The Express.
London, England, 1860-10-17 00:00:00

bury their dead, as them it 10 Other
of tombs. Many are not buried at all, Prull beingh
custom with the Chimes when they mallet afford
an expensive funeral to shut up the dammed in his
coffin and deposit him in one of the outhouses ; and
many of these have been found in Pehtang.
On the 3rd, a strong reconnaissance was sent
out by the French, supported by 1,000 English
troops, to look for the enemy, and ascertain, as far
as possible, their disposition and the mann of the
country. They left the town at daybreak and pro-
ceeded along the causeway, which is the high road
from Pehtang to Tien-twin. Eight or nine miles from
Pehtang a road branches off to the left, and leads
direct to the northern Taku forts. The party pro-
ceeded along the causeway, crossing a atone budge
at the further end, near which they came upon a
picket of Tartar horse, which retired slowly as the
troops advanced. At the end of the causeway they
found a broad flat of tolerably dry mud, upon which
they deployed, and at the same time large bodies of
Tartar cavalry appeared in their front and on the right
flank; and opened fire with their gingels, • species
of firelock, with a very long range. They did not
appear to be the least alarmed, but kept hovering
about out of range of the French musketry, but
ne..r enough to, cause some casualties by their oirn
fire. The Free& had taken out two small rifled
firma, but they ware scarcely able with them
to rieselc. OM awry. One or two shells, how-
ever, appassisCee take effect. The *round beyond
c.sturririty being quite open, spa none of our
cavalry being with the party, it was hot'considered
Writable to proceed any further, especieffY•as the
'object of the reconnaissance had ee* effects& It
was ascertained that the enemy mean taf ' tla that
they are in considerable numbers, 4,000:9r 6,000
having been seen ;. that the grotind, is practicable
for artillery and cavalry ; and that they have an
entrenchment some five or six miles- beyond the end
of the causeway. The party acoordifigly returned
to the town, which they reached about eleven
o'clock, having marched nine or ten miles. The
French had one man killed and four or five
wounded. The first man who was wounded was
decorated with the Legion of Honour in the field.
The English had one officer, Major Greathed, of the
Bengal Engineers, and three men slightly wounded.
The range of 'the gingab appears prodigious,
when it is considered that they are rude weapons,
with smooth barrels. Several officers who were out
estimate the distance they carried at fonneen, or
fifteen hundred yards. None of the enemy came
near enough to be minutely examined, but they ap-
peat be well mounted and bold resolute fellows.
No infantry could be made out. The Chinese here
appear to dislike these Tartars extremely, and say
they. have suffered much from their rude
rough manners, and violent behaviour. They
tam plain that when quartered in their neighbonr-
hood they helped themselves to everything they
wanted—that they are lawless, speak au incompre-
hensible language, and—strange complaint for •
Chinaman, and especially an inhabitant of Pehtang,
to make—that they are very dirty and have a most
unsavoury odour. We shall probably have made
their acquaintance more intimately in • few days.
Ever since the day we landed the disembarkation
of troop. and stores has been going on. The navy
have made incredible exertions, working night
and day, the gunboats plying, perpetually between
the town and the fleet, bringing men and homes,
guns, ammunition, forage, and provisions, in short
all the materiel required for the force. The troops
are all on shore now, and we are anxiously
expecting the order to advance. The French,
too, have been working with a will, and
we believe are nearly reedy for a move.
The great difficulty felt here is the want of water.
The inhabitants import all their drinking water
from the Peiho, as the water' of the Pehtaug, even
at low water in neap tides, is too brackish to be
drinkable except by cattle. We found large quan-
tities in every house in immense earthen jars, but
this was exhausted in a few, days, and we are now
entirely dependent on tl* ships. Much is cap-
italised from sea water, and • supply is brought
down daily now, I believe in water boats, from up
the river. They are towed up by gunboats, filled
when the tide is ebbed, and then brought down to
the town. A wharf has been set apart where these
boats lie, and the water is pumped from them into
breakers, which are then carried by working parties
and coolies to the different regiments and depart-
ments. We hope on leaving this to conic upon a
stream, which is supposed to be near the road a
few miles from Pehtang. There must be water
somewhere iu the neighbourhood, or the large force
of Tartar cavalry known to be not far off could not
subsist . _

AUGUST 8.

We advance from Pehtang the day after to-
morrow. The order of march is to be some-
what after this fashion : An advanced guard of
English, followed by one of the same strength of
French ; thee an English brigade, a French
brigade, the French main body and the English
reserve ; the cavalry on the flanks, and the artil-
lery distributed with the different brigades. The
movement will be along the causeway on the
Tien-tsin road, and when the hard ground beyond
the mud is reached, it is intended that the Eng-
lish army should move to its right and work round
the enemy's left, while the French press them in
front. In this way it is hoped to. cut them off
from the Tien-tain road, and drive them down the
left bank of the Peiho river into the Taku forts,
which will then be attacked. In this latter opera-
tion I presume the navy will take part, as they
will be able to cross the bar into the Peiho River
and bombard the forts from the gunboats.
It is difficult at present, not knowing the nature
or amount of opposition to be encountered, to form
any estimate of the probable duration of the cam-
paign. If the Chinese are determined in their op-
position, and Sankolinain is skilful, operations may
be protracted till the beginning of winter. Under
any circumstances, we may anticipate that a pore
tion of the force, at all events, will winter in the
north.
To-day a messenger from the Governor-General
of this province came in with a flag of truce, bear-
ing a letter proposing to allow us to re-embark
[ without molestation, as the Chinese Government
understood we had at last come to our sensed. liord
Elgin, who is here, living on board the Grenada
steamer in the river, would not, of course, receive
the messenger, who was a small Mandarin, nor hie
insolent communication, but be is understood to
have sent a stern message for the court of Pekin,
that if now or at any time they wish to make any
overtures, they can only be listened to atter our
arrival at Tien-teiu. The occasion of this messen-
ger being sent to us appears to have been a someahat
unwise prooe•iding of the French authorities, in
sending a flag of truce on shore at the spot up the
river where the water boats are taken to be tilled,
sod telling the people that if they did not tire upon
the navy the navy would not firs upon them, as
they did not wish for any unnecessary bloodshed.
This was at once construed into an evidence of
alarm on our part. Such at least is the story cur-
rent in the camp, and, if true, is not wore extra-
ordinary than many other dings we have done
during the progress of this extraordinary war.

AUGUNT 9.

The mail closes this evening. Our departure
I ill postponed till the Ilth,. as our allies are not
pally: A small reconnamanoe went out this
morning, &insisting of some of the Dragoon
Guards and Probyn's Horse. They proceeded a
considerable distance, and met no opposition. The
Tartars kept aloof and no shots were tired. A
number of the enemy were seen in an entrenched
camp about five wiles from here on the Tient-sin
road, but they did not come out. The officers who
went with the reconnaissance report most favour-
ably of the country they passed over. Grassy plains,
with pools of fresh water and admirably adapted
for cavalry movements. I hope by next mad to
' report the capture of the Ulm Feria.