The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-11 00:00:00

CHINA.

lIONG KONG, ;JUNE 4.
The south-west monsoon and the hot weather hav-
ing again returned, we are now, for the time being,
going through a process of sweating, hitherto sup-
posed to be known only to jockeys and prizefighters.
For the past week the thermometer here has stood at
from 87 to 91 in the shade, and at Canton it has been
even higher. Were it not for the weather I might
say we are just now full of excitement ; but we are
dull and sleepy and care only for ices and seltzer
water and lemonade, and such like refreshments ;
and when an enthusiastic friend rushes into your
room at the period of your siesta with some piece of
startling information, you say "Oh !" and "Ah !"
think your friend a bore, and turn round and go to
sleep again. At Canton affairs arc daily getting
worse and worse ; the Chinese are becoming more
insolent, and the braves more confident. About a
week since an unfortunate policeman belonging to
the British force was suddenly assailed by a body of
braves at the west gate, and his hand cut off as
a trophy. With great difficulty he and a comrade
who was with him cffected their escape, both being
severely wounded, t!...e unfortunate man who received
the mutilation being dangerously so. Pehquei, on being
remonstrated with, declared that he had no power over
these ruffians, but issued a reward of $2OO for the
discovery of the men who committed the outrage,
and also levied a fine of $l,OOO on the street in which
the occurrence took place. This last seems a strange
way of meeting out justice ; but I have no doubt it
has a beneficial effect in one way. It will make the
more respectable inhabitants of the street careful in
ejecting from their neighbourhood characters it
would be nothing unfair to say would commit a
similar act when time and opportunity arose. A
Chinaman loves dollars very fondly, so, touch him
through his pocket, and he becomes your most abject
slave. Another little practical joke has also been
invented by these, funny Celestials. A sepoy be-
longing to fhe 6.sth.Bengal Native Infantry wan-
dered out of the lines, and was instantly kidnapped,
put in a sack, and carried away to some village out-
side the walls. Of course some stir was made about
this, and in a few days the sepoy was returned un-
injured, but more than considerably frightened.
In the streets of Canton itself, but more especially
when approaching the western suburbs, the coolies
become insolent and overbearing when an officer
passes. About ten days since a party of officers
made an excursion into the western suburbs ; they
were well armed and mounted. The braves did not
molest them ; but it afterwards came out that they
had assembled in some hundreds in a certain street
with the intention of cutting off the party, believing
this route would be the one taken ; but fortunately
for these officers they missed this street, returning
towards the city by a more intricate route, which
appears to be the only thing that saved them, if the
Chinese spies are to be believed.
Private and official letters received this morning
only give us the intelligence that at length an expe-
dition has been taken against these braves.
It has come to the ears of Gen. Van Straubenzee
that a Chinese encampment exists on the farther side
of the ‘Vhite Cloud Mountains, distant from our lines
about 10 miles. On the 2d inst. a body of men,
under the command of the general, started at four

a.m.; and a second, numbering in all some thousand
rank and file, including artillery, was despatched,
under Col. Holloway, commencing their march the
same evening. They had a long and dark journey
before them, but it was not expected they could get
their guns up by daybreak. More artillery and
some black troops were at the sametime sent round
in gun-boats by a creek extending to the back of
Canton. What the result of this may be, we know
not ; but it is more than probable that before we
get our troops up the birds will have flown. The
spy system of the Chinese is so perfect that we have
never a chance of taking them by surprise. It is
presumed that these troops meditated an attack on
Canton, and we have sent this expedition out to
forestal them.
In Ilong Kong we are not much better off than at
Canton, highway robberies with brutal violence being
of frequent occurrence. It ti scarcely a fortnight
since that a gentlemari
_walking on the upper road,

in the daytime, aner.in Sight and bearing of several
European houses, was set upon by a party of Chinese,
who robbed him of his watch and cha4a, and then filled
his mouth, eyes, and nostrils with dirt, others at the
same time violently beating him. The fellows who
did this got clear away. Again, three days since, a
Mr. Hazeland, a solicitor in Victoria, was returning
from Stanley, in company with a friend, by the
mountain path. They had come on in front of their
horses, which they had left in charge of their coolies,
with directions to follow them. When within about
three miles of Victoria Mr. Hazeland walked on, his
friend remaining behind till his horse came up. The
first gentleman had not walked many yards when he
was assailed by a party of four or five Chinese, who
immediately struck at him with swords, wounding
him in several places, and inflicting a dangerous cross
wound of the scalp. Fortunately for Hazeland, his
friend came up at the time on horseback, when the
fellows made off, or he would probably have lost his
head in addition to the valuables they removed from
his person. You will perhaps wonder why this kind
of thing is not checked. But treble your police
this colony and it will have no effect. The
evil has its own remedy. Let people abstain
from placing blind confidence in these Chinese. Let
them be guided by what men tell them who have
resided amongst them, and not by what M.P.'s will
tell the house in a party speech. Afore than all,
let every man go armed if he walks for 50 yards
only beyond the boundaries of the police beat, and
let him never go singly. Two Englishmen, with
two revolvers in good order, may walk about any
part of this island with impunity, I stress on
the words, in good' order, because I have known
gentlemen who invariably carried a revolver, but as
they had never had occasion to use it, never thought
of discharging it. and reloading. A friend of mine
was expatiating on the virtues of his own particular
weapon. " That pistol has been loaded six months,"
he informed me, "and it will now go off as well as on
the day it was first loaded." "Have you tried it," I
said ? " No," he had not tried it, " but look at the
pistol, who could doubt such a weapon would not
go off?" " What odds will you lay," I said, " that
three of those charges do not miss fire ?" My friend
would lay any ii4d-§, but nortWiiking it fair to
accept them, I got on a small sum even. There
was a nice white piece of rock about 70
yards distant up the mountain side, and I
took aim. Click, click, click, six times round,
but no report. My friend was astounded.
IE3 faith in the weapon. bad gone for ever. " The
pistol is good enough," I said ; " lend it to me." I
had a few fresh caps in my pocket ; I removed the
old ones, recapped, fired, and every barrel was dis-
charged. The weapon was a Colt, and the caps only
had deteriorated af.cr being loaded for six months.
But I would not advise the possessors of this weapon
to trust even to the renewing of the caps. A re-
volver, to Le effective, should be discharged at least
once a-week.

Notwithstanding the heat of the weather two balls
base been given within the last fortnight, at which
the ladies invited not _only appeared but danced.
Occasionally in England you may find the ther-
mometer standing at from 87 to 91, as we have it
here at the present ; but though you have felt that
heat it can give you no idea of the oppressiveness of
this Flace, situated at the foot of a mountain over
2;000 feet high, which shuts out every breath of air
when the south-west monsoon is blowing. The
first ball was given on board Commodore the Hon.
Keith Sttwart's ship Nankin, and was preceded
by private theatricals. The second, which was the
garrison ball, took place at Murray Barracks on the
12th inst. Ices and wafers were the heaviest things
consumed in the shape of refreshments.
From the north we have interesting intelligence.
The GovernMnt Gazotte ~ixtraordinar✓ of this day