to the republic of La Plata, and with another to

BARON GEOS. 5
England, whither he went on the occasion of the ex
pedition to Kome. It may be recollected, moreover,
that he was sent on a mission to Athens as Commis
sioner of Mediation and Minister Plenipotentiary of
France, in the settlement of the dispute pending
at the time between the kingdom of Greece and
England. ' Baron Gros has been since then our plenipoten
tiary in the settlement and demarcation of the fron
tier between France and Spain. This important
negociation resulted in a treaty signed at Bayonne,
on the 2nd of December last (1856). This treaty
now lies before the Spanish Cortes for their ap
proval, and it has by its stipulations formally put
an end to difficulties which have awaited solution
for centuries.'
Both the Eussian and American governments had
important political, as well as commercial interests
to protect in Eastern Asia, and they had also redress
to seek for serious injuries sustained at the hands of
the Chinese government. They were therefore in
vited courteously, by the Cabinets of Paris and Lon
don, to combine in the demonstration about to be
made by the maritime powers, so that their weight
might be added to the pressure necessary to bring
the obstinate Son of Heaven to a due sense of his
real position in this world. But they refused to take

6 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
any part in the coalition however desirable its object
might be. They could not share, they said, in any
measures destined to coerce the Chinese govern
ment. In point of fact the Eussians had in the Pacific at
the time only one vessel of war, and that a very
small one, stationed at the mouth of the Amour.
Those in command of the fleet of Petropaulowski,
chased about from place to place by the enemy's
cruisers, were glad to leave the Pacific. They had re
turned to the European seas, where, by the way, while
en route for the Baltic, they had met with a good-
natured welcome on the Channel and Atlantic sea
ports of France. The Eussian navy had been well
nigh destroyed by the Crimean war ; nor could ships be
built and sent from Cronstadt by a long and circui
tous route down the Baltic and round the Cape in time
to take a part in the meditated demonstration. The
Cabinet of Saint Petersburg therefore simply appointed
Vice- Admiral Count Poutiatine its Envoy Extraordi
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary in China, prohibit
ing him from taking any coercive measures, but
giving him distinct instructions so far as it lay in his
power to make common cause in his negociations
with the ambassadors of the allied powers.
The American government had quite a different
motive for non-interference. The ' Mississippi,' the

ME. EEED. 7
' Powhatan,' the ¦ San Jacinto,' all fine war-vessels, were
already in the China seas. But President Buchanan
explained in reply to the communication from the
Ministers of France and England, that it was an in
variable principle of policy adopted by the United
States, never to become bound by treaty with a
European power, and always to maintain an entirely
separate and independent position. On this ground
he positively refused to combine with the allies. He
stated, however, that a distinguished citizen of the
republic, entrusted with a pacific mission to the
Court of Pekin, would leave shortly for Hong Kong ;
and accordingly Mr. Eeed, one of the members of the
American senate, chosen by the legislature of Vir
ginia, soon afterwards set out from New York for the
scene of action.
The French Embassy now hastened their departure.
On Wednesday the 27th of May, at 7 o'clock in the
morning, his excellency Baron Gros, accompanied by
his suite, went on board the 'Audacieuse,' then lying
in the harbour of Toulon. Two hours afterwards the
frigate, under all her power, steamed in gallant style
into the blue waters of the Mediterranean. It was a
day of bright sunshine. The sea was calm. The
coast of France soon disappeared on the horizon.
We set out for these distant China seas, full of
pleasant expectations, not unmingled however with an

o AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
anticipation of the pleasure we should feel in descry*
ing once more at our return the dim coast line which
had just before faded in the distance.
The ' Audacieuse ' was now to be our home for some
time to come. She was a large screw frigate, which
had been built not long before by the celebrated engi
neer M. Dupuy de Lhome. She had a crew of 550
men, carried 56 guns, and Was propelled by a steam
engine of 800-horse power. Her rigging was a perfect
model of grace and simplicity, but she was too broad
over the bow, and this want of a tapering shape
diminished her speed, and indeed almost stopped her
progress in bad weather.
The commanding officer was M. d'Abeville who
previously had been captain of the ' Napoleon.' He
was an excellent seaman, and most agreeable man.
The chaplain on board was the Abbe Fournier, a
clergyman long connected with the military hos
pital of Therapia. His devotedness to the sick, and
his reserved and gentlemanly bearing at once pre
possessed us in his favour. He reads prayers twice a
day to the whole ship's company assembled uncovered
on deck. Every Sunday afternoon after inspection,
mass is said on the lower deck. A commander, six
lieutenants, three surgeons, a paymaster, and ten
midshipmen form the equipment of officers belonging
to the frigate. There is besides a Norwegian officer

THE 'AUDACIEUSE.' 9
on board, lieutenant Petersen. Why he should make
his appearance among the officers of a French ship
of war is explained by the fact, that it is the practice
of the three Scandinavian kingdoms to send a certain
number of their officers to serve in the French navy,
with the view of completing their education and of
gaining experience in distant seas not much fre
quented by their own ships of war.
Our accommodation on board was not quite up to
the mark. In the hurry of our departure there had
been no time to fit up a poop. Into each cabin are
packed two of us, and a thirty-pounder to boot. The
ambassador is cooped up in the same quarters With
the commander, and to j console us they also enjoy
the society of a piece of ordnance.
We cleared the Isles d'Hyeres, coasted along the
Balearic Islands, and then came in sight of the
Spanish coast, with the mountains of Granada and
Malaga, the gigantic snow-clad chain of the Sierra
Nevada. It was cold, it rained, it blew fresh and the
sea began to heave. The embassy felt slightly indis
posed. Under these circumstances Baron Gros, whose
six-and-thirtieth voyage this was, stood out with
his imposing stature and firm tread, a marked man
among subordinates, who it must be confessed had
lost somewhat of the spirit and fire with which they
had embarked at Toulon. With a stiff breeze in our

10 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
favour we cleared the Straits of Gibraltar through a
crowd of ships entering and leaving the Mediterra
nean. Some were tearing along under a fair wind,
while others were beating up patiently through the
narrow channel with a high breeze right ahead. Our
commander was every now and then forced to
slacken speed, lest he should run right into one of
these ships.
On the third of June we entered the trade winds ;
the fiery clouds far overhead, the flying fish, and indeed
every aspect of the sea and sky told us of the torrid
zone. At a distance of thirty-six leagues we came
in sight of the famous Peak of Teneriffe. Making a
circuit of the island, we cast anchor in the harbour
of Santa Cruz. While we awaited the permit of the
medical board of the place to go on shore, we amused
ourselves in scanning the scene before us through
our spy-glasses. We could see the town stuck down
coquettishly on the water's edge, its whitewashed
houses with their green verandahs glittering in the
sun. We could see the palace of the Captain-General
of the Canary Islands, the Franciscan convent, the
dusky flanks of the mountain with a small fortifica
tion projecting from them like a crag ; the last but
not the least interesting object in the view, we could
see long files of camels drawn up along the coast.
There was not much delay. We had scarcely set

A BALL ON BOARD OFF TENEEIFFE. 11
foot on shore when we were surrounded by a crowd
of beggars, wearing cloaks and smoking cigarettes, a
characteristic product of the Spanish colonies in their
decline. Behind the window-blinds we could catch
a glimpse of the graceful mantillas and black eyes
of charming sefioritas. It was not long before our
midshipmen found a way to get into animated talk
with the pretty damsels. We were invited to balls
and evening parties, and every Frenchman in Tene
riffe considered it a bounden duty to entertain us
while we stayed. We wished on our side to make
some suitable return for all this kindness, and accord
ingly we decided to give a ball on board. Now the
roadstead of Santa Cruz is exposed to squalls. It is
imperfectly sheltered. The swell is as much felt in
it as in the open Atlantic. Hence the people of
Santa Cruz don't care much about venturing to sea.
We engaged our fiddlers beforehand, but when the
time came we found that they refused to come on
board. They would not run the risk of a tempest.
But what obstacle will deter a Spanish girl when a
dancing party is in the wind ? Our fair guests did
not disappoint us, they made their appearance punc
tually at the hour appointed. We improvised an
orchestra. The deck was cleared, and with waltzes
and polkas in quick succession, we danced, and danced
with spirit too, until darkness fell. There were among

12 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the Spaniards present two gentlemen of the name of
Bethencourt, descendants of Jehan de Bethencourt,
the Norman knight who conquered these islands for
the king of Spain in 1402, and who returned to die
at Granville, his native place, in France. His de
scendants still reside in Teneriffe.
The Canary group is composed of seven islands-
The largest is Teneriffe, the next is Grand Canary;
another is Ferro, through which used to pass the
meridian from which the French and other nations
formerly estimated their longitude. The Spaniards,
in conquering this archipelago, have completely
destroyed the indigenous race, the famous Guanches,
who are said by tradition to have been descendants
of the Carthaginians or Phoenicians, to whom these
islands in ancient times belonged. Sad to say,
the Fortunate Islands — the Fortunatse Insulse — have
wofully fallen from their by-gone splendour. Every
where the canary weed supersedes the grape. We
saw the inhabitants rooting up the vines to make way
for the prickly pear. What little activity remains to
the colony, is concentrated at Santa Cruz and along
the coast. Laguna, the capital of the island, is now
deserted and lifeless. Grass, which is scarcely to be
met with in country places, grows luxuriantly in the
streets, where groups of camels kneel lazily basking
in the sun. Here and there the visitor may perceive,.

THE FUNDA GUEEIN. 13
on the ruinous houses, sculptured on stones black
with age, the shields of the old knights who con
quered the islands.
The Marquis de Trevise, Petersen, and I took a
long ride one day along the road leading to the
Peak. We stopped to breakfast about ten or eleven
miles from Santa Cruz, at the way-side inn, or posada
of Sauzal. From the upper part of the house where
we sat down to look about us, we had an admirable
view of the famous Peak — the Pit of Hell, as the
Guanches called it ; we could see the lava streams ;
the summit, which was still covered with snow ; and
the small town of Orotava, nearly hid among the fig-
trees, cactuses, and bananas, which grow in rich lux
uriance along the skirts of the mountains. We re
turned to dine on board of the frigate, after having,
in the early part of the day, crossed Teneriffe in its
whole width, and seen the open sea and the two
Canaries from the crest of the island.
Every day, in spite of the heat, we took an excur
sion into the environs of the town, to escape for a
time the monotony of the ship. The funda Guerin,
where we could get an ice made of snow from the
Peak, at this time played a most important part in
our daily life. But alas ! the country was pleasant
only while the sun shone. At night it swarmed with
creeping things ; some of us, having made an attempt

14 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
to sleep on the ground, were well nigh devoured—
literally devoured — by the insects.
After a delay of four days, we bade adieu to Santa
Cruz. On the 10th of June, under a lowering sky,
at 11 o'clock in the morning, we crossed the tropic
of Capricorn; and on the 20th of June, at one
o'clock, we passed the line, with due regard to all the
burlesque ceremonies appropriate to the occasion.
Thursday, June 25.
Petrels, sea-swallows, and a flock of large sea-fowl
of various kinds, from an early hour this morning
hovered round the ship. They indicated our approach
to land. Accordingly, about eleven o'clock, the watch
gave notice of a shore a-head ; and at two o'clock,
after having coasted along the island of Ascension,
we dropped anchor in Sandy Bay. In the same
anchorage-ground there were already four English
vessels of war. Among them was the steam-trans
port, the ' Assistance,' which had seen service in the
Crimea, and which was now conveying to China the
82nd Eegiment of the line, eight hundred strong. We
anchored alongside of her. The band on board, by
way of salute, struck up ' Partant pour la Syrie ;' and
during the whole evening we could hear the fife and
drum playing to the tars and red coats, who kept up
a boisterous jig on deck.

THE GOVEENOR OF ASCENSION. 15
In Bouillet's dictionary, Ascension is described as
having ' a frightful aspect, and a sterile and volcanic
soil.' In fact, it scarcely does exhibit the smallest
trace of vegetation. Nothing is to be seen but vol
canic masses heaped upon each other, and sand-hills.
The island is eight miles long, by six in width.
There is not one stream in it. The inhabitants
derive all their water from cisterns. There is no
population engaged in agricultural of mercantile
pursuits. It is inhabited exclusively by soldiers, and
the officials of the English government. It is to all
intents and purposes a military establishment. On
our arrival, Baron Gros and the commander made an
attempt to go on shore, but the surf was so high, and
the landing-place so bad, that they were compelled
to return without being able to effect a landing.
Next day they were more successful. They got on
shore, and the governor showed them all the atten
tion possible in his Httle colony, which is treated by
the English Admiralty as a vessel at anchor in the
ocean. He presented the commander with some
pintado eggs and two sea-turtles. There are, some of
the fowls, called pintados, and some wild goats among
the rocks ; but the great curiosity of the island is its
turtle-bed on the beach. These turtles are of enormous
size ; each weighs 300 pounds, is worth 21. 10s. on
the spot, and will make a meal for 35 men. Twelve

16 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
are killed every week for the use of the garrison,
The English government makes a monopoly of them.
Neither fruit nor vegetables grow on the island;
nothing meets the eye in any part of it but lava,
and pumice, and volcanic dust. The unfortunate
defenders of their country who are compelled to take
Up their abode for three years on this rock, in the
absence of other excitement, betake themselves to
strong drink to wile the time away. Accordingly,
wherever the visitor goes, be it into the streets, to the
crags, or down within the very crater of the Peak, he
is sure to find broken bottles. No one seems to call
•in question the propriety of getting drunk at Ascen-, •'
sion. Habitual intoxication is legalized and recog
nised. A narrow and rugged island not being a safe
place for persons in liquor, parapets have been judi
ciously built at intervals along the foot-paths to
the fort ; and whitewashed, so as to guide in safety
when intoxicated her Majesty's privates of the line
in their uncertain course over the crumbling lava.
Ascension is the first in the long string of the mili
tary posts of England, lying along the route to her
Indian possessions. In one direction, are Gibraltar,
Malta, the Ionian Islands, Perim, Aden, and Ceylon ;
in the other, Ascension, Saint Helena, the Cape, the
Mauritius, Paulo-Penang, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
As we proceed, we shall touch at several of these places.

LANDING THROUGH THE SUEF. 17
We abandoned all intention of using coal, in con
sequence of the badness of the landing-place. It
would have been necessary to take off our fuel in
lighters ; and we were anchored at a mile and a-half
from the shore. When we landed, we ran the risk
of getting our boat staved in, seeing that she struck
twice violently against the ground. We were obliged
to get out by means of ropes thrown to us from the
beach. The long-boat, which came to take us back
at three o'clock, was thrown by the breakers far up
along the rock. We thought at first that our six
teen men were drowned in the surf. Nothing of the
sort, however, had happened ; and although the long
boat was none the better for the shock she had got,
two hours afterwards we all went back to our ship,
safe and sound, drenched to the skin, but glad to be
quit of this most inhospitable spot. We left at six
o'clock. Saturday, July 4.
We could neither get out of the trades, nor enter
the zone of the variable winds which were to carry
us to the Cape. We were nearer the South
American than the African coast; and yet, it was
nine days since we had left Ascension ! The waves
began to swell, their crests became broader, and
their troughs deeper. The fore-topsail yard, strained

18 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
by the blast, snapped. This was the first accident
we had met with since our departure from Toulon.
To the intense heat a fresh gale had succeeded, and
so cold had it become that we had to muffle up in
our top coats, and put on our cravats as we would
have done at Paris in midwinter. Wednesday, July 8.
At last we quitted the zone of the trades and
entered the region of the variable winds. A smart.
gale from the south-west favoured our course to
the Cape. It rained, hailed, and blew, the sea all
the while getting rougher and more stormy. The
'Audacieuse' outrode the storm gallantly. It was
pleasant to see our little «frigate, with not a bit of
canvas spread but her main and fore topsail, breast
ing the foam-crested waves, and plunging down
fearlessly into the yawning hollows. When we
walked about on deck, we saw the huge waves rolling
past us mountains high. On every side of the ship
there rose a wall of water, bounding the horizon a
few yards off. A number of large sea fowls, among
which we noted the albatross and spotted petrel, fol
lowed the ship.
We were advancing in the right course at the
rate on an average of ten knots an hour. But alas !
we regretted already the pleasant trade winds!.

A STORM AT SEA. 19
Our engineer ascertained our larboard roll to be 57°,
while our starboard was 20°, the mean being from
30° to 35°. The larger waves were from eighteen to
twenty feet, the smaller ones about nine feet in depth.
The frightful rolling and pitching of the vessel
prevented us from either working or walking about
on deck. We were fully occupied in preventing
ourselves from being tripped or thrown down. When
on deck we held fast by ropes in passing from
place to place. The chairs were upset, everything
was turned topsy-turvy. It was no easy matter to
breakfast and dine. One of the sailors, jerked from
his hold by the roll of the vessel, fell and broke his
collar bone. Every seam creaked incessantly. All
the port-holes were closed below as well as above ;
which, however, did not prevent the water from
penetrating into our berths, arid the waves from
lashing over the deck. All was damp, dark, and
dreary. But it was not till the night of the 6th or
7th, that the pitching began in all its glory. Nobody
was prepared for it. ' About two o'clock in the morn
ing there was heard a frightful din of tumbling chairs,
broken crockery, and of trunks pitching hither and
thither in all directions. Every one in the darkness,
and at the risk of being precipitated he knew not
where, strove to make fast his chattels, and prevent
their being tossed about upon the floor. That night

20 AN EMBASSY TO CHLNA AND JAPAN.
not one of us closed an eye. In short, for two days
we were at the mercy of a fierce gale of wind. We
made upwards of two hundred miles in twenty-four
hours, with scarcely a sail spread ! Monday, July 12.
For the last three days we have had calm weather
again. It has been cold, it has often rained, but
there has not been a breath of wind stirring. Our
crew, which consists chiefly of young Bretons, were in
very low spirits when we left Toulon, but now they
have begun to exhibit a little more animation,
Groups will gather on deck round a loquacious mess
mate, to hear his yarns, while in the evening the
men on watch favour us with a song or two in chorus.
To encourage this good humour the commander dis
tributes rations of wine among the principal per
formers. We are now little more than six hundred
miles from the Cape.
The lamps are lit at five o'clock. The evenings
after dinner hang rather heavily upon our hands.
To wile away the time, however, and vary the
monotony of the long night, every passenger on board
has agreed to give an account of his travels. M.
Eiche has described La Plata and the government of
Eosas ; M. Domzon gave us an account of Otaheite
and Queen Pomare ; M. Lespes of the fortifications

AGREEABLE SOCIETY. 21
of Sebastopol; M. de Labarriere of the court of
Soulouque, the West Indies, and our back going
colonies in that part of the world. M. de Vautre
gave us a narrative of his sojourn at the Sandwich
Islands and Lima, and M. de Besplas recounted his
voyage to the Polar seas, where he had been, as I
stated, with Prince Napoleon, while the doctor told
us what he had witnessed in his time on board a
cruiser long stationed off the coast of Senegal.
Pleasantly the time passed, and when we had
flavoured our tea with a drop of rum, sipped a cup
of the exhilarating beverage, and eaten a ship biscuit,
we popped into our berths very well contented with
ourselves and all about us.

22 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHAPTEE II.
Arrival of the ' Audacieuse' at Simon's Bay. — Departure for Cape
Town.— Cape Town. — Table Bay. — Table Mountain. — Sir George
Grey, the Governor of the Colony. — The English Colony of the
Cape of Good Hope.— The Caffi-es.— The Boers.— The French
Villages in the interior. — The small Republics of the Orange
River. — Wynberg, the paradise of the Cape. — The Mountains of
Constantia, and the Cloete family. — Contrast of Civilization and
Barbarism at Cape Town. — Mildness of the Climate. — Dearness
of everything. — Our stay at the Masonic Hotel.
Simon's Bay, Tuesday, July 21.
At last we have doubled the Cape of Good Hope.
The first part of our voyage is over. We have taken
fifty-six days to make a passage of 2,500 leagues,
which is our distance from Toulon, and twenty-five
days in coming from Ascension to Simon's Bay.
Simon's Bay, which is sheltered from the north-west
winds, is the winter anchorage in this colony ; while
Table Bay, which is sheltered from the south-east
winds, is the anchorage in summer. These two roads
are about twenty miles from each other. At all
times, but more especially in winter, it is no easy

THE CAPE. 23
matter to double the Cape ; for us, it so happened
that there was no difficulty or danger. In place of
the dense fog which at times surrounds the Cape of
Storms, we had a bright sun and clear atmosphere.
Albatrosses and cormorants winged their flight play
fully in flocks over the waves ; the cold weather of
the last few days had given place to a more genial
"temperature ; the sea was smooth as a lake ; not a
breath of wind stirred. With all our steam up we
moved on at the rate of twelve knots an hour. The
Table Mountain, the Lion's Head, and the Lion's
Eump stood out beautifully against the cloudless
horizon ; and of course we were all in extasies with
a mountain top which is altogether unlike anything
of the kind to be seen elsewhere.
We deserved this luck. Good fortune had de
serted us at Ascension. At this last-named and
detestable place, we had got neither coals nor provi
sions, and since we left it, excepting during the ter
rific gale of the 9th, we had been at the mercy of
contrary winds, which had drifted us towards the
American coast. For some days back most unex
pectedly the breeze from the south-east had freshened
into a gale coming in sudden gusts, so that we could
neither advance by steam or wind, and as the ship
laboured a good deal the commander decided to put
in at the Cape. We had been there then for some

24 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
days within sight of land, pitching and rolling about,
and every now and then catching a gale of wind
without being able to tell when this state of matters
was to come to an end. On the morning of the 21st,
the wind having fallen suddenly, the commander,
without losing time, ordered our eight boilers to be
fired, in order that we might escape from this fatiguing
and most tiresome situation. Eight hours after
wards, we cast anchor in Simon's Bay. An English
transport-ship, covered with red coats, was alongside of
us ; we were at first afraid that it was the ' Assistance,'
our neighbour at Ascension, but it turned out to be
the ' Adventure,' another British war steamer, which
was conveying to China the 23rd regiment. The
band was not playing, and there was no dancing on
board. Sad news, no doubt, had been received from
India ; the Sepoy insurrection had broken out in
Bengal, and a minor calamity, the total shipwreck of
an English frigate at Macao. In the roadstead an
English war frigate lay at anchor, displaying the
colours of rear-admiral Sir Frederick Grey. Farther
off we could see a charming little screw yacht of six
guns, named the ' Emperor,' on its way to the Emperor
of Japan as a present from Queen Victoria. Strange
it seemed to us that such a tiny bark could survive
these terrible seas ! Only one French ship is in the
roads, the ' Bayadere,' belonging to Nantes, homeward

A MORNING DRIVE. 25
bound from India, having on board the master and
mates of the ' Duroc,' which was shipwrecked last year
on Mellish Island. We fired a salute in respect of
the English fort and the admiral's flag, and in reply
the English frigate hoisted French colours at the
mainmast, and acknowledged by the customary dis
charge the presence of the ambassador on board the
' Audacieuse.' We went on shore after admiring
Simon's Town, which is prettily situated at the foot of
the lofty hills which surround the bay, delighted to
have escaped the roll and pitch of the ship. We soon
retired to our apartments to make arrangements for
leaving next day for the chief town in the colony.
Cape Town, July 29.
Next day, at six o'clock in the morning, we were
on our way to Cape Town. We had two convey
ances. In one were La Tour Maubourg and Flavigny,
in the other Trevise and myself. The ambassador
and Messrs. Bellecourt and Contades were to join us
in the evening. The route was rather dreary at first,
although very picturesque. We kept close by the
water's edge over a smooth clean beach ; we forded
several brooks, and at times kept so close to the
sea-margin, that the sheet of a wave would rush up
to us, and beyond the horses' feet and carriage
wheels. To the right we saw the vessels riding at

26 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
anchor in Simon's Bay ; to the left the landscape was
closed by a long chain of lofty and precipitous hills.
We saw cormorants plunging into the water as we
approached, herons busy catching fish, and in great
numbers a kind of bird with a hawk's beak and a
white ring round its neck, which is called in the
colony, the ' Cape Crow.' Whales are not uncom
mon on these coasts, and indeed it is one of the occu
pations of the inhabitants to capture them. We
passed through a whaling village. Huge ribs with
one end stuck into the ground as mark stones and
mark fences, and by way of decoration in the garden,
were everywhere. The gigantic bones thus brought
into juxtaposition with man and his habitations, recal
vividly to the mind the immense size of the larger
cetacese. Such is the thought suggested by day.
By the pale moonlight a visitor might be puzzled by
more than one fantastic apparition. We stopped
half way to breakfast on country fare by way of re
action from the regimen on board ship. Milk, eggs,
bread and butter composed the repast, of which we
partook with overflowing spirits. We soon afterwards
left the beach and its marshy brooks for a well culti
vated plain. The road, at the sides of which run
Australian poplars, and old oaks planted in the
Dutch times, led us through a number of charming
villages. Indeed, from the inn where we put up to

THE MUSEUM AT CAPE TOWN. 27
Cape Town, the whole road is one long street dotted
with pretty cottages, with verandahs, white-washed
walls, and green outside shutters. There is an air
of elegance about the smallest cot. It is English
tidiness engrafted on Dutch cleanliness. Few houses
are roofed with slates, but the thatch is admirable.
Nowhere do we see the work left in the rough style
of our villages. The thatch is not only laid down in
a business-like way, but it is carefully attended to
afterwards. Not a straw is to be seen out of its
place, not one spot or cushion of moss catches the
eye on the roof. A bright sward overshadowed by
lofty trees surrounds each house. Among them are
planted all the fruit trees of Europe, excepting
cherries, which do not succeed in the climate of
Southern Africa. We met on our way the large-
tailed sheep of the colony, high spirited little English
horses, and herds of Dutch cows with black and
white skins. We passed through Mobury, Wynberg
the paradise of the colony, and at last arrived in the
capital. Cape Town is now a town of thirty thousand
inhabitants, built at the foot of the Table Mountain
with Table Bay for its roadstead. All the streets
run at right angles or parallel to the sea. The
museum is the chief sight. There, are exhibited all
the animals of Southern Africa, lions, tigers, leopards,
hyenas, and venomous serpents innumerable. These

28 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
animals once abounded near Cape Town, but they
have been pushed farther and farther into the wilder
ness by advancing civilization, until it is now neces
sary to advance far into the interior before reaching
the territories where they still roam at large. Among
the curiosities we observed a portion of a stone cross
brought from Portugal by Bartholomew Diaz, and
put up on the land which he discovered, and named
with such propriety the Cape of Storms. A pair of
big boots form part of the collection. They are de
scribed on a ticket underneath, as 'the boots of a
French postilion.' We felt puzzled to know what
entitled these boots to their position in a South
African museum, whether they really had some
interest for the inhabitants of these parts, or whether
the whole thing was a joke at somebody's expense.
From the museum we took a stroll to the quay.
Fourteen vessels had been driven on shore there by
the great blast of the 6th of July, which had over
taken us while at sea. Seven wrecks still lay high
and dry near the houses. They were all English
trading vessels. We went next to the Dutch Botanic
Garden, where twice a week all the fashionable so
ciety of the town assemble to hear the regimental
band. One of the aides-de-camps of the governor,
Major Bates, took us to see some Caffre prisoners
confined in the fort. They had killed cattle be-

A CAFFEE PEOPHET. 29
longing to the colonists, and committed other out
rages on the frontier, on account of which they had
been deprived for a year or two of their freedom to
range the wilderness. Among them there was a near
relation of one of the chiefs. These Caffres whom
we saw were superb blacks, with athletic forms;
they had all beautiful white teeth, a feature, which,
unimportant as it was, strikes one on seeing them,
from the contrast with their dark skins. Their prison
fare was that of sailors on board ship, but they were
not at all contented with it, and declared that they
could not make a meal on less than a leg of mutton
a piece. Last year a prophet made his appearance
among the Caffres, and wandered all over Caffraria
preaching that if the inhabitants would only cease to
cultivate their fields, and kill their cattle, their dead
forefathers would come back again, and they them
selves would grow stronger and be able to chase the
white men into the sea. Of course fools were found
among them to believe this rubbish, who did not
sow their corn, who slaughtered their oxen, and who
now, as might have been expected, are starving of
hunger. It is a singular fact, that there are few English
missionaries among the Caffres, although there are
among them several French Protestant clergymen,
sent out by the Eeformed Church of Paris. Two of

30 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
them, M. Arbousset and M. Pelissier, who claims kin
with the Duke of Malakoff, called upon the ambas
sador. They have been settled for five and twenty
years in the country, and reside among those very
tribes which some years ago were engaged in deadly
struggle with General Cathcart. One of the Caffre
chiefs can bring into the field as many as six thousand
warriors. Besides their long spears, which they
throw with a sure hand and good eye, they make use
of gunpowder, which they obtain, no one can tell
how. At present all is quiet among them. But, just
as with us in Algeria, war is at all times ready to
break forth, and the mother country is compelled
to keep up an army of ten thousand men to protect
the colony from invasion. Among these is in
cluded the German legion which after the Crimean
war was sent to the Cape. These Germans are
barracked at a distance of five hundred miles in the
interior. The government has set apart land for
them. They are still bound to three years of military
service, after which they are to be considered as
colonists. The Protestant clergymen to whom we referred,
are not however the only Frenchmen settled in the
colony. At a few miles from Cape Town there are
several villages, such as Fransche-Hoeck and la Paarl,
which were formerly exclusively inhabited by French-

THE HEEOES OF THE HENRIADE. 31
men who emigrated at the Eevocation of the Edict of
Nantes. These men of French blood have however
been completely metamorphosed into Dutchmen. In
a few generations they forgot their native tongue
and lost all recollection of their native habits. French
family names however still abound. We meet with
Hugos, Eousseaus, Malherbes and De Villiers. There
is one old gentleman who bears the name of Du-
Plessis-Mornay, whom it is said the great Napoleon
wished to bring back to France, but who refused the
imperial offer, preferring a farm and the quiet life of
a husbandman to the country of his forefathers, and
the position which would have been open in France
to the descendant of one of the heroes of the
Henriade. It was these French emigrants who introduced into
the country the cultivation of the vine. Almost all
the young plants are still brought from France.
Cape wine is excellent, and like that produced on
the Canaries it takes in commerce the name of
Madeira. The only wine produced at the Cape which
derives its name from the place where it is made is
Constantia, which enjoys a well merited reputation
all over the globe. One fine morning we made
arrangements to pay the customary visit to Groot
Constantia. Mr. Cloete and his family gave us a
hearty welcome. They invited us to lunch. By

32 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
way of expressing our sense of the hospitality shown'
us, Besplas, who had his photographic apparatus with
him, took a sun picture of the Villa with the Cloete:
family in the foreground. The work done, he pre-^
nented the photographs to old Mr. Cloete. This,
gentleman was very attentive to former French visi
tors and more especially to the suite of M. de
Lagrene. After passing an hour in the drawing-
room in pleasant conversation with Mrs. and the
Misses Cloete, we descended into the cellars. We
tasted four kinds of wine — Frontignac, Pontac, white
Constantia and red Constantia. From the cellars
we went to the vineyard. The whole extent of the
ground which produces Constantia is only thirty
acres. Mr. Cloete is not at all satisfied with the
black labourers whom he employs. He thinks of
bringing vine dressers from France. Although the
house has externally a very unostentatious appear
ance it is surrounded by long lines of noble oaks.
Behind rises the mountain or hill of Constantia, which
the ambassador, who is an enthusiastic admirer of
natural scenery, considered to be almost as pic
turesque as the Table Mountain. From the terrace
we could see the ocean and the roadstead of Simon's
Bay. Mr. Cloete is not the only producer of Constantia,
Mr. Van Eeynet and Mr. Collins share his good

OUR ARTIST SKETCHES TABLE MOUNTAIN. 33
luck in owning part of the soil which produces the
right grape. But Mr. Cloete, who is obliging, and
partial to the French, gets the custom of everybody
connected with our navy and diplomatic service.
Each of us on this occasion laid in a little store from
his cellars, which we took on board with us.
From Constantia one can ride on horseback to the
very' summit of the Table Mountain. Contades and
Maubourg, who did not know the fact, set out one day
on foot early in the morning from Cape Town, with
a Malay guide, hoping to kill a few monkeys before
getting to the top. They had walked about two hours
when they were caught in a dense fog and obliged to
retrace their steps, for the summit became hid in
clouds, — or, to use the phrase of the country, ' the
tablecloth was laid.' From sea this mountain has a
picturesque appearance. It astonishes the beholder
by its immense bulk and massiveness. The town,
situated upon its lower slopes, seems to rise in terraces,
and has consequently a fine effect from the sea.
Trevise, who sketches better than any of us, went off
one day into the bay to make a drawing of it.
We find ourselves very comfortably put up at the
Masonic hotel, which is the best place of the kind in
the town ; and we cannot complain, considering where
we are, of being exorbitantly overcharged. Every
thing is dear at Cape Town. The ambassador was
D

34 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
asked a pound for the hire of the conveyance which
brought him from Simon's Bay to the capital. One
of us paid half-a-crown for getting his hat ironed. It
takes a fortune to live at Cape Town, even in the style
of a private citizen, so dear are all the articles of pri
mary necessity. An ordinary hen' s egg costs twopence-
halfpenny, and everything else is charged for on the
same scale. Here production does not meet the'con-
sumption. There is a ready market, but there is a
want of labour to supply it. The Cape supplies with
food Saint Helena, Ascension, the Mauritius, and
the English Station in Western Africa. It is neces
sarily the victualling place of all ships going to and
coming from India. Hence the efforts made by the
colony to attract the current of European civilization
by funds voted and set apart by the legislature to
assist emigrants. At this moment the tide has set
towards California, the United States, and Australia ;
towards the latter more especially, Table Bay being.
now deserted for Melbourne and Sidney. Yet the
climate of the Cape is delightful ; endemic diseases,
such as cholera and yellow fever, are unknown. The
forest trees and the fruits of Europe flourish luxu
riantly, as well as the productions of the tropics. The.
atmosphere is so transparent, that Herschel fixed
upon it as the most suitable region in the southern
hemisphere for his astronomical observations. It is

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 35
now the depth of winter, yet so genial is the weather
that were the trees not bare and leafless, we might
fancy ourselves in the heart of a European summer.
Some persons predict that the colony of the Cape
will one day throw off its connexion with England.
In my opinion that day is far distant. The colony
is now no doubt in a great measure independent. The
inhabitants elect their own parliament. They have
their lower and upper chambers, and all the machinery
of a separate government. The local legislature
authorise or prohibit the construction of railways.
They do many other independent acts. But the
colony is deficient in population and capital, and
cannot subsist without direct assistance from Great
Britain. If the English regiments were withdrawn,
it would fall a prey to the black population of the
interior. The direct loss to England by a declara
tion of independence would be small, as, notwith
standing an extensive trade in wool, the colony costs
the mother country more than it brings. But what
England wished to secure in annexing the Cape to
her colonial empire, and what she will spare no effort
to preserve, are the roadsteads at Table Bay and
Simon's Bay, maritime stations of the very highest
value, which during a time of peace protect her trade,
and during a time of war establish for her an over
powering preponderance in this part of the world.

36 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
How can the French cope with England while they
have no possession in these seas save the little island
of Bourbon, which has neither harbour, anchorage
ground, or sheltered shore to serve as a refuge for
vessels ?
The Masonic hotel, at which, as we said, we had
put up, overlooks the Parade, a large square en
closure, surrounded by a triple row of fir trees. We
amused ourselves in looking down from the windows
of our apartment on the crowd passing in the streets
below. There could be no scene more picturesque
or curious for a stranger to contemplate than the
population of Cape Town, as seen in this way.
There are Dutchmen, Englishmen, Malays, Negroes,
Hottentots, Coolies, and an incredible mixture of all
these races. For one white person there are ten
blacks or tawny persons in the crowd. Tawny is
however the dominant complexion. The Malay wo
men are ugly ; they dress frightfully, being fond of
gaudy colours, and besmearing their hair till it drips
with oil. The most refined civilization is, at the
Cape, brought into close contact with barbarism or a
society in the earliest stage of infancy. In the after
noon, equipages which might grace Hyde Park are
met with in the streets. In the morning lions are
sold by auction in the market-place. There are cab
stands at the street corners as in a European city,

MALAY COACHMEN. 37
and there are heavy waggons suggestive of primitive
life, constantly pouring in from the interior, drawn
by fourteen, sixteen, or even eighteen long-horned
oxen. These lumbering machines are always accom
panied by two drivers, one of whom holds the reins
while the other carries in his hand a long lash or
whip of bamboo, with wliich he can urge on the first
horse as readily as the sixteenth. Sometimes these
waggons are drawn by horses or mules, and then the
smallest team consists at least of six of these animals.
No one who wishes to be considered a personage of
importance should be seen driving less than four
horses at Cape Town. The governor offered to give
Baron Gros a drive in his travelling waggon into the
environs after the fashion of the country, that is to
say with a team of eight horses, which he said he would
increase to fourteen if the ambassador wished it — just
to show how travelling is conducted in South Africa.
Flavigny and I, satisfied with a humbler equipage,
one fine day took a charming drive to Constantia in
an open carriage, to which we had yoked four spirited
little English horses. To make amends for the
smallness of our equipage, La Tour Maubourg, Tre
vise, and Contades returned to Simon's Town quite
in crack style six in hand. The thing, however, at
Cape Town is to have on the coach-box a Malay
coachman in national costume. We observed that

38 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
almost all the private carriages were driven by men
belonging to this foreign population. But what gives
its particular and special stamp to the colony are
these lumbering waggons of which I have just
spoken, wliich are met with in all the roads, and
which, crossing through loose sands and fording
streams, convey far into the interior of the continent
the products of Great Britain. These oxen, different
in every respect from the English Durhams, are of
Dutch origin, and have horns which in length far ex
ceed those of any European breed.
We made the acquaintance of our Consul at the
Cape, M. de Castelnau, the celebrated South Ame
rican traveller. He is a remarkable man. Setting
out from Eio Janeiro, this gentleman crossed the
whole South American continent, and in two years
reached Lima. He was accompanied by a few
French seamen and Brazilian soldiers, He returned,
again crossing the Andes, the great table-lands and
wild tracts inhabited by the Indians; and descend
ing the Amazon through the Brazilian forests. In
this great scientific journey he lost two of his compa
nions, one being drowned in crossing a river which
was flooded at the time, while the other was mur
dered by the Indians, who wished to get possession of
the instruments through which they had seen him
looking at the sun. The son of M. de Castelnau is

THE BOERS. 39
ambitious of following > in his father's footsteps. He
has just made a seven months' journey from the Cape
to Port Natal, a distance of seven hundred miles,
accompanied by a Hottentot guide, and driving a
small caravan of three horses. He crossed the desert,
chasing the herds of antelopes before him, fording
the rivers and proceeding in this way from one Boer
farm to another. The habits of these Boers, who have
lapsed from a state of civilization to a condition little
better than that of savages, might furnish a novelist
with a few good scenes. They live in the midst of
extensive farms, in houses miles from each other,
alone with their wives and children, servants and
herds. They have large families, the ordinary num
ber of children being from fifteen to eighteen. They
have enormous herds. The Caffres sometimes carry
off their cattle. Then the Boers mount on horse
back, load their guns, and start at once in pursuit of
the robbers. They are such excellent marksmen,
and their skill in this respect is so well known to the
natives, that the latter run off the moment they
come in sight, leaving their booty behind them. It
is a remarkable fact that these wild herdsmen, living
far in the wilderness and altogether beyond the pale
of civilization, had all heard of the Crimean war. In
the evenings, when the day's work was done, nothing
pleased them better than to hear about the war from

40 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
M. Ludovic de Castelnau. They know absolutely
nothing. of polities. They hear little of what is going -
on in the world. They read their Bibles and abuse
the English. Eound these two pivots turn all their
thoughts. Dutch to the core, in all their feelings,
hatred of the English, constitutes their nationality.
It was this feeling which led them to emigrate to the
outskirt of the colony and caused the exodus from
Port Natal, a phenomenon full of interest in the
history of humanity. This event has been recounted
by one of themselves in the style of the historical
books of the Old Testament.
There is another remarkable fact connected with
those Boers ; and that is the recent formation in the
north of the colony of two small independent Dutch
republics. Till very recently Cape Colony extended
much further to the north. But the English Govern
ment, finding it useless to penetrate so far into the
interior, and preferring a well-marked geographical
boundary to an uncertain line nowhere distinctly
marked in nature, and always exposed to the inva
sions of barbarous tribes, abandoned a whole region
which had previously been annexed, and fixed the
Orange Eiver as the northern frontier of the colony.
It was within the limits of the territory so deserted
and left without any government, that the two small
communities to which I refer above were formed,

SIE GEOEGE GEEY. 41
They have their own government, and are entirely
seltdependent. The King of the Netherlands has
opened a correspondence with them recently, and has
expressed the interest he takes in their welfare. The
origin of these states is as yet quite recent; and
their resources are very uncertain. Lying far in the
interior, they have no harbour ; and in consequence,
the inhabitants are obliged to dispose of their pro
ducts, and purchase the European articles they re
quire, at Cape Town. If these small states prosper,
the fact will be a curious one in the history of African
colonization. No one can fail to take a deep interest
in this white population of Dutch origin, which,
settled on the frontiers between African barbarism
and English innovation, strives, by dint of patient
toil, to re-construct in the wilderness a shadow of
nationality. The present governor of the Cape is Sir George
Grey, who has the reputation of being an able ad
ministrator. He was previously in New Zealand ; and
he still suffers from a wound which he received there
from a spear thrown at him by a native, in the course
of an expedition into the interior. He invited the
whole embassy to an official dinner, to wliich were
asked all the leading people of the colony. The
Government House dates from the Dutch times, and
has more the look of a gentleman's seat than a public

42 AN EMBASSY TO CHLNA AND JAPAN.
building. The oaks in the garden are magnificent.
Gazelles, antelopes, and ostriches roam about within
its enclosure, and remind the visitor that he is in
Africa. During our stay in Cape Town, we everywhere,
met with the kindest reception. We went to a ball,
given by the colony, which came off in a large room
belonging to the Bank. The doors were hung with
French and English flags. ' Crinoline ' had not found
its way to Cape Town ; but to make amends, the
' Galop ' was in high favour. Between dances, the
gentlemen walked arm-in-arm round the ball-room
with their partners. Nearly every day we spent the
evening at the house of Madame Mozenthal, the wife
of the Austrian Consul, where, besides the family,, we
met with very pleasant people — among whom there
were always a number of pretty young English women.
And in this agreeable society we enjoyed ourselves
very much.
In the walks we took about the neighbourhood to
Constantia and to Green Point, on the road to the
interior, we were struck with the variety of the vege
tation. There were an infinity of different shrubs.
There were proteas, finer than our rhododendrons ;
silver trees, geraniums (those of European flower
pots), growing wild ; aloes, with long bare stems, and
beautiful heaths, bright with rose-coloured blossoms.

WESLEYAN METHODISTS. 43
Excepting two or three species, it is remarkable that
all the heaths are indigenous to the Cape. They
abound everywhere in this country.
The utmost religious liberty, of course, exists in
the colony. There are at Cape Town ten different
sects, and ten churches or chapels. Unfortunately
the Wesleyan Methodists predominate — whereby a
puritam'c character is given to the town. They
approve of neither theatre nor cafe ; and Sunday is
kept as strictly as it possibly can be in any place
in the United Kingdom. There are two thousand
Catholics and a bishop at Cape Town. The church,
which is a modern Gothic building, is a very handsome
one, although rather bare in the interior. Irish priests
officiate. At Simon's Town, which contains five hun
dred souls, there are no fewer than four churches — one
English Episcopal, another Dutch Calvinist, a third
Wesleyan Methodist, and a fourth Eoman Catholic.
There are only four Eoman Catholic families in the
place, numbering in all thirty persons ; and accord
ingly the church is very small. It is nicely situated
half-way to the beach. It overlooks the roadstead ;
and from the deck of the 'Audacieuse,' its white
washed walls, as they glitter in the sun, have a very
fine effect in the landscape.
While we were spending the time pleasantly at
Cape Town, our sailors were profitably employed in

44 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN. '
casting their nets. They brought on board daily
great quantities of fish. Among these was a small
animal which distends itself at will, which is common
in the bay, and which discharges a mortal poison.
The English, in respect of its venom, call it the toad-
fish ; we can see them, constantly swimming close to
the vessel. The doctor has had one brought to him
for examination. He intends to make it the subject
of a scientific dissertation.

WE LEAVE THE CAPE. 45

CHAPTEE III.
We leave Simon's Bay.— The Aiguilhas Bank. — The Indian Ocean.
— The Island of Amsterdam. — We re-enter the Trades. — The
Island of Java. — The Straits of Sunda. — The Straits of Banca. —
Arrival at Singapore. — The English colony of Singapore. —
Diversity of Races, Religions, and Costumes.— Great Freedom of
Trade. — The European, Chinese, and Hindoo towns. — Arrival of
the ' Audacieuse ' in Canton river. — Reception of the Ambassa
dor by the French squadron and the English authorities in China.
— The Earl of Elgin, Sir Michael Seymour, Admiral Rigault de
Genouilly, M. de Bourboulon, Count Poutiatine, Mr. Reed, and
Sir John Bowring. — The Island of Hong Kong and Castle Peak
Bay. At Sea, August 13.
In spite of the heavy swell which had sprung up, and
the inconvenient distance at which we lay from Cape
Town, we had managed to lay in our stores of fuel
and provisions. We had on board 12 oxen and
50 sheep. It was high time to depart, for in place of
a week we had remained more than a fortnight at
Simon's Bay. On Saturday the 8th August we
made preparations for getting under weigh at four
o'clock in the afternoon. Two days before we had

46 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
seen the East India Company's transport ship the
' Madras ' arrive in the harbour. She had come with
the news of the general spread of the mutiny among
the Sepoy troops and the massacre of the English
officers. She had hurried to the Cape under her
whole steam power to ask immediate assistance. She
had taken only sixteen days to come from Ceylon.
The governor Was to despatch two regiments and a
company of artillery-men. He is afraid to go farther,
lest he should expose his own frontier to the Caffres.
Similar transport ships had been sent to Mauritius,
Ceylon, Singapore and Australia. All the troops on
their way to China will now be diverted from their
route to India. It is very fortunate indeed for the
English that these events have occurred at a time
when preparations have been made for a great war in
the Easli. The assistance required in India is already
on its way to the spot. We left the Cape under the
painful impressions produced by this unexpected
intelligence, which in all probability would exercise
a very untoward influence on our own mission.
What are we to do if the English, preoccupied
with their own concerns, should delay to a future
occasion the settlement of their disputes with the
Middle Empire. Certainly the Chinese question no
longer possesses the same importance. Are we to
be recalled, or is the business of the mission to be

THE EMPEEOE'S HOLIDAY. 47
restricted to a treaty with Japan ? Such were the
reflections which passed through my mind in leaving
the Cape of Good Hope, and entering on the long
voyage which, with favourable winds, was to bring us
in six weeks to Singapore. At Sea, Tuesday, August 18.
Before setting sail the 'commander hoisted on
board all the small craft belonging to the ship,
fastened tight the masts and tackle, closed the port
holes, and made all ready for the heavy seas and
sudden squalls of these latitudes. We hate now
cleared, without accident, the redoubtable Aiguilhas
bank, and the swell, subsiding opportunely, has
permitted us to keep the 15th of August. At sea,
the Emperor's holiday of course cannot be celebrated
in the way customary among vessels lying at anchor
in a roadstead, with banners fluttering from every
mast-head, and salvoes of artillery booming from
dawn to dusk. In the morning, however, mass was
said on the lower deck; and in the evening the
commander entertained us to dinner. Double rations
were given out to the crew, and the national colours
were displayed from the masts. Next day the swell
returned. For three days the sea, heaving under a
strong breeze, beat violently against the ship, while
the wind whistled fiercely through the rigging. The

48 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
' Audacieuse ' rolled and pitched more unaccount
ably than ever. It was impossible to write or sleep;
and barely possible to read and eat by holding fast
to the table. Days spent so cannot be said to belong-
to one's existence. Under such circumstances a man
does not live, he vegetates. Happily every event in
this life has its good side ; and during these three
days we sped onwards, thanks to an ill wind, at the
rate of 74 leagues on an average, and in the right
direction, which carried us far from the entrance to
the channel of Mozambique and the stormy meridian
of Madagascar. Saturday, August 22.
Yesterday at noon we had left a fourth part of our
route behind us. We are now within a few hundred
miles of the island of Amsterdam. These seas, in
winter, are decidedly uninviting and of difficult navi
gation. We passed suddenly from a dead calm into
the heart of a gale. The breeze would freshen, the
sea would heave, and then down would come a blast
which swept all before it. All our sails were now
reefed. The jib, foresail, and main-topsail only were
hoisted ; each of the latter being taken in by a double
reef. Notwithstanding all this we made ten knots
an hour. At last a rain came in torrents. With it
the wind fell and a calm succeeded. But the calm

FUNERAL AT SEA. 49
did not yet reach our length. The ship, no longer
lying-to under the wind, was at the mercy of the
swell, which continued to roll long after it had ceased
to blow. We were tossed about from wave to wave,
and everything was again turned topsy turvy on
board. We amused ourselves in calculating the
number of times the vessel rolled. We counted 16
oscillations in a minute, or 15,600 oscillations in 20
hours. The process is trying .both to ship and
passengers. On the 29th of August, in the evening,
after a day worse than any which had preceded it, we
were alarmed by a noise which startled every one on
board. It seemed as if the frigate had burst in two,
or had struck when at full speed against a rock. The
commander called for lanterns, and looked over the
whole ship. He found nothing wrong. Two huge
waves had broken at once upon the frigate as she lay
over under the swell to her larboard side. Some
days before we had sprung a leak, but it was of little
moment. One of our sailors, who had been suffering
from a chest complaint, died yesterday in the sick
room. This is the first death on board since we left
France. He had been consoled with the hope of
recruiting when we got into a warmer climate, and
deaih had just anticipated the change of air. This
morning, after the burial-service had been read by
the chaplain, and his old messmates had taken their

50 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
last farewell, the corpse, wound in a sheet of sail
cloth, with a cannon-ball at the feet, was lowered
into the sea. There is a sadness in the ceremony
which all the consolations of religion cannot remove.
'Exitio est avidum mare nautis.'
The hungry sea receives the mariner at last.
Tuesday, September 1.
We passed yesterday within* a hundred leagues
to the north of the island of Amsterdam. Since we
left the Aiguilhas bank, we have been buffeted by
the blasts from every point of the compass, north,
south, east and west. The word tempest is not used
at sea. But for the last three weeks entries such as
the following appear in every page of the log-book-
Foul weather, high sea, fresh breeze, squalls, very
heavy swell, rain in torrents, a heavy gale of wind !
and so on ; now all these expressions, in nautical
parlance, mean what we landsmen, in a somewhat
homely and inexperienced way, would call a tempest
We were left in darkness, everything was wet. Both'
rain water and salt water trickled and ran everywhere.
The lower deck, where the crew slept and messed,'
was converted into a lake. We spent the day drearily,
closely fastened to our chairs, and yet condemned to
a perpetual see-saw. From time to time a great wave
would break over the deck and shake every beam

JAVA. 51
and spar of the vessel. A strong swell setting in
from the south impeded our progress. The wind is
excessively cold. We are anxious to get into the
monsoons, which will waft us from the Indian Ocean
to the Straits of Sunda. Wednesday, September 16.
Yesterday at noon we crossed the tropic of Capri
corn in the 127th deg. 27 min. of French longitude.
We are more than two hundred and forty leagues
from the Straits of Sunda. We are within two
hundred leagues of New Holland. The hot weather
which we had left behind us at Ascension is return
ing. The rough weather and its tiresome accompa
niments with which we started on our passage has
given place to a clear sky and calm seas. We have
now been thirty-nine days at sea without seeing the
smallest island, without catching so much as a glimpse
of the land, and time begins to fall rather heavily on
our hands. For five days back .a merchant ship has
been in sight. She is a quick sailer, and it awakens
a little interest in our monotonous life to see if we
have gained upon her or been gained upon by her
during the night. We have entered the monsoons and
all our canvas is spread.
On Monday the 21st day of September, after a
passage of fifty-five days, we came in sight of Java,
and entered the Straits of Sunda under all our can-

52 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
vas and steam power. At sunset we dropped anchor
near the Isle of Gulls, and we scanned with dehght
the long denied spectacle of mother earth, and
the rocky coasts of Java. The shore is covered
to the water's edge with a luxuriant network of
lianes and gigantic trees. A dense cloud of smoke
ascending from the interior of the forest, was all that
betokened the presence of man. With a favourabje
wind blowing, eight ships, all bearing different flags,
and some of them war vessels, passed near us.
Among these was the 'Assistance,' which had left
Simon's Bay a week before us. She had encountered
a heavy gale, and had a part of her rigging carried
away. We sent the English officers the newspap§4
we had brought from the Cape, full of heart-rending
details of the Indian insurrection. They had not
yet heard the bad news. The soldiers in their red
coats clustered on the gunwales and crowded the
deck. The band welcomed us with its liveliest
tunes, and the gloomy recesses of the primeval woods
rang till night came, with the latest European waltzes
and polkas. Next day we set out again by dawn,
anchoring as before, in the evening, and this process
we repeated from day to day. Great precaution was
necessary, owing to the size of the vessel, in its
passage through narrow channels, in which for miles
we had only a few feet of water under the keel. We
kept sounding cautiously as we went. The sight of

SUMATRA. 53
the dismantled hull of the ' Transit,' a large English
transport ship, laden with troops for China, which
had been shipwrecked a few weeks before on a coral
reef close by which we passed, justified the prudence
and confirmed us in our good opinion of our worthy
commander's seamanship. We never lost sight of
land. On one side was the coast of Java, its wild
luxuriance subdued by advancing civilization, and
replaced by cultivated fields, in which were grown the
sugar cane, the coffee shrub, and the pepper plant,
while on the other side lay Sumatra in all its un
tamed beauty of a virgin forest sweeping to the
water's edge. We passed Anjer, a small port or
calling place on the way to Batavia. We then came
to Banca, which is celebrated for its tin mines, after
wards to Lucepara, and the Two Brothers, which are
situated midway in the strait, their rocks hid under
a dense tangle of tropical vegetation. The sea is
smooth and transparent, resembling in its colour and
unruffled surface, a vast sheet of oil or some yellow
liquid harder to stir than water. We continued for
several hours to pass through immense shoals of
spawn destined to people the ocean with its finny
tribes. As far as the eye could reach, this sea had a
bright yellow hue. It was in fact saffron coloured.
The Malay proas, with their curiously shaped sails,
were to be seen in every creek along the coast.

