The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

ottr allies made the most of their Opportunity. Ask
the first few men you Meet wh€ther they have any-
thing to sell, and the chinces are that one will
produce a watch set with brilliants, another a string
of perils, a third a lump of silver, and a fourth a
handful of trinkets ; at least, this was the case
sonic days ago ; now much of the plunder has been
exchanged for English dollars, and the rapidly
increasingprices have made the fortunate possessors
coy. The number of watches is immense. I believe
every French soldier has got one, and I know of
one man who brought away 92. The Emperor had
a decided taste for clocks and watches. In every
room of the palace were some handsome ormolu
clocks by London and French makers, and some of
the watches I have seen among the French are of
superior workmanship and elaborate and costly
mounting.

I am sorry to say that my doubts as to the fate of
our prisoners are now decided, and that our worst
fears have been realised. According to the state-
ments of the Sikh and French survivors, they were
all treated with the utmost barbarity, having been
taken, tightly bound hand and foot, from village to
village; in some cases put through the ceremony
of mock decapitation for the amusement of the
assembled crowds. Messrs. Parkes and Loch, who
were taken to Pekin and restored on the Bth inst.,
were better treated ; but nearly all those taken
along with the Chinese army appear either to have
been starved to death or to have sunk under
their ill-treatment. It may be some consolation
to those who have to mourn our deceased country-
men's untimely and dreadful end, that their re-
mains are now reposing in consecrated ground,
and that the last and solemn ceremony of our
Church was duly performed over them. Tl“s
morning their remains, placed on gun carriages,
preceded by the band of the 60th Rifles playing
the " Dead March in Saul," and by detachments
of every European regiment here, and followed by
Lord Elgin, Sir Hope Grant, the French Com-
mander-in-Chief, and nearly 200 British officers,
were conveyed to the cemetery of the Russian
outside the walls of Pekin, where a large grave
was prepared, and the:e we laid them side by
Aide, with all the honours of war, with an univer-
sal feeling of regret for their fate and of detesta-
tion of the treachery of which they had been the
victims.

