The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-16 00:00:00

CHINA,

(From the Times Correspondent.)
SHANGHAI, March 25.
During the past week a large body of troops,
destined to reinforce the Imperialist army in Foh-

kien, have marched into Shanghai from the interior.
They arrived on the 15th, and encamped outside the
south gate of the city until the steamers chartered
to convey them were ready for their reception. The
Chinese state their number at 20,000, but, judging
from the size of the camps, I should think barely

10,000 can at present be assembled. Possibly, more
may be on their way. They are divided into several
camps, each surrounded by earthworks, with a broad
_ _

road running through the middle, on either side of
which are pitched regular rows of tents. A. three-
cornered flag is stuck in the ground alongside of
each tent, the colour varying in each camp. That
in the principal one is white, with indented red
border ; that in the second has broad alternate
stripes of yellow and green, which look especially
gaudy ; while in the third a three-cornered piece of
white cloth rejoices in a black edging. Opposite the
tent of the principal officer of each camp is planted a
large square flag, remarkable by this variety in shape

but for little else. Most of the men appear to

possess muskets and bayonets, as these arms, orna-

mented with large patches of rust, are piled in an
eccentric manner outside many of the tents. The
greater part aro the old Tower musket, and, judging
from their appearance, they are rapidly deteriorating

to a state in which they will be more dangerous to
their owners than to the enemy. Notwithstanding,
however, the conviction which oppresses me that the
muskets are as likely to go off sideways as forwards,
and that their owners would run away on the
slightest possible persuasion, it is impossible not

to concede a regularity greater than I should
have thought the Chinese capable of displaying,
which gives a kind of military appearance to the
scene. The varied colours of the flags which
flutter in the wind, to the number of several

hundreds, combine with the scarlet, orange, black,
and other unforms of the soldiers to produce a

more quaintly picturesque effect than is afforded
even by the gorgeous trappings of some European

troops. Our Volunteer corps, to the number of 26
cavalry and 114 infantry, marched out a few days
ago to visit the new arrivals, and were received by

the Chinese General in full official costume. The

troops turned out in thousands to gaze at thbm,
wondering, no doubt, inwardly at the eccentricity
which could prompt gentlemen to undergo the
fatigues of soldiering. Their own countrymen are
troubled by no such martial ardour, and need no
means to work a their superfluous energy. True

disciples of Epicurus, they believe in extracting as
much placid enjoyment as possible from a'quiet life,
but lack altogether the impulse which prompts their
European brethren to fight for the sake of preserving
the necessary means of enjoyment. The object of a
Chinaman's life is chow-chow. The poor man works to
obtain sensual luxuries. The necessity for obtain-

ing food prompts the poor to enlist as soldiers ; but

the fact of having food deters those well to do in
the world from risking the loss of the opportunity
of eating it by entering on a career in which there
is danger to life and limb. The Mandarins, how-
ever, seem to have appreciated the honour of the
visit, as Kwo-sun-ling with several retainersreturned
it on the following day, by appearing on the Volun-
teer parade ground at the accustomed drill hour of
the corps. It is needless to say that they were re-
ceived with all due honour, and expressed the highest
gratification. _

I hear that a battery of artillery, under the com-
mand of a Major Bailey, which was formerly at-
tached to Ching's force, but has since that leader's
death been maintained by the Futai, is also to go
southwards. If so, it will prove a far more efficient
aid than the troops whom his Excellency has been
induced to send. Gordon's disciplined force would
have been of little use to him without cannon, and
to the Fohkien officials, who have neither troops nor
guns, a battery commanded and officered by Euro-
peans will be invaluable. The Imperialist forces at
present in that province appear quite unable to make
head against the large number opposed to them, and
are in imminent danger of being enclosed within a

semicircle with their backs on the sea. The capture I
of two cities, which the Tszewang is now besieging,
is alone necessary to perfect this arrangement. The
arrival of heavy guns on the scene may alter the as-
pect of affairs, but the rebels are reported, on their
side, to be energetically casting shot and shell at
Changchow. They, too, have many foreigners in
their ranks well capable of roughly organising and
disciplining a body of men on European principles.
Many of Gordon's old officers have found their way
down there, together with rowdies of every nation
under the sun. English, Americans, French, Ger-
mans, Italians, Greek, Manilese, and Dutch all meet
a ready welcome from the Tszewang, who has ap-
pointed a man named Rhode, formerly a major in
Gordon's force, to be their leader. Arms and ammu-
nition appear to reach them from Amoy without
difficulty, though how they contrive to get past the
Imperialists lines is a mystery. Several foreigners
who had reached Changchow with cargoes of this
description attempted to take Advantage of a skir-
mish, not long since, to slip past in the confusion.
The Imperialists, however, poured so heavy a fire
of musketry into their boats that they retired
promptly behind the forces of their rebel friends.
The next day they made their appearance at Amoy
safe and unhurt, having made a detour into the
country, and so turned the flank of the Imperialist
outposts. The skirmish I have just mentioned was
one of the very few, if not the only one, in which the
Imperialists have been able to boast the advantage.
They caught an unfortunate body of rebels on a
foraging excursion, attacked and compelled them to
retreat to the bank of a large creek, without making
much impression en their ranks. Unfortunately,
however, the tide was high, and when the Imperial-
ists, gaining confidence from their numbers, fell on
their adversaries, the latter were equally unable to
defend themselves against the former's superior
forces, or to retreat. The consequence was a com-
plete rout, in which the Imperialists claim to have
slaughtered 1,000 rebels, with the loss of only 30
wounded on their own side.
Pekin Gazettes lately received contain little news
regarding the disturbances in the provinces. The
Governor of Kweichow reports the recapture of a
small city which had been held during the past four
months by the Mahomedan rebels ; but the Gover-
nor-General of Kwantung and Kwangsi expresses
apprehension from a coalescence between the long-
haired rebels and a body of brigands known as the

Ke-fei.
It appears doubtful whether the 67th will get
away before the summer ; but the prospect of being
left unprotected is giving a great impetus to the
volunteer movement here. Every effort is being
made by the officers to gain new recruits and to
organise satisfactorily the existing force. At pre-
sent there are about 300 men on the rolls, but by
the addition of an artillery corps of 70 men, an engi-
neer corps of 25, and an increase to existing com-
panies, it is hoped that a force 450 strong may be
raised. In addition to this we have about 120
policemen,`armed with musket, bayonet, and sword,
nearly all time-expired men of the 31st, and with
this force we feel tolerably confident of being able
to hold the settlement against rebels or Imperialists,
as necessity may arise, until help can be obtained
from Hongkong or Yokohama.
An attempt has just been made to take a census
of the foreign and native population in the English,
American and French settlements, but I suspect
only approximate results have been obtained. Ac-
cording to these, the English and American settle-
mets contain 2,024 Europeans, of whom the large
proportion of 150 are women, and 91 children. The
native population of these two settlements has not
yet been accurately ascertained, but I believe it will
prove nearly 100,000. Almost every race under
the sun has a representative here. Russia, Austria,
and Prussia ; Italy, Greece, and Spain ; Switzer-
land, Belgium, and Holland; England, France, and
the Hanse Towns ; Canada, the United States, and
Mexico ; Java, Manilla, and Macao, each and all
can boast of having contributed at least one unit to
the total. A few years ago Hongkong would have
waxed indignant at the bare suggestion that Shang-
hai could one day rival it. Now it is deposed ; the
English and American settlements boast 80 more
foreign residents than the entire island, excluding