54 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
-Several of these vessels hailed the frigate and brought
us cocoa-nuts, chickens, bananas, and sweet potatoes.
There is something wild and stern in the look of these
natives. They have quite the appearance we should
expect to meet in a race of hardy and relentless
pirates. The heat continued to increase as we ap
proached the equator. From eight o'clock in the
morning the thermometer stood at 88Q Fahrenheit in
the shade ; but at daybreak when we opened our
port-holes, the breeze was deliciously fresh and cool.
Gradually we passed beyond Java, then Sumatra and
Banda, the three richest possessions of the Dutch,
and re-entered the open sea. Java is after Cuba the
finest colony within the tropics. The revenue of this
island fills half the budget of the mother country.
On the Malay archipelago, the prosperity of the
Netherlands depends. Having allowed the Dutch to
take possession of the Straits of Sunda, the English
took good care to retain in their own hands the key
to the Straits of Malacca. To strengthen their po
sition, they have founded Paulo-Penang, and Singa
pore. We arrived at the last named town on
Monday, the 28th of September, at six o'clock in the
evening. We had scarcely time to drop anchor,
when the frigate was surrounded by sampans or
Malay boats, laden with eggs, vegetables, and fruits.
There were live birds too on board for sale, and in

SINGAPORE. 55
such numbers, that one might have thought that the
whole feathered population of parrots, paroquets,
and cockatoos all over the globe had made our ship
their rendezvous for the day. The white parrots with
a tuft on their heads obtained the preference among
us in respect of their plumage, for with regard
to their voices, they all chattered alike noisily.
We had not much time to look at them. Under
some pretext or other, the whole noisy mob of
Malays, Hindoos, and Chinese, clambered over the
side of the ship and jumped upon deck. One would
wash our clothes, another had articles to sell, a third
was a ship chandler, and so on. The commander
called the master to the rescue, and it was with the
greatest difficulty that the latter could clear our decks
of the invaders, who were however compelled' at last
to retreat into their boats. A person named Salomon,
our daubachi, a good-looking fellow, a mussulman,
who wore a turban and a long white muslin dress,
and who looked wonderfully demure, serious, self-
possessed, and unconcerned, remained on deck alone
of all the crowd, as our only recognised purveyor.
Letters from home, which had been addressed to
Singapore, were brought us, with the first direct intelli
gence we had received from Europe for four months.
We soon afterwards landed, and saw the town. In walk
ing through the streets one cannot fail to be impressed

56 AN EMEASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
with the magnificent results of English colonial enter
prise. In this place there are a hundred thousand
persons, consisting of Chinese, Hindoos, and Malays,
all emigrants who have come from neighbouring
countries, in the hope of making their fortunes, and
with the purpose of exchanging Asiatic tyranny for com
mercial and religious freedom, and who live together
in harmony under the restraint imposed upon them by
a few Sepoy troops, who are as black and as little
akin to their European masters as the rest of the
population. Six hundred Europeans, chiefly English
officials of the government, merchants, and capitalists,
move about in the motley crowd, apparently quite
unconscious of the fact, that if these immense multi
tudes were to combine for an instant, the ruling caste
might be exterminated without an effort. Happily
for the Europeans, all these races mutually detest each
other. The Chinese despise the Hindoos, and by
their persevering industry destroy all their chances
in the labour market. The Hindoos accordingly have
an instinctive hatred of the Chinese. The Malays,
again, live with both races without coming in any
way into collision with either. There are eighty
thousand inhabitants of the Celestial Empire at
Singapore, nearly all of whom have come from the
southern provinces of China. They could of them
selves, if they thought fit, overpower the other races,

THE RAJAH OF SARAWAK. 57
massacre the Europeans, and take possession of the
island. But, although there has been an occasional
outbreak on a small scale, their own interest, which
they perfectly understand, has always sufficed to
keep them within the bounds of duty. They are
overawed by the dread that the English government
would take signal vengeance of a temporary success.
They fear that it might resort to the expedient em
ployed by Sir James Brooke, the Eajah of Sarawak,
in the neighbouring island of Borneo. The reader
may recollect that this enterprising Englishman,
attacked by the Chinese working at his mines, escaped
with his life only by swimming, while his niece
was taken prisoner by the insurgents, and subjected
to the most detestable outrages. The Eajah then
invited the Malays to join in a foray against the
Chinese, and this invitation was so well responded
to, that six thousand of the insurgents perished
in one day.
The residence of the governor is built upon an
eminence which overlooks the roadstead. This offi
cial only lives there for nine months in the year ;
during the remaining three months he resides at
_ Penang and Malacca. The European town of Singa
pore, separated from the Chinese and Hindoo towns
by a small river, is composed of elegant mansions
and villas. Each house is surrounded by a garden,

58 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
and no precaution is neglected to catch as much
fresh air as possible. A large verandah surrounds
the lower story, and a punka kept constantly in mo
tion by a Hindoo servant, keeps up a constant cur
rent of air through the large apartments, while
overhead bread-fruit trees, bananas, and palms serve
further to protect the inmates under their cool shade.
The Chinese and Hindoo town is neither so spacious
nor so open to the fresh air, and it has the entire
monopoly of the noise and tumult of business.
Broad macadamised streets, straight as an arrow,
enable the police to see from end to end and keep
order in the crowd, while they enable, at the same
time, the small dealers to expose their wares along
the footpaths. With regard to the Malay popula
tion, wherever there is a bit of coast midway between
sea and land left dry at ebb tide, wherever there is
A bank of mud along the beach uncovered at low
water with its pools and streamlets of brine, thither
the race of the islands' rush enthusiastically to build
their huts, which are stuck down upon the top of
piles driven into the ground. These abodes are
generally sheltered by the spreading top of a cocoa-
palm. The owner has his highly-prized sampan
drawn up under the shelter of his elevated dwelling,
while his little family puddle about contented and
happy in the surrounding mud.

THE MALAY PIRATES AND FEEETEADE. 59
The utmost religious and commercial liberty pre
vails at Singapore. Pagodas and mosques are seen
in immediate proximity to Christian churches and
chapels. Protestants and Catholics, Budhists and
Mahometans, meet with the same protection in the
celebration of their religious observances. Thanks
in a great measure to the zeal of Pere Beurel of the
French foreign mission, who has lived in Singapore
for twenty years, there are three thousand Catholic
converts in the town. A fine church has been re
cently built in lieu of the original chapel, and nuns
of the order of St. Maur and brethren of the Doctrine
Chretienne, educate the Chinese and Hindoo youth
connected with the congregation, Accompanied by
Pere Beurel, we visited the church and schools,
and were delighted to have France recalled so
vividly in all respects, at such a distance from home.
Trade is no less free than religion ; cannons are to
be seen for sale on the quay of Singapore ; they are
sold by weight like any other article of merchandize,
and the Malay pirates daily purchase from English
merchants gunpowder and ammunition, to be used in
attacking British ships. No one has a right to pre
vent a trader from selling guns and gunpowder, if he
finds a customer for them who will give him a remu
nerative price. It will be afterwards shown that the
pirates of the Canton river purchase their fire-arms

60 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN
at Hong-Kong, that is to say, are supplied by, the
English themselves with the means of fighting
against their own troops. Frenchmen are naturally,
at first, astonished at this process, considering it, of
course, from their own point of view. What would
we think of one of our own countrymen who should
sell muskets to the highlanders of Algeria ? But it
seems we Frenchmen are, as yet, mere children in all
that concerns political economy !
There is another spectacle less warlike, but no less
worthy of interest, to attract the attention of the
inquiring traveller at Singapore. We refer to Chinese
emigration. Here is a young Chinaman now, who
came to the colony yesterday, blessed with no other
property than a few tchen or coppers. He has taken
to the sale of slices of sugar-cane in the streets, and
moves about accosting the passers by, and in a per
suasive voice asking them to buy a bit of cane. To
day he has made a hundred coppers, to-morrow he
will make two hundred more, and so on until he has
scraped together a good round sum, and is able to
return to the land of flowers. It is seldom indeed
that the shrewdness and perseverance of a Chinaman
fail of success. Perhaps like Whampou the cele
brated banker, this same penniless boy may become
a capitalist and a power in the colony. We «visited
this successful financier. He is from Canton, and

PREDILECTION OF TIGERS FOR CHINAMEN. 61
although still a young man has made an enormous
fortune. We found him dressed in the simplest
Chinese costume, busy counting money at a desk.
But for all this he has English clerks in his employ
ment. He drives out in a handsome English carriage,
and gives grand balls to the European residents. His
eldest son has been sent to England for his educa
tion, and he purposes to go there himself in a few
years to bring the young man home, passing through
France on his way. The Chinese of the middle
empire are very successful as bankers and small
traders, but at Singapore their success in every
enterprise connected with the cultivation of the soil
is still more remarkable. They are hard working
labourers, and every day, thanks to their exertions,
cultivation is extending farther and farther into the
primeval forest round Singapore, and on the main
land of Malacca. The beasts of the wilderness seem
to be their chief enemies. Every other day a China
man falls a prey to the tigers. These dangerous
animals cannot be destroyed on the island. They cross
when the tide is back from the continent where they
abound. The English at Singapore will have it, that
the tigers make it a rule to kill one Chinaman a-day,
that is to say of course 365 per annum. The brute
has such a predilection for Chinamen, that one Euro
pean in company with two celestials, is perfectly

62 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
safe. Whether it is that the sight of a naked body
whets its appetite, or that the pungent smell of the
Asiatic skin determines its choice ; certain it is, that
a tiger under such circumstances, without hesitation
and at a bound, will pounce upon his habitual prey,
without casting even one look at the European, who
stands by. Strange as this statement is, the accident
has happened more than once, and in the colony
there is no doubt whatever about the universality of
the rule.
Without tempting fortune, by joining a tiger hunt
into the interior of the island, one may enjoy many
delightful walks in the neighbourhood of the town.
Everywhere there are fine macadamised roads
bordered with cocoa-nut palms, leading past a
delightful country, covered with pepper and gambier
plantations, cloves, nutmegs, and coffee shrubs. The
road wliich led to the bungalow of the French Con
sul, M. Lagorce, was beautifully verdant and well
shaded, but that running along the sea-coast lead
ing to New Harbourg, the recently founded esta
blishment of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Na
vigation Company, is still more picturesque. Here in
the midst of a garden, laid out in the English style,
among beds of flowers and clumps of bananas, rises a
black mountain of coal, so nicely built and so symme
trically shaped, that it might pass for a work of art.

HINDOOS AND CHINAMEN. 63
Captain Marshall, who is the very perfection of a
thorough-bred English seaman, has the whole manage
ment of the Company's affairs here. He superin
tends a whole army of Coolies, who are constantly
employed in preparing the supplies for the numerous
vessels belonging to the Company touching at this
place. At Singapore the visitor is less struck by the
bustle in the streets than by the novelty and variety
bf the costumes. All Asia is represented here. The
three races placed in juxta-position, but never blend
ing, exhibit at once before us the superstitions of
India, the wild habits of the Malay archipelago, and
the old rites of the Chinese worship. Sometimes
another figure enters the scene. This is the Parsee,
the descendant of the ancient Persians. He is a fire-
worshipper, of the creed of Zoroaster, and rejoices
most likely in the name of Artaxerxes. Here we
see the black Hindoo, in his jaunty turban and his
graceful garment of white muslin, bustling past a
heavy Chinaman, with his shaven head, trudging
along in his wide silk gown, with a big umbrella in
one hand, and an equally capacious fan in the other.
Then comes the European, rattling along in his
palanquin, drawn by a high-mettled Javanese pony.
The plaintive cries of the Indian dancing girls ring
through the streets, while the air smells of the
joss sticks which the Chinese burn assiduously

64 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
before the images of their ancestors, or the idol of the
god Fo.
Having taken up our quarters on shore, we had
been enjoying this change of scene for some days,
when the ambassador, anxious to join his English
colleague who had come out over land, gave us notice
to return on board the frigate. The north-east mon
soon had not yet set in, and it was desirable to catch
the last breezes of the south-western winds in order
to reach the coast of China. We left Singapore on
the 3rd October, and fired a salute in passing at
Pedra-Branca, and Paulo-Condore. We had some
fear of encountering a typhoon, but we escaped this
misfortune, and we arrived without accident in sight
of the Chinese coast on the 13th October. We
passed a whole fleet of junks drawn up in a row, and
each pulling a broad net after it. The whole horizon,
indeed, was covered by these vessels, we could count
them in hundreds. Nothing on the coast of France
can give the smallest idea of the sight which met our
eyes. We passed through the midst of them, taking
great care not to run them down. We sometimes
saw a whole family stowed into one of these tiny
vessels. It was their whole property ; their work
shop by day, their sleeping-place by night. As there
is a great population living on board these junks, the
fisheries are one great nursery of hardy and excellent

THE CANTON RIVER. 65
seamen. We dropped anchor at sunset at the mouth
of the Canton river, near the island of Lema. Next
day we ascended the river, wliich in this place is
about fifty miles broad, and we sailed through the
groups of islands which are situated at its mouth.
We soon reached Castle Peak Bay ; and thus, after
a voyage of four months and a half, the ' Audacieuse '
at last dropped anchor in Chinese waters, in the midst
of the French squadron. Hong Kong, October 27.
'The frigate "Audacieuse," which conveys the
special embassy from France to China, entered the
Canton river on the 14th of this month. She
cast anchor in Castle Peak Bay, a small harbour
situated between Macao and Hong Kong, in the
midst of Admiral Eigault de Genouilly's squadron.
The arrival of the ambassador extraordinary of the
Emperor was proclaimed by a salute of nineteen guns
from the " Nemesis," the admiral's frigate. The sailors * •
belonging to the other ships, in full dress, manning
the yards, received him with five good cheers for the
Emperor. Next day all the commanders, meeting on
board the "Nemesis," were presented to the ambas
sador. ' Baron Gros, accompanied by the admiral, set out
the same day to Macao to visit the French minister, F

66 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
M. de Bourboulon. This visit has no official character.
Nevertheless, the governor gave orders that a salute
should be fired on the arrival of the special envoy of
France within Portugese territory. In the evening
M. de Bourboulon entertained to dinner the embassy,
the commander of the " Audacieuse," and the mem
bers of the French legation.
' Next day, the 17th October, Baron Gros proceeded
to Hong Kong, where he received a warm welcome
from the English authorities. The "Audacieuse"
had no sooner cast anchor than the ambassador
received a salute of twenty-nine rounds from Admiral
Seymour, as well as from an English frigate, an
American and a Dutch sloop of war. Baron Gros
repaired on board the " Ava," distinguished by the
English ambassador's colours, and he remained
for several hours in conference with his honourable
colleague. During the day Lord Elgin and Admiral
Sir Michael Seymour came on board to visit the am
bassador, as well as all the commanders of vessels in
the roads, and the foreign consuls residing at Hong
Kong. * When Baron Gros went on shore to visit the
governor, he found Sir John Bowring already await
ing him in his carriage at the landing-place.
* All the troops of the garrison were under arms,
both along the road by which he proceeded, and in the

HONG KONG. 67
courtyard of Government Hduse. At the same time
a salute of nineteen guns was fired from the fort on
the amval of the ambassador. Next day Sir John
Bowring and General Ashburnham came on board the
" Audacieuse " to return officially the visit they had
received the night before.
' Before leaving Hong Kong, Baron Gros was
present at a dinner given in his honour by the
governor of the colony. Among the guests was
the special commissioner of Her Britannic Majesty
in China and the whole of the English embassy,
the commander-in-chief of the English troops, the
lieutenant-governor, the French commanders, Mr.
Parkes, English vice-consul at Canton, and the lead-=
ing men belonging to the city. Sir John Bowring
proposed the health of the Emperor, and Baron Gros
replied to the toast by drinking the health of the
Queen of England.
' After remaining five days in the roads at Hong
Kong, Baron Gros returned to Castle Peak Bay to
rejoin the French squadron.'
Such was the notice of our first movements in
China which appeared in the columns of the
' Moniteur.' We went occasionally, either alone or in company
with the ambassador, to pass a few days at Hong
Kong, and made a descent into every part of this

68 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
admirable English arsenal. The island of Hong
Kong was ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of
Nankin. It was, till 1842, a bare rock inhabited by
a few fishermen ; now it is overspread with the houses
of a great city, and inhabited by a population of
seventy thousand inhabitants. On the very spot
where a few miserable junks used timidly to anchor,
in terror lest they should be set upon by pirates,
now there is a forest of ships of war and merchant
men belonging to every nation under the sun. Where
a few half-starved fishermen were glad to scrape
together a few coppers in the course of the year, the
incessant rattling of money-bags may now be heard.
In fifteen years the English, by dint of their won
derful faculty for colonization, have converted a place
before then quite unknown into the best frequented
port in these seas. Docks, hospitals, stores for the
army and navy have been erected, a fine Gothic
church has been built, and all the rich European
merchants in China have made it a point of honour
to fix their abode here, and build a palace on this
English island. Now there is a wide street, mac
adamised, planted with trees, and bordered by foot
paths, wliich runs along the harbour for a distance of
three miles, with two uninterrupted lines of European
and Chinese houses ; a great amount of capital
is employed in new buildings, which are rapidly

A DINNER AT SIR JOHN BOWRING'S. 69
going forward. All that part of the town which
adjoins the quay is occupied by stores and ware
houses, and visitors are obliged to ascend to the high
ground to reach their quarters. Government House
is situated above the town. From the promenade
which surrounds it you look down on the roads,
where at all times something is going forward; a
steamer or two plying, a merchant ship casting
anchor, or a man-of-war firing a salute, or something
else to attract the notice of saunterers. A dinner,
to which Sir John Bowring entertained us on the
day after our arrival, was possessed of interest in
many ways.
We left the ship at seven o'clock, and found eight
palanquins waiting for us at the landing-place.
Baron Gros, borne by five Chinamen, went first.
Then came Commander Aboville ancl the other
members of the mission. The Coolies of the French
consul, holding Chinese lanterns, lighted up the way
over the hill. Contades, who by bad luck had fallen
into the hands of short-winded porters, was obliged
to urge them to get on as he best could. Sir John
received us with the utmost courtesy ; introduced us
to his family, to the colonial authorities, and to the
leading English merchants. It is a custom at Hong
Kong for any one who is invited out to take his
' boy ' with him. Those who, like us, are not provided

70 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
with this article in the shape of a young Chinese,
with a fresh-shaven head, an elegantly-plaited tail,
and a long white dress, run the risk of starving at a
table groaning with good things. On this occasion
we were not compelled by this dire necessity into a
breach of good manners, as our neighbours were kind
enough to accommodate us with their boys — a little
amused doubtless at our embarrassment and inex
perience in Anglo-Chinese etiquette. We stayed till
twelve o'clock at night. On leaving we had some
difficulty in finding our chairs and Coolies in the
midst of sixty palanquins mixed at random, and
150 Chinamen calling at the top of their voices for
the guest they were to convey home. While on
our way back we talked over what seemed most
remarkable in what we had witnessed, to wit, that
the English live in the midst of Hindoo and Chinese
servants, and employ no others, although they are at
war with their countrymen. We had seen Sir John
Bowring, with a price set on his head by the Chinese
government, quite unconcerned and at his ease,
although in the midst of Chinamen. Lord Elgin,
too, with whom it lies to decide on the steps to be
taken against the Chinese, had returned on board in
the evening without an escort in a palanquin carried
by four Coolies. Such things are certainly only to

PERSONNEL OF THE ENGLISH EMBASSY. 71
be seen in the far East, and they are of a kind to
surprise persons newly arrived from France.
Lord Elgin did not come on shore. He has his
quarters on board a charming steamer furnished him
by the East India Company. On hearing of the
insurrection he sent the Governor-General of India
his frigate, the 'Shannon,' with its gunners and
cannon, and the Company gave him in exchange the
packet 'Ava,' which it hires out at 2001. a-day at
Calcutta. This was certainly a good revenue from
such a source, and, not to abuse the generosity of the
Company, his Excellency means to remove imme
diately with his suite into the 'Furious,' a steam
frigate which has recently arrived, and which is now
undergoing preparations for his reception.
We now made the acquaintance of our colleagues
of the English embassy, Messrs. Bruce, Cameron,
Oliphant, Fitzroy, Locke, and Morrison, and a cordial
intimacy soon sprung up between us. We visited
together the shops kept by the dealers in curiosities,
and the ateliers of the principal native painters. We
were present at a sing-song or theatrical representa
tion, given gratuitously to their fellow-citizens by
some rich Chinese merchants, who had hired the
company of comedians, and erected a great bamboo
shed for their accommodation. From a reserved
seat which was somewhat elevated we could see the

72 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
great mass of heads swaying to and fro. People
were coming and leaving constantly; for the play
commences at eight o'clock in the morning and
continues without interruption till six o'clock in the
evening, the stage never being altogether deserted by
the players during the whole of this period. Gods,
and heroes, and mythological personages of divers
sorts make their appearance in the pieces performed,
and do battle with each other after a fashion alto
gether preternatural. For pantomime the Chinese
actors are unequalled, and nothing can surpass the
richness of their costumes, which literally glitter in
silk and gold. Women never make their appearance
on the stage in the Middle Empire ; they are pre
vented from doing so by religious precepts, and
consequently the female parts are taken by young
men. The tone of voice of the actors is so sharp
and grating, and the music is so deafening, that the
patience of a European spectator who understands
nothing of what he sees never outlasts half-an-hour,
when he is heartily glad to make his bow and retire.
There are four thousand Catholics at Hong Kong.
They have a fine church, in which the officiating
clergymen are Italians. Near the town is situated the
procure, or chief station of the Catholic missions in
China. We went there more than once, with both
pleasure and profit, to see Pere Libois, the Procureuri

ROUTE FROM CANTON TO THIBET. 73
General, who has lived in China for twenty-two
years, and who for some years back has left Macao to
take up his abode at Hong Kong ; Pere Eousseille,
who came out more recently ; Pere Mermet, who is
to go with us to Japan ; Pere Deluc, and many
others, who have all been tried by long years of
privation and suffering, and yet with unabated zeal
are ready to throw themselves into undertakings
from which good is likely to result. Their memories
are stored with a thousand curious facts regarding
China and the Chinese, and their conversation ac
cordingly is not only most pleasant and agreeable,
but gives us an insight into the singular habits and
character of the natives of the Middle Empire.
We were present at the procure when three Chinese
couriers took their departure for the northern pro
vinces, and one to the frontier of Thibet. They will
be three months on the journey ; in the course of
which, however, they seldom require to leave the
rivers and canals. Not long after leaving Canton,
there is an enormous mountain-chain to be crossed.
All goods conveyed over it are carried on men's
backs — there being a well-arranged system of halting
houses for the accommodation, both of porters and
travellers. Some idea of the immense traffic lying
along this route may be formed, when we consider
that all the chief manufactures of Canton, destined

74 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
for exportation to other parts of the empire, pass
along it. Beyond the mountains lie the great rivers
of China, flowing through wide and populous plains.
With the money which is to be taken to the mis
sions, the couriers purchase cloth and other articles
of merchandise likely to sell in the interior, in which
they pack up carefully the European and devotional
objects which they are to convey to the Christian
settlements. After arriving at their destination they
sell the goods they have bought at Canton, hand
the money to the priests at the mission, and retain
any balance left to themselves as their own legiti
mate profit. It is in this way that Pere Libois sends
once a-year money received from France to the mis
sionary stations. The poor priests, shut up in the
heart of Asia, have only once a-year tidings sent
them of what is going on in Europe and the civilized
world. What a frightful life of isolation it must be!
With what anxiety they must long for the day when
the merchant is to come with his bales. It must be
recorded, to the credit of the Chinese, that there is
scarcely any example of a courier disappearing with
the money. Yet the sums sent in this way are
not small ; they amount occasionally to a thousand
pounds and upwards at a time.
With Pere Eousseille we one day took a Chinese
boat, and went up the bay to visit the missionary

JARDINE, MATHESON, AND CO. 75
college. We landed at the Jardine pier — Jardine
being the name of a leading Hong Kong merchant.
The same gentleman has built a charming villa on a
height ; and beneath it the warehouses and counting-
houses of the firm. They form a magnificent build
ing of freestone, which might well be taken for some
important public edifice. Mr, Jardine has a private
guard for his protection, composed of Sepoys of his
own, whom he is allowed to hire of the government,
on paying for their services. He has cannons and a
flag too — the flag of the great mercantile house of
Jardine, Matheson, & Co. We saw one, gorgeously
yet tastefully blazoned ; and were a good, deal sur
prised to observe that it bore the sun and fleurs-de-lis
of Louis XIV. What chance has thrown the device
of the Grand Monarque in the way of this grand
financier ? Mr. Jardine deals in everything ; and
turns over millions of pounds annually. He has a
dockyard of his own; where he repairs the fleet of
vessels employed by him to barter opium for tea and
silk in all parts of China. The fortune of this great
firm, like that of all the other great mercantile houses
at Hong Kong, has been made in the opium trade.
Clambering up the hill, we proceeded to the
missionary college, which lies in a sequestered up
land. The poverty of the priests protects them from
the pirates who infest the coast. However, eight of

76 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
these desperadoes once made their appearance at the
college ; but finding nothing to take, they went away,
not, however, without threatening to stab one of the
missionaries. The reverend fathers are now armed
with pistols and guns, and protected by large dogs,
which keep constant watch. We received an affec
tionate welcome from them. We met here with
our old friends Pere Leturdu and Pere Fontaine,
who had come on board the frigate. We drank tea
with them. The biscuits we ate had been brought
from Canton. After tea we went into the school
room, where we found a number of young Chinamen,
in long blue gowns, busy learning Latin as well as
their own language. These lads do not belong to
Hong Kong, but are brought from all parts of the
diocese of Canton, which includes the provinces of
Kwangtong, of Kwang-si, and the island of Hainan.
They will, after their education is completed, return
to the missions as native priests and catechists. Mon
seigneur Guillemin, the Bishop of Canton, is now in
Europe, about some matters connected with his dio
cese. We caused the pupils to write our names in
Chinese ; and went for a little into the class-room of
the native master, in which all the pupils repeat their
lesson at once. The noise is discordant, but the system
is practised in conformity with the ' rites ' or general
directions of the ecclesiastical authority. On leaving

CHINESE NOTIONS OF THE DEVIL. 77
we came down the hill, making a circuit to see the
Happy Valley, where the English have staked off
a drive and race-course through a superb meadow.
The turf is rolled down regularly, as in the English
parks. The name of Happy Valley, given to this
place, comes from the cemeteries which surround it.
There are three of them. One belongs to the Church
of England ; another is Eoman Catholic ; and a third
Parsee, or Zoroastrian. In the latter the bodies are
burned. On the opposite side, scattered over the
slope of the hill, in the midst of fir-trees and rocks,
there are a number of Chinese tombs, marked by an
upright block of granite, mentioning the name of the
deceased, and the year and day of his death. All
round is a circular bench, put up by the relations of
the departed, on which the spirit may rest when .so
disposed. All along the road we found strewed bits
of silvered paper. These are intended to keep the
devil employed, and prevent him from devouring the
soul of the deceased, when a . body is about to be
deposited in its last resting-place. The devil is de
ceived by these glittering slips of paper ; he mistakes
them for coins, and keeps stooping to pick them up.
In this way the evil spirit has his attention diverted
until the body is fairly placed in the tomb. It
appears that the Chinese, not content with their suc
cess in hoodwinking the barbarians, venture on the

78 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
same game with the powers below ; and really and
truly I believe, that their cunning, their roguery, and
their subtlety are such that they may not in all cases
come off worst !
On our Way home by water we stopped half-way
to visit the sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, sent out
to Hong Kong to do the good work of the Sainte
Enfance. These poor nuns give themselves up to
their duties with rare devotion and self-sacrifice ;
they have almost succeeded in putting an end to in
fanticide in the colony. Daily, infants are brought
to them, whom they receive, and, in this Way, pre
serve from certain and immediate death. Unhap
pily it is not possible to save them all; they are
brought to them often in such a state from starvation
and exposure that a large proportion dio in spite of
all the care taken of them. We were shown into
the workshop, where we saw a number of little
Chinese girls, who were decently clad, and who
spoke to us in French, busily engaged in making
flannel jackets for the sailors of the squadron.
Sir John Bowring is the third Governor of Hong
Kong. Under him the colony has made an immense
stride in advance ; new streets have been opened,
districts entirely new have been built, and the popu
lation of the island has more than doubled in num
bers; there are now at Hong Kong six thousand

HIGHWAY ROBBERY AT HONG KONG. 79
Europeans and sixty thousand Chinese. Unfortu
nately, Sir John places quantity above quality, and
the English colony has, under this system, become a
rendezvous for all the pirates of the Canton river ;
fearlessly they enter the port to provision their
ships, and the Governor confessed to us that in the
course of the year there had been sold to these
pirates and owners of junks in the river no less
than four thousand small cannons and swivels. The
white and coloured police at Hong Kong night and
day perambulate the streets with muskets over their
shoulders ; yet they have great difficulty in prevent
ing thefts. An adventure, which last year befel the
commander of the ' Catinat,' is characteristic ; he
had no faith in the honesty of the Hong Kong
people, and never went on shore without putting
a pair of pistols in his pocket* One day, when he
had been to town and was returning in broad day
at two o'clock in the afternoon, within a few paces
of his small boat, four stout fellows sprung upon him
and caught him by the arms from behind; then
a mite of a Chinese boy came coolly up, took his
purse quietly out of his waistcoat-pocket, and re
lieved him of his watch and watch-chain. This done,
he was pitched violently to the ground, which com
pleted the operation. The Chinese standing about
stared, grinned, and smiled, not a soul of them came

80 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
to the rescue, and the robbers disappeared in the
crowd. What can the authorities do in the midst of
a population such as this, which exhibits no sym
pathy with the cause of order and good government ?
Midway between Europeans and Chinese we must
place the Parsees, or fire-worshippers ; who are nume
rous both; at Hong Kong and Macao. They come
from India, most of them from Bombay, and are
rich opium-dealers. They are a distinct race, the
descendants of an old Persian population who immi
grated into Hindostan. In all respects they are
superior to the Chinese and Hindoos ; they are very
fine-looking, and wear a long white flowing Eastern
dress, with a black cap of a singular shape, which bears
some resemblance to that of the modern Persians!
They form the most pleasing feature in the crowds
which throng the walks about Hong Kong and
Macao ; their liberality, and their good faith and
honesty in business transactions, are highly spoken of.
Besides numerous frigates and gunboats carrying
the English flag, there are at present in the roads
at Hong Kong three English vessels of the line, the
' Calcutta,' the ' Belle-Isle,' and ' Sanspareil.' Their
triple row of bristling cannon infused an element
into the landscape not without its moral influence
upon the spectators, but these huge floating towers
are very ill adapted to the navigation of these
seas,

COMMISSIONER YEH. 81
Light ships, which can float in shallow waters, are
at all times more useful. The 'Primauguet' and
the 'Phlegeton,' two steam-sloops forming part of
our squadron, appear to our officers to be, in all
respects,, just what is required. At Macao the
' Audacieuse ' is obliged to ride at anchor five miles
from the shore, while the gunboats can come within
a mile of the water's edge ', the immense superiority
of the latter is apparent where military operations
must constantly be performed in the shallow waters
of rivers. Among the ships which crowd in the road
of Hong Kong, we observe vessels of war which be
long to the king of Siam, They are entirely of
European build, and hoist colours with a white
elephant as a device.
Baron Gros, after much serious deliberation, and
long and anxious conferences with the French and
English authorities in China, resolved on going to
war. The north-east monsoon and the ice on the
northern coasts prevented, in the mean time, the war
from being carried on in the Gulf of Pecheli, but the
winter months could be employed in an attack on
Canton, and in revenging the special grievances of
the French government upon the haughty and stub
born Commissioner Yeh, the governor of the two
Kwangs. In the spring the belligerents would pro
ceed to the north, to compel the Chinese govern-
G

82 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
ment into some redress for those injuries inflicted
upon the French, for which the government of Pekin
was responsible. If the capture of Canton had the
effect of bringing the Manchoo dynasty into a less
hostile attitude towards Europeans, then the ambas
sadors might consent to enter into negociations ; if
not, more immediate pressure would be directed
against the Court of Pekin, by ascending the waters
of the Pei-ho towards the Chinese capital ; where
our vessels might float the banners of the allies, and
by the pageantry of European warfare spread terror
in the very heart of the enemy's country. This
plan of the French ambassador was also that of his
colleague the High Commissioner of England. The
preparations for war were accordingly continued
with renewed activity at Hong Kong and Castle
Peak Bay ; the two admirals endeavouring to make
up for the smallness of the force at their disposal by
using every means, in their power to inspire with
pluck and determination those under their command.
Hong Kong, November 14.
Five hundred of the Eoyal Marines who had come
out from Portsmouth by the ' Imperador ' arrived at
Hong Kong in the commencement of this month.
The ' Imperatrice ' arrived a few days afterwards,
with another five hundred men belonging to the

GENERAL ASHBURNHAM. 83
same body of troops. Another ship is expected
shortly with one thousand men. All these are
ordered, as they arrive, to proceed up the Canton
river, and to take up their quarters in the forts which
have been captured from the Chinese.
There is a talk of the departure of Admiral
Seymour for Whampoa. Forty-five English war
vessels are already employed in the blockade of the
river ; and besides the ' Calcutta,' an 80-gun ship, on
board which he is himself, the admiral proposes to
take with him the remainder of the gunboats which
are lying at anchor in the roads at Hong Kong.
Two hundred English soldiers, a few companies of
Sepoys, and one war sloop, will then alone remain
at this place to protect the town, and overawe the
Chinese population.
This rapid concentration of the English forces in
the river, and the preparations making at Castle
Peak Bay, began to spread great alarm among the
inhabitants of Canton. It is said that they have
already begun to pad and put bags against their
principal buildings, to make them proof against shot ;
several villages have been deserted by their in
habitants, and six hundred women and children
have sought refuge at Macao.
General Ashburnham, having no command corre
sponding to his rank in the service, in consequence of

84 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the departure for India of the troops wliich were to
have been sent to China, was recalled to Calcutta.
He will leave with his staff by the next mail. General
Straubenzee, the officer next in rank, will take the
command of the land forces. During his stay at
Castle Peak Bay, Baron Gros received a visit from
Vice- Admiral Count Poutiatine, the aide-de-camp in
chief of the Eussian emperor, and the special envoy
and minister plenipotentiary of Eussia to China. He
had come from the river Amour in a small steam
boat named the 'America.' While we had come
out by sea round the Cape and across the Indian
Ocean, the Count, who had been in Paris shortly
before our departure, joined us again in China, after
having made a journey overland through the whole
width of Northern Asia. We learned that the
interest of the journey bears no adequate proportion
,to the fatigue it entails. The vast plain of Siberia
soon palls upon the traveller, with its boundless, un-
diversified snow-fields. The . posting-houses on the
way are admirably managed qua posting-houses;
but the fare is miserable. There is literally nothing
to be had but tea and salt fish. By night and day
the traveller, driven on in his roomy carriage, lies
stretched at full length as in bed ; for sitting upright
and looking out he could not undergo the fatigue of
the journey. After remaining more than a month

THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY. 85
in Kiachta, partly to recruit, partly to see the
town, which is the great mart between China and
Eussia, and partly to await the melting of the snow,
the admiral descended the Amour in a small boat
through the midst of the great forests bounding its
course, and in this way reached the town of Nicolaief
in the Gulf of Tartary. It was this same Count
Poutiatine who throughout the whole Crimean war,
moving from place to place and never seen, managed
so cleverly to baffle all the skill of the Anglo-French
squadrons in the Pacific.
His name is indissolubly connected with the
Eussian colonization in the basin of the Amour, that
magnificent route for an extended commercial inter
course between Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Japan,
and China. The Amour takes its rise at a spot
situated about one hundred miles from Kiachta. In
summer it is an immense navigable river ; in winter
a long sheet of smooth ice, forming an admirable
highway for sledges drawn by dogs. Wood, iron, and
coal abound in this scarcely-explored territory. The
appearance of the Eussians as colonists in this region
sufficed to alarm the colonial press of Hong Kong.
Attached to the mission of Count Poutiatine were
two persons who belonged to the famous Eussian
College at Pekin, and who had lived there ten
years to learn the language. One is the papa or

86 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
priest ; the other the medical officer of the mission.
They liked their life at Pekin very well. Dressed
as Chinese, they were allowed to extend their ex
cursions as far as the mountains in the neighbourhood
of the capital. In summer they had a pleasant life
in a large country house, situate close by the Great
Wall. Every one to his taste. The study of Chinese
literature may be a pleasant occupation enough, and
interesting it may be to have a close view of the
working of the Chinese government ; nevertheless
ten years so spent seems neither more nor less than
a ten years' transportation and banishment from
European society.
Mr. Eeed, the special envoy and minister plenipo
tentiary of the United States in China, arrived in the
roads at Hong Kong in the steam frigate ' Minnesota,'
which is propelled by engines of one thousand horse
power, and carries fifty guns. It had taken 115 days
to make the voyage from New York to the Canton
river. On the southern shores of the China Sea she
had encountered a violent typhoon, which obliged
her to put in at Anjer in Java.
Expressions of the most cordial sympathy have
passed between the French embassy and the American
minister. Baron Gros could not have desired a
colleague who had his interests more sincerely at
heart, or who could have exhibited greater courtesy.

THE AMERICAN SQUADRON. 87
But this was all it amounted to. The government
of the Union had instructed their envoy to remain a
simple spectator of the struggle ; to be present at the
operations against the Chinese, but to take no part in
them — in the mean time at least ; indeed until the
Americans could, without expense to themselves, reap
a share of the advantages won by Anglo-French shot
and shell. This position of the American squadron will
explain why there was no good will lost between them
and the allied fleets. Whilst the seamen of England
and France were risking their lives in the cause of
civilization, four American ships of war, manned to
their full complement, and bristling with cannon,
were riding tranquilly at anchor in the roads at
Hong Kong.
We remained at Castle Peak Bay amid constant
firing of cannon. The ' Audacieuse ' lias just been
tested. She discharges 150 balls a day, and the
admiral, who was present, has expressed his satisfaction
with the proficiency of the gunners. The other vessels
have since been put through their practice, and the
little rock selected as the mark is cut up in all direc
tions by the balls. Every one is busy on board
in casting balls and making cartridges. Every day
the disembarkation companies go on shore for
exercise, and to get used again to the fatigue
of long marches and the drill on land. At

88 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
noon a gunboat puts on her steam to go and fetch
them, and tug back the long file of small craft by
which they are conveyed to and from the shore. In
coming near the anchorage all these small boats let
go their hold, and an amusing race takes place
between them to get first on board. On high days and
holidays there is a reception on board the ' Nemesis,'
and the theatrical company of the ship treat the
visitors to a performance. The stage, lit up with
Chinese lanterns, is ornamented tastefully with reeds
and branches. The verses are well conned, and trip
readily from the players ; they are delivered indeed
with fire and spirit, and the spectator is shocked
neither by the big hands nor the shaven chins of
the female performers. The costumes are brilliant,
although one can see at a glance that they are
not the productions of a first-class dressmaker. The
skirts of the female performers are stretched out
to fashionable dimensions upon lef-toff crinolines
picked up second-hand at Macao. The whole crew,
perched upon the shrouds and rope ladders, look down
upon the scene in a high state of glee and excite
ment, and give the performers all the encouragement
of hearty laughter. We have had various plays,
among others the ' Double-Bedded Eoom,' the ' Bear
and the Bashaw,' the '•Corporal and his Country
Cousin ' ('la Chambre a deux Lits,' 'l'Ours etle Pacha/

THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES ON BOARD SHIP. 89
' le Caporal et sa Payse'), and indeed the whole budget
of Levassor of the ' Nemesis.' The ' Audacieuse,' not
to be outdone, has resolved to start an opposition
company of theatricals. Our fair performers cannot
pretend to cope with those of the ' Nemesis ' in the
matter of petticoats, but they bid fair to excel them
in emulating the sweet and gentle voice of woman.
We stand in need of a little amusement while
stationed at Castle Peak Bay, for there are few places
more likely to fill the mind with gloomy and melan
choly impressions. On every side we see nothing
but bare crags, without one tree to throw a refreshing
shadow over the sun-scorched soil. Indeed, excepting
at the watering place, where there are the huts of a
few fishermen, all the islands about are quite unin
habited. For this reason they are well adapted to
rifle-shooting and gun practice : but no other attrac
tions have they ; and the admiral, wisely considering
how important it is to keep up the spirits of the men,
and to allow the officers a little solacement before
entering on the serious work of the expedition, has
ordered the squadron to leave Castle Peak Bay for
the road of Macao.

90 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHAPTEE IV.
The Portuguese Colony of Macao. — The Garden of Camoens. — The
Pagoda of the Rocks. — The Parsee Cemetery. — The Decline of
Macao. — The French and English Squadrons re-ascend the Can
ton river. — Bocca Tigris, or the Bogue. — The Anchorage at
Whampoa. — The last pacific attempt to negociate with Com
missioner Yeh. — Delivery of Baron Gros' Ultimatum. — Absolute
refusal of Yeh to come to terms on any of the points. — The Am
bassadors delegate their powers to the Admirals. — The com
mencement of military operations,
Hong Kong represents future and present com
mercial activity. Macao is a quiet town which belongs
to the past. The time was when the bold seamen of
Portugal were the masters of the China seas. Their
degenerate offspring are now reduced for bare sub
sistence to seek employment from the great English
and American houses. The palmy state of Portugal
has passed away, and fickle fortune bestows her
favours on another race. The colony never prospers.
It had the good luck to be placed under the adminis
tration of Amaral, a man of genius, but he was assas
sinated by emissaries of the mandarins. Then the

MACAO.

