The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-15 00:00:00

WAR 11V CHINA.

(From the .North China Herald, Oct, 20.)
The following letters were brought down by her
Majesty's ships Pioneer and Furious :
" Camp of the British Army, one mile distant from
the North Eastern Gate of Pekin, Oat. 9.
"We encamped here on the 6th. On the same
evening the Emperor's summer palace Yuen-min-
Yuen was taken possession of, and yesterday Messrs.
H. S. Parkes and Henry Loch were liberated and

returned to the Embassy.
" I sent a letter to you from the camp, six miles
from Tung-chow, on the 4th, which will probably
reach you with this. On the following day the
allied forces were on the march in search of the

Tartars, who were supposed to be in great numbers

about four or five miles off. The front of the two

armies stretched over a large extent of country,
but the enemy was not seen, nor any sight of an
abandoned camp visible. We halted at one
o'clock p.m. Reconnoitering parties were sent out
at night, and they fell in with the Tartar pickets,

who fired three shots at them. On the morning

of the 6th we were again on the move at an early
hour, but on reaching the ground where the pickets

had been seen all was still.

" Here are some very high brick-kilns, from which
several gates and other structures within the walls

of Pekin were distinctly seen about five miles dis-
tant. Still in pursuit of the retreating enemy, we
marched on through a thickly-wooded country

until within half a mile of the earthwork which

extends along the north side of, and distant one
mile from, Pekin, where some Tartars were seen

among the houses close by. The King's Dragoon

Guards went in at them and they fled, leaving eight
dead or disabled and one of the dragoons wounded
in the skirmish. In a short time after the earth-

work was reached, and a gap of 60 or 80 yards
opened upon a straight road of the same width
leading to the north-east gate of Pekin. The
troops entered by this gap, and, wheeling to the
right, halted where we now are, within the earth-
work—an embankment of 40 to 80 feet high, which
would be a strong defence in the hands of efficient
troops. Here the greater part of the British army
encamped. Why it did not proceed to the Summer
Palace at once, as was planned, I do not know. The
French, and most of our cavalry with some artil-
lery did so, but the former did not arrive on the
spot until two hours after the latter, who were
waiting for the remainder of our army. Oa the
French coming up the brigadier offered to co-ope-
rate with them. They asked him to go round to
cut off the Tartars, whilst they attacked the
palace. This they did, and found 300 eunichs in
charge of it, and 40 men who take care of the
gardens, onl y2O of whom had guns. They mad
a slight resistance ; two eunichs were killed, and
two French officers wounded, and they then took
possession of the palace.
" It is said that the reason our army did not ad-
vance was that a body of Tartars was seen to come
out of the north-east gate, and disappear in a
southerly direction, and that we should follow
them. I believe it was a false alarm.

" In the evening a communication was made
to the authorities demanding the release of
the prisoners. A promise was given that those
who were in the capital should be released next
day. The surrender of the gate was also demanded,
with an intimation that it would otherwise be
taken. The first has, happily, bees complied with,
so far that we had the pleasure yesterday of
welcoming Messrs. Parkes and Loch, with a French
officer attached to the Societe Scientifique, and six
or eight French, and privates of the Sikh cavalry.
They were whilst with San-kolinsin's army treated
in a most cruel manner; forced to kneel before
every mandarin, however petty, their faces rubbed
in the dust ; they were ,bound with their hands
behind them, and carried on horses to Tung-chow,
and thence, in the same state, in one of the carts of
the country, to Pekin, where they were placed in
dungeons, and remained so until ten days ago.
Mr. Parkes was beaten when he did not instantly
reply to a question, and Mr. Loch because ho could
not speak Chinese. Within this last week these
atrocities have been discontinued, and they have
met with some consideration. It appears that
when the party was returning from Tung-chow,
where you will remember that Mr. Parkes went to
remonstrate against the Tartars encamping on the
ground appropriated to the British army, they
arrived at Chang-kia-wan, where the battle of the
18th was fought, and seeing preparations for an
attack, they consulted together whether to charge
through them, or to apply to San-kolinsin, who
was a short distance behind, for a pass. They
resolved on the latter course. He received them
with insult and abuse, and made prisoners of them.
They do not :know where the rest of the captives
are, but suppose them to be with San-kolinsin's
army, whether in or out of Pekiu is not known.
"The Summer Palace is about five miles by a
circuitous road north-west of this camp, outside the
earthwork. A description of it is given in Staun-
ton's account of Lord Macartney's embassy, and
other works on China, but no pen can describe
correctly the scene that hss taken place
there
Within the two last days. Indiscriminate loot has
been allowed. The public reception hall, the state
and private bedrooms, ante-rooms, boudoirs, and
every other apartment has been ransacked ; articles
of vertu 6f native and foreign workmanship, takes