writing materials, and, as a matter of course, they
arrived the day after the mail left. However, there
was nothing much to note. To begin where I last
left off, after the actions of the iSth and 21st, as I
wrote you two mails ago, the Commander-in-Chief
ordered up all available forces. A naval brigade
garrisoning Tien-tsin liberated the Royals and the
Bth Punjab N. 1., and these, a company of Madras
Sappers, divers convalescents, and some remount
horses, made a very respectable force. As the road
follows the river, cutting off the corners only, a
large fleet of boats was attached to the force, 100
men only being on the boats. These were weak
and footsore men chiefly, for the boats overtook us
each night at some hour or other, but seldom in
proper time—which, as they carried our tents, was
a bore. At Matow 100 more men were detailed
for boat duty, the balance taking a short cut to
head-quarters, about five miles in front of Tung.
chow. The boat party arrived at Tungchow on the
evening of the 4th, and marched as soon as the
baggage was landed to headquarters, arriving
there about 10 p.m., having been on their feet
tracking,up the boats from 5 p.m. the day previ-
ous, with but little rest. They had heard there was
to be an advance on Pekin, and were determined
to be in time. On the sth the army advanced on
some brick-kilns, the men carrying knapsacks, great-
coat, and blanket, at a tremendous pace and
under a hot sun. Soon some 50 of the poor over-
worked boat party "shut up," many very footsore,
but before long almost as many men of other regi-
ments had to do likewise. This, however, had the
effect of having the packs stowed away at the kilns,
where we arrived about 12 o'clock, and found no
enemy. From the top of the highest of them a
good view of the city could be obtained, but this
was reserved for the Staff; the small fry had to
content themselves with a lower one to take their
first peep at Pekin, about five miles distant. Fane
and Probyn's Horse were sent out to ilnd an enemy
if they could. The whole country in the neigh-
bourhood, and for some distance to wards Tien -tsin,
is ♦ery densely wooded, rendering the eyesight of
little use; feeling has to be resorted to. Probyn
saw nothing; Fane reported about 1,000 in an
intrenchment, who bolted as soon as they saw him.
I may as well say here that Pekin is four-sided, and
facing the four points of the compass. Our view at
the kilns was at its east face. The intrenchment
spoken of is of old date, and is simply a large bank
of earth 40 feet high, or thereabout, and it extends
all along the north face of the city at about 23
miles' distance, and round also on the north-east
and north-west angles, but how far this deponent
saith not—as likely as not all round ; but that much
he has seen. Our march on the 6th was an endea-
vour to outflank this supposed intrenchment, and
we proceeded in a north-westerly direction,
our ultimate goal being the Emperor's summer
palace. After proceeding along a winding
road, more like an open forest glade, for about
seven miles, we first see the embankment on our
left, and ourselves going parallel to it and towards
the west, but no enemy in sight. However, as we
proceed, news comes from the front that the enemy
is in sight, and we hear in confirmation thereof
some 20 shots, one of which hits a King's Dragoon
Guard on the head, he being with some other
escorts behind a house. It was all ,over in three
minutes, and we open out on one of the large broad
roads to the city to find a mob scuttling into Pekin,
having been arrested in an attempt to block up
this road by an abbatis of cut-down trees and a
ditch across the road. An unfortunate poultry.
man afforded many of us ducks and chickens for
dinner, in place of cold beef and biscuits.
We passed the road, scaled the steep bank, and
came to a halt, and, in consequence of the firing,
we went no further. The French, who were on our
left, passed behind our rear, and proceeded to the
palace, where also our cavalry, who were asking
the French where we had gone to, also went. The
French made a handsome thing out of that same
palace, and we have not done so badly either, as a
quantity of gold and silver was found there. Almost
all the officers went there, and brought something
away, which was sold by auction, and fetched very
nigh prices. TLc yealLetteder-m-unief and the
two Generals of Division relinquished their share,
and were voted some article or articles about to be
sold, as also a large pair of vases of old enamel,
which the army presented to Lord Elgin for the
Queen. The bronzes, the enamels, and the jadestone
and other carvings were beautiful in the extreme.
It was estimated that property to the amount of a
million and a half was in the place, and could have
been realised if there had been time. As it was, I
never saw such a scene of ruin and wanton destruc-
tion—clocks of most marvellous construction all
smashed to atoms; plate-glass mirrors of immense
size, magnificent carviogs, all served the same. In
one instance I saw a good lump of a bronze joss sent
at a .50-guinea mirror and irretrievably ruin it,
while again a demented Frenchman would run
a-muck with a stick among the glass bobs and
pendents of the chandeliers. The grounds of the
palace are of great extent, and are studded with
innumerable small homes, wit a, as in the generality
of Chinese houses, three rooms and one or two inner
courts, also with three rooms at the end opposite
the entrance, and generally a one or three roomed
building on each of the sides. Of a palace, properly
so called, you saw little or nothing. There was a
fine throne-room, and two or three suites of apart-
ments near the entrance gates of larger dimensions,
but still in the prevailing fashion of construction.
These were, of course, more profusely decorated
than the rest. In the course of three or four
hours' cursory view but little could be seen or
understood of the palace. There were large ware-
houses full of rich silks, satins, embroideries. You
may krm some idea of the value attached to a
5-guinea silk robe when the French soldiers were
pounding away with them at the tag-rag of Pekin,
who were looting away to their heart's content.
Many of the most successful looters contented them-
selves with waylaying the Chinese and taking
anything they took a fancy to. Silk robes were
sold next day for half a dollar to a dollar, the
latter being the prevailing price. Now they are
quoted at from 4 to 10 dollars, and few sellers.
Watches and Sycee gold ornaments have also been
plentiful. Two English carriages and the harness
complete were there, and any amount of watches,
the chief maker being Ilben. These were doubt-
less presents from Lori. Macartney or Lord Am-
herst. It was expected that this would bring the
Chinese to their senses, and also stand as a punish-
ment for their treachery on the 17th. I had not
when I last wrote heard that the Chinese them-
selves were showing the camping ground to Colonel
Walker and Staff, and it would probably have been
chosen, but Sir Hope objected to it on the ground
of its being too far from the water ; and it was when
they found we were not going to fall into the trap
they had so nicely baited for us—for they had, I
believe 76 gunsiin position to play on the ground
—that they seized on the unfortunates mentioned
in my last—viz., Parkes and Loch, De Norman,
Anderson, a private of the Royal Dragoon Guards,
Brabazon, a French Abbe, some 25 Sikhs, and

also some privates and one French officer. Matters
remained in a tolerably quincent state for some

days, the Chinese wanting to treat, and we refus-

The French treaty was signed, and the French
entry of troops took place to-day.
Heavy baggage is ordered to be sent to Tung-
chow, thence by water to Tien-tsin to-morrow, and
no time will be lost in getting away the troops.
The weather is very fine, but it freezes very
sharply at night, and to Southern Chinese and In-
dians it is very cold. Furs are at a premium.
Some Indian horses have died from cold.
The post is eloping. I have no time even to read
over what I have written, having been interrupted
several times to-day to count silver for the men's
prize money, which comes to within a fraction of
14: dollars privates, 21 dollars corporals, and 28
dollars sergeants ; officers not known yet.
The bodies of the sufferers by the tragedy were
buried in the Russian cemetery, as many officers
attending as possible, and in all probability suit-
able monuments will be erected to their memory.
By next mail this will be decided.

OFFICE OF A ROCKY MOUNTAIN PAPER.—The
Rocky Mountain News is the leading newspaper of that
gold region. A graceful festoon of revolvers hangs over
the sanctum table, within reach of the editor, and three
ominoxs-looking guns rest in the corner. Descending to
the composing and press-room, is found each man quietly
at work in his proper place, with "something that would
shoot" lying near him.

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