91

court of Lisbon, with the view of revenging this out
rage, armed, and at great expense sent out its finest,
it may be its only war frigate; but scarcely had
this vessel anchored in the road, when it was blown
to pieces by an infuriated gunner who had been pun
ished for some fault by the commander, and who, to
wreak his vengeance on the man who had injured
him, did not hesitate to send to destruction three
hundred of his countrymen !
The neighbourhood of Hong Kong deprives Macao
of all the importance it at one time enjoyed as a free
port. Besides, its harbour is gradually being silted
up with mud, like all the right bank of the Canton
river. Large vessels are obliged to anchor three
miles from the shore, and small gunboats alone can
approach the quay of the Praya-Grande. Nevertheless
Macao is not altogether destitute of attraction. It
has the charm of interesting associations. This town
was for a long while the only spot on the coast through
which intercourse was permitted with the Chinese
empire. Saint Francis Xavier, Camoens, and other
distinguished men besides, have died within its pre
cincts. Its noble churches, convents, and other public
buildings, discoloured by time, are silent witnesses to
a splendour which has long since fled. Macao has
another advantage over Hong Kong — the climate is
better. While the latter, lying under the lee of

92 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Victoria Hill, scarcely benefits by the wholesome-
breath of the north-east monsoon, Macao, exposed
to the sea, receives these fresh winds without obstruc
tion. The consequence is, that the Hong Kong people
frequent the Portuguese town for a change of air
during the hottest weeks in summer. For the same
reason the French government erected an hospital at
Macao at the opening of the campaign.
At this moment the preparations for war give un
wonted animation to the old Portuguese town. Every
day a crowd of small boats come on shore with officers
and sailors of the French Squadron, glad to escape
from the dust of Castle Peak Bay, and to see some
thing else than a bare Uninhabited rock. We have
been very hospitably received by the French minis
ter and Madame de Bourboulon. We spent an
evening very pleasantly at the Legation. It is very
amusing to walk out after dark into the streets,
which are lit up with Chinese lanterns, and to wander
about among the gambling-houses, opium-smoking
saloons and sing-songs — 'this name being given to all
those noisy concerts of which the Chinese are fond,
and which are often patronised by wealthy native
merchants. Macao in ordinary times only contains
five thousand Europeans and thirty thousand Chinese.
At this moment, in consequence of what is going for
ward at Canton, and the emigration which has taken

THE LUSIAD. 93
place thence, the Chinese population is increased to
seventy thousand.
When the sea is smooth the visitor may go by
tanka to the pagoda of the Eocks, and come home
on foot by the highway. This temple is badly kept ;
it had not the rich and imposing appearance of the
great pagoda of Singapore, but its situation is very
picturesque. Beneath it lies the inner harbour, with
its fleet of junks and tankas ; above it rise bare rocks
of granite, and giant forest trees, which strike their
roots firmly into fissures of the crags. Half way up
are kiosks and chapels dedicated to the minor divini
ties, for the principal god receives the homage of the
faithful at the threshold of the temple. He is, it
appeal's, the patron of mariners, and accordingly
there is above the entrance a large junk painted red,
with a Chinese inscription on the rock at its side.
The garden of Camoens is now private property.
It belongs to M. Marques, a Portuguese, but it is
thrown open to strangers. Here we sauntered about
for a long time in the cool shade of its leafy bowers, a
pleasure not often to be had in China. We saw the
grotto of Camoens and the place to which this great
man retired from the world to write the ' Lusiad.'
We read several quotations from the poet, which
were inlaid upon the marble, and also a few credit
able French verses, which we perused with as much

94 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
pleasure, composed by some one who admired the
garden, as well as the man to whom it had belonged.
We had a delightful view, from a low terrace, of the
interior harbour, seen in the last rays of the setting
sun. We heard the cries of the tanka boatwomen,
the measured stroke of oars from boats crossing the
water, and loud above all the horrible row the
Chinese seamen made on board a junk about to set
sail. They were invoking, we understood, the god
of the pagoda, by the sound of gongs, to protect them
from the evil spirits of the vasty deep;
The Parsee cemetery, which rises in terraces above
the sea ; the small Portuguese forts, built like eagles'
nests among the crags ; Green Island, and the narrow
neck of land which connects Macao with the Celestial
Empire, were each visited by us in turn. We spent
a good deal of our time in lounging over the balcony
of Duddel Hotel, watching what was going forward
in the roadstead, and enjoying the delightful fresh
ness of the north wind.
At length, on the 11th December, the whole French
squadron left the road of Macao, to ascend the Canton
river. We left at daybreak, towing the ' Nemesis' up
after us, and about two o'clock we cast anchor at
Bocca Tigris, in the very heart of the English
squadron. As far up as the Bogue we met with no
object of interest. The width of the estuary shows

WE ASCEND THE CANTON RIVER. 95
that it belongs to the sea up to this point ; but here
it becomes rapidly narrowed into a river, and we pass
up between the two banks bristling with small
Chinese forts. Some years ago these had a threaten
ing appearance, but the English cannon have battered
them into little more than heaps of rubbish. The
Union Jack now floats over their ruins, and red coats
mount guard on their dismantled ramparts. During
the whole of this day the English have displayed
French colours from their mast-head, while we in
reply have hung out British colours.
Next day, taking advantage of high tide, we crossed
without accident the first bar on the river. There
was one critical moment when we had no more
water than was absolutely necessary to float us,
although we had wheeled the artillery into the fore
part of the ship, and unloaded our coal into lorchas.
We have cast anchor at the extremity of Danes
Island, and within sight of French Island, where we
will await the great tide of the 19th of December, to
ascend to Whampoa.
We were surrounded by a crowd of old boats filled
with wretched-looking people, — men, women, and
children. The poor children, putting their hands to
their stomachs and then to their mouths, made a
sign to us that they were dying of hunger. By
means of a net fastened to the end of a bamboo cane,

96 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
like a naturalist's apparatus for catching butterflies,
these poor creatures gathered the bits of bread,
biscuits, and orange-skins which floated along the
side of the vessel. They ate greedily what they got
in this way. It is impossible to imagine greater
wretchedness. Flocks of geese and wild ducks were
every now and then flying past the vessel. The
English soldiers amused themselves in firing upon
them with small shot, and they never failed to bring
down some of them ; but Admiral Seymour soon
put an end to this fun. The country is pleasing.
Villages surrounded with trees make their appear
ance everywhere in the midst of extensive rice-
fields. A great number of canals open into the
river, and bear junks, only the sails of which are
seen, in the midst of the country. Where the
water of the canal is not visible, they have a very
singular appearance. The English gunboats go and
come constantly from Bocca Tigris to Fort Macao in
front of Canton, to keep the course of the river clear.
Our compradors, or purveyors, pass from one side of
the river to the other, purchasing without any great
difficulty provisions for us in the villages.
The captain of an English gunboat at anchor near
Blenheim Eeach resolved for a brag in a foolhardy
way to capture the mandarin of a neighbouring
village. He set out on the expedition. He did not

I

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M .3

1%-
:S#^'

WE CROSS THE SECOND BAR. 97
find the dignitary himself at home, but he found his
cap of office, which he carried away in triumph. On
their march home, however, the captain and his men
found their way intercepted by a strong party of
Chinese soldiers ; a struggle ensued, and it was with
difficulty that they got to the small boat on the river.
Five of the crew were killed, and six wounded. The
captain himself received two gun-shot wounds, one in
each leg. It was a Chinese who had put it into Ids head
to catch the mandarin, telling him that the latter was
generally detested by his countrymen. The English
concluded that the whole affair had been got up to
entrap the party. Two hundred men, therefore,
from the ' Nankin,' a sloop of war at anchor in the
same channel, disembarked and burned the village,
after a brisk fire between them and the Chinese
soldiery. It was observed that the Chinese had cut
off the heads of the seamen who had been killed.
The conduct of the commander of the English gun
boat was very severely censured by his superior
officers, and he stands a chance of being punished
for his temerity by the withdrawal of his commission
as well as the loss of his limbs.
On the 19th of December we put on our steam in
order to change our anchorage ground, the whole of
the ships belonging to the squadron being attached,
so as to tug each other. We crossed the second bar,
H

98 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
thanks to the Chinese pilot of Admiral Seymour,
whom we had on board. To work such a heavy hulk
as the ' Audacieuse ' within such a narrow space, in the
midst of a channel which changed in its character
and direction continually, was no easy matter. The
pilot acquitted himself admirably, and we soon ex
changed the anchorage of Blenheim Eeach for that
of American Eeach. We cast anchor at Jardine's
Point, opposite Danes Island and French Island,
close to Whampoa. In the foreground is a village
built on piles, wliich is completely deserted by its
inhabitants. Beyond are fields of sugar-cane and
the two pagodas of Whampoa Island, whence are
seen the forts of Canton. Bounding the horizon is a
chain of hills which form the first spurs of the moun
tains of the White Cloud. Behind us stretches
French Eiver and its picturesque banks, which are
so graceful in their outline that they seem the con
ception of a landscape painter, and a steep hill cut
down into terraces, with a whole city of tombs built
upon it. We are fifty miles from Macao and nine
miles from Canton.
The population seem to be quite indifferent as to
the results of the war, and manifest no hostility to us.
We meet often with a hearty welcome when we go
to the villages, where the inhabitants offer us tea and
bananas. Curiosity and fear seem to be the two

LAST ATTEMPTS AT NEGOCIATION. 99
feelings with which our appearance is greeted. The
children generally run away screaming when they
see us, and the women slam the doors in our faces ;
but in Whampoa it is different; there, the whole
population come into the streets to have a good stare
at us. The town is surrounded by a deep canal, but
all the bridges over it, excepting one, have been cut
down to protect the inhabitants from the barbarians.
The mandarins and soldiers have withdrawn to Can
ton ; and a Chinaman has just told us that the people
will not allow them to return, lest their presence
should involve the town in a quarrel with the
foreigners. In spite of the pacific disposition of the population,
the Admiral would only allow us to go on shore in
large numbers at a time, and well armed. In front
of each ship there, was placed a- large triangle of
bamboo, to keep off fire-rafts. Ships' boats, armed
to the teeth, are passing to and fro on the road from
morning till night. Sentinels are placed on watch,
in front, behind, and to the right and left of each
ship. There is something solemn now in the watch
man's call, heard in the silence of the night. We
have laid in provisions for a month, and in the lower
deck the men are busy preparing cartridges in
thousands as rapidly as possible. Meanwhile, the am
bassadors are making a last attempt to obtain satis-

100 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
faction, without declaring war against the haughty
governor of the two Kwangs.
' It is my duty to acquaint your Excellency,' wrote
Baron Gros, 'that the time for wavering is past.
Nearly two years of patience and moderation should
suffice to convince the Chinese nation that they may
depend upon the good will and friendship of France.
However, for the honour of this power, it is necessary
that the present state of things should now imme
diately cease, and that just reparation for grievances
should be granted. I earnestly beg that the noble
governor of the two Kwangs will reflect maturely on
the present situation of European affairs in China.
They are about to enter upon a new phase, the im
portance of which will certainly not escape the pene
trating mind of your Excellency.
' The government of the Emperor has a right to
demand satisfaction for the grievances which French
subjects have suffered in China. The government
of Her Britannic Majesty is in a similar position. A
reparation is then legitimately due to these two
powers, which are at one as to the means to be em
ployed in obtaining it.
' France and England ask nothing which is not
equitable — nothing which is not founded on their
rights ; and when this is the case, a reparation frankly
made, so far from humbling him who makes.it, on

BARON GROS' ULTIMATUM. 101
the contrary should exalt and aggrandize his im
portance in tlie eyes of his countrymen.
' Let the noble governor yield to evidence ; let
him, with a good grace, grant to France and Eng
land what he will be obliged afterwards to concede to
them, and peace and prosperity will soon reappear
among the populations entrusted to his care. If, on
the contrary, he neglects the course which a wise
policy dictates to him, misfortune, perhaps irrepar
able, may arise from a Violent situation which he
had it in his power to prevent, and whicii he might
bring to an end by a single word.'
Then the ambassador asked various concessions
in the name of the French government : he insisted
on the degradation and exile of the magistrate
guilty of the murder of Pere Chapdelaine ; the in
sertion in the official Gazette of the punishment suf
fered by this magistrate, and the reason of its being
so inflicted ; and the insertion on the same day, and
in the same journal, of an article intended to acquaint
all public functionaries that they would incur a like
risk if ill advised enough to follow the example of
this mandarin. The ambassador farther asked an
indemnity for Frenchmen and persons under French
protection, equivalent to the losses sustained by them
through the destruction of the factories by the dis
orderly mob of Canton. Lastlv, he claimed the full

102 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
and complete execution of Article Second of the
treaty of Whampoa. Under it, Frenchmen were to
be admitted to Canton, and protected by the local
authorities, with the same good faith as in the other
four ports opened to foreign commerce; although,
hitherto, they had not been allowed to enter the
gates of the town ; while all their demands had been
met by an unendurable system of delay and equivo
cation. The delivery of the ultimatum of Baron Gros
took place on the 12th of December, at noon ; when
the ' Dragonne,' with Lieutenant Eibourt, the aide-de
camp of the admiral, and an English gunboat, with
Mr. Wade, the interpreter to the English mission,
made thejr appearance before Canton. There was an
immense crowd assembled, shouting and making
signs to them to keep back. A mandarin's junk
pushed off, and, with all sails spread, came up to the
vessel. The delivery of the two Notes, French and
English, took place on board the junk ; and the dele
gate immediately returned to his master, glad, no
doubt, to get back in safety from his interview with
the barbarians. On both sides there was a certain
display of force as a precaution against a surprise.
The reply of the Imperial Commissioner was not
long in coming. It was addressed, on the 14th of
December, to Baron Gros. It was equivocal, and

FACETIOUS REPLY FROM YEH. 103
betrayed bad faith. It was, besides, couched in a
tone of levity quite unsuited to the occasion. Yeh
replied, by a formal refusal of the demands made
upon him by the French ambassador, in a playful
way, as if there was no serious stake at issue, and
without attempting to answer the arguments in
the well-reasoned note of his opponent. The reply
made to Lord Elgin was conceived in a still more
original style, and was throughout characterized by
contemptuous irony and persiflage. ' Peace is signed
for ten thousand years, why then would you renew
the treaty ? You have not yet been able to erect
warehouses in the island of Honan, close by Canton ;
how then can you quarter troops there ? Profit by
the example of your predecessors. One of them, Sir
John Davis, was insolent towards the Chinese. He
went home disgraced and branded by his country
men. Another, Sir John Bonham, was peacefully
disposed. Honours were heaped upon bim by his
Sovereign. He was raised to the rank of baronet,
and received the most brilliant marks of distinction.
You see then,' concluded the facetious Commissioner,
' that it is for your interest to imitate Bonham and
not Davis.' This despatch of Yeh is composed
throughout in a language quite new in diplomatic
correspondence. In reply to the communication he had received,

104: AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Baron Gros despatched the following note : ' The
reply of the Governor-General, not being serious, and
containing merely evasive words, without an attempt
to do justice to the demands of France, must be held,
equivalent to a formal refusal ; and therefore the
duty of the undersigned is to inform the Governor-
General of the two Kwangs, that henceforth the
solution of the present question is placed in the
hands of the Commanders-in-Chief of the allied
forces of France and England, who are empowered,
so soon as they think fit, to employ rigorous mea
sures to obtain by force the just reparation which,
in his blindness, the noble Governor-General has
been unwilling to make to the Allied Powers, whilst
they addressed him in conciliatory and amicable
language.' On Monday the 21st of September a council of war
was held on board the 'Audacieuse.' Baron Gros,
Lord Elgin, Admiral Eigault de Genouilly, Sir
Michael Seymour, and General Straubenzee took
part in it. The plenipotentiaries now formally de
clared that their attempts to negociate with Yeh had
failed, and that they handed over their power to the
admirals to obtain by force what they could not
obtain by peaceful negociation. The business on
hand now was to take Canton, and afterwards to
retain it in our possession as a means of coercion

MILITARY MANDARINS SUMMONED TO EVACUATE. 105
while endeavouring to treatwith the Chinese govern
ment. Ten days now had been allowed to Yeh.
They were nearly up. The allies might commence
tie attack on the morning oi the 23rd December.
Out of mercy to the inhabitants, however, a new
delay of forty-eight hours was granted to the civil
and military authorities of Canton. The Tartar and
Chinese generals were summoned to evacuate the
town with their soldiers. If the authorities and
troops retire, our troops are to take possession of the
places which they desert, and fortify them, keeping
up close communication with the river, without
causing any injury to the town or its inhabitants. If
they do not retire, the allies will bombard Canton
and take by force the positions which they wish to
occupy. The Chinese military authorities have replied by a
disdainful silence to the summons of the Commanders-
in-Chief. Thenceforward the bombardment is decided
upon. Admiral Eigault de Genouilly, in a stirring
order of the day, made known to the seamen that the
campaign had commenced. All the light ships as
cended to Canton or its immediate neighbourhood.
The ' Audacieuse,' the ' Nemesis,' the ' Meurthe,' and
the ' Capricieuse ' only remained in the anchorage at
Whampoa, but their disembarkation corps left them
immediately. When the ' Marceau ' passed up, tug-

106 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
ging the small boats, they were loudly cheered from
the vessels left behind. Our men, with their linen
gaiters and their knapsacks strapped on their backs,
and carrying five days' provisions with them, besides
their arms, had a fine martial appearance. Captain
Collier is at the head of the disembarkation corps.
Commander d'Aboville has under his orders the six
French vessels moored before Canton. The members
of the embassy have now been separated into two
parties, between the ' Primauguet ' and the ' Durance,'
lying before Barrier Fort, two miles from Canton, the
' Audacieuse ' being too far from the scene of events.

THE BOMBARDMENT OF CANTON. 107

CHAPTEE V.
The Bombardment and Capture of Canton. — Visit of the two Ambas
sadors to Head-quarters, on the 1st of January. — Insolent Letter
from the Mandarins. — Descent into the Town, and capture of Yeh,
Muh, and Pih-kwe. — Yeh sent on board the ' Inflexible ' as a
prisoner. — Pih-kwe maintained in his position as Governor of
Canton by the Allies. — Ceremony of the 9th of January .—The
European Commission. — The Anglo-French Camp.— The Town
of Canton, its Yamouns and Pagodas. — The Western Suburb. —
The Tartar Quarter. — The Departure of Yeh for Calcutta.
On Monday, the 28th December, 1857, at half-past
six o'clock in the morning, our preparations were
completed, and the military mandarins not having
rephed to the summons to evacuate the town, the
order to open the bombardment was given. Our
four gunboats, the ' Dragonne,' the ' Avalanche,' the
' Mitraille,' the ' Fusee,' the corvette the ' Phlegeton,'
and the advice-boat the ' Marceau,' with a whole fleet
of English sloops and gunboats, opened fire upon the
town. Each piece should discharge forty shots in
twenty-four hours. The English battery erected on
Dutch Folly acquitted itself admirably. A shower

108 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
of balls, rockets, and shells kept thundering down
on Canton during a whole day and night. The
cone and sphere balls discharged by the gunboatd
were sent as far as Fort Gough, some miles from the
river. Two great columns of smoke rose from the
burning town. At intervals the roar of the cannonade
would cease, but only to recommence again. The
white smoke of the cannons mingled in the air with
the black clouds rising from the burning houses.
Our fire was concentrated on the eastern side ,of
the town, where the assault was to take place, with
the double purpose of battering down the wall and
clearing it of its defenders. A sailor perched upon
the topmast of each ship gave information when a
shot told, and noticed what effect was produced by
the rockets. Two balls ¦ only discharged by the
Chinese artillerymen found their way as far as our
gunboats. One fell near the ' Fusee,' on board which
was Commander d'Aboville, and made a splash of
water over the ship.
During the whole morning of the 28th, as on
the preceding days, a compact crowd of frightened
citizens covered the banks of the river all along the
line where the vessels were moored. Seeing an un
wonted bustle, from some cause, on board the gun
boats, several Chinamen clambered up on the roofs
to see what was the cause. Our men hallooed and

CHINESE MODE OF FIGHTING. 109
made signs to them to keep out of the way, but not
one would stir. It was not till a cannon-ball had
chopped off the head of one of them that the crowd
dispersed. In the mean time the disembarkation of the sailors
and soldiers was taking place. Without any diffi
culties beyond those presented by the nature of the
ground, it was effected at a distance of about a mile
from the town, half way between Barrier Fort and
French Folly. Overnight six hundred Englishmen
had taken possession of this point. Our men advanced
but slowly, on account of the rice-fields and the
narrow footpaths. They soon met the Chinese army,
or rather bodies of Chinese soldiers. Not an officer
or, leader was to be seen among them. Hid in the
thickets and behind the tombs, these Chinamen
surprised our troops with a quick discharge of
musketry, after which came pouring in upon them a
perfect shower of bullets and arrows. Several of our
party were wounded, among others a young sailor
belonging to the ' Audacieuse,' who was struck with
a ball right in the chest. It was remarked that this
was the first time that Chinese soldiers had ventured
to cope with Europeans in the open country: the
bombardment of the city, from wliich they were glad
to escape, may account for it. The Chinese have a
singular mode of fighting. They wave red or yellow

110 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
flags, partly to defy the enemy and provoke him to
an assault, and partly to stir up and keep up their
own courage. They use matchlocks and enormous
carabines or gin-galls of seven feet and a half long,
which they place in a battery Or work in pairs, one
holding the barrel over his shoulder, and the other
taking aim and applying the match to the touchhole.
They besides discharge arrows and arrow-rockets,
which, by the peculiar whistle they make in passing
through the air, frightened our men a little at
first. The French troops met with annoyance in a village.
The admiral ordered it to be set on fire. General
Straubenzee, coming up, objected to this being, done.
An hour afterwards an aide-de-camp of this same
general, Lieutenant Hackett, passing through the
same village, accompanied by an orderly bearing a
message to the river bank, was attacked by thirty
Chinamen. He shot two of them with his revolver, but
a blow from a bludgeon levelled him to the ground ;
immediately afterwards a Chinese severed his head
from his body with a sword. His companion killed
four of his assailants and escaped. The English
soldiers were infuriated ; they returned to the village
and set fire to it. The murderer was recognised ; he
was dragged by the tail right in front of the Chinese
army, and hanged from the bough of a tree. It was

A BAYONET CHARGE. Ill
frightful to see the look of this man while he was
pulled along to the place of execution by the soldiers.
The Imperial troops continued to retire. The
allies arrived before Lin's Fort. The English and
French gunners placed themselves in line. They
saw from a distance heaps of moveables thrown out
of the fort by the Chinese, who feared the fire of the
shells might set them a-blaze. Some time after
wards, Martin des Pallieres, a French serjeant of
marines, who had been sent out with his men as
sharpshooters, observed that there was no fire re
turned from the embrasures of the fort. He resolved
to enter it. He did so. He found that the door was
open, and the fort deserted. It was he who first
planted the tricolor upon the wall. The 59th English
regiment, which had just gained the position, came
up cheering. The ' Durance ' struck her colours by
way of salute to the conquerors, and Lord Elgin,
who was on board of the ' Furious ' at the time, com
plimented Baron Gros on the achievement.
An English detachment was for a moment driven
back by a great body of the Chinese troops, who kept
pouring upon them a shower of arrows and arrow-
rockets. The English were not long repulsed. They
charged with the bayonet this body of Chinese
troops, which was repulsed and dispersed, and did not
reappear in the struggle. There were fifteen thou-

112 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sand Chinese spectators of the combat standing on
the surrounding hills, who remained neutral so long
as the allies were in the ascendant, but who would
certainly be ready to fall upon the Europeans in
the event of their meeting with a check. The
English discharged their muskets upon them, and
dispersed them by a bayonet charge. Then a shower
of arrow-rockets came plumping down from a thicket
of bamboos. The admiral ordered a few shells to
be dropped upon the spot from which they pro
ceeded, and the demonstration was at once silenced.
The day's work was over. The troops bivouacked
on the position they had won at Lin's Fort. It was
a moonlight night-r-cold, but clear. They were not
disturbed. All night the bombardment was 6ontinued on the
side of the eastern gate. From daybreak the gun
ners of the disembarkation corps had been battering
a breach in the wall. English riflemen, placed be
hind the enclosures of the rice-field, shot the enemy's
artillerymen as soon as they appeared upon the "ram
parts, Captain Bates, of the ' Actaeon,' while making
a recognisance to place the scaling-ladders, received
a ball in the chest. A young midshipman, about
fourteen or fifteen years of age, belonging to the
English ship the ' Sanspareil,' was mortally wounded
by an arrow in the heart. M. Maduron, of the

THE FIVE-STORY PAGODA. 113
'Durance,' was mortally wounded in the shoulder,
He was the only one of our officers who was injured.
At length the breach was made, the rampart was
battered down, and the order was given to bring the
ladders. The assaulting column drew up in order of
battle, behind the rampart of a small village ; went
on by a narrow passage between the houses ; crossed
a stream, and reached the wall. Unluckily, a French
shell dropped just at this spot. It burst ; and hiding
the men in a cloud of smoke, it severely wounded a
marine, who was carried into a thicket where he died.
The scaling-ladders were then applied to the walls,
and found to be too short ; so bits of ladder had to
be added to them. One of them broke down with
an English officer, who was severely injured. A
quartermaster of the ' Capricieuse * first gained the
wall. The Chinese soldiers were chased all round
the ramparts. The seamen belonging to both fleets
pursued the Chinamen before them till they were
quite out of breath ; and then they passed the great
red pagoda, which is five stories high, and overlooks
Canton, and they did not stop till they reached the
northern gate. The first French battalion, under
Captain Collier, was placed at the northern gate ;
Commander Vrignaud, with the second battalion and
the English, took possession of the pagoda. Accom
modation for the camp-hospital and powder was found
I

114 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
in a little pagoda situated half-way up. We found
that the mandarin of the place had hanged himself
above the door, as he had not desired to survive his
defeat. The two admirals and General Straubenzee
fixed their head-quarters on the top of the eminence
called the City Hill by the English, in a Joss-house,
or Buddhist temple, defended by a small fort. On
each battlement of this fort are painted the heads of
tigers, and other savage beasts, intended to strike
terror into the enemy. The position, in a military
point of view, was unassailable. The view from it
was exceedingly beautiful and picturesque : from
our head-quarters, which were in the midst of very
fine old trees, you looked down upon the whole town,
stretching as far as the river; you could see the
long line of the French and English gunboats, the
island of Honan with its celebrated pagoda, and all
the bends and creeks of Pearl Eiver. At the lower
part of the encampment there was a small Bonze-
house, a little damaged by balls, where a detachment
of English marines were quartered. The English,
besides, occupied the east gate, as well the north-east
gate, with their artillery, sepoys, and marines. Vautre,
who sat next me at mess on board the ' Audacieuse,'
was sent with twenty-five men to reconnoitre, and
plumped, at the turn of a street, right into the midst
of a Tartar drill-court — full of soldiers. It was

' ALL STRONG POSITIONS TAKEN. 115 i
impossible to draw back. He charged with the
bayonet ; several of his men were killed ; he stabbed
a soldier through the body himself. Then the Tartars,
of whom there were about a hundred, gave way and
abandoned their position. This was one of the most
glorious episodes of the day.
The English, meanwhile, followed the outer wall,
and reached Gough's Fort, which crowns the ridge.
They found it completely deserted. At two o'clock
in the afternoon, Gough's Fort, Blue Jacket Fort, and
the Fort of the Marines were blown up, and the
Tricolor and Union Jack planted over the ruined
walls. In all quarters were found great stores of
gunpowder, which were blown up by the English.
These explosions, seen from the ship, had a singular
effect. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th the
whole affair was at an end. The allies were in pos
session of all the positions commanding the town.
There was no longer any body of Chinese soldiers
to offer them resistance. From the summit of the
battlements were seen, at a distance in the plain, the
scattered remains of the Chinese army, composed of
from ten to fifteen thousand men, encamped in scat
tered bodies along the rivers. They were beyond
the range of the cannon, and too far off to be pur
sued. They were not meddled with. All that clay

116 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
their red flags could be descried fluttering in the
wind. Next morning they had disappeared ; and
they were not seen again. They had either retired
into the interior, or, being a mere militia, had aban
doned the sword for the plough, and returned to their
habitual occupations as husbandmen.
The famous braves of the ninety-six villages, who
were so long the terror of Europeans and the hope
of Chinese, were nowhere to be seen. The Tartar
soldiers, amounting to six or eight thousand men,
are Chinese by female descent ; and, having been
settled for six or seven generations at Canton, they
have exchanged the courage and vigour of their
ancestors, for that want of firmness, and promptness
to turn and run, which characterizes the Imperial
troops of China. Moreover, there is nothing to dis
tinguish them from the Chinese soldiers ; they carry
the same arms, which belong to primitive times, and
recall the period of Genghis Khan and Timour. They
wear a round hat, a breastplate, a cartridge-box,
after the Circassian fashion, at their belts, a long
musket, arrows, and a flag, which they wave about
to rouse their courage. Some trace, however, of
their Tartar descent they do preserve. They are
stronger, bigger, more broad-shouldered, and not so
dark in the complexion as the ordinary Chinese.
The day following the capture of the town we went

THE HALL OF EXAMINATION. 117
to spend a couple of days at the camp. I stopped
at the spot where the assault had taken place,
and still saw the bamboo scaling ladders lying at
the foot of the rampart. In various places fresh
lime, and newly laid bricks, showed that the military
authorities had carefully repaired the wall within a
recent period. I was told that this had been done
within the last three years, since the time indeed
when the rebels had made their attack on the city.
I passed the Hall of Examination, where I saw the
cells of the literati. Wide avenues planted with trees,
and elegant porticoes, give a very handsome and even
noble appearance to this building. But this establish
ment, like everything else which we see, is only
another proof of the present decline of China from
its former prosperity and splendour. Literature is
certainly not now held in high esteem, nor can it
be considered to flourish if we are to judge by the
nettles and parasitical plants which grow in un-
weeded luxuriance in this sanctuary of the muses.
We counted the number of cells. There was accom
modation for seven thousand students. If the great
soul of Confucius could revisit this sublunary sphere,
with what sadness would that spirit contemplate
the manners of this degenerate age ! The children
of the Land of Flowers now worship mammon. They
are absorbed in the race after material wealth. To the

118 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
computation of filthy coppers, they have turned from
the contemplative studyof the sacred Book of Changes.
In China there is a general break up of the old
system ; the great administrative machine is getting
daily more and more out of gear. It is kept going
merely in virtue of old habits and prejudices. All
its wheels are worn down. It is gold now, and not
knowledge, which obtains the diploma necessary to
preferment. Why then should a man now shut himself
up in a hole four feet square to write his thesis ? It
is more to the purpose to insinuate a handsome bribe
into the pocket of a rapacious and powerful mandarini
General Straubenzee turned these cells to account
in accommodating the English military train, which
was formed of Chinamen. The Hong-Kong Coolies
commit depredations on their countrymen at Canton;
but in other respects they do their work with the
greatest regularity. We met constantly with long
bands of them, between the river and the camp, carry
ing powder and shot, provisions and huge joints of
beef over their shoulders. Our French military train
not having come up, a hundred men belonging to the
' Nemesis,' and one hundred and thirty belonging to
the 'Audacieuse,' under the command of Messrs. Mallet
and Lespes, at first performed the duties of Coolies
to the French troops. They were put up in sampans
or boats, as well as the troops, under the command of

VISIT TO THE BATTLEMENTS. 119
M. Martineau des Chenetz, who defended the shore.
The escorts were no longer disturbed, and passed
quietly by the wall. An earthen mound was con
structed by which to ascend and descend, and the
rubbish of the fallen houses was pitched into the
river, in order that there might be a low-water quay
at which a landing might be effected at all times of
the tide, for the latter affects the stream as high up as
Canton. The oflicers of the various ships received us at
the camp, and spared no pains to make us understand
what had taken place on the two preceding days.
While we sauntered over the northern rampart,
and along the grey old wall which had been erected
in the best days of China, treading upon the grass
which grows upon it, we could scarcely fail to be
deeply impressed by the fact that before our time
no barbarian had ever passed within this sacred
enclosure, had ever clambered over these battle
ments, or, from this eyrie polluted with his glance
the holy city of Canton. I saw a dozen corpses of
Tartars still lying about, who had been precipitated
at the point of the bayonet over the edge of the
rampart, or who had fallen from it in their flight.
Their arms were lying on the ground near them.
They had been tall, stout, dark-complexioned men.
They were frightfully mutilated; one was half-

120 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
consumed by a shell which had burst near him. We
were accommodated separately in the different
pagodas during the night, some sleeping on tables,
others on the floor, rolled up in a blanket, and all
surrounded, like saints in a picture, with a glory,
formed in our case of mosquitoes, which effectually
drove sleep away. There was the greatest stillness
in the town. Although the terror was general, the
authorities in their impenetrable pride would as yet
give no acknowledgment of their defeat. We
heard only from time to time the distant howling of
the Tartar dogs, the sputtering of some smouldering
fire which had gone a-blaze again, the call of the
sentries, and the occasional discharge of musketry
from the distant outposts. The appearance of the
camp was very picturesque, and such only as an
Asiatic war can exhibit. Long spears, arrows, red
and yellow banners were lying about on every side.
The wardrobe of the mandarins had been well ran
sacked by our seamen, and with what result was
everywhere apparent. The altars had been converted
into sleeping berths, while the cloaks of the Chinese
ladies supplied night-gowns. Everywhere there
were gilded Buddhas dragged from their niches, by
one to be employed as a pillow, and by another to be
used as a lampstand. The abdomens both of the
human figures and the horses had been broken open,

THE MILITARY PROFESSION IN CHINA. 121
the English soldiers recollecting that in the first
war large sums of money were found in this way.
Every one eat and drank out of China ware, but,
as the only dishes in use in the country were cups
and saucers, soup, beef, and cheese were eaten off
them. Propped against a fierce-looking dragon, or
seated upon a moral maxim, we laid into the good
cheer of the mandarins. In everything there was an
indescribable mixture of the comic and grotesque.
Near the great five-story pagoda, which is said to
be twelve centuries old, there is a small interior fort5
the walls of which are whitewashed, and which ap
pears to have been constructed in anticipation of the
present attack in order to command the route by
which the English descended upon Gough's Fort in
1841. The Chinese never for a moment doubted
that the barbarians would enter the city precisely by
the road they took on the former occasion : in point
of fact they came in precisely at the opposite extremity
of the town. The artillery along the walls is wretched.
The carriages are not even moveable, so that the
enemy to be shot must take up his position right in
front of the mouth of the cannon ; and of course the
barbarians are infamous enough to come in behind the
forts, and make their attack before the Chinamen
have time to turn round their clumsy machinery.
In China the military profession is not held in

122 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
honour. No one attempts to introduce improvements
on the present system. A distinguished wit says, in
speaking of gunpowder, that, if the Chinese disco
vered it, they have not yet discovered the use of it.
As for the Minie rifle, that is out of the question.
They seem to depend for success in war on various
fantasia — to runs they make forward, and runs back
ward, and loud shouts of defiance. They flourish
their double-handed swords, they wave their flags,
they shoot their rockets and arrows into the ranks of
the enemy, but never do they come to close quarters
with cold steel. Two regiments of Chasseurs and
two regiments of Zouaves would suffice to conquer
China. There is not a corps in the empire who could
stand fast under a bayonet charge. The sight of a
body of men marching coolly and resolutely up to
them is so alien to their nature, so utterly incompre
hensible and terrible, that all courage deserts them,
and it is ten to one if they do not immediately take
to their heels. Formerly t the Chinese, up to a certain
point, were a warlike people. The business of a
soldier was in no degree repugnant to their national
manners. But the Tartars introduced a change.
They found that their number after the conquest
was very small when compared to that of the
Chinese people ; there were only a million of new
comers to three hundred and sixty millions of the

RESULTS OF BOMBARDMENT. 123
old inhabitants. As a means of self-protection,
therefore, they set themselves with perseverance to
the task of extinguishing in the people all taste
for military display and love of warlike adven
ture. They converted China into an immense hive
of labourers. The country became a great workshop,
in which all the arts of peace flourished, and the
whole national activity was concentrated upon the
great struggle in which man is engaged with nature.
What was to be feared of a man who would spend
twelve or fifteen years of his life in polishing a bit of
jadestone ? But then again, what could be expected
of him in the hour of danger, when the country re
quired his services as a defender against a foreign
foe ? The result of the Mantchoo policy has been that
six thousand energetic Europeans have taken posses
sion in two days of a town of a million and a half of
inhabitants, surrounded with lofty walls and defended
by one of the most numerous garrisons in the
empire. The English, in the capture of Canton, had a
hundred men killed and wounded. The French had
thirty men wounded, of whom three died. In two
days our men used sixty thousand cartridges. One
hundred and thirty pieces of ordnance, without
counting mortars, for four-and-twenty hours, con
tinued to spread conflagration through the town.

124 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
In this way the conceit, the pride, and the blind
ness of the Cantonese and their imperious governor
have met with their fitting punishment. On the
evening before the attack the people of the city had
stopped, in passing the proclamation of the allied
forces, to take their laugh and sneer at what they
considered the impudent threats of the barbarians to
take possession of Canton, the impregnable city,
which, never since the foundation of the Mantchoo
dynasty, had opened its gates to an enemy. Two
days afterwards, these same barbarians, having made
themselves masters of its fortifications, gates, and
walls, planted their victorious flag in the Hall of
State, and made the hills about ring with their shouts
of triumph. January 1, 1858.
New-year's day on board the ' Durance,' opposite
Barrier Fort and Kuper Island, was not kept with
much gaiety. Indeed it almost passed unnoticed.
What a difference was there from the mirth and
bustle of Paris on the same day ! We had the usual
service on deck. A man wounded on board of the
' Audacieuse ' had died, and was buried under the
wall of the fort. Mass was said on deck ; the service
was conducted by a missionary and a Chinese Chris
tian. In the country there were straggling parties
of Chinese going towards the town or leaving it ;

THE AMBASSADORS LAND. 125
some carrying their valuable effects with them,
others bearing off stolen goods. There were groups
of men with their wives on their backs, the latter
being unable to walk from the tenderness of their
small feet ; and women by themselves, helping each
other to limp along painfully as they best could.
In the ninety-six villages the braves were doubting
what course to take, and whether or not they should
buckle on their fighting gear and proceed to assist
the Imperial army. On the river, gunboats were
plying up and down the stream, carrying the
wounded to a place of safety, and conveying ammu
nition and food to the troops.
At noon the two ambassadors, preceded by mili
tary bands, and followed by a numerous escort of
officers and sailors, proceeded to the camp to hold a
conference with the admirals. When they set foot
on shore, all the ships in the road hoisted their
colours and discharged a volley of twenty-one guns.
The staff replied with a loud hurrah. The Chinamen
thought a new bombardment was at hand, and
scampered off in every direction. A tremendous
explosion, shaking the very earth, took place at
sunset, to celebrate the return of the ambassadors on
board. The English had heaped together large
quantities of Chinese gunpowder under the dis
mantled walls of Fort Gough ; and by way of

126 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
jubilant demonstration, had blown up what remained
of that stronghold.
The 2nd of the month came, yet no mandarin made
his appearance. No submission was tendered on
behalf of the people. The town was sad and silent,
but no admission was made by its inhabitants that
they were conquered. The Tartar quarter remained
hostile. Yeh continued his rule, and by way of pub
lishing and proving that he did so, the report ran that
he had beheaded four hundred persons in one day.
The admirals recommended a second bombardment
of twenty-four hours. Lord Elgin objected to this,
on grounds of humanity. The two admirals and
General Straubenzee, with two thousand men, made
a reconnoissance all along the wall, from the northern
gate as far as the river. They found the wall free
and deserted, and returned without having fired a
shot. The western gate was occupied by five hundred
Frenchmen and gunners, and all communication
between the town and suburbs was intercepted.
On the 3rd the leading men and principal mer
chants of the city came to head-quarters to make
their submission, with Howqua, the millionnaire, at
their head, the son of the celebrated Hong. Numerous
petitions were presented to the ambassadors, begging
them to establish some government which would put
an end to plunder and keep order in the town. The

CAPTURE OF YEH. 127
inhabitants were in consternation, many of them had
died of hunger, and there was now nobody who spoke
of fighting any more, at least so said these petitioners.
On the 4th the ambassadors received a despatch
from the Tartar general and the Governor of Can
ton, proposing to treat and to settle amicably the
various questions in dispute. But this mission was
still arrogant in its tone,, and the style and forms of
expression used were those of a superior towards
functionaries of inferior rank, so ridiculously blinded
by self-conceit and pride were these petty despots.
The reply of the High Commissioners was soon made.
On the 5th of January, at daybreak, a column of
three thousand men descended the heights of City
Hill, and entered, with their cannon, the streets of the
town. Not a single shot was fired ; some of the
people had run to hide themselves, the remainder
offered no opposition. The palace of the mandarins
was invested ;. they were all caught at once as in a
trap. Commissioner Yeh, the Tartar_ general Muh,
Pih-Kwe the Governor of Canton, and a host of
petty mandarins and subaltern functionaries, were
taken prisoners to the camp in their sedan-chairs,
through the midst of the chapfallen population. The
papers belonging to Yeh were removed immediately
to head-quarters, as well as the exchequer strong
box, and the seals of the high dignitaries.

128 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Yeh was in the midst of a group of mandarins
when the doors of the yamoun where he had sought
refuge were broken open. The captors were puzzled
to know which was the right man ; but Mr. Parkes,
long the British Consul at Canton, recognised him
by his corpulency, and pointed him out to the
English soldiers. The latter put him into a sedan-
chair, and when the door was shut upon him they
made the Coolies trot with him to the camp, running
after them, and giving them an occasional nudge with
the butts of their muskets, to make them hurry along.
When Yeh passed by the English military train,
composed, as we have said, of Chinamen from Hong
Kong, these patriots had a joke or two at his expense ;
they grinned and made signs to him that he was
going to have his head chopped off. Yeh turned an
angry scowl upon them : he must have felt this re
verse of fortune keenly. What a trial for a man to
have been only the night before at the very summit
of power and fortune, the favourite minister of the
court of Pekin, and now to be the scoff and jeer of a
mob of miserable Coolies ! With what relish would
he have ordered them to the executioner, like some
hundreds of rebels a" few years before ! The Com
missioner was at first frightened and downcast, but he
soon recovered his old perverse spirit, and even con
ducted himself with arrogance and hauteur towards

GENERAL MUH. 129
the admirals, when he saw that he was in no danger
of his life. On being asked what had become of
some English merchants who had recently disap
peared, he replied, with a contemptuous smile, that
they might be quite at ease on that head, as he had
given them decent burial. In spite of his expostu
lations he was sent as a prisoner on board the
'Inflexible,' which immediately put on her steam
and left for Bocca Tigris ; and so the haughty Com
missioner was removed, quivering with fresh fear,
from the scene of his political importance.
The Tartar general, Muh, was arrested in a large
apartment of his house by a French detachment,
under the command of Captain Collier, of the navy.
He is a magnificent fellow, nearly six feet high, and
about sixty years old ; and so dreadfully corpulent
that it is no easy task for him to stand upright.
Quite taken aback, he allowed himself to be put
into a chair without resistance, and was hurried off
to head-quarters. He seemed to have been selected
more on account of his stature than for any other
quality. He is a most insignificant personage, and
a perfect nonentity in all that relates to political
arrangements. He had only been in Canton since
February last. If the court of Pekin chose him in
anticipation of the events, it must be admitted that
Muh has quite come up to the expectations formed

130 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
of him by his sovereign. What steps did he take to
resist the attack of the Europeans ? What was he
about while the battle was going on under the walls
of Canton ? There is not a doubt that, surrounded
by his boon companions, he was tranquilly smoking
opium and sipping tea, leaving it to the gods who
watch over China to defend their holy city against
the barbarians. We took a good stare at bim when
at head-quarters in the room assigned him. He
seemed quite absorbed in some gloomy train -of
thought ; saying a few words now and then to the
literati who surrounded him, and twisting about
mechanically, with his long fingers, his elegant collar
of first-class mandarin.
As regards Pih-Kwe, he is a Mongol of the
yellow banner, brought up at Pekin; accustomed
to the polished manners and choice language of the
court. He is a very intelligent man, with an ener
getic and unflinching look. The admirals saw at
once how superior he was, in all respects, to the,
military mandarin ; and, in the absence of any other
high dignitary, they resolved to make use of his ser
vices at Canton. On the 7th of January, after a
long conference between the admirals on the one
hand and Pih-Kwe on the other, the latter was
continued in his functions as governor of Canton.
He undertook the administration of the Chinese

GOVERNOR PIH-KWE. 131
town, and the maintenance of proper order. It
would have been too heavy a task for the allies to
have governed the city by themselves, ignorant as
they necessarily were of Chinese habits and juris
prudence. This arrangement relieved them of a
great difficulty. They declared that they would
continue the military occupation, and retain Canton
as a pledge, until the conclusion of peace with the
court of Pekin ; but that they would allow and sup
port Pih-Kwe in full power, so far as the manage
ment and administration of the city were concerned.
A commission was appointed to regulate the inter
course between Europeans and Chinese, and to
form the only competent tribunal in any dispute
or cause to which a European should be a party.
Colonel Holloway, Consul Parkes, and Commander
Martineau des Chenetz were named the members of
this commission ; which two days afterwards com
menced its sittings in one of the yamouns of the old
town, and opened proceedings under the protection
of four hundred men.
On the 9th of January Pih-Kwe was solemnly
installed as governor of Canton by the two High
Commissioners of the Allied Powers. At two o'clock
in the afternoon we left on board the ' Lily ' steamer,
the gunboat of Lord Elgin preceding us. We were
in full dress ; the ambassadors alone were in black,

132 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
with a ribbon merely. This nuance was highly ap
preciated by the English colony of Hong Kong, We
found the troops of the escort drawn up at the
landing-place. We got into sedan-chairs, which had
been prepared for us, and set out, accompanied by
a brilliant crowd of officers, and preceded by bands
of music. The day was very fine. For a time we
followed the line of the wall. At the eastern gate
we entered the town. We proceeded down the
street, between a line of French seamen and
English soldiers. It was narrow and winding,
obstructed everywhere with projecting doors and
signboards. Our chairs occupied nearly its whole
width. The Chinese crowd was silent and down
cast. We arrived at the yamoun, where the ad
miral received us at the head of the four hundred
men set apart as a guard for the European Commis
sion. We penetrated as far as the hall of the
governor, where the ceremony is to take place. After
waiting for nearly an hour we were surprised that
the two high dignitaries did not make their appear
ance. We learned that the English sentry had
refused to allow Muh and Pih-Kwe to pass without
a written order from General Straubenzee, such
being his instructions. The necessary signature was
at Once obtained, and three guns were fired — this
being the Chinese salute to announce that the cap-

INSTALLATION OF PIH-KWE. 133
tives had been restored to liberty, and were on their
way to be reinvested in their honours. M. de Belle-
court and Mr. Bruce, the two chief secretaries, went
to receive them at the door of the hall. They
entered, accompanied by a numerous escort of ser
vants and petty mandarins, and saluted us with many
tchin-tchin and obeisances. The two ambassadors
placed themselves in the middle of the raised floor,
and the two high dignitaries at the extremities, —
Pih-Kwe at the side of Baron Gros, and Muh at the
side of Lord Elgin. His Lordship enumerated, with
a severe tone, all the grievances of the Europeans
against the Cantonese and their governors ; and de
clared that such a state of things must thenceforth
cease. Baron Gros reminded Pih-Kwe of his engage
ment to conduct the administration of the town with
good faith, and to do nothing, directly or indirectly,
which would interfere with the military operations of
the allies ; adding, that if he so conducted himself, he
would do the highest service to his fellow-citizens.
Mr. Wade and M. Marques translated alternately
these addresses, and the replies of the high Chinese
dignitaries. The two embassies were placed behind
their chiefs. It so happened that I was placed close
by Pih-Kwe. My eyes fell upon the swan which
ornamented his back, the peacock's feather and the
red button which surmounted his blue hat, and I could

134 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
note the amount of artistic care expended in eking
out his scanty locks into the dimensions of a tail.
These little things were all new to me. A salvo of
one-and-twenty guns proclaimed the conclusion of
the ceremony and the departure of the cortege. At
six o'clock we returned on board of the ' Primaguet '
and the ' Durance.'
On the next and the following days we peram
bulated the town, dropping into the few shops which
were open, and endeavouring to ascertain what really
were the feelings of the inhabitants towards us. Con
fidence is not yet restored. People are still moving
out of the town. Opposite the Treasury there is a
fine street filled with elegant shops ; not one of these
was open. At intervals along this street there are
triumphal arches in stone, ornamented with sculptures
in good taste, and intended to perpetuate the memory
of rich or distinguished citizens. We passed these
monuments. Further on we came to a vast space
which had been completely destroyed and burnt by
our shot and shell. It was strewed with the rubbish
of the fallen houses. I saw several corpses of China
men lying about, who had been killed by the ex
ploding bombs lying on the ground. We then came
in sight of Baron Gros, with an escort of officers, pro
ceeding along the wall. We joined him, and went to
visit Yeh's palace. Fuit Ilium et ingens gloria Teu-

THE STREETS OF CANTON. 135
crorum. Of the yamoun there is not one fragment
left. The mandarin poles have been smashed by
the shot ; the porches are demolished and the trees
burned ; the very shape of the building cannot now
be traced. There is nothing left but a great irregular
heap of bricks and rubbish. It was on the morning
of the 28th that the 'Mitraille' and the 'Fusee'
opened fire on that part of the town. From six
o'clock till eleven in the forenoon the torrent of
bombs and balls never ceased. By mid-day not one
brick or beam of the Commissioner's abode was left
standing upon another. Chinese insolence had been
taught a lesson. Yeh, at an earlier period in his
career, was less hostile to the Europeans. But his
father, a superstitious old Chinaman, who spent his
whole time in the society of priests, encouraged him
tb resistance, because, forsooth, a number of good
omens had foretold that he would have good luck.
Yeh knows now what truth there was in these pre
dictions. On board of the ' Inflexible ' he may brood
at leisure over the folly of his faith in his father's
friends and their predictions.
We re-entered the old town by the south-west
gate, and returned by the eastern street. The streets
of the Chinese towns form such a labyrinth that one
cannot leave the one or two principal thorough
fares without getting confused. Indeed it is necesr

136 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sary in some parts of them to make use of a compass
in crossing from one place to another.
We met at the corner of a street three young Chinese
ladies, bedaubed with rouge, very elegant in their ap
pearance, but having their feet so much compressed
that they limped along with difficulty. When they
saw us they screamed aloud, and rushed up against
the wall, hiding their faces in their hands, and turn
ing their backs towards us in the most contemptuous
manner possible. The attitude was so ridiculous to
us " foreign devils," that we could not help bursting
into a hearty laugh.
We returned to dine on board, passing before
Dutch Folly, the ruins of the factories, and Eed Fort
on the island of Honan. Eed Fort belongs to the
allies. The factories, as before stated, were burned a
year ago by the people of the town. Dutch Folly is
a pretty little island, or rather rock, planted with
trees, and situated in the middle of the river opposite
the town. Through the foliage gleams the wall of an
English battery, which has taken the place of the
old Chinese fortification. From it a sentry carefully
watched during the bombardment the course taken
by the shells, and the effect produced by the balls.
Every day we make it our first business to visit
the camp. From the northern gate we went into
the town one day with commanders Vrignaud, Eay-

THE YAMOUNS. 137
naud, and Le'veque. We can go anywhere now in
perfect safety. The shops are not yet opened, many
streets are still deserted, and many houses shut up,
but in the great artery which, running from one end
of the town to the other, terminates at the western
gate, and which is now opened again, there is consi
derable traffic and bustle. The Chinese begin to
recover confidence, and collect in crowds to stare at
the foreigners. Now, however, instead of caning
them as they used to do, they make way for them,
and silently unroll their tails to the barbarians as
they pass — a mark of respect which is quite novel,
and which dates from the shells. None of the fine
shops are yet opened, but the stalls already display
their manifold nicknacks and grotesque ornaments.
We visited successively the palace of the Tartar
general, that of the governor of Canton, the pagoda
of the five hundred gods, the temple of Confucius, the
house of the criminal judge, the Treasury, and various
other public buildings and pagodas. All these edifices
are spacious and imposing. They each form an
immense assemblage of yards, avenues, porches, pas
sages, waiting-rooms, court-rooms, and halls of justice.
Before each there is an open court-yard, in which
stand two lofty masts or poles painted red. This
distinguishes the residence of a mandarin. A gigan
tic dragon is represented in black or red upon the

138 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
wall, by way of scaring the multitude. On each fold
of the doors an enormous mandarin is painted, with
a swan upon his breast if he belong to the civil
service, or a lion if he belong to the military service.
Stretching away in front there is a paved avenue
planted with banyan-trees of ancient growth. At
the sides there are numerous porches and inner courts.
Behind there are open meadows, in which graze
Tartar horses, or fields planted with bamboos and
forest trees. Nowhere is there any trace of the watch
ful hand of a gardener ; whatever grows is allowed
to grow, so the weeds flourish luxuriantly. There
are no flower-beds ; a few pomegranate and orange
plants, bamboos, camelias, and even palms and
elms, all of the tiniest size, are displayed in vases or
flower-pots, and exhibit that stunted and microscopic
leafage which is held in so much esteem by the
Chinese. Gold fish spirt about in the basins, but
everything is in decay, neglected and uncared for.
A great part of the yamoun of the Tartar general
has been abandoned to the bats. They have mul
tiplied in this retreat, and they flutter about and
squeak incessantly in the principal apartment, where
a thick coating of guano on the floor proclaims the
fact that there they have had their abode for years.
The bat and the toad are honoured in China.
The only placse which are truly elegant, well-fur.

THE WESTERN SUBURB. 139
nished, and comfortable in these dwellings, are the
female apartments, situated in the most distant part
of the house, and the hall which adjoins them, where
the magistrate receives his friends. Muh's house was
sumptuously furnished. There were time-pieces and
clocks innumerable, halberds, lances, and all those
•weapons for show and not for use which the Chinese
are so fond of parading, as if they would thereby coax
themselves into the belief that they are a warlike
people. Just as in Paris the whole life and activity of the
town lies to the right of the Seine, so at Canton the
heart of excitement and commercial bustle is the
western suburb. It is this quarter of the city only
which can give trouble to the allies. It is the centre
of moral resistance. For this reason columns of
troops are sent to march through the streets. The
rattle of the heavy ordnance over the pavement pro
duces a wholesome effect. The eastern suburb is
•neither so populous nor so extensive. The small
pox district, the hospitals, and the various charitable
institutions are situated there. The Mantchoo or
Tartar quarter, situated between the northern street
and the wall, intersected by the eastern street, and
exposed to the fire of the western gate, gives little
cause for alarm. This is the case also with the whole
of the old town, which, with its temples, yamouns,

140 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
and numerous open spaces, is completely overlooked
by the batteries at head-quarters. The new town
contains a denser population, but it, too, is under the
fire of our gunboats. The 'same may be said of the
suburb along the river, — neither the gate of Eternal
Joy, nor the gate of Eternal Purity, could protect it
on the occasion of the insurrection. It was clear
then that it was only the western suburb, with its
swarming population and unwalled streets, which
called for watchful attention on the part of the
commanders-in-chief. I have spent a couple of days more than once at
the yamoun of the Tartar general with Commander
Martineau des Chenetz. The European Commission
conducts its proceedings with great order and re
gularity. Every day, from ten o'clock in the forenoon
until one in the afternoon, it sits on the bench,
hearing the complaints of the Chinese, and giving
judgment upon them. It is now assiduously engaged
in consolidating our occupation, and establishing a
European and Chinese police. I saw a great many
mandarins who came to pay their respects to the Com
missioners. Seventeen Chinese junks of war, com
manded by a naval mandarin, were placed at the
disposal of Admiral Seymour, to assist him in putting
down piracy on the river. The Tartar soldiers were
disarmed, and came to surrender their arms at

ABSURD POMP OF THE MANDARINS. 141
the house of the lieutenant-general. There were,
according to the admission of Muh, nearly eight
thousand Tartar soldiers in the town, or at least ap
pearing in the official lists. But as the Tartar general
draws the pay, and as his income is augmented in
proportion to the smallness of the number of men
really serving under his banners, it may be reason
ably concluded that this number is purely fictitious.
Up to this time no European has had such a good
opportunity as we have had of closely studying the
manners and springs of action of the old Chinese
society. It is laid bare to us. It is curious to hear
in the streets, of an evening, the thundering din of
the military bands of the English and French troops.
The Chinese are surprised to see our soldiers keeping
step ; and seem to have no idea whatever of such re
gularity in military drill. A body of Chinese troops is
a mere herd, thrown together pellmell, without regard
to order of any kind. The easy familiarity and sim
plicity of our authorities, who walk about in the streets
and go into the shops, gives them unfeigned astonish
ment, they never having seen their mandarins except
when borne in stately palanquins, preceded by satel
lites, attendants, bands of music, and executioners,
and followed by a numerous suite. Never once during
the last four thousand years has a Chinese mandarin
deigned to walk down a street like an ordinary citizen.

