The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-02 00:00:00

ing the ground along which our forces must proceed.
It is broken ground, capital skirmishing ground,
but very difficult for the transport of guns
Mr. Power, who now conducts the Commissariat
Department has organized a corps of 750 coolies—
" Hakkas„" or men drawn from a mountain district
which has always had little respect for Mandarian
authority. They look very well -when they are
paraded at Hong Kong, and they work very well,
but whether those fellows will drag field-pieces up
over those inequalities in face of fire from the fort
is yet to be seen. I believe it is not proposed to
bring this novel transpOrt corps actually under fire,
but the question is at what distance they will take
frieht
I passed also by Whampoa, which has not been
seen except by the Earl and the General and their
protecting gunbpats since the, commencement of
the war ; I beg pardon, I mean since the conamence-
went -of the misunderstanding between the local
authorities at Canton and Her Majesty's civil and
military officers there. I only know by decription
how populous and busy the place once was, how
thronged by boats, how crowded by shipping, how
echoing with drunken shouts, how rife with fierce
debauchery. The town is apparently very moral
now. There is scarcely a boat on the river. The
docks are all destroyed and the blocks of granite
emulate the eccentrici y of the blocks of the Bogue
forts. Many of the wooden houses that advance
upon piles into the river are losing their- per-
pendicular and leaning forwards like_ a drunken
man poising himself; some are already down ;
all look ruinous and desolate. Here and
there a few Chinese were gathered. together to
stare at us as we passed, but they were more hag-
gard than any. Chinamen I have ever seen. They
male no sign and laughed no laugh. They were
probably the minions of vices locally extinct.
I passed also by the French anchorage, and had
some communicatiin with their fleet. This is a
beautiful. apotin_thia clear, ,Geol,Weather, and I dare
say they derive immense satisfacta'?on ill perforating
the hills by their ball practice, and setting fire to
brushwood by their shell practice. But still don't
quite wonder that they should be ready to fight
anybody in anv cause to get a little distraction.
The Baron's suite are all Marquises and Counts, and
grand seigneurs of high degree, who had come out
with the idea of a sort of Royal progress to Pekin.
They have been six months at sea, coped up in the
Audacieuse, and are still in their floating prison.
One of the officers said to me, "We get up every
morning at daylight because there is each a deuce
of a noise (tappage d'enfer) with washing the deck'
that no one can steep all day long, ashe would wish,
and we see always that same sea and those. same
rocks, and that everlasting sugarloaf lull—ee n'est
pas gai. Now aud then we have our distractions.
The Admiral, who is very amiable, allows us occ a-
sioually a spectacle. But the sailors only play one
piece, and the women are repre,ented by two broad-
chested mariners. One of them tells us in the course
of the dialogue, in a male bass voice —" Helas !
vous voyez que je suis belle. C.anme c'eet mal-
heureux d'etre belle !—Ce n'est pas auauean.." I
hope their friends in Paris will cease to envy them,
and sympathise with their sufferings. •
My letters from the North tell me that the
Chinese have just issued an impertinent proclama-
tion, warning the barbarians not to venture into
the interior, and declaring that even if they should
not create disturbances there punishment will await
them. It is just As well that I made my survey of
Hangchau before this proclamation appeared, for
nobody doubts the power of the Mandarins to in-
cite the population to force on!" a disturbance"
with the most peaceable Europeans.
Count Putiatin is back to Shanghai. He has
made a new treaty in Japan, and it seems that
the terms are liberal, sh wing a teedency on the
part of the Japanese to throw over their exclusive-
ness. Russia has been granted land to build Go-
vernment storehouses, and the Japanese have
bought several European merchant ships. They
have heard of Queen Victoria's gift to the Emperor,
and are anxiously looking for tier arrival. She is
now beiug ornamented in Hong Kong harbour, but
she will disappoint the Japanese. She is neither a
ship of war nor a pleasure yacht, and is specially
ill adapted for the habi's of the people for whom
she is destined. The Dutch naval officers have
been to see her, and chuckle at the little respect she
will obtain for British naval architecture.
I learn from the same source that Pekin is nearly
in a state of famine. Rice is said to cost 300 cash
(about ls. 6d) a pound.
The same letters tell me of the death of Mr.
Beale, one of the Medici of Shanghai. He had
accumulated an enormous fortune without contract-
ing the limits of a most lavish expenditure. He
heel just resolved to return home. I was his guest
for some time at Shanghai, and was indebted to
him for much information. He had discussed with
me his plans for his new career in England, and his
influence would have been great upon all questions
relating to China. But while he was gathering in
the threads of his multifarious operations Death
put his hand upon him. He died deliriously, point-
ing out the headlands and the cities he fancied he
p e n s er
hr we l a
saw in his voyayg
m missionaryailoft h 3
at
e towards England. Well, Pas-
cal says, "La most em plus aisee 4 supporter sans
y perhaps
sb
a penapp
y i
n e ed
hise
death.la mort sansa pm
t helrdi l
also.'' Soby
death of o
the
same
with i youngt
av 1 whom andl honest-
heartedba
om
much converse. It is frightful to look back upon the
number of youthful and energetic men whom I
d
had
have known intimately during my few months'
sojourn in the East, and who have succumbed to
this climate.