The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-02 00:00:00

CHINA.

HONG KONG, MAY 3.
The commander-in-chief and his staff returned on
the 27th ult., having left Chusan on the 25th. They
went from Shanghae to Kintang, found there the

brigade destined for Chusan, and proceeded at once
to Tinghai, the principal town on the island. A flag,
of truce was sent on shore with Mr. Parkes, the al-
lied commissioner of Canton, who explained to the
red-button Mandarin who represented the Chinese
Government that our troops had come to occupy the
island, and that as we did not wish to put him or his
people to unnecessary inconvenience it would be Rh
well for all parties that he should shut up at once,
and offer no resistance. As this request was backed
by a force of 3,000 "red-haired Western devils," and
several ships of war, the Mandarin appears to have
thought it a very reasonable one. He accordingly
replied with the utmost politeness and a strict
observance of " the rites," that he had hoped we
had come as his dear friends; that he had been
looking forward with indescribable longing to the
felicity of receiving us as such, and of doing the
honour of his poor island ; that it was extremely
saddening to find we considered ourselves at war
with his country ; and that really, as he had no
sufficient force at his disposal for resistance, he
thought the best thing he could do was not to at-
tempt any ; and he therefore begged we
would make ourselves perfectly at home. Where-
upon some of the troops were landed, and
formal possession taken, and the next morn-
ing the English and French flags were hoisted
on the top of the two principal " Yamuns," as the
official residence of the Mandarins are called, The
Chinese troops, amounting to 2,000 on `paper, per-
haps 500 in reality, gave up their arms with the
utmost alacrity, and turned their attention to the
safer and pleasanter occupation of making dollars
by trading with the troops. On examination it
turned out that Tinghai was not by any means a
suitable or desirable residence for English soldiers.
The French effected their joint occupation of
Chusan with 300 of their marines, and, I have been
told, made up for the smallness of their force by
the magnitude of the quarters they demanded to
be put it into. Their ships have been arriving and
departing in goodly numbers of late. They gene-
rally remain a few days in Hong Kong harbour,
and then proceed onwards to Woosung, where they
are to disembark, and their expedition be orga-
nised. Some of their troop transports are enormous,
carrying as many as eleven or twelve hundred men,
besides sailors. The good state of health in which
they have all arrived, after a four months' voyage,
speaks well for their arrangements on board ship.
But few of them appear to be allowed to land in
Hong Kong, as I have seen very few in the streets
of late. Neither now nor when they came on shore
in greater numbers did I observe much fraternising
between them and our soldiers, although the French
do not appear more insensible to the charms of
" samshoo " than our own ; and drink generally
forms a close bond of alliance, in its initiatory stages
at all events.
The English army has been organised into divi-
sions and brigades. The following is the distribu-

.on