142 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Yeh remains at Bocca-Tigris on board the 'In
flexible.' His pride and irritability have been
wounded by the neglect with which he has been
treated by Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, who have
not yet visited him. There is a talk of sending him
soon to Calcutta. His friends have been trying to
bribe the English sailors to let him escape ; besides
his presence in the neighbourhood of Canton is a
disadvantage. Several leading citizens and man
darins, dreading his vengeance, will not yet venture
to come forward and countenance the new order of
things. Various places, such as the Cape, Mauritius,
and Singapore, have been spoken of as his future
residence, but Calcutta has been at last selected in
preference to any of these.

THE AECHIVES OF YEH. 143

CHAPTEE VI.
A curious Document found in the depositories of Yeh. — New Year's
Day in China.- — Three Attaches to the French Embassy attacked
by Pirates in the river. — The arrival of two Sepoy regiments at
Canton. — The blockade is raised. — European Consuls installed at
Canton. — Visit of Mr. Reed and Count Poutiatine to the Am
bassadors. — Arrangement between the four Plenipotentiaries, and
despatch of a Joint Note to the Court of Pekin. — Mission entrusted
to M. de Contades and Mr. Oliphant. — The return of Baron Gros
on board the 'Audacieuse.' — Small Garrison left at Canton. —
The Disembarkation Corps return to the Ships, which re-ascend
the River. — The French Embassy quit Hong Kong for Shang-hai.
— Hopes of Peace disappointed. — Navigation of the China Sea
with a contrary Monsoon. — Amoy, the Straits of Formosa, the
Saddle Islands, the Yang-tse-Kiang, or Blue River. — The arri
val of Baron Gros at Shang-hai.
It will be recollected that the allies, a few days
after the capture of Canton, had very fortunately
got possession of the correspondence and official do
cuments belonging to Yeh, hid in a yamoun near his
own. These numerous documents were carefully
removed to a sampan anchored half way between
the 'Furious' and 'Primauguet,' nicknamed the
Foreign Office. There they were assiduously per
used by Mr. Wade and M. Marques, the interpreters

144 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
to the two missions. Few of these papers related to
barbarian affairs, Yeh doubtless having had time to
burn his correspondence on this subject. Most of
the despatches related to the administration of the
province; among them, however, were discovered
the principal of the five treaties entered into be
tween China and the Western Powers. M. Marques
brought us the ratification of the treaty concluded by
M. de Legrene, under the reign of the Emperor Tao-
Kouang. It bore the seal of Louis Philippe and the
signature of M. Guizot. The title of king in China
implying the idea of vassalage, the King of the French
had, on this occasion, assumed the title of Emperor
of the French. Several persons have concluded from
this discovery that the treaty had never been made
known at Pekin ; but this is quite a mistake, and the
fact is that our missionaries, when apprehended in the
interior of the empire, are brought back to the nearest
port with special attention, under the stipulations of
the Legrene treaty. The management of barbarian
affairs having been entirely delegated to Yeh, to whom
authority had been given to centralize them, and all
intercourse between foreigners and the court of Pekin
having hitherto taken place through Canton, it
was natural that the documents which regulated
this intercourse should be found lying in this city.
A curious document found among the diplomatic

A SUPPLEMENTARY MEMORIAL. 145
papers is worthy of a place in this narrative. It pur
ports to be a memorandum, addressed, in 1845, to
the Emperor Tao-Kouang by Ky-Ing, the governor
of Canton, who signed the five treaties. It is en
titled ' Supplementary Memorial, detailing parti
culars concerning the reception of the Envoys of
different Barbarian Nations.' It is authenticated
by the autograph of the Emperor in vermilion. It
runs as follows : —
'Your slave Ky-Ing, humbly kneeling, lays this
Supplementary Memorial at the feet of your Majesty.
'The details of the administration with which
your slave has been entrusted in treating with the
barbarians, and the intercourse which he has had with
their envoys when they have come to this country,
have already been the subject of several memorials
drawn up by your slave. Having also negotiated with
the barbarians several supplementary conditions re
specting commerce, he has had the honour of placing
the articles containing them under the sacred eyes of
your Majesty ; who has authorized the Committee of
Finance to examine those articles and report upon
them. ' He has the honour now of reminding your Majesty
that it was on the 27th moon of the 22nd year
(August 1842) that the English barbarians were
pacified. The Americans and the French arrived,

146 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
after each other, in the summer and autumn of
the present year (1845), and during this period of
three years our position towards the barbarians
has undergone a great change ; and to an extent
corresponding to this change it has become necessary
to modify our conduct towards them, as well as the
means to be employed to preserve peace, and keep
them in a respectful attitude towards us.
'Although it is no doubt useful to act towards
them by employing fair and straightforward mea
sures, it is much more prudent to lead them by wile.
In some cases they must be made aware of the mo
tives which dictate our conduct, but in others their
susceptibility is such that it can only be soothed
down by acts of a kind calculated to drive away
their suspicions.
' It is sometimes a good plan to try to please them
and make them grateful by treating them as equals ; :
and in some cases, before aiming at the results which
it is possible to attain, one must pretend not to see
their roguery, and it is useful not to push too far the
just appreciation of their acts.
' Born and brought up within the bounds of dis
tant countries, there are many tilings in the manners
and customs of the Celestial Empire which the bar
barians cannot fully understand ; and they are con
tinually making observations on things, the full

KY-ING'S CONDESCENSION. 147
bearing of which it is impossible to explain to them.
For instance, it is the duty of the members of the
Great Council to prepare decrees ; well, the bar
barians treat these decrees as if they proceeded from
the hand of the Emperor himself ; and if they are
told that these decrees are not the production of
your Majesty, instead of respecting them they do
not attach any importance to their terms.
' The repast which the barbarians take in common
is called the ta-tsan, or dinner. They are very fond
of meeting with each other at this time in large
numbers, and eating and drinking together.
' When your slave did them the honour of asking
them to dine with him at the Bogue or at Macao,
ten, twenty, or even thirty of their chiefs and lead
ing men accepted his invitation. When afterwards
your slave has had occasion to go to their residences,
or on board of their ships, the barbarians came and
sat down round him and vied with each other in
being the first to offer him food ancl wine. To get
their good-will your slave could not do otherwise
than make use of their glasses and spoons. •
' Another thing : It is the custom with the bar
barians to be proud of their wives. If the person who
pays them a visit belongs to the upper classes, the
wife of the barbarian to whom the visit is paid never
fails to come out and meet the visitor. When the

148 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
American barbarian Parker and the French barbarian
Lagrene were here, for instance, they brought out
their wives in their ships with them ; and accordingly,
when your slave went to their houses on business, he
had no sooner entered than these foreign women
made their appearance and saluted him. Your slave
was quite abashed by this custom, and felt very
awkward ; while the barbarian women, on the other
hand, were quite delighted with the respect your
slave paid them.
' All these facts go to prove that it is not possible
to regulate the customs of western nations by those
of China. If we attempt to force the barbarians to
adopt our usages, we shall gain nothing by teaching
them, but shall on the contrary stir up their sus
picions and draw down upon us their ill will.
' At the time when there was friendly intercourse
between foreigners and China, several barbarians
were received by us on the footing of a certain
equality ; but now that these relations have ceased
to exist, it is more than ever our duty to repel the
barbarians and keep them at a distance. With this
view, every time that your slave has had a treaty to
negociate with a barbarian state, he has sent Kwang-
Hang-Tung, the commissary of finance, to let the
barbarian envoy know beforehand that a high digni
tary of the empire, charged with the administration

CHINESE NOTIONS OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 149
of foreign affairs, was never free to give or receive on
his own account, and that if he was offered presents
he would be obliged peremptorily to refuse them ;
that, if he accepted them secretly, the ordinances of
the celestial dynasty were very severe on the subject ;
and that, besides loss of dignity to the functionary
who should so act, the guilty party would be unable
to escape from the penalties enforced by law. The
barbarian envoys have had the good sense to conform
to this usage, but in their interviews with your slave
they have often offered him some of their foreign
wine, perfumery, and other things of the same kind
and of little value. Whatever their intentions were,
whether good or bad, in so acting, your slave could
not openly reject their presents ; and he gave them
in exchange snuff-boxes, scented purses, and those
other small objects which are carried about the
person, always putting in practice the Chinese prin
ciple which says, Give much but receive little.
Besides, with respect to the Italians {Portuguese),
English, Americans, and French, your slave offered
them a copy of his insignificant portrait.
' As regards their government, they have at their
head sometimes men, sometimes women, who retain
power either for life or for a stated time. Among
the English barbarians, for instance, the sovereign is
a woman ; among the French and Americans the

150 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sovereign is a man. Among the English and French
the head ruler is appointed for life ; while among
the Americans he is elected by his fellow-citizens,
and only for four years, at the expiry of which time
he quits the throne, and becomes again a simple
citizen, belonging to the non-official class. Each of
these states has a different name for its head ruler.
In general they adopt (literally they steal) Chinese
names. They affect, pompously, a style of speech
which they have no right to employ ; and they all
seem to desire to pass themselves off as having great
power. When their purpose in doing so is to honour
their rulers, it is not our business to take notice of
this. But it is my belief that, if they were asked to
submit to the rules adopted by the countries tributary
to China, they would refuse to obey, for they have
not even adopted our way of reckoning time ; and
they will not recognise the royal investiture which
your Majesty has bestowed upon them, whereby they
were placed in the same rank with Loo-Choo and
Cochin China.
' With races so little civilized as they are, so
stupid and unintelligent in their style and language,
and so obstinately attached to forms of words in
their official correspondence that they will persist in
placing the superior last and the inferior first, it is
the best course to disregard their customs, and not to

CHINESE PIRACY. 151
take any notice of all this (literally to slit the tongue
and sear the lips), for if we do otherwise, not only all
personal intercourse, but all official communication
must cease, to the great injury of the all-important
question of peace. Instead, then, of entering into
discussions about the use of terms, whicii really have
no practical value, we have preferred to neglect
insignificant details for a great and useful policy.
' Such are the expedients which, after a serious
study of barbarian affairs, a mature examination of
the exigencies of the moment, and the important
character of the question now before us, it seems
quite necessary to adopt ; whether the difficulties are
merely to be staved off in the mean time or finally
settled. ' Your slave has not thought it necessary to submit
these details separately to the appreciation of your
Majesty, because they have no importance in them
selves, and because time does not permit him to do
so. Our disputes with the barbarians being now
completely terminated, your slave has thrown to
gether all these statements into one long despatch,
which he respectfully presents to your Majesty.'
To return to our narrative : — acts of piracy
in a small way, for some days back, have become
more frequent on the river ; junks commit depre
dations on sampans; sampans pillage tankas; and

152 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
tankas waylay small fishing craft. This process
indicates that the Chinese new year is approaching.
The same thing occurs regularly at the same
season. It is the time when every one puts his
affairs in order, makes up his books, collects his
accounts, and pays his debts. A man who finds on
striking his balance, at the end of the commercial
year, that his debts exceed his assets, makes no
scruple to put his hand into his neighbour's pocket
to obtain the wherewithal to pay what he owes.
According to Chinese notions, he does not cease to
be an honest man by stealing from his neighbour,
but he ceases to be such if he fail to pay his debts.
At Hong Kong several watch-dogs were recently
poisoned to facilitate these thefts, while eight houses
were broken into in one night. Without exaggeration
it may then be said that, at this period in the year,
Chinese society is divided into two classes, the rob
bers and the robbed.
On the morning of the 13th February squibs and
crackers, sing-songs, and boats decorated with flowers,
gave us due notice that the Chinese new year had
come, and that the amusements of the season had
begun. These were to last for more than fifteen days.
It was the first day of the first moon of the eighth
year of Hien-Foung. It rained, the weather was
shockingly bad ; the land of flowers was a land of

DEATH OF COMMANDER COLLIER. 153
mists. It thundered in the morning, which, in the
eyes of superstitious Chinamen, is a bad augury, and
presages no good for the empire. The shops were
almost all shut or decked with garlands of artificial
flowers. Numerous chairs belonging to mandarins
passed through the crowd, for this is a great day for
official visits. Every good Chinaman, at this time of
year, indulges in the pleasures of sam-chou, opium,
sing-song, and squib-firing.
While these rejoicings were going forward in the
Chinese city, we had, in the French encampment, to
lament the death of a good seaman and excellent
man, Commander Collier, who fell a victim to dysen
tery, after a three months' illness. This is a great
loss for the navy in general, and a greater loss still for
that part of it now on service here. The Admiral de
cided that the ' Marceau ' should convey his remains
to Hong Kong, in order that they should be buried in
that town. At one o'clock we assembled at the land
ing-place. We saw the cortege arrive, and we accom
panied the body in ship's boats as far as the ' Marceau.'
The ' Avalanche ' fired six guns : all the small craft,
English and French, ranged round the ' Marceau,'
shipped their oars ; then the body was hoisted on
board, and the whole assemblage departed. All day
the French ships had their colours hoisted and the
sails slung on the yards. When the body passed at

154 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Barrier Fort, the ' Capricieuse ' which was the sloop
of war which he had commanded in the campaigns
of Siam, Cochin China, and China, discharged a fare
well salute of seven guns.
Another event, which might have terminated
fatally, caused about this time no small emotion
among the members of the embassy. Trevise, Mau-
bourg, and Flavigny, accompanied by their servant,
left one afternoon in two tankas from Barrier Fort,
for American Eeach, in order to pass the evening on
board the ' Audacieuse.' They had not laid their
account with the strong current which was running,
and were overtaken by night setting in. Where
the stream passes the great pagoda of Whampoa,
they saw three large boats leaving the shore, and
pulling hard towards them. The tanka boatwomen
dropped their oars and roared murder ; Maubourg,
whose tanka went first, sprung from under the gun
wale, and fired upon the boats as they came along
side ; Trevise and Flavigny were a good way behind
and could only see what was going on indistinctly.
They also fired upon the pirates. The latter, who
thought they had attacked persons who were unarmed
or asleep, took to their oars again on meeting with
this warm reception, not, however, until their party
numbered three less than it did when they made the
attack. There might be five or six in each boat, so

ARRIVAL OF TWO SEPOY REGIMENTS. 155
that there could not be less than from fifteen to
eighteen pirates. The following day an English
officer, proceeding in broad daylight from his ship to
the camp, happened to fall asleep in his tanka, and
woke out of a comfortable nap just in time to antici
pate some fellows who were preparing to tie his
hands and pitch him into the river. In consequence
of these occurrences, an order of the day was ex
pressly promulgated among the officers of both
nations, forbidding them in future to make use of
Chinese boats.
The English gunboats brought this week to Can
ton two regiments of Sepoys, who have recently
come from India. They have been barracked in the
temple of Confucius, which has given a deal of dis
satisfaction in the town. We have already alluded
to the antipathy of the black-skinned Hindoos to the
yellow-skinned subjects of the Son of Heaven ; the
Sepoys abhor the Chinese, and vice versa. The feel
ing is embittered in Canton by certain recollections
of the war of 1841, in which the Sepoys committed
many thefts and cruelties, but it is universal wher
ever the two races come in contact, as at Penang and
Singapore, — its general and real cause being the cer
tain fate which awaits the Hindoos of being done out
of house and home, and utterly ruined, by the greater
acuteness, perseverance, and greed of the Chinese.

156 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
A great difference in the character of the two races
also serves to account for their mutual antipathy.
The grave and dignified Hindoos cannot endure
the loquacity and obsequiousness of the Chinamen.
These regiments had shown symptoms of a mutinous
spirit in Hindostan, and as a precaution had been
disarmed. It was an act of wisdom to send them to
China, where they could do no harm, and where they
might, on the contrary, in venting their own wrath,
do infinite service to the allies. Their dress and ap
pearance when on duty are superb, and their accoutre
ments are all that could be desired. The remainder
of their time they spend basking in the sun under a
white cotton sheet, stretching out their long and
lank limbs into the sun. They belong to various
castes, and, for this reason, each one prepares his
own meal. If by accident any of us happen to
touch their food, they throw it away, and break the
dish polluted by contact with us.
Our military occupation now appearing to be per
fectly consolidated in Canton, and the new govern
ment being recognised by the population of the town
and suburbs, the blockade of the river was raised.
The junks began again to move about on the river,
and European steamers made their appearance off
the city. The question of the factories was settled;
they are to stand, as before, in the suburb, on the

THE FACTORY QUESTION. 157
banks of the river, but a little more to the east,
opposite Dutch Folly. In order firmly to establish
the right of inhabiting the town of Canton, and to
break down ancient prejudices, the ambassadors were
anxious that the Europeans should take up their
abode within the town, but the foreign merchants
objected to this themselves, and insisted, as a sine quel
non, that they should not be shut up in the town,
but should have their establishments on the banks of
the river, as near as possible to their ships. It was,
of course, necessary to yield to the commercial inte
rest. Within the space allotted for the French fac
tory a consulate and a church are to be built, with a
sum which it is proposed to set aside, in the first in
stance, from the expenses of the war, which the Chinese
are to be compelled to pay, by way of indemnity.
M. de Trenqualye has been named Consul of France
at Canton, and was solemnly installed in office on the
17th of February, at Whampoa, where he will in the
mean time take up his abode, as well as the other
agents of the foreign powers. The disembarkation
corps now came on board again. Besides the Eng
lish, there were left at Canton five hundred French
seamen, under the command of M. d'Aboville, who
was replaced on board of the ' Audacieuse ' by
Commander Vrignaud. The ' Capricieuse,' the
' Marceau,' and the ' Catinat,' also remained before

158 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Canton ; all the other ships taking their course down
the stream towards the sea. Important political
events, however, occurred about this time. After
a visit paid by Mr. Eeed and Count Poutiatine to
Baron Gros and Lord Elgin, the four plenipoten
tiaries agreed to address a collective note to the
court of Pekin, requesting that there should be sent
to Shang-hai, on the 31st of March at latest, Impe
rial commissioners, duly authorized to treat with the
ambassadors of the Allied Powers regarding all the
pending difficulties. In default of this request being
acceded to, it was arranged that the ambassadors
should proceed to the north and approach the capital
with all their forces, in order to bring a stronger
pressure to bear on the authorities at Pekin. In
order to demonstrate to the Chinese government the
glaring bad faith of the high commissioner Yeh, and
to give it an opportunity of throwing upon his obsti
nacy the whole blame of the war, a copy of the cor
respondence between him and the plenipotentiaries
was also transmitted to the capital. M. de Contades
and Mr. Oliphant left immediately for Shang-hai, in
the packet, as the bearers of these diplomatic docu
ments to the tao-tai of that town. Duplicates were
entrusted to Pih-Kwe, who undertook to get them
transmitted overland to Pekin. The Chinese ques
tion had again entered a pacific phasis.

A FEARFUL ACCIDENT. 159
Baron Gros left the ' Primauguet,' and took up his
quarters again, on the 20th February, on board the
' Audacieuse.' On returning on board we were
grieved by a very sad piece of news. A frightful
accident had happened during the day. A number
of our shells, which had not exploded, had been
picked up in the streets of Canton. The admiral
had ordered them to be emptied that they might be
made use of again. This is a very delicate operation,
and must be conducted with great caution. The
men had been supplied with copper tools, to ensure
them as much as possible against accident. The
work went on at Jardine' s Point, within sight of the
ship. A hundred shells had been cleared out by
one o'clock in the afternoon : when after dinner the
crew went back singing to their work. All at once
a frightful explosion was heard. On contact with
the air merely, a shell had burst while one of the
sailors had it between his legs. Of nine persons who
were at work, all of whom were picked men, seven
were severely wounded. The tent also took fire, and
tliere was a risk that the other shells would explode.
The commander, the chaplain, and the surgeon, M.
Combe, proceeded immediately to the spot. The
shells remaining were thrown into the water. The
poor man who had the ball on his knees was
literally torn to pieces. The person who had been

160 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sitting at work immediately opposite to him had
lost his hands and feet, and had his face horribly dis
figured. He expired before he could be conveyed on
board. The five others were wounded and burned
frightfully, and their hands and other parts of the
person were lying in the mud. This accident had
cost us more men than the capture of Canton. Two
days have been appointed for the funerals of these
unfortunate sufferers. All the commanders of ships
of war at anchor in American Eeach have been in
vited to attend, with a few of the officers belonging
to each, and a long procession of boats will pay a
last tribute to these unfortunate men who perished
so miserably in the performance of their duty.
The vessels began to move down the stream. We
left the neighbourhood of Whampoa, and proceeded
to Bocca Tigris, followed by the ' Phlegeton,' the
' Nemesis,' and the ' Meurthe.' We crossed the two
bars without accident, thanks to the Chinese boats
placed as buoys the evening before to point out the
passes. This time we crossed the Bogue alone ; over
night the ' Audacieuse ' cast anchor in the road of
Hong Kong. On board the 'Audacieuse,' March 12, 1858.
Our short stay at Hong Kong is over. We have
exchanged the splendours of the club-house for our
little cabins on board ship. We have had a good

HOPES OF PEACE. 161
deal of rain, wind, and a high sea, for some days, the
equinoctial gales blowing at present. Baron Gros
has, however, given intimation that we are to start for
the North, — the three other plenipotentiaries having
already left the Canton river a week ago. Our
delay is of little importance, as Mr. Eeed has to go
in the first instance to Manilla, and Lord Elgin has
to call at the intermediate ports of Amoy, Ningpo,
and Fou-tchou-fou, whilst we are to proceed directly
to Shang-hai. We towed after us the ' Fusee' gun
boat, which had been placed at the disposal of the
ambassador. We left in the hope that the differences
between China and the Western Powers would now
be terminated without farther difficulty, and in a
pacific manner. Eecent facts all went to prove that
the court of Pekin was assuming a more conci
liatory and peaceful attitude. The first of these was
the formal degradation of Yeh, and the continuance
of Pih-Kwe in his office until the arrival of the new
governor Houang-tzung-han ; then there was the ap
pointment and despatch of old Ky-Ing, who had been
long disgraced, as plenipotentiary to Shang-hai, or at
least the rumour that he had been appointed among
the Chinese population ; and, lastly, there was the
favourable reception which M. de Contades and Mr.
Oliphant had met with among the great mandarins
of Sou-tchou-fou. M

162 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Here are the two Imperial edicts, brought in
twenty -nine days to Canton by a courier from
Pekin. FIRST IMPERIAL EDICT.
' The despatch annexed, which has been addressed
to us by Muh-Kih-Tih-Na and Pih-Kwe, informs us
of the capture of the provincial city of Canton by
the barbarians.
' Yeh-Ming-Ching, as Imperial Commissioner in
trusted with the management of foreign affairs, evi
dently should have found some means of eluding the
demands of the barbarians, if they were so unreason
able that he could not comply with them ; he should
at the same time have arranged with the Tartar
general, the governor, and the other officers, to
take those steps necessary for the preservation of
peace. ' The barbarians have twice transmitted commu
nications to the Tartar general, to the governor-
general, and the lieutenant-general. Yeh has not
informed his colleagues of the contents of these com
munications. He refused to come to an explanation
with them about the matters in dispute, and post
poned their solution from day to day ; and the result
has been that he exasperated the barbarians, till at
last they made a sudden attack upon the provincial
city and took possession of it.

TWO IMPERIAL EDICTS. 163
' By this stubbornness and bad administration
Yeh has shown himself to be altogether unworthy of
the high functions with which he was entrusted, con
sequently we ordain that he shall be immediately
deprived of his office.
' Muh-Kih-Tih-Na, the Tartar general ; Pih-Kwe,
the governor ; the lieutenants-generals Shwang-Hi
and Shwang-Lingj Hang-Ke, the commissioner of
customs ; Kiang-Kwo-Lin, the commissioner of
finance ; and Chow-Ya-Ping, the provincial judge, are
all culpable of negligence and want of spirit in de
fending the town. However, as the governor-general
had not admitted them to his councils, there is some
excuse for them. Taking then into consideration their
request to be severely punished, we have seen fit to
show them indulgence, and to instruct the Office
of Punishments to pass lightly over their offences.
Eespect this !' SECOND IMPERIAL EDICT.
' We appoint Houang-Tsing-Han to be governor-
general of the two Kwangs, and order him to proceed
forthwith to his post. We have conferred upon him
the seal of the Imperial Commission and the manage
ment of the foreign affairs of the empire.
' While awaiting his arrival, Pih-Kwe will be pro
visionally entrusted with the functions of Imperial

164 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Commissioner and governor-general of the two
Kwangs. Eespect this !'
In the official part of the ' Pekin Gazette ' it is
stated, moreover, that the Emperor Hien-Foung is so
much enraged against Yeh, that he has given orders
to get new seals prepared for the governor of the
two Kwangs, this being the greatest indignity which
can be put upon any functionary.
Commissioner Yeh had been, up till now, the per
son third in importance in China. He added the title
of guardian of the heir presumptive to the throne, to
those of governor-general of the two Kwangs and
Imperial commissioner entrusted with the manage
ment of the foreign affairs of the empire. His iron
yoke weighed upon forty-six millions of Chinese
(twenty -five millions of whom were in Kwang Toung
and twenty-one in Kwang-Si) ; and it was with no
small pride that he owned he had in the course of
his administration caused to be beheaded no less than
seventy thousand persons. Now in disgrace with his
sovereign, deprived of his honours, and a prisoner of
these same barbarians whom he had so cordially
hated, he is under weigh for Calcutta, on board an
English ship.
There is a report, which is something more than
a mere passing rumour, in circulation among the
Chinese at Hong Kong, which is very significant if

LTN AND KY-ING. 165
true. It is, as we have already said, to the effect
that Ky-Ing has been nominated plenipotentiary to
Shang-hai. We know that this personage, who was
governor of Canton at the time of the war on the
opium question and the mission of M. de Lagrene,
signed the treaties then concluded by the em
peror Tao-Kouang with England, France, and the
United States, and, after having occupied the highest
position of imperial favour, was all at once thrown
into disgrace, when the governing class and people of
China lapsed once more into the old policy of opposi
tion to the Western Powers. Since then he had
acted as a mere clerk in an office at Pekin, being
reduced to this humble position for having been
guilty of the crime of allowing the barbarians to
enter the Celestial Empire. His name, however,
had served for the last fifteen years as a watchword
to the party who, without having any liking for the
Europeans (and who in China entertains any such
feeling?), think that intercourse with them should
be encouraged. Commissioner Lin, on the contrary,
and his partisans, would hear of nothing but war to
the knife, and the total extermination of the bar
barians. Lin and Ky-Ing are, then, the chiefs of
the two great parties. China must surely be sadly
deficient in statesmen, for the same persons are
constantly making their appearance in all negocia-

166 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
tions with the Western Powers. We may be excused,
since the discovery of the curious document found
in the archives of Yeh, if we place a very limited
confidence in the good faith even of Ky-Ing him
self. What serves, however, to confirm us more in our
hopes of a pacific settlement is the successful result
of the mission entrusted to M. de Contades, and the
officious and friendly reception given him by the
fou-tai of Sou-tchou-fou, in which it was easy to detect
the influence of fear. The reader may recollect that
this gentleman had been entrusted, along with Mr.
Oliphant and two Eussian and American officers, to
convey to the governor of Shang-hai the commu
nications of the four plenipotentiaries to the prime
minister Yeh, with the request that they should be
transmitted with the least possible delay to Pekin.
These communications related to the immediate
despatch of the Chinese plenipotentiaries to Shang
hai. M. de Contades and his colleagues, not finding
the governor of Shang-hai at home, determined to
take their despatches to the chief town of the
province, and put them into the hands of the
governor himself. This was a courageous act
Nothing of the kind had ever been ventured on
previously, China having hitherto been jealously
closed against the barbarians. The little squadron,

EXPEDITION TO SOU-TCHOU-FOU. 167
consisting of eighteen junks, set out from Shang-hai
on the 24th February, and in three days proceeded
by the rivers and lakes to Sou-tchou-fou, a city alike
celebrated, according to Chinese writers, for its places
of amusement, wealth, and elegance. There was one
boat set apart to carry the provisions, another served
as a saloon, a third as a dining-room. Each evening
the party assembled to dinner at the sound of the
gong; and the whole twenty-eight junks anchored
close by each other as a precaution against pirates.
A careful watch was kept up during the night.
M. de Montigny, the French consul at Shang-hai,
whose experience in China and with Chinese officials
was very great, undertook to answer for the success
of the enterprise. On the 26th the party arrived,
without any accident, under the walls of Sou-tchou-fou,
and they entered the town by one of the water-gates
of the rampart opening upon the canal, and without
any other difficulty than a few hot words with the
boatmen and the men who kept watch over vessels
entering the canal.
' The news of our arrival,' says M. de Contades, in
his report of this expedition, ' had rapidly spread in
the city, and it was through the midst of an enormous
crowd, drawn up on both sides of the canal, that we
made our entrance into Sou-tchou-fou. From all this
multitude there did not proceed one cry, there was

168 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
none of that noise which is customary among the
Chinese. There was the deepest silence, as if the
people made an effort not to stir, which with them is
the sign of respect and fear. Such was the stillness
that we could catch the sound of a few timid whispers.
It was easy to perceive, in every upturned face of the
dense crowd which pressed and was packed as close as
it could stand around us, the expression of feelings
anything but hostile to us ; but more easy still to read
astonishment and stupefaction in every countenance.
' A salute of six cannons was fired on our arrival at
the yamoun, at the door of which the fou-tai received
us surrounded by his officers. When we had gone
into the court-room, where we were received by the
governor with graceful courtesy, we were placed on
two chairs on the estrade at the bottom of the
audience-hall, so that the governor, seated in one of
the arm-chairs at the side, was able, in compliance
with Chinese etiquette, to have both of us on his left
The consuls and their interpreters had seats ranged -.
along the sides. After the customary compliments
were over, I spoke a few words to the fou-tai, which
the interpreter to the French consulate interpreted
as I proceeded. I said that I was about to have the
honour of placing officially in his hands a despatch
wliich was directed to him, as well as to his Excel
lency the Governor of the two Kwangs, by the High

M. DE CONTADES AND MR. OLIPHANT. 169
Commissioner of His Majesty the Emperor of the
French ; that this despatch contained another to His
Excellency the principal Secretary-of-State at Pekin,
which was of great importance, and which I begged
the fou-tai to transmit by the most rapid means of
conveyance, and to see that it reached its destination
without the occurrence of any delay whereby he
might incur responsibility.
' The governor replied that he would willingly
undertake the commission ; whereupon I handed him
the despatches. The fou-tai then opened the outer
envelope, which bore his address, and read what it
contained, while all the officers and secretaries,
stooping behind him, perused it over his shoulder.
It is asserted that there were present high dignitaries
and emissaries of the governor of the two Kiangs
among these personages.
' Mr. Oliphant then said a few words to the same
purport with mine, after which the fou-tai offered us
a slight repast, during which a rather animated
conversation sprung up between us. The governor
asked me if order had been restored at Canton, and
if trade was now going on again as usual. I replied
that the ambassadors had done all that lay in their
power to attain this end, and that they were glad to
think they had been successful. "What are you

170 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
going to do with Yeh ?" then inquired the fou-tai.
A gentleman present replied that he had left for
Calcutta. "Will you put him to death?" asked
Tchao, with some indifference. I replied that his
Excellency was ill-informed respecting the generosity
of the ambassadors and their governments if he
supposed them capable of inflicting such a punish
ment on a conquered enemy. He then asked us
when the ambassadors were coming to Shang-hai.
Without stating any definite time, we thought it
best to reply that they would be there shortly.
During the whole of this interview the fou-tai con
ducted himself with a politeness and well-bred reserve
which delighted us. His physiognomy, which is
almost European as far as features go, is delicate and
intelligent. His manners are those of a man accus
tomed to the best society. In short, it was impossible
to receive a more polite or more friendly reception
than that he gave us. ,
'The fou-tai reconducted us to our chairs with
the ceremonial observed on our arrival, and after
many compliments and much shaking of hands he
told us that on the following morning he would re
turn our visit to the communal palace, called Kon-
Kouan, situated without the town, where the highest
Chinese authorities are habitually received on their
arrival at Sou-tchou-fou. It was in this yamoun that

AN OPIUM SMUGGLER. , 171
we, in fact, received, on the 27th of February at
midday, the visit of the fou-tai.' Thursday, March 18.
I must £now return to my own narrative. We
intended to have proceeded directly to Shang-hai,
but we had not taken into account the gusty wea
ther we were destined to encounter. Three times
already we' were obliged to stop after leaving. On
one occasion the mist prevented us from distin
guishing the coast and breakers. On another, the
' Fusee ' shipped a heavy sea, and, while labouring
hard, snapped her moorings. On a third occasion
we were retarded by an English steamer, which fired a
couple of guns just as we passed her. Thinking she
had run aground, and taking this cannon for a signal
of distress, we altered our course to come to her
assistance. It turned out to be an opium smuggler,
which had fired the guns as a signal for the junks
engaged in the same contraband trade to come off to
her. In spite of our six hundred horse power we
could no longer make way against wind and current ;
we therefore sought an anchorage to leeward of the
Eee islands, where we determined to await a change
of weather. M. de Carpegna, commander of the
' Fusee,' was making an attempt to come on board
the 'Audacieuse.' He missed bis hold of us, and was

172 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
drifted by the current about three miles to sea
ward. We immediately lowered a whaling-boat
with all the rope we had on board. It could give
no assistance, however, and was drawn by the men
on board of her by the rope back to the ship.
Happily the current ceased to run so hard, and M. de
Carpegna got on shore. A small boat with sixteen
men was lowered to tow him out and take provisions
to him. It reached him, but the wind was so strong
that it was found impossible to pull against it and
draw along the vessel at the same time. We sent
another ship's boat to see what could be done, with
arms, clothes, water, and food. It was equally un
successful in its attempt to make way against the
terrible current which was running. The three small
vessels then sought refuge in a little creek, which
prevented us from seeing them any longer even with
our spy-glasses. The evening, night, and morning .
passed without a sign from them. The commander,
fearing that something had happened, discharged
one shot, then a second, and a third, as a signal to
them to make an attempt to get back, the current
being favourable and the wind lower. All eyes were
fixed in the direction in which they were expected,
but no sail made its appearance for a long while-
At last, however, they emerged from behind the
rock, breasting the broad-crested waves as they made

A NARROW ESCAPE. 173
towards, us. An hour afterwards our thirty men
came on board, benumbed, famishing with hunger,
wet to the skin, but very well content to have
escaped the danger they had been in. They told us
what had befallen them. They found three hundred
Chinamen collected upon the coast, armed with
bows, arrows, lances, and matchlocks. They were
obliged to cast anchor, their boats all the while
shipping water, plunging under the waves, threaten
ing to capsize, dragging their anchors, and kept from
getting among the breakers only by hard work at
the oars. They had attempted to come out of the
creek to sea again, but the violence of the squall had
forced them to get back as quickly as possible.
Our signal let them know that they should again
attempt to pull out to sea, and had rescued them
from their frightful position. It was in the midst
of exciting incidents such as these that our time
passed. It was bitterly cold and wet ; a hurricane
swept fiercely down upon us, straining our anchors,
making every timber creak, and pitching us about
unmercifully under the darkness of closed portholes.
Pleasant truly is it to navigate the China seas during
the wrong monsoon ! March 23.
Our coal having nearly run down, and the wind
having fallen a little, we made for Amoy, the best

174 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sheltered spot in the Straits of Formosa. This bay,
surrounded by bare mountains, is completely closed
against the open sea, and the largest ships can an
chor in it close upon the land. The town is dirty
and irregularly built, its crooked streets being nar
rower than even those of Canton. Neither sunshine
nor fresh air can enter them, and accordingly small-pox
and fever break out every year with great virulence.
However, it was very pleasant to walk about among
the shops decked out with Chinese lanterns, and the
sing-songs, which we have already described. The
latter were very interesting. Large junks, crowded
with people, were employed as omnibuses between
the two sides of the roadstead.
The scene around us has, however, an impress of
its own. We are now in the capital of Fo-Kien, a
mountainous and maritime province, which differs in
many of its most important characteristics from the
rest of China. The Fo-Kinese have all over the
empire a great reputation for boldness, indepen
dence, and pride, and the court of Pekin always
treats them with deference and attention as a com
munity who should not be irritated. They wear
roomy garments and head-dresses in the form of a
turban, which gives them something of the look of
Turks. They have a more masculine, and at the same
time a handsomer appearance than the Cantonese.

CHINESE EMIGRATION FROM FO-KIEN. 175
To look at them one would say they belonged to a dif
ferent race. The dialect of Fo-Kien, too, which is very
different from the mandarin language and the idiom
of the Canton river, is altogether unintelligible to the
inhabitants of the other provinces of China. M. Mar
ques, our interpreter, could neither understand nor
make himself understood by the Fo-Kinese pilot who
came on board ; he was obliged to write out what he
wanted to say on paper, the written Chinese language
being the same all over the empire. This circum
stance of a different dialect in Fo-Kien is often turned
to account by our young missionaries when they have
pushed far into the interior of China. When they
have exhausted their little stock of Chinese, and run
the risk of being discovered to be foreigners by their
ignorance of the language, they pass themselves off
as inhabitants of Fo-Kien, in this way accounting for
their bad pronunciation.
At Shang-hai, at Canton, everywhere else in
China, the only European language spoken by the
natives is English. But at Amoy, Spanish is to some
extent understood among the inhabitants. There is
frequent intercourse between the Philippine Islands
and this port ; and the greater number of the Chinese
emigrants who are now settled in Cuba are natives
of the coast of Fo-Kien. The European colony is com
posed of about sixty persons, nearly all of whom are

176 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
English. There is not one Frenchman among them;
and there are few Americans. Each merchant has
a room set apart in his house as an armoury ; and
small cannons placed at his door, to be used in time
of danger. They live on very good terms with the
inhabitants of the country, and are permitted, with
out annoyance, to leave the town and visit the en
virons. Amoy is the only place in China where the
English ladies visit the Chinese ladies, and receive
calls from them in return.
We loaded some Formosa coal to complete our stores.
It is said to be better than that of Borneo, which
we tried at Singapore. But it certainly had one great
fault; it threw off so many sparks that the com
mander was afraid for some time that it would set
the ship on fire. We found, on leaving Amoy, that
the fine weather had returned ; and we passed in
safety through the Straits of Formosa, or Fo-Kien
Channel. At the Saddle Islands we left the ' Auda
cieuse,' and went on board the ' Fusee.' Our luggage
covered the deck. We passed through the midst
of numerous islands, which we could scarcely see
through a dense fog. A Chinese pilot directed our
course to the mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang, occa
sionally known in Europe as the Blue Eiver, which
is the greatest stream on the surface of the globe,
after the Amazon. It is the great artery towards

SHANG-HAI. 177
which the Chinese rivers flow, and, indeed, the chief
thoroughfare of central China. The entrance to this
stream is difficult, more especially for ships without
steam. There are numerous sand-banks at its mouth ;
and the shores are so low that no good chart can be
made, as land-marks are almost wanting on both sides.
Fortunately for the inhabitants, however, the Blue
Eiver is not subject to inundations, like the neigh
bouring Yellow Eiver, which is constantly bursting
its dikes and sweeping all before it.
At Woo-sung we left the Yang-tse-Kiang, and
entered the Whampou, the river of Shang-hai. The
bed of the river was encumbered with a great fleet
of junks, laden with provisions and rice, which were
awaiting a favourable wind to proceed to the north,
as far as Tien-tsin. We had considerable difficulty in
threading our way through the crowd of large junks
lying at anchor in the still waters of the river, or
floating gently down stream. In spite of all the care
we took, we ran against one, smashing its helm and
masts. At last we got clear of this labyrinth ; and
after receiving a salute from the English, American,
and Eussian ships, we cast anchor alongside of the
quay at Shang-hai.

178 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHAPTEE VII.
Shang-hai : the European Town, the Chinese Town.— The Tea-
garden. — M. de Montigny and the French Concession. — The
Dinner given by the Tao-tai. — The Tigers of the Tartar Colonel.
— The Chinese Campaign. — The Mission of Kiang-nan.— The
College of Zi-ka-wei— The Cathedral of Tong-ka-tou.yThe
Sainte Enfance in Kiang-nan. — Commercial activity of Shang-hai.
— Reply of the Court of Pekin to the Joint Note of the Ambassa
dors.
We had scarcely cast anchor when we received a
visit from Contades, whom we had not seen since his
expedition to Sou-tchou-fou ; and a visit also from M.
Montingy, accompanied by the gentlemen belong
ing to the French consulate. M. de Montigny asked
the ambassador to take up his quarters at his house-
The members of the embassy put up at the Com
mercial Hotel, which is kept by M. Barraud, the old
steward of the ' Constantine.' We crossed the French
grant, wliich, although less built upon than the others,
is the best situated of the three. It was startling to
meet, in a distant country like this, with policemen
carrying the baton tricolor e ; and to read the names of

THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT SHANG-HAI. 179
the streets in French at the corners. The junks are
drawn up together opposite to the Chinese town.
More than one hundred merchantmen are at anchor
before the European quarter, where an imposing line
of fine houses runs along the bend of the river. We
were struck with the custom-house, which is a choice
bit of Chinese architecture. It was amusing to watch
the perfect regularity with which the thousands of
Coolies employed on the quays carried the bales of
tea and silk on board. All over the harbour our ears
rung with their sharp, sing-song ciy, which is given
out by one, and taken up and repeated by the others.
This noise, of course, stops at night ; but it begins
again next morning by daybreak. We dined with
M. de Montigny, who introduced us to his family.
His conversation abounded with most interesting in
formation regarding China, where he has been settled
for fifteen years. Shang-hai holds no higher rank
than a town of the third order in the province of
Kiang-nan. It holds a very unimportant place in
the hierarchy of the Chinese towns, and owes its
recent importance entirely to the opening of its
port to foreign commerce. The inhabitants of Kiang-
nan are gentle, and well-disposed in their dealings
with foreigners. At Canton, Europeans dare not
pass the walls without running the risk of being
murdered ; but it is not so at Shang-hai, where the

180 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
merchants are in perfect safety within a radius of
several miles all round the town. They are great
sportsmen — hares, snipes, and pheasants being plenti
ful in this part of the country. During the warmest
days in summer it is the custom to go ' to the hills,'
which are situated about thirty miles from Shang-hai,
where the air is more bracing and the country is
sheltered by trees. Each family has its junk, and
lives on the river. Great lakes spread out beyond
this place. It is here that the cormorant is employed
in fishing. The sight is a strange one for a Euro
pean. Each fisherman has several of these birds in
bis boat ; they dive under water to catch their
prey: but a ring is put round their necks, which :
prevents them from swallowing the fish so caught.
Finding that they can do no better, they bring their ;
spoil to the fishermen. The soil round Shang-hai
is extremely fertile ; two or three crops are reaped
every year on the same surface. But for all this,
the country is very monotonous. On all sides extends
to the horizon a vast expanse of rice and cotton
fields, without one clump of trees to rest the eyes
upon. Small canals, tributaries of the river, cross
the country in all directions, by means of which the _
rice, straw, ancl cotton are gathered and housed.
Over the whole of this part of China, that is to say,
over a great part of the empire, there are no cross- \

A MUTINY AND MURDER. 181
roads. Everything is moved from place to place in
vessels and along canals. Buffaloes are the only
animals employed in agriculture, and in working
the plough in the rice-fields. In the towns open to
Europeans, the natives employ the female buffalo
in lieu of the common milch cow, of which there are
none. The Chinese do not drink milk ; they say
that it is white blood, and the only use they make of
it is as a cure for dysentery. They never put it in
tea, which they take without either cream or sugar.
The people of these great plains, which form the most
populous and most important part of the empire, are
peaceful in their character, and entirely devoted to
agriculture and commerce. Among them the inha
bitants of Canton are noted for their arrogant and
quarrelsome disposition. Throughout all the north
they have a bad reputation; and whenever a murder or
a theft is committed, it is almost invariably discovered
that the perpetrator is from Canton. While we were
staying at Shang-hai, an English brig, manned by
Chinamen, going to Bankok with a large sum in
ingots on board, to make purchases at that place,
was robbed and found deserted at the entrance
of the Yang-tse-Kiang. The seamen belonged to
Canton, and had concerted to murder the captain
and his two mates. After doing so, they took pos
session of the ingots, and let the vessel go adrift.

182 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Coming as we did from the Canton river, we observed
the great difference between the populations of the
north and south, which was all to the advantage of
the north.
At Hong Kong, and at Macao, Europeans live in
China without ever seeing a Chinese dignitary. At
Shang-hai, on the contrary, the consuls have frequent
intercourse with the mandarins. Every now and
then you hear the sound of a gong in the European
town ; this is a functionary proceeding with a
numerous escort to see a consul or an admiral. The
governor and other authorities of Shang-hai, having
expressed a wish to visit the ambassador, the ren
dezvous was fixed at one o'clock. As soon as we saw
these distinguished persons coming, we put our hats
on as a mark of respect, and went forward to the
flight of steps at the door to receive them. There
was a great deal of compliment and a tremendous
shaking of hands, and then each one sat down ac
cording to his rank. Baron Gros insisted on the
tao-tai, or governor, taking his seat on the left side
of the sofa, which, according to Chinese etiquette, is
the place of honour. Tea was brought, the mandarins
took a few puffs of their pipes, and conversation
began. The subjects were the lofty stature of Baron
Gros, the shape of his ear, which boded good luck
and prosperity, the superiority of European weapons

A VISIT FROM THE CHINESE GOVERNOR. 183
to Chinese weapons, and the wonderful distance
which separates Europe and China. The party
afterwards walked in ceremonious order into the
dining-room, where luncheon had been spread. The
ambassador placed at bis left the tao-tai, and the
Tartar colonel at his right. M. de Bellecourt placed
the two other mandarins near him. Each person
heaped sugar-plums, cakes, and almond-biscuits into
bis neighbour's plate. We drank champagne, drain
ing our glasses and interchanging enthusiastically
good wishes for health and prosperity. The conver
sation maundered on much in the same foolish and
insignificant way as before. Coffee was brought, and
tea of course — indispensable tea — and then our guests
rose, which was the signal for departure. Before
going, however, the Tartar colonel, with the tact of
true courtesy, proposed to Baron Gros to put his
tigers through their drill or manoeuvres, his tigers
being the soldiers who accompanied him, and who
are picked men from the Imperial army. The pro
posal was enthusiastically received on both sides.
Each warrior, thereupon, insinuated himself into a
yellow coat, on which were represented the black
stroke which runs down a tiger's back, as well as the
eyes and the ears of the brute after which they are
named. Then commenced the drill. For the best
part of an hour they kept flinging themselves into

184 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the most fantastic positions. They kept jumping ai'id
stampmg, and calling to each other to come on,
threatening every moment to plunge into a deaidlf!
struggle, which never came however, and in this way
they spent an amount of breath and muscular activity
which perfectly bewildered us. The military man
darin, seeing that the desired effect had been pro
duced, ordered his tigers to withdraw and return to
their places in his suite, and we then took leave of
our visitors, promising shortly to go and see them at
their yamouns.
In point of fact, a few days afterwards we accepted
of an invitation to dinner from the tao-tai, and we
proceeded in chairs to his house, which is situated in
the heart of the Chinese town. We were welcomed
with a salute of three guns, the governor, surrounded
by his functionaries and subalterns, receiving us at
the entrance to the court-room. He treated us to a
very choice and delicate dinner, at least so said the
consul and chancellor, who were of course better
judges than any of our party on such a point. To us
it seemed altogether frightful. There were swallows'
nests, sharks' fins, ^ea-worms, lapwings' eggs, luke
warm Chinese wine, and rice-brandy. It is the
custom to eat fruit towards the middle of the meal,
and to wind up with soup. The want of water
and bread also makes a difference, and perh

THE CLIMATE. 185
helped to mar our full appreciation of that infinite
variety of fish and fowl thrust upon us with such
hospitality. The tao-tai is excellent company, and
he did the honours of his yamoun to perfection.
The climate of Shang-hai, like that of the whole
of China, is unwholesome. It is subject to miasma,
arising from the marshes, and to very sudden changes
of temperature. During the south-west monsoon the
heat is excessive. During the north-east monsoon,
on the contrary, it is as cold as it is in winter in the
north of France, and the river frequently freezes in
spite of the rapidity of its course. From the 1st
November to the 1st April the Europeans put on
fires in their houses. I do not speak of the Chinese
with regard to their custom in this respect, for they
do not use fires for mere purposes of comfort. When
the cold increases they put on, dresses with thicker
wadding and more fur. There has been no frost this
year, and the foreign residents at Shang-hai have
freighted a ship to bring ice from Kamtschatka.
In spite of the confusion and crowded state of the
streets, we go occasionally for a saunter into the
Chinese town. We dropped into the shops and
purchased a few of those trifles, infinite in variety,
which in all parts of the Celestial Empire are
exhibited to attract the attention of foreigners. We
walked all round the battlements of the city wall.

