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

our siege guns and a large reinforcement of infantry
e:cPected by the French could arrive from Tien-tsin,
they further determined to extend the time within
_Which the Prince of Kung must return a positive
`tnswer to their ultimatums to three clear days from
that on
which these were forwarded to Pekin.
Ti
,is was done on the 25th ult., consequently he
tanst return an answer on or before the 29th, or
expect active hostilities to recommence on Sunday,
the 30th.
During this interval more than one communica-
tion was received from the Prince, but all of an
unsatisfactory character, and shirking the demo nd
as to the prisoners. In one received on the 29th
Was enclosed a piece of paper, with Parkes's name
Written on it in Chinese and English, in the way he
and Mr. Wade are in the habit of doing when they
Call on or send to a Chinese dignitary. It was
stated by the Prince to have been sent the day pre-
:ions by Parkes to Hang-ke, formerly Superinten-
dent of Customs at Canton, and therefore well
known to him, requesting an interview, and was
forwarded as evidence of his being alive and well.
I Inay here mention that, up to this time, we had
never been able to-learn anything definite respecting
,nnr missing friends how and when they had been
taken, or where they were confined. This
card of Parkes's, therefore, being dated, was
,s° far satisfactory, because it showed that
he was alive, but the letter enclosing it
Was as much the reverse as usual, and, con-
sequently did not alter the decision that had been
knne to to march upon Pekin should a favourable
reply not be received within the time named. No
such reply came, but the Chinese gained a short
respite, which was probably the means of saving
°ting-ko-lin-sin's army from a third disastrous defeat,
?ing to the non-arrival of the reinforcement of
'tench infantry as soon as was expected, and which
only reached their camp on the morning of the 3d.
Meanwhile our own CoMmander-in-Chief had not
been idle. Since the 21st our army had been
strengthened by a battalion of the 60th Rifles, the
64th, the Royals, wings of the 99th Queen's, and
Bth
Punjabees, together with the siege guns and
several 8-inch mortars. These latter were brought
141) from Tientsin to Tungchau by the river in four
(14378 and a half, and the same means of communi-
cation was made use of for the purpose of corn-
›ng the supplies of the army. Immense quanti-
fies of ammunition, food, and other stores were
carried along it in salt boats drawing only 10 inches
When laden with two tons each, thus relieving the
commissariat
of a vast amount of labour in the way
et land transport. The whole of this water con-
veyance was in the hands of tie navy, and too much
praise cannot be given to Admiral hope, who orga-
nised, and Capt. Roderick Dew and the other active
?facers who carried out the details of the system
Tung- a way that left nothing to be desired. At
chau an extensive depot was formed by both
French and English for the reception of Com-
kissariat stores, and placed under a guard of 400
marines and a corresponding number of French
soldiers-
On the morning of the 2d Wade received a note
&
'ern Parkes, written in Chinese, stating that he
and Loch were together, and well treated, but in
*ant of clothes, which they had, htwever, received
Permission to have sent in to them, and would be
118 d to have. It then went on to speak in high
t
Ins
2 of the Prince of Kung's talents and kind-
rs, but in a curiously constrained manner, show-
1a that it had been written under some sort of
restraint. This was clearly proved by a postscript
'nliindostanee in English character put by Loch
above his signature, saying that the letter had been
Written by order of the Government: ' An ansWer
Wits written to Parkes by Wade, both in Chinese
and English, neither of which could do any harm
:inspected by the authorities. Some clothes were
ant in at the same time, and in order to let them
know if possible what steps were about to be
taken in their behalf, one of Mr. Stuart Wortley's
handkerchiefs was put into Loch's bundle to attract
kn. attention, with a sentence in Hindostanee
trieted in English characters round the era-
roidered initials to the effect that in three days
ee heavy guns would open on the city, and kn ock
0,,n. the wall. The same sentence was worked on
h``e of his shirts in a part likely to be noticed by
sere but not conspieuouo to the public. These
e,bre all despatched on the evening of the 2d.
onlhe French being encamped some little distance
the line of march towards Pekin, it was arranged
3d at the English army should move forward on the
to a point somewhat in advance of our allies,
distant only about four miles from the camp at Pa-
`
1;"aliao ; and that after remaining there a day the
combined armies should advance towards the north-
-4q angle'of Pekin, and if there was time attack the
Tartar and Mongolian forces under Sang-ko-lin-
tin, which was supposed to be encamped to the
north of the city, on the same day. As soon as this
Was disposed of, it was intended to bring up the
toße guns and commence operations against the
Wn without an hour's delay.
