The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-15 00:00:00

THE PLUNDER OF THE PALACE.

It has been estimated that the amount of property
pillaged and destroyed exceeds £6,000,000 sterling.
Every soldier who was present is replete with loot. On
entering the Emperor's particular residence no one knew
what to take ; silver was thrown away to take up gold,
and gold to take up jewelled watches and gems; china
and enamelled vases (the manufacture of which is lost),
of priceless value, were broken because too bulky to
carry away. Rooms and rooms, full of costly silks,
bronzes, jade-stone ointments, and the presents re-
ceived by the Emperors, every article being labelled
with the name of the donor, were ruthlessly looted
and destroyed. Much more has been buried beneath
the ruins, however, than was carried away. The Empe-
ror's washstand, basin, and 'ewer of gold, studded
with stones, were sold for £2,000 by the captor.
Lord Amherst's watch was sold by a French soldier
for 20 dollars ; it was worth £2OO. Many men have
301bs. or 401bs. of pure gold in their possession, and
others have pearls and precious stones of unknown
value. Four hundred eunuchs were found in the palace,
and it is worth noticing that all the ladies of the
Court must have had natural-sized feet, all the slippers
found in their rooms being large ; not a single
cramped-footed shoe was seen. The winter has regularly
set iu, the thermometer sinking to 22 deg. at night.
We have been particularly fortunate in the weather
during the whole of the campaign. If it had been a
wet season it would have been' next to an impossibility
for the army to reach Pekin, the roads throughout the
country being nothing but cart tracks through the fields,
and, after a few hours' rain, becoming a foot or 18
inches deep in soft mud. There is no drainage, the
water being purposely kept on the land for agricultural

uses.
The 67th Regiment has been the first to leave Pekin ;
it marched on the sth for Tien-tsin. The heavy siege
guns have also left. The distribution of the army for
the winter will be as follows :—The 31st, 60th, and
67th winter at Tien-tsin, where it is also proposed a
number of French shall stay ; one wing of the. 31st will
occupy the South Taku Forts ; the 99th go to Canton,
the 44th to Hong Kong ; the Royals, Queen's, and
3rd Buffs go home ; Fane's Horse remain at Tien-
tsin ; Prohyn's and the Dragoon Guards go back to
India, and the Bth and 15th Punjab Regiments will
winter at Cowloon. Brigadier Stavely will remain
in command at Tien-tsin. Two batteries of artillery re-
main behind, and two go to England. The report that
the Emperor bad sent in two Mandarins whe were im-
plicated in the atrocities committed on the prisoners was
incorrect. Lord Elgin will leave about the 19th. The
Russian Minister leaves at the same time, going overland
to St. Petersburg. As soon as the army has embarked
on board the transports, the whole of the fleet will leave
the mouth of the Peiho for distribution over the station
during the winter. The Sampson, Fury, Inflexible,
Adventure (with the Marines), Magicienne, Nimrod,
Sparrowhawk, Roebuck, and Cruiser are ordered home,
and thus ends our short and, it is to be hoped, our last
nd effective campaign.