186 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
We visited the well into which the young children
are thrown who are doomed to perish under the
unnatural custom of infanticide. More than once we
stepped into the tea-gardens, whither the Chinese
repair to drink tea, to smoke opium, and to hear
musical performances. There they enjoy their fa-.
vourite amusements ; and it is in these places that
we may observe what is most peculiar in the appear
ance and habits of the people. An artificial mountain
with rocks heaped one above the other, a small river
with little bridges in zigzag, upturned eaves, and
flags flying from them, form the principal ornaments
of this garden, in which the fortune-tellers, jugglers,
and dramatic performers have their head-quarters.
However, the Chinese do not bestow much of their
time on amusement ; they are completely absorbed
in business, and at Shang-hai their commercial
activity is still farther promoted by the presence of
foreigners. The Chinese merchants of Shang-hai are
generally brokers or middlemen between the great
European and American houses and the provinces of
the interior. They travel into the agricultural and
manufacturing districts to make their purchases of
tea and silk.
I must quote here a few figures to give an idea of
the immense business done at Shang-hai. They are
taken from an official source, viz. the Custom-house

TRADE OF SHANG-HAI. 187
reports ; and they exhibit the extraordinary increase
in the commerce of this, place, which was only opened
to foreign vessels about fifteen years ago.
During the year from June 1855 to June 1856,
the total importation amounted in value to 8,325,772?.,
which may be divided between the following heads,
viz. :— £m
Piastres or silver ingots . . . 2,298,817
Opium  3,889,907
Miscellaneous articles of merchandise . 2,137,048
The value of the exports was . . 7,711,458
The total value, then, of the exports and imports
was— 16,037,230?.
From June 1856 to June 1857, the exports
amounted to 10,857,554?., divided as follows : — £.
Piastres or silver ingots . . . 2,435,204
Opium  4,390,691
Miscellaneous articles of merchandise . 4,031,659
The exports amounted to . . 11,467,456
The total value of exports and imports was —
22,325,010?. If it had not been for the great Anglo-American
commercial crisis of last year, the commercial activity
of Shang-hai would have reached a height still
more remarkable, as we may see from the following
figures : —
From the 1st July 1857, to the 31st December

188 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
1857, that is to say, during the first half of the year
1857-58, the imports amounted to 8,768,642?.,
which may be divided as follows, viz. : — £
Piastres  2,789,692
Tchin or copper money . . . 342,784
Opium  2,872,084
General merchandise .... 2,764,082
The exportation amounted to . . 7,277,625
The total value of exports and imports was
—16,046,267?. The amount of business, it appears, then has dou
bled in less than two years, and there are now few
commercial towns in the world, not to speak of China,
which can vie in importance with Shang-hai. Canton
has now sunk to the third rank, Fou-tchou-fou is ahead
of it as a tea exporting town ; but as regards Amoy
and Ning-po, these two ports are quite ruined by
their proximity to this city. During our stay at
Shang-hai we counted as many as one hundred and
seven merchantmen lying at anchor at one time in
the waters of the Whampou, and there was scarcely
room for a ship's boat over the whole length of the
beach fronting the European territory, from the en
trance of the Chinese town to the extremity of the
American factory. The surface of the grant is sold
by the square yard, like building ground in the busi
ness or fashionable quarters of a European city. A
small house, with the accommodation barely necessary

THE COLLEGE OF ZI-KA-WEI. 189
for one family, and a bit of garden ground, has been
known to fetch the enormous rent of 400?. a year.
From the 1st of July 1855, to the 1st of January
1858, there was brought to China, not again to leave
it, by Shang-hai alone, 7,521,193?., in piastres and
ingots of silver, and this process is going on increas
ing : each year the amount advances in more rapid
progression. The first year the importation amounted
to 2,280,000?., the next to 2,400,000?, and the third
to 2,760,000?. There is in all this a subject for the
serious study of European economists. It is long
since silver set in this way from the West to Asia, but
it is only in recent times that the phenomenon has
assumed gigantic proportions, of which the effects are
felt even in the most distant villages of France.
One of the most pleasant rides one can take in
the neighbourhood of Shang-hai is to the College of
Zi-ka-wei, situate about five miles from the town.
This college is under the direction of the Jesuits. Is
it not a remarkable proof of the peaceful disposition
of the inhabitants that such an establishment as this
can exist in the midst of the country far from all
European protection? In approaching it we saw
the gilded vane of a church steeple glittering in the
sun, and instead of the sound of gongs, to which our
ears had become accustomed, we heard the ringing
of church bells. The College of Zi-ka-wei has been

190 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
in existence only for seven years, and it already
numbers a' hundred pupils. It is placed under the
care of Pere Zottoli, the principal, and under the
distinguished surveillance of Pere Lemaitre, the su
perior of the mission. There are nine Chinese pro
fessors, who undertake literary instruction only, for
without literature nothing can be done in the Middle
Empire,** and the missionaries have it in view to turn
out pupils who shall become, in China, the leading
men of villages, respectable merchants, and influential
citizens. They are educated not with a view to
Europe, but to China. There is only one hour of
recreation a day, and thirteen hours of work. This
is quite in keeping with Chinese custom, a whole
life barely sufficing to acquire a knowledge of the
language and literature of the country. At the
Chinese new year the pupils have a fortnight of vaca
tion, and holidays for a month in [August. They
study French for half an hour every week, this
lesson being considered as a reward. We saw the
different classes at work, the schoolrooms, sleeping
apartments, and refectories, and were delighted with
the order and excellent condition in which every
thing is kept. The little Chinamen are not allowed
at first to write upon the walls and tables; it is
not till they advance in their studies that they
are allowed to make use of the brush or pencil,

PROFICIENCY OF CHINESE PUPILS. 191
and then slowly they cover every bench and seat
with a coating of varnish, whicii makes them
quite resplendent. The children of Kiang-nan
succeed in everything they attempt. They are sin
gularly apt pupils. In spite of the short time
devoted to the accessory studies, such as singing,
drawing, and music, and in spite of the limited
resources at their disposal for obtaining instruction,
they attain to wonderful proficiency. Mandarins
have visited the college frequently, and have asked
permission to examine the pupils. They appear to
have been very well satisfied with the answers they
received. A blue-button mandarin even took with
him a few of the compositions of some of the farthest
advanced pupils, and sent them to Pekin to a mem
ber of the Imperial Academy, who sent them back
with corrections and very encouraging remarks. The
College of Zi-ka-wei, as an example of what can be
effected by the Chinese race when influenced by
Christian precept and directed by Europeans, should
attract the deepest interest.
The mission of Kiang-nan, or diocese of Nankin, is
one of the most flourishing in China. It numbers
forty missionaries and nearly forty thousand Chris
tians, fifteen thousand more than there were at the
time of M. de Legrene's mission. In 1857 the
seminary of Tong-Ka-tou contained twenty-eight

192 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
young Chinese who were studying theology. There
were three hundred and sixty-four schools in full
operation, and five thousand children were educated in
them by Christian teachers. The girls had separate
schools ; eighty-nine female teachers gave instruction
to twelve hundred and sixty young women, some of
whom were preparing to become teachers them
selves. The Sainte-Enfance has been established for some
time back in the neighbourhood of Shang-hai, and
has already met with remarkable success, thanks to
funds supplied from France. Four thousand seven
hundred and sixty-seven children were saved from
infanticide in 1857. There remained two thousand
of these adopted in 1856. They are put out in the
country into Christian families, who undertake to bring
them up for a very small allowance, and who after
wards send them to school with their own children.
On the 1st of January 1858 there were in the
Orphan Hospitals and in the houses of the Christians
together nearly three thousand of these unfortunate
little creatures, all of whom were expected to live.
At the Orphan Hospital of Tsa-ka-wei, situated in
the environs of Shang-hai, there were 190 boys, who
were taught the various trades of tailors, shoemakers,* . ]
stonecutters, printers, carpenters, and labourers.
There were, besides, two hospitals for the little girls,:

CAN A CHRISTIAN BECOME A MANDARIN? 193
where they were taught sewing, spinning, and em
broidery. The blessed work of the Sainte-Enfance,
it appears then, has been attended with the greatest
success in this part of China, and even begins to
extend a beneficent action over a vast area.
Can a Christian become a mandarin ? This is the
question which is suggested on seeing the efforts
made by the missionaries to educate the Chinese
youth. In principle there is nothing to stand in the
way, but it is a very difficult matter in practice. For
instance, a Christian could not conscientiously trans
mit a valuable present with his composition to the
examiner. In the next place, there are certain
pagan superstitions connected with the Emperor
which he could not consent to recognise as consist
ent with his convictions. There is, however, in the
Imperial camp before Nankin, a military mandarin
who openly professes Christianity. After a good
deal of recrimination, he has been allowed to pray
for the Emperor at church instead of the ancestral
temple. But I do not believe that it is possible to
mention another case.
The cathedral of Tong-ka-tou, where the Eoman
Catholic service is conducted by Jesuit priests, stands
in the middle of the Chinese town, between the wall
and the river. We went there on Easter Day to
hear the music at high mass, and found the service
o

194 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
as solemn and impressive as anywhere in Europe;
there is, of course a difference. The organ, is of
bamboo, the sermon is in Chinese, the young chorisi
ters have tails and upturned shoes, and the officiating
clergymen wear a hat borrowed from the ancient
dynasties, it being indispensable to remain covered
while showing reverence or respect in China.
The Lazarists have, for some years back, removed
their procure from Macao to Shang-hai. Their esta
blishment covers a large space within the French
grant. Their mission extends over the neighbouring
provinces of Tche-kiang, Honan, Kiang-si, and
Tcheli. Pekin lies within their jurisdiction. They
are besides entrusted with the charge of all mission
ary undertakings in Mongolia. The great wall pre
sents a serious difficulty to missionaries proceeding
into this region of Central Asia from the Chinese
coast, or returning from it. The gates are watched;
and persons entering or leaving the empire are care
fully searched. In the capital, where the police is
too active to permit of European missionaries re
maining undetected, there are only native priests.
If Europeans were to intrude they would soon be
brought under the notice of the mandarins. Mon
seigneur Mouly, the Vicar Apostolic of Tcheli, has
fixed his abode at a place some miles from Pekin.
Monseigneur Daguin, the Bishop of Mongolia, lives a

THE FRENCH CONSUL AT SHANG-HAI. 195
hundred miles away from the great wall. The La-
zarists have founded a college or seminary at Ning-
po, and the Sisters of Charity have an establishment
there for the education of young women. Thus has
been realized the wish of Saint Vincent de Paul, who
foresaw that his order would one day extend as far as
China. In the distant regions of the far East the
Lazarists exhibit that self-denial, that spirit of self-
sacrifice and humility inculcated by their founder, of
which they have long given proof in the old towns
of the Levant and Asia Minor, more especially en
trusted to their care.
In consequence of proximity to Hong Kong, France
plays a very subordinate part on the Canton river.
It is otherwise at Shang-hai ; there, thanks to the
energy and activity of the French consul, ably
assisted by M. Edan, the chancellor, and by M.
Lemaire, the interpreter to the consulate, we are
quite able to maintain a position of perfect equality
with England and the United States. The number
of our vessels no doubt cannot be compared to that
of those two great maritime powers, but the French
flag floats over an equal extent of ceded territory, and
the French nation has an equal importance in the
estimation of the Chinese authorities. This import
ant result is due to M. de Montigny. This gentleman
understands China and Chinese affairs better than

196 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
any one with whom we have ever come in contact.
He knows exactly what may be ventured, and he
makes the venture accordingly. If a missionary is
persecuted in the interior of Kiang-nan, he orders
his junk or his sedan-chair, and travels night and
day until he descends upon the double-dealing
magistrate. Sometimes by sheer force of argument,
sometimes by intimidation, he obtains satisfaction for
what has been done, and extorts a promise from the
authorities not to give annoyance in future to the
Christians of the district. He goes every year by
land from Shang-hai to Ningpo, giving notice before
hand to the authorities along his route that he will
hold them responsible for whatever may befall him.
He heard some time ago that a French whaler had
been lost upon the coast of Corea, and that the crew,
numbering fifteen hands, had been reduced to slavery.
He had no French ships of war at his command
(our squadron being occupied elsewhere) ; he took a
Portuguese lorcha, and set off with his interpreter.
He encountered severe weather, and was nearly
shipwrecked; but nothing could deter him. He
landed, in spite of the authorities, in Corea, and
proceeded into the interior without having any pre
cise information to guide him. He at last found
where the prisoners were, and overtook them just ae
they were about to be marched off to the mines. He

REPLY FROM THE COURT OF PEKIN. 197
rescued them from the miserable fate in store for
them, and brought them all back to Shang-hai — a
success due exclusively to his energy and courage.
It was M. de Montigny who introduced the yak
or long-haired ox from Thibet, and sorgum, or Indian
millet, into France, the latter having now become so
completely acclimatised that the seed employed all
over North America is exported from Paris.
We hoped to find Chinese plenipotentiaries at
Shang-hai; but we had been too sanguine. The
grudge against the Western Powers still subsisted at
Pekin. Yu, without deigning to reply to#the ambas
sadors, appealed to the customs of the empire as
freeing him from this duty, and deputed it to the
governor of Sou-tchou-fou, whom he requested to
make known the purposes of the Chinese govern
ment. The Eussians are requested to proceed to the
mouth of the Black Dragon, on the Amour, and a
great Tartar mandarin is to be sent there to negociate
with them. With regard to the representatives of
the three other powers, their only course now is to
return to Canton, where Houang, the new governor,
wiU soon arrive with fuH powers to treat with them.
Such is the answer of the court of Pekin to the joint
note of the ambassadors. Our departure for the
North was, on the receipt of this reply, immediately
determined upon.

198 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHAPTEE VIII.
Departure of the ' Audacieuse ' for the Gulf of Pecheli. — Cape
Chantoung. — The Forts of Takou and the mouth of the Peiho.—
Conferences with three Imperial Commissioners sent by the Court
of Pekin. — The Son of Heaven refuses to open his Capital to the
foreign Ministers. — The Bombardment and Capture of the Forts
of Ta-kou. — The Admirals ascend the Pei-ho to the city of Tien
tsin. — The four Embassies take up their quarters in this Town.
' — Arrival of Kouei-Liang and of Houa-Cha-Na, the new Imperial
Commissioners. — Their Interview with the French Ambassador,—
Opening of the Conferences. — M. de Contades is appointed by
Baron Gros to take part in them. — Signature of the Treaty of
Tien-tsin. — Evacuation of the town by the Allied Fleets.— Ex
cursion to the Great Wall of China. — Return to Shang-hai.— The
'Audacieuse' springs aleak. — Six Weeks spent*! at Shang-hai
during the Dog-days.
On Wednesday the 15th of April, at seven o'clock in
the morning, Commander Vrignaud gave orders to
make ready ; and, in the midst of foggy and wet
weather, we set sail for the Gulf of Pecheli. A dense
mist completely hid the land ; and the yellow waves
of the Yang-tse-Kiang even disappeared under the
fog. In leaving the stream we encountered a stormy
sea and a fresh breeze. We thought that the bad
luck of our debut in the Atlantic had returned again/

THE GULF OF PECHELI. 199
But next day the sea fell, the good weather returned,
and we made, without difficulty, nine or ten knots an
hour under steam. We passed close to the place
where, in 1847, the frigate ' La Gloire ' and the war-
sloop ' La Victorieuse ' were lost at the same time.
Admiral Lapierre commanded the ' Gloire ;' and M.
Rignault de Genouilly, who is now the admiral, the
'Victorieuse.' The crews were saved by the energy
of the commander of the ' Victorieuse ' and the intre
pidity of Lieutenant Poidloue and Lieutenant Lape-
lin, who made a voyage of five hundred miles in a
long-boat to get assistance from Shang-hai. We have
very imperfect information about the geography of
these waters ; the soundings and reefs are not known,
and the charts are defective. At all events, a very
Hmited confidence can be placed in them. After a four-
days' passage, under a brilliant sun, but a bitterly-cold
air, we doubled Cape Chan-toung,or Cape Macartney,
and entered the Gulf of Pecheli. On the 20th of
April, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we came
in sight of the ' Minnesota,' the ' Furious,' and the
' America ;' and we cast anchor as near them as the
size of the ship permitted. Baron Gros immediately
entered into communication with his colleagues.
Three Imperial Commissioners, entrusted with a
verbal mission from the Emperor to treat with the
Western Nations, have given notice of their arrival.

200 AN EMBASSY TO CHTNA AND JAPAN.
One of them is Tan, the president of the War-office,
and governor-general of the province of Tcheli and
its dependencies. The two others are Tsoung, the
superintendent general of the pubHc granaries and
salt-pans of the empire ; and Ou, minister of the
council of the interior. The selection of a super
intendent of public granaries and salt-pans, as a
diplomatist, at first produced a little astonishment
among the European envoys. It had been intimated
to Yu, the prime-minister of the emperor Hien-Foung,
that full powers, by written document, would be
expected from the mandarins appointed to treat with
us. Now Tan, Tsoung, and Ou produced none. They
were therefore informed that they must comply with
what was expected in this respect before the foreign
ambassadors could consent to receive them. The
governor of Tcheli, in the name of his coUeagues
and in his own name, protested that the court of
Pekin was in perfect good faith, and asserted that
it is not in conformity with Chinese custom to confer •
such powers. Ky-Ing and I-Li-Pou no doubt had, on
the occasion of the first treaties, produced such depu
tations ; but they had fabricated them themselves,
and were degraded for this very reason. With re
gard to their own case,' they had been instructed by
the Celestial Emperor to go and meet the envoys
of the Western Nations, and had proceeded imme-

THE IMPERIAL COMMISSIONERS. 201
diately to the mouth of the Pei-ho to receive their
communications and transmit them to the court of
Pekin. A slight difference of opinion now occurred
between the four plenipotentiaries. Count Pouti
atine and Mr. Reed declared that they were quite
satisfied, and ready to enter into a conference. Lord
Elgin and Baron Gros persisted in their first resolu
tion, and refused to receive the Imperial Commis
sioners. Tan requested to be informed what were
the concessions demanded by the foreign envoys, in
order that he might be able to explain to the court
of Pekin what they were, in compliance with the
instructions he had received from his government.
The establishment of European legations at Pekin, or
at least the privilege to the representatives of foreign
powers of going, at certain periods in the year, to
the capital, at once provoked a warm protest and a
positive refusal from Tan. He also rejected the
proposal to open the great rivers and markets of the
interior of China. These points were quite inadmis
sible, and wiU not even be discussed. They would
concede to the foreign ministers the right of cor
responding directly, and on a footing of equality,
with one of the CouncHs. The laws against Chris
tianity would be revised. Four or five new ports, of
small importance, would be opened, including Swa-
tow and Chapoo. The indemnity for the burning of

202 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the factories, and for the expenses of the war, would
be one of the articles discussed ; but it was probable
that nothing would be obtained. Such, in short, was
the situation. The taking of Canton, it was evident,
had produced little effect ; and the Cabinet of Pekin
Still maintained its haughty and arrogant tone. The
two High Commissioners of France and England,
not finding the Mantchoo Tartar dynasty ready to
treat, resolved, after a councH of war had been
held on board the ' Audacieuse,' to proceed into the
country and strike another severe blow in the imme-*
diate neighbourhood of the capital. But in the
absence of the gunboats, which were kept back by
currents and contrary winds, all along the China Sea
from Cape Chantoung to Hong-Kong, they sought
to temporize ; and entering into a correspondence
with the Imperial Commissioners, they endeavoured,
but in vain, to persuade these personages by reasoning
to accede to their demands. The result was a more
firm conviction that force alone has any weight
with them. May 1, 1858.
There is no sweet breath of returning summer for
us. There is nothing to prompt us, with Bemi
BeUeau, to chant the praises of spring, and cele
brate —

TCHEN, THE MANTCHOO COLONEL. 203
' Avril, l'honneur et des bois
Et des mois.'
For us, alas ! there are neither leaves, flowers, buds,
nor singing-birds. There is a rough sea, a high
wind, and a fog, with minute, blinding dust floating
about in it. When the horizon is clear, which hap
pens once in eight days, we can see, far in the dis
tance, five black spots on a level with the water,
which are said to be the forts at the mouth of the
Pei-ho. There is no great scope for amusement.
Trevise sketches; Maubourg and Contades shoot
gulls; the disembarkation corps go through their
exercises on deck ; the gunners handle their pieces,
and the seamen hoist and lower alternately the fop-
masts of the ships. We are anchored at nine miles
from the coast; and the shores are so low that
we cannot even see them through a glass. We have
no compradors, nor any communication with the
Chinese villages. We Hve entirely on the ship's
stores, as if we were at sea ; and we begin to feel
the want of fruit and vegetables. From time to
time we perceived the large sail of a junk, bear
ing down upon us, hoisting a flag of truce. Then
two or three white and blue button mandarins would
come on board. We received them at the stern of
the ship ; and took them to M. Marques, our inter
preter. Then we entertained them to lunch. The

204 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
leader on these occasions was Tchen, the Mantchqo
colonel, who brought with him a communication
from the governor of Tcheli. M. Marques examined
carefully the external form and title of the despatch ;
for there is always reason to fear some ruse on the
part of the Chinese authorities, who attach so much
importance to mere form, and who are always de
sirous of exalting themselves in the eyes of their own
foUowers. The first day, the enumeration of the
titles of the high Chinese functionary occupied more
than half of the address ; while those of Baron Gros
were passed over in silence — the letters used in all
that referred to him implying inferiority on the part
of the representative of France. The ambassador
refused to receive the despatch, and sent it back
without opening it. Next day the communication
was returned ; this time as reverential in its terms
as it had been haughty before. The letters employed
were unexceptionable. The whole blame was thrown
upon the shoulders of an inexperienced clerk, who
knew nothing of diplomatic forms, and who had, of
course, been disgraced for his blunder.
The weather, which for some days had been cold,
dark, and foggy, graduaUy became more serene, the
sun broke through the mists, and the waves fell, so
that the plenipotentiaries had it in their power to
communicate with each other several times a-day.

WAR AGAIN. 205
It was pleasant to see the ships' boats skimming
along, now darting off from the ' Furious ' to the
'Audacieuse,' now from the 'Minnesota' to the
' America.' It often happened that a thought came
into the mind of the two High Commissioners at the
same time ; the whaling-boat of Lord Elgin and the
long-boat of Baron Gros would put off from both the
boats and meet half-way. Then a contest de politesse
foUowed as to which was to proceed. The two boats,
on these occasions, shipped their oars, and slowly sank
and rose with the swell till an explanation was come
to. The swarthy Eussians, the ruddy English, and
the sallow Yankees, often met on the deck of the
' Audacieuse.' In spite of the intercourse maintained with the
mandarins, everything is assuming a more warlike
appearance. The ' Fusee ' went to anchor near the
land, in order to show the French flag. Besplas,
with smaU boats belonging to the 'Audacieuse,'
received orders to set buoys over the bar and to
examine the passes at the opening of the Pei-ho.
This bar is nearly a mile long ; at full tide it is from
nine to ten feet deep, and two feet at low water.
Hence even long-boats are sometimes stranded on it.
When Besplas, with his men, approached a little
closer to the forts, they could see the cannons pointed
upon them and wheeled about as they moved from

206 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
place to place. The very matches were lighted, Yet
the Chinese went no farther ; they continued on the
defensive. Mandarins caHed out at the top of their
voices, and made signs to them to keep farther off.
The admirals made several reconnoissances in order to
select a proper place of disembarkation. A country
more parched, desolate, and miserable, it is impossible
to imagine. Nothing is to be seen but mud, slime,
salt-pans, and a few sand-hills. Not a trace .of vegeta
tion meets the eye. As the vessels successively
arrived they cast anchor alongside of the 'FuseV
The four gunboats, under the command of Besplas,
succeeded the same day in crossing the bar without
accident. Fifteen EngHsh gunboats joined them
next day. A gflt-button mandarin thereupon came
off to inform the commanders that they must retire,
threatening them, if they disobeyed, with the wrath
of the grand mandarin and the Emperor. They
replied that they were grieved to vex the Celestial
Emperor, but that they would not quit the anchorage,.
The decisive moment seemed at hand.
The Chinese made a great many preparations;
they constructed batteries, placed sand-bags, and
diminished the size of their embrasures, and con
nected different parts of their batteries, Cannons
were sent them from Tien-tsin and Pekin. Troops
of picked men arrived daily, as well as bodies of

PALLADIUS, THE ARCHIMANDRITE. 207
horsemen with banners, who pitched their tents upon
the banks. Heaps of powder and ball were coUected
on the ramparts. Before resorting to force, the High
Commissioners of the allies made a last attempt at
conciliation by addressing an ultimatum to the court
of Pekin. The Son of Heaven sent a reply in the
shape of a distinct refusal to open his capital to the
foreign ministers. The permanent or temporary
residence of representatives of the Western Powers at
Pekin was a sine quci non of the treaty, so all chances
of a pacific arrangement again fell to the ground and
left no course open but war. The 20th of May was
fixed for the attack.
PaUadius, the Archimandrite or Superior of the
Eussian CoUege of Pekin, had obtained permission
to visit Count Poutiatine with one of his pupils. He
had only taken forty-eight hours to come from Pekin
and get on board the ' America,' and he gave us very
interesting information regarding the capital. The
Emperor, who had been long sick, was better, but
more irritable than ever. No mandarin would dare
to speak to him about foreign affairs, far less advise
him to treat with the barbarians. There was con
siderable excitement in the town; provisions were
very dear, and the arrival of the junks laden with
rice was anxiously expected. The Son of Heaven
was occupied, in the great gardens or pleasure-grounds

208 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA ANDJTAPAN.
which surround the palace, in riding about with his
wives for the benefit of their health. He had some
thoughts, perhaps, of a flight into Tartary ! Palladius
had seen nothing in the course of his journey' but
what it was intended that he should see, having been
shut up in a closed conveyance. He calculates that
there are about ten thousand men forming the various
bodies of troops between Pekin and Tien-tsin, and he
counted seventy-two villages. The river is obstructed
in several places by junks and chains, but these im
pediments are not of any great moment. After
having remained for a short time on board ship, the
Archimandrite set out on his return to Pekin, Count
Poutiatine desiring that he should be at the head of
his community in the event of any outbreak in the
capital. Admiral Poutiatine and Mr. Eeed had several inter
views on the shore with the Imperial Commissioners.
One day the admiral urged them to give a fair
hearing, at least, to the just complaint of the foreign
powers ; insisting on the bootless spiUing of blood
that would follow an Hi-advised and stubborn course,
He referred to the approaching bombardment of the
forts. ' Oh !' said Tsoung, who is probably a Mantchoo, '
' it is of no great moment, they are merely Chinese f
This is the first time that we had heard any allusion
made to the two races who people China — to the

BOMBARDMENT OF THE TA-KOU FORTS. 209
conquering and the conquered race — or detected any
evidence of the separate existence of the two peoples.
Is the fusion of the two races less complete than is
generally supposed, or was this a mere blustering
talk of the envoy of the noble Mantchoo dynasty ?
On Thursday the 20th May, at eight minutes past
ten, the bombardment of the forts and batteries which
protect the mouth of the Pei-ho began. As soon as
the ebb permitted the gunboats to keep their position
in the middle of the stream, the order to advance
was given. Scarcely had the first English gunboat,
the ' Cormorant,' made all ready, than the Chinese,
contrary to their usual custom, opened fire upon
her. Captain Saumarez, without answering, con
tinued, amid a shower of baUs, to push about until
he had attained his position, and then he gave them
a broadside. The ' Fusee ' followed, and then the
' MitraiHe.' The latter, having got her screw en
tangled in a fishing-net, remained for a quarter of
an hour exposed to the fire of the enemy. She was
completely riddled with bullets. Eleven men were
killed on board. M. Bideau, a young ensign of
twenty, had his head swept off by a ball. The com
missary fell stunned by a baH, which, passing right
through the ship just above bis head, whipped off his
cap without injuring him. The 'Avalanche' was
uninjured. Onboard the 'Dragonne' a midshipman,

210 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
M. Baratier, was cut right in two and knocked over
into the sea, his sword falling upon the deck. The
mate of the ' Fusee,' M. Porquet, was also killed.
M. Eegnault, who from the yards commanded the
riflemen, was wounded by a ball in the cheek. In
aU we had four officers killed and thirty sailors
wounded. In about an hour the fire of the Chinamen
slackened. Almost aU their pieces were dismounted.
The admiral then ordered the disembarkation corps
to jump into the mud. They found the forts evacu
ated, and those who had defended them in flight.
Although the Chinese, who are in this respect similar
to the Turks, show a considerable amount of courage
behind stone walls, they rush in terror and confusion
from the point of the bayonet It was estimated
that about a hundred of the enemy had been killed.
The sailors, as usual, displayed great pluck and vigour.
The fire of the Chinese surprised every one by its
obstinacy and precision. The force was composed
undoubtedly of picked men, for aU the soldiers who
were killed wore the otter's taH and crow's feather.
The Chinese thought they would be attacked at
full tide, accordingly they had pointed all their
guns too high ; the balls passed, in fact, above the
rigging. This explains the great loss of officers,
and, relatively, the smaU number of sailors wounded.
Their pieces were of enormous calibre. Several of

EXPLOSION OF POWDER MAGAZINE. 211
them had been cast in Europe. One bore the mark
of the seventh year of the French Eepublic ; it was
one of those which did most mischief. Others were
of bronze and of great value. In all there were a
hundred and fifty pieces on the battery.
Higher up the river than the forts, a wide
estacade of junks supporting cannon prevented the
gunboats from proceeding farther. It was neces
sary to destroy them by battering them with cannon-
ball to make way for a reconnoissance. During the
action about fifty fire-boats or burning junks were
pushed off towards the ships. Luckily, a contrary
wind stranded them on the mud at the bend in the
river. Besides the cannon there was also a gingall
battery. A frightful accident marred our pleasure at the
success of the attack. Just as the disembarkation
corps and the pioneers entered into one of the forts,
a Chinese powder magazine exploded, blowing into
the air fifty of our men, among whom were several
officers. Some were killed on the spot; most of
them were horribly burned. I saw them carried on
board the ' Durance ;' it was dreadful to see so many
burned hands and faces. Nine in all had been killed.
After a short prayer from the chaplain, they were
dropped into the sea, deep into the mud of the Gulf
of Pecheli. We had the misfortune to lose in this

212 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
way M. de Gardanne, the grandson of the celebrated
Persian ambassador, who was one of our midshipmen
on board the ' Audacieuse.' Brought on board, he
was affectionately tended by his messmates, but he
died after much suffering in a few hours.
The two detachments of the aHies took possession
of the deserted fortifications, and placed howitzers at
each extremity of the encampment, as a precaution
against a sudden attack. A sHght resistance was
attempted in the large vHlage of Ta-kou, where
batteries and earthworks had been hastily thrown up.
But the grapeshot of the gunboats and the Minie"
rifles, which brought down the Chinamen a thousand
yards off, soon drove them from this defence, and the
English and French gunboats, meeting with no
farther obstacle, proceeded onwards to Tien-tsin,
under the command of the admirals.
I took advantage of an invitation from Lieutenant
BaUly, of the ' Phlegeton,' and M. Besplas, to share
their tent with them for a day or two. Four great
mats, firmly fixed to bamboos, protected us alter
nately from the heat of the sun and the chill of the
night air. A sailor did our cooking, and we inter
cepted Chinamen on the way, who, on payments
readily supplied us with provisions. AH our copper
money went in this way, and then we had recourse
to barter. We exchanged a bottle for a hen, a well-

SUICIDE OF TCHEN, THE MANTCHOO COLONEL. 213
worn pocket-handkerchief for a bunch of white ra
dishes. With a little dexterity it is possible to secure
a dozen of eggs for a bit of ship biscuit, and a very
good salad for an empty buUyflask. The water we
are using is brought from the ships. That of the
Pei-ho, mixed with mud and animal and vegetable
substances in a state of decomposition, it would be
certain death to drink. A long line of sentries be
longing to the allies were placed on watch over the
entrances to the camp, and kept a sharp look-out
over the plain. At four o'clock in the morning the
bugle was sounded ; every one, stiff with a hard bed
on the hard ground, was glad to be up and to return
to duty. There was a certain amount of poetry in the
scene at daybreak. The rising sun, the taU waving
reeds, the noisy flight of the guHs and sea-fowl, pro
duced an impression altogether new. We explored
aU parts of the camp. There were lying about frag
ments of broken bows, arrows, gunpowder soaked in
water, gingaUs, matchlocks, cannons, banners, tents,
heaps of balls, case-shot, and arms of every kind. It
was evident that the commander of the fort had
spared no precautions. Poor man! he lay himself
stark and stiff among the ruins. When he saw that
his men had ceased to fire, and that the foreign sea
men were clambering over the ramparts, he could not
survive his defeat. He threw himself on his knees at

214 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the brink of the ditch, and, with his long sword, cut
a fatal gash right across his throat, before our sailors
had the presence of mind to rush in and prevent him.
He died immediately. This was Tchen, the Mant-
choo colonel, whom we had received on board, and
to whom we would have been delighted to have given
a warm and friendly reception. We took a walk
several times towards the village of Ta-kou. The
space which separates the town from the camp was
literally covered with conical hats, which the Chinese
warriors had dropped in the hurry of their flight.
We saw the corpses of two or three Chinese soldiers
with their heads cut open and their hands tied be
hind their backs, whom the mandarins had caused to
be executed while they remained themselves at their
posts, for having run off a little sooner than their
commanders. The most of the streets are deserted,
and the appearance of the viUage is miserable in
the extreme. All the houses are bunt of mud. A
pagoda rises in the midst. Flocks of pigeons have
built their nests in the lofty trees which surround it.
When a gun is fired they fly off in a great cloud, but
they soon return. The English and French officers
come here to have a little pigeon-shooting of a novel
kind, and also to add, to a small extent at least, to
our limited supply of fresh food. The view was
dreary. In one direction, as far as the eye could

WE ASCEND THE PEI-HO. 215
reach, there extended a vast plain, covered with salt
marshes. Small earthen tumuli, said to be burial-
places, alone broke the monotony of the landscape.
In another direction was the sea. On the horizon
we couldvdiscern the long Une of the European ships,
Ht up faintly in the setting sun, and anchored so far
from land that the mandarins and their soldiers must
have thought themselves perfectly safe from attack.
Meantime the admirals continued their progress to
Tien-tsin, and reached that place without having met
with any resistance. The inhabitants, who were
still under the influence of the terror produced by
the cannon of Ta-kou, tendered their submission in
every direction. The mandarins kept out of the
way. The leading inhabitants brought provisions in
abundance to the gunboats. The ambassadors, in
formed of aU this, hastened on to Tien-tsin, in order
to judge for themselves of the influence produced
upon the Chinese authorities by this new defeat.
Baron Gros had no sooner arrived than he sent us
instructions to join him.
On the 1st of June, at six o'clock in the evening,
we left the camp of Ta-kou, and went on board the
English gunboat, ' No. 84,' which carried stores to
the ships. Flavigny, suffering at the time from
fever, remained at the mouth of the Pei-ho. With
our backs resting upon a cannon, we spent the night

216 ' AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
under the starUt sky, on the crowded deck of the
little steamer. The bands of the 'Nemesis' and
' Calcutta ' were on board. One hundred English
foot soldiers were also on deck, on their way to act
as a guard to Lord Elgin. Our voyage was easily
accomplished. Just as day broke we came in sight
of an old tower with battlements, which had at one
time been fortified, although now in ruins. It stands
at the entrance to Tien-tsin. Two incidents only
occurred to break the monotony of the passage. At
the place where the current is strongest we cut
right through a Chinese vessel, those on board, hav
ing no conception of the speed with which we ad
vanced, not clearing away in time from before us.
The twelve seamen were sent sprawUng into the
mud, where they roared lustily, and puddled round
the gunboat, which drew up with a ' stop her,' to
pick them up. The river, however, was not wide
at this part, and they all managed to gain the bank
in some way or other without our assistance. The
other incident might have suppUed Shakspeare with
a picture. At a bend in the Pei-ho, on the bank left
bare by the receding tide, the corpse of a Chinaman
lay in the mud. Two large buH-dogs, with their fore-
paws upon the chest of the dead body, tearing at
each other unmercifuUy, disputed which should have
the prey. It made one shudder to look at the heads

TIEN-TSIN. 217
of the ferocious brutes, and the mutilated remains of
the man, as they stood out in the morning sun.
It is twenty-five miles from Ta-kou to Tien-tsin
by land, but more than twice as far by the river.
The Pei-ho has many windings, and some of its
turns are so rapid that the gunboats had the
greatest difficulty in getting over them. The
' Fusee ' ran aground forty-two times, the ' Cormorant '
thirty-two times. When the English and French
gunboats stuck in the mud, they threw a rope to
the Chinamen on shore, who foUowed our progress in
erowds, wonder-stricken at the sight of the strange
monsters which were snorting and puffing up their
rivers. They willingly lent a hand to puU us up.
These poor creatures would take no money from us,
being afraid of the mandarins, but they were highly
satisfied with the ship's biscuits which the seamen
gave them. They seemed to be a great deHcacy for
them. Steam navigation was something quite new
to the people of these parts, and completely over
turned aU their ideas in navigation. They seemed lost
in astonishment when they saw these vessels going
on against wind and tide, and never stopping. The
junks which go up to Tien-tsin only ascend with the
tide, and cast anchor at ebb. In this way they lose
twelve hours out of the twenty-four, and spend four
days over a journey which European ships can ac-

218 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
complish in one. The country is verdant and ad
mirably cultivated, but its flatness and monotony
make it pall terribly upon one. The farm-houses
and villages are built of baked earth, like stables and
cow-houses in Normandy. The horses are small and
ugly, the asses and mules are superb. In the villages,
there are troops of dogs running about nearly in a wild
state, which snarl and show their teeth at foreigners.
All along the banks of the river the inhabitants, who
were collected in long crowds to see us pass, betrayed
in their looks an odd mixture of curiosity and fear.
Our gunboats are the first European vessels which
have crossed the bar of the Pei-ho, and broken in
upon the old barriers of China. Lord Macartney in
1793, and Lord Amherst in 1816, went up to Pekin
in the character of tributaries, and in mandarin
junks. About nine o'clock in the morning we arrived
before Tien-tsin. Immense stores of salt, rice, and
grain, covered with mats, were heaped upon the left
bank of the stream. The suburbs extend along the
right bank, and at the termination of each street
a crowd was collected to see our gunboats pass. The
roofs were covered with spectators. Junks moored to
the shore, and bridges of boats, frequently interrupted
our course. At last, however, we dropped anchor at
a spot pointed out to us by Admiral Seymour, where
the Grand Canal abuts into the Pei-ho.

RESIDENCE OF THE AMBASSADORS. 219
Here was the yamoun which the two ambassadors
had fixed upon as their residence. Lord Elgin occu
pied the left side of the building, and Baron Gros the
right side. This yamoun, which has somewhat faUen
from its high estate, was built by the Emperor Kien-
Loung, one of the ancestors of the present monarch,
its founder having made it his summer residence,
as is proved by various inscriptions which are still
legible. It has been selected as the head-quarters of
the ambassadors, in consequence of its proximity to
the gunboats. Behind there is an extensive cemetery,
from which fetid exhalations arise ; then there is a
smaU village, and beyond it is the open plain stretch
ing away tiU lost in the distance. The Pei-ho makes a
great bend in this place before proceeding again towards
Pekin. Two EngUsh and French detachments were
entrusted with the defence of the yamoun, and by night
the caU of the European sentries woke the echoes of the
old abode of the Chinese monarchs. During the first
days of the occupation there were only 594 French
men and 2000 Englishmen in this town of many
hundred thousand souls. The two forces made but a
small army. But gradually reinforcements arrived
from PecheU and Canton, and our small army was in
creased to five thousand men, a number which enabled
us to bid defiance to all the attacks of our enemies.
We had no sooner disembarked than we took possession

220 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
of the tent which had been set aside for our accom
modation. We found nothing but the bare waUs,'
We had hard-wood tables brought into it, on which
we placed our beds. Then Sin, the intendant of the
yamoun, brought us a collection of benches, chairs,
and Chinese tables. We spread mats upon the
floor, and covered the waUs with painted papers re
presenting gods and heroes. We were surrounded
on all sides with bloodthirsty dragons and fantastic
monsters of every shape, but they did not in the
least interfere with sleep in our new quarters, which
were very comfortable when contrasted with the
accommodation to which for some time we had been
accustomed. Two grey-bearded Tartar veterans were
appointed to wait upon us. But the duties of old
Ming-Tian-Na and his coUeague were Ught. They
had to keep our cups constantly full of tea, to drive
away the flies, and to bring us from time to time
great lumps of ice, which in the veriest excess and
extravagance of luxury we made them set down in
the middle of the tent to melt, thereby to cool the
sultry air. When not so engaged, these worthies
were always to be found smoking their pipes uncon
cernedly, sipping tea out of small teacups, and
chewing melon-seeds, or else lying sound asleep
across the threshold.
Admiral Poutiatine and Mr. Eeed took up theif

A RIDE ON THE PEKIN ROAD. 221
quarters on the other side of the stream. The
Chinaman whose property they had selected as their
abode, not caring much to accommodate barbarians,
and fearing the animosity of the mandarins, offered
jthem six thousand piastres, or nearly 1500?., if they
would agree to go somewhere else. There is some
thing very Chinese in the idea of a landlord proposing
to pay a person 1500?. not to become his tenant !
The Great Council has written officially to the
ambassadors to inform them that two high Imperial
Commissioners have been chosen to confer with
them, from among the highest personages of the
empire. WhHe awaiting their arrival, we em
ployed our leisure in visiting the town and its
environs. In the morning, before daybreak, we
rode out along the Pekin road, a sort of wide
causeway, which is raised to some height above the
level of the plain. We stopped at the marble
bridge which has been buHt upon the Pei-ho, and
which is nearly two miles from our flag-staff. To
venture farther would have been imprudent, for
there were Chinese soldiers and small encampments
of Tartar horsemen scattered over the country. We
explored the town in every direction, but could find
nothing in it worth looking at. Like aU the
Chinese towns, it is surrounded by bigh walls. It
differed however from Shang-hai and Canton, in

222 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
having wider streets, greater width being necessary
to permit of the passage of the heavy waggons of the
country, which are drawn by mules and oxen. In the
south of China aU the traffic is carried on by men,
who act as beasts of burden, the goods being strapped
on their backs. In the north of China, on the other
hand, there are roads and carriages. The whole com
mercial activity of the town of Tien-tsin seems to be
confined to the suburbs, and chiefly to that which
adjoins the Great Canal. In this extensive quarter
are the shops in which the furs, paper-hangings, fans,
and antiquities are displayed. We observed several
European products among the wares exhibited for
sale, including light bright-coloured Eussian wooHen
cloths, Manchester cottons, and lucifer matches of
German manufacture. We saw several caricatures
at our expense, which the Chinamen, when they saw
us coming, picked up hurriedly and pushed out of
the way. At least they did so at first, but, when
they found that we were quite amused with them,
they showed them to us, and aUowed us to take
them away. One represented a European accoutred
after the most outrageous fashion, buying a hedge
hog, working himself into a state of excitement to
drive a hard bargain, but at last making the pur
chase with a big bag of money. Another represented
an English officer on horseback, holding his white

WE ARE CARICATURED AT TIEN-TSIN. 223
umbrella in one hand, and the reins in the other, with
a cigar projecting from his mouth, and a hat stuck
on after a fashion as impossible as the attitude of the
rider. We gave them some European drawings, wliich
they showed great anxiety to obtain, and next day
we saw copies of them, which however had already
acquired a grotesque appearance, for the Chinese
have no idea of art free from exaggeration or carica
ture. The beau ideal, the beautiful of the ancient
sculptors, has no existence for the Chinese mind.
Among us an expansive forehead is generally looked
upon as an indication of inteUectual power ; but in
China this is not the case. The Chinese are of
opinion that the stomach is the seat of the mind, and
the consequence is that the extent of a man's mental
capacity is measured by the amplitude of his ab
domen. Now, I would ask, what chances the fine
arts have among a people entertaining such an
opinion ? They will never, of course, produce any
thing akin to the Apollo Belvidere, but will manu
facture no end of Poussahs and Bouddhas, and other
monstrosities of a like kind. Their productions by
their quaintness may amuse or provoke a laugh from
those who examine them, but can never waken any
of those higher faculties in human nature, which it is
the true object of art to gratify and foster.
Long-boats, weU armed, were sent to take sound-

224 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
ings in the Great Imperial Canal at a distance of
several miles from the ships. The canal is not
navigable in consequence of the locks, certain parts
of it being often left dry. The junks are drawn
over the mud in these places, but this could not be
done with the gunboats, in consequence of the screw.
The Chinese are delighted with the American flag,
which they call the banner of flowers. It displays, as
is weU known, stars and stripes. There are thirteen
stripes, in commemoration of the thirteen States of
the confederation, and as many stars as there are
States at the time. The number of stars varies in
consequence of this. Several of us went to see the
Hotel of the Four Felicities, wliich is the Hotel du
Louvre, the great hotel of the place. A shabby
affair it certainly is. Lord Elgin was quite struck
with the absence of all luxurious habits, and even of
ordinary comforts, wliich was apparent everywhere
in China. In India, diamonds, jewels, precious
stones, rich embroidered stuffs in gold and silver, are
displayed with Oriental magnificence in the great
towns, but here there is nothing of the kind. It is
not possible to conceive human abodes more comfort
less than the yamouns where we are quartered ; the
occupants must freeze in them during the winter.
From what we have seen we are inclined to think that
Canton is the finest and most interesting town in

BERNARD PEI-HO. 225
China. The population of Tien-tsin is a mere popu
lation of Coolies, and it possesses no industry. The
town owes its importance entirely to its position at
the junction of the Great Imperial Canal, of the
Pei-ho, and the road to Pekin, which makes it the
entrepot of the capital. If this port is opened in
future to the commerce of the West, Tien-tsin will
become a great mart for the manufactures of Great
Britain, which are destined, no doubt, ultimately to
clothe the hordes of Tartary. There will spring up
at this place an immense traffic in European pro
ducts. The province of PecheU is poor, and produces
nothing. Its inhabitants are almost naked. It
could only give furs in exchange, but these furs are
good, cheap, and abundant. But, as we have said, it
is its position wliich gives importance to Tien-tsin.
On going on board the ' Avalanche ' we made the
acquamtance of a countryman whom we had not
seen before. This was young Bernard Pei-ho, a little
¦Chinaman of five years of age, who had been found
alive among the ruins of the forts, and whom the
admiral had adopted, christening him in the fashion
above set forth. His tail had been docked ; he had
been equipped as a cabin-boy ; and now M. Bernard
Pei-ho, made much of by the sailors, talked French,
and indignantly pushed away every Chinaman who,
came on board lest he should be taken home again.

226 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
When the disembarkation corps of the ' Avalanche '
mounted guard at the yamoun, young Pei-ho came
on shore with them and joined in the military salute.
A few clays after hearing from the Great Council
the two Imperial Commissioners arrived at Tien-tsin.
The attaches of the English embassy were riding in
the country as they came up, and the latter were
terribly scandalized when they saw these barbarians
treading with impunity on the domain of the Son of
Heaven. They could not help showing their indig
nation. The suite seemed equally surprised. That
evening the two noble Commissioners sent, according
to Chinese custom, their red visiting cards to the
Ambassadors. The following day, having been as
certained to be a lucky day, was fixed upon for the
first interview with Lord Elgin. It was arranged that
the parties should meet in a pagoda situated without
the town, at some distance from the waU. Bellecourt,
Trevise, and I went, out of curiosity, to the spot, and
on our way home had to pass through a dense crowd
of Chinamen for nearly an hour, without any weapon
of defence saving our silk umbrellas, and without any
other escort than two seamen. There was not one
trace of ill-will to be observed on any one of the
faces turned upon us, but a very great amount of
wonder and curiosity. Some of them were clad in
long white or blue dresses, others in nankeen — a stuff

INTERVIEW WITH IMPERIAL COMMISSIONERS. 227
better known of old than now in France. All along
the road there were small shops and stalls, where
they were selling apples and apricots and drinking
iced tea. Ice is much used at Tien-tsin, and is pre
served in large pieces with great skill and care.
Next day we proceeded in turn, with aU due
pomp, to our interview with the Imperial Commis
sioners. I will quote the account of it which was
given in the official journal. ' Tien-tsin, June 7.
' Yesterday afternoon the official interview took
place between the plenipotentiaries of France and
the two high Chinese dignitaries who have recently
arrived from Pekin. At three o'clock the cortege
left the yamoun where the two ambassadors of France
and England have fixed their residence, and drew
out on the banks of the river. The seamen of the
disembarkation corps of the "Dragonne," in full dress,
went first, foUowed by the band of the " Nemesis "
and a compact body of soldiers and marines. The
ambassador followed in his palanquin, carried by
eight Coolies in gray silk dresses fringed with red,
the national colours being trimmed round their hats.
The chairs of the secretaries and attaches of the
mission, and those of the officers of the gunboats,
were carried behind that of his Excellency. The

228 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
commander of the " Audacieuse," on horseback, com
manded the escort. A body of foot- soldiers and
marines belonging to the "Avalanche," closed the
procession. The cortege crossed the Grand Imperial
Canal over a bridge of boats, and proceeded along
the suburb which adjoins the city wall. The high
Chinese functionaries, on the other hand, proceeded
to the interview with the customary attendance of
sateUites, heralds, and servants. From the starting-
point to the place of meeting, that is to say, for a
distance of two miles and upwards, the French am
bassador passed through a double line of Chinamen,
crowding on each side of the way, quiet, amazed,
staring in wonder, or pushing about keenly past each
other to have a glance into the palanquins. The
number of the spectators, without exaggeration,
might be estimated at more than a hundred thou
sand. The procession afterwards entered a small '
plain, in the midst of which, upon a hiUock, stood a
Buddhist pagoda or temple, where the interview was
to take place. This temple is only two hundred ;!
years old, and is therefore, in China, without any -
prestige from its antiquity ; but it forms a rather ,
complete specimen of Chinese architecture, display
ing, as it does, that assemblage of courts, porticoes, and
gardens; which give this style of architecture a very
striking and lively appearance. The plain aU round '

MILITARY MUSIC. 229
is parched and treeless, giving one a very poor idea
of the vegetation of the country. To the right rises
the wall of the town, with its battlements. It still
bears traces of the attack of the rebels three years
ago. It is fortified, and still shows a few cannons,
although the best had been removed to Ta-kou, and
are now on board our vessels. Here and there a
heavy waggon, which might have dated from the
days of Attila, is seen crossing the plain, with huge
wheels painted red, drawn along by oxen or mules.
Far away in the distance a small Chinese camp,
with tents and banners, stands out against the
horizon. ' The farther they advanced the more compact
became the crowd. The Chinese police had the
greatest difficulty in keeping it back from the en
trance to the pagoda. The ambassador approached
while the Chinese band was playing. Its feeble
strains were soon drowned in the din of our mflitary
music. He entered, and was received by the two
dignitaries, who stood in the midst of a crowd of
mandarins of aU the buttons. After the usual com
pliments were over, and the various members of the
embassy and officers of the squadron had been
presented to the great men, every one sat down, and
tea was introduced and passed round. Baron Gros
took his seat between the two Chinese Commissioners.

