The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-03 00:00:00

that is now needful to restore animation to
commerce, and to guaraatee the future security of trade,
property, and life itself, can be effected by a naval force
alone. We have seen that we may shell, burn, and
destroy. with little result except an increase of bollness and
pertinacity on the part of our fon. otr navy may yet
inflict a blow that will stay his action for the moment, but
the city has yet to be taken, or the Cantonman is not beaten ;
and until he be, we are still to him (and to all China) that
inferior thing, the barbarian trader, always uncivilised, and
now deprived of trade by him, the Cantonrnan, whom the
trader has never been able to beat. It will be with no
usual rejoicing, therefore, that we shall hail the arrival of
an adequate military force.
The following narrative of events for the fort-
night we extract from a Hong Kong paper, of the
15th January :—•
We are naturally looking anxiously for the arrival of the
gunboats, as, from their light draught of water, they will
be enabled to hunt up and destroy the large and formidable
fleets of mandarin junks in the creeks in which they take
refuge, and where they are perfectly secure from moles.
tation on the part of any war steamer we have now on the
station. The six steam gunboats, which we have
been led shortly to expect from home, are, the Alacrity,
Bustard, Osprey, Plover, Starling, and Staunch, eech 4
guns ; also of other steamers, the Crusier, Forester, and
Harpy, 17 ; and the Highflyer, and Oppossum, 21;
besides which, it seems we are to have of sailing vessels,
the Raleigh, 50 ; Acteon, 26 ; Camilla, 16 ; and
Elk. 12.

One offleer of the Hornet, and one of the Comus, with
three men, were wounded during the late attack by the
junks from Fatshan Creek.
In our last issue we mentioned the intention of
Captain Castilla to continue running the Fei Ma
on the river, betwixt this and Canton ; but on his,
last trip up, he was so near taken by the Chinese,
that he is not likely to run such a risk again. Thy
particulars are given in the following note froth at
passenger :
I returned to. Whampoa yesterday in the Fei Ma. On
our way we had to run the gauntlet through 53 imperial
junks, who attacked us in a most determined manner. They
came as usual from the creeks near the Secord Bar, and
their firing would have done credit to a better cause. The
Fei Ma was hulled eleven or twelve times, and the shot
flying overhead informed us that they came from heavy
guns. At one time I gave up all for lost, the junks
appeared to be gaining—they certainly do pull them at a
tremendous rate—the Malay left the wheel, and we seemed.
doomed to destruction. Captain Castilla, however, took the
helm, full power steam was put on, and three of the
Nankin's men dragged our little bow gun about, and let the
cowardly pursuers see we were ready to fight for it. Six or
seven men belonging to the same ship (under directions of
Air. St. John, master's mate of the Nankin) kept up a
sharp flee from their Minie rifles, and, no doubt, to the
loss of the Chinese. Gradually we left the "gallant" 53
behind us,after being under their fire at least twenty minutes.
Mercifully none was hurt ; many had narrow escapes ; several
shot went right through the ship, and her port side is
studded with 18's and 24's half imbedded in her timbers.
There were two ladies on board, who behaved in the most
courageous and determined manner, refusing to go below,
and claiming to risk the same dangers as ourselves. At
Whampoa all is confusion. On Thursday night the rebels
were attacked by at least 200 boats, and driven from their
anchorage, just by the First Bar, to seek protection under
the lee of the Sybille. The attacking force was compose I
of Imperial junks and country boats. They did not fire on
the Sybille. The poor seaman who was left in charge of
Dr. Ryder's chop has been murdered, and his head carried
off, by a party of miscreants. In fact no one is safe out of
a man of war. The Samson is here, having brought up the
Acorn to the barrier in Blenheim Reach. She is going to
tow the American Bethel to Hong Kong. . We are all
asking why the San Jacinto does not do this.
Nothing whatever has yet been ascertained
about Mr. Cowper, senior, of Whampoa, kidnapped
by Chinese on the evening of the 20th December.
The local alarm has by no means subsided ; and
it is no good omen that many of the Chinese
shopkeepers are removing the most valuable por-
tion of their effects ; yet except from fires, the
acts of incendiaries, we see little cause for fear.
Against them, precautions are at length being
taken, in the removal of mat sheds, and especially
of some highly dangerous ones, used for the storage
of spirits, pitch, tar, oakum, and other ship stores,

in the neighbourhood of the Harbour Master's
Wharf. These are now partially removed,
and just in time, as an attempt was made on
Tuesday night to set them on fire, by means of a
lighted joss-stick and a train of gunpowder, leading
along the top of the mats. The gunpowder
exploded without doing any damage ; but had the
shed taken fire, it must have communicated with
the others, and probably the.whole range of house?
betwixt Pedder's Wharf and the Bank would hay,
been destroyed, for the quantity of combustibles
stored therein is immense, arid there is no saying
where the fire would have stopped
The Government is taking every precaution for
the prevention of fire and for calming the minds
of such of the Chinese as are determined to remain
in the Colony. In this they are receiving the

most cordial assistance from Admiral Guerin
and Commodore Armstrong—who, it is said,
have again, and in- stronger terms than before,
protested against the barbarous manner in which
Yeh has thought fit to carry on the war, by the
kidnapping and murdering of private individuals,
and by offering rewards for the heads of foreigner!,
The Commodore doubtless has been in some

measure urged to this by the murder of one of his
marines on Friday last, oil' the U. S. Naval Stores.
A man was there seen from the shore struggling

in the water, and being forced under by some
Chinese sampan men with bamboos; but the
boats at the wharf shoved off, and refused to
proceed to his assistance : the marine, an Irish-
man, was missed that night, and has not been
heard of since. Another murder is supposed to
have been committed upon a lascar sailor ; the
man might have been set down as a deserter, but
that his brother is in the colony, and has bet3n
Unable to learn what has become of him ; while
the Chinese have a story current among them of a
coloured man having been killed and decapitated
somewhere at the back of Taiping-sham. The
rumour may be without foundation, still such a
rumour exists.
The police force has been greatly increased, and
we wish we could -say as much for its efficiency,
but unfortunately the material of which it is ccit-n-
-, posed is of the poorest description. One gbod
measnre is, the establishment of voluntary private
patrols by the European residents, who not only
serve to deter thieves from the prosecution of their
calling, but keep the police on the alert Scarcely
a night passes without policemen being found by
the patrol asleep at their posts. The Calcutta has
taken up a station to the westward of the town,
and sends out a guard every night. The Bittern
has been re-armed with 32 pounders, and is to be
anchored off, the naval stores The Eaglet, a well
armed steamer, has been chartered by the Govern-
ment, and placed under charge of Mr. Henry T.
Ellis, master, P.N., of H.M.S. Minden. She is, we
are told, to have a crew of forty men-of-war's men.
Besides the harbour police, boats from the U.S.
ships of war San Jacinto and Portsmouth row
guard all night; and all Chinese boats are kept at
a distance of 300 yards from the shore from sunset
to sunrise ; so we have reason to say that little fear
of an attack upon the town need be apprehended.