The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 12,1857.

offer to you and yours will be aocepted by you and
by those who meet with you u a substitute for my

presence.

EXPLOITS IN THE CANTON RIVER.

THE following private letter from Commodore the
lion. 11. Keppel, C. 8., giving some details of the
boat action on the Ist of June, and other particulars,
appeared in the Times of Wednesday :
Alligator, Canton River, June 20.
The three weeks of this month have been fail of excite-
ment. We commenced on the first with as pretty a boat
action as any ever recorded in our naval history, though it
may never be appreciated because it was fought at China.
The troops are now, unfortunately, required for India, and
'I suppose we shall not get them before the summer is over.
So much the better for them, as it is broiling hot just now.
In the meantime we have to keep the Canton river open for
them, it being their high road to the Celestial city, which I
suppose they will have to occupy before Lord Elgin attempts
to bring Commissioner Yeb to terms. lam left here in
command of the river, the fort of Chuenpee, which I took
possession of on the Pith, being my boundary at one end,
and the Macao fort at the other. They are about forty miles
apart; Chuenpee is about that distance from Hong Kong,
and Macao is three miles from the city of Canton ; all the
intermediate forts have been demolished, and on the Ist
we polished off the remainder of their war fleet, about
130 imperial war junks, so that I now hold uncontrolled
possession. Our worthy chief and a fine fellow he
is—remains with his ship at Hong Kong, paying us occa-
sional visits in one of the smaller steamers. I have seven•
teen ships, containing about 2,600 men, stationed at dif-
ferent distances ; and, this being the anniversary of her
Majesty's accession, they are all dressed out with flags, and
at noon Commissioner Yeh will be edified by royal salutes
fired the whole length of the imperial river from Canton to
below the Bogue Forts. My poor Raleigh no longer belongs
to her Majesty's navy, and the admiral has appointed my-
self and all the officers to the Alligator, and given us three
vessels to man as tenders. I live in the Hung Kong, but
come here to sleep when not moving about, this old hulk
being a sort of fixture. My steward keeps mess, and we all
grub together—viz., Lieut. Goodenough, Dr. Crawford,
Prince Victor, Autey (my secretary), Lord Charles Scott,
Montague, and Harry Stephenson. We are very happy and
jolly, and the temporary arrangement is a very good one.
We thought we were going to have a little fight the other
day, as the admiral had ordered me to take possession of
the Chuenpee Fort. We moved down to do so in good
order on the morning of the 18th, but the enemy guessed
what they might expect, and very wisely " hooked it." I am
afraid this is the last little affair that is likely to occur this
summer. I have stationed the vessels under my orders at
different distances all the way up. The upper part of the
river is not considered so healthy as the wider part down
here, so that I have them relieved every fortnight. There
are two islands near where we are anchored, where the men
and officers of the ships near assemble every evening, and
play at quoits and all sorts of games. In fact, time seems
to fly fast, and the mails going and coming every tortnight
keep us all alive. Tumour, in command of the Bittern, is
now taking his turn up at the front, which, although less
healthy, is the favourite post. They are obliged to be con-
tinually on the alert, and look out for fire rafts and all sorts
of infernal machines. I generally viait them once a week
in the Hong Kong. I hope somebody gave you a good
account of our boat fight on the Ist of June. It must
have been a beautiful sight to those who witnessed it from
the heights. The shallow water obliged the Hong Kong
to ground, when she would otherwise have been in front of
everything; but when she grounded I led on the boats in
my gig ; but as the tide was rising the Hong Kong kept
following us as fast as she could. The first division of the
Chinese fleet were simultaneously attacked by about 1,900
men, spread over a large surface, and soon gave way ; but
I did not take up more than quarter of that number to
attack their second division, which was three miles higher
up the river, in a well-selected place, and evidently the
elite of their fleet. They numbered exactly twenty in
one compact row ; they mounted from ten to fourteen guns
each, two of them in stern and bow, being heavy 37.1.
pounders. I saw that I had all the Raleigh's boats well
up, and determined to wish on. They fired occasional
shots, as if to ascertain our exact distance, but did not
open their heaviest fire until we were within 600 yards, and
then I soon saw how impossible it would be to force our way
until I had reinforcemenys. Nearly the first poor fellow
whose head wasknocked off WIWI an amateur, Major Kearney.
I had known him many years. We cheered, and I tried to
get on, when a shot struck my boat right amidships, cut one
men in two, and took off the arm of another. Prince Victor,
who was with me, jumped forward to bind the man's arm up
with his neckcloth. While he was doing so, another round
shot passed through both sides of the boat, wounding two
others of the crew. The boat was filling with water, and I
got on one of the seats to keep my legs out of the water, and
just as I stepped up, a third round shot went through both
sides of the boat, not more than one inch below the seat on
which I was standing. Many of our boats had now hud-
dled together, the oars of most being shot away. A boat
of the Cerullo being nearest, we got in, pulling our
wounded men with us. My dog " Mike" refusing to leave
the deal body of the man who had been his favourite, we
were obliged to leave him. I then gave the order to retire
on the Hong Kong, and re•form abreast of her. While we
were going down a shot cut away all the oars on one side.
I called to Lieutenant Graham to get his boat ready, as I
would hoist my broad pennant and lead the next auack in
his boat. I had no sooner spoken than a shot disabled his
boat, wounding him and killing and wounding four others.
I saw Graham one mass of blood, but it was from a marine
who stood next to him, and part of whose skull was forced
three inches into another man's shoulder. When
reached the Hong Kong the whole of the enemy's fire