230 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
One of them, Kouei-Liang, is allied to the Imperial
family. He is, besides, minister of the Eastern Palace
and director-general of the affairs of the Council of
Justice. The other, Houa-Cha-Na, is president of the
CouncH of Finance, general of the Chinese Tartar
army and of the blue-bordered banner. The full
powers were exchanged. Those which expressed the
wHl of the august Emperor and Son of Heaven were
folded in a fine tissue of yellow silk, — yellow being the
colour and badge of the Imperial famHy. Those of our
ambassador, although not expressing all his honours
after the pompous Oriental style, are no less precise
in essential matters of detaH. The representatives
of the court of Pekin examined long, and with much
attention, the signature of the sovereign of the great
empire of France ; and having done so they protested
that it was their anxious wish to re-establish peace
and harmony between our country and China. After
some firm and energetic words from Baron Gros on
this subject the conference broke up, and each party
quitted the place of meeting in opposite directions,
the French saHors openly shouldering their bayonets,
the Chinese soldiers doing their best to hide their
long swords from the strangers.'
Such was the account of the interview given in the
'Moniteur.' The full powers of the Chinese plenipotentiaries

THE CONFERENCES. 231
having now been admitted to be complete, the con
ference for peace immediately opened. Mr. Bruce,
a brother of Lord Elgin, assisted by Mr. Wade, the in
terpreter, appeared on behaK of England. Contades,
accompanied by M. Marques, represented France in
the absence of M. de BeUecourt,the premier secretary.
who was suffering from a violent attack of dysentery.
It is the custom for the High Imperial Commissioners
of China not to enter into discussion themselves, but
to negociate through their subordinates. On this
occasion they said that they desired to meet with
the noble ambassadors on occasions of ceremony
merely. They would be grieved, they said, to appear
before them when in anger or heated by the fire of
discussion. Contades, foUowed by M. Marques, passed
through the town daily, in his sedan-chair, on his
way to the conferences. In the morning he received
the instructions of Baron Gros concerning the part
of the treaty which was to be discussed. In the
evening he gave him an account of what had been
attained, and of the squabbles that had taken place
before each point was conceded. The duplicity, bad
faith, and subtlety of the Chinese diplomatists are
proverbial ; but they were met by the ability and
self-possession of our young colleague, who, although
inexperienced in such a trust, acquitted himself,
throughout this delicate mission, to the entire satis-

232 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
faction of Baron Gros ; and indeed so efficiently as
to receive the congratulations of the English am
bassador. The four powers having combined in a
joint application to the Chinese government, every
concession obtained by one was of course for the
benefit of all the others. After a discussion more
animated than any which had preceded it, Contades
it was who secured the opening of Nankin to
European commerce. ' A man might be asked,' said
the.Imperial Commissioners in talking of opening the
Yang-tse-Kiang, ' to cut off his arm or his leg, but
he could not possibly be asked to cut open his body.'
The Chinese commissioners, however, changed their
minds, and consented to this process of suicide for the
advantage of the Western Nations. A third Chinese
plenipotentiary joined the others during the confer
ences. This was old Ky-Ing, who, after being so long .
disgraced by the court of Pekin, had been dragged
from his obscurity and raised to the honourable
position indicated by the title of Imperial Com
missioner. There was some mystery connected with
his arrival. There could be no doubt that he was
making mischief underhand. He had scarcely set
foot in the town of Tien-tsin when the feeUngs of the
inhabitants underwent a change towards us. Sir
Michael Seymour was insulted in the suburbs, several
English officers were stoned, and there was every

SAD FATE OF KY-ING. 233
appearance of an impending row. The EngUsh
thought they could detect, in these demonstrations
of the mob, a return to the old policy of China which
had been largely turned to account at Canton. ' You
must see,' the mandarins of the south were wont to
say, ' that we are most anxious to throw open our
cities, but how can we control the people ? You see
what they are ! Just look at them,— they won't allow
you to enter!' The English felt so thoroughly
convinced that the old Cantonese game had been
repeated, that they resolved to use strong measures
to put an end to all annoyance from this quarter.
Accordingly Ky-Ing was sent for. The report found
at Canton was shown him ; about its meaning and
purport there could be no mistake; there was no
room for doubt this time. The poor old man was
frightened, and quite lost his presence of mind.
Feeling that the barbarians could have no more
confidence in him, he hurriedly left Tien-tsin to return
to the capital. As had been expected, the population
of the town showed no farther symptoms of hostility.
A few days afterwards we learned from the Pekin
Gazette the painful news that Ky-Ing had been con
demned to death for having left his post without
permission. He had not been successful, and, ac
cording to Chinese custom, suffered for his failure
irrespective of merit or demerit on his part. As the

234 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
irresolution of old age was dreaded in Ky-Ing, four
Mongol princes were sent to him by the Emperor to
advise him to strangle himself in prison. They
perhaps may have assisted him in the deed, which
was at all events accompUshed. Thus perished a
man whose name was long familiar to Europeans
in the negociations between them and the Celestial
Empire, and who, after having held a position of the
very highest distinction, had at the close of his life
been reduced to the lowest depth of human misery
and degradation.
The conferences threatened to be continued longer
than was at first expected, in consequence of the
stubbornness of the delegates of the Chinese Com
missioners, who were only forced step by step to
yield their ground, and who were constantly attempt
ing to come back upon concessions already granted.
The open and impetuous character of the French
was matched against Chinese cunning and subtlety.
There was, however, one thing in our favour, viz.
the high price of provisions, which was beginning to
irritate the population and to cause alarm to the
Chinese government. There are no more junks
arriving at Tien-tsin. The measure of rice, which sold
at forty coppers before the recent events, now sells at
one hundred and forty. Accordingly, at each fresh
demand made by the Europeans, the reply of the

SIGNATURE OF THE TREATY. 235
Chinese authorities invariably was, ' If we admit it,
will you go away?' and we were obliged to disappoint
them by adding, ' There is one item more.' At last
the day for signing the treaty came, and of the
ceremony attending it the description foUows : —
' Tien-tsin, June 28.
' The 27th of June, 1858, will hereafter be ac
counted one of the most solemn and memorable
days in the history of the relations between France
and the Celestial Empire. After a discussion which
lasted for fifteen days with the two high dignitaries
sent from Pekin, the negociations were at last brought
to a close, and the French nation having obtained
all the satisfaction to which they were legitimately
entitled, the treaty of peace, commerce, and naviga
tion was signed last night. At half-past five o'clock
Baron Gros left his yamoun to proceed to the
pagoda of Hai Kouang, where the Imperial Commis
sioners awaited him. When he appeared upon the
quay the ships anchored in the Grand Canal and in
the Pei-ho slung up their colours ; while the sailors
manning the yards gave five good cheers for the
Emperor, to which the English added an enthusiastic
hurrah. An immense crowd covered the river banks.
Admiral Eigault de Genouilly, on horseback and in
full dress, followed by all the commanders of the

236 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
French ships of war, also on horseback and in Ml
dress, headed the procession. The escort followed.
It was composed of detachments of the disembarka
tion corps, of the artHlery, engineers, and marines
of the French section of that little army which, by
the vigour of its blows, the ability of its leaders, and
the boldness of its enterprises, in six months' time
had forced to submit to the will of France and Eng
land an empire which has four hundred millions of
inhabitants, and boasts of possessing an army of eight
hundred thousand men. The national flag was car
ried by a non-commissioned officer of marines in
front of the ambassador. Two officers on horseback,
Messrs. Besplas and d'OzouvHle, escorted Baron Gros.
His chair was followed by those of Messrs. Du Chesne
de Bellecourt, de Contades, de Moges, de La Tour
Maubourg, de Trevise, and de Flavigny, the secre
taries and attaches to the mission. The interpreter,
M. Marques, preceded the ambassador, and twenty
chairs with the officers of the squadron, who had
come up from the Gulf of Pecheli' to be present at
the ceremony, followed the representative of France.
On his arrival in the interior court of the pagoda
Baron Gros was received by the two High Commis
sioners, who stood in the midst of a crowd of manda
rins with buttons of all the colours. They then sat
down and drank tea, and congratulated each other

MUTUAL FELICITATIONS. 237
on the peace and mutual good understanding so
happUy re-established. The ambassador requested
the Imperial Commissioners to sign first under the
Chinese text, reserving the right for himseK to sign
first under the French text. Kouei-Liang and Houa-
Cha-Na, accordingly took their brushes and drew or
wrote, one after the other, the letters of their names
upon the different copies of the treaty. Py-Hen,
their secretary, who had made himseH very busy
during the conference, stamped the treaty with a
great seal which had recently arrived from Pekin.
When Baron Gros had attached his name to the
French treaty, the troops mustered in the courts of
the pagoda presented arms and gave three cheers for
the Emperor. His Excellency then requested Kouei-
Liang to fix upon the copy which was to be sent to
Pekin ; when he had made bis selection he handed
it to him, after having folded it in a rich cover of
blue sHk, bound with gold, which had been brought
from Paris. Then turning towards the Commis
sioners, Baron Gros expressed the anxious interest
he took in the welfare and prosperity of China, and,
on concluding his short speech, drank to the health
of the emperor Hien-Foung. The two high digni
taries rephed in a few words of courtesy to the
ambassador, and filling their porcelain cups with
Chinese wine, heated and sweetened after the custom

238 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
of the country, they drank to the health of the
.sovereign of the great French empire, turning them ,
upside down to show that they had left nothing at the
bottom. Then tea and fruit, and all the delicacies of
a Chinese dinner, were brought, great preparation
having been made for the occasion. After the
repast Baron Gros took leave of the two High Com
missioners, and the cortege set out in the order in
which it had come. When darkness came, torches
were lighted, the glare of which feH upon the long
lines of spectators who crowded the streets, and
sparkled upon the waters of the canal and Pei-ho.
The effect was magnificent. The men on board the
English gunboats, and the English troops ranged
along the quay, kept cheering every now and then.
The French gunboats discharged fireworks, which lit
up their masts and rigging, while Bengal fires, set
ablaze at the arrival of the ambassador in the court
of the yamoun, brought into strong reUef the quaint
gables of the Chinese houses. Their upturned eaves
and fantastic images in the torchlight lost all traces
of the decay to which they fast were hastening, and
they seemed to acquire new life from their contact
with western civilization.
' I forgot to say that after the signature of the
treaty the ambassador of France asked Kouei-
Liang to give him the identical brush which he had

RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY. 239
used in writing his name, and that Kouei-Liang,
handing it to him, had requested to obtain in return
the pen with which the ambassador had signed the
treaty of Tien-tsin.
' From this day a new era will begin for China.
The great and difficult problem of opening the
Chinese empire has been solved. Stepping forth
from an isolation which has lasted for four thousand
years, she is about to enter into the general life of the
world, and to be brought in contact with the activity,
intelligence, science, and commercial enterprise of
the Western nations. The first act of the French
ambassador, after the signature of the treaty, was to
ask the two High Commissioners for the immediate
liberation of the Christians who had been detained
for a long series of years in the interior of the em
pire. He mentioned the names of some of them,
and obtained a promise that an order would be
despatched from Pekin .ordering their immediate
release.' Such was the account given in the official paper
of what took place on the occasion of the sig
nature of the treaty at Tien-tsin. Although the
treaties had been signed, the plenipotentiaries re
solved not to leave the town until they were ratified,
unconditionally and in toto, by the Emperor Hien-
Foung. This step was adopted under the advice of

240 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
those who had the most profound acquaintance with
Chinese policy. It was in vain for the Commis
sioners to protest that what was asked was quite
contrary to Chinese custom ; that the very proposal
would expose them — the Chinese Commissioners — to
have their heads cut off by order of the Emperor.
The ambassadors insisted on accomplishing their
object; and Kouei-Liang and Houa-Cha-Na, very
much against their will, were obliged at last to trans
mit to Pekin this fresh demand of the barbarians.
In the mean time we were obHged to remain
pretty close in our quarters at the yamoun, having
various duties connected with the mission to attend
to. We breakfasted of a morning in our rooms,
with some of our friends from the squadron. In the
evening we dined with Baron Gros ; and then, taking
a seat under the kiosk of the yamoun, we would
listen to the lively notes of the English and French
bands, Which roused the sleeping echoes of Tien-tsin.
The subjects of the Middle Empire did not appear
to be at all taken with European music. Neither
'God save the Queen,' nor 'Partant pour la Syrie'
eUcited the faintest spark of approbation. One tune
only seemed to please them, and ,that was ' La Cas-
quette du Pere Bugeaud.' When it was played, they
kept time with their feet, and laughed and grinned
to each other. Every Sunday military mass was

THE PEI-HO. 241
said in a pagoda situated behind our yamoun. An
aged banyan-tree sheltered the congregation from
the rays of a scorching sun; whHe in the midst1 of
the court an altar was constructed, tastefully decked
with branches and banners, by Captain Labbe, of the
Engineers. The heat was overpowering, and accom
panied almost daily with a north wind, in which floated
a thick brown dust, which fiUed the air, and found
its way, in spite of all precautions, into the apart
ments. Violent typhoons and storms of dust occurred.
In a terrific tempest of this kind, during which the
sky was completely hid, the gunboats were blown
from their moorings, and nearly stranded ; while the
temperature suddenly fell from 101° Fahrenheit to
65° or 68°. From this occurring in one afternoon,
it may be concluded that the climate of Tien-tsin,
although infinitely preferable to that of Shang-hai, is
still very unhealthy for Europeans.
The bed of the Pei-ho is the great drain and sewer
of northern China. The waters of the river are so
very offensive, that the saHors were not aHowed free
permission to bathe in them. The little Chinese
children seemed to be under no similar prohibition ;
they were constantly puddHng about in the stream,
going and coming from the shore to the boats ; wading
out with eggs in one hand and apricots in the other,
and trudging back through the mud in triumphant

242 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
glee when they got a copper or two in exchange for
their eatables. Nothing could be more amusing than
to see this crowd of youngsters in full chace after a
bottle floating down the stream, and to witness the
dexterity they displayed in getting hold of an article
which could possess no great value for them. Empty
bottles were thrown overboard to amuse the men on
watch, and to the infinite delight of the little China
men. It was amusing to watch the scramble. To
punish a man who had thrown stones at the soldiers,
we put him into the cangue, or Chinese stocks, a sort
of heavy collar fastened round the neck, and made
him squat, under his burden, at the door of our
yamoun ; but the punishment was too light, for the
rascal smoked his pipe and drank his tea as uncon
cernedly as if he had been sitting by his own doorpost.
Trevise one day plumped, horse and all, into the Great
Canal ; but he managed to get out again without
serious injury. We have heard a good deal of thunder
in the direction of Pekin— as if the tempest raging
in the heart of the Emperor had been taken up and
repeated by the heavens.
At length we received the unconditional ratifica
tion of the four treaties, signed by the Emperor ; and,
after a short visit to the Imperial Commissioners,
we prepared to leave. The gunboats with the troops
began to redescend the stream ; and the long-boats

OUR GUNBOAT RUNS AGROUND. 243
followed laden with provisions, and manned by
sailors, who made the banks ring with their oars. M.
BeHecourt and Mr. Bruce, who were appointed to
take to Paris and London the French and English
treaties, immediately left for Shang-hai. Count Pou
tiatine, preferring the route by land, despatched a
courier, who, crossing China and Mongolia on horse
back, was to join the Eussian mail from Irkoutsk
to Saint Petersburg. On Wednesday, the 7th of
July, at eight o'clock in the evening, Baron Gros
left the yamoun, to sleep on board the ' Dragonne,'
and leave next morning by daybreak. I took up my
quarters with M. Marques in a small junk, to be
towed by a gunboat. An enormous crowd covered
the quays. The yamoun was packed with leading
citizens, in their long white dresses, who had come
out of curiosity to see the residence which the bar
barians had just left.
At our departure the weather was moist and
rainy. During the first part of the voyage, the gun
boat, being carried along by a strong current, and not
being sufficiently under command, ran aground twice
in the course of an hour. The first time we thrust our
bowsprit right into a dwelling-house, the next time
we plumped against a bank, upon which we might
have jumped from the deck. Each time that the tug
went aground our junk came thundering up against

244 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
her, and was nearly shaken to pieces by the collision.
We were obUged, of course, to shift our quarters to the
poop of the ' Dragonne.' We observed that all along
the route the junks had hung out white flags as a
sign of peace and neutrality. We passed near the
junk of M. Delorisse, the naval officer, who, having
charge of the transport service between Tien-tsin and
Pecheli, had been for some time living with a few
European saHors in the midst of the enemy's country.
We learned to our surprise that he had hanged
two Chinamen the night before. Two of his
saHors had gone on shore in the usual way to buy
provisions, and had been attacked at the corner
of a street. One of them had received six deadly
wounds from a spear. M. Delorisse armed his twelve
Europeans, gave his junk in charge to the Chinese
crew, and set out in pursuit of the mandarins of the
village. He told them that, H they did not deliver up
the perpetrators, their own heads would suffer for it.
They brought the guilty parties without delay. One
was already dead from wounds he had received. The
two others were alive. They were hanged from the
mast of the junk. A very curious incident, illustra
tive of Chinese manners, imparted a touch of the
ridiculous to this fatal occurrence. Three old men
came on board. They had been sent by the relations
to offer themselves as substitutes for the prisoners.

SUBSTITUTES FOR CONDEMNED FELONS. 245
They were wfiling, they said, to be hanged in lieu of
those who had committed the offence. They were
very much surprised when their offer was refused by
the commander, and indeed, on leaving, any one
seeing them would have said that they had been
badly used by him. Had their proposal been ac
cepted, they would have obtained a large sum in
return for their Uves, which would have enriched
their relations for years. They had missed a good
bargain in consequence of the childish scruples of
the French officer. These extraordinary transac
tions are not uncommon in the history of the
Chinese empire, and indeed they are closely inter
woven with Chinese manners. The English have
often been deceived in this way on the Canton river
when they have endeavoured to obtain justice from
the mandarins for attacks upon their countrymen.
In such cases, poor creatures, who had voluntarily
taken the place of the murderers, and who were per
fectly innocent of the crime, have been executed
with great solemnity in presence of the persons ap
pointed by the European authorities to see that the
punishment was actuaUy inflicted.
We arrived at Ta-kou at five o'clock in the after
noon, too late to pass the bar. It was necessary to
anchor opposite to the dismantled forts to await next
day's tide. On the 9th of July, at mid-day, we

246 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
crossed the mouth of the Pei-ho without accident,
and, after an absence of six weeks, we once more
took up our old quarters on board the ' Audacieuse.'
We have been blamed by various organs of public
opinion in Europe, and blamed pretty strongly too,
for not having gone to Pekin to conduct negociations
there, when we were so close upon it. A slight
consideration of the obstacles we should have had to
encounter wiU suffice to justify the conduct of the
ambassadors. In the first place, H we had proceeded
to Pekin as peaceful visitors, we must needs have
gone through the ignominious ceremony of Ko-teo,
which is too Asiatic by half to be submitted to by
European ambassadors, consisting as it does in three
prostrations and nine genuflexions, not only before
the Emperor himself, but before the emblems of
Imperial power, — as, for instance, the throne. Lord
Elgin and Baron Gros learned from a reliable source
that, rather than make an exception in our favour by
exempting us from this formality, the Son of Heaven
was prepared to leave his capital, and proceed into
the wastes of Tartary with his whole court. It was
on account of Lord Amherst's refusal to submit to
the ko-teo that, in 1816, he left Pekin without having
obtained an audience with the Emperor. In the
second place, if the ambassadors had resolved to
proceed to Pekin as enemies, undeterred by the un
certain and hazardous character of the enterprise,

WHY WE DID NOT GO TO PEKIN. 247
they would have exposed themselves to very great
difficulties and perils. Let us see what would have
happened. Out of our five thousand men, it would have
been necessary to leave a thousand at Tien-tsin, whicii
it wfil be recollected is an important town, of many
hundred thousands of inhabitants, in order to pro
tect it as the base of operations. Then it would have
been necessary to establish another thousand in de
tachments on the way, between the army and Tien
tsin, to protect the escorts bringing up provisions and
ammunition, and removing the sick and wounded, the
Pei-ho not being navigable above Tien-tsin even for
gunboats. Three thousand men would have remained.
With them it would have been necessary to attack
the Mongol prince Sang-Ko-Lin-Sin,who, ensconced in
a fortified camp, intercepted our route to Pekin with
thirty thousand men. After scattering this army
we might have thundered down no doubt upon the
capital. There is nothing, I verily beUeve, impossible
to the soldiers and seamen of France and England
under leaders of such experience and energy as
Admiral Eigault de Genouilly and Sir Michael Sey
mour. But let us suppose that aU this had been
effected. What could we have done on reaching
our destination, with the court in flight, the man
darins away, the authorities dispersed, and with
no native party to back us ? How could we have

248 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
restrained, punished, and governed two millions of
men wrapped in pride and prejudice ? In a few days
we should have found ourselves alone and helpless
under a systematic isolation, and have been under .
the necessity of retiring in the dread of an insur
rection of immense multitudes, without advantages
to compensate for the cost in human Ufe of its
suppression. For these reasons our ambassadors and
admirals, who wiU not, I suppose, be reproached with
timidity, did not provoke a gigantic struggle al
together out of proportion with the means at their
command, and holding out no higher consummation
or results than those so ably and pacifically obtained
by the treaty of Tien-tsin.
Not having had the gratification of seeing Pekin,
we resolved, at all events, to visit the Great Wall se
parating China, properly so caUed, from Mantchooria
and Mongolia, which at one time was an important
defence, but which now is a mere historical monu
ment — a Mantchoo Tartar dynasty having reigned
for two centuries over the Middle Empire.
Shang-hai, August 2, 1858.
' The treaties of Tien-tsin having been ratified by
the Emperor Hien-Foung, on the 3rd day of July,
1858, the four plenipotentiaries, with the troops and
gunboats of the allies, immediately evacuated, the

VISIT TO THE GREAT WALL. 249
town and returned to their ships. Before finaUy
leaving the Gulf of Pecheli, Baron Gros resolved to
take the opportunity of visiting the Great Wall of
China. He thought he would ascertain H the state
ment is correct, according to which it commences at
the sea-coast near the entrance to the Gulf of Leo-
toung. On the 11th of July, at seven in the morn
ing, the ambassador, his secretaries and attaches,
embarked on board the " Pregent," an elegant little
steamer (to be used as an advice-boat), which had
just arrived from France. The place where the
" Audacieuse " was anchored was supposed to be from
ninety to one hundred miles from the spot where the
Wall was said to reach the sea. We did not reach our
destination the first day. Towards evening the wea
ther was rather dull, and we could barely see the
shore far in the distance. It was necessary to cast
anchor at a considerable distance from land. On
the foUowing morning by daybreak we weighed an
chor, put on our steam again, and soon came in sight
of the WaU. It had the appearance of a long range
of buildings of uniform height, crowned with battle
ments, and forming a barrier across the plain from the
sea to a chain of mountains running parallel to the
shore, at a distance of about two mfles inland. An
hour afterwards it became perfectly visible in its most
minute details. We had before us the most interest-

250 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
ing and most picturesque scene in China. Along
the coast lay a spacious plain, covered with rich
meadows, and dotted here and there with villages
buried in the midst of trees. Farther in the dis
tance the landscape was bounded by lofty mountains,
some of which were abrupt and rocky, while others
were wooded and green to their very summits. The
general effect was magnificent, and perhaps only to
be equaHed among the Alpine valleys of Switzerland.
The Great Wall gave it an additional charm. Ter
minating in the sea, covered with bastions and
pagodas, and clambering over the wildest and most
precipitous crags, it imparted a character to the
whole landscape calculated to stir even the most
sluggish imagination.
' At the foot of the WaU, on the Chinese side, we
could see the white tents of two Tartar encampments,
the horses belonging to which were wandering at
large in the surrounding pastures. The landscape,
in the golden light of the dawn, was charming. It
was a gUmpse of the pastoral Ufe of the Mongol
hordes, and it gave us, on a smaU scale, a very good
idea of the land of pastures described so well by the
Abbe Hue.
' Seen from the Chinese side, the Great Wall re
sembled a huge earthen mound crowned with battle
ments built of brick. Everywhere it had an old and

WE LAND TO SEE THE GREAT WALL. 251
dHapidated appearance. In some places it had
been altogether destroyed. On the Mantchoorian
side, on the other hand, the Great Wall seemed con
structed of bricks resting upon a basement of stone.
It is flanked by square towers throughout its whole
length. These are placed at the distance of about
two bow-shots, in order that the enemy may be
everywhere within range. It descends into the sea
in two paraUel piers or jetties, which slope so gently
that one can ascend to the top from the water flow
ing between them. The largest ships may approach
within two mHes of the WaU, and, indeed, it is the
very place at which visitors should in future dis
embark. ' Unfortunately we did not know this at the time,
and cast anchor on the Chinese side of the waU.
The beach at this place is level, but a heavy surf
made it difficult to land, and prevented the ship's
boats from approaching without the risk of being
stranded upon the sand. The beach was covered
with Chinamen, who had come trooping down from
the neighbouring vHlages. M. Marques, the inter
preter to the mission, and Count d'Ozery, the com
mander of the " Pregent," got first on shore to talk with
the authorities, and to ascertain if they would have
any objection to our landing. A mandarin, riding a
white horse, and foUowed by two other personages

252 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
also mounted, had come from the camp to ask who
we were and what we wanted, and to ascertain from
what quarter of the heavens we had dropped. On
his being assured by our interpreter that our inten
tions were pacific, he declared that there was no
objection to our coming on shore.
' We disembarked in consequence of this informa
tion ; the process was not the least amusing part of
the expedition. The boats in approaching the shore
ran the risk of being capsized. They, however,
escaped this danger. Baron Gros went on shore first,
carried shoulder high by three stout saHors, who had
stripped to the skin on purpose. The Vicomte de
Contades, as weH as the attaches to the embassy,
and several officers of the " Audacieuse " and of the
" Pregent," foUowed him, carried in much the same
manner either by one or a couple of seamen. Not a
few unlucky members of the exploring party, borne
aloft in this fashion, were caught by a huge wave and
hurled headlong with their bearers into the brine.
At last, after a quarter of an hour spent in coming on
shore, we aU met, some dry, some dripping, upon the
beach. We then set off into the interior with an
escort of a dozen soldiers, their bayonets having been
carefuHy protected from the water. We proceeded
straight to the WaU. At first we had to cross several
smaU water-courses, which run into the sea ; then we

INTERVIEW WITH THE TARTARS. 253
went to some distance inland to get clear of the
marshy tract which adjoins the shore. The closer we
approached the WaU, this promised land which we
were not destined to reach, the greater became the
stir among the Tartars, who, mounted on horseback,
pointed and gesticulated, and showed in every
way that they were thrown into a state of high
excitement by our proceedings. They soon after
divided into three bodies. One of these remained on
horseback before the camp, thus intercepting our
route in the direct line to the Great Wall. The others
came riding up to our left, and jumped off their horses
among the taU herbaceous plants which covered the
plain. The third party, composed of mandarins of
the white and gilt buttons, came cantering up to meet
us. They asked us whence we came and whither we
were going, and told us that they could not allow us
to proceed farther along our present road. Their
chief they said was absent, and they could not take it
upon them, without his permission, to aUow us to go on,
We expostulated, but in vain. They made amends
for bad logic by an immense deal of tchin-tchin.
What was our astonishment when we found that these
people, encamped almost at the gates of the capital,
were not even aware of the fact that their govern
ment had been at war with France and England !
The capture of Canton, the bombardment of Ta-kou,

254 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the peace concluded at Tien-tsin, were all aUke events
unknown to them. After a long parley a fresh ne
gociation seemed to have succeeded. They allowed
us to advance a little way. But, as Hl-luck would
have it, three or four hundred yards further on
another body of horsemen rode up, who requested us
to halt.
' With an escort' of twelve bayonets and a revolver
apiece we could easily have kept at bay three hun
dred Tartar horsemen, and have climbed up to the
Wall in defiance of them ; but the ambassador was
of course anxious to avoid an encounter, or indeed a
dispute of any kind, whereby he might compromise
his position whHe on a mere excursion of pleasure and
curiosity. After taking a sketch or two, and buying
a few fans of the Tartar horsemen, we deUghted the
Chinamen who gathered round us with a glass of
brandy. We showed them our watches, and gave
them a peep through our spy-glasses, all to their great
wonder and satisfaction. We then returned to the
boats, to which several among us swam out ; in this ,
way avoiding the risk of having our clothes drenched
again. ' These Tartar horsemen, instead of having bows
and arrows, were armed with matchlocks slung to
a shoulder-belt. Their powder seemed very coarse,
while their cartridge-boxes contained smaU bits of

WE RETURN TO THE PREGENT. 255
lead besides shot. Their horses were smaU, and gene-
raUy white or piebald, and belonged to a breed which
seemed essentiaUy primitive. The horsemen carry their
principal pipe and a fan in their big boots. They aU
had a ring of jade-stone to be used in tying their bows.
' Before leaving these shores we went with the
" Pregent " to make for land on the other side of the
Great Wall, off the plains of Mantchooria. The
plains rolled away before us in aU that rich brilUancy
of verdure characterizing countries which, covered with
snow during a long winter, are vivified by the return of
a hot sun. The Great WaU, with its black tiers of
masonry, stood out from the dank and bright sward.
We saw it where it first appeared springing out of the
waters and lying against its huge buttresses. We
could track it with the eye as it clambered to the
very summit of the mountains, and we could foUow
it farther, in imagination, along the course of the
same range to a distance of a thousand miles into
Central Asia, through those half-civilized countries
wliich extend to the confines of Mongolia and the
Kou-kou-noor. ' After having contemplated this magnificent spec
tacle for a long while, Baron Gros gave the signal for
departure, and the " Pregent " steered for the Tolri
Islands, where the frigate awaited our return. Next
morning,. after a passage of fifteen hours, we were

256 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
again on board, having brought back with us the
recoUection of a charming trip to the most picturesque
and grandest scenes in China. We regretted that
the officers of the " Audacieuse " had not participated
in the excursion, as they might have done, for we
found that everywhere the soundings were such that
vessels of the largest size might, in perfect safety,
ascend the Gulf of Pecheti as far as Leo-toung.' —
Moniteur. On the afternoon of the 17th July we left the
' Audacieuse ' at Woosung, where the Yang-tse-Kiang
joins the Whampou, and proceeded to Shang-hai on
board the 'Pregent.' We had scarcely left the frigate
when the leak which she had sprung during the
storms off the Cape suddenly increased to an alarm
ing extent. The water in the hold, instead of rising
about an inch in an hour, gained nearly a foot in the
same time. In the course of twenty-four hours
there poured into the frigate 194 tons, or in weight
nearly 400,000 lbs. of water. With such a serious
injury it was impossible to put to sea. It was neces
sary to get out of this difficulty. At first we attempted
to have the frigate repaired upon the spot; but there
was no dock or basin large enough for the purpose.
The proprietor of one dock offered to enlarge his ac
commodation so as to enable her to get into it, but
he asked a delay of three months, and 4000?. In con-

THE EXPEDITION TO COCHrN CHINA. 257
sequence, aU thoughts of this were abandoned, and
it was decided that the docks of Whampoa, in the
Canton river, should be resorted to without a mo
ment's delay. With a pilot belonging to the mer
cantile house of Dent, who was thoroughly acquainted
with every place of refuge along the coast, and
accompanied by a large American steam merchant
man hired for the purpose, we put on aU our steam
for Hong Kong, and arrived there in four days
without any accident. We fortunately escaped, in this
rapid passage, the typhoons which are so frequent at
this period of the year. The leak is near the axis
of the screw, close by the rope-press. The system of
screws without a cylinder is shown, I think, to be a
bad one by the experience of our ship. It was cal
culated that, in crossing from France to China, the
helix had made 6,300,000 turns which were quite
useless in propelUng the vessel.
The admiral, who arrived a few days after us, soon
left with the whole French squadron, he having
received orders to place himself at the head of
the expedition to Cochin China, where he was to
command both the French and Spanish sea and
land forces. The ' Laplace ' and the ' Pregent ' alone
remained behind to accompany the ' Audacieuse ' to
Japan. The general rendezvous for the other ships
was fixed for the island of Hainan in the Gulf of
s

258 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Tonkin. As we had no connection whatever with
this expedition, we remained at Shang-hai six weeks.
The season was a bad one for a residence at this
place. The thermometer stood at 104° Fahrenheit,
and cholera, fever, and dysentery, which accompany
the hot season in this part of China, were prevalent
and deadly. Violent storms and frequent typhoons
alone broke the monotony of our existence, and it
wiU not be wondered at if we cast a longing gaze
towards the island of Japan, situated within a three
days' sail from Shang-hai, where we had still to
perform the second part of the mission entrusted
to us.

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE. 259

CHAPTEE IX.
The Manners, Customs, and Government of China.
We have coUected, in this chapter, various facts and
novel pieces of information concerning the Middle
Empire, which could not be introduced with propriety
in any other part of the book. They are set down
here just as they occur to the author, without atten
tion either to the order of the subjects, or to that
which they came under his notice.
China, properly so called, is divided into eighteen
provinces ; but Europeans are only acquainted with
six of these, which adjoin the coast, viz., Kwang-toung,
Fo-kien, Tche-kiang, Kiang-sou, Chan-toung, and
Pecheli. Formerly aU political events interesting
to Europeans were concentrated upon the banks of
the Canton river in Kwang-toung ; now, the scene of
action has slutted to the north to Pecheli, and at no
distant day Tien-tsin and Ta-kou may be expected to
take the place once held by Bocca-Tigris and Macao.
The three central provinces of Kwang-si, Hou-nan,

260 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
and Houpe are the principal theatre of the great in
surrection. Kan-sou, Chen-si, and Chan-si reach the
Great Wall to the north. Su-tchouan and Yun-nan
adjoin. Thibet, Kouei-tcheou, Kiang-si, Ngan-hoei,
and Honan complete our enumeration of the pro
vinces of China.
The Middle Empire is composed, besides, of several
countries or tributary kingdoms, viz., Mongolia,
Mantchooria, and Corea, the Loo-choo Islands, Thibet,
Tonkin, Cambodia, and Cochin China. The Loo-choo
Islands and Corea send a tribute to Pekin every year.
Some other countries do so every three years, and
others again at intervals less frequent, as for instance
every ten years. With regard to European countries
separated by the great ocean from the countries
under the dominion of the Son of Heaven, they
render him homage only at fixed intervals, varying
in duration. This interesting information is drawn
from the Book of Eites.
China, during a period extending back for four
thousand years, has been governed by twenty-eight
dynasties. The three last of these were the Mongol
dynasty, the national dynasty of Ming, and the
Ta-Tsing, or Tartar Mantchoo dynasty. The last
Emperor was caUed Tao-Kouang, or Shining Wisdom.
His son, Hien-Foung, succeeded him in 1850, at the
very height, of the great insurrection. His reign

THE GREAT FLEET OF RICE JUNKS. 261
has been marked, hitherto, by a long series of
national calamities.
The Emperor, in the machinery of the Chinese
government, is a mere name or emblem represent
ing the nation. In the CouncH resides the supreme
power. The Emperor is the index or wheel of the
machine which is exposed. Everything is done in
his name, but without his direct co-operation. There
is a thorough centralisation and an admirable ad
ministrative organisation extending over the whole
empire. The institutions are exceUent ; but there is
a lack of the right men to work these institutions.
The district of Nankin is rich ; that of Pekin is
poor and sterile. The central government, accord
ingly, raises a tax in kind over the fertile provinces
which lie along the course of the Yang-tse-Kiang.
Every year thousands of junks, laden with rice
and despatched by the local mandarins, leave for
Tien-tsin at the commencement of the south-west
monsoon. This is a tax or burden imposed upon
aU the possessors of junks. They have no right to
any remuneration by way of freight, but they have
the privilege, on their return home, of carrying on
commerce on their own account, and they sell besides
in central China the first fruits and products of Leo-
tong. The seven provinces after named used formerly to

262

AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

send their tribute of rice to the city of Pekin, by the
Grand Imperial Canal, in more than twelve thousand
junks. The junks employed in this service were
divided between the provinces in the foUowing way :
Kiang-sou . . . 3,000

Ngan-hoei

. 1,500

Tche-kiang

. 2,000

Kiang-si .

. 1,500

Hou-pe .

. 1,000

Hou-nan .

. 1,000

Chan-tong

. 2,000

Total

12,000

In recent times the inundations of the Yellow
Eiver have been a dreadful source of misery in China.
They have completely destroyed and rendered im
practicable the Great Imperial Canal, and aU this
immense inland navigation above referred to has
accordingly been destroyed. The Chinese tribute
junks are now obliged to take the route by the Gulf
of PecheU and the Pei-ho, which places their whole
revenue within reach of European war vessels. A
few gunboats have only to come on the 1st of April
each year, to cruise about Cape Chan-tong or Cape
Macartney, and they wiU effectuaUy interrupt all
intercourse between the wealthy provinces and the
capital, intercept the junks, and secure their stores.

TRIBUTE JUNKS AT MERCY OF EUROPEANS. 263
In a few weeks famine will make its appearance at
Pekin, and the Tartars will be put on short commons
of miHet porridge. In finding out the course taken
by the junks, we have found out the weak side of the
giant, and England wiU not forget to profit by this
discovery. According to Sir John Bowring, Yeh during the
last two or three years has beheaded seventy
thousand rebels. From the 1st of January to the 1st
of August, 1855, the executioners were hard at work.
From two hundred to six hundred rebels had their
heads chopped off daUy. The ' Hong Kong Journal '
mentions another locality, a dependency of the two
Kwangs, in which Yeh executed, towards the same
period, thirty thousand persons. This brings up the
number of executions to a hundred thousand. It
must however be said for the governor-general, that
he would not own to more than seventy thousand.
The remainder he declared to be a matter of pure
invention on the part of his enemies.
The name of the present Emperor is Hang-Foung
or Hien-Foung, according to the different dialects.
It signifies Universal Abundance. The symbol which
serves to express this name in the Chinese character
is a mountain between two kings. Superstitious
Chinamen discovered a bad omen in this conjunction
of objects. What is meant, they asked, by a moun-

264 AN- EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
tain between two kings ? Clearly enough it indicated,
for the future, division, anarchy, and civil war. Now
is this not precisely what is taking place at present ?
Of his three capitals, Hien-Foung now possesses only
one. Nankin is in the hands of the rebels, while
Canton is occupied by the barbarians ; and so a great
part of the empire is in a state of rebellion against
the present dynasty. The prediction has been ful-
fiUed. Every mountain and hill in China is covered with
tombs. The hills we have described near Macao are
a striking example of this, and so is the mountain of
the Blue Cloud at Canton. AU the elevations on
Danes Island and French Island, and on the Pearl
Eiver at Canton, behind Gough's Fort, exhibit the
same appearance; and, indeed, such is the extent
of ground covered by these tombs that China might
be described as one great cemetery.
A mandarin is never aUowed to exercise his func
tions in the province where he was born. To secure
impartiaUty he must always be a stranger to the
country in which his jurisdiction lies. If he be a
mHitary mandarin he is not allowed to take his
mother with him to the scene of action, as her pre
sence might soften him and restrain his warlike im
petuosity on the day of battle. If he be a civil man
darin he is not aUowed to take his father with him.

CHINAMEN WHO LIVE UNDER WATER. 265
The latter might differ from him in opinion on some
case in which he had to give judgment, and, if under
such circumstances he were to stand out, he would
then oppose the dictates of filial respect and piety,
which command us to yield obedience to parents. It
was as a mark of special favour from the Emperor
that Yeh obtained permission to live with his father
at Canton.
The Chinese, even when they come in contact
with Europeans, always preserve some share of anti
quated and foolish prejudice, and, to an incredible
extent, the ridiculous notion that their race is supe
rior to aU others in knowledge, ability, and wisdom'
and possessed of qualities enjoyed by no other people
on the face of the globe. Pere Deluc was talking in
my presence with his Chinese secretary, on the deck
of the 'Durance,' about the news of the day, and
more particularly about the approaching bombard
ment of Canton. The EngUsh and French gunboats
were already placed in line, and the other ships were
anchored in the deep places of the river. ' I do not un
derstand,' said the secretary, 'why the mandarins don't
send a few Chinamen underneath the ships to bore a
hole or two up through them, and sink them in that
way.' ' But,' replied the Pere, ' you don't suppose they
would be allowed to do this ? How would they get at
the ships ?' ' Why,' answered the secretary, nothing

266 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
daunted, ' don't you know that there are Chinamen
who can Uve for a whole day under water ? It would
have been a much more serious affair for us had the
Chinese set on fire aU the junks and sampans lying
in the upper part of the river, and aUowed them in
one vast blazing spluttering mass to float down the
current upon our vessels. In the midst of the confu
sion produced in this way, many ships would cer-#
tainly have been destroyed in spite of the fireguards
attached to them. A single sampan with gunpowder
on board, which took fire, caused a vast deal of
alarm. There was no way to get at it or direct its
course ; and, indeed, the ' Phlegeton ' escaped by a
miracle from getting entangled with it. Fortunately
it was burned almost upon the spot where the fire
broke out.
The most preposterous accounts of barbarian folly
find currency in China. Here is the way in wliich
the people in the interior of the empire interpreted
the retreat of the EngUsh and Admiral Seymour,
on the occasion of the lorcha 'Arrow' case, which
occurred, it wiU be recoHected, towards the end of
1856. The Chinese admiral had resorted, it appears,
to a most ingenious device. One night when the ebb
had set in he threw a great quantity of large turnips
into the river. The red barbarians, hearing the
turnips bumping up constantly against the ships'

THE BANYAN TREES. 267
timbers, got up in alarm to look out, thinking they
were attacked. They rushed wUdly to their guns,
and kept up a constant fire into the darkness upon
imaginary enemies. The Chinese admiral waited tHl
they had foolishly spent the best part of their powder
and shot, and then, opening a real attack, as a matter
of course he took and destroyed all their vessels. In
this way history is written in China ! The governor-
general of Tcheli had recourse in his official report
to a similar stretch of fancy in order to explain our
victory on the Pei-ho to his countrymen. Just as we
made our appearance in these seas, a high tide, he
said, of the most unprecedented kind, had suddenly
come surging in from the ocean, overturning the forts
of Ta-kou, rendering useless the bravery of its de
fenders, and enabling the foreign devils, who rode
unharmed upon the waters, to force the entrance to
the river and to ascend through channels at other
times completely closed against them.
The pagoda, or banyan-tree, the ficus religiosa of
botanists, is an imposing tree, which has, in point of
fact, a religious and solemn appearance. It is met
with everywhere in China, resting against the waUs
of the pagodas and shading the courts of the
yamouns. In country places, round the trunk
there are smaU altars, with joss-sticks burning,
and a few Buddhist images resting upon the roots.

268 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
It is the finest of the Chinese trees. Its foliage,
is luxuriant and always fresh and green. From
Macao to Shang-hai, from Tien-tsin to the Great
Wall, everywhere we met with the banyan-tree,
which is the necessary appendage of every ya
moun and Buddhist temple, sheltering aUke under
its dense leafage the squalid bonze and rapacious
mandarin. It is nothing uncommon in China for a pirate
leader to become a mandarin. Among other in
stances of this, may be quoted that of the famous
Apak, who, not many years ago, had seven hundred
pirate junks under his command. He has retired
from active service, and leads a life of quiet and
honoured ease at Ning-po. He enjoys all the prero
gatives attached to the blue button. The Chinese
government, finding they could not put him down,
entered into treaty with him and made him a naval
mandarin. In China the compass is not made to point to the
north, but to the south. It has five, not four cardinal
points. The left, not the right side, is the place of
honour. White, not black, is the suit of woe. Eti
quette ordains that we should not take off the hat,
but put it on, in presence of a superior, or of any one
• whom we wish to honour. Books are printed and
read, not from left to right, after our fashion, but

A CHINESE PROCLAMATION. 269
from right to left. At dinner, fruit comes first, and
soup last. As children learn their lessons aloud,
aU saying them over at the same time, it is the
object of a Chinese schoolmaster not to keep a quiet
school, but to make his little congregation as noisy
as possible ; and silence is punished as a proof of idle
ness. When a man is ennobled for a service done
the state, honours so acquired do not descend, as with
us, to his posterity, but, strange to say, ascend to his
ancestors and ennoble them. They all become, by a
retrospective action, dukes and barons, and so forth,
while the children and descendants of the new-made
noble remain undistinguished in the common herd.
Pages might be filled with similar contrasts between
the habits of Europeans and Chinamen.
The inhabitants of the Celestial Empire have never
shown any great liking or esteem for the Europeans
who have settled, in spite of all opposition, upon their
seaboard. To give some idea of the style in which
it has been their wont, even in our days, to speak of
us, we have but to read the foUowing proclamation,
which was placarded over the waUs of a Chinese
town in July 1851.
' The faithful soldiers and chiefs at the right heart
of the whole people of the empire of the great dynasty
of the Tsings publish the present order for the infor
mation of the detestable barbarians.

270 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
' Detestable barbarians ! disgusting barbarians ! Try
to see your images in a glass ! Look at yourselves
there. You are Uttle better than brutes and beasts.
You differ from them only in your faculty of speech.
Our people speak words of reason to you ; but you
lay down laws. You are blindly and obstinately
stupid. You won't understand — so there is only one
way of dealing with you, and that is to strangle and
murder every one of your hateful race. Ever since
you came to the land of the Middle Empire to trade,
you have acted in the most brutal manner, without
one thought to the consequences of your conduct.
Your opium has shortened the lives of our people —
it has undermined their health; your vessels have
taken violent possession of our trade and profits.
Hungry as whales, always ready to devour, and per
tinacious as the silkworm which blights the mul
berry-leaf, you steadily continue your encroachments.
AUow you to take one step forward, and you take two.
'You have usurped our lands, impoverished us
by force. You have destroyed our tombs. You have
built in the town innumerable houses dedicated to
the devil ; and now, forsooth, you want ground for a
course to race your horses on ; you want, there is not
a doubt of it, to go as far as Sou-Kiang to build one
of your churches there.
' Your offences, numerous as they are, wiU be more

A CONVERSATION WITH PIH-KWE. 271
numerous stiU. Your crimes already reach the sky ;
but highest Heaven is now in anger with you, and we,
the people, are ordained to destroy you with the
artHlery of the gods.
' You think that in acting according to set plans
you will gain your ends ; you are preparing to play
the part of the wolf and tiger among the brutes. But
you little know your position. Do you know that
our people look upon you as birds shut up in a cage,
as fish caught in a net, as dogs trapped in a snare,
as sheep pent in a fold ? Some fine day the fury of
the people will burst forth spontaneous and sudden ;
they will rush upon you ; they wfll cut your throats ;
they will leave in the land not one trace of your
existence. The present edict is published for your
information.' The foUowing conversation, which has been often
quoted before, took place in October 1849, at Pekin,
between the Emperor Tao-Kouang and Pih-Kwe, then
criminal judge of the province of Kwang-toung. It is
equally characteristic of Chinese conceit and igno
rance. I do not know how the document came into
the possession of the European consuls who pubUshed
it, but there is no doubt as to its authenticity. The
Emperor opens the conversation.
'Emperor. Then Seu-Kwang-Tsin did not continue
to employ any of the persons who had been in office

272 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
under Ky-Ing. Of late years Ky-Ing has been almost
frightened to death by these barbarian affairs. The
people whom he employed in the administration of
these matters greatly exaggerated their importance,
so that Ky-Ing was always in a state of alarm ; in
consequence of his giving credit to aU they told him,
he has only thereby helped to magnify the great
renown of the barbarians. You have put all this to
lights. It appears to me that the barbarians have
not the means of existence H driven from Kwang-
toung. 'Pih-Kwe. The people of Kwang-toung become
more and more convinced every day that the bar
barians have no means of existence without this
province. ' Emperor. That is quite the case. Who are the
agents employed in the administration of barbarian
affairs ?
' Pih-Kwe. Commissioners Heu-Tsang-Kwang and
Howqua. ' Emperor. Have the English barbarians been re
cently brought under subjection or not ?
'Pih-Kwe. They appear to have been to some
extent subdued.
'Emperor. Does the garrison at Hong Kong not
number from three to four thousand men ?
' Pih-Kwe. Not more than from two to three thou-

THE EMPEROR MORALIZES. 273
sand men, the greater part of whom only exist on
paper ; more than half of the green soldiers (the
Ceylon Fusiliers) have left in consequence of the
insufficiency of the funds appropriated to their sup
port. Trade is not in a good state either at Ning-
po or in any of the other free ports.
' Emperor. I have heard it said that it is in a bad
state at Ning-po, Amoy, and Shang-hai. This proves
that prosperity is always followed by decay.
' Pih-Kwe. The English barbarians were in a very
precarious condition last year in their own country,
where they were visited by an epidemic ; and at
Hong Kong last year more than a thousand persons
perished in consequence of the hot exhalations.
' Emperor. Prosperity is always succeeded by decay !
What avails the power of man ?
' Pih-Kwe. Divine favour for your Majesty is doubt
less the cause of the humiliation of the English bar
barians. ' Emperor. You are a man belonging to the banners,
born and brought up at Pekin. You must know this
saying of the old women — "a thousand, nay, ten
thousand schemes of man, are not worth one scheme
of God!' Do you think that the EngUsh barbarians,
or any of the other barbarian nations, wHl cause
fresh trouble in the south ?
' Pih-Kwe. No. Even the English have nothing new
T

274 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
to gain by causing strife. When these barbarians
revolted in 1841, they depended entirely upon other
nations which subsidised them with the purpose of
opening up commerce. In the present year the
countries subjected to English rule are ready to rise
in rebelUon.
' Emperor. It is evident from this that these barba
rians make commerce their principal occupation, and
strive incessantly to get new territories.
' Pih-Kwe. Quite so. They belong, in short, to the
same class with brutes, dogs, and horses. They are
utterly incapable of entertaining any elevated idea.
' Emperor. They are sometimes ruled by a woman,
sometimes by a man. It is evident that they are
quite unworthy of serious attention. Do they fix
a certain term of office, Uke us, for their authorities,
in the case of Bonham* for instance ?
' Pih-Kwe. Some of their officers are changed every
two years, others every three years; and although
it is their king, nominally, who sends them, they are
in reaUty dependent upon the corporation of their
merchants (the East India Company).'
The Chinese now speak of Europeans with a Uttle
less disdain. The name of barbarians has been
dropped from their official language in respect of the
treaties of Tien-tsin, but I suspect that it will be
* Sir George Bonham, Governor of Hong Kong.

