The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-13 00:00:00

Horrible Scenes in China,

♦
The following is an extract from a Shanghai letter
of November 22, published in the Times :
Interesting depositions have been made by two
English subjects who were detained by the rebels at
Iloochow, and have only just effected their escape,
which throw some light on the internal arrange-
ments of their cities. The executive arrangements
and state of Hoochow are thus described by Mark
Conry :—" I saw the Tow-wang decapitate 150 of
his soldiers one morning. Ido not know what their
crime was. A man was punished by death for
smoking. Whenever I went into the city I saw
heads and trunks lying about. Dead bodies
were not buried, but were allowed to re-
main in the streets. The city was in a most
wretched state. There was no trade of any
sort going on ; provision shops were allowed to be
open, but no others. There used to be executions
every day, sometimes 20 at a time, but never less
than four." These are the people whom we were
to have upheld in preference to the Imperialists; bad
as the latter may be, corrupt as are •their officials,
and effete as is their Government, their regime is
better than that here described. The second man
who has returned, named Patrick Nellis, went up in
one of the small steamers which run into the interior
to purchase silk. On arriving at their destination
they found that the place had been occupied by
the rebels a few days previously, and Nellis, with

the crew, was made prisoner. He was taken to
Hoochow, asked by the Tow-wang whether he
understood rifles, and, on his replying in the
affirmative, was requested to remain. The question
was superfluous, as he had no alternative ; but it
was a matter of form, and the form having been
gone through, the chain was taken from his neck
and the fear of immediate death removed. Some
time after he had been in Hoochow the Kan-wang
arrived from Nankin, and it oozed out the city had
fallen. The siege of Hoochow followed, and Nellis
describes various successful operations against the
Imperialists ; until at length starvation compelled
the garrison to evacuate it. Several of the little
band of foreigners had been shot and died of sick-
ness, but such as remained were compelled to
accompany the retreat, which will be 'best de-
scribed in Nellis's own words :—" Men were patrol-
ling the streets to cut down any who might attempt
to escape. That evening we saw fearful sights. The
rebels were embarking their wounded, and could
not take all. The poor woman crowded down to
the boats, and were cut at and driven back. We
left the city, which was empty, at three a.m., and
soon saw it in a blaze. It rained, however, heavily-
We pushed on, and passing through the lake, came_
to the entrance to a creek. Here the most fearful
confusion ensued. All the boats were shiculn g
g•
e neat
and jamming each other, the rebels marching
c
the bank. Here we passed the
nigd we could not
day the confusion still continued, linalono•
'aartny) here left for
advance. Six men (CowreY'sttr:ing firewood,
but
the ostensible
never came back.
done with
ithe
man. The latter
an interpreter, anda wounded man. The latter
was our great troubl•
andbe
_ was
him,
death
i to could not carry him.
PurlP°Vitel:voomfunengodrededelinmaignefdurttwhoerGrceoeuklsd.
was our great 7 •
Ito shoot him, and d luoinfferedan
msd told
him I could do leave of
I said I could not do it, but he could
He begged
ask (his two countrymen.
no more,
They refused, and we
left hiln in the boat. The rebels were now in con-
fusion, running everywhere, and the
Imperialists
and money.
close at hand. We landed and
took to the hills,
and, after wandering about
two or three days, got a
boat, and with some difficulty got down to Shang-
hai." The picture of
wang's administration given by Cowroy only con-
firms the accounts which have already frequently
been made public of the horrors of the Taeping oc-

cupation—accounts which receive their confirmation
in the desolation and ruin which everywhere mark
the footsteps of their retreating armies.

THE AMPIIION (s.).—The Amphion steamer has
been stranded on Sherringham beach, and is ex-
pected to become a total wreck. The ill-fated vessel at the
time of the disaster was on a voyage from Sunderland to
London, and ran ashore at Sherringham during the pre-
valence of thick weather. All efforts to float her have
proved fruitless ; indeed the gale of Friday and Saturday
drove the vessel higher up the beach. The Amphion is a
vessel of 1,600 tons burthen, and was originally an English
frigate, having formed part of Sir Charles Napier's blockad-
ing squadron in the Baltic during the Russian war.. 8116
was purchased from the Government by Messrs. Wilson,
of Sunderland, her present owners, and is insured for
£17,000.

••••••••••""' 50 .Ame55........."..-
14IFEBO SERVICES.—During the storms
of the pa t year 1864 the boats of the. National Lifeboat
Institution La: ye saved
tut persons from different wrecks on
our coasts, The Institution also expended £19,531 14s. sd.
In the same Period on lifeboat establishments, in addition to
grantia
.E1,5:6 9 as rewards for saving 693 shipwrecked per-
ulna Mats lit el boats, and other means.
The Comm. it tee of the Institution earnest'y A PPEAL to
the public two ASSISTANCE to enable them to meet the
continued he a vy demands on the Institution's 140 lifeboat
establishmen ti I.
Contributie in s are received by Messrs. Willis and Co..
ferries and •C 4 Coutts and Co., end by all the London and
country bank er a ; and by the Secretary, Richard Lewis, Esq.,
at the institu Lti on, 14, John-street, Adelphi.