In pursuance of this plan the English army,
overll 6,000 strong, marched from Pa-li-chiao to the
)4,signed position on the morning of the 3d, Lord
Till accompanying them with a numerous follow-
and putting up with Sir Hope Grant's and the
to staff in a fine old mosque appropriated
; this purpose for the occasion. About 2 o'clock
:16 next day letters were received from Parkes
the
Loch, this time written in English, confirming
be previous statement that they were well, but
feing that it was only since the 29th that
eY had been well treated. This took us all by
surprise,invariably
the Prince of Kung's letters having
treated
stated that all the prisoners were well
itte4ted, and we having no reason to doubt theft.
letters
in this respect. It was evident from the
etters that these two were confined apart from the
others,t7 as they only spoke of themselves, and did
their
ask for anything but what they required for
addition
own use. Answers and some few things, in
edition to those sent in two days before, were
the
in the afternoon. Every one, now that
44 time was drawing so near, began to feel doubly
anxious respecting the fate of those confined in
Pekin, should we have to attack the:city. There
could
be no question but that they would be in a
ratiition of great danger—not so much from the
,11_411abitants, or even the authorities, but from the
defeated and demoralised hordes of Tartar troops,
With which we were given to understand the town
148, garrisoned to the number of some 60,000 men,
stZ of whom had their wives and families with them
h'ere, and consequently might be expected, if ever
t Y would do‘so, to make something like a good
"stand.
At daylight of the Oth, the allied armies, num-
°Wring over 10,000 fighting men, started on the
march that was to bring them in sight of Pekin,
taking three days rations with them, but leaving
their tents and baggage behind. It was a bright,
cold, autumnal morning, such as one has in these
latitudes at this season of the year, followed by hot
Sys, and it was a beautiful and stirring sight to
Watch the army as it gradually wound its way on-
Ivard through the well-wooded and here really
pretty country, bounded on the north and west by
a noble range of mountains, which looked in the
etear atmosphere as if they were only 10 instead of
nearly 30 miles away. After marching about six
miles we came in sight of some of the remains of
What was once a great earthwork, running along the
'Mole eastern face of the city, and distant from it
llearlthree-quarters of a mile. It is now no longer
continuous
, but broken up into a series of large
tleands, and, cantering to the top of one of these,
,e, had our first look at Pekin, which was cer-
tainly"Z somewhat disappointing, as it lies low, and
were unable to get any extensive view of it ; we
v;ele only able to see distinctly a• portion of the
the top of one of the gate towers, and an im-
fhhis
ellse tower at the north-east angle of the walls.
? General had made up his mind to rest
f"ePa here, and let them get their breakfast corn-
tittably ; after which there would still be plenty of
toe to look up and destroy the Tartar camp, when
4 k
"sage was brought to him from the French
ha.,neral, sayin that his troops, ho had certainly
to march some miles further than ours, were
Ittlgued and that he would prefer waiting until
Its next day before advancing any further. Sir
tr°Pe Grant made a merit of necessity, and the
Tops encamped where they were.
o
T,t,_ had been ascertained from a very accurate map
aie'ee city that a continuous line of old intrench-
v_nts ran, as it'were,in prolongation of the east and
Were
walls for about a mile northwards, where they
Darre, joined together by a similar line running
th; a.del to the north wall, It was somewhere within
a: enclosure, which formed a parallelogram about
at. mil
Nvoo4 es long by onebroad, and was covered with
por `!8 and small villages, with the exception of one
peros.on, reserved as a parade ground by the Eta-
ett, that Sangkolinsin's army was supposed to be
i s'llarled, probably towards the western end. The
thentent* I°ll was to move forward, at first parallel to
left, eastern entrenchment, and afterwards to the
along the northern one, until the enemy was
thlehed. It was found, however, early in the._ day,
‘, "' the enemy was in no great force outside the