CHINA OVERPEOPLED. 275
long before international poUteness banish from their
conversation and every-day life the harsh ignominious
expressions stiU used in talking of us. In the eyes
of the Chinese we must continue, for years to come, to
be considered a people more powerful than they are
in war, and in possession of more deadly weapons of
destruction, but far inferior to themselves in all that
relates to a peaceful and civdized life. In short, we
now appear to them as pirates on a great scale.
Instead of striving to open up China, European
diplomacy might endeavour to prevent all egress
from it. The empire swarms with population. Every
where the Chinese people are spreading beyond the
natural limits of the country. To the north they
are gradually advancing into the Land of Meadows,
pushing slowly before them the Mongol Tartars. In
Mantchooria the Emperor in vain essays to guard the
frontier of his paternal kingdom from his southern
subjects, in order to preserve a place of refuge, should
he, in the course of events, be driven from the
Chinese throne. The inhabitants of the empire give
little heed to Imperial decrees where the means of
existence are concerned, and the Mantchoo civUization
is disappearing piecemeal before the gradual and
peaceful progress of the neighbouring people. From
southern China there is a constant stream of popu
lation flowing. Thousands are embarking daily on

276 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
board the emigrant ships. Everywhere round the
shores of the Pacific, Chinamen are now settled as
colonists. There are great Chinese communities in
CaUfomia, Australia, Java, Manilla, Pulo-Penang,
Singapore, and Hong-Kong. Wherever they go
they form the most industrious section of the popula
tion, and often by their skill and patient industry
they are a source of prosperity to all the places where
they settle, but they are at the same time the most
turbulent and dangerous subjects a government can
have, as they hang close together and form every
where secret societies, which are formidable to the
legitimate authorities. It is not long since they were
very near taking the Philippine Islands from the
Spaniards. They gave the Dutch some time ago the
most serious grounds for alarm in Batavia. They
require to be placed under the surveiUance of a very
vigilant police at Singapore and Hong-Kong. In the
colonies of the Pacific the result of aU this is that a
dread of the Chinese begins to make its appearance,
and their immigration in large numbers is now every
where discouraged. In the colony of Victoria the local
legislature have passed a law entitled the ' Chinese
Emigration Act,' specially intended to diminish
the importation of Chinese colonists. Under its
terms, ships are not allowed to take on board more
than one emigrant for every ten tons of the ship's

COOLIE EMIGRATION. 27,
burthen, and the captain or person in command is
liable to a fine of ten pounds sterling for every pas
senger above the statutory number. At San Fran
cisco, on the other hand, a tax of fifty dollars a head is
levied from aU Chinamen who land as emigrants, and
Chinamen settling there are besides compelled to pay
a monthly tax of six dollars a head, paid by no other
class of foreigners. From New Zealand they are
completely excluded. At a public meeting in that
colony, a resolution was passed to the effect that any
one assisting to introduce Chinese CooUes should be
declared a pubUc enemy. The last news we have,
however, on the subject of Coolie emigration is
from California. No regulation hitherto put in force
having diminished the influx of the Chinese popula
tion towards the gold-fields, and the yellow race
threatening in a few years to exceed in numbers and
wealth the whole population of European descent
settled along the coasts of the Pacific, the legislature
of California have, it is reported, formally prohibited
the introduction of CooUes into that country.
By dint of extraordinary sobriety, wonderfully
laborious habits, and great aptitude for business,
these emigrants in a very few years contrive to scrape
together a considerable capital, with which they
return to the Land of Flowers, impoverishing the
colony to the extent of their fortune. They do not

278 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
even allow their dead to remain on foreign soil, and
accordingly we find large American clippers con
stantly engaged in conveying from San Francisco to
Hong Kong the red coffins of Chinamen who before
their decease have expressed a wish to be interred
near the tombs of their forefathers. The fecundity
of the Chinese race is prodigious. In this respect
there is no other to be compared with it. Wherever
the traveller goes, whether it be on board the junks,
among the fishing-boats, or through the streets, the
number of chHdren always attracts his attention.
Everywhere there are crowds bf little ones. The
prevalence of infanticide, the wholesale butchery of
the rebels, and the constant stream of emigration
from the southern seaports produce no effect in
diminishing the population. The last census it is said
fixes the Chinese population at 415,000,000.
Chinese civilization has lasted for the last four
thousand years. Seven hundred years before the
birth of Christ there was a Chinese Uterature. Several
of the principal literary monuments of China belong
to this early period. The national existence of our
European states must appear to the Chinese a thing
of yesterday when contrasted with the duration of
their own empire. The mandarin language is that
used by the learned; Cantonese, Fokinese, and
various other dialects, are spoken by the people in

THE TURKS INFLUENCED BY THE CHINESE. 279
different parts of the empire. The mandarin dialect
is to some extent in the countries of the far East what
Latin is in Europe. Knowing mandarin, a person
can make himself understood throughout the whole
empire, and even in Corea, Tonkin, Cochin-China,
and Siam. At Pekin the people speak pure man
darin. I hear our officers who served in the Crimean cam
paign constantly making the remark, that the archi
tecture of China reminds them very much of that of
the Turks. The Chinese village which stood right
in face of us at Whampoa, consisting of houses built
upon piles, with painted balconies, and places set
aside under each for the reception of the tankas,
reminded them involuntarily of the shores of the
Bosphorus. The tankas recalled the caiques, while
the minarets seemed copied from the same pattern
with the pagodas, which we saw in the distance. The
narrow streets were as tortuous as those of the
Turkish towns. The very appearance of the writing
bore an outward resemblance at least to that in use
among the Moslem. But H there are between the
two races traits of resemblance, pointing to a com
mon origin, they now differ most essentially in cha
racter. The Turks are grave, reserved, and taciturn,
while the Chinamen are noisy, talkative, and undig
nified. There may be something venerable in a long

280 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Turkish beard, but I wHl defy any one to look at a.
Chinaman's tail and keep his countenance.
There is a whole population in China which is not
entitled to inhabit the land, and which Uves entirely
on the rivers and canals. This is an inferior race, a
conquered people, kept in this state in respect of a dim
historical reminiscence which goes back to the earUest
age of Chinese civHization. This outcast population
explains the crowd of boats, junks, sampans, and
hovels buHt on pHes along the streams, which at
tracted our notice when we arrived in China, as they
rose and feU, or were washed by the waves thrown up
by the steamers. All the compradors who supply the
ships with provisions belong to this class of boatmen.
Some of them are very rich, and indeed possess on
the waters of the Canton river magnificent houses,
which are elegantly and sumptuously furnished ; but
such is the force of tradition and prejudice in China,
that they are not allowed to settle or acquire property
on land.
In some parts of China wheelbarrows with sails
attached to them are in use. When a good breeze
blows from behind, or from one side, human labour is
very much Ughtened by this means. This fact may
at first appear a traveUer's tale, but it is not such.
These barrows are largely used in China for purposes
of locomotion. The missionaries, for the sake of eco-

THE CHINESE REBELS. 281
nomy, often prefer them to any other vehicle, in spite
of the fatigue of managing them. Often while we
stayed at Shang-hai and Tien-tsin we saw these sin
gular conveyances arrive from off a journey. The
wheel is placed in the middle of the machine. The
traveUer sits on one side, and his luggage is placed
opposite to him by way of counterpoise.
The great Chinese insurrection has now diminished
very much in importance. It has lost its leaders, the
kings of the four cardinal points. The famous King
of the East, the ablest of the four, the very soul of
the insurrection, who aspired to universal dominion,
has been assassinated by the others, who were jealous
of his influence. Besides, the rebels have been de
feated in Nankin. Disputes among themselves, how
ever, have committed greater ravages in their ranks
than the artillery of the mandarins. Tsien-Kiang,
the celebrated Canton demagogue, is still the chief
judge in their camp, but their ablest general has for
saken their cause for that of the Imperialists, in con
sequence of a tragical event which we must record,
as it has been set forth by veracious testimony. This
ambitious general was displeased, it appears, at not
being appointed king of the fifth cardinal point. He
had received, however, from the leaders of the insur
rection the promise of being exalted to this sublime
rank, if he could only gain for the rebels one great

282 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
victory over the Imperialists. When this promise of
advancement had been made to him he resorted to
every expedient to attain the end in view. He pre
tended to abandon the rebel cause, and went over to
the camp of the enemy with the object of course of
betraying the latter. The old general of the Emperor,
however, was not to be taken in. He had not grown
grey among soldiers without some experience in
Chinese roguery. He at once took alarm at this case
of sudden conversion. Suspecting its true cause and
object, he received the rebel soldier enthusiastically.
He solemnly adopted bim as his son, and heaped
favours upon him. Then, underhand, he lost no time
in spreading the rumour through the rebel camp that
the general had reaUy gone over to the mandarins.
It was well known that he was dissatisfied, and that
he had long looked upon himself as an Hl-used man.
The news of the reception he had met with in the
rebel camp gave strength to the suspicion against
him. The rebel chiefs, too, gave credence to the
rumours in circulation. Chinese justice soon followed:
His father, mother, wife, and children were appre
hended. They were taken to the front of the camp,
and there, amid parade and the music of the pipe and
tomtom, they were cruelly beheaded. The general
was driven to distraction. He swore that he would
exact a signal vengeance for this barbarous deed, and

DEVASTATION OF THE COUNTRY. 283
thenceforth he became one of the mainstays of the
Imperial throne. Strange to say, this rebel chief has
been appointed since this tinie commander-in-chief of
the Imperial army. It was he who invented the new
system of warfare now followed by the Imperialists.
He burns and lays waste the whole tract over wiiich he
passes, so as to place the rebels in the midst of a desert.
In this way he succeeds in starving them, and in
point of fact he has put a limit to their success and
progress towards the northern provinces. Numerous
battles have been fought in the neighbourhood of
Yang-Tcheou, the key to the Imperial Canal ; and the
result has been that this place remains in the hands
of the mandarins. The insurrection has been stopped
in its advance towards the capital for several years, and
the Imperial authorities re-occupy several provinces
to which the rebels had extended their rule. They
stiU possess Nankin, the capital of the national dy
nasty of the Ming ; but Pekin continues to be the
residence of the Mantchoo Tartar dynasty, and the
Emperor Hien-Foung has the support of the popula
tion generally, a frightful confusion having every
where resulted from the overturn of his government
Unfortunately there is no revenue. The court is
in desperation for money, and unable to supply the
soldiers with the means of existence'; the latter make
depredations everywhere. The Emperor cannot call in

284 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
to his assistance the Tartar hordes. This would be a
useless expedient, or one at all events to be resorted
to only under very desperate circumstances. The
Mongols would be scattered under the hot sun of the
plains. The Mantchoos could give little assistance,
They are miserable tribes, scanty in numbers, and with
no arms but bows and spears. The two powers, the
rebels and Imperialists, remain then in a state of hos-
tiHty and in presence of each other, living at the
expense of provinces which successive governments
have done their utmost to ruin and depopulate for
ages. From time to time news is brought to the
European ports that cannon have been heard on the
shores of the Yang-tse-Kiang. The cannon have been
fired, but it is aU a device of the mandarins. They
require to get up an occasional victory, in order that
they may send a high-sounding bulletin to the court
of Pekin, to support a fresh demand for money. The
military authorities take good care not to crush the
insurrection entirely. This would be kilUng the hen
that lays the golden eggs. In point of fact, all the
money which is sent by the government to pay the
troops finds its way into the purses of the mandarins,
and very little ever goes farther. It would evidently
be a great mistake in the excess of zeal to put an end
to a business so profitable to themselves. We may
explain the religious and Christian character of the

THE CHRISTIANITY OF THE REBELS. 285
rebellion, at its origin, in the following manner." The
great Chinese national insurrection took place on the
confines of Kwang-toung and Kwang-si, among the
mountains of the Miao-Tze, independent tribes whom
the Chinese government has never succeeded in
bringing under subjection. Now there were for
merly among the Miao-Tze many Christians who had
sought refuge in the mountains. They had fled from
Tartar rule, and remained supporters to the last of
the cause of the son of the latest emperor of the
dynasty of the Ming. The general of the Pretender's
army in Kwang-si was a Christian. The Pretender
himself was a Christian as well as his family. He
was defeated and killed by treason in Kouei-lin, the
capital of the province. There were confused and
vague recollections or traditions of these events, and
hence the vague sort of Christianity which charac
terized the insurrection at first, but which was soon
combined with polygamy under the sway of the King
of the East.
There is a considerable traffic in cattle between
Mongolia and China, properly so called. By the gate
of the Great WaU nearest to Pekin there enter
annuaHy twenty-five millions of sheep. The whole
number of sheep entering the Celestial Empire
annually may be estimated at sixty or seventy-five
milUons. In the northern provinces, near the great

286 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
pasture-lands, sheep may be had at a wonderfully low
price, while south of Shang-hai and Ning-po they
are not to be purchased for any sum. The southern
provinces, covered with' rice-fields, are destitute of
grass-lands where sheep can feed.
The family of Confucius is still extant. It inhabits
the province of Chan-toung, and possesses great
privUeges. It forms the only hereditary nobility in
China. Koung-Fou-Tseu, its founder, died in the
year 479 before Christ. This family is certainly an
old one, but it has degenerated, not having for a
long period produced any man of the smaUest conse
quence. On attaining the age of eighty, Chinamen are en
titled to wear yeUow attire, this being the colour of
the Imperial family. This is an honour conferred on
old age by law.
Corea is a kingdom which is tributary to China.
Every year it sends an embassy to Pekin. But the
authority of the Chinese over this people is purely
nominal and honorary. No Chinese has any right to
reside in Corea, nor has any Corean a right to reside
in Chinese territory. There is so little connection
between the two governments that Admiral Poutia
tine on one occasion saved the crew of a Chinese junk
who had been shipwrecked, and who were about to be
massacred by the Coreans without opposition on the

CORRUPTION IN CHINA. 287:
part of the native authorities. The natives of Corea
call their country Kerai. It is a gold region. There
are three mines known to exist in it, of wliich two
only have been explored. They are defended by evil
genii according to the mandarins, who, being as yet
far behind inpoUtical economy, dread an over supply
of the precious metal, and get up this legend to scare
the people. The Eussians made themselves masters
a year ago of the course of the Ousouri and Soungari,
tributaries of the Amour. They have come into close
proximity with Corea, and the independence of this
country is thereby seriously menaced.
AU the yamouns in China belong to the Emperor.
They cannot be sold, nor does any prescription affect
property in them. The mandarins, only retaining
office for three years, think more of making money
than of adorning their official abodes, and hence the
state of disrepair into which aU the public buHdings
of China have faUen.
Corruption is universal in China ; by dint of money
and bribery everything may be effected, everything
found out in aU parts of the empire, and in every
sphere of Chinese life. It is aU a matter of calcula
tion. The rich merchants of Sou-tchou-fou had
bought up the secretaries of the High Imperial
Commissioners from Pekin, and they knew as weU as
we did what was going on at Tien-tsin. Before we

288 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
returned from PecheU the tao-tai of Shang-hai had
procured the Chinese text of the English treaty, and
imparted its contents to M. de Montigny. With the
crowd of Uterati and petty mandarins who always
flutter about the Chinese authorities, it is quite im
possible to keep a state secret.
There is still at Pekin a church standing, which is
of larger dimensions than the cathedral of Tong-ka-
tou. Taken in former times from the missionaries,
the edifice has since been devoted to no particula-r
purpose. A cross surmounted the dome till within
the last five or six years, when it was taken down
under the pretext that the symbol was unlucky, and
might attract the rebels. If the court of Peidn would
consent to restore this church to our missionaries,
they would thereby give us a striking proof of their
good faith and sincerity, in the abandonment of the
old anti-European policy.
There are in China rich mines of gold, silver, and
quicksilver ; but the government prohibit them from
being worked under pain of death, alleging that it
would be removing hands from agricultural labour.
In a country like the Celestial Empire, which has
an immense population to support on a Umited area,
everything, they hold should, be sacrificed to the cul
tivation of the soil and the production of food and
clothing. There is another motive for this prohibi-

CHINESE FUNERALS. 289
tion. The Chinese government conceded some time
ago the right of working the mines to certain parties
specified in the contract. The persons concerned in
this joint adventure had no sooner made a little money
than they were attacked by a band of armed men,
who attempted to rob them of it. ' The mining ad
venturers resisted, and the consequences were high
way robberies, assaults, fights, and pitched battles
in infinite succession. This sort of thing could not
continue long, so the court of Pekin, to bring the
disorders to a close, completely prohibited the
working of mines over the whole empire. What
mining is stiU carried on is consequently fraudulent,
and concealed from the authorities. At Ning-po,
however, a CooUe has made a fortune by secret min
ing, his operations having been conducted with great
skiU and boldness, in defiance of legal ordinances.
There are a great number of coal-mines in the
neighbourhood of Pekin, but they are worked after
the fashion of the patriarchal ages, without regard
to the future. The mines of Formosa, in the hands of
Chinese companies, now supply coal to the European
steamers. In the country places, all over the Chinese empire,
the traveUer may see everywhere red coffins standing
in the middle of the fields. These are dead bodies
which await burial. The family to which they belong,
u

290 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
not being rich enough to purchase a suitable place of
interment and to bear the expense of a solemn fune
ral, delays until some others of its members die, when
one ceremony will suffice for aU of them. If the
father dies, then the family waits till the mother
expires, and indeed often until the death of the eldest
son ; for a solemn funeral is a ruinous affair, often
swallowing up the best part of the savings of a life
time. The European coasting-trade has of late increased
very much. Whenever a European vessel takes to
this traffic, fifteen junks at least are driven from the
field. There are several reasons for this ; the chief of
which are, that European ships are roomy, can go to
sea at aU seasons, and can be insured. Junks, on the
other hand, have a very small tonnage. They must
wait for the monsoons, and are not protected from
risk by the system of marine insurance, which is
altogether unknown to the Chinese. The coasting-
trade is that in which the French would be most
likely to succeed in China. M. de Montigny has
already organised a whole service of Chinese barks,
carrying the French flag, and having each a French
sailor in command. They ply between Shang-hai
and Ning-po. These barks convey letters, passengers,
and goods, and have secured the confidence of the
Chinese to such an extent that 'they are more trusted

HIGH HONOUR OF CHINESE MERCHANTS. 291
than any other vessels of the same kind, whether
under Chinese or Portuguese colours. The French
flag is held in high respect in the Chinese waters.
All Europeans settled in the free ports of China
willingly bear testimony to the honourable manner
in which business on a great scale is conducted by
Chinese merchants. They even admit that the great
Chinese banking-houses are often safer than the great
European houses. But this is far from . being the
case with retaH trade.
In Mongolia there are from eight to ten thousand
Christians, but they are all Chinamen. The Mongols
are receding graduaUy before the peaceful invasion of
Chinese immigrants. The Chinese settle now beyond
the Great WaU, buy land there, and till it. The
Mongolians, unwHling to abandon their wandering life
for settled occupations, are receding farther and farther
before the agricultural communities into the north
of the Land of Pastures ; exhibiting in this respect
some resemblance to the Indians of North America,
who are gradually receding and disappearing before
the tide of civilization. The Mantchoos have been
influenced in a different way by the Chinese. Indeed
they have become Chinese in all respects, and in dress
and language there is nothing to distinguish them
from the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. In
passing through Moukden, the capital of Mantchooria,

292 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
we might imagine ourselves to be in a town of the
two Kiangs or of the two Kwangs.
The missionaries often spoke to us of the frightful
ravages caused by the use of opium in China, and
of the rapid progress which this deleterious practice is
making every year in the empire. Opium was at first
exclusively used by the mandarins, to beget a certain
energy of manner, and as a stimulant better fitting
them either for toH or pleasure. At first they offered
it to those who caUed upon them, as a rare and curious
delicacy. It was brought out as a mark of respect,
and the visitors were accordingly obUged to partake
of it. Gradually this habit spread among the wealthy
classes, the Uterati, the nobility, and all persons who
by then* position were brought into contact with the
mandarins. Opium even found its way to the people
under the name of polite tobacco, and was smoked at
first from motives of vanity, and then from love for
the thing itself. Now there is not one district in
China which is not infected by the habit. It has
found its way aUke into princes' palaces and poor
men's cottages. The Chinese government attempts
in vain to remedy the evil — every one is practically
opposed to interference. In vain has the punishment
of death been decreed against aU who smoke the
drug. The wives of the Emperor violate the law
within the very walls of the palace. It is a fertile

OPIUM SMOKING. 293
source of revenue to the mandarins, and hence the
futility of all attempts to suppress it. In fact, the
persons who keep divans, or houses for opium -smoking,
manage to protect themselves from justice by making
handsome presents to the authorities, who wink hard
in consequence. It is asserted that the tao-tai of
Shang-hai makes nearly forty thousand pounds a year
in this way. The craving for opium is irresistible
when the habit of using it has once been acquired.
To abandon it a man must possess a character of no
common energy ; and indeed the habit can only be
cured at the risk of life, for the stomach when de
prived of this sustenance contracts, thereby causing
the most acute agony. The Chinese begin when
about twenty years of age to smoke a pipe a day.
Great smokers get the length of as many as eight
pipes, but then they faU victims to the habit within
five or six years. Those who smoke from two to four
pipes a day, however, may live for twenty or even
for thirty years. Opium is smoked in a pipe about
nine inches long, perforated at its extremity with a
smaU hole into which the bit of opium is introduced,
mixed with essence of roses. The smoke is inhaled
in four or five long draughts. Each pipe produces at
first a sort of headache, and then, it appears, a delight
ful state of extacy. The smokers, after they have
reached this stage, are removed to a great sleeping-

294 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
room and laid down upon mats side by side, and on
their backs. The sleep so induced continues for four
or five hours, after which the smoker remains for two
or three hours in a state of utter weakness and
prostration. Opium tends to brutaUse those who use
it habitually. They can be recognised by their be
sotted look, and by their lean and haggard faces.
At first opium is smoked on the sly, unknown to the
relations and family of the smoker. To escape notice,
the victim repairs to smoking saloons, places gene
rally kept by females of doubtful virtue. When he
has had his draught and sleep, he goes home discon
tented and peevish to his wife and children, and
conducts himself towards them in the most vicious
manner. This for a while is aU the harm done. Very
soon, however, he becomes quite unfit for shopkeeping
or labour, and can think of nothing but his new
passion for opium. Buin soon stares him in the face.
His lands are mortgaged, his furniture and dwelling
sold, and then his wife and his children are dis
posed of; often much to their satisfaction, as it is
hard to endure the perpetual brawl which this habit
introduces into a household. When with the help
of pawnbrokers and money-lenders aU his means have
been eaten up, the unhappy victim enUsts into the
army, gets employment from a secret society, or
joins some band of freebooters or insurgents. This

THE OPIUM TRADE. 295
is the frightful evil which now gnaws at the prosperity
of China, and demoralizes her people. It is humani
tarian England, so noisy, vigilant, and susceptible
about the negro slave-trade, which unscrupulously
causes aU this misery. One cannot pass Woosung, and
see those great ' receiving ships,' sinking to the water's
edge under their freight of opium and bristling with
cannon, without a feeUng of indignation. Here right
is reconcUed with the interest of the strong ; the shame
less and unprincipled love of gain is triumphant !
In defence of the traffic a few figures have been
quoted which teU their own tale. According to Mr.
Alcock, the Consul-General of Great Britain at
Canton, the EngUsh import into China, and distribute
among the Chinese, seventy thousand boxes of opium
annually. Now one box of opium was worth, in
August 1858, at Shang-hai, 480 taels. Taking the
value of the tael at six and sixpence, we have the enor
mous sum of 10,920,000?. Now this commodity is only
exchanged for silver ingots. Opium, then, withdraws
from China more than ten mHlions of pounds of
sterling money annuaUy, which are immediately
restored to the general commerce of the world. This
traffic makes the Chinese yield up a part of the
treasures which they are constantly absorbing and
secreting in useless hoards. In exchange for silk and
tea, the Chinese only receive a very smaU proportion

296 AN EMBASSY TO CHTNA AND JAPAN.
of our products, indeed a portion imperceptible in its
influence on the general trade. They won't have
our goods, they will take only money. Opium, in this
way, suppUes the means of maintaining an equHibrium
in business, and prevents commerce with the Middle
Empire from becoming to an injurious extent dis
advantageous to Europe. The opium traffic has,
then, its economical advantages. This is argued in
self-defence, on commercial principles of undoubted
soundness, by the heads of aU the great business
houses in China, which owe their splendour to the
existing system. Besides, the Chinese, it is added,
are themselves to blame. They have it in their
power to give up using opium. No one can force
them to buy it. PoUtical economists, may discover
some strength in these arguments, but we rejoice to
think that France takes no part in this traffic, and
owes no share of the prosperity she enjoys to the
demoraUzation and degradation of a whole people.
A man of Lord Elgin's noble and elevated character
could not fa,H to express warmly his detestation of
this evH. But what efforts of an individual wiU avail
against commercial habits which have acquired
tenacity and have proved a source of so much wealth ?
Not being able to put down this trade, however, he
has attempted to render it less criminal. Henceforth,
trade in opium is subjected to customs duties, and,

SECRET SOCIETIES. 297
after these have been settled, boxes are not to be
considered contraband. It will now be imported and
sold in all open ports. Uniformity in profits will
thereby be restored among the foreign merchants,
hitherto those engaged in legitimate trade only
having paid duties, while the others paid none.
Secret societies have existed for centuries back in
China ; they are stiU numerous and formidable. The
leading ones are those of the White Lily, the Eed
Nuphar, Heavenly Wisdom, the Triad (the heavens,
earth, and man), and the White Cloud. Kwang-toung,
Kwang-si, and Fo-kien are infested with them. They
are also numerous at Hong-Kong, ManHla, Singapore,
and Macao.
Tien-tsin is situated at a distance of about fifty
mUes from the capital city of Pekin, which stands in
the midst of a dreary and sandy plain. The winters
are bitterly cold ; the summers are very hot, the
weather being rendered more oppressive by the dust
which fiUs the air. The climate is very trying to the
lungs, and on this ground the Eussians who belong
to the coUege have requested that they should only
stay six instead of ten years at the Chinese capital.
There are neither tankas nor tanka-women in
northern China. They are entirely confined to the
Canton river. No son of a boat-woman can become a
mandarin ; and if, concealing this prohibition, any

298 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
of them should pass the examination and in this way
obtain a button, he wHl be degraded so soon as the
truth comes out.
The ordinary rapidity of Chinese couriers is about
three hundred Us, or about thirty leagues a-day ; when
the despatches are urgent, or ' despatches of fire,' as
they are caUed, the couriers who convey them should
make five hundred Us, or fifty leagues a-day.
There is much ado made in France about the extent
to which aU the Uberal professions are overstocked.
The same thing exists to an incomparably greater
extent, however, in the Middle Empire. In 1821
there were thirty-two thousand unemployed doctors
or licentiates — a dangerous fuel for the secret societies
and insurrections. The number of unemployed pro
fessional men must have increased since.
There are occasional earthquakes at Shang-hai, in
an aUuvial district formed of mud and sand ; a curious
fact, which, even admitting the truth that the volcanic
region of Japan is close at hand, is not satisfactorily
explained. The Chinese army is composed of six hundred
thousand men, who are scattered over the surface of
the empire : a very smaU number of troops for a
country of such extent. The Mantchoo army is com-'
posed of two hundred thousand men, of whom one
hundred thousand are organised in the capital and in

THE MANTCHOO ARMY. 299
the northern towns. The Chinese Tartar troops,
however, do not form a regular army Uke those of
Europe. They are rather a mHitia, intended to
support the provincial authorities and to maintain
order in the empire. The soldiers are not lodged in
barracks. Each lives in his own house, and they only
meet on certain occasions under an order from their
chief. As they are very badly paid, they generally
add some other occupation to that of soldier. Most
frequently they are day-labourers.

300 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHAPTEE X.
Departure for Japan. — Van Diemen's Straits. — Detention at Si-
moda. — The Bazaar. — We lunch -with Nemorano-Nedaawano-
Kami. — The Bay of Yedo. — Death of the Civil Emperor. — The
Embassy takes up its quarters in a Bonze-house. — The Official
Town. — The Business Town. — The Palace of the Taicoon. — What
we saw in the Streets of Yedo. — Our Hundred Iacounin. — Confer
ences at Yedo. — Signature of the Treaty. — The Town of Nanga-
saki. — The Dutch Factory of Deeima. — Attempts of the Japan
ese Government to create a War Fleet. — The Chinese Factory.—
Return to Shang-hai.
All hope of the speedy return of the ' Audacieuse '
having been abandoned, and the bad season ap
proaching rapidly, Baron Gros decided, in the begin
ning of September, to leave Shang-hai and set sail
for Japan, in order to accomplish the second part of
his mission. He had at his disposal only two vessels
of the Imperial navy, the sloop of war the ' Laplace,'
the advice-boat the 'Pregent,' and a small trading
steamer, hired for the same purpose, named the
' Eemi.' The remainder of the French fleet had
received orders to join the admiral in Cochin China.
The ambassador, M. de Contades, M. de Chassiron,

DEPARTURE FOR JAPAN. 301
and the Abbe Mermet, our new interpreter, took up
their quarters on board the 'Laplace.' We were
accommodated in the ' Eemi.' We had on board with
us an iuteUigent and intrepid traveUer, M. Casimir
Leconte, who had explored in succession every country
under the sun. During forty years he had travelled
about incessantly, and yet he had never met with
either storms or accidents of an alarming kind. He
had never been sick. He had broken every limb and
sprained every joint on the causeways of Paris ; but
he had never met with a mischance of the kind far
from home. We put our trust in his star in adven
turing with him upon the stormy seas of Japan ; and
we expected, not without reason, that his pleasant
conversation would serve to relieve the tedium of the
voyage, which it certainly did.
On Monday, the 6th of September, at ten o'clock
in the morning, with fine weather, a clear blue,
sky, and a gentle wind from the north, we left the
shores of the Whampoa. We were all well pleased
to exchange the suffocating and unwholesome atmos
phere of Shang-hai for the fresh sea-breeze. The
captain of the ' Eemi,' his two mates, and the men
who are in charge of the engine, are Europeans ; the
remainder of the crew is composed of Malays, Hindoos,
negroes, and Chinamen. We were struck with the
measured and melancholy singsong with which the

302 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Malays accompany the tug and strain of their muscles
as they haul in the anchor or hoist the saHs. Our
ship belongs to the house of Eemi, Schmidt, and
Company. It is let at the rate of 5500 piastres
a-month, or more than 40?. a-day, no uncommon sum
for such service in these seas.
Our cabins are small but clean, and the saloon is
well ventilated. But the ship has, unfortunately,
other inhabitants, in the shape of rats, white ants,
red ants, and cancrelas, which night and day give
themselves up to all sorts of pranks and antics, to
our supreme discomfort. A large vessel belonging to
Jardine's firm, going directly to London with a cargo
of tea, left the yeUow waters of the Yang-tse at the
same time with us.
Our engine is weak ; the ' Laplace,' not to let us
fall behind, gave us a tug for some time. However,
they found it inconvenient. They dropped us in a
few days ; and leaving with the ' Pregent,' they fixed
Simoda as the rendezvous. Slowly but steadily we
advanced over the ocean. We had a head-wind, no
doubt, but the weather was fine. It was Uke the
beginning cf October in France. The sky was clear,
the horizon serene. A strong swell from the north
east, which set in against us, stopped our progress.
However, we passed Van Diemen's Straits in safety,
through the numerous islands which stud these seas ;

SIMODA. 303
and on the 9th of September we quitted the China
Sea for the open ocean. On the 14th, at ten o'clock,
after a passage of nine days, we cast anchor at Simoda.
The 'Laplace' and the 'Pregent' had arrived the
night before.
The port of Simoda is small and narrow : it would
scarcely hold more than five or six ships at once ; but
it is safe and weU sheltered, excepting to the south
west, where it is a little open. The town is a mere
village, protected from high tides by a dyke. The
country is beautifully picturesque, exhibiting an ad
mirable variety of hill and dale. Bounded knolls are
covered with a luxuriant vegetation descending to the
water's edge ; firs spring from the rocks ; and, amid
wild and picturesque scenery, rich rice-fields, ranged
in terraces, run along the hills. There were delight
ful dells with brooks rushing down their hoHows ;
and abrupt slopes and crags of volcanic rocks catch
ing the sunshine at every angle, and giving wonder
ful variety to the scene. We were deUghted with the
country. Everywhere we met working people who
had a gay and happy appearance ; and saw beauti
fully clean houses, with a look about them of the
utmost comfort and prosperity.
If cleanliness is to be taken as a criterion of happi
ness in a people or in an individual, then the Japanese
should be happy. They are very cheerful ; and seem

304 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
pleased when we make up to them. The women do
not run off as they do in China when they see a
European. There is no crowd of ragged CooUes
standing about. The costume of the men of the
poorer classes is very simple, consisting of a wide
dress with a belt, every part of it being exquisitely
clean. The reader may guess what the effect of all
this was, on persons who had just arrived from a six
weeks' sojourn in the midst of that hideous human
ant-hiU, a Chinese town, and from the flat and tame
banks of the Whampoa.
At the bottom of the roadstead floated the American
flag, over the residence of Mr. Townsend Harris, the
consul-general of the United States, settled in Japan
in virtue of the treaty of Kanagawa. In spite of all
the noise that was made about it, Commodore Perry's
expedition has not struck very deep roots in the
country. The name of Admiral Poutiatine is much
more popular. It was in the road of Simoda that
the celebrated shipwreck of the Eussian frigate, the
' Diana,' took place. It is the only case on record
of a ship perishing by the effect of an earthquake.
The land rose and fell on this occasion. At one mo
ment the ship had six*?y feet of water under her, and
the next, those on board saw her anchors lying high
and dry on the upraised bed of the ocean. An im
mense wave suddenly sprung up to seaward, and came

WE LUNCH WITH THE GOVERNOR. 305
pouring into the roads. It overwhelmed the town,
and inundated the whole vaUey. The admiral and
his men jumped into the sea and swam ashore. Four
teen only were drowned. The shipwrecked carpenters,
when all was over and things had returned to their
usual state, set about constructing a small vessel in
which the crew might return to the banks of the
Amour. But a large American ship, which was sent
out shortly afterwards from Shang-hai, furnished
them with a safer mode of conveyance — and the
smaU Eussian schooner was presented to the Japan
ese, and still forms a graceful ornament where it rides
at anchor in the road of Simoda.
During our stay in this port we received the warm
est and most cordial reception from the Japanese.
The governor of Simoda, his Excellency Nemorano-
Nedanwano-Kami, came on the first day of our arri
val on board the ' Laplace,' to visit the ambassador.
At noon, on the third day we had been in Japan,
we went on shore to pay him in turn our official
visit. He came forward to meet us at the entrance
to his house, and received us with perfect grace, sur
rounded by his principal officers. A splendid luncheon
was spread in the large reception-room. We took
our places to the left side, on seats ; and the governor
and his six officers sat down on their heels, after the
custom of the country, on the side opposite to us.
x

306 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
The Japanese interpreter, on his knees, transmitted
the words of Abbe Mermet to the governor. Tea and
saki, hot rice-brandy, fish, pork, and eggs in forty
different forms, were served in plates and cups of red,
brown, and black lacquer. Japanese cookery appeared
to us, in a general way, to resemble Chinese cookery,
but to be infinitely superior to the latter in the tempt
ing appearance and cleanUness of the dishes, as well
as in the way in which they were served up. Those
who waited upon us carried two swords ; and at each
new course we were struck by some .little refinement
of luxury and elegance which we had not seen prac
tised at the dinner of the Chinese mandarins. First,
there were dwarf trees, cut into the shape of flowers
and animals ; then there was a large fish in a dish of
water, imitating a pool of salt water, with seaweed
floating in it ; and lastly, there came superb flowers,
constructed out of lobster-flesh and sliced turnips.
The governor told us, with evident satisfaction, that
these flowers were the work of his officers; which
certainly gave us a high idea of the neat handiness
of these gentlemen, although it somewhat lowered
our opinion of the importance and serious character
of tbfeir occupations. That the principal functionaries
of the state are free to spend their time in making
artificial flowers out of carrots and turnips and lob
ster-flesh, proves that the social machine is well

THE BAZAAR. 307
ordered, and works smoothly without watchful super
vision. In the midst of all these nouveautes, it was
a surprise to stumble upon a real gateau de SaiJoie, in
slices cut to perfection, and unexceptionable in flavour.
This importation dates from the Spaniards— that is
to say, it is two centuries old ; and it continues to
retain its Spanish name.
The official ^receptions over, we turned our whole
attention to the bazaar of Simoda, which is deserving
of special mention in this place. The reader is aware
that, down to our own times, it was an offence pun
ishable with death in a Japanese to sell anything to
foreigners. This was a monopoly reserved by the
government. Warned, beforehand, of the arrival of
the ships of war belonging to the four nations, the
Japanese authorities had accordingly collected, in- an
immense tent, all the products of the country which
were likely to interest foreigners. There were dis
played Japanese lacquer, employed in every way ;
long rows of inkstands, boxes, and tables, of all
colours and sizes. The price of each object in itchi-
bous, the coin of the country, was written in Arabic
numerals underneath ; and a small wooden box, made
expressly for each article, enabled the purchaser to
pack it on the spot, and remove it on board. The
Parisian ladies would have waxed enthusiastic over
so many marvels of taste and elegance. The ambas-

308 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sador, his secretaries and attaches, the officers, the
very saUors were delighted with the exhibition. All
day long there was nothing but going and coming
from the shore to the ships ; and when we left, it
was calculated that there had been, spent about
1200?. on purchases of lacquered articles at Simoda.
Our intercourse with the inhabitants was very
famHiar. We went on shore forenoon, afternoon,
and evening, at any hour. We were frankly re
ceived everywhere. We visited the pagodas, which
are very curious and weU worth seeing ; and while
sauntering about, would drop into the houses of en-'
tertainment, to get a cup of tea. In the evening
we joined those who sang and danced in honour of
the moon ; and really enjoyed the amusements of
the people. They showed every anxiety to please
us, and often supplied us with boats gratuitously to
get back to our vessel. Our entertainers said to us,
laughingly, that we would not meet with the same
attention at Yedo, the people there being of a more
serious turn of mind. We afterwards had an oppor
tunity of appreciating the truth of this remark.
After staying five, days in this charming country,
the ambassador gave us the signal for departure.
Up to the last moment the deck was crowded with
Japanese, who came on board to get a glass of cham
pagne or liqueur, and then visit the engine and other

ti) P.

THE MOUNTAIN OF FUSI-YAMA. 309
parts of the ship. On these occasions they took long
notes on their fans of what they saw. In all this
their conduct was very different from that of the
Chinese. During my whole stay in the Celestial
Empire I never saw a single Chinaman come on
board except to sell goods. The Japanese are anxious
to get instruction. The Chinese disdain whatever
does not belong to the customs and literature of their
own race.
On the night of the 19th of September we left the
Bay of Simoda, in order to proceed to Kanagawa and
Yedo. The evening before the governor had sent two
of his officers in fuU dress to the ambassador, to an
nounce to him officially the death of the civil Emperor
of Japan. This important news had arrived that very
morning from the capital. AU the day we had our
flags hoisted on account of the death of the taicoun.
I do not know whether the Japanese have noticed
this demonstration on our part, which of course they
won't understand until it is explained to them. At
the entrance to the Bay of Yedo we were overtaken
by the ' Laplace ' and ' Pregent,' which did not leave
for four hours after us. We saw from deck a crowd
of barks, junks, villages, and towns, above which
rose, in all its majesty, Fusi-yama — the mountain,
par excellence, of the Japanese. A bright sun irradi
ated the hill sides. At three o'clock we cast anchor

310 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
four miles from the extremity of the bay where the
town is situated. Before that part of the town which
is called Sinagawa we perceived five ships of war of
European construction, of which two were steamers;
one being a gift from the Dutch, the other a gift from
the English. The civil Emperor died twenty days
ago of gout in the stomach ; he was only thirty-five
years of age. The government considered it prudent
to conceal his death, in this adopting the traditional
policy of the court of Yedo. His successor, who is
Ms adopted son, is only thirteen years of age, and is
not yet recognised. It is a councH of regency which
governs. For forty days the Japanese must allow
their beards to grow, as a sign of mourning. It is
whispered that the new taicoun is rather of a blood
thirsty disposition ; he has just begun his higher
studies, but Confucius and his commentators are not
much to his mind. The laws compel him, however,
to study under a master, who, although addressing
his pupil on his bended knees, does not for all that
require to mince matters with the royal youth when
scholastic discipline is to be enforced. '
The ' Laplace ' was besieged for eight-and-forty
hours by a crowd of Japanese officers dressed in rich
silks, with attendants wearing two swords apiece,
going, coming, and moving about through the ship.
Seven governors of Yedo came at one time on board ;

THE CITY OF YEDO. 311
but the cold poUteness of these distinguished officials
made us regret the frank good nature of the inha
bitants of Simoda. The firm resolution come to by
Baron Gros, to go on shore, to live in the city of
Yedo, and to negociate his treaty there, excited the
strongest opposition on the part of these functionaries,
and gave rise to interminable discussions. The death
of the Emperor would prevent, they said, the
French embassy from being received with all the
distinction which the court of Yedo would have liked
to confer upon it, had it not arrived at a time of
mourning. If they wished honour done them, they
must, according to Japanese custom, wait forty
days. Baron Gros said that he would dispense with
anything of the kind. Our presence in the town,
they said, would cause trouble ; it would collect crowds
who might do us some harm. The ambassador said
it seemed to him to be the duty of the Japanese
authorities to prevent anything of this kind from
happening. Cholera was then raging at Yedo ; three
thousand persons had died, and three hundred were
dying every day :— why should we expose our lives
by coming into the town at such a time ? Baron
Gros replied that we were acquainted with cholera,
that it also existed in France, and that we were not
at all frightened about it. Such were the principal
arguments of the Japanese. The ambassador was

312 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
obliged to enter into all this miserable cavilling,
Lord Elgin and Count Poutiatine having already gone
through the same process. At length, after three
days of tiresome delay, we were permitted to disem
bark at the city of Yedo. At noon on the 23rd,
Contades, M. Mermet, and Flavigny went on shore
to see the house which the Japanese authorities had
set apart for us, near the palace of the Emperor.
They found it clean and spacious, in a suitable
quarter, not far from the sea, and we fixed the 26th
as the day for coming on shore. As the funeral of
the taicoon takes place on the 24th, we consented
to delay for two days taking possession of our new
abode, which was a bonze-house or convent.
On Sunday, the 26th of September, at eleven
o'clock in the forenoon, we met on board the 'Laplace,'
and put off in three ship's-boats to take up our quar
ters at last in the capital of Japan. As the ambassa
dor left the ' Laplace ' and passed in front of the
' Pregent,' the saHors, manning the yards, gave three
cheers for the Emperor. No cannon were then fired,
as a mark of respect for the taicoon. The day was
¦close and hot. It took us an hour to get to land.
We passed under five forts buHt on pHes, and con
structed after the European fashion according to
plans supplied by the Portuguese. They are in
very good repair, and their defenders seemed nume-

THE NORIMONS. 313
rous. Our luggage had been despatched in the
morning from the ships on board junks supplied by
the Japanese authorities. We approached the land
with difficulty. The tide was beginning to recede,
and our boats could not reach the landing-place.
The ambassador was obliged to get into a fishing-
boat to reach the shore, and then he had to climb up
a ladder after leaving it to reach the level on which
the city stands. In this act he did not badly repre
sent western civilization mounting the breach into
the antique civilization of Japan. We were in a
fortified enclosure, in which were drawn up a hundred
men wearing two sabres, who were to escort us. At
the door of this enclosure we found the ambassador's
chair, now an object of historical interest, and our
chairs or norimons awaiting us, and carried by Japa
nese porters. We declined to squat in these elegant
lacquered boxes, and, in order to have a look about
us, walked after the chair of Baron Gros. For
some time we passed through streets which were
very much crowded, but the celebrated canabo mohi,
or triangle-bearers, preceded us and opened a way.
These functionaries, who are peculiar to Japan, stopped
at each door, that is to say, at every hundred paces.
Their gowns, chequered with yeUow, green, black, or
red patches, gave them a most fantastic appearance.
They carried a large iron triangle, to which were

314 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
attached at the top iron rings, which jingled when
it was struck upon the ground. It terminated
below in a sharp point, which they let fall upon the
feet of the mob to keep them back. The crowd on
seeing them approach drew back and aUowed us to
pass. We soon arrived at the official town, or the
quarter set apart for the lesser bounio, their famflies
and suites, during their stay of twelve months in Yedo.
There is something of the sadness, severity, and
gloom of monastic estabUshments about this quarter
of the town'. The houses, although their architecture
is more highly ornamented, have the look of prisons.
They have immense oaken doors with large iron locks,
which are always kept closed and bolted. Behind
the grated windows we could see a whole population
of men, women, and girls, staring at us with no small
curiosity. On one side of the street live the bounio
and their family, on the other their domestics. In
nothing did what we saw resemble China. The
streets are wide, clean, and well ventilated. They
are even macadamised and bounded on each side
with a stream of limpid water. The houses are not
heaped one above the other as in the Chinese towns.
Everywhere traces are apparent of the supervision
of an active and vigilant board of health. After
walking half an hour we came to our house, which
was situated at the foot of a wooded hiH, on which

GARDENS AND PARKS AT YEDO. 315
there was a Buddhist temple which overlooked the
bay and the whole town. Scarcely had we arrived
when the six great functionaries, appointed pleni
potentiaries, came to the convent on a visit of
compliment to the ambassador. Then followed a
dinner sent by the taicoon, a sumptuous and solid
repast, similar to that at Simoda ; of which, however,
we were obliged to partake while the interview was
going on. The taicoon at the same time sent us
a few baskets of pears, chestnuts, grapes, and other
fruits, with a message that he would provide the same
quantity every morning while we continued to stay in
the .city.
The capital of Japan covers a space of one hun
dred square mUes, and contains two millions and a
half of inhabitants. There are in Yedo a number
of small wooded heights covered with joss-houses,
whence there is a fine view over the remainder of the
town. Everywhere in the town we came to the
edge of large gardens and parks, in which the Ja
panese authorities sauntered about with their fami-
Ues, ;for they never go into the streets except on
business. In Japan, as in China, the authorities sel
dom make their appearance among the people, and
when they do so it is in full dress, and accompanied by
a cortege. Accordingly the Japanese could scarcely
beUeve us when we told them that the Emperor

316 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Napoleon HI. went out every day in a phaeton with
out any attendants, driving the conveyance himself ;
that he rode through the streets on horseback at
tended only by an aide-de-camp ; and that he spent
his time in attending to pubUc business. The idea
of a prince moving about famiUarly among his sub
jects was altogether at variance with their prejudices,
but the fact of a sovereign being hard worked in the
administration of state affairs seemed to them to be
altogether absurd. They remarked ingenuously that
it must be more tiresome than pleasant to be tai
coon of the French.
The taicoon of Japan leads quite another life.
When he goes abroad aU the streets must be cleared ;
then every one must go within doors, and motion
must cease, and every sound be hushed in the town ;
the few persons who witness the scene must remain
still, their heads bowed to the ground, and the
slightest infraction of this posture is punished with
death. The inhabitants of Yedo, however, are
seldom troubled by the presence of their sovereign.
He does not leave the enclosure of his palace more
than five or six times a year, in a norimon or Ja
panese palanquin, for the purpose of worshiping the
images of his ancestors in a temple situated two or
three miles from the town. He is so completely
hedged round by etiquette, his life is so much bound

THE PALACE OF THE EMPEROR. 317
up with the rites, that at last he has become a sort
of demi-god, hid from men, and by far too loftily
exalted to take any interest in the affairs of this
world. The gotairo, who is his prime minister, and
the councils accordingly govern the state. The
taicoon, who has been caUed the temporal Emperor of
Japan, is the lieutenant of the mikado, or ecclesiastical
Emperor. Originally appointed to relieve the mikado
from the burden of business, he has.thrown it in turn
upon his prime minister. In our times the taicoon is
gradually becoming a second mikado.
At six o'clock in the morning the day after we
took up our abode at Yedo, M. Mermet, Maubourg,
and I set out on a long walk towards the palace of
the Emperor. We found that the way to get to it
was to go in the direction directly opposite to that
pointed out by our guides. We crossed two great
enclosures with broad ditches or moats full of run
ning water, and lofty embankments, which were
kept in very good order, covered with greensward and
shaded by dark green trees, the branches of which
drooped to the ground. Storks with beautifully
clean plumage stalked about over the grass. We
passed every now and then, as we proceeded, guard
houses, lacquered inside, and occupied by men with
two swords, who sat upon their heels. The silence of
these spacious official streets was only broken at times

318 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
when a group of daimio, or Japanese princes, passed
on horseback, or to an interview with the taicoon,
all in f uU dress and escorted by a numerous cortege.
Before each, twenty men with two swords marched
pompously down the middle of the street. Then came
the daimio, with a lacquer hat of many colours and
a pearl-gray dress, mounted on his horse of state.
The trappings of these animals were quite feudal, and
carried the mind back to the middle ages. In Japan
horses are never shod ; their hoofs are covered with
straw, like the feet of the men. They are much
larger and much stronger than those of the Chinese
•breed; they are fed exclusively on rice-straw, and
resemble a good deal our old Limousin stock, which
has been stupidly allowred to die out. Horses are
not used for draught purposes; they are employed
solely for the saddle. The carts at Yedo are drawn
by bulls, aud in all Niphon there is not a single
carriage. It is not every one wdio is aUowed to ride
on horseback in the capital of the taicoon ; it is a
privilege reserved for the great functionaries of
state. To return to the cortege of the daimio : these
personages are followed by the same number of men
with two swords as that which precedes them ; then
come several Coolies, who carry large boxes of
black wood stuck at the end of a stick of bamboo.
The higher the daimio is, the greater is the number of

A BREACH OF PROPRIETY. 319
boxes. 1 was told that dresses for all occasions and
all weathers — for heat, for cold, for sunshine, and
for rain — were stowed away in them, and that the
daimio make it a rule to have part of their wardrobe
borne in state behind them. Whether this is the
case or not, the Coolies form a singular part of the
cortege. We followed a procession of this kind for
some time. We were just entering the third en
closure of the palace, when our three guides sud
denly barred the way, and made us understand by
signs that, if they allowed us to proceed further,
they themselves would be subject to the unpleasant
process of decapitation. We had no fear for their
heads, but we knew that the Japanese government
is very severe on those who infringe the rites, and
we did not wish them to be reprimanded on our
account, so we reluctantly consented to retire.
The evening before, in the historical chair which
had figured at Tien-tsin, Baron Gros had made his
entrance into the town, carried by eight Japanese
Coolies decked out as Chinamen. Now it appears
that it is a tiling quite unknown in Japan for a
native to appear in Chinese garments ; it is an enor
mity — a violation of all propriety. It is more — it is
a crime. On this occasion the unfortunate Coolies
were not considered the only guilty parties. Six
hundred Japanese officials, who had not prevented

320 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the offence, were sentenced to a hundred days'
imprisonment ! Here, then, was a total of sixty
thousand days' imprisonment, aU on account of this
unlucky palanquin. The ambassador was much an
noyed when he heard of this proceeding, and took care
to get the prisoners immediately liberated. But if a
wholesome respect for Japanese legislation had been
taught the two hundred officers sent by the taicoon
to guard and watch us, they had also been alarmed
to an extent painful to us, lest we should be found
wanting in respect for those rites to which the go
vernment attached so much importance, without
their having it in their power to keep us right.
Yedo is divided into two distinct districts ; that
which surrounds the palace is the official quarter.
It is, as we said, sad, calm, and solemn. The other
is fuU of life and bustle. One can scarcely imagine
them to form part of the same place. They look
like two towns separated a hundred mHes from
each other. The official town is fiHed with the fami
lies of the daimio, the bounio, the governors, those
functionaries retained as hostages by the govern
ment, and those who are spending their alternate
year in Yedo. It was dull enough to saunter
through the wide and sHent streets. What a dif
ference there was in this respect when we went into
the business quarter ! The moment we set foot in it

JAPANESE HOUSES. 321
there was a general hubbub. The children shouted,
and the fuU-grown men and women came racing up
from every quarter of the compass, as if their lives
depended on their celerity in making a ring round
us ; there was a noisy crowd formed at our heels be
fore we could escape, and we never proceeded along
the street without the attendance of a clamorous mob
of not less than five hundred persons. This sort of
thing was not much to our liking, and, after spending
an hour or two in being stared at in this way, we
were always glad to abandon our exploration and
escape to our residence.
Our quarters are not very comfortable. We are
separated from the outer air by mere partitions of
rice paper, and during the night it is bitterly cold.
The Japanese with whom we come in contact are
very goodnatured; after having ministered to our
wants, they do their very best to make themselves
agreeable. In this attempt they expend a great deal
of ingenuity. Many of them can already bid us good
day, and good night, in French, and can count with
our numerals as high as a hundred. To gratify their
anxious desire for knowledge,, we have converted the
joss-house into a sort of school-room, and have
opened classes for the alphabet ; our pupHs do us credit.
If we were to stay a month longer at Yedo French
would be the only language spoken at this bonze-house.

322 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
The evenings are rather dull. At eight or nine*
o'clock all the gates which separate the various,
quarters of Yedo are shut, and the movement in the
streets is stopped till next day. We then get out on
the roof of the bonze-house, to breathe the fresh air,
look about us, and see the comet ; after this we Tetire
to a hand at whist with Commanders Kerjegu and
D'Ozery, and in this way we contrive to spend the
time. There are five hundred wrestlers at Yedo, men of
herculean proportions, who let themselves out on
hire to exhibit their feats of strength. We thoug'it
at first of engaging them for an evening, but it after
wards occurred to us that the diversion was rather
undignified, and we therefore abandoned our inten
tion. The conferences were conducted with great des
patch. Baron Gros having been good enough to
appoint me secretary, I attended them with his
Excellency and the interpreter, the *abbe Mermet.
The ambassador presided, and the six Japanese am
bassadors sat before him, round the table, in the
order of their rank. Each of the latter entered into*
the discussion with arguments of his own, and we had
more than once occasion to admire the acuteness
and. ability they displayed. I must give their names,
which, although they may be elegant in Japan, sound

¦ Up. -% Wiz
¦AM 4 .-.<., ,KS,
;¦:¦ ; ft.. " * •> ; -

E-t

co
<! *-D

ESPIONAGE IN JAPAN. 323
harsh and crabbed enough to French ears. Here
they are : — Midzoun6 Ikigougon6 Kami, Nagai
Hguembano Kami, Ynouie Schinanono Kami, Hori
Oribeno Kami, Iouache Fingoun6 Kami, and Kamai
SaMo Kami. The plenipotentiary last named was
remarkably quiet. Indeed he never opened his
mouth even in the midst of the most animated discus
sion. He listened, but never expressed an opinion. We
set him down accordingly as a personage of no great
ability. What was our surprise then when we found
out what his functions were ! He was a most im
portant personage. We saw his card one day, and
from it we learned that he took the title of Imperial
Spy, or, literaUy, man on watch to report to the Em
peror. Espionage is firmly rooted in Japanese man
ners. It is legal and constitutional. It forms part
of the administrative arrangements of the state, and
has been elevated to the rank of a principle in the
home policy of the empire. It is a mode of govern
ment with the court of Yedo. It may be said with
out exaggeration that one half of the population of
Japan are employed as spies to watch over the other
half. Our hundred iacounin, or men with two
swords, were pleasant feUows enough no doubt, but
for all that they kept jotting down upon their fans
all that took place, however trivial, while we were

324 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
walking or talking in our rooms, to give an account
of what had taken place doubtless in the proper
quarter. But the iacounin had to be watched them
selves, so we had six new persons added to our guard
to look after them, and see how they conducted
themselves towards us. There were, in short, spies
upon the spies.
On Saturday, the 9th of October, the signature of
the treaty took place, and, nothing keeping us any
longer at Yedo, the ambassador fixed next day for
our return on board. We bade adieu to our six
bounio. They promised to meet us again in France.
Nagai Hguembano Kami, the second plenipotentiary,
told us that he had been already appointed ambas
sador to the court of the Tuileries. The Japanese
government are besides to send other missions to
London, St. Petersburg, and Washington. We
asked Nagai how he meant to come to France,
whether he would take the route by Suez or the
Cape, by the regular passage-boats, or come in a
French vessel of war. ' I will go,' he said, ' on board
a Japanese man-of-war, manned by Japanese seamen,
and wiU land at the harbour of Toulon, with the red
globe of J apan flying from the mainmast.' When we
discussed an article of the treaty which required the
Japanese interpreters to learn French in five years,
Nagai, with an evident desire to be poUte, said, with

WE LEAVE YEDO. 325
a smile, to M. Mermet, that he knew that our lan
guage was the most generally understood of the
European dialects, and that over the whole continent
weU-bred persons made it a point to speak it weU.
We parted on the best terms, and, another dinner
having been sent by the taicoon, we ended as we had
begun. We each received besides from the Emperor
a present of some roUs of silk of various colours, in
token of goodwiU and peace. The Japanese silk is
not so fine as that of China, but it does not yield to
the latter in its brilliancy or the brightness of its
colours. On Monday, the 11th of October, the French
embassy left Yedo to return on board. From an
early hour in the morning there was an unwonted
bustle in the joss-house ; after packing and paying
our bfils, we took a hurried breakfast, and then the
removal commenced. A hundred CooUes had been
sent us the night before with all the necessary appa
ratus. It was not without some alarm that we saw
all our little traps handed over to these men, who
disappeared with them in the crowd. The under
bounio, who was head of the bonze-house, surrounded
with his iacounin, came as we were leaving to bid
the ambassador good bye. We foUowed Baron Gros
on foot, without getting into our chairs or norimons.
The drapeau tricolor was carried before us, and

326 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
flaunted before the astonished gaze of the citizens.
The gates were closed, and ropes were stretched across
the streets to keep back the crowd, so that we passed
on without obstruction. We arrived at the landing-
place, where better arrangements had now been made,
and by midday we were again on board ship. Five
cheers for the Emperor welcomed back the ambas
sador to the deck of the ' Laplace.'
Next morning, by daybreak, we weighed anchor
and bade adieu to Yedo. On leaving the bay we
encountered a high wind which carried us in four
days to Van Diemen's Strait, and in five to Nan-
gasaki. We found the ' Laplace ' and ' Pregent ' there, they
having arrived the same morning, as weU as a large
Eussian frigate called the ' Askold,' which had been
dismasted in a typhoon, and two American steam
frigates, the ' Powhatan ' and ' Mississippi.' There
were a number of Japanese boats in the road, some
set to watch what was going on, others busied in
carrying out provisions to the ships. Even after
seeing Simoda we admired Nangasaki, which seemed
fully entitled to the reputation it enjoys. The country
is not so picturesque perhaps as at Simoda, but there is
a wider and opener landscape. Among the trees and
on the heights above the landing-place we saw cannon
bristling, and here and there long sheets of canvas

NANGASAKI. 327
were stretched out over a framework in such a way
as to imitate batteries.
There are now at Nangasaki two handsome Uttle
steamers, the ' Nipon ' and ' Yedo,' which the court
of the Hague have disposed of to the Japanese go
vernment. The captain of a frigate, an aide-de-camp
of the King of the Netherlands, brought them from
Europe, with orders to instruct the native seamen in
the management of the machinery. His commission
will not terminate for two years yet. He speaks in
the highest terms of the assiduity and intelligence of
the Japanese who are put under his charge. It is an
easy matter to make excellent seamen of them, but
it is not possible to train proper officers in a day, and
it is officers who are chiefly required to secure the
efficiency of the Japanese navy.
Besides M. van Kattendycke, we found at Nanga
saki M. Donker Curtius, the president of the Dutch
factory and commissioner of the King of the Nether
lands to Japan. M. Donker Curtius has been twenty-
one years in India, and five years at Nangasaki. He
has not been once in the interval back to Europe.
He is married. His wtfe and five children live in
Holland, for hitherto the Japanese have not permitted
the Dutch to bring their famHies with them.
We passed our time very pleasantly in the midst
of the little Dutch colony. M. Donker Curtius told

328 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
us that during the summer months it is as hot at
Nangasaki as at Batavia ; but that during the winter
snow faHs, with an occasional frost. They have no
butcher's meat. In Japan there is neither sheep,
goat, nor pig. The Japanese, like the Chinese, live
almost exclusively on rice, fish, and fowl. Oxen are
employed exclusively for tillage. To kHl them would
be considered a sort of sacrilege. During the winter
quaUs, wild boars, deer, and game of various kinds
are to be had. At this period the price of a pheasant
at Nangasaki is about twopence halfpenny.
The Japanese princes shoot over their estates. In
doing so they sometimes use matchlocks and dogs.
They more frequently, however, employ bows and
arrows, archery being considered a nobler sport, and
requiring greater quickness and dexterity in the
sportsman. They are fond of scientific studies. One of
them, Prince Satsouma, puzzled the Dutch officers with
inquiries about some recent applications of science, of
which the latter had not heard. He wanted to know
how photography had been employed in barometric
observations; and the Dutch naval men whom he
cross-questioned had not heard, or had forgotten, that
an apparatus in which photographic paper is em
ployed has been for some time in use at Greenwich
to record the variations of the barometer, thermo
meter, and hygrometer. It did not appear how this

THE ISLAND OF DECIMA. 329
fact, which was quite a recent one, had found its way
to Satsouma from the banks of the Thames.
At Nangasaki one is allowed to walk about quite
freely. Frenchmen, Americans, and Eussians are
met with everywhere in the streets. In order to get
on shore we passed over the famous island of Decima,
a sort of artificial breakwater which is celebrated on
account of its having been for two centuries the abode
of the Dutch merchants, who allowed themselves to
be cooped up there rather than lose the right of trad
ing with Japan, so highly did they value the privHege.
Now the guard-houses are empty, the gates are re
moved, and every one is freely allowed to go into the
town. The importance of the trade between China and
Japan has been very much exaggerated. There is
scarcely any intercourse between the two countries.
The Japanese despise the Chinese too thoroughly to
have much communication with them. Only four or
five Chinese junks visit Nangasaki annuaUy. The
subjects of the Middle Empire have a large space set
apart for their use to the right of Decima, but it is
enclosed by a strong palisade, and they are not aUowed
to go beyond it. A great part of their imports, it is
said, consist of European articles, so that in this
respect they compete with the Dutch.
On Friday, the 22nd October, it was arranged that

330 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
we should leave, The governor of Nangasaki, in a
pleasure junk, ornamented with streamers and ban
ners, and tugged along by a dozen small boats,
came on board to take leave of the ambassador.
At eleven o'clock the three vessels weighed anchor
and left the harbour. The ' Pregent ' left us to pro
ceed to the archipelago of Liou-tchou and Hong-
Kong, with books, letters, and European newspapers
for the missionaries settled in these parts. We lost
no time in getting to Shang-hai, where four couriers
were awaiting us. We expected to have had a favour
able wind with plenty of sea-room, but instead of this
we were almost becalmed for a couple of days. At
the end of the third day, however, we came in sight
of Woosung and the banks of the Whampou ; and
after an absence of six weeks we cast anchor once
more before that part of the quay at Shang-hai which
lies opposite to the French grant.

A JAPANESE LEGEND. 331

CHAPTEE XL
Manners, Customs, and Government of Japan.
During our short stay in Japan we had an oppor
tunity of making some observations upon the manners,
•customs, and government of this distant country ; and
of obtaining a glimpse of. an extraordinary civiliza
tion which has come to maturity without any contact
with the rest of the world. These observations are
very imperfect no doubt, but as they, nevertheless,
possess some interest, we do not hesitate to bring
them under the notice of our readers without any
attempt at methodical arrangement.
A poetical legend informs us that Japan was
colonised at first from China. In a remote age
there Uved an Emperor of China who was so violent
and cruel that he became an object of dread to his
whole court. The monarch took ill, and beginning
to lose his strength he bethought himself of a medi
cine which was generally believed to exist, whereby
a man could make his Ufe last for ever. One of the

332 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
court doctors, who wished to save his head by gettmg
out of the way, undertook an expedition in search of
the precious drug. 'The herb of immortality,' he
said, ' does exist, I know. It grows beyond the seas,
in the valleys of Kiousiou ; but it is of a nature so
subtle and deUcate that, to lose none of its value and
virtue, it must be gathered by chaste and pure hands.
Give me three hundred youths and as many maidens,
sound and stout in body and mind, chosen from the
best famiUes of the land, and I will cross the seas with
them and come back in a week or twowith the precious
herb, which wHl enable your Majesty, to reign long over
us.' The cunning doctor deceived the monarch. He
set forth, but he never returned. He settled, indeed,
with his companions in the green Kiousiou, and from
him and them descend the noble race of men who
for centuries have peopled the Japanese archipelago.
Unfortunately, facts ill accord with this pretty
legend. The Japanese, with skins as white as our
own, cannot be the descendants of the yellow sons of
Han ; and indeed they repudiate all idea of common
descent with the Chinese. Their civilization, which
in many respects is identical with that of the Chinese,
is in others totaUy different from it. No doubt the
writing is the same; the worship of Boodha and
reverence for Confucius are common to both countries;
the same sort of pagodas are constructed, and the

THE JAPANESE DIFFER FROM THE CHINESE. 333
same services are celebrated in them by bonzes who
resemble each other in their shaved heads and long
grey gowns; the junks of both countries are con
structed after the same fashion ; rice, fish, tea, and
brandy form the food of the people at Yedo just as
they do at Canton ; the Japanese Coolies utter the
same cries in the streets at Nangasaki which are made
by the Chinese Coolies when they put bales of tea and
silk on board European ships in the harbour of Shang
hai. Then the literature of the archipelago is not
national. It is entirely Chinese. The head-dress of
the Japanese is similar to that of the Chinese under
the old dynasties, before the introduction of the tail.
But here the resemblance ends. The Japanese, who
are of a noble and proud disposition, and who remain
under the influence of military and feudal instincts,
differ altogether in character from the sneaking,
submissive, and cunning Chinamen, who despise the
art of war, and devote themselves, body and soul, to
the drudgery of commerce. The Japanese know the
point of honour. To take his sword from one is an
insult. He cannot restore it to the scabbard with
out having first steeped it in blood. The Chinamen
burst into a laugh when they are reproached with
running away from the enemy, or when they are
proved to have been telling a falsehood. They have
not the smallest feeUng of shame under such cir-

334 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
cumstances. The Chinese are dreadfully dirty ; the
Japanese are cleanly to a miracle. The Japanese
are prone to good feUowship, intelUgent, and keen
to learn ; the Chinamen despise whatever does not
belong to their own country, and hence display
none of the qualities above indicated in their con
tact with foreigners. In aU respects then the in
habitants of Japan are a superior race to those who
people China ; and may be inferred to have sprung
at an early period from the great Mongol family, and
to have emigrated by Corea.
The Chinese consider Japan as a country tributary
to the Middle Empire. Nevertheless at Nangasaki
they are not aUowed to go beyond the walls of their
factory, which is surrounded by a high paling. At
Yedo we were obliged to put a stop to our Chinese
servants' going on shore in consequence of the prac
tical jokes provoked by their dresses and tails, which
were a source of great fun to the natives of Japan.
The Japanese generaUy call their country Niphon,
and, in poetical language, the Country of the Eising
Sun. Their archipelago is composed of four large
islands and a number of smaU ones. The four large
islands are Yesso, Niphon, Sikok, and Kiousiou.
Niphon, the largest, contains three great political
religious and commercial capitals, viz., Yedo, the-
reeidence of the taicoon ; Meako, the residence of

STORMS IN THE JAPANESE SEAS. 335
the mikado ; and Oosaka, the commercial capital.
The empire of the taicoon extends, including the
Bonin and Liou-tchou group, over more than three
thousand and eight hundred isles and islets. The
archipelago is exposed to violent and frequent earth
quakes, and for this reason all the houses are of wood
and only one story high. At Yedo, however, the
walls and doors are built of huge blocks of unhewn
stone fitting into each other in a sort of Cyclopean
masonry. There are several active volcanoes. Fusi-
Yama, the highest mountain of Japan, rises to the
height of twelve thousand feet above the level of the
sea. It is not, as has been said, covered with per
petual snow, for when we saw it there was none. The
heat of the season had melted it. Terrible typhoons
burst forth every summer in the Japanese seas, which
are perhaps the stormiest on the face of the globe.
It was St. Francois Xavier who said that, in his time,
out of three ships going to Japan from France, one
only had a chance of getting back again. The
equinoctial gales of autumn are the most severe, and
the consequence is that the Japanese junks remain
at anchor in the creeks of the coast from the 5th to
the 25th of September. On the 26th they all put to
sea at once. We were at Yedo when this happened,
and we saw the vessels, when the time came, putting-
out and covering the whole bay.

336 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
The climate of China is hot, and moist, and un
healthy. The climate of Japan, cold in the north,
hot towards the south, but always dry, is, on the con
trary, very healthy. We have already remarked
that the Dutch consider it to be as hot in the island
of Kiousiou as it is in Java during the hot weather;
but in winter it snows. The harbour of Hakodadi,
which has been opened to commerce, wiU be use
ful for our seamen stationed in the China seas,
who are apt to lose their strength in the hot atmos
phere of the south-west monsoon, and who wHl now
be able to come and recruit in the bracing climate
of Yesso.
It takes only three days, in good weather, to cross
from Shang-hai to Nangasaki, and eight days to return
from the coast of China to Yedo. However, there is
scarcely any intercourse at present between Japan and
China, the archipelago having been as much closed
against the Chinese as any other foreign nation.
Not more than four or five junks at most cast anchor
annually at Nangasaki. Japanese silk, which is very
abundant, is not so fine as that of China. Japanese
tea, also, is inferior in flavour ; it is even slightly
bitter. The Japanese, however, maintain that it is
a better article than that produced on the continent,
and hence very little of it is imported by them.
Drugs are enormously expensive over the whole of

THE JAPANESE LADIES. 337
Niphon, and it is said that the principal articles
brought by the junks are Chinese medicines.
The Japanese ladies receive a certain amount of
education at schools which are set apart for females.
They have not been led to believe that foreigners
are devils, and in this respect differ from their
Chinese sisters. The married women are distinguished
from those who are stiU single by the hair being
puUed from their eyebrows and their teeth dyed
black by a drug composed of iron filings and saki.
They walk about freely in the streets, and are not
pent up in the depths of the yamouns like the
Chinese women.
There is no gazette published in Japan, everything
Uke publicity is prohibited. Things are not so bad in
this respect in China, where the ' Gazette de Pekin,' a
long official journal, is published daHy and circulated
throughout the empire. Japanese history is about
the most tiresome affair which it is possible to con
ceive. It consists of a dreary account of the events
in the daily life of the taicoon, and teHs aU about his
ailments, his constitutional walks, and his visits to
the flower gardens. The only history of Japan, in
the true sense, is that of Pere Charlevoix.
The Japanese of every class are fond of the hot
bath, which is so frequently resorted to, and fills
such a large part in their daHy life, that it has a
z

338 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
strong influence on aU their habits. They say that
it is preferable to sleep as a means of quickening the
blood and resting the wearied limbs. The hundred
iacounin in the joss-house at Yedo abandoned them
selves so tumultuously to this exercise as to disturb
our slumbers during the early part of the night.
During the summer the whole process of washing
the person, it is said, is carried on in the streets ;
and even the ladies, at this season, come out in front
of their houses to take a wholesome dip under water.
The first chHl of winter, which had been felt when
we reached Japan, prevented us from witnessing this
amusing trait in the open air existence of the people
during the summer months, and deprived us of one
souvenir de voyage.
When the Japanese wish to designate the I, that
is to say their own personality, they touch their nose ;
the tip of this organ being, according to them, the
seat of individuality. • There is nothing wonderful in
aU this. When a Frenchman wishes to be very im
pressive, and to indicate his ego, does he not press
his hand upon the stomach ?
The monetary unit in Japan is the itchibou, a
pretty little coin shaped like a domino. Three
itchibous are equal in value to a Mexican piastre.
The kobang, a gold piece, is worth four ichibous.
The Dutch of Nangasaki employ taels in paper, and

GAIETY OF THE JAPANESE. 339
the people make use of tchen or coppers for all small
transactions. China is a country of perfect equality. Everybody,
with the soUtary exception of the sons of tankaderas,
or boatwomen, may, if he pass the examinations,
become a mandarin and aspire to the highest honours.
In Japan, on the contrary, feudalism prevails, the
empire being governed by a miUtary aristocracy.
The Japanese are divided into nine classes, and, with
a few exceptions, no one can leave the class in which
he was born. Every attempt to do so is jealously
watched, public opinion being decidedly hostile to it.
To the absence of luxury and of aU field for am
bition, we must attribute the look of contentment
and sociable gaiety which lies at the bottom of the
Japanese character. Nowhere else are people to
be met with who exhibit greater signs of happiness
or who seem less harassed with care. The princes
or daimio, the nobles, the priests, and the soldiers
form the four highest classes of the nation, and have
alone the right to wear two swords. The subaltern
employes and the doctors form the fifth class, and
are allowed to wear one sword only. The mer
chants and wholesale dealers, the retail dealers, the
mechanics, peasants, and coolies, tanners and curriers
form the four lowest classes of the people, and are
not allowed, under any circumstances, to wear a

340 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
sword. All those who deal in skins are considered
impure. Not being allowed to reside in the towns,
they dwell in viUages set apart for their use in the
middle of the country. From them the executioners
are chosen. It is to be presumed that these officers
of justice have a deal to do, for the penal law of
Japan is very rigorous, and attaches the punishment
of death to very slight offences. Any person who
commits manslaughter, however involuntarily, or
who receives a criminal to hide him from justice, is
forthwith beheaded. It is to be hoped that contact
with Europeans wHl gradually temper the severity
of Japanese legislation.
The only sciences cultivated in the empire are
medicine and astronomy. There are two observatories
in the island of Niphon, one at Yedo and the other
at Meako. We were at Yedo at the time of the
great comet seen in the beginning of October, .1858,
and we did not perceive that it caused the sUghtest
signs of astonishment or alarm. At Shang-hai,
during an eclipse of the moon which took place in
the same year, there was not the same tranquillity.
The military mandarins marched forth and dis
charged their arrows at the dragon which was eating
the moon ; and in every junk and pagoda a tremen
dous thundering of gongs was got up to scare away
the monster. In point of fact, after hard work for an

SAINT FRANCOIS XAVIER. 341
hour and a half it was alarmed, and moved off, leaving
Dian, without farther molestation, to pursue her
course, more radiant and more beautiful than ever.
The Japanese physicians read Dutch works on medical
science, and really know what • they are about. We
had a visit from two of them at the joss-house at
Yedo, whither they came to consult our young
surgeons about the treatment of cholera, wliich had
just made its appearance in the town.
The Japanese are very tolerant, or rather they
exhibit the greatest indifference about religious con
cerns. Several forms of worship have existed side
by side in the islands for centuries ; Bouddhism, and
the religion of Confucius, which are importations
from abroad, and the Sinto, or Kami worship, wliich
is the primitive religion of the country, divide the
adorations of the masses. As a consequence of the
tolerant spirit of the Japanese, the Spanish and Por
tuguese missionaries had only been a few years in
Japan when they converted and baptized two hun
dred thousand natives. There had been, previously,
no example of any reUgious conversion of like mag
nitude. In speaking of it, Saint Francois Xavier
said, ' I will never stop H I speak of the Japanese ;
they are the deUght of my heart.' Now times are
changed. For two hundred years back there has
not been one Christian in Japan. They were exter-

342 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
minated by the Emperors Taiko and Yeyas. In
the end of the year 1640 thirty-seven thousand
perished in one day in the castle of Simabara,
when it was taken by assault after a determined
resistance. In our own times there are three or
four French missionaries scattered over the Loo-
choo Islands, which are tributary to Japan and
China, who await anxiously the day when they will
be allowed to follow in the footsteps of the great
apostle of India. Their zeal hitherto has been with
out reward.
A whole army of sateUites are employed, night
and day, in preventing aU intercourse between them
and the islanders. The missionaries are forbid to
retain the same servants above a certain time. AH
the houses which overlook their abodes have had the
doors and windows turning in that direction built up,
and new openings made on the other side. When
they go out into the country they find that, by in
structions from the authorities, everybody avoids
them. The only answer they get to any question
they put is, 'I don't understand you.' Those who
are acquainted with the working of the Japanese
government, and the dread it has of the European
powers, will not be at a loss to understand this con
duct. The fact is, that, in the eyes of the taicoon,
the missionary is a foreign agent, a mere spy, sent out

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS. 343
to discover, for European information, where Japan
may be easdy attacked in the event of an invasion.
The Japanese in this respect are just where they
were two hundred years ago ; they have not made
the smallest progress. The celebrated reply of a
Spanish captain to the Emperor is said to have
brought down the great persecution. Taiko was
talking one day with the commander of a Spanish
ship, which had recently arrived from Europe. ' How
is it,' he asked, ' that the king your master has
contrived, with such a small kingdom, to conquer
so many different countries ? ' ' That is easHy told,'
replied the Spaniard, inconsiderately ; ' why, priests
first go out, and convert the idolatrous natives by
their virtue and eloquence. Then, while the con
verts are favourably disposed towards them, and the
whole coast is cleared, the court of Madrid send
out a few companies of soldiers to the country, and
declare it to be annexed to the Spanish dominions.'
This unlucky speech made a great impression on the
Japanese king. He readily apprehended what truth
there was in it. He took alarm, and determined in
his mind that Christianity should be put down. He
set himself with perseverance to the task. The Span
ish and Portuguese priests were driven from his
states. The converts were obliged to choose between
death and recantation ; and the result was, that in a

344 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
few years nothing remained of the glorious edifice
which had been so rapidly called into existence by
Saint Francois Xavier. The revolution which des
troyed Christianity in Japan was, it is evident, purely
political, and in no degree religious.
There is no permanent army in Japan. AU the
persons wearing two swords, who compose the suite
of the princes and governors in time of peace, become
soldiers in time of war. They are brave, undoubtedly ;
but, with their present weapons, it would be difficult
for them to cope with Europeans. It is said, how
ever, that, conscious of their backwardness in this re
spect, they have been reading up in strategic science.
Japan has got into close quarters with Europe, and
is a prey to a species of invasion panic. The Japanese
know that, with bows and arrows, they cannot offer any
formidable opposition to Minie rifles and bombshells,
and they are working hard, accordingly, to make
themselves masters of the naval and military sciences
as they now are understood in Europe. Before they
can organize an army, they must reform their cos
tume, giving up sandals, bag-trousers, and long sweep
ing dresses. They are quite prepared to do all this.
The Japanese do not, Uke the Chinese, entertain the
idiotical notion that they are superior to all the rest
of mankind. They consider themselves to be in
advance of the Chinese ; but they form a very just

THE OLD METHOD OF SUICIDE. 345
estimate of the relation in which they stand to the
Western nations.
In Japan it is no longer the custom, as it used to
be, to make light of ripping open the abdomen ; and
now-a-days, a suicide in this empire, like a suicide
elsewhere, cuts his throat, or gets a dear friend to chop
his head off for him. The old custom has evidently
died out. Just as we have in Europe dancing-masters
and fencing-masters, there are, nevertheless, still in
Japan masters who teach the old suicidal process.
Indeed the knowledge of it forms part of a liberal
education, and is very much prized by the young
nobles. It is often a means of escaping infamy, and
anticipating a pubUc execution by a voluntary death.
The foUowing anecdote, which has been told before,
but which wiU bear a second telUng, is characteristic,
and must belong to a very early period. — Two gen
tlemen in the royal service met on the stair of the
palace. The one was going down with an empty
dish ; the other was taking a full plate to the royal
table. By accident their two swords knocked against
each other. The gentleman who was stepping down
stairs considered himself insulted ; drew his sword,
and ripped open his stomach. The other hurried up
stairs, put his plate on the royal table, and rushed
back to bis friend, whom he was glad to find stiU in
life. He begged the dying man to excuse him for not

346 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
having performed the deed at the same time with him,
alleging that he had his duty to fulfil. This said, he
drew his sword — made the fatal gash, and fell beside
his friend on the palace stair. There was, at the
bonze-house at Yedo, a Kodamaya who had made him
self disagreeable. We accused him, whether rightly
or not, of increasing the prices of curiosities which
we went to purchase. As we left Yedo, Flavigny
made a sign to him, whereby he indicated, by draw
ing his finger over his stomach, that the Kodamaya
could not do better than commit the rash act. But
the rascaUy iacounin, instead of drawing his sword,
took a hearty laugh, in which he was joined by the
bystanders. Our young colleague was twenty years
behind. The palace of the Emperor at Yedo is surrounded
by a wide ditch, full of limpid running water, with
banks beautifully kept, covered with rich turf and
Japanese cedars, the long branches of which droop
to the ground. It has quite the appearance of an
EngUsh park. Commanders Kerjegu and D'Ozery
took a stroll round it one day. It took them fully
an hour and a half; and they estimated, from the
distance they walked, that the palace and grounds of
the taicoon are about five miles and a half in cir
cumference. There are, both at Yedo and Simoda, great num.-

DREAD OF THE OPIUM-TRADE. 347
bers of fishing eagles and black crows, which are
never disturbed by the Japanese. One of our party
having fired at one of the latter at Simoda, an
old bonze came rushing out, with a lighted pipe, to
offer a sacrifice to the soul of the departed crow.
Luckily there was no harm done, which seemed to
give great satisfaction to the poor priest.
The bay of Yedo swarms in every direction with
small fishing-boats, dragging nets in which are
caught great quantities of fine fish. The Japanese
government, faithful to its protective policy, rigo
rously fixes the shape and size of junks, and enforces
such regulations as prevent them from leaving the
coast and adventuring into the open sea. Formerly,
natives of Japan who had the misfortune to be ship
wrecked on the coast of China, or to be driven by
stormy weather as far as Formosa or the PhHippine
Islands, could only be brought back to Japan by
Dutch ships; and when they got home they were
subject to suspicion all the rest of their Uves, or, .as
we should say, they remained under the surveiHance of
the high police. The existing law of Japan, on this
subject, is somewhat softened, but even now it is a
bad affair for a Japanese to have been picked up at
sea, and brought home to his own country in a Euro
pean ship.
The Japanese are quite aware of the horrible

348 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
ravages committed by opium among the Chinese,
and the government of the taicoon has accordingly
insisted on having a clause inserted in all the four
treaties, whereby the importation of this drug into
Japan is prohibited.
The government of Japan, like that of Siam, ex
hibits the remarkable anomaly of two sovereigns
reigning at once legally and in virtue of the consti
tution of the country. At Siam there is a first and
second king, who exercise supreme power at the
same time ; in Japan there is the civil emperor
and the ecclesiastical emperor, the taicoon and the
mikado. The taicoon, whom Europeans call erro
neously the Emperor of Japan, is merely the dele
gate or Ueutenant of the mikado, who is the true
King of Niphon, the representative of the old dynas
ties, the descendant of the gods, and who, being by
far too mighty a personage to concern himself with
the affairs of this world, throws this burden upon the
shoulders of a subordinate. The taicoons at first
were the maires du palais, the stewards, the great
officers of a degenerate dynasty, who, instead of
sending the last of the Japanese Merovingians to a
monastery, after shearing his locks and putting a cowl
upon him, have locked him up in a superb temple,
and converted him into an idol ; having succeeded
in persuading the demi-god himself, and the whole

THE MIKADO. 349
nation, that this was the situation most in conformity
with his divine origin. The new dynasty in this
way mounted the throne, and usurped supreme power,
while aU the time professing the utmost respect for
the elder line of monarchs, and recognising in them
the absolute sovereignty of the archipelago. On
this fiction rests the whole edifice of the political
constitution of Japan. The mikado continues to re
side at Meako, the old capital of the Son of the Sun,
surrounded by a magnificent court, and made the ob
ject of much outward respect by his powerful vassal.
His idle life passes away in the midst of his great
palace, which he is prohibited from leaving by a
rigid and unalterable system. His court is the
rendezvous of poets, musicians, artists, and astro
nomers. The rice wliich he eats is picked for the
royal table grain by grain. He never wears twice
the same dress. He never drinks twice out of the
same cup. The one he has used is immediately
broken lest any rash mortal should dare to touch it
with his profane lips. Formerly he was obliged to
sit for hours upon his throne, there being a mysteri
ous connection between the immobHity of his person
and the stabHity of the empire. If he moved or
turned his head, that part of Japan which lay on the
side of the new posture was menaced with great mis
fortunes. But it was found that absolute immobility

350 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
was too ' much for the human nature even of a
mikado; and, provinces innumerable having been
threatened with calamities, to put an end to alarm a
wise expedient was hit upon. Accordingly, the
crown alone is now placed upon the throne, and
whHe it remains unmoved the stabHity of the empire
remains secure. The new arrangement seems to
have been attended with the happiest results. For
two hundred years Japan has enjoyed profound peace,
and no war civil or foreign has troubled its tran
quillity. When the mikado had been disposed of in this
way, the new dynasty turned its attention to the
daimio or princes, whose ancestors in the old heroic
times were proprietors of the soil of Japan, and had
each a small court in their own provinces, where
they had the command of numerous vassals. The
independent and warlike disposition of this class be
came the cause of serious apprehensions to the court
of Yedo, and a MachiavelUau policy was adopted and
steadily adhered to, with a view to humble them
and annul their power. Louis XL and his advisers
were completely thrown into the shade by the old
statesmen of Japan. After centuries of intrigue and
perfidy, the provincial princes, one after the other,
were forced to succumb. They preserved merely
the appearance and outward form of power, and be-

THE TAICOON. 351
came what they now are, submissive subjects of the
taicoun. An agent of the court was appointed to
reside within the jurisdiction of each, and intrusted
with its administration. They were obliged to pass
one year out of each two at Yedo, and during this
time there was no means which was not put in force
to diminish their wealth. Even now, princes whose
domains adjoin are not allowed to live at the same
time on their estates, unless they are on bad terms ;
and then the supreme power strives to foment the
quarrel, and to provoke new causes of discord. The
wives and daughters and whole families of the
princes remain at Yedo as hostages, and are held
accountable for the acts of the head of the house.
An army of spies surrounds them, and gives an
account of their smallest actions to the court. In
this way, gradually, and without any violent shock,
by the simple effect of a traditional course of policy
perseveringly adhered to, there now remains in
Japan a mere vestige of feudalism, while political
and administrative centralization are in process of
being established in the empire.
But everything in this world comes to an end.
Dynasties, Uke empires, sink into the decrepitude of
years. This haughty lieutenant of the mikado, this
aU-powerful taicoon, the chief of the armies, and
the energetic governor of the archipelago, allowed

352 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
himself in turn to get entangled in the inextricable
toHs of etiquette and vanity. He too was persuaded
that the government of the empire was a great bur
den, and that an easy and idle life was more con
sistent with the dignity of his race. Accordingly
the administration of his kingdom was thrown upon
the gotairo, the hereditary prime minister, who for
several generations has taken up a position close by
the throne. The taicoon passes his whole time in
observing ceremonies and giving receptions. He
never passes beyond the palace waUs more than
three or four times a year, when he goes to worship
the images of his ancestors. It is not at aU likely
that he will ever see the elegant yacht which has
been sent to him as a gift by the English govern
ment in their ignorance of the present poUtical state
of Japan. It may come to pass in the course of time
that the gotairo, the hereditary maire du palais, wiU
acquire the title of a sovereign as well as the power
of one. He wiU then found, to the exclusion of
those at Meako and Yedo, a thfrd dynasty at Oosaka.
The lieutenant of the mikado, or the civil emperor,
is both taicoon and siogoon ; siogoon, inasmuch as
he is a military chief and commander of the armies,
and taicoon in his capacity of chief justice and civil
administrator of the empire. AU the books which
refer to Japan speak of him under the name of

THE GOTAIRO. 353
siegoon, but, in consequence of the military capacity
displayed by the hereditary prime minister, we only
heard him spoken of as taicoon during our stay in
Japan. The word siogoon has, in consequence of all
this, become a term quite without meaning, repre
senting a state of matters which no longer exists.
The name of the gotairo, or present hereditary
prime minister, is Hii-Camonno-Kami.
Some towns, such as Simoda, Oosaka, Nangasaki,
and Hakadadi, have been entirely removed from the
rule of princes, and are now, under the name of im
perial towns, directly under the control of the court of
Yedo, which appoints their governors. There are
always two governors for each of these places. They
reside alternately in the capital ; the one remaining
at the seat of government while the other is at the
capital, and vice versa. They are subjected, like the
princes, to a close surveHlance, 'and their families,
like those of the princes, are retained at the court
as hostages. This being the case, it is easy to under
stand the great extent of the official town at Yedo.
We had a glimpse of many of the fair faces, con
demned by the jealous poUcy of the government to
a sort of perpetual imprisonment ; and, as we saw
them watching us with the greatest curiosity from
behind the wooden window bars, we could not help
pitying their lot, although it must be admitted that
2 a

354 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
the utmost contentment beamed on every counte
nance, indicative only of that imperturbable gaiety
which seems to be inherent in the Japanese cha
racter. Van. Diemen's Strait is situated to the south of
the province of Satsouma. The Prince of Satsouma
is the most powerful vassal of the court of Yedo.
He is the only one who preserves any influence, and
for whom the taicoons continue to show respect.
The family of the taicoon intermarries with that of
the princes of Satsouma. The Loo-choo Islands are
a dependency of Satsouma. While we were staying
at Yedo we heard that the reigning prince was
of a cruel and tyrannical disposition. " Better serve
the devil than the Prince of Satsouma " had passed
into a maxim there. At his court it was said
that the old national custom of ripping up the
stomach was still adhered to. The taicoon who
had just died was highly spoken of, and said to be
very moderate when compared with his vassal. The
Dutch at Nangasaki, on the contrary, zealously de
fend the Prince of Satsouma against his calumniators.
According to their account of matters he is run down
at Yedo because he will not allow a spy to remain
at his court. He relentlessly chops off the head of
any note-taker whom he happens to catch within his
bounds. He is determined to have his laws obeyed,

THE MINISTRY OF WAR. 355
and he takes the only course in his power to secure
submission. Several of the Dutch naval officers
met the prince at Kagosima. He came on board
and went aU over the ships, examining everything,
putting a great many questions, and talking to
everybody with great affabiUty. His dress was of
a plain cotton material, and there was nothing to
distinguish him from the persons belonging to his
suite save his exquisite politeness and extensive
knowledge. The central government of Japan is conducted
with great energy, and now exercises absolute au
thority in aU parts of the empire. We could collect
very Uttle information concerning it, any question put
on the subject having a tendency to inspire alarm.
Attached to the civH emperor, who reigns but does
not govern, is the hereditary prime minister, or go
tairo, who does govern. He is assisted by a great
council, composed of six members, and of another
council, composed of fifteen members, and entrusted
with legislative functions. There are besides four
ministers. The ministry of war or national defence
mcludes more than fifty members, and is considered
the most important of all, loss of national indepen
dence being the chief dread of the Japanese. The
ministry of the imperial domains has entrusted to
its care the imperial towns detached from the terri-

356 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
tory of the princes and the province of Yedo. The
ministry of foreign affairs, composed of six members,
takes the management of all that relates to the inter
course of Japan with foreign nations. The ministry
of poUce comes last. This must be the most actively
employed of these bodies, as its members are obUged, !
to read innumerable reports sent them by an army
of spies scattered all over the surface of the empire.
We must have put them to no smaU trouble our
selves if aU that was jotted down on fans concerning
us was sent to head-quarters for perusal.
Latterly the Dutch governor has attempted twice
to induce the court of Yedo to abandon the old
policy of excluding foreigners. In 1845, more espe-
ciaUy, an aide-de-camp of the King delivered to the
taicoon an autograph letter of King WiUiam II. of
Holland. This letter called the attention of the
Japanese government to the subject of opening
China to foreign commerce. It pointed out to the
Emperor the danger of wishing to preserve strict,
isolation at a period when the increasing traffic
on Chinese waters was on the point of extending to
Japan, when steam-power had abridged distance,
and when the development of European commerce
and industry imperiously called for new fields of
mercantile enterprise. In this letter the taicoon was
recommended to enter into amicable commercial

JAPANESE TOLICY. 357
relations with other nations as the only means of
avoiding perilous disputes with them. But the
court of Yedo remained deaf to this friendly counsel.
The demolition of the Ta-kou forts may have produced
a good effect on the government of the taicoon.
However, it must be admitted that, although fear
may have had some share in prompting the Ja
panese to adopt the arrangements entered into, they
were in a greater degree attributable to the good
sense and clear insight of the government ; these
qualities leading it to concede with a good grace and
spontaneously what might otherwise be wrested from
it by a strong hand.

358 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHAPTEE XII.
Typhoon in the Chinese Seas.- — Stay of Kouei-Liang and Houa-
Cha-Na at Shang-hai. — Revision of the Commercial Tariffs. —
Lord Elgin ascends the Yang-tse-Kiang or Blue River. — Ship
wreck of the ' Laplace.' — The author brings home the Treaty of
Yedo to France. — Return of the Embassy.— Conclusion.
On returning to Shang-hai we heard bad news. A
violent typhoon had spread its ravages all along the
China Sea. Fourteen ships had been cast ashore in
the road of Swatow. A great number of junks were
destroyed. Several EngUsh gunboats had lost their
masts. The Eussian steamer by which Admiral Pou
tiatine had come to Hong-Kong had put in at Woo-
sung completely disabled. The English newspapers
asserted that the ' Eemi,' caught in the hurricane,
had been swamped at sea. Happily this turned out
not to be the case. The French embassy indeed had
passed through the midst of the tempest without any
injury, their vessels being at anchor during the whole
time of the wind. We found that the High Imperial
Commissioners had arrived at Shang-hai, with a suite

RETURN OF THE EMBASSY TO SHANG-HAI. 359
of six hundred persons. The mandarins of the town
gave them a grand reception, and the whole popula
tion was thrown into a bigh state of excitement by
the arrival of these Hlustrious personages within the
waUs of the city. The conferences for the revision
of the tariffs immediately began. M. de contades,
assisted by M. Edan, chancellor to the consulate,
represented the interests of French commerce, with
a view more to the future than the present. We
went in great state, escorted by the disembarkation
corps of the ' Laplace,' to visit Kouei-Liang and
Houa-Cha-Na, and the latter, accompanied by the
governor of the two Kiangs, the fou-tai of Sou-tchou-
fou, the tao-ai of Shang-hai, and several other
authorities, came to visit us in return. The elite of
Chinese society met in the drawing-room of M. de
Montigny, but we cannot say that we were dazzled.
Neither the refined language of the court nor the
graceful manners of the capital made much impres
sion upon us. We were afraid that these great person
ages would avafl themselves too freely of the request
courteously made them by M. de Montigny, to take
some Uttle article of European production as a sou
venir of their visit. The long train of rod-bearers,
executioners, literati, and palanquin porters, covered
the quay, while the sound of the gong announced
the arrival and departure of the representatives of the

360 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
Son of Heaven. We found the Tartar Houa-Cha-
Na as gloomy as he had been at Tien-tsin. On the
other hand, the countenance of Kouei-Liang was
irradiated by a smile of satisfaction, and, between
his glass of champagne and cup of coffee, both of
which were new luxuries to him, he took occasion to
talk very graciously to his entertainers. The tao-tai
of Shang-hai stood out from the throng, distinguished
by his good looks and easy manners. He was quite
at home at the house of M. de Montigny, and he
explained to the Hlustrious functionaries the merits
of each dish, and the use of all the articles on the
table. The commissioner of the two Kiangs talked
with wonderful volubility, and put some very intel
ligent questions to Baron Gros. Chance placed me
next Houa-Cha-Na, in whose inanimate face I could
discover no trace of either interest or astonishment
at the new scene before him.
Lord Elgin, having concluded the revision of his
tariff, left us in the early part of November to ascend
the Yang-tse-Kiang, and visit the three ports opened
under his treaty in the upper part of the river. His
lordship took with him two steam frigates and three
EngUsh gunboats. THI this time European ships
had never ascended the river higher than Nankin,
and it was not known to what distance it was navi
gable from its mouth. After exchanging a few shots

LORD ELGIN ASCENDS THE YANG-TSE-KIANG. 361
with the rebels of Nankin, and obtaining complete
evidence of the dreadful devastation caused by the
insurrection, and visiting the deserted towns and unin
habited country, which had been the seat of the war,
Lord Elgin returned to Shang-hai ; the farthest point
he had reached in his expedition being Wou-tchang-
fou, in the province of Houpeh. He left behind three
ships, which had stuck fast in the mud above Nankin.
But he had solved the problem of the navigation of
the Yang-tse-Kiang, having ascended this river to a
distance of two hundred leagues from its mouth.
Meanwhile Baron Gros was less fortunate. In
crossing from Shang-hai to Hong-Kong, the ' Laplace,'
on board of which were the French Embassy, had a
harrow escape from shipwreck on the isle of Tai-shan,
near Chusan. Hong-Kong, December 12.
' The French war sloop, the " Laplace," left Shang
hai on the 27th November, for Hong-Kong, to join
the " Audacieuse," and thence to proceed with her to
Tourane. At one o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday
she ran aground on the banks which Ue to the
north of the island of Tai-shan. The ship was then
proceeding at the rate of nine miles an hour. The
foggy weather, and it may be an error in the reckon
ing, caused by the currents, were the cause of this

362 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
unfortunate accident. However, as there was no
shock felt when the vessel was stranded, it was evident
that she had got into a bank of mud, where there
were neither rocks nor sand. If it had been other
wise, the " Laplace " would have been totaHy ship
wrecked. 'Her situation was, however, precarious. The
ship, strained in every timber by the sea, f which
broke over her, plunged about violently. Her helm
was knocked in, a part of her anchors and her smaU
boats were lost, and three seamen, who had courage
ously offered to take a rope preserver on shore,
perished in the attempt without the possibHity of any
one going to their rescue.
' At eight o'clock in the evening the commander
announced that he had given up all hope of saving
the ship, and accordingly every one prepared to get on
shore as he best could, with his most precious articles.
However, the wind fell towards the evening. A
ship's boat too, more fortunate than the first, gained
the land with an officer and some men of the crew.
They hastened immediately to send letters to Shang
hai and Ningpo, making known the position of the
" Laplace," and asking prompt assistance.
' Those on board the " Laplace " remained in great
distress from the 28th to the 30th. The ship kept
knocking against the bottom. It was getting gradu-

RETURN OF THE EMBASSY TO HONG-KONG. 363
aUy closer to the shore. At length, on the 1st of
December, the 'weather cleared up, and then the
native junks made their appearance in great numbers,
although during the storm we had fired our signal
of distress in vain. They took on board the artillery,
ammunition, and ballast of our stranded ship. An
anchor, the only one left us, was then dropped out at
sea, and the ship, lightened in the way we have de
scribed, was dragged into deep water without her hull
or engines being in any way injured.
' On the 2nd of December the " Nimrod," and the
gunboat the " Opossum," belonging to the British
navy, arrived,— the one from Ningpo with the
EngUsh consul, and the other from Shang-hai with
the French consid. The latter brought the news
that the " Inflexible " would be up the same day to
assist the " Laplace." Having ascertained beyond all
doubt that the ship was safe, Baron Gros resolved to
embark with the members of the Embassy on board
the " Nimrod," in order to go to Shang-hai, where he
arrived on the 6th. Thence he proceeded by the
packet " Aden " to Hong-Kong.
'In coming in sight of this harbour, the ship, in
order to give notice of the fact that the French am
bassador was on board, hoisted the tricolor from the
mainmast. Admiral Seymour immediately sent the
captain of his flagship on board. At the same time

364 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
all the vessels in the road hoisted their colours and
welcomed the ambassador with the usual salute of
nineteen guns. Baron Gros, after having gone on
board the " Calcutta " to thank Admiral Seymour
for the prompt assistance afforded him by the British
navy, went on shore, where he met with a warm
welcome. He was received at the landing-place by
the governor ad interim, surrounded by the troops of
the garrison under arms, and, after a salute from the
forts, he was taken in the governor's carriage to the
club-house at Hong-Kong, where apartments had
been provided for his reception.' — Moniteur.
I was not present on this occasion. Entrusted by
the ambassador with the duty of conveying the
Treaty of Yedo to France, I had left Shang-hai on
the 7th of November, on board the Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Company's steamer the ' Aden.' At
Hong-Kong I came across the ' Audacieuse ' again ;
and, after bidding fareweU to the officers of the fri
gate, the missionaries, and the English authorities of
the colony, I continued my rapid journey across the
Indian Ocean and the Eed Sea. On the 27th of
December I arrived at MarseiUes, and immediately
afterwards at Paris, where I was graciously received by
their Majesties and Count Walewski. Some months
later, Baron Gros, returning by Bombay and Suez,
also reached Marseilles, with the other members of

RESULTS OF THE MISSION IN CHINA. 365
the Embassy, after two years of rough service. Much
had been accompUshed within this period, and Baron
Gros had good reason to be satisfied with his success.
Let us shortly enumerate the results of the Chinese
treaty. The magistrates of Si-lin-hien, who had mur
dered Pere Chapdelaine, had been disgraced and de
clared incapable of exercising any employment under
government — a measure which, it had been arranged,
was to be pubUshed and inserted in the ' Pekin Gazette.'
An indemnity had been granted to the Frenchmen
and the proteges of France whose property had been
pillaged or burned by the populace of Canton. The
Chinese government had become bound to pay the
French, for the expenses of the war, the sum of two
millions of taels, or about sixteen millions of francs.
The course of the Yang-tse-Kiang, the greatest of the
Asiatic rivers, was no longer to be closed against foreign
commerce. Six new ports had been opened : Kiung-
tchaou and Tchaou-tchaou (Swatow), in the province
of Kwang-toung ; Tai-van and Tan-shwi, in the island
of Formosa; Tan-tchao, in the province of Chan-toung;
and Nankin, in the province of Kiang-nan, were about
to become European colonies. Frenchmen were now
entitled to proceed freely to the places of production,
to make their purchases on the spot ; the only con
dition attached to this privilege being that they should
obtain a passport, legally delivered by the consul, and

366 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
countersigned by the local authorities. The represen
tative of France had acquired the right to proceed to
the capital at certain times to settle affairs there in
person with the principal personages of the empire, and
this intercourse was to take place on a footing of per
fect equaUty. Every word that, up to the date of the
treaty, had been written, proclaimed, and published
in China by order of the government against the
Christian faith was abrogated and recaHed. The
13th Article of the Treaty of Tien-tsin stipulated
that, the Christian reUgion having essentiaUy for its
object to lead men to virtue, the members of aU
Christian communions were to enjoy entire security for
their persons and property, and to be entitled freely
to practise their religious ceremonies; moreover,
ample protection was to be given to missionaries tra
veUing in the interior of the empire. This clause was
added to the same article : No obstacle will be raised by
the authorities of the Chinese empire to the right which
every one in China is admitted to possess of embracing,
if he thinks fit, the Christian faith, and of following its
observances without being liable to any penalty inflicted
for his so doing. This was Uberty on the widest scale
— freedom in reUgion, freedom in trade, and freedom
in intercourse. The old errors of the court of Pekin
had yielded to a new creed, the times of the all-
powerful governors of Kwang-toung seemed to have

RESULTS OF THE MISSION IN JAPAN. 367
passed away, and European complaints were no
longer exposed to the risk of being intercepted in a
yamoun at Canton without ever being heard of in the
head-quarters of the government.
The empire of Japan had also been opened to
European civHization after two centuries of complete
isolation. The commercial monopoly of the govern
ment had been put down, and the law abrogated
whereby the citizens of the empire were forbidden,
under pain of death, to sell goods of any kind to
foreigners. Free trade had been proclaimed in place
of the old system of exclusion and protection. Yedo,
Oosaka, Hakodadi, Kanagawa, Nangasaki, Hiogo,
and Ne-e-gata had been opened. The French were not
authorised to settle at Yedo until the 1st January,
1862, and at Oosaka till the 1st January, 1863, but
in aU the other ports they were allowed immediately
to build houses and open shops or warehouses, with
the right to move about, within a distance of ten
ris, or about twenty-five miles. The Consul-general
of France was entitled to travel into all parts of the
empire, and the capital of the taicoon was fixed
upon as his residence. The practice of trampling
upon the cross on certain solemn occasions was abo
lished. The French subjects in Japan had the right
conceded them of freely exercising their religion, and
with this view were permitted, within the space set

368 AN EMBASSY TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
apart for their residence, to build churches and chapels,
and to enclose churchyards. Eeligious freedom was,
no doubt, still withheld from Japanese subjects, but
an immense stride was taken towards a more Uberal
policy, and the echoes of Niphon may soon ring once
more with the sounds of the church-going beU. The
Japanese government had learned to dread foreigners
less in coming closely in contact with them, and
they had obtained ample proof that it was neither the
lust of conquest nor commercial gain which had
brought the representatives of France to those seas,
but the necessity of protecting the political influence
of the empire and the honour ofthe national flag in
the extreme East.
Such was the state of matters when Baron Gros
and Lord Elgin, returning to Europe in the middle
of 1859, transferred to M. de Bourboulon and Mr.
Frederic Bruce the management of French and
English interests in China ancl Japan.

THE END.

LONDON: PEIKIBD BT WILLIAM CLOWES AND SOUS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHAKING CROSS.