•R°Y-1-14 ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-
GARDEN.
(Opera Company, Limited.)
THIS EV ENING. THE BRIDE OF SONG. RAdel-
enee,
Miss Thirlw all ; Beatrix, Madame Fanny Huddarc ;
pert, sir. He ixry Haigh ; and Hamlin 1, Mr. A Laurence.
.
Conductor, Mr Allred Mellon.
To conclude with the Grand Comic Cle hr
in and the istmas PantomimeNlaf.fic,
Entitled CINLOERE L ; or, Harq
pumpkin. art d the Greet Fairy of the Little Glass Slipper,
xi which the, icelebrated Donato will appear.
Commen,e at Seven.
A MORNIN G PER t,at T 0
wo o'clock, and E of CIN
every
Ary Monday, tillnext
MONDAY, n. 16,
further notice.

.TER -MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
In is EvENINU, the new Operetta, in one act, en-
titled PLINCICINELLO.
rollowed by the new Grand Christmas Pan'omime,lTHE
I.ION AND THE UNICORN FIGHTING FOIL THE
CIi.OWN.

ATR E-R YA L, DRURY-LANE,
Tanagers. Messrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton.
Txis EVENING, and during the week, A YOUNG
hall FROM THE COUNTRY.
Alter which, the Grand Christmas Pantomime, HOP O'MY
UMB AND HIS ELEVEN BROTHERS; or, Harlequin
and the Ogre of the Seven-League Boots : Messrs. G. isel-
inore, Tom Matthews, G. Weston, Master Percy Roselle, &c.
Misses Lydia Thompson. R. Leclercq, gC. ; Messrs. Bolen°,
. Lauri, W. A. Barnes, T. Morris, Cormack, Saville ; Mdme.
.Boleno, the Misses Gunnies, and Signor Tescano.

THEATRE-R OYA L, HAYMARKET.
Lessee, Mr. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, Jan. 13, DAVID GARRICK. Messrs.
Chippendale, Sothern, Buckstone, Rogers, Clark, Coe, Wea-
thersoy, ; Mesdames Moore, Snowdon, Fitzwilliam,

After which, LORD DUNDREA.RY MARRIED AND
PONE FOR Messrs. Sothern, Backstone, Braia, Gordon,
C; ark, White, Coe, Weathersby, &c. ; Mesdames Snowdou,
.111.11,
With PRINCESS SPRINGTIME. Mr. Compton, Miss L.
Ilex;y
Alid MRS. WHIrE.
To commence at 7.

OYAL LYCEUM 'fIiEATRE.
A- II Last Nights of Huy Blas.
,T;IIS EVENING, to commence with MY WIFE'S OUT.
Widdicomb, Charles; Miss B. ,Mercy and Miss E.
L aven...u.
Alter which, at 8 o'clock, BUY BLAS. Buy Blas, Mr.
Fenhrer. Messrs. Itycer, ritzpatrick, Ch ile,, 11.'intyre,
tjarden, ilaymond, Collett, U ifiurd, Moreland ; Misses Car-
lotta Leclercq, B. l'ercy, and Mrs. IVinstanley.
To conclude with a Farcical Oriental Extravaganza, en-
titled BEA.RFACED IMPOS CURS. Schahabaham (a pasha
of three tails, Mr. Raymond; 3lustapha, Lis viz.er, Mr.
harden; Bill Stumps and Jack Hocus, quondam proprietors
of the orL,inal unified happy family, ]Messrs. Moreland and
VViddicomb ; Ali, chiet guardian of the ladies of the Harem,
Mr. Collett Osman Khan, chief executioner, Mr. Bunch;
A.e;hmet Aga, an officer of the Sultan, Mr. Kelly; Mirza
i Baba, cnief keeper of the monkeys, nr. Regan; Ayesha,
formerly Jemima Stumps, but no first favourite of the
pasha, Miss Lavenu; Fatima, second favourite of the pash
Miss B. Percy ; Shekerleb, third favourite of the pasha, Miss
Travers; Beda, fourth favourite of the pasha, Mis Watson;
Xenobia, formerly banou of the harem, chief wife of the
po.sha, but now discarded for Ayesha, Miss Hate.a. Various
ch.,,ice specimens of zoology, guards, slaves, and attendants,
by numerous and talentcl Smith family. Divertissement
d,g Odalisques.
Doors open at Half-past Six.
The Box-office open daily from Elevcn till Five.

EW
ooierTHEAt TJrRE-anu 10YAL,r. ADELPHI.-
TINS EVENING, ICI ON PARLE FRANCAIS. Mr.
J. L. Toole.
At er which, at 8, LEAH. Miss Bateman, supported by
Messr:. George I:_rdan, Swinbourne, R. Phillips, Stuart,
Stephenson, Eburne; Miss 11. Simms and Mrs. Biliington.
To conclude with DARK DOINGS IN THE CM
fsOA.R.O BY THE liN GT I U'Est BROktiERS. Messrs.
J. L. Toole, Paul Bedford, K. thin ps, Billing-ton; mrs.A.
Mellon. Miss A